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Magic: the Gathering |OT| Ravnica Allegiance - These 5 Lands Will SHOCK You!
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
- Start date
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OP
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In Sealed, you'll see enchantments more than you would in Draft due to games being slower (due to less efficient decks), so running one or two enchantment hate cards mainboard isn't a terrible idea. It usually isn't a great idea either, though, because of the risk of it doing nothing.
Limited Set Review - Gruul
Gruul is good.
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Here's what Mark Rosewater said years ago.
gtrobber asked: Where is the Rebel or Mercenary mechanic on the storm scale?
I'd call Rebel an 9 and Mercenary an 8.
March 28, 2013
nyktos asked: What's wrong with the rebel mechanic?
1) Unpopular.
2) Overpowered. (Yes, this one we could fix.)
3) Lots and lots of shuffling.
September 18, 2012
frequency42 asked: Why are rebels 9 and mercenaries 8 on the storm scale? Also why are both so high up?
We are much more cautious about repetitive game state these days. Mechanics like rebels and mercenaries (especially rebels) lead to games where the same thing happens game after game.
March 30, 2013
~~~
Limited Set Review - Orzhov
Limited Set Review - Simic and Colorless
He forgot Rakdos, I guess.
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Oracle official card updates, the most significant being Ajani's Pridemates.
Note the Challenger Deck mention. That likely means we're getting a deck like this.
Note the Challenger Deck mention. That likely means we're getting a deck like this.
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The Illusions of Child's Play
Nicky Drayden
A demon of the Cult of Rakdos runs afoul of the Azorius Senate when he pushes the Ragefest celebration to liberating new heights.
* The new story is basically a quirky indie romance between a demon and a curse shopkeeper, with an angry Azorius neighbor.
* I don't think there's been much interest in an actual summary, since these stories don't tie into the Bolas stuff.
* Relevant to that, Baan has been in charge of Azorius for a few months, and in addition to more strongly enforcing laws than ever before, they're gentrifying Rakdos neighborhoods. They also hand out pamphlets to demons telling them to repent, and Baan-based coloring books depicting him squashing Rakdos beneath his feet to children.
* Kodolaag is a demon who performs bad poetry and stand-up. He has a devil friend named Olrich, showing they are capable of sapience. The shopkeeper is a human woman named Zita.
* The minotaur dock boss from the Dimir story was arrested at some point, and his wife visits him in prison.
* By the end of the story, they flee to the Undercity, where they plan to start their own troupe.
* If you're wondering how so many people can take part in Rakdos events when so many die... this doesn't explain that, to set expectations.
Nicky Drayden
A demon of the Cult of Rakdos runs afoul of the Azorius Senate when he pushes the Ragefest celebration to liberating new heights.
* The new story is basically a quirky indie romance between a demon and a curse shopkeeper, with an angry Azorius neighbor.
* I don't think there's been much interest in an actual summary, since these stories don't tie into the Bolas stuff.
* Relevant to that, Baan has been in charge of Azorius for a few months, and in addition to more strongly enforcing laws than ever before, they're gentrifying Rakdos neighborhoods. They also hand out pamphlets to demons telling them to repent, and Baan-based coloring books depicting him squashing Rakdos beneath his feet to children.
* Kodolaag is a demon who performs bad poetry and stand-up. He has a devil friend named Olrich, showing they are capable of sapience. The shopkeeper is a human woman named Zita.
* The minotaur dock boss from the Dimir story was arrested at some point, and his wife visits him in prison.
* By the end of the story, they flee to the Undercity, where they plan to start their own troupe.
* If you're wondering how so many people can take part in Rakdos events when so many die... this doesn't explain that, to set expectations.
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M-Files: Ravnica Allegiance – Monocolor
Dan Musser
Take a peek into our card database to see what Magic's designers were talking about as they created Ravnica Allegiance.
* There's a mistake in the first entry. Lumbering Battlement can exile other copies of itself.
* Tithe Taker had them check to make sure it was fine in Modern Humans decks.
* Benthic Biomancer started as a 1U non-merfolk with a 1U adapt ability to draw a card. To help merfolk decks, they lowered the cost, changed the effect to looting, and had it trigger on any +1/+1 counter being placed on it.
* I hadn't realized that the Persistent in Persistent Petitioners was a riff on Relentless in Relentless Rats. It's a shame the art didn't directly reference that card like suggested here. It was originally uncommon, but moved down to enable a Limited deck.
* They were really worried about Drill Bit.
* Gates Ablaze was 4R, but was moved down to 2R to enable a Constructed Gates deck.
* Of course, they knew about Electrodominance and the no-mana suspend cards, but determined it wasn't a big risk. It started as a sorcery, but was made instant to push it for Constructed.
* End-Raze Forerunners shows they aren't ready for green to grant haste to other creatures yet, even if it has become secondary.
Dan Musser
Take a peek into our card database to see what Magic's designers were talking about as they created Ravnica Allegiance.
* There's a mistake in the first entry. Lumbering Battlement can exile other copies of itself.
* Tithe Taker had them check to make sure it was fine in Modern Humans decks.
* Benthic Biomancer started as a 1U non-merfolk with a 1U adapt ability to draw a card. To help merfolk decks, they lowered the cost, changed the effect to looting, and had it trigger on any +1/+1 counter being placed on it.
* I hadn't realized that the Persistent in Persistent Petitioners was a riff on Relentless in Relentless Rats. It's a shame the art didn't directly reference that card like suggested here. It was originally uncommon, but moved down to enable a Limited deck.
* They were really worried about Drill Bit.
* Gates Ablaze was 4R, but was moved down to 2R to enable a Constructed Gates deck.
* Of course, they knew about Electrodominance and the no-mana suspend cards, but determined it wasn't a big risk. It started as a sorcery, but was made instant to push it for Constructed.
* End-Raze Forerunners shows they aren't ready for green to grant haste to other creatures yet, even if it has become secondary.
Well, I guess they gave money to a band called The Mountain Goats to make a MTG based album or something?
In 2012, I won tickets to the warped tour from the Magic twitter account. There was a truck with Liliana on it at the event, and there were intro decks somewhere because there were cards littering the ground everywhere at the event to the point where people were just making fun of it, but no other presence that I could find.
Granted, I'm old and out of touch, but I've never heard of The Mountain Goats, they have 177K Twitter followers, and we now can't afford to give $30 trophies out to GP winners... but we can afford to have this band make a concept album or something?
I don't get this. At all.
In 2012, I won tickets to the warped tour from the Magic twitter account. There was a truck with Liliana on it at the event, and there were intro decks somewhere because there were cards littering the ground everywhere at the event to the point where people were just making fun of it, but no other presence that I could find.
Granted, I'm old and out of touch, but I've never heard of The Mountain Goats, they have 177K Twitter followers, and we now can't afford to give $30 trophies out to GP winners... but we can afford to have this band make a concept album or something?
I don't get this. At all.
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Looks like CFB is going to pick up the slack with text coverage
The only negative is that now event coverage will be split between Sideboard.com and CFB.com, as someone that likes going back to reference old formats/results/text coverage of matches, it's going to suck in a few years
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Rage of the Unsung
Nicky Drayden
A Gruul tattoo artist finds a mentor—and his calling.
* This is about a viashino tattoo artist named Arrus. He's too weak to fight, but after tattooing his siblings, he managed to get the attention of more famous Gruul warriors. There's something wrong with the ingredients, so the ones he tattooed catch on fire, and he's exiled. With the help of an ogre, he discovers Selesnya is sapping nutrients from their territory, and by challenging Ruric Thar, gets them to listen and attack Selesnya.
* There's a bit about how Gruul tales never tell the stories of viashino.
It was an interesting enough story, but I don't think there's anything relevant to the main story other than Gruul wrecking stuff.
Nicky Drayden
A Gruul tattoo artist finds a mentor—and his calling.
* This is about a viashino tattoo artist named Arrus. He's too weak to fight, but after tattooing his siblings, he managed to get the attention of more famous Gruul warriors. There's something wrong with the ingredients, so the ones he tattooed catch on fire, and he's exiled. With the help of an ogre, he discovers Selesnya is sapping nutrients from their territory, and by challenging Ruric Thar, gets them to listen and attack Selesnya.
* There's a bit about how Gruul tales never tell the stories of viashino.
It was an interesting enough story, but I don't think there's anything relevant to the main story other than Gruul wrecking stuff.
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Magic Arena Mythic Invitational tournament coming March 28-31 at PAX East.
Eight players will be invited from the top ranking Mythic players on Arena.
I'm glad a decent chunk of the invitees appear to be women. The Pro League being all men is still a bad look, but I assume they'll recruit more using this tournament.
Eight players will be invited from the top ranking Mythic players on Arena.
I'm glad a decent chunk of the invitees appear to be women. The Pro League being all men is still a bad look, but I assume they'll recruit more using this tournament.
So here is, by far, the biggest change: No more sideboards (unless you have Wish effects), you bring 2 decks with you, use 1 in game 1, the other in G2, and can choose in G3. Very much seems like the future of what they want from all forms of Magic, bringing it in line with Hearthstone
And here is your rebuttal on that fact https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/and-mtg-arena-2019-01-31
I have MASSIVE issues with this statement
Making it so you need to spend money to have 2 different decks (no one is actually going to just play the same deck twice) is, in my opinion, a significantly higher barrier for comepetitive than a sideboard. At the most basic level, you take out the cards that don't do anything (like creature removal against a creaturless deck, or enchantment removal against a mono-red deck) and add in cards that might do something. Getting enough wildcards to make a new deck? It's probably not even possible for people not spending money
And here is your rebuttal on that fact https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/and-mtg-arena-2019-01-31
I have MASSIVE issues with this statement
Making it so you need to spend money to have 2 different decks (no one is actually going to just play the same deck twice) is, in my opinion, a significantly higher barrier for comepetitive than a sideboard. At the most basic level, you take out the cards that don't do anything (like creature removal against a creaturless deck, or enchantment removal against a mono-red deck) and add in cards that might do something. Getting enough wildcards to make a new deck? It's probably not even possible for people not spending money
One of the players invited to the MC made disgusting homophobic tweets 3 years ago, she's apologized for them since but the apology painted it as her being a stupid kid when she was 19 at the time.
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M-Files: Ravnica Allegiance – Multicolor
Dan Musser
Peek into our card database to see what Magic's designers were talking about as they created Ravnica Allegiance.
* Biomancer's Familiar used to be a lizard wizard. The focus of the card was the ability cost reduction, and the adapt part was added later.
* Growth Spiral was straight up Explore the card's effect, but was changed to add some power and avoid the issue of remembering your land drops. They also call out Seb!'s art.
* High Alert comments mention that this could have been monowhite without the untapping.
* Prime Speaker Vannifar was one they were really worried about, but heavy Play Design testing allowed them to push it. Also, I keep forgetting Militia Bugler exists.
* Rakdos Firewheeler used to be closer to Flametongue Kavu.
* Kaya, Orzhov Usurper was designed for Modern.
* Final Payment started out just as Bone Splinters, but they added more and more.
Dan Musser
Peek into our card database to see what Magic's designers were talking about as they created Ravnica Allegiance.
* Biomancer's Familiar used to be a lizard wizard. The focus of the card was the ability cost reduction, and the adapt part was added later.
* Growth Spiral was straight up Explore the card's effect, but was changed to add some power and avoid the issue of remembering your land drops. They also call out Seb!'s art.
* High Alert comments mention that this could have been monowhite without the untapping.
* Prime Speaker Vannifar was one they were really worried about, but heavy Play Design testing allowed them to push it. Also, I keep forgetting Militia Bugler exists.
* Rakdos Firewheeler used to be closer to Flametongue Kavu.
* Kaya, Orzhov Usurper was designed for Modern.
* Final Payment started out just as Bone Splinters, but they added more and more.
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State of Product Design 2018
Gavin Verhey
2018 was packed to the brim with diverse Magic products. Here, Gavin overviews those that stood out most, for better or for worse.
* Masters 25 was something they were pretty excited for, but the response was pretty negative due to the lack of money cards. The set still sold fine.
* Ultimate Masters, originally named Immortal Masters, did very well.
* No last minute surprise, there really aren't any other Masters sets coming up. The reprints will be spread out through other products.
* The late reveal of Ultimate Masters strained both stores and some fans, so they won't do late reveals like this anymore.
* The Core 2019 Welcome Decks and Planeswalker Decks were big hits.
* There has been some question of if these decks really need to be Standard legal, but there will be no changes there for now.
* Spellslinger Starter Kit was an out of the box introductory two-player product sold in mass-market stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.). In order to make sure experienced players would feel fine recommending it, they included a few money cards like Ghalta. It did fine, and they'll need another one to really assess it.
* Magic Game Night was an out of the box five-player "board game" product. Design was more constrained than they would have liked. It sold alright, and they feel like they could make it better with a second chance.
* Challenger Decks are doing great. Currently they have to finalize the decks five months ahead of time.
* Battlebond did great. It's clear that both multiplayer-focus and good reprints lead to successful sets. There won't be another Two-Headed Giant set for a while, but we can expect more of those two.
* Commander 2018 had issues, such as so few lands matter cards, but it's still selling very well.
* The price raise came after the decks were finalized (so yes, the line about more money for more power was bunk).
* They are going to improve the quality of reprints with the 2019 decks.
* Guild Kits were a hit. Preconstructed decks continue to do well, even ones aimed at pure casual play (and not Commander) like these.
* The response to Archenemy: Nicol Bolas is that people just wanted decks.
* They'll be experimenting more with preconstructed decks in the future.
* Duel Decks just haven't been selling well, which is why they stopped with Elves vs. Inventors. Plus, they were running out of good themes, and stores thought too many products were coming out, so they had to make a cut somewhere. Unfortunately, that means we're missing out on Sarkhan vs. Sarkhan.
* The ComicCon promos have gotten pretty stale, but they hope to change them up.
* Theme Boosters are a big success, and will be part of all Standard sets going forward. Dominaria had one for each color, and Ravnica 3 has had one for each guild, containing only cards of that theme.
* Mythic Edition has been successful, but they've decided this isn't the exact model they want to use for a high-end direct market product.
* Signature Spellbook: Jace accomplished their goals, so we can expect more Signature Spellbooks in coming years.
* Commander Anthology sold well, which goes to show people are hungry for more Commander products. These won't come out often, but it's another tool in their toolkit.
* Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling was a flop, due to the restraints of it being Standard legal but only in China, making it super weak. No more Global Series are planned, but Gavin does hope they can bring the global collaboration that went into these decks to other avenues.
* It's too early to tell how Heroes of Dominaria, the board game, is doing.
EDIT: Ravnica Allegiance survey.
Gavin Verhey
2018 was packed to the brim with diverse Magic products. Here, Gavin overviews those that stood out most, for better or for worse.
* Masters 25 was something they were pretty excited for, but the response was pretty negative due to the lack of money cards. The set still sold fine.
* Ultimate Masters, originally named Immortal Masters, did very well.
* No last minute surprise, there really aren't any other Masters sets coming up. The reprints will be spread out through other products.
* The late reveal of Ultimate Masters strained both stores and some fans, so they won't do late reveals like this anymore.
* The Core 2019 Welcome Decks and Planeswalker Decks were big hits.
* There has been some question of if these decks really need to be Standard legal, but there will be no changes there for now.
* Spellslinger Starter Kit was an out of the box introductory two-player product sold in mass-market stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.). In order to make sure experienced players would feel fine recommending it, they included a few money cards like Ghalta. It did fine, and they'll need another one to really assess it.
* Magic Game Night was an out of the box five-player "board game" product. Design was more constrained than they would have liked. It sold alright, and they feel like they could make it better with a second chance.
* Challenger Decks are doing great. Currently they have to finalize the decks five months ahead of time.
* Battlebond did great. It's clear that both multiplayer-focus and good reprints lead to successful sets. There won't be another Two-Headed Giant set for a while, but we can expect more of those two.
* Commander 2018 had issues, such as so few lands matter cards, but it's still selling very well.
* The price raise came after the decks were finalized (so yes, the line about more money for more power was bunk).
* They are going to improve the quality of reprints with the 2019 decks.
* Guild Kits were a hit. Preconstructed decks continue to do well, even ones aimed at pure casual play (and not Commander) like these.
* The response to Archenemy: Nicol Bolas is that people just wanted decks.
* They'll be experimenting more with preconstructed decks in the future.
* Duel Decks just haven't been selling well, which is why they stopped with Elves vs. Inventors. Plus, they were running out of good themes, and stores thought too many products were coming out, so they had to make a cut somewhere. Unfortunately, that means we're missing out on Sarkhan vs. Sarkhan.
* The ComicCon promos have gotten pretty stale, but they hope to change them up.
* Theme Boosters are a big success, and will be part of all Standard sets going forward. Dominaria had one for each color, and Ravnica 3 has had one for each guild, containing only cards of that theme.
* Mythic Edition has been successful, but they've decided this isn't the exact model they want to use for a high-end direct market product.
* Signature Spellbook: Jace accomplished their goals, so we can expect more Signature Spellbooks in coming years.
* Commander Anthology sold well, which goes to show people are hungry for more Commander products. These won't come out often, but it's another tool in their toolkit.
* Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling was a flop, due to the restraints of it being Standard legal but only in China, making it super weak. No more Global Series are planned, but Gavin does hope they can bring the global collaboration that went into these decks to other avenues.
* It's too early to tell how Heroes of Dominaria, the board game, is doing.
EDIT: Ravnica Allegiance survey.
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The Principles of Unnatural Selection
Nicky Drayden
Deep below the surface of Ravnica, a Simic educator tests the limits of her students, herself and her guild.
* A merfolk teacher runs a small class teaching the old merfolk ways, but she gets teased by a newly crabified teacher about this, so she takes the class out into the ocean for field observation.
* They come across an Orzhov ghost who wants his ship returned to the surface, after it was sunk by pirates long ago. But they discover he was the pirate, and destroy the ship when he attacks them, rescuing a Simic artifact.
* It turns out the artifact was Momir Vig's old keyrune, and it's shown off in a museum, making the teacher proud.
*... Then the story continues.
* A student is a klutz and sends some old cytoplast on display flying toward the teacher, mutating her. Everyone is arrested.
* The students explain to Zegana what they learned, and they're allowed to go free.
* They learn that modification isn't necessarily bad, but it needs to be done with a purpose and with balance.
Alright story, but then it just kept going.
Nicky Drayden
Deep below the surface of Ravnica, a Simic educator tests the limits of her students, herself and her guild.
* A merfolk teacher runs a small class teaching the old merfolk ways, but she gets teased by a newly crabified teacher about this, so she takes the class out into the ocean for field observation.
* They come across an Orzhov ghost who wants his ship returned to the surface, after it was sunk by pirates long ago. But they discover he was the pirate, and destroy the ship when he attacks them, rescuing a Simic artifact.
* It turns out the artifact was Momir Vig's old keyrune, and it's shown off in a museum, making the teacher proud.
*... Then the story continues.
* A student is a klutz and sends some old cytoplast on display flying toward the teacher, mutating her. Everyone is arrested.
* The students explain to Zegana what they learned, and they're allowed to go free.
* They learn that modification isn't necessarily bad, but it needs to be done with a purpose and with balance.
Alright story, but then it just kept going.
Hasbro earnings are out for Q4. The gaming revision took a beating and was down 22% but Magic and D&D were up for the quarter and the year so everything else must be dragging them down. We won't get exact numbers for MTG but they specifically called out Magic revenues as helping offset Hasbro's increases in spending in 2018 so they must be doing pretty good. So just as expected, WOTC is one of the only entities that is currently profitable while the rest of Hasbro is a dumpster fire.
Just in case anyone was still under the false impression that paper magic had any place in the pro magic scene going forward.
We've had a name change! This account is still the place for competitive Magic content, including the Magic Pro League and Mythic Championship series. Can't wait to see you all for #2019MC1 at #MTGCleveland in two weeks on http://twitch.tv/magic !
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From the Toy Fair, MTG: Ravnica Inquisition.
It's one of those Werewolf / Resistance social deduction games where you represent a guild that may or may not be working for Bolas.
It's one of those Werewolf / Resistance social deduction games where you represent a guild that may or may not be working for Bolas.
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Here is the weird story of the day... WOTC is going to stop having MSRP associated with it's Products https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/no-more-msrp-2019-02-18
This is probably in response to the backlash to Ultimate Masters- where unlike every other product they offer, they only had an MSRP on box prices and not boosters, which lead to people thinking boosters would cost $14 (they didn't), and due to the MSRP bump to last years commander which got people unhappy. Now, MSRP "increases" are going to be better hidden- the price to distributors goes up, which means the price to stores goes up, which means that it's up to the store to decide if they want to raise the price of a booster to 4.25 or whatever.
Whats funny about this is they are still selling stuff on MTGO, and until they decide to change it, they mirror the paper prices, so we will still have an "official" MSRP reflected by the MTGO store!
This is probably in response to the backlash to Ultimate Masters- where unlike every other product they offer, they only had an MSRP on box prices and not boosters, which lead to people thinking boosters would cost $14 (they didn't), and due to the MSRP bump to last years commander which got people unhappy. Now, MSRP "increases" are going to be better hidden- the price to distributors goes up, which means the price to stores goes up, which means that it's up to the store to decide if they want to raise the price of a booster to 4.25 or whatever.
Whats funny about this is they are still selling stuff on MTGO, and until they decide to change it, they mirror the paper prices, so we will still have an "official" MSRP reflected by the MTGO store!
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The Ledger of Hidden Fortunes
Nicky Drayden
An Orzhov collector learns a valuable lesson while balancing her loyalty to her family, her guild, and herself.
* This was a nice story.
* Miri is an Orzhov tithe taker who sneaks into Selesnya after hearing a tip about a weakness. She finds it and heads home, but the friends she made along the way make her lie about it. Things turn out well for her anyway.
* This is after Kaya taking over and killing the Ghost Council, but things seem to be business as usual for Orzhov.
* Selesnya does not use deodorant, and consider the stench to be a natural aura. The paper they use disintegrates quickly.
Nicky Drayden
An Orzhov collector learns a valuable lesson while balancing her loyalty to her family, her guild, and herself.
* This was a nice story.
* Miri is an Orzhov tithe taker who sneaks into Selesnya after hearing a tip about a weakness. She finds it and heads home, but the friends she made along the way make her lie about it. Things turn out well for her anyway.
* This is after Kaya taking over and killing the Ghost Council, but things seem to be business as usual for Orzhov.
* Selesnya does not use deodorant, and consider the stench to be a natural aura. The paper they use disintegrates quickly.
New mulligan rule being introduced/tested at MC London:
You will draw seven cards every time you mulligan. Once you're satisfied with your hand, you will put cards from your hand equal to the number of times you mulliganed on the bottom of your library.
Seems hugely beneficial to combo-based and aggro decks.
You will draw seven cards every time you mulligan. Once you're satisfied with your hand, you will put cards from your hand equal to the number of times you mulliganed on the bottom of your library.
Seems hugely beneficial to combo-based and aggro decks.
Tom Ross missing the Final Payment interaction with Captive Audience might be the most painful thing I've seen on Pro Tour coverage ever.
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The Ascension of Reza
Nicky Drayden
An Azorius lawmage learns the true value of the law.
* A vedalken woman named Reza falls into a disputed but majority Izzet area and gets screwed over by laws she created.
* She befriends people there and when a big electric elemental attacks, she sets a lawrune to temporarily make the area a sovereign territory so people can legally do something about the elemental.
* Months later, she makes it official that the disputed area is sovereign and her mentor commends her.
* Dovin Baan is guild leader for the entire duration of the story.
Nicky Drayden
An Azorius lawmage learns the true value of the law.
* A vedalken woman named Reza falls into a disputed but majority Izzet area and gets screwed over by laws she created.
* She befriends people there and when a big electric elemental attacks, she sets a lawrune to temporarily make the area a sovereign territory so people can legally do something about the elemental.
* Months later, she makes it official that the disputed area is sovereign and her mentor commends her.
* Dovin Baan is guild leader for the entire duration of the story.
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It's a four-mana Serra Angel that can do more next turn, or an unremoveable Worship over two turns.
Well here is the confirmation
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articl...r-look-stained-glass-planeswalkers-2019-03-08
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Planeswalker Weekend: War of the Spark events announced.
05/25/19 - 05/26/19
We're excited to announce the format for Magic Weekend—which has been named "Planeswalker Weekend."
There will be 36 Planeswalkers included in the set, and each booster pack will contain at least one Planeswalker.
For your Planeswalker Weekend Draft or Sealed event, Planeswalker cards will be castable using mana of any color! This means that players will be able to play every Planeswalker they open, regardless of the color(s) of their deck.
05/25/19 - 05/26/19
We're excited to announce the format for Magic Weekend—which has been named "Planeswalker Weekend."
There will be 36 Planeswalkers included in the set, and each booster pack will contain at least one Planeswalker.
For your Planeswalker Weekend Draft or Sealed event, Planeswalker cards will be castable using mana of any color! This means that players will be able to play every Planeswalker they open, regardless of the color(s) of their deck.
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Changes to Wizards Play Network
A lot of this is probably too inside baseball for a lot of you guys, but here's the most relevant part, a change to promos.
OUT: INDIVIDUAL PROMO CARDS – IN: PROMO CARDS INSIDE PACKS OF FOUR
To be clear: we'll still do promo cards. But they'll be in packs of four, giving players more cards, more variety, and better curation—all without sacrificing the uniqueness players expect from things like FNM and Open House promos. And one in four of the packs your LGS receives will have all-foil contents.
Here's the breakdown of the first run, for Core Set 2020:
Slot one is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from the most recent set. Could be any rare or mythic rare.
Slot two is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short, curated list. These will be from Standard-legal sets, and they'll be hand-selected by Magic's design studio. (These lists will be public.) You'll also see a curveball here and there—one such curveball will come with Core Set 2020. We'll show you when card previews start. You'll like it.
Slot three is a promo-stamped alternate-art basic land.
Slot four is the promo slot. With each Standard-legal set there will be a selection of special, season-specific cards, just like FNM promos (although, for the first season, there will be five cards, up from the usual three). Most of the time, you can expect to see the alternate frame cards you're accustomed to. But again, here and there, we'll throw a curveball.
Some promos will still be standalone cards. Buy-a-Box, for example, will continue to come with, well, buying a box.
This seems like it should be better for everyone, except the Scryfall guys.
In short:
* Instead of a promo card, stores will get 4-card boosters. One slot is any rare or mythic from the latest Standard set. Slot 2 is a rare or mythic from a public list. Slot 3 is an alternate art basic land. Slot 4 is a special promo (out of a small group) for the most recent Standard set.
* Every store event, from FNM to Draft Weekend, will draw from the same promo pool instead of one designated for each. Stores choose how to allocate them.
A lot of this is probably too inside baseball for a lot of you guys, but here's the most relevant part, a change to promos.
OUT: INDIVIDUAL PROMO CARDS – IN: PROMO CARDS INSIDE PACKS OF FOUR
To be clear: we'll still do promo cards. But they'll be in packs of four, giving players more cards, more variety, and better curation—all without sacrificing the uniqueness players expect from things like FNM and Open House promos. And one in four of the packs your LGS receives will have all-foil contents.
Here's the breakdown of the first run, for Core Set 2020:
Slot one is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from the most recent set. Could be any rare or mythic rare.
Slot two is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short, curated list. These will be from Standard-legal sets, and they'll be hand-selected by Magic's design studio. (These lists will be public.) You'll also see a curveball here and there—one such curveball will come with Core Set 2020. We'll show you when card previews start. You'll like it.
Slot three is a promo-stamped alternate-art basic land.
Slot four is the promo slot. With each Standard-legal set there will be a selection of special, season-specific cards, just like FNM promos (although, for the first season, there will be five cards, up from the usual three). Most of the time, you can expect to see the alternate frame cards you're accustomed to. But again, here and there, we'll throw a curveball.
Some promos will still be standalone cards. Buy-a-Box, for example, will continue to come with, well, buying a box.
This seems like it should be better for everyone, except the Scryfall guys.
In short:
* Instead of a promo card, stores will get 4-card boosters. One slot is any rare or mythic from the latest Standard set. Slot 2 is a rare or mythic from a public list. Slot 3 is an alternate art basic land. Slot 4 is a special promo (out of a small group) for the most recent Standard set.
* Every store event, from FNM to Draft Weekend, will draw from the same promo pool instead of one designated for each. Stores choose how to allocate them.
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Fire lashed like whips, raking into Jace's exposed chest. His illusion long since faded, his soft dad bod rippled with the blow, skin pink and raw as a frat boy's spring break sun burn. Jace, Bolas' Toy® turned his eyes down, too ashamed to meet Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s delighted, draconian glare. His head swam as he watched the Greatfire sweep through Ravnica far below. As eldritch flashes of lightning erupted within the Greatfire®'s flames, he thought he caught glimpses of other planes in the searing after image. Vryn, Kaladesh, Kaldheim...
Dominaria.
He thought of Liliana--her skin-tight leather get-up and the weird chain veil he'd hated at first, but, as life barely flickered in his chest, he now sorta liked. He felt a stiffness in his pants, and feverish heat flooding through his lower half that had nothing to do with Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s whipping magic of the Greatfire®.
"Do you like that?" said Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s, his eyes delighted and each word dripping with orgasmic passion. "There's more where that came from." Without realizing it, Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s forefinger traveled up his own chest and began circling his left dragon nipple.
Jace, Bolas' Toy® nodded weakly. Visions of Liliana running through his head. He wanted to visit Benalia. He wanted to meet her brother. To feel her cold lips on his again. Could he love two people at once? Was that possible. He looked at Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®, with all that passionate fury and unrestrained genius, and knew that, yes, he could.
"Banana Pancakes," Jace, Bolas' Toy® whispered. The words dribbled out of him like so much spent breath.
Fblthp watched.
Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s face drooped with disappointment as the safe word hit his ears. "I'm sorry," he growled. "Did you say 'cabana and rakes?'" raking his claws down Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s chest. The Planeswalker from Vryn's nipples stiffened even as the few hairs left on his chest sizzled and melted.
"Banana pancakes!" Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s voice exploded from his chest, no illusion needed to make it seem bigger than it was. His breath was laboured, heaving.
"Hmph," Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® grumbled. His whip extinguished and he brought Jace, Bolas' Toy® a drink of water in a tall glass, its sides slick with condensation. "Do you want me to get you down?"
Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s head drooped, but he managed a nod. "I--" he struggled for words.
Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® let him down, cradling his soft, limp body in great arms. His sharp-clawed fingers were surprisingly delicate as he placed Jace, Bolas' Toy® on the ground, drawing a blanket over him, and calling to one of the nearby healers for assistance.
"I-- I have to find her," Jace, Bolas' Toy®. "I can't do this anymore, Nicky."
"Her?" Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® said, mind racing to piece this new twist together. Things had been going so well. He had thought Jace, Bolas' Toy® was THE ONE. "Vraska? That damn gorgon?"
"No," Jace, Bolas' Toy® gasped. "Liliana. I can love you both."
Darkness took Jace, Bolas' Toy®.
Dominaria.
He thought of Liliana--her skin-tight leather get-up and the weird chain veil he'd hated at first, but, as life barely flickered in his chest, he now sorta liked. He felt a stiffness in his pants, and feverish heat flooding through his lower half that had nothing to do with Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s whipping magic of the Greatfire®.
"Do you like that?" said Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s, his eyes delighted and each word dripping with orgasmic passion. "There's more where that came from." Without realizing it, Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s forefinger traveled up his own chest and began circling his left dragon nipple.
Jace, Bolas' Toy® nodded weakly. Visions of Liliana running through his head. He wanted to visit Benalia. He wanted to meet her brother. To feel her cold lips on his again. Could he love two people at once? Was that possible. He looked at Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®, with all that passionate fury and unrestrained genius, and knew that, yes, he could.
"Banana Pancakes," Jace, Bolas' Toy® whispered. The words dribbled out of him like so much spent breath.
Fblthp watched.
Nicol Bolas, Lash Master®'s face drooped with disappointment as the safe word hit his ears. "I'm sorry," he growled. "Did you say 'cabana and rakes?'" raking his claws down Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s chest. The Planeswalker from Vryn's nipples stiffened even as the few hairs left on his chest sizzled and melted.
"Banana pancakes!" Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s voice exploded from his chest, no illusion needed to make it seem bigger than it was. His breath was laboured, heaving.
"Hmph," Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® grumbled. His whip extinguished and he brought Jace, Bolas' Toy® a drink of water in a tall glass, its sides slick with condensation. "Do you want me to get you down?"
Jace, Bolas' Toy®'s head drooped, but he managed a nod. "I--" he struggled for words.
Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® let him down, cradling his soft, limp body in great arms. His sharp-clawed fingers were surprisingly delicate as he placed Jace, Bolas' Toy® on the ground, drawing a blanket over him, and calling to one of the nearby healers for assistance.
"I-- I have to find her," Jace, Bolas' Toy®. "I can't do this anymore, Nicky."
"Her?" Nicol Bolas, Lash Master® said, mind racing to piece this new twist together. Things had been going so well. He had thought Jace, Bolas' Toy® was THE ONE. "Vraska? That damn gorgon?"
"No," Jace, Bolas' Toy® gasped. "Liliana. I can love you both."
Darkness took Jace, Bolas' Toy®.
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https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/challenger-decks-2019-03-18
Here you go.
Decks are Mono-W, Mono-R, UR and BG
No Teferi.
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London Mulligan will be tested on MTGO
From April 10 to May 1, the London Mulligan will be the mulligan used on Magic Online. This mulligan is part of an experiment run by Magic R&D in their never-ending efforts to improve the game we all know and love. This will apply to all formats, in all events and casual games.
As MTGO is the best and largest way to play classic formats like Legacy and Vintage, this test will provide a critical mass of data to help R&D make a final determination whether to adopt this mulligan for Magic as a whole. And importantly, it will allow Mythic Championship competitors to practice their Modern game under the same conditions that they'll face in London.
From April 10 to May 1, the London Mulligan will be the mulligan used on Magic Online. This mulligan is part of an experiment run by Magic R&D in their never-ending efforts to improve the game we all know and love. This will apply to all formats, in all events and casual games.
As MTGO is the best and largest way to play classic formats like Legacy and Vintage, this test will provide a critical mass of data to help R&D make a final determination whether to adopt this mulligan for Magic as a whole. And importantly, it will allow Mythic Championship competitors to practice their Modern game under the same conditions that they'll face in London.
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New mobile card game, Valor's Reach, announced. Named after the setting of Battlebond.
Wizards has never supported the side mobile games from other developers well, so I expect this to drop off the map in a month.
Wizards has never supported the side mobile games from other developers well, so I expect this to drop off the map in a month.
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A significant number of cards in War of the Spark will be tied to particular story events. Card previews will show all the cards related to a particular event. This is similar to what they did with Tempest, but one major difference is that it appears the same event will be shown on multiple cards across rarity, instead of just on one card.
Also, this reveals that previews are three weeks long, as opposed to the two weeks used for the past several sets. Commons will be mixed in more often, as opposed to being saved for the end.
Surprisingly, book details have changed. The novel releasing in April now has the War of the Spark cover and the synopsis with Teyo and such, and we now know nothing about the November novel other than its new title of War of the Spark: Forsaken. The article says the story of the set is fully revealed in the April novel, so I guess there isn't actually a Rav3 prequel novel. Instead, we have a WAR novel and an epilogue novel.
Also, this reveals that previews are three weeks long, as opposed to the two weeks used for the past several sets. Commons will be mixed in more often, as opposed to being saved for the end.
Surprisingly, book details have changed. The novel releasing in April now has the War of the Spark cover and the synopsis with Teyo and such, and we now know nothing about the November novel other than its new title of War of the Spark: Forsaken. The article says the story of the set is fully revealed in the April novel, so I guess there isn't actually a Rav3 prequel novel. Instead, we have a WAR novel and an epilogue novel.
First batch of Invitational Decks are up
It's really funny seeing Sideboards for decks with "well, I technically can cast my opponents copy of Mastermind Aquisition"
It's a lot of "Esper and an Aggro Deck"
It's really funny seeing Sideboards for decks with "well, I technically can cast my opponents copy of Mastermind Aquisition"
It's a lot of "Esper and an Aggro Deck"
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Owen Turtenwald accused of sexual harassment, per Kotaku. This is likely why he was kicked out of the Mythic Invitational.
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- Status