Sets [M21] M21 Previews!
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
I might test Incinerator out, I've always secretly wanted to sport a fringe burn deck in my cube with Wheel of Fortune, Collective Defiance, etc to go with Mizzix's Mastery and Pyromancer's Goggles
Chris Taylor
Contributor
These two next to eachother in the set feels odd
These two next to eachother in the set feels odd
Well, you see, even though the common is clearly the superior card, the Uncommon sees more play in commander than the common, meaning that it should be rarer despite it's general worse-ness.
I don't think Cultivate is really worse. They both are 2-for-1s, but the Visionary dies easily, sometimes also to a 2-for-1. Cultivate gives you always your two land cards, which are basically indestructible in todays limited format. It also makes your future draws better. Yes, the card itself draws is always a land, but odds are you want that on turn 3 anyway. Oh, and not to mention that Cultivate fixes 2 (!) other colors potentially, the Visionary stays with green.
Well, I have to admit that the Elf is a much better topdeck later. But I wouldn't say he's explicitly better.
Well, I have to admit that the Elf is a much better topdeck later. But I wouldn't say he's explicitly better.
This is cool. Expands the UR draw 2 theme into green a little. Plus I'm just a massive mark for any Mirage callbacks.
I'm personally not a fan of green cards interacting with one of green's main weaknesses. Reminds me a bit of Glademuse.
That said, I bring you a fight club:
Please help.
In all seriousness, this guy is an interesting and new(?) kind of effect:
Not that we needed it, but another solid red removal spell:
Finally, a card I really like. The base stats are juuust right and the sacrifice brings a real payoff without any assistance. Between this and that 5/5 Devil, we might see BR sac get really real.
Bless MTGGoldfish for these translations. So much cleaner. Waited to post these until the translation images hit.
That said, I bring you a fight club:
Please help.
In all seriousness, this guy is an interesting and new(?) kind of effect:
Not that we needed it, but another solid red removal spell:
Finally, a card I really like. The base stats are juuust right and the sacrifice brings a real payoff without any assistance. Between this and that 5/5 Devil, we might see BR sac get really real.
Bless MTGGoldfish for these translations. So much cleaner. Waited to post these until the translation images hit.
Archdemon’s vessel with
Fetchable with ranger if eos....Might be worth running for me. Base body can at least carry equipment okay
Stormwing's presence is pretty great. And feels a lot better than illusory angel
I also like when sacrifice takes an aggressive slant in Rakdos....not always taking the aristocrat angle. bogardan dragonheart needs more friends.
Fetchable with ranger if eos....Might be worth running for me. Base body can at least carry equipment okay
Stormwing's presence is pretty great. And feels a lot better than illusory angel
I also like when sacrifice takes an aggressive slant in Rakdos....not always taking the aristocrat angle. bogardan dragonheart needs more friends.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I was like "Oh red murder, cool.", but it hits planeswalkers, and yeah.
I probably do want red Hero's Downfall
These two next to eachother in the set feels odd
My suspicion is the color-fixing nature of Cultivate is why it has a higher rarity (as color fixing and ramp are two separate attributes of green). I have been toying with ramp in green not enabling splashes so that green doesn't turn into fix plus removal/bombs, and the Elf plays well with that stipulation (ramp that doesn't enable splash). Ensuring many high-impact cards are have 2 colored mana is the last knob to combine with green-only ramp.
Fabled passage reprint
I think more than a difference in power level, the difference in rarity is because Cultivate is for constructed (not fragile to removal and board sweeps) and Llanowar Visionary for limited (elves, blink, ramp, draw matters).
Does anyone remember when rarity did not have a strong correlation with power level? Sure, it's an interesting tool in limited, but the change felt scummy to me for years.
Nice to see a quick Fabled Passage reprint. Anything that makes Magic cheaper is welcome.
This is just about the most riptide-y card ever printed baring Wand of Vertebrae type trinkets. It's a reanimation spell and enabler bundled up in the same card! It's not even particularly fragile, so it can be a relevant blocker. I also like how this card slots right into cycling/discard style decks. I'm probably going to test Crazy Grandma here.
It's too bad the activated reanimation ability requires tapping...It'd be cool if you could discard and reanimate on T4 or have it as a late-game 3UUBB zombify. Reanimating at instant speed is good tho.
Not sure this is quite good enough for me, but I do run Deal Broker.
Not sure this is quite good enough for me, but I do run Deal Broker.
I was running Pawn of Ulamog back in the day as a way of doubling up on dies triggers. It was a little too win more, but threatening a 5 power flier might be a better angle
Also more Mayhem Devil synergy!
I'm very excited for this one as its "dense" in the way we've been talking about. slots into multiple red archetypes: artifacts, aristrocrats, ferocious, and dragons if you're cheeky enough.
I'm excited about this one for similar reasons:
artifact/weenie reanimation support, plus blink decks can reset it to keep buying back the same creatures.
Spoiler season focuses on rares/mythics and those can be pretty complex in core sets.
This is just about the most riptide-y card ever printed baring Wand of Vertebrae type trinkets. It's a reanimation spell and enabler bundled up in the same card! It's not even particularly fragile, so it can be a relevant blocker. I also like how this card slots right into cycling/discard style decks. I'm probably going to test Crazy Grandma here.
I think this is a posterchild of "do we like cards that combo with themselves?" Finding out you can combo Merfolk Looter with Zombify is an epiphany. Having the combo on the same card feels cheesy, it becomes good stuff + generic graveyard synergy.
I definitely get this point and agree to some extent, but I'd probably slam a Body Snatcher that didn't exile itself.
Yeah. Pre M10.
That flavor text is spot on when you realize she is sowing her own right hand onto the zombie abomination.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I didn't even catch that. That's gross and amazing detail at the same time :eek:
I think the answer is yes, we do like cards that can enable themselves.
One of the issues we often have when building riptide cubes is getting micro archetype decks to function without having to go completely overboard on space usage power-band broadness. Although one could easily make a deck like Zombie Tribal a thing by just jamming every half-decent zombie and zombie lord into the cube, there would simply not be much room for anything else in that section. Instead, a good designer would look for cards which can go into as many decks as possible while still maintaining the desired power level. For example, if a designer wants to enable a Zombie deck and an Aristocrats deck, then Lazotep Reaver is a strong inclusion. While the card's power level isn't off the charts, it makes two bodies of the relevant type which can also be sacrificed for value. This leads to an important conclusion: cards which can wear multiple hats are usually good additions.
Take a card like Cryptbreaker. The card does so many things! It's enables discard and graveyard strategies, it serves as an army in a can, and it works as a Zombies payoff. But, the card is effectively self-enabling. In theory, your entire game could be focused on just playing crypt breaker, making tons of tokens, and then burying the opponent in card advantage. It takes a little while to get going, but it's not like turning cards into Ashcoat Bears is a big investment. This play pattern doesn't make the Cryptbreaker cheesy or boring, if anything it makes the card more playable: it gives you a gameplan even if the rest of a given draw is sub-par. Our stitcher friend is very much akin to Cryptbreaker. She does help to enable herself, but a variety of different decks want her. My first thought when I saw her was "wow, this is a great enabler for Blue-Black Drakes!"
Seemingly the biggest strike people seem to have against Obsessive Stitcher is the fact that she can act as both enablers for the reanimation deck. Reanimator is an A+B+C deck. A player needs a big creature, a way to get that creature into the graveyard, and a way to cheat it back out. Reanimator decks don't just win because they have Cephalid Looter into Dread Return. They need a third piece: the creature. One of the reasons why big cycling creatures like Titanoth Rex or our new Whale friend from M21 are worth playing in cube is because they cut out the need for a third piece in reanimator. This card effectively represents the same paradigm, it's just now our graveyard dump piece is attached to the reanimation spell as opposed to the reanimation target.
Obsessive Stitcher is pretty great and a welcome addition to any riptide cube with a reasonable desire for a discard outlet or reanimation effects.
I think Obsessive Stitcher is a fine card to integrate themes in a tidy package, but the turn-off to me (aside from power level for my environment) is how in your face it is. Cryptbreaker opens up lines of play and causes you to re-evaluate how to maximize its impact, this clearly points out what should be done with it leaving very little room for interpretation. It feels more rewarding as a player when you can exploit subtleties in synergy and feel smart by identifying and taking advantage of it through your draft and gameplay choices, at least it does for me. It's less interesting when things are pointed out explicitly.
Though I suppose that's just the difference between rare complexities and being in an expansion set versus a Core set. I'm just not the biggest fan of it.
Though I suppose that's just the difference between rare complexities and being in an expansion set versus a Core set. I'm just not the biggest fan of it.