Sets Spoilers Over Innistrad (Digest)

Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I had a pool with 3-4 good cards in each color, and not much depth in any one color. Showed the pool to another experienced player, he tried to build something completely different ({U}{B}, I had tried {B}{R}, {G}{R} and {B}{G} splash {R} so far), then had to agree that three colors was almost mandatory to have a fighting chance. Still don't know if I built correctly, but I can say that Sin Prodder is an absolute house and super fun to play with, and new Avacyn is backbreakingly good if you (or they, in my case) have but a semblance of board presence. I've also heard someone talking highly of Gryff's Boon when I asked him how it performed! The 1/3 lifelink skulk dude cost me a game when it got suited up with a +1/+1 equip, I just couldn't find a way to block it profitably, and it gained him 2 life every turn while holding the fort as a formidable 2/4 blocker (with lifelink, did I mention that?)
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
RavebornMuse said:
I'll provide my adds/maybes list here soon, but, I just want to say (and idk where else to say this but I'm sure the right person could find it), I feel like we'd really benefit from a forum tag for "set reviews" or something similar. I think it'd make the topic tagging a lot more functional, so we can sort out this kind of set review/spoiler season discussion apart from more general topics like "blue creatures" and stuff. It'd really help both old and new forum users to better use the wealth of data on these forums, I think! (please move this post if it belongs somewhere better.)
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This is a fantastic idea, RavebornMuse! Done and done.
 
sigh

sigh

Went to a Sunday prerelease and went 3-1 with a GB deck. Probably should have gone 4-0, cuz I'm fairly certain I goofed some life math, but it's whatevs. This deck was a monster of a creature deck, again focused around a couple synergy plans for victory. One was building up a creature base, helped along with the Ulvenwald Mysteries and creature draw engines of Duskwatch Recruiter and Vessel of Nascency, and then playing and transforming Westvale Abbey and... winning. That card is incredibly ridiculous in limited. I felt ok multiple times saccing a board of 5 nontoken creatures for it, and the lifelink is just bonkers. Card can even be tutored up with Vessel.... Secondary plan was using my draw engines, helped along with The Gitrog Monster + groundskeeper, to build up too much value for the opponent to handle. finishing out came with help from stuff like slayer's Plate and might beyond reason. Moldgraf Scavenger is a beating, as is Ghoulcaller's Accomplice. We may not have gotten flashback, but having creature-flashback is awesome, and trading the ghoulcaller to later poop out a zombie is just value. Helped keep me at 5 creatures too, enabling my nuclear missile land. Gisa's Bidding was also a MVP for that reason.

Me, the Demon, and the Monster









 
shamizy

shamizy

I mean, this is Sealed so it's definitely going to be a different draft experience. I do see it translating over to being quite fun, there are a lot of interesting synergies and you'll have much more control of what you want to build via draft.

Also why are so many Westvale Abbey being opened up? For my 2HG last night literally all of our 4 opponents ended up having a Westvale Abbey on board at some point. Never flipped, but what the hell.
 
Coke No Ice

Coke No Ice

shamizy said:
Also why are so many Westvale Abbey being opened up? For my 2HG last night literally all of our 4 opponents ended up having a Westvale Abbey on board at some point. Never flipped, but what the hell.
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I imagine it has to do with the way they're doing rare/mythic flip cards, I think there's something weird with the math there

In the unreasonable bombs category I would put Accursed Witch. My buddy and I both opened one and they did lots of work. The fellas at the store told us that every time it flipped that player won the game, and I don't think that's far off from the truth.
 
Meltyman

Meltyman

The Gitrog Monster was really awesome, put it in your cube!!
You can have many synergies with it, the body was relevant, but not oppressive seems like a keeper in my cube at least.
It saw play in both of the cubes we played yesterday, so the appeal to pick it seems to be there also.

Nahiri, the Harbinger saw play once and it was in my Goblin Welder deck where it shined in my opinion. I discarded my targets for it and sometimes exiled relevant enchantments with it..
That said i think it will not be that impressive outside of reanimator, but the power level should be just enough to fit the cube.
I definitely like it more than Ajani Vengeant that it replaced.
4 mana to exile a threat then gaining life seems like a decent trade and the potential to get more is there, so yeah try it !
Also RW doesn't have that many options to choose from so i'm pretty sure this one sticks in my cube.

Sorin, Grim Nemesis: i saw in play once and i asked the player who played it of his opinion and he liked it. After stabilizing it done work and even when behind it gives you a lot of time.
Sorin seems like the best 6 mana planeswalker for my cube in terms of power level. 6-mana Elspeth is too over powered and the Teferi is really horrible.
Haven't decided if i want to keep Sorin there, but again i think i like this planeswalker more than the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad that it replaced.
 
sigh

sigh

I definitely second Meltyman regarding The Gitrog Monster. Its an awesome engine card, but has real risks and isn't over the top with its engine, so its nice and balanced. Playing it on five lands runs the real risk of bricking on lands and falling far behind on land count. I also like that they didn't give it evasion, so it doesn't just run over chumpers. Will cube!
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
sigh said:
I definitely second Meltyman regarding The Gitrog Monster. Its an awesome engine card, but has real risks and isn't over the top with its engine, so its nice and balanced. Playing it on five lands runs the real risk of bricking on lands and falling far behind on land count. I also like that they didn't give it evasion, so it doesn't just run over chumpers. Will cube!
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I built two decks with the cards I opened yesterday, and even in that environment it was fun without being overpowered. Nice card!
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

MTGS has written off Gitrog Monster as not being good enough. That means it's perfect for your average riptide cube. That's a pretty consistent trend, so anyone worried about it being too good should really take a second look and test it.

And Meren is broken. I love the card but I might have to take it out for being too ridiculous.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

Onderzeeboot said:
Yeah, Meren is awesome, but completely runs away with games, and because the experience counters stay on you, even if they deal with it, they're in deep trouble again as soon as you draw a reanimation spell / eternal witness.
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Exactly this. I wish those counters were tied to Meren. Or she didn't have that text at all. Honestly, she's good enough without it.
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
So what are other people's experience with delirium?

I've found it REALLY hard to get. Like abysmally hard. Like, 14 card graveyards were insufficient and it was basically a count of when specifically courser of kruphix had died.

Like I know there's a lot of little cards you can add with types that help:



etc

but there's only so many of those, and I don't think seal of fire is actually a card my environment wants. Even getting land/creature/instant/sorcery is really REALLY difficult.

As such, I've gone and cut Moldgraf Scavenger. It's just too often an 0/4 :(
Obsessive Skinner was solid though, and I think it's base mode is a little more defensible, assuming counters are something desireable
 
Meltyman

Meltyman

There ain't enough delirium cards to justify going for "delirium theme" in cube so, no i don't like it at the moment.

I think treshold is a lot more appealing than delirium as a mechanic anyway, easier to check if you have it and also easier to support in a cube...
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
frostymoose said:
The list of good threshold cards isn't exactly long, either ...Maybe???
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in a slower enviornment, both lightning surge and grizzly fate can be pretty solid. Divine Sacrament also looks worth building around.
Maybe Nantuko Monastery? Shower of Coals?
You're not wrong though.


Meltyman said:
There ain't enough delirium cards to justify going for "delirium theme" in cube so, no i don't like it at the moment.

I think treshold is a lot more appealing than delirium as a mechanic anyway, easier to check if you have it and also easier to support in a cube...
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I felt this way about colorless mana cards as well, and I really hope it's not just me being curmudgeonly and cutting good gameplay because it requires too much effort on my part as a designer.
Edit: Man, and morph too! though I feel a little more justified in that one. It's cool, it's interesting, but it's not my thing, and making gray ogre a decent t3 play is a colossal effort.
I'm mostly pissed. I stuck my neck out for you moldgraf scavenger! :p
 
Rasmus Källqvist

Rasmus Källqvist

I think the best way to evaluate something like that is to build as good as a deck for that mechanic as you can in 40 card singleton, playtest against some 3-0 deck and see if theres an even match-up and that it is fun.
 
MCMcEmcee

MCMcEmcee

(Fetch)land, instant, creature, sorcery isn't something you have to go out of your way to hit in a normal game. My problem with delirium is that most of the cards aren't that good.

Duskwatch Recruiter and Gitgud Frog are going in for sure. Thalia's Lieutenant and Relentless Dead are likely. Undecided on everything else.
 
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