Dom Harvey
Contributor
Clear GW #1 for power-maxers but a very neat card in general IMO
General [MSH] Marvel Super Heroes
- Thread starter ravnic
- Start date
Clear GW #1 for power-maxers but a very neat card in general IMO
Am I the only one who feels like a lot of the designs are just kinda... bland? Maybe it's my aversion of Hero and Villain as card types that makes me less interested in the designs, but man it feels like a lot of stuff we've seen before.
Some cards that are kinda neat, I guess?
(That last one is Storm, Windrider, and should pop up soonish).
And there's also
which is kinda gross in terms of powercreep - yeah, sure, let's take Mirrorworks, make it a 2/4 for
with the stupid-ass Villain subtype, then animate the tokens, why the heck not?
Some cards that are kinda neat, I guess?
(That last one is Storm, Windrider, and should pop up soonish).
And there's also
which is kinda gross in terms of powercreep - yeah, sure, let's take Mirrorworks, make it a 2/4 for
with the stupid-ass Villain subtype, then animate the tokens, why the heck not?
I've recently had a thought. They might've finally strip mined Magic's potential to its limits over 30+ years. There are no new cards to make, because everything has been done. That's why we get weird twists on mechanics that were perfectly fine, just to present it as new. Sneak in place of ninjutsu, harmonize instead of flashback, cloak instead of morph etc. Okay, some might have power creep or rule engine reasons, fine.
I think Mark Rosewater said somewhere, that it's fun to find the way to represent existing characters in Magic rules. And I indeed have a nice surprise sometimes, when I see a familiar character with Magic mechanics and think "of course, that makes sense". At this point Magic engine should support pretty much anything you could think of. Problem is, I recognize maybe 5% of UB characters, and find 100 variations of Spiderman boring as hell. Most "legendary" chars are just stat beatsticks to fill the quota you'd forget in a day.
What I'm trying to say, is that adapting existing media is a new challenge to them, very different to the usual "what new could we even do in Magic at this point". It kinda has potential to prolong strip mining of magic. I've also seen a theory, that mainstream hypermarkets would have a ready nostalgia IP product in a form of tried and true Magic: the Gathering game. Instead of some movie promo tie in game that will be forgotten in a year.
I play cube exclusively, so I'm not bothered that much, but also unexcited about constructed formats. I'm still anti-UB, but now I realize it could be vital to the longevity of the game in the current release schedule. Of course, you should blame Hasbro executives for the stupid release schedule. Shame that actually interesting designs are from the fabled plane of New York now. I'll have to make custom in-universe proxies If I'd want to play with them, but I'm not opposed to UB existing now. Just would be a lot cooler if it didn't.
At this point I doubt it's possible to make a truly breakthrough Magic set within the boundaries of the game as it is. But do we really want triple-sided cards, initiative 2.0, physical side-decks or permanent stat upgrades with each passing match? I think most people here want simple yet exciting non-parasitic glue cards for various themes, but I sometimes think everything has been done at this point. Maybe a couple actually neat new designs per set.
I think Mark Rosewater said somewhere, that it's fun to find the way to represent existing characters in Magic rules. And I indeed have a nice surprise sometimes, when I see a familiar character with Magic mechanics and think "of course, that makes sense". At this point Magic engine should support pretty much anything you could think of. Problem is, I recognize maybe 5% of UB characters, and find 100 variations of Spiderman boring as hell. Most "legendary" chars are just stat beatsticks to fill the quota you'd forget in a day.
What I'm trying to say, is that adapting existing media is a new challenge to them, very different to the usual "what new could we even do in Magic at this point". It kinda has potential to prolong strip mining of magic. I've also seen a theory, that mainstream hypermarkets would have a ready nostalgia IP product in a form of tried and true Magic: the Gathering game. Instead of some movie promo tie in game that will be forgotten in a year.
I play cube exclusively, so I'm not bothered that much, but also unexcited about constructed formats. I'm still anti-UB, but now I realize it could be vital to the longevity of the game in the current release schedule. Of course, you should blame Hasbro executives for the stupid release schedule. Shame that actually interesting designs are from the fabled plane of New York now. I'll have to make custom in-universe proxies If I'd want to play with them, but I'm not opposed to UB existing now. Just would be a lot cooler if it didn't.
At this point I doubt it's possible to make a truly breakthrough Magic set within the boundaries of the game as it is. But do we really want triple-sided cards, initiative 2.0, physical side-decks or permanent stat upgrades with each passing match? I think most people here want simple yet exciting non-parasitic glue cards for various themes, but I sometimes think everything has been done at this point. Maybe a couple actually neat new designs per set.
Last edited:
Yeah no I would be willing to bet money that the reason no one is jumping to post about this set on most platforms is because the cards are mostly terrible.
Riptide Lab is famously a powermax cube forum, there are no curators here who could be interested in a card like Shuri, Wakandan Inventor, Loki, God of Mischief, Elektra, Daughter of the Hand, Shuri, the Black Panther, or the new dual land cycle that encourages playing basic lands. Regardless, it was mostly in jest, I know there's a market for it. I do agree though, the cards are terrible.
Really surprised this can hit lands. I don't think I have space for it at 3, but I think it's a neat card with a lot of decision-making to it, so I do kind of want to.
I don't care too much for this card except how I made something very similar for Onder's Ravnica contest and he said it would be too oppressive so I find it funny that it now exists in paper. It is kind of appealing to me just because undercosted beaters with drawbacks are funny and it's a decent unearth target, but I doubt I'll bother finding space, I'd probably rather play Rotting Regisaur.
The cards are a weird bunch, for sure. I find the pushed ones absolutely sauceless--shit, why not make your 1UG creature that clones a card every turn a 4/4 with vigilance? If you want a green Knightly Valor, sure, it'll grow AND let you play lands off the top of your library! Fuck it, Savannah Lions isn't good enough, make one that grows and draws you cards if you put it in the right deck. What the hell is this? When I was a kid, we cast Rampaging Baloths and LIKED it.
That said, some of the lower-powered stuff is genuinely sweet. I'm pissed that they're powercreeping old stuff, but at least Dark Deed is an interesting sidegrade to Drown in Ichor despite Grasp of Darkness being way swaggier than either.
The exalted stuff seems like a ton of fun. Black Widow, Double Agent--I hate having to type that--seems fascinating, but like, c'mon. At minimum she's a 3-mana 3/2 first strike menace deathtoucher. Bring back Vampire Nighthawk!
The Valiant-adjacent stuff is pretty good, and I love the templating (though Kamala Khan is kinda a nightmare to parse if you don't have the "power = cards in hand" shortcut ready to go).
Plans are all excellent, no notes. I might actually run some of these.
They're Zendikar Quests but actually good (not you, Zektar Shrine Expedition. you're perfect.)
Drogskol Reaver is good?!
Dookie to type, but a fun finisher and an interesting spin on Bolas' Citadel.[/CI]
edit: never mind, you have to type all of these names exactly every single time you want to talk about them. Fuck this, I'm back to being a hater.
That said, some of the lower-powered stuff is genuinely sweet. I'm pissed that they're powercreeping old stuff, but at least Dark Deed is an interesting sidegrade to Drown in Ichor despite Grasp of Darkness being way swaggier than either.
The exalted stuff seems like a ton of fun. Black Widow, Double Agent--I hate having to type that--seems fascinating, but like, c'mon. At minimum she's a 3-mana 3/2 first strike menace deathtoucher. Bring back Vampire Nighthawk!
The Valiant-adjacent stuff is pretty good, and I love the templating (though Kamala Khan is kinda a nightmare to parse if you don't have the "power = cards in hand" shortcut ready to go).
Plans are all excellent, no notes. I might actually run some of these.
They're Zendikar Quests but actually good (not you, Zektar Shrine Expedition. you're perfect.)
Drogskol Reaver is good?!
Dookie to type, but a fun finisher and an interesting spin on Bolas' Citadel.[/CI]
edit: never mind, you have to type all of these names exactly every single time you want to talk about them. Fuck this, I'm back to being a hater.
Last edited:
Contrary to what I said earlier, they still find mechanical niches to explore. Maybe precisely because of top-down design with new unfamiliar lore instead of Magic canon. I love white prowess, especially with according color pie effects. Some more heroic is also interesting. I was pondering "attacks alone" theme for my first cube with auras, but found support unexciting then.
Shame about Marvel though. I hate how it became the insufferable common denominator for "geek culture". For fantasy IPs I could at least pretend those are from some niche multiverse plane I forgot about.
Shame about Marvel though. I hate how it became the insufferable common denominator for "geek culture". For fantasy IPs I could at least pretend those are from some niche multiverse plane I forgot about.
Will definitely pick up a copy for my ULD. A Legion Extruder effect on a land with all the trinket artifact generation we've gotten in recent years is pretty cool.