I agree, I'm really happy that the color pairs seem to have so much elegant design space left to explore! Boros finally felt exciting.
General [STX] Strixhaven Spoilers
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Instead of pointing to the guild that didn't deviate too much from what it did in the past, you could also point towards other guilds that do,
in particular.
Some of the themes in in this set interest me while others don't. I only expect a handful of cards to really interest me in each set, so I'm actually pretty satisfied with what's offered here.
- White gets a few useful spells matter cards that might help to turn the typical UR spells matters into a URW triangle archetype. I'm interested in the idea of crossing that over with a heroic type of triangle archetype in RGW, so I'll have to see if that can come together or not.
- White also gets a couple of neat card for a blink archetype that do something other than the usual plan of abusing powerful ETB effects.
- Blue gets some variants of familiar cards that are adjusted to slightly different power levels that might appeal to some designers. Frost Lynx gets upgraded to a flier in Frost Trickster. We Soothsayer Adept, a 2 mana looter that blocks but costs mana to activate, which interests me. This checks more boxes for me than a standard Merfolk Looter since now it's a mana sink and a blocker. I also worry that a zero mana loot ability wins the long game, even though a new player might not realize that's why they lost.
- Solve the Equation needed to be printed eventually, and I'm glad they didn't make it rare. Some designers will want this card. I'm going to buy a copy, even though I'm not sure how I feel about tutoring effects. As a deck builder I love them, but as a cube designer I'm not so sure what to think.
- Tempted by the Oriq is interesting; 4 mana to steal a 3 "mana value" creature seems like a nice power level. The triple blue mana kills the card for me, though. The combination of multiplayer rules text, non-resonant flavor/title, and especially the triple blue mana take it out of play for me. They should make a 2UU aura with a non-stupid name that steals a creature with mana value 3 or less. I'd run that.
- Go Blank is a nice way to include a graveyard wipe. This can replace Mind Rot in the simplicity cube.
- Novice Dissector appeals to me, but couldn't they have made this an instant speed effect?
- Oriq Loremage would be an exciting card for some players to draft and play. I like it.
- Unwilling Ingredient might be interesting since it works for aggro and self mill. I think a RB aggro deck likes this as a way to get a few points in early and also look for the last bit of gas at the end?
- I like Pigment Storm apart from the flavor.
- Deadly Brew is a neat little UG spell.
- Square Up is cool.
- Campus Guide and Letter of Acceptance are nice general mana fixers.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Strixhaven is the opposite of Kaldheim for me - I love the cohesive feel of the set and its overall vibe but can't find many cards that stand out on their own
Instead of pointing to the guild that didn't deviate too much from what it did in the past, you could also point towards other guilds that do,
I didn't mean to sound so negative, I was just wondering if there is anything new, but I admit, that my statement could be understand as hating Strixhaven. I don't, I'm happy for everyone who enjoys it and I think drafting it will be really fun with learn/lesson as a theme.
I just didn't say anything about lorehold, because it's obviously a very new approach to
Quandrix just doesn't seem to do anything simic didn't already, and Witherbloom only expands the lifegain theme a little into green but that's also not entirely new there.
I am too, this set is full of great cube inclusions. I think people are mis-evaluating the power level of both the Learn and Magecraft mechanics and treating them like parasitic space killers instead of the dynamic mechanics they are in reality. Even the mono-green magecraft cards look good, and green doesn't normally cast a lot of instants and sorceries!
It also doesn't help that so many of the best cards in the set are gold cards. A lot of people want to use their gold slots on cool build-around cards. So even though cards like Witherbloom Command and Deadly Brew are more powerful and probably have more play to them than something like The Gitrog Monster, people are avoiding them because they aren't as exciting in a vacuum.
I will not abide frog slander. You take that back! I think neither of those cards do anything unique or interesting that you don't already get from the plethora of removal options in Golgari, especially compared to The Gitrog Monster which can spawn an entire archetype and inspire multiple card inclusions within an environment. Gitrog makes me want to draft a Golgari deck around it, Witherbloom is more a reward for already being in those colors.
That's not to say the GB Command is bad, it's more or less Collective Brutality V2, but gold slots should be evaluated more thoroughly imo. Hell, I'm probably just going to shift over Fiend Artisan to a Green slot and include the command instead with how well it works with Gitrog.
That's not to say the GB Command is bad, it's more or less Collective Brutality V2, but gold slots should be evaluated more thoroughly imo. Hell, I'm probably just going to shift over Fiend Artisan to a Green slot and include the command instead with how well it works with Gitrog.
I didn't mean to sound so negative, I was just wondering if there is anything new, but I admit, that my statement could be understand as hating Strixhaven. I don't, I'm happy for everyone who enjoys it and I think drafting it will be really fun with learn/lesson as a theme.
I just didn't say anything about lorehold, because it's obviously a very new approach to
Quandrix just doesn't seem to do anything simic didn't already, and Witherbloom only expands the lifegain theme a little into green but that's also not entirely new there.
I wasn't just thinking about novelty! I think for instance Decisive Rejection managed to get a really nice UG card by combining a counterspell with a fight spell. I don't think we've had that before? Small things like that.
I love Learn and Lesson but they actually are parasitic because they only do what they were intended to do if you have the cards together and odds are Wizards are not printing them in every third set from now on. It’s either a gimmick (like how I want to use them) or a main part of the cube. Or excluded from the cube. It is possible to include the Lesson cards without any Learn if your cube is low power enough but then they are not doing 100 % of what was intended. It is possible to include Learn cards without any Lessons but then they are not doing 100 % of what was intended. Very cool mechanic, I hope we see it again in a few years.
Magecraft could very well turn evergreen. Just like scry was a Mirran mechanic (the citizens of Mirrodin) and prowess was a Jeskai mechanic (the Blue-Red-White khan clan on Tarkir) and now we see scry and prowess quite often. Probably scry a lot more often than prowess but you get the idea.
Magecraft: Thumbs up!
Modal dual faced cards are also fantastic when implemented clean and simple. I expected Strixhaven to have creatures on front and instant/sorceries on the back OR have instants/sorceries on front and enchantments on back. Those two would be flavorful and play really well. And they would have been beloved like Zendikar Rising’s MDFCs. The Dean/Dean is a terrible idea.
Mystical Archive: What a smart way to implement a new Masterpiece series. Flavorful because they’re directly written into the story (Strixhaven is quite unique in the regard that it has knowledge of other planes’ existence. They know of Dominaria, Amonkhet, New Phyrexia, Ravnica, Zendikar, Alara, Ixalan, Innistrad etc. etc.) That’s why they have spells from all over the multiverse. And naturally all Mystical Archive cards are instants/sorceries which fits perfectly. Elegant and this makes me want to reward them with money.
Magecraft could very well turn evergreen. Just like scry was a Mirran mechanic (the citizens of Mirrodin) and prowess was a Jeskai mechanic (the Blue-Red-White khan clan on Tarkir) and now we see scry and prowess quite often. Probably scry a lot more often than prowess but you get the idea.
Magecraft: Thumbs up!
Modal dual faced cards are also fantastic when implemented clean and simple. I expected Strixhaven to have creatures on front and instant/sorceries on the back OR have instants/sorceries on front and enchantments on back. Those two would be flavorful and play really well. And they would have been beloved like Zendikar Rising’s MDFCs. The Dean/Dean is a terrible idea.
Mystical Archive: What a smart way to implement a new Masterpiece series. Flavorful because they’re directly written into the story (Strixhaven is quite unique in the regard that it has knowledge of other planes’ existence. They know of Dominaria, Amonkhet, New Phyrexia, Ravnica, Zendikar, Alara, Ixalan, Innistrad etc. etc.) That’s why they have spells from all over the multiverse. And naturally all Mystical Archive cards are instants/sorceries which fits perfectly. Elegant and this makes me want to reward them with money.
Obviously you're not actually asking for Threads of Disloyalty, nor are you asking for Domestication, but between the two it felt like what you were asking for. Which is unfortunate. How have they not printed that yet?
Doesn't seem worth it to create a brand new thread for the commander set, especially where there will only be like 80 new cards, so might as well just post them in here. I'm quite excited about this one for my U/R Artifacts decks:
Being able to self-pitch itself into the grave with that cycling ability lets this play very well with Daretti and Welder. I'm 100% giving this a run over Combustible Gearhulk who is never terrible but is unexciting for the most part. It's one that I've swapped in and out multiple times over the years but never really been all that impressed with. Hopefully this one gets there with a more relevant keyword, splashier cost, and the wheel trigger.
Being able to self-pitch itself into the grave with that cycling ability lets this play very well with Daretti and Welder. I'm 100% giving this a run over Combustible Gearhulk who is never terrible but is unexciting for the most part. It's one that I've swapped in and out multiple times over the years but never really been all that impressed with. Hopefully this one gets there with a more relevant keyword, splashier cost, and the wheel trigger.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
friendship ended with Eternal Dragon
Karnstruct maker!
Not that red's ever short on three-drops, but this is a really nice red three-drop. Lets you play exiled lands, unlike Robber of the Rich. Like, this might go into my cube and I'm just short of powermax.
Somehow fairer than Wurmcoil Engine - seriously though, this could be a good Tinker target for the people that run that. Very strong with Welder/Daretti, though, so maybe it's too good.
It's just Mycosynth Wellspring. You can't fool me with all your extra alleged rules text.
Oh man, Angel of Ruins is such a perfect card! :eek: Instant include.
I also think Ruin Grinder may supplant Combustible Gearhulk
Triplicate Titan might still be too strong for a top end reanimation target in my cube...it's better than Ancient Stone Idol, right?
I also think Ruin Grinder may supplant Combustible Gearhulk
Triplicate Titan might still be too strong for a top end reanimation target in my cube...it's better than Ancient Stone Idol, right?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Haha, I'm excited for Cursed Mirror and Losheel! So many cool designs in this deck!
I really like these too.....you don't have to cast the artifacts for Losheel which is huge. Cursed Mirror is going to be so cool in my Sneaky Welder archetype
Unnngggh. Screw Strixhaven, this is way cooler
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I am honestly surprised. These designs are so much cooler than what I had anticipated! I think they knocked this one out of the ballpark! Now I've got to dial back down my expectations for the other four. They can't possibly all be this interesting!
Mirror is amazing. Being able to pull off some gross Welder shenanigans seems super cool. It's even within the 3 cmc for Goblin Engineer's mini Welder impression. It also doubles as a rock for Wildfire style decks which I've found to work very well alongside Daretti in decks in the past. Big fan of this card.
I think Titan might be stronger with the 3 bodies left behind. I do like this as a reanimation/Welder target though. It's a very clean design at feels more fair at 9 mana than something like Wurmcoil Engine at 6. Aside from straight artifact removal, bounce and exile effects will definitely help keep it in check even if it comes out super early.
It's definitely cleaner than Idol which is powerful, but reads like a badly made custom card.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
friendship ended with Eternal Dragon
I'm torn. I have actually used that rebuy ability to plainscycle it away in the early game, then return it to my hand later after I wrested control of the game.
What about phyrexian triniform? Very similar execution without the ability pile, and with a long shot self-reanimation mode
This is such a great signpost, haste is scary, but I would 100% of the time run this over Open the Vaults, unless I was really wanting to get a bunch of Enchantments, and Dance of the Manse, Starfield of Nyx, and Triumphant Reckoning could do that instead.