-Starts nervously sweating-
Sets (AFR) Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Previews- Dripping with Flavor, and Excess Words!
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
I don't deny that the gameplay might be sweet, but...
Look, this entire set pisses me off. I was a D&D fan from 2009 to roughly 2015, and I still play it today because tabletop gaming as a whole is one of my only passions in life. It used to absolutely consume my life — in college, I probably spent more time on RPGs than I did my schoolwork.
I'm the kind of person that this set is trying to reach out to, and that makes me so damn angry. No, WotC, I'm not pleased that you're advertising one of your brands by way of your other major brand. I'm not fucking happy that you're engaging in cross-brand synergy. This hurts, and I have to stop before I start saying some things I'm going to regret in the morning.
(On that note... is there any way that I can hide this thread? I keep being pulled back in because I have zero willpower, and I'd like to head that off at the pass.)
Block everyone who posts in the thread.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Oh, that is strange!
I also have so many questions for LadyMapi, but I'll refrain from quoting you. I won't make you explain why you think cross-brand synergy is a bad thing or why them monetizing D&D in MtG makes you angry. As someone whose being playing D&D since 1999, I have no trouble seeing it appear in my other hobby, but to each their own!
I've been playing both D&D and Magic since 1994, so I kinda understand where Mapi is coming from. There is a hipster part of my brain that doesn't like that D&D is kinda cool now, because that was my thing and I loved it when there was way more social stigma attached. But, y'know, as long as we live in a world where The Walking Dead and Stranger Things cards exist, which make me much angrier than this, I'll allow Drizzt and company to join the party.
Speaking of which, why the hell aren't there more party cards in this set? Missed opportunity.
Speaking of which, why the hell aren't there more party cards in this set? Missed opportunity.
You mean the mechanic "party" from that recent Zendikar set, or more of the party from this lore? Also, haven't we only seen like 15 cards so far? I wouldn't call anything missed yet.
1. We don't know all the mechanics of the set yet. So there could be.
2. Even if there aren't, there is probably a logical explanation. "Something, something, mechanic pushed to Zendikar Rising, something."
I hope they bring the party mechanic back already even though it doesn't work for my cube. It would (almost?) be a first to have a mechanic returning this fast after its debut.
Edit: Sigh the Ninja
Well, they posted the Mechanics article already. That generally includes all the unique mechanics that are going to show up, and Dungeons were the only mechanic in there. So I assume other than the clunky dungeon stuff, this is going to be your standard core set with a Forgotten Realms coat of paint.
These articles usually cover brand new mechanics. Party wouldn't be brand new, among a wide variety of on-flavor mechanics they can pull from. I wouldn't be worried yet.
I'll be honest, a lot of the reasons are kinda emotionally-charged and private, so I don't know if I'd be comfortable explaining why this sends me up the wall.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
That's completely fair. I was curious, but I won't prod you to share details you don't want to share!
You actually can to an extent - in COckatrice: Card Database > Manage Sets.
Most of the alternate arts are in seperate sets from the main set. Uncheck them and they won't appear.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Yup, we've talked
Opting out as a rule for all of them would be the ideal, and ya can, but it's a pain to go all the way down the list right?
I'm pretty doubtful that dungeons will make my list, but I think it's an interesting enough mechanic. The fact that you can choose from all three of them is...weird design, I feel. We'll probably get more from the EDH decks too, right?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I could see dungeons replacing the learn/lesson mechanic in my list, honestly. It has the same sort of flavor, but not being an A + B mechanic is quite good.
But that's the cool part about Strixhaven drafting. That's why it is so damn popular.
Is it? I liked Kaldheim way more than Strixhaven, I find Strixhaven a bit too much repetitive since there are only 5 color pairs (let's say 4 because RW doesn't really exist), and the fact that a lot of Lessons are colorless or hybrid makes it in a way that I feel I see always the same cards in every game
Lorehold is the third strongest color pairing in Strixhaven drafting.
https://draftsim.com/strixhaven-draft-best-colleges-and-cards/
Dimir is surprisingly strong but this probably takes 20 drafts to notice. Each of the 6 (Dimir) color pairings are within 5 % in winrate.
I cannot find any statistical data on the popularity but I have only ever heard people praise the format. Many cards feel good both early and late game. Many cards are good both early and late picks in the draft. It is possible to build a reasonable 4 or 5-colored deck. Especially if you get Codie, Vociferous Codex. It is fun chasing not only the colors and the strong cards but also pairing between Lessons and Learn cards.
Strixhaven is maybe my favorite retail draft format I've ever played. To me the color pairs thing doesn't hold much water because I just jammed 4-color decks every time and got to play with sweet cube cards from the Mystical Archive.