One Pack One Pick (p1p1 thread)
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Cut the Swords of X and Y and liberate yourself from obvious first picks, miserable games, and uninteractive mechanics! Spread the gospel!
Edit:
Also, [ ci ]Life // Death[ /ci ] works! You need to put spaces around the '//'
Also also, don't think I'm joking about the Swords. They're one of the most miserable designs ever made. They promise you cool effects because they have a really neat double effect when you hit your opponent, and while +2/+2 is a bit underwhelming at
+ , it does help your creature get through. Oh, and then there's protection, which I guess also helps your creatures get through. Against a random subset of your opponents. Have you ever been across a Sword in limited? In a match where that Sword protected from the exact two colors you were drafting because the picks happened to fall that way? Giving you the feeling you just got punished, nay, kicked in the face because you first picked the wrong card? The double protection randomly turns good games into nongames, because as soon as that thing hits, it's not a matter of "can I race this?" (and yes, I'm aware that sometimes you can), it's a matter of learning to gracefully accept that there are certain things that just lose you the game. Like mana screw, or color screw, or untouchable permanents. And the worst thing is, these are colorless! Any deck can and should use them! They are the epitome of an easy first pick, and the feel-bad games are honestly not worth adding these to your cube. In my not so humble opinion. There is a reason Wizards of the Coast has largely phased out the protection mechanic from permanents, Spectra Ward notwithstanding. It's a bollocks uninteractive mechanic that is wholly incapable of creating enjoyable games. Tense games? Sometimes. Enjoyable? Never. If you must play the Swords, strike out the protection lines, and just play them without. Will they be as strong? No, of course not. Will that lead to less onesided, more enjoyable games? For sure. Peace.
Edit:
Also, [ ci ]Life // Death[ /ci ] works! You need to put spaces around the '//'
Also also, don't think I'm joking about the Swords. They're one of the most miserable designs ever made. They promise you cool effects because they have a really neat double effect when you hit your opponent, and while +2/+2 is a bit underwhelming at
+ , it does help your creature get through. Oh, and then there's protection, which I guess also helps your creatures get through. Against a random subset of your opponents. Have you ever been across a Sword in limited? In a match where that Sword protected from the exact two colors you were drafting because the picks happened to fall that way? Giving you the feeling you just got punished, nay, kicked in the face because you first picked the wrong card? The double protection randomly turns good games into nongames, because as soon as that thing hits, it's not a matter of "can I race this?" (and yes, I'm aware that sometimes you can), it's a matter of learning to gracefully accept that there are certain things that just lose you the game. Like mana screw, or color screw, or untouchable permanents. And the worst thing is, these are colorless! Any deck can and should use them! They are the epitome of an easy first pick, and the feel-bad games are honestly not worth adding these to your cube. In my not so humble opinion. There is a reason Wizards of the Coast has largely phased out the protection mechanic from permanents, Spectra Ward notwithstanding. It's a bollocks uninteractive mechanic that is wholly incapable of creating enjoyable games. Tense games? Sometimes. Enjoyable? Never. If you must play the Swords, strike out the protection lines, and just play them without. Will they be as strong? No, of course not. Will that lead to less onesided, more enjoyable games? For sure. Peace.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
*Shrug* It's just my opinion. Feel free to ignore it
It's still the obvious pick in this pack though.
I'm kind of okay with Sword of Light and Shadow from a power level perspective, and kept that one in for years after I cut the rest. Until one night, I noticed the game going on next to me, where the B/W drafter was totally getting hosed by the double protection... and then finally axed that one for good, too.
safra's pack: Realllllly tempted to take Cryptic Command, even though it puts me waist deep into blue. If I didn't feel like going blue that given night, I would go with Yasova Dragonclaw.
Aston: Sword of Fire and Ice is the safe pick, putting me into Any Colour Generic Midrange. Elesh Norn is pretty badass, too, though.
safra's pack: Realllllly tempted to take Cryptic Command, even though it puts me waist deep into blue. If I didn't feel like going blue that given night, I would go with Yasova Dragonclaw.
Aston: Sword of Fire and Ice is the safe pick, putting me into Any Colour Generic Midrange. Elesh Norn is pretty badass, too, though.
People seem to be tinkers, so you're going to see more Johnny picks, than Spike picks.
Imo the psychographic profiles are like Magic players' version of horoscopes, except not as useful or descriptive. I would honestly prefer that we talked about, like, an Aries Sligh pilot, or Sag Reanimator or Cap (u/w control obvi).
If I'm any of those three maroisms I'm a spike and then Johnny but god they're so reductive and get redefined past meaning anything, am I alone in the Jesse Mason corner again?
Like this shit assumes you don't care about nonMagical things enough to realize it's so hollow, lol, how can you not laugh
If I'm any of those three maroisms I'm a spike and then Johnny but god they're so reductive and get redefined past meaning anything, am I alone in the Jesse Mason corner again?
Like this shit assumes you don't care about nonMagical things enough to realize it's so hollow, lol, how can you not laugh
Also also, don't think I'm joking about the Swords. They're one of the most miserable designs ever made. They promise you cool effects because they have a really neat double effect when you hit your opponent, and while +2/+2 is a bit underwhelming at
I replied to your post before I saw your edit. I agree that protection is the most frustrating thing about the swords and I have talked with my drafters about striking that out, as I like the effects and find them fun to play with but dislike the protection which I find oppressive. I hope my earlier reply didn't seem too flippant but really they are definitely on the "watch list" for cards that might be cut.
Haha, that is fair. I always liked those Livejournal quizzes one would take that tell one which kind of bread you were or whatever. Sourdough represent. But they were bogus and even that much-hyped-in-secondary-education INFJ thingy is mostly vapor.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, sorry about that ninja edit. I decided it was worth it to explain my point of view a bit better. See, in the end we agree, we're just in different phases of our Sword of X and Y relationship
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Huh... First random booster from my cube. No customs, no green, no lands. Weird! Interesting pack though
Sower for me.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Call me nuts, but I think I'ld go Skinrender here, hoping to wheel basically any of the black cards or Contagion Clasp (which shouldn't be hard, since this pack is packed).
Also, I swear I didn't cut green from my cube Jason!
Also, I swear I didn't cut green from my cube Jason!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Well... Let's keep this flowing!
Customs! A land! Green cards!
Customs! A land! Green cards!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Awwww, gilded lotus says mana of one color?
I think I'm taking....drana? I don't love first picking a double black card, but her power level seems much higher than the other stuff in the pack. Like, rush of ice is no all star
I think I'm taking....drana? I don't love first picking a double black card, but her power level seems much higher than the other stuff in the pack. Like, rush of ice is no all star
I think I'd go with Assemble the Legion, even though it puts me into two colours. The power level is redonkulous on that card, that even if I don't end up R/W, it'll have been worth the speculative pick just in case I do end up Boros. It also doesn't ask anything of me, other than a colour commitment!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, I think that would be my pick as well. I really like that it can be played as a 5-drop in aggressive decks for some inevitability, or, it's main home, in a control deck. Good
control permanents are far and few between, so I like something in that slot that works. It surely is a card to monitor.You know, I could also be persuaded to change it to something similar with less of a snowball effect. You know, something like...
Edit: Oh god, this is even worse! I just went this into land, Righteous Confluence for three tokens, Firebolt to the dome, for a total of 16 damage on turn 6, instead of a total of 1 (ok, 3 with the Firebolt) damage on turn 6... You know what? Maybe Assemble the Legion isn't as overpowered as it looks. You still have a few turns to find an answer to it... Right?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah... I tried that, but making 2/2 prowess tokens with haste turns out to be pretty absurd. I have tried a few iterations, but anything that made prowess tokens and pumped them at the same time was pretty gross. My most recent version is the one below, and that has held some promise so far. Not too strong, but still relevant, more control oriented than Assemble the Legion as well.
I found this image I made a few years ago. You can pick from this pack:
