Sets (OTJ) Outlaws of Thunder Junction Previews

[TrainmasterGT]

This is a nice, simple two drop. I don't like the flavor at all, but mechanically it's a nice addition to the mix. I'll definitely pick up this and Treasure Dredger, which is another nice simple two drop mentioned earlier.

This seems like it will be cute in limited with all of the plot cards and Prairie Dog.

The new and improved Glint Hawk. Really a shame that you can’t return a land. That would made it an instant include for me. That said, it may still crack my list.

Nurturing Faerie is a lot more interesting when you put it that way! I do wish it could bounce lands, though.

You burn spells can cantrip and they're all Blazes?! Sheeesh!

This card could be good! It's a very cool design.

Main deck playable Super Disenchant.

Spree is such a great mechanic. When it was leaked I thought it was going to be a dud, but all of these cards are so cool I would be surprised if at least a couple don't find their way into my Cube!

Temu Spider Spawning?

Losing flashback in exchange for a cheaper cost and doubling the token power seems like it could be good?

Simple UR design. Really appreciate cards like this amidst a sea of wordy mythics.

I like this card. Too bad UR is already so stacked or else I think this would go into a ton of Cubes!

 

[LadyMapi]

So overall I'm unconvinced that the block structure gave us better stories, though acknowledge that I'm not really the target audience.

It's not that it gave us better stories, really, it's that... while Magic sets are bad at telling a traditional linear story, they're great at vignettes and setting. Blocks were a way of stringing those static pictures together into a sequence, kinda like a big comic.

I've got a definite hunch that Ikoria, New Capenna, and Strixhaven would've been stronger story-wise if they had been two set blocks. You wouldn't even need to change the stories all that much - just spread 'em out and let them breathe.

(I suspect that Murder at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction feel off for a different reason — we've kinda been trained by Commander sets that "set where a bunch of returning characters get new cards" aren't "canon". It feels kinda... yeah.)

 

[Velrun]

As previews and story has unfolded, still a good set with a great setting for me. Maybe not 10/10 anymore but like 8/10 or smth. I love the art and the vibe and the mechanics. Such a fresh experience.

 

[Mown]

Can someone explain to me how the cactusfolk are a native species to the plane if it was previously uninhabited?

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Can someone explain to me how the cactusfolk are a native species to the plane if it was previously uninhabited?

It looks like they just “woke up” one day when all of the exotic magics from around the multiverse started flowing in to Thunder Junction.

 

[Brad]

This has a lot of words, but ultimately feels like it's kinda mid powered? I kinda wanna run it, but the mythic symbol has me nervous that I'm underestimating it.

 

[Nemo]

This has a lot of words, but ultimately feels like it's kinda mid powered? I kinda wanna run it, but the mythic symbol has me nervous that I'm underestimating it.

If you compare it to Shivan Devastator, this does more for the same mana. And I think the Devastator is pretty good.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

If you compare it to Shivan Devastator, this does more for the same mana. And I think the Devastator is pretty good.

I don’t know if that’s true, evasion is kinda big.

 

[Brad]

If you compare it to Shivan Devastator, this does more for the same mana. And I think the Devastator is pretty good.

I don’t know if that’s true, evasion is kinda big.

Agreed.

(X-1)/(X-1) for X on a flyer seems so much better. Hydra seems way worse for smaller X values. A 2/2 trample for 3? 3/3 trample for 4?

Is the hydra even good?!

 

[Chris Taylor]

I think vigilance is big, the tokens are big, and trample does matter

 

[LadyMapi]

Yeah, if you want to be tricksy about it, a sac outlet turns the hydra into a weird ramp spell.

 

[Brad]

But is it good???

I'm leaning towards not good the more I think about it. Getting an X-1 in the color of big creatures feels pretty bad.

That BBRR card has me looking at The Black Cube again lol.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Is the hydra even good?!

I don’t think so. Shivan Devastator is already a pretty hit-or-miss card, and this takes away one of its biggest advantages in favor of some weird treasure generation.

To be fair, the Hydra is a much more interesting card than Shivan Devastator. Having Vigilance and Trample, being green, and the cool death trigger all make the Hydra a significantly more compelling card than Shivan Devastator. It might even be better than the devastator too. But I don’t think it’s a particularly good card beyond that. I prefer The Goose Mother

 

[Velrun]

Well the second Hydra is for sure bigger than the second Dragon

 

[Velrun]

What’s a glamer? Or what does the word mean?



The word isn’t in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, doesn’t exist on Thesaurus and Google Translate thinks I must have made a spelling error. Is it a Magic term?

 

[safra]

It's on four cards; three of which are from the later Lorwyn sets (compared to "Glamour", which appears only once!) Makes sense to me to assume that it's a deliberately phonetic respelling of "glamour" for Lorwyn world that is now enough of a "Magic IP word" to get reused here in Cowboy Town.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

What’s a glamer? Or what does the word mean?

It’s a word that’s also been used in D&D to describe minor illusions. In 3.5 it was a subschool of Illusion spells: “A glamer spell changes a subject’s sensory qualities, making it look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like something else, or even seem to disappear.”

Wordnik defines it as an archaic Scottish word that means “The visual influence of a charm, causing people to see things differently from what they are. Hence, to cast a glamer is to cause a visual deception.”

 

[Velrun]

Uuuuuh that's kind of spicy!
It's like Wizards have a whole extra language to take from when designing cards if they include stuff like this!

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

I guess the hydra plays pretty well with stuff like Wild Fire. Either make it a 5/5 so it survives, or play it as a 4/4 that'll leave treasures behind

 

[Tavahka]

Uuuuuh that's kind of spicy!
It's like Wizards have a whole extra language to take from when designing cards if they include stuff like this!

Gotta say, when taking my graduate school entrance exams, having played Magic was way helpful. So many obscure words that I knew due to Magic cards associated with them. Basically the best set of flash cards in existence lol

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I guess the hydra plays pretty well with stuff like Wild Fire. Either make it a 5/5 so it survives, or play it as a 4/4 that'll leave treasures behind

You’ve just piqued the attention of every Cuber over 40

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

You’ve just piqued the attention of every Cuber over 40

The "Wildfire is fun, trust me guys" club

 

[Rusje]

The "Wildfire is fun, trust me guys" club

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Are you sarcastic? On Internet it is hard to get sarcasm. Wildfire on its own opens up a whole new archetype, which in my book is fun.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

If every plane shows up on other plane, wtf do we even need planes at that point? I think they just f'd up Magic very badly and I really don't like this "Every world is now every world" approach to the Magic multiverse. It feels so homogenous and lazy. I just don't want 20 versions of Rakdos. #KellanSyndrome

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

Are you sarcastic? On Internet it is hard to get sarcasm. Wildfire on its own opens up a whole new archetype, which in my book is fun.

I do run wildfire, but I know some people think land destruction isn't fine. I see what they're getting at but stuff like wildfire and cataclysm adds a certain flair to the format I think.