General [UMA] Ultimate Masters

I am not sure if you are looking for an answer but I can definetely see this from Wizards’ point of view.

1. They have tons of money. Paying for an artwork comission for an unplayed (maybe Pauper?) common card is absolutely no issue. Zero.

2. This leads us to the main point. Wizards didn’t decide to spend the ‘comission money’ on Offalsnout and thus skipped out on a comission for another card because of monotary issues.

They simply decided they didn’t want Karn og Lili to get new artworks. This is not related to the comission of the common card.

Again: I am not sure you were looking for an answer but I hope it is okay with you that I replied to the topic on a forum.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
What does a Lhurgoyf look like in your mind? I mean if you want a different look than the ones we have.

I dunno. The original art is alright, but it's way too zoomed in and the future sight frame isn't doing the art any favors. The modern masters art is really grey and bland, which the new art fixes, but it's... I dunno. I looks like a late 90s tyranid codex :p

This is what I'm using right now, so it's not like I've got a real goyf:
GaaXrrT.png
 
Still don't have a goyf art I'm actually happy with though :p

I think the big issue with Tarmogoyf art is that there is no frame of reference for what a Tarmogoyf actually is other than previous renditions of... Tarmogoyf. It's not like Karn, where artists have a clear idea of what they need to be drawing and what their subject needs to look like. I wouldn't be surprised if the first art commission for Tarmogoyf was "Draw a new Lhurgoyf" and the subsequent commissions were "do something based on previous representations of Tarmogoyf." What Tarmogoyf really needs is a new, more defined look. Currently, it's just a ball of moss and teeth.
 
Well that is what it all comes down to :)

If lhurgoyfs exist somewhere else then they can be described and depicted from that lore. Thus we can complain that Wizards of the Coast are not copying that lore Well enough.

If lhurgoyfs are the invention of Wizards of the Coast they look exactly like this. Then we have a situation like “I drink beer every week but I have yet to find a beer I like.” kind of situation.
 
Yeah that is cool. I have always liked the Ice Age one and this one is a modern version.

I think they want Tarmo to look more bad-ass and cool and therefore both of the new arts it has received has been sort of predator-like. From an artwork perspective Tarmogoyf look more dangerous than Lhurgoyf.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I really like some planeswalkers. I love how they're basically enchantments that can be interacted with through combat. It gets annoying when they're too good at protecting themselves, or too... well, pushed. I think Daretti, Scrap Savant, for example, is delightful in a curated format like cube, and the flipwalkers, like Nissa, Vastwood Seer, are really fun too play with as well. But I'll admit that it's a very fine line, and I'm now down to 7 planeswalkers and 4 flipwalkers in a 450 cube.
 
They should've been just a special type of creatures. Would be easier to interact with and make more sense flavorwise. Even gameplay wise, when they could just attack and didn't have to use 3 certain Spells all the time.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Meh, haters gonna hate :p Though, now that you mention it, I did mock up some creature-fied planeswalkers... uh... long ago!

Garruk Wildspeaker.jpg Sorin Lord of Innistrad.jpg

The recipe is fairly straightforward: the middle ability becomes a dies effect, the first ability becomes a tap effect that puts spark counters on the planeswalker, and the ultimate becomes a one shot tap ability requiring spark counters equal to how many turns it would take the planeswalker to reach the ultimate if all it did was use its plus ability. Looking back at these, making that final ability a one shot power uses a lot of extra words, but it does limit the super powerful effect, which is nice, I guess? Now that I think of it, you could also have the planeswalker sacrifice itself, which would nicely synergize with the first ability. I think I like that even better! Also, power and toughness were just the loyalty squared when I made these, though of course you could tweak this to your heart's content. I don't think Daretti should be a 3/3, for example. Speaking of, this is how I would do them now, I guess...

Daretti Scrap Savant.jpg Liliana of the Veil.jpg
 
I have always been a fan of enchantments and Utility artifacts and since Lorwyn I have been a big fan of planeswalkers.

They are simply enchantments than can be interacted with. Or colored utility artifacts.

And I am a fan of interactions between players during a game => Planeswalkers are good for the game.

Flavorwise they should not be creatures but instead be players. They are on our level. Gods among minions. For a long, long time they were too powerful to print on actual cards so they had to stay in the lore and the books but after the Mending during the Time Spiral events they have since been downgraded to gods with creature-like powers.

Planeswalkers were (in 1993 and up to early 2000’th) only represented during the games as a background story. When two players (or planeswalkers) were battling it out at the local store or at the kitchen table there would be a winner and a loser. And the winner would win the grand price of a reward from the strongest planeswalker, which supposedly should be represented by the tournament host. That the reward was death! Lore wise. In real life the price would obviously be money or packs or whatever. (Think Amonkhet lore where the worthy who could pass all trials would be rewarded with eternal life but was instead killed and turned into an Eternal for Bolas, a mindless slave) (Think Theros lore where Heliod would reward Elspeth, his champion, for a valiant deeds and instead killed her in order to stay in power.)
 
I like unique planeswalkers that replicate certain gameplay features that we don't get very often in MTG like rebuying artifacts through Daretti, Scrap Savant or symmetrical discard and stax-y play with Liliana of the Veil. Specific walkers for certain archetypes also work like Ajani, Caller of the Pride.

My problem with walkers arise when they become generic value factories that you just slot into decks with little deckbuilding cost. That's fine every now and again, but there is way too much saturation of that within cubes and in Standard environments nowadays. I prefer them to enchantments because they are easier to interact with, but chaining walkers onto a board is WAY more snowball-y than most things you can do in this game by continuously generating value by ticking up or down for free spells disguised as abilities.

I don't like the less than inspired designs we've been seeing for a while now, especially the "+1 card advantage, -3 interaction, -8 win the game" template. Just give me cool niche walkers and ways to interact with them more favorably, that's all I want.
 
Exept that artifact/enchantment removal is plentyful in every single set, while PW Removal is like some kind of sacrileg.

Was. Up until Theros. Now it is in every block so constructed always have plenty of access.

But combat damage trumps everything when it comes to interaction. Enchantments are soooo much more safe om the battlefield.
 
he had a cool build with the sacrifice theme and pattern of rebirth part. didnt see that combo

same thing happened to me two fnm ago. had a laboratory maniac, spider spawning, multiple satyr wayfinder, shirei, shizo's caretaker, draw spells, multiple vessel of endless rest, archaeomancer, turn to mist, mystic retrieval, vengeful rebirth. first game i went off with lab maniac after drawing whole deck with slow stuff like frantic search and urban evolution. second game stuffy dolled my lab maniac third game stuffy dolled my spider spawning. damn that last pick non colored sideboard card

my spider spawning needed the whole deck to make six spiders. which was enough flash backed on a weaker board state. think i was hoping to draft a rise from tides

shouldve followed genericos advice n just went online . . but then i wouldve been on mtgo for the past two weeks straight
 
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