Hello all, and welcome to my first public article on iMtG. In celebration of Avacyn Restored being released in a week and a half, I thought it would only be fitting to go over some of the cards that have been spoiled. Ready? Here we go
First up is {Temporal Mastery}
This card has broken written all over it. I highly doubt this cards constructed applications in standard. The only deck you would really want to use it in is a control deck and the extra turn does not provide enough advantage to merit this card as an auto include. In standard, this cards is terrible when you have it in the opening seven, and mediocre at best when you top deck it turn 6 just to get an extra land and tap out that one turn. Where this card shows its power though, is in legacy. There are a number of cards that will let you take advantage of such a cards miracle cost. One extra turn in legacy is enough to end a game. Some of the cards that can easily sculpt your deck that are already legacy staple will benefit from this. {Sensei's Divining Top} is a nice choice, as it is a colorless artifact, and the one U mana on the miracle cost can easily be splashed to fit into any deck. {Brainstorm} is another legacy staple that is often played and allows for library manipulation as well. Again the U in the cost is easily splashed into preexisting archetypes. Another card that comes to mind is a card we all love and hate and that card is {Jace, the Mindsculptor}. Anyone who has ever played with this card can tell you it's power and controlling abilities are off the charts. Brainstorming every turn is good, but also library manipulation while combined with a {Time Walk} is just absurd raw card advantage. The deck that comes to mind the quickest is UW Stoneblade. The deck already plays brainstorms and jaces, so tooling would not take too much from it. This deck is going to be absurd with {Temporal Mastery} in the format for one reason. And that reason is swords. Imagine getting a second turn to swing with a {Sword of Feast and Famine} for just two mana. Not to mention hitting another land drop and getting to draw 1 more card than you normally would have if you weren't playing with mastery. This card is dangerously powerful and should be on everybody's radar.
Next on our list we have {Vexing Devil}
This cards application is best suited for Standard and possibly Modern. Generally, when a card gives the opponent the choice of what happens, it is safe to rule it off of being playable. The opponent will naturally pick whatever affects him the least. If its early he is going to take the damage. If it's late or he has a {Doom Blade}, he is going to let the creature stay around. This card is an exception though. It's a potential {Lava Spike} or a 4/3 for 1 mana. This to me, seems like it is going to see play, regardless of the fact it gives your opponent the choice. Red mages rejoice, as red decks are finally getting what they need to get back on the map. This card has serious potential and I think after the release of Avacyn Restored, we will see red decks popping back up again. Between this card, {Stromkirk Noble}, {Fling}, {Hellrider}, {Shrine of Burning Rage}, and {Stormblood Berserker}, I seriously think that red has a chance of showing up again (not to mention the other goodies red is getting in AVR). {Vexing Devil} certainly is another card that should be on your radar.
The last card we will be discussing today is {Desolate Lighthouse}
Comically referred to by many as the "Loothouse", it does exactly as its alius implies. It's a {Merfolk Looter} attached to a land. This card is definitely going to see play. With Return to Ravnica being announced, this card is only going to get better. Izzet seems like it is going to be a strong competitor. With cards like {Snapcaster Mage}, {Think Twice}, {Faithless Looting}, {Mana Leak}, and {Dissipate} we already have a strong foundation. After the release of Return to Ravnica, this card will show its true potential. With {Sulfur Falls} and the more than likely reprint of the shocklands (I'm looking at you {Steam Vents}) Izzet decks will have a sturdy manabase. Also, for those of you who have seen the spoiler art for Return to Ravnica, both Jace and Niv Mizzet are featured. This may well be hinting at a new Jace and Niv Mizzet (Or even a possible reprint) printing. If this turns out to be true, UR will gains some powerful new planeswalkers and spells. Imagine a reprint of {Electrolyze}. Izzet lovers like me will have a good time finding ways to combine the loothouse with standard cards to make for crazy deck. Think about the possibilities of a reanimator deck in standard playing this card with {Faithless Looting} and {Unburial Rites}. Who knows, maybe the Frites players will start playing blue just for this. In any case, this card is going to see some play and players will have a fun time doing crazy things with it.
That's all for today, be sure to check out my other upcoming articles. If you want to give any feedback, that would also be much appreciated. Thanks again for reading and have fun.
Fantastic! I'm looking forward to more..
In other news we may have just found our draft cards commentator. :)
Very good discussion, I myself major in the art of BURN and vexing devils and some others will finally make burn decks a more common sight.
I am glad both of you liked it. Thank you for your positive feedback. There will be more to come in the future!
Love it. Very nice job Gaara. Looking forward to more
Good point about {sword of feast and famine} with {temporal mastery}. I am main boarding the sword in my Delver Blade now.
Great job!
Good analysis. I'm looking forward to more. 👍
Everyone keeps talking about {Ponder} with miracles, but no one has meantioned what i think is goin to be a sleeper card, {Jar of Eyeballs}. Keep it to the side, racking up counters. Then, when you need a miracle, you crack the jar an set it up. Also, i thought i'd mention {Soothsaying} too. Black has a couple of options, although there aren't any black miracles. {Maralen of the Mornsong}, {Liliana Vess}, and {Bringer of the Black Dawn} can all set up a miracle when you need it. I know these are not very strong cards, but I thought I'd mention them to see what you all think.
Edit: FAIL on my part for {Jar o Eyeball}. I was going from memory and I thought it worked like {Soothsaying}. Disregard my stupidity.
I forgot the repeatability of {Noxious Revival} and the idea of Izzet being able to {Reverberate} an extra turn.
Quote from: BlackJester on April 21, 2012, 12:45:09 PM
Good analysis. I'm looking forward to more. 👍
Everyone keeps talking about {Ponder} with miracles, but no one has meantioned what i think is goin to be a sleeper card, {Jar of Eyeballs}. Keep it to the side, racking up counters. Then, when you need a miracle, you crack the jar an set it up. Also, i thought i'd mention {Soothsaying} too. Black has a couple of options, although there aren't any black miracles. {Maralen of the Mornsong}, {Liliana Vess}, and {Bringer of the Black Dawn} can all set up a miracle when you need it. I know these are not very strong cards, but I thought I'd mention them to see what you all think.
The {Ponder} idea is weak. The sooner people realize the mathematics behind it, the sooner they will realize how bad the idea is. Here is why. Say you ponder and look at the top 3. If the miracle card is on top, you move it to the middle so you draw it next turn. But in retrospect, had you never used ponder to begin with, you would have got the ability on your next turn anyways. If you ponder and it is in the middle, you dont need to change the order and you essentially just payed 1 U mana to draw a card. The only time ponder helps miracle, is if it is on the bottom because you can move it to the middle. Breaking this down Ponder only helps 33% of the time you actually see the miracle card off of the ponder. Which in temporal mastery's case (since you dont want to play more that 2) you will see one around 32%-34% of the time by turn 4 (a standard turn to play ponder). This effectively means that, 34% of the time when you see the miracle card off of the ponder it then must fall into the 33% chance of being on the bottom. This is highly unlikely, which is why I did not discuss it in the article. One must analyze every portion and angle of the game if you wish to get better. This also means the mathematical equations as well. Ponder with miracle is just plain stupid and clunky. If people slow down to realize this, they could save themselves so many hours of play testing. Yes, when that slim chance happens, you are going to feel like you are on top of the world. But realistically, the idea is just weak and not practical.
EDIT: Glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback!
Even if ponder doesn't help with temporal mastery it's a great card and the extra card is beneficial for card advantage. It also let's you manipulate your draw. And I like the idea of temporal master in a U/G deck because it'll allow the use of forbidden alchemy and noxious revival to munipulate the draw
Quote from: Sagemaster on April 21, 2012, 08:42:56 PM
Even if ponder doesn't help with temporal mastery it's a great card and the extra card is beneficial for card advantage. It also let's you manipulate your draw. And I like the idea of temporal master in a U/G deck because it'll allow the use of forbidden alchemy and noxious revival to munipulate the draw
Another common misconception about {Ponder}, it does not give card advantage. It cantrips, there is a big difference. You have 7 cards in your hand. You play ponder. Now you have 6 cards. Ponder away rearranging cards etc. Now draw your card. Again you have 7 cards in your hand. Effectively you are no further ahead in cards then you were when you started. Now use the same scenario, except play {Divination} (even though its bad, just roll with it). You spent 1 card in your hand, but obtained 2 more. You are now +1 card than you had when you started. This is card advantage. Your idea of UG Mastery seems fine. The {Noxious Revival} and {Forbidden Alchemy} plan is way more realistic and reliable then ponder. Perhaps for my next article, I should explain the theory of card advantage and its applications. I also might throw together a UG Mastery build (the deck just seems fun in theory if nothing else and should be stable enough for FNM) and discuss it as well. I plan on attending some pre-releases, so I also might give some more analysis's on singles and their limited applications.
My meaning of card card advantage was different in that sense haha. What I was saying was that it gives you an advantage because it allows you to manipulate your hand as well and replace ponder with card you would need to win faster or control better depending on your deck
Quote from: Death Gaara on April 21, 2012, 08:53:02 PMPerhaps for my next article, I should explain the theory of card advantage and its applications.
Yes please!
I love using {gitaxian probe} and {street wraith} for card advantage. My theory is that you can essentially reduce the size of your deck at the price of 2 life per card. This premise is based on opting to pay 2 life to draw a card which does not tie your mana up. This scenario is not too helpful with miracles but I like using these in combo decks to allow me to continually search for those pieces.
Quote from: cltrn81 on April 22, 2012, 08:04:44 AM
I love using {gitaxian probe} and {street wraith} for card advantage. My theory is that you can essentially reduce the size of your deck at the price of 2 life per card. This premise is based on opting to pay 2 life to draw a card which does not tie your mana up. This scenario is not too helpful with miracles but I like using these in combo decks to allow me to continually search for those pieces.
Like Death said, cantrips (cards that have you draw one card) aren't "card advantage". This is a specific term that means "having more cards than your opponent". Using one of your cards to eliminate two of theirs, using one card to draw two, that sort of thing is card advantage.
Cantrips, cards that replace themselves are "deck thinning". They use your resources (life, mana, etc) to dig deeper into your deck to find your important cards. This is useful in decks that rely on a small number of cards (eg combo decks) and need to find them to win.
I consider playing a cantrip for 2 life as card advantage. I get to draw 2 cards total in a turn instead of just one without using my mana resources. I agree {ponder} is not card advantage since it uses up mana. Like I said this is my own theory based on the fact that you can draw another card without using mana. I see the point about one card replacing the other......call it what you want.....drawing another card without using mana is a good thing 👍
Quote from: Piotr on April 22, 2012, 06:11:18 AM
Quote from: Death Gaara on April 21, 2012, 08:53:02 PMPerhaps for my next article, I should explain the theory of card advantage and its applications.
Yes please!
Done!
Given the vast Avacyn Spoilers, do you see control coming back to being relevance? I feel like WotC successfully builds archetypes, and completely destroys them with single cards. (I.e - milling vs. {elixir of immortality}, {Grafdigger's cage}) making things difficult, but they do nothing to really stop aggro.
I noticed with all the extremely high costing goodies included in the newest cards, it's gonna be harder to truly stop WW and RDW from getting buffed. {Fleeting distraction} reprint is one of the more promising cards.
Quote from: Dudecore2012 on April 24, 2012, 12:28:53 AM
Given the vast Avacyn Spoilers, do you see control coming back to being relevance? I feel like WotC successfully builds archetypes, and completely destroys them with single cards. (I.e - milling vs. {elixir of immortality}, {Grafdigger's cage}) making things difficult, but they do nothing to really stop aggro.
I noticed with all the extremely high costing goodies included in the newest cards, it's gonna be harder to truly stop WW and RDW from getting buffed. {Fleeting distraction} reprint is one of the more promising cards.
As much as I would like to say yes as I am a control mage, the truth of the mater is I really doubt it. One card, {Cavern of Souls}. Snapcaster is incredibly powerful and flexible. We know this. But it has been brought down a few notches in standard by Cavern. Declaring Giant and making Titans uncounterable is just too powerful against control decks. Counter Magic is not nearly as effective as it used to be. Removal is fine and all, but when you play against a deck like Wolf Run that plays 7-9 titans/threats, it is just too much. Delver won games by sticking a delver, then riding a counter spell or two and a {Vapor Snag} to victory. This plan is severely hindered now. Snapcasters utility is taking a hit, being only able to flash back draw spells, and removal. The former which just leads you into more dead countermagic. One could argue {Ghost Quarter}. Lets be honest though, is setting yourself back a land drop really what you want to be doing as a control mage? We must ask ourselves these questions. Yes, we did get some good stuff with Tamiyo and Lighthouse. {Entreat the Angels} and {Terminus} are also both powerful additions to our arsenal. But as long as titans are in standard with cavern, I dont see control too playable. The closest thing that comes to mind, is an Esper {Sun Titan} build playing Snaps, Lilianas, Oblivion Ring, counter magic, some draw and removal. I think control will be a house after titans rotate. But for now, I would stick to aggressive decks, mid range strategies and Wolf Run.
Daily MtG posted a lengthy article about how {Cavern of Souls} was designed as {Snapcaster} hate, and how {mana leak} is one of the biggest mistakes they've made in awhile.
I don't know what they're really thinking. It seems so extreme a measure, it's not like designing Jace hate, or some dominant archetype card hate. {Snapcaster} could get you to pay 4 for a {mana leak}, but {Cavern of Souls} buffs every format, nearly any deck and the intentions of designing a card so powerful is to hate on a floundering deck type...
Maybe I'm just biased, but I see more wolf run and WW every Friday. I'm beating a dead horse, WotC hates counter players, and wishes blue would become all milling.
I get the fact that Creatures cost more, they're stronger then ever, and they do more then ever. It's a point of no return also, hex proof will appear on everything. Spells by comparison are cheap, and can render 8 mana creatures completely useless for a 2 mana spell. The answer is not printing 1 or 2 mana creatures that have spell hate, it's making it more of a strategy game. Giving some drawbacks to counterspells, but making it possible to remove threats reasonably from turn 1 till turn 22.
I feel like they missed the boat on Zombies too, by printing {Elite Inquisitor} and {Spirit Mantle}. They take a potential white humans vs. black zombies and turn it into white weenies vs. casual zombie deck made for fun.
Edit: the sky isn't falling. I don't think it's a matter of saying that control is useless, delver spirits and other things exist, but white has mostly every useful removal, artifact destroy, enchantment destroy, board wipe and 1 mana creatures. {Snapcaster mage} not withstanding (as its one of the more powerful blue cards ever printed), some tournament decks are sideboarding them in favor of other, more powerful, creature cards (esper) pre-Cavern of Souls
TL;DR - Essentially {cavern of souls} isn't just Snapcaster hate, it's counter/control hate. It stretches back-in-time and hates on {Force of Will}!
Quote from: Dudecore2012 on April 24, 2012, 10:32:22 PM
Daily MtG posted a lengthy article about how {Cavern of Souls} was designed as {Snapcaster} hate, and how {mana leak} is one of the biggest mistakes they've made in awhile.
I don't know what they're really thinking. It seems so extreme a measure, it's not like designing Jace hate, or some dominant archetype card hate. {Snapcaster} could get you to pay 4 for a {mana leak}, but {Cavern of Souls} buffs every format, nearly any deck and the intentions of designing a card so powerful is to hate on a floundering deck type...
Maybe I'm just biased, but I see more wolf run and WW every Friday. I'm beating a dead horse, WotC hates counter players, and wishes blue would become all milling.
I get the fact that Creatures cost more, they're stronger then ever, and they do more then ever. It's a point of no return also, hex proof will appear on everything. Spells by comparison are cheap, and can render 8 mana creatures completely useless for a 2 mana spell. The answer is not printing 1 or 2 mana creatures that have spell hate, it's making it more of a strategy game. Giving some drawbacks to counterspells, but making it possible to remove threats reasonably from turn 1 till turn 22.
I feel like they missed the boat on Zombies too, by printing {Elite Inquisitor} and {Spirit Mantle}. They take a potential white humans vs. black zombies and turn it into white weenies vs. casual zombie deck made for fun.
Edit: the sky isn't falling. I don't think it's a matter of saying that control is useless, delver spirits and other things exist, but white has mostly every useful removal, artifact destroy, enchantment destroy, board wipe and 1 mana creatures. {Snapcaster mage} not withstanding (as its one of the more powerful blue cards ever printed), some tournament decks are sideboarding them in favor of other, more powerful, creature cards (esper) pre-Cavern of Souls
TL;DR - Essentially {cavern of souls} isn't just Snapcaster hate, it's counter/control hate. It stretches back-in-time and hates on {Force of Will}!
I dont really claim its snapcaster hate. Its more like WotC is covering there ass after their big screw up last season. Control was powerful in the form of Caw if you know where I am going with this. They are trying to make the game more accessible to a wider audience. The new kids want to cast their 6/6 for 6 mana. Whether they are titans or just big dudes with trample. Older players such as myself and many others, know that having a big dude countered is not the end of the world. We lived in a time when the most powerful cards were spells, and the strongest creatures to see the light of day were just goyf and Bob. Some creatures like {Wild Mongrel} and {Psychatog} had there run, but the majority of it came down to powerful spells and artifacts. {Show and Tell}, {Dream Halls}, {Tinker}, {Dragonstorm}, {Lightning Bolt}, {Sensei's Divining Top}, {Skullclamp}, {Intuition}, {Aethervial}, {Gifts Ungiven}, {Umezawa's Jitte} and {Tendrils of Agony} all have something in common. None of them are creatures. These are some of the best cards ever printed and yet not a single one is a creature. WotC wants to make the new kids understand the game's objective is to swing at the opponent for 20 damage. Not come up with or play some stupidly powerful spell to win the game. This games power has shifted. People call it a power creep. Those people are blind. Overall the games power did not creep. It shifted its power from artifacts and spells, to creatures. Ever since around Lorywyn (Hello faeries, even though I played you, I dont miss you), the game has become more about powerful creatures (in terms of abilities) than spells and artifacts. This theory is cemented by Shards blocks {Bloodbraid Elf}, {Noble Heirarch}, {Wild Nacatal}, {Knight of the Reliquary}. {Broodmate Dragon}, {Putrid Leech}, {Sprouting Thrinax}. M10 was also a compliment with {Baneslayer Angel}. Let us not forget Zendikar's {Goblin Guide}, {Stoneforge Mystic}, and {Vengevine}. We must also look at the Titans and Mrs. Norn. Last season, they felt bad about their screw up with Jace. They dont want this to be a game where you have to use your head and know when to counter spells and play your wraths. They assume the masses that have since joined this game ever since the release of M10 are all brain dead. Lets look at the facts, if you were a newer player and you saw {Lord of the Pit} next to {Stoneforge Mystic} which card would you pick up and play? Lord of the pit is stronger, flies, and deals more damage. He must be a better card. That would be your mentality no doubt. Lets look at this example, now you see Lord of the Pit next to {Sensei's Divining Top}. Same question. Which card do you pick? As a newer player you begin to think to yourself, even the stoneforge was better than the top. The top does almost nothing. At least the stoneforge deals 1 damage. So you as a newer player, have deduced that Lord of the Pit is better than both a stoneforge and a top. Now imagine another player showed you a {Black Lotus} or an {Underground Sea} and says its better than and worth more than your Lord of the Pit. You think to yourself, wow, this is the worst card I have seen yet, this guy must be wrong. It does just as much as a land does then dies or it just taps for one of two colors (in the sea's case). It does no damage whatsoever and does not help me win the game at all. But, is this really the case? Of course not. The only time Lord of the Pit ever saw play, was when the game came out and nobody had any idea how powerful black lotus was. This is the mentality WotC is approaching their newer players with.That creatures must be good, and everything else is just okay. They want to keep it that way. That is why the printed a land that hinders control decks and rewards creature decks. This was not an attack against snapcaster, but rather, a land that was made to keep the game flowing in a more aggro oriented environment. This way newer players dont feel left out when they cast their big ass wurm with trample and it cant be countered. The days of powerful spells are over. Yes, jace was a powerful spell, but also a mistake according to WotC. Too much like the days of old. They want creatures to run the game now. This has made some older players mad. I dont really mind though, everything changes over time. Including magic. Nothing can stay the same forever. I wish more people would just accept this and go withe the flow.
You had a really good idea with the Articles, thank you.
Quote from: Piotr on April 25, 2012, 07:28:38 PM
You had a really good idea with the Articles, thank you.
No problem, I feel it promotes community discussion. I think this is an important aspect as it helps newer players learn fundamental basics of competitive magic, while allowing more seasoned players to share and debate ideas. I feel this is an important part of the competitive aspects of the game. The price of progress is to debate. If Christopher Columbus did not debate the Earth was round instead of flat and chose not to set out on a voyage, things would not be the same today. All progress is is a step forward from what is known. We take what we know, put it to the test with debates and other theories, and when it is proven right or wrong, we have more of a grasp on what we hope to obtain. Using this knowledge, we can further ourselves in the game in various ways. There is something for everyone in discussions, whether you are new or old to the game. The only issue is, debating topics is a fine line next to flaming and trolling. When people start being idiots and debating not to further progress, but just to annoy someone else, that is when the line has been crossed. Thankfully, it seems we have a nice community on our hands that is not full of these kinds of people. I think it is nice to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions on different matters relating to the game. As we learn things from others, even players newer/older than us with less/more experience than us, we can gain a new perspective. Perhaps in my examples that the new kid likes {Lord of the Pit} more than {Black Lotus}, we know for a fact the cards dont compare in power. But what we learned is we now have another perspective on that card. My favorite card in the game is {Time Sieve}. Is it a terrible card? Of course, losing that much presence is terrible. But it is a card that can shine in its own ways. Even if we have a worse perspective of a card, it is still a new perspective. We can than ask ourselves what do with think of this card or idea now? Do we like it more or less? This is what allows us to progress not only in the game, but as humans as well. Whenever we were children and asked our parents why? we did it because we hungered knowledge (although some of us got a good kick or two just annoying them with the word). This knowledge has allowed us to progress and receive and give our own perspectives on anything. Sure Lord of the Pit may mean nothing to me or you (although I do collect the card lol), but to someone out there, even Black Lotus cannot compare.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your posts, and actually look forward to your opinions (as much as I do your decks).
I think from these avacyn spoilers that counter magic will be VERY specific, and these "catch-all" and "hard counters" will be very costly. Spells like {geist snatch}, specific spells like {outwit}, {second guess} will be the norm for counter magic. They're nice spells to support a blue aggro deck with, but by no means a way to build any tempo.
I will adapt, like most people who love this game. Maybe spells have lived too high on hog, and I am upset when the strategy component of the game I love (the reason I play) is diminished. But I think they've buffed white magic to such an insane degree. White has some of the best control measures, fatties and low cost powerhouses. Blue gets card advantage (and creatures?), Black gets creatures and COSTLY removal...and Green gets ramp and creatures, and red gets minimal burn and creatures...I see your point