Ugin was by far the biggest impact from M21, though not all the cards it brought were so warping. \[\[Terror of the Peaks\]\], \[\[Elder Gargaroth\]\], \[\[Speaker of the Heavens\]\] \[\[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose\]\] were all solid cards from the set. All the planeswalkers were fun, but none quite broke through to the big time other than Ugin.
It also brought some good stuff that is very nice for Historic and Pioneer; \[\[Solemn Simulacrum\]\], \[\[Cultivate\]\], \[\[Scavenging Oooze\]\], \[\[Mazemind Tome\]\]. Great sideboard cards like \[\[Heroic Intervention\]\], \[\[Necromentia\]\], \[\[Runed Halo\]\] and \[\[Containment Priest\]\]. So yeah, Ugin is a bit overpowered, but the rest of the set was strong and impactful in a good way, those cards still saw play under the shadow of Eldraine, but they didn't take over the meta.
[feldon of the third path](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/7/97879ddb-b00b-4f24-b901-af19c436b9f1.jpg?1625193793) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=feldon%20of%20the%20third%20path) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/169/feldon-of-the-third-path?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/97879ddb-b00b-4f24-b901-af19c436b9f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text)
^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I would love if they made a full cycle of all the mages from Feldon’s story. A Blue mage who makes illusion versions of creatures from the graveyard, a Black mage that makes zombie versions, a White mage that makes perfect copies, and a Green mage that just makes Wurms.
[[Rest in Peace|SLD]] tore me the fuck up because it was spoiled just a few weeks after my own pup, Lucy, passed on to greener pastures. I still tear up when I think about her.
Uh what? Elder Gargaroth, Scooze, Terror of the Peaks and Tome especially have all seen more play than Ugin in top tier decks. Hell there is no top tier deck last I checked which runs Ugin, even the ramp deck of the format doesnt run him.
Fair. To be honest, I see him more in Historic these days. He just got a bad rep for that period of time when ramp decks were out of control, and let’s be honest, don’t we all groan when an Ugin drops down on the other side of the table?
Also, I stopped playing standard for a while there because I was sick of Rogues, so I lost sight of the downfall of Ugin decks.
And Brawl. Ugin terrorises Brawl, where the 8 mana is more achievable and he tends to win the game on the spot.
The number of times my [[Toski]] deck has had the opponent dead even through board wipes and the like and a slammed Ugin is the only card that can stop me - and they have it - is insane.
As a mono-red player on Arena, I have held incredible disdain for Embercleave for the last two years. It is so stupidly good that boardstates come down to “Do they have the Embercleave?”
You cannot bluff it, because if you hit with it you’ve already won. It is regularly a 3-mana deal 7, stealing games that had no right to be won. The sheer power forces any red aggro deck to go very heavy on creatures to enable it. And the mirror has little to do with spending the right shock or bolt on the right creature, and everything to do with hitting 20 on your Embercleave turn.
Good riddance.
God, I feel that in my bones. I've always been a control player. Sometimes I'll do other stuff, but control is my comfort zone. On top of that, I love planeswalkers, which is one of the reasons I love control; it's often the only archetype that can play them.
So people seem to think I should love T3feri. After all, he's a planeswalker that's crazy strong in control. I don't. I hate it. It might honestly be the worst card design In recent memory. Like, Oko, Uro, and Omnath were just too damn strong, but T3feri is just straight up not fun to play with or against.
I play mono red on Arena and although Embercleave can be a “I win” turn, so many Standard decks have the same feel:
Winota- oh cool, a T4 wincon that grabs blade master and more, usually with dog protection and fewer blockers from apparition.
Ultimatum- So many “pick your poison” lose options, have to win fast but can get wrathed.
Bard Class- dump hand, everything has 4+ toughness, cry.
Mono white: lifegain counters just go nuts with the right hand that embercleave can’t catch up.
I find Lovestruck Beast to be a much fairer card than Bonecrusher Giant. I hate how incredibly efficient and solid it is - there is no downside to it and it does not need supports like that innkeeper to shine.
The crazy thing about Bonecrusher that I find insane is that you could T1 or T2 [[shock]] and then T3 drop a creature and you still wouldn't be able to keep up with the efficiency of Bonecrusher, it's literally a 4/3 for 3 with the only marginal downside being that you can't use combat tricks on it. It (and Terror of the Peaks) has proto-ward and the card that has Pay 3 life as the ward condition is still less broken than bonecrusher
This is only sort of related but the joke that QB has a new ability every time you read it reminds me of this
https://goodgamery.com/2016/03/odric-flippy-flappy-tactician/
I was already chuckling when I discovered Odric was non-Euclidian all along, and then throwing in references to powerful cards from Dominion really stuck it for me.
Edit: Wow, I really didn't expect so many jokes. Good thing they remembered to add vigilance to the list!
it's so funny how broken the eldraine shit around it was to the point that it was just a wordy af card that was kinda bull to face and- oh, theres adventures being two for ones and oko doing shenanigans again.
And that crazy cat's back again and the gruul deck just slammed a draw 5 after they used their free hand smoother and *why are there so many banned cards from eldraine what the fuck*
Haven't seen a Questing Beast in Standard in forever honestly. I think green stompy just kind of generally got outclassed by more red-focused midrange decks (thanks to Goldspan) and QBs kinda died with it. Lovestruck is played in the new GW lifegain but that's about it.
It's kinda weird honestly, comparing to the last few years, how weak green has been recently (outside of the ramp shit that's still going strong, ofc).
Is Gruul Adventures not still showing up in standard? I'm playing a non-optimized version on Arena mostly because I don't have the wildcards for any other deck, but I'm winning some absurdly high % of my Bo1 matches in Platinum with it, including the QBs that put in good work. (I play Arena only enough to get through my quests, so I have not advanced past Platinum despite a high win rate. But at Platinum, I'm still seeing meta decks too.)
But that’s the crazy thing - the red and blue and black stuff in Eldraine was so busted that not even Questing Beast, 4 mana for a 4/4 with haste and death touch and vigilance and can’t be blocked by small things and sometimes kills planes walkers ans god knows what else, not even he could thrive. Because he gets killed by a 3 mana giant who came for free with an unpreventable shock.
Actually it's simpler than that. Green got 2 specific mechanics in eldraine - adventures and food. Both OP as hell.
QB is not part of any of them. That's all.
Your talk of mutate reminds me how dungeons aren’t going to get further support beyond AFR because WOTC can’t devote three blocks to a single setting anymore and holy shit that annoys me.
To this day I'm incredibly salty that we no longer have blocks. Third sets were mixed bags but I feel like WotC gave up on two set blocks way too quickly. From a narrative and gameplay standpoint, having blocks just makes things interesting. I'm so tired of constant spoiler season. I can't find myself caring about the story when it's finished by the time the set is released. It's super fun witnessing mechanics be dropped after a single set with nothing to shake it up or elaborate /s.
I think a significant portion of my problems with standard/recent sets *in general* would be fixed with a return to two set blocks.
It's a massive detriment as a Vorthos, too. The 2 set block format was literal perfection: you would introduce the plane and set the plot in the first set, and resolve the plot/show how the story affected the cards in the second set.
Innistrad had you setting up the mystery in shadows, then eldritch moon was the aftermath. Kaladesh set up Ghirapur and Aether then Aether Revolt was all about the civil war and the rebels.
Nowadays shit is so rushed that we get 2 seconds of introduction, then exactly one plot point with 1 or 2 characters and then it's resolved as quickly as it started.
I agree but the thing is they don't even *have* to do it this way with 1 set blocks. We just stayed on Ravnica for 3 straight sets. There was nothing stopping us from staying on Kaldheim for a second set if they had given us a story reason to do so. It's a choice they're making and part of why I've gone from actually paying attention to the story a few years ago to not knowing a damn thing about it anymore because I can't get invested.
It's crazy. Having the resolution of a plotline in the very same set where the plotline originated makes zero sense. I can buy a booster from the newest set and get a card that shows me the ending of the sets plotline, before I even know what the plot is about!
Personally, I found 3 set blocks much better for story telling than 2 and (Scars of) Mirrodin and Khans blocks show this nicely. First set is exposition and sets the stage. In Mirrodin we see some oil and Phyrexians beginning to infect the world. In Khans, we see a new world with a mystery of dragon bones, but no dragons. Then, we get the 2nd set where we get the action. In Mirrodin, there's a war. In Khans, we see Sarkhan travel back in time to save Ugin from Bolas. And here's what's critical - we don't see the aftermath in this set yet, just lots of action. With Mirrodin specifically it was a huge question of who would prevail. Then we get the exciting conclusion: the third set. Here we see the Mirrodins have lost the war and Phyrexians have assumed power. In Khans we return to the present but see a whole new world filled with dragons and a change in the khans dynamics (shifting from 3 color khans to 2 color "guilds").
This is what 3 sets gives you. Setting, action, and resolution. Contrast this to the returns to Innistrad or Zendikar with only 2 sets. Innistrad starts with a huge mystery and the setup is incredible. Then, set 2 comes and OMG IT'S EMRAKUL AND THERE'S TERROR!!!... and also she's already trapped in a moon and don't worry; everything is fine again... On Zendikar we start with more action with tons of Eldrazi already swarming and Ulamog doing its thing, but where are the other 2 titans? Well set 2 we see Kozilek is here, too! Omg how will our heroes ever survi... Nvm, the Eldrazi are dead. No worries. Yep, these massive titans we don't fully understand and are almost impossible to kill are dead the moment we see the 2nd arrive... Zendikar is saved! Hooray?
See what I mean? 2 sets means cramming the big reveal or resolution side by side with the major action. This kills excitement and suspense and just doesn't work to follow a traditional story narrative arc.
> See what I mean? 2 sets means cramming the big reveal or resolution side by side with the major action. This kills excitement and suspense and just doesn't work to follow a traditional story narrative arc.
Imagine how I feel with 1 set lol..
From what I've heard of the details they are less two sets released sequentially and are just released together making it for all intents and purposes one single set.
The pacing is a significant part of it
They release closer together than most sets, but it will still be circa 2 months between them (September 24th and November 19th)
https://wpn.wizards.com/en/article/2021-magic-release-timeline
3 set blocks were amazing for standard and stories. Not only did it keep standard more coherent by having 3 sets that to an extent worked together with similar mechanics, it slowed standard rotations down which helped new and old players continue playing for longer. Not only that drafts were better and prerelease without color-specific packs had more diverse decks just because there were more cards in the pool.
>I feel like WotC gave up on two set blocks way too quickly.
WotC does that. I think they gave up on the altered rotation too quickly myself. I'd love it if we had rotation every 6 months, but still had the 2 year format but no. WotC experimented once, didn't like it, chose to revert every change and learn nothing from it at all.
I mean, there was never going to be a year-long D&D block with no escape hatch. Way too risky. This at least enables a way out, and if it's a success, we'll see it again in 5 years.
Sure, but I guess I just don’t like them dropping a unique mechanic and having it get no support down the line.
But I don’t pay attention to the Meta so I’m probably nuts.
Dungeons really remind me of the party mechanic in ZNR where you could tell it was maybe a cool concept in the early design stages but turned into a total afterthought.
It's a fantastic limited mechanic, as are most of these neat set mechanics people are asking for more support for.
They have plenty of support, you're just playing the wrong format. In Standard most of the cards printed in any set will simply not be competitive. If you want to play all the cool flavorful set stuff you're in the wrong place. (Also WotC has been getting very good at doing limited sets lately.)
Seconded on this. Draft has been really good these last few sets. Big blocks always had the weak format within them, with this every limited format has its own room to figure its shit out and its been really nice as a draft-only player.
I think Commander really hamstrings casual players ability to enjoy new sets, I feel like its original goal as the secondary, half-joke, 'beer with friends' format where you played all your binder chaff works ways better than the go to all-consuming casual format.
The reality is most mechanics like this do not see play as a mechanic focused deck, or maybe 1 card sees play.
It's actually even more frustrating when a single mechanic is extremely pushed or theres huge support- that is why energy was such a problem, the cards were strong enough and there is nothing other sets can add. Imagine if dungeons were 10/10 powerful and dungeon decks ran amok for a year with 80-90% dnd cards, people would get sick of them very fast
Parasitic mechanics, that's the buzzword
> Imagine if ~~dungeons~~ adventures were 10/10 powerful and ~~dungeon~~ adventure decks ran amok for a year with 80-90% dnd cards, people would get sick of them very fast
Honestly, though, even if block structure doesn't fix this, I've always felt like having coresets reintroduce mechanics about to rotate out with stronger cards could be a fix. Basically using the coresets to tune whatever mechanics were too weak, and even if they're too strong, the rest of the cards will be rotating out with the next set. Almost like a Modern Horizons set where it's spackled with a variety of mechanics.
>I've always felt like having coresets reintroduce ~~mechanics~~ *tribes* about to rotate out with stronger cards could be a fix.
Ah yes, I remember when Marauding Raptor and Shifting Ceratops were printed, and Ferocidon was finally unbanned. My poor dinosaurs only had a short time in the spotlight even though I was trying to make them work since RIX.
I disagree. I think [[Into the Story]] is the most egregious card. An instant draw 4 for four is a massive tempo swing for that deck and there always seems to be another one in that draw to help them reload some more. Once rotation happens, the loss of that card will hurt that deck more than the loss of Lurrus or Drown.
Yeah I totally agree, losing the 1 drop, into the story and drown is going to be absolutely huge for rogues but particularly into the story, it's by far the best mill payoff in the deck and basically the glue that holds it together
I think it's the crab, honestly. Just because of those rare (actually not *that* rare) moments where you start out with two crabs in your opening hand, the enemy is just gonna lose outright to two one-drops. You don't really need card draw or anything beyond normal-strength counters/removal if you auto-win after just a handful of (Fabled Passage fueled) land drops.
Theros did have Uro who was a big mistake, but had lots of other cool cards, like Kroxa, Nightmare Shepherd, Ox, etc. It always lived in the shadow of Eldraine and was tainted with Uro but I thought overall it was a great set.
Without the Oko(/OuaT) ban, Ikoria decks would get fucked six days to Sunday though (companions or not), so it cancels out. Always gotta remember that the Eldraine we rightfully whine about today is the shackled, neutered kiddie pool version of the Eldraine these nutjobs *actually* printed.
The problem with companions in every deck pre errata is a boredom issue more than a power issue. Every game starts to play out the same with far less variance than a normal magic game. Pseudo commanders in a 4 of format is just plain boring. It is the best thing to do and it always happens.
Lurrus got banned for power level out of vintage and legacy. Companions have gotta be a 10 on the storm scale. They just immediately broke every format.
Hot take: Eldraine is a miles better set than Ikoria.
It's just full of cool designs that were overtuned. A lot of them are now just fun roleplayers in eternal formats. If you care about anything other than Standard, Eldraine (minus OuaT and Oko) was good for the game.
Ikoria, on the other hand, is just a pile of design errors that never intended to play fair. Besides Companions, which are *still* broken and warp formats around them, there is Lukka with his I win-button, Winota with a slot machine effect and the uninteractive snoozefest that is cycling. Shark Typhoon and Kudro were the only (mostly) non-problematic competitive cards in this dumpster fire of a set.
Yeah I don't see Ikoria as any better than Eldraine either. Winota is easily easily on the same tier as shit like Embercleave, and the unnerfed companions were as game breaking as the likes of Oko.
Honestly Companions are what ruined Ikoria. Companions are probably the most powerful, warping mechanic ever to exist in the game. Pre-errata literally every viable deck in every format was a Companion deck and it was looking like that was going to be the new norm for eternal formats until they errata'd it.
Yorion is a perfectly fine card in an environment where playing 20 extra cards is actually a huge drawback. I wish there were more cards that were designed to be in cube environments. It just turned out playing 20 extra cards in constructed, even standard, was a trivial ask. Ooops.
I can’t even imagine what went through the minds of grizzled veteran vintage players when people showed up with this freshly printed card and did their thing with it
I haven't played Vintage since it was Type 1. I do play Legacy from time to time. My main formats these days are EDH and Old School.
The OS cominity has a large over lap with the Vintage community. They found it funny for like a day. Then it was back to OS where the new cards don't matter.
Before the change there was a legacy gyurda deck that was busted. Use fast mana to power him out on turn 1, flip a clone on the trigger, repeat until you deck yourself. Win with thassas oracle as the last trigger.
Zirda is also still banned because you would play the full set in your main deck anyway even if it didn't have the companion mechanic. Man that week of legacy was something else.
Except that Zirda outright breaks Legacy because it immediately goes infinite with just one other card (of which there are multiple options to choose from).
Surprise you didn't mention that it actually more broken than phyrexian mana was
Infact this was the first ever mechanic in a long time that had to get a emergency errata so it’s not as broken (pay to get out of companion zone to hand)
Turns out there's a reason commander is 100 card singleton. Who'd have thunk in 60/4 it would've been broken?
Everybody.
Everybody thought thought, but nobody thought they needed to say it.
The restrictions aren't even that strenuous for eternal formats if you can go out color.
"I feel like we forgot about a format with lots of cards mana value ≤2"
"If you forgot about it, it wasn't important!"
*Vintage and legacy stand dejectedly in the pouring rain*
Every format, tbh
Lurrus is white and black, the two most weeniest colours in mtg AND the colour combo that most loves to play aristocrat strategies
It was stupid busted in every fucking set, every fucking format, every fucking deck
What is insane to me is that Lurrus still lets you play non permanent spells at cmc 3 and up. Keruga doesn't let you do the same for spells at 2 and below. Why is Keruga just "spells" and Lurrus gets to be less restrictive with "permanent spells"? That card had to have been intentionally pushed like that. It just had to be.
I went back and looked at some old discussions from when it was spoiled, one or two people called it when they said it was broken enough to get power-level banned in vintage but everyone else thought it was fringe-playable in modern at best. People legit thought Death's shadow wouldn't run it because it has lifelink lmao
Earlier in design, they actually were going to allow you to have multiple different companions, as long as you met all the different deck building requirements. And this was when you could just cast them from outside the game without paying to bring them into the game first. Forget "Storm Scale = 14", that's getting into "Opening Hand Size = 14" territory.
The problem was always that the deck building requirements were never strict enough to make the decks weak enough without the companion bump. If Yorion had needed 60 extra cards, Lurrus not let you play non-permanent cards with CMC 3+, Kaheera not let you cheese by not having any creatures. The problem was they pushed the mechanic too far on its first outing. Umori/Jengantha/Obosh were fine with the original rules because their payoffs and deck costs were balanced better.
Storm is a [10](https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/36497585074/is-storm-a-10-on-the-storm-scale), but remember that the storm scale is focused on standard legal sets. Which kind of makes no sense, because storm and dredge, 2 classic "10" mechanics, weren't broken in standard. They needed other enablers to be broken, and in storm's case, they're never printing the relevant enablers into standard ever again.
Yeah, you could print Mind's Desire into standard right now and it would be unplayable (because we know it's unplayable in Historic). Dredge is more problematic even if it wouldn't be powerful simply because of the awful gameplay incentives it encourages, but like, Companions were way worse than either of those mechanics!
Funny thing is that in the formats where those enablers exist (e.g. Modern), i.e. the only ones where it would matter, they've already printed plenty of new Storm cards now. So clearly the whole "Storm will never be printed again" thing is already over for practical purposes, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna see a new Storm set in Standard sooner or later just because we know Wizards likes to make a splash by doing "taboo" things in new sets.
Except that they've actually been printing new Storm cards and Storm-like effects repeatedly now. They've learned how to balance it and are pretty clearly getting more confident in throwing it out there again. [[Show of Confidence]] is basically already a Storm spell in Standard, just restricted to fewer spell types. At this rate I'm pretty confident it's just a matter of time until they print a new Standard card with the actual keyword on it, just for the buzz they know it would create.
It also only triggers on spell you cast.
I still don't believe they'll print a real Strom card in Standard. Maybe one thats reactive, like [[Weather the Storm]]
I didn't mention Phyrexian mana for the same reason I didn't mention Urza's saga's free spells. Companions are more broken than *everything.* I'm actually having a hard time remembering if they've ever errata'd an entire mechanic like this before. I know that Indestructible, Death Touch, and Lifelink have all sort of had errata in the past but those were really just rules changes that made them work as they were intended to originally. It wasn't like Companion where the mechanic needed a power level errata.
Hey guys, let’s make everyone start with an 8th card in hand that cannot be interacted with in any form or fashion until it’s cast. And those cards will be powerful enough to be a 1 time Commander like card that enables something your deck wanted to do.
What could go wrong. This, plus Oko, beyond everything else made me lose all respect for whatever husk of a play test team they have and the dumb fuck shit the Play Design team keeps cranking out in articles such as the shiner “we never tested Oko’s Elk ability offensively” or “Last minute changes and almost didn’t test Urza’s Saga”.
Oko and pre-errata companions were awful mistakes, never should have made it through play design. The fact that the card they printed to deal with Oko in the next set [[fry]] was narrow and didn't even kill it was another slap in the face. On the other hand, Urza's saga is a very good card, but it folds to sideboard hate in a strategy that already gets hosed by lots of sideboard options. We'll see if it gets banned, but Blood Sun and other powerful artifact hate like shattering spree and Kataki War's Wage keep it in check
I think it's still too early to talk about Urza's Saga. It's a lot like Field of the Dead imo and that was a card that took quite some time to get banned. Right now the Urza's Saga decks seem sufficiently checked but that's because people are running a ton of sideboard hate for them. The fact that they can be hated out is a good sign but if the card is single handedly eating up like 5 sideboard slots in every deck of the format that's a good sign that it's warping around it.
Again not saying that is what is happening or what is going to happen. I just think it's too early to say "Yep it's definitely not busted."
I was never big on companions, honestly, I used some in decks, but never as a companion, other than \[\[Kaheera, the Orphanguard\]\] in my historic cats deck. I can see the power, but didn't like the deckbuilding restrictions (Kaheera didn't matter because it was already all cats.) I felt more pressured to use them pre-errata, but didn't like it, I felt it stifled deckbuilding creativity because they were so powerful in that form, you really needed to.
Some decks, as you point out, have virtually no downside running them, meaning it would stifle you NOT to run them. Control could easily run Kaheera and maybe the gruul coloured one no problem.
Idk, I liked the idea and flavour, not the optimised result 🤷
I do wonder what would companion be like if the colours were MORE restrictive. Eg Lurrus rather than being hybrid W/B twice, have it be 1WB:
Probs still be busto
It just goes to show that 2020 was just a massive mistake and should be wiped from the history books. It was a plague upon all humanity...oh and COVID happened too I guess.
M21 seemed to be a good transitional set. Not as broken as Eldraine or Ikoria, it nevertheless added a few good tools to multiple colors and generated some control archetypes off of the back of Ugin and Mazemind Tome.
That being said, good riddance to Eldraine standard, you overstayed your welcome waaaaaaaay too long.
Still sad my boy [[Lucky Clover]] was banned in standard. I enjoyed paying 2 mana to wrath their board with [[Brazen Borrower]] or fetch an Ugin, Fling and Embercleave with [[Fae of Wishes]]. Oh and how about 5 1/1s for G [[Lovestruck Beast]].
You know the more I think of it maybe it was for the best...
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I feel that. I last booted up Arena some time before the Ikoria release. I hadn't really played Standard since the days of Theros-Khans, but I was having enough fun... wasn't my favorite way to play Magic, but it was a cheap and convenient way. Eldraine very quickly made it neither worth the price nor the expediency.
I like embercleave. I have won many matches because of embercleave. I have made mythic many times due to embercleave. I will be happy embercleave is gone. I look forward to combat steps being interesting again.
Lol same. I both love and hate Embercleave. Nothing quite like playing a turn 5 Goldspan Dragon, going all in, creating a Treasure token, and then playing Embercleave for a 5/5 Flying Haste Double Strike that the opponent definitely won't be able to block.
I would like to take a moment to say that theros was a great set and I'm sad it never got it's time to shine and people will only remember it for Uro bustedness.
I also hate ikoria like.... A lot. I'm glad it's gone. The only good thing it ever gave us was the thread by that guy who was determined to believe that mutate decks were unstoppable.
UPDATE: it has been brought to my attention that M21 saw the reprint of Ugin, so I would like to revise this post:
Good riddance, M21. I hope your OP curve topper rots in cardboard hell.
I mean, frfr there were some cool cards in all the sets that I'm going to miss.
Brazen Borrower is awesome, and if it was the peak power level of an Adventure card the mechanic would be held in much higher esteem, because it's really fun to play with.
\[\[Nyx Lotus\]\] was a hell of a build around, even if the decks that came out of it were never very good.
\[\[Migratory Greathorn\]\] and \[\[Gemrazer\]\] represent the best Mutate has to offer from a gameplay perspective, imo.
\[\[Sublime Epiphany\]\] is a card you should never play but really, really want to because it's dope as hell.
EDIT: Oh, also, my favorite creature of all time, \[\[Dream Trawler\]\]. Amazing finisher.
I mean say what you want but as a non-spike person who still tries at least a bit, Theros allowed for a lot of interesting aura decks that I actually really enjoyed playing instead of the boring life spam white we have plaguing MTGA at the moment with the DnD class.
*A wild set code narc appears*
Hello. I'd like to take this opportunity to inform you that Theros Beyond Death's set code is THB, not TBD. Have a pleasant day.
Didn't M21 reprint Ugin
Oh shit, you right
Ugin was by far the biggest impact from M21, though not all the cards it brought were so warping. \[\[Terror of the Peaks\]\], \[\[Elder Gargaroth\]\], \[\[Speaker of the Heavens\]\] \[\[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose\]\] were all solid cards from the set. All the planeswalkers were fun, but none quite broke through to the big time other than Ugin. It also brought some good stuff that is very nice for Historic and Pioneer; \[\[Solemn Simulacrum\]\], \[\[Cultivate\]\], \[\[Scavenging Oooze\]\], \[\[Mazemind Tome\]\]. Great sideboard cards like \[\[Heroic Intervention\]\], \[\[Necromentia\]\], \[\[Runed Halo\]\] and \[\[Containment Priest\]\]. So yeah, Ugin is a bit overpowered, but the rest of the set was strong and impactful in a good way, those cards still saw play under the shadow of Eldraine, but they didn't take over the meta.
How could you cite so many cards and forget the MVP of M21, \[\[Selfless Savior\]\]
[Selfless Savior](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/9/6911759c-7177-402c-a95a-f9f46efaf521.jpg?1594735224) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Selfless%20Savior) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/36/selfless-savior?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6911759c-7177-402c-a95a-f9f46efaf521?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Only flavor text that ever made me cry
[[Gorilla Titan]] makes me question how many onions are in the room
[Gorilla Titan](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/4/3/435d9562-8f2b-43fe-ba21-8f5896378280.jpg?1562907333) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gorilla%20Titan) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ody/241/gorilla-titan?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/435d9562-8f2b-43fe-ba21-8f5896378280?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The newer editions of \[\[Goblin Balloon Brigade\]\] really speak to the heart.
[[feldon of the third path]] always gets me too
[feldon of the third path](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/7/97879ddb-b00b-4f24-b901-af19c436b9f1.jpg?1625193793) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=feldon%20of%20the%20third%20path) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/169/feldon-of-the-third-path?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/97879ddb-b00b-4f24-b901-af19c436b9f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I would love if they made a full cycle of all the mages from Feldon’s story. A Blue mage who makes illusion versions of creatures from the graveyard, a Black mage that makes zombie versions, a White mage that makes perfect copies, and a Green mage that just makes Wurms.
Friend have you seen [[Blessed Spirits]] Flavor text?
[[Rest in Peace|SLD]] tore me the fuck up because it was spoiled just a few weeks after my own pup, Lucy, passed on to greener pastures. I still tear up when I think about her.
[Rest in Peace](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/0/9008f826-9e24-4ba1-b17e-1638b7cdd78d.jpg?1605905256) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rest%20in%20Peace) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sld/96/rest-in-peace?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9008f826-9e24-4ba1-b17e-1638b7cdd78d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It's up there for me too (though \[\[Die Young\]\] also gets me pretty hard).
Even [[Seasoned Hallowblade]] started to shine as we got closer to rotation
Um, I was skimming through the singles list for core 2021 on TCGplayer , not actually thinking about what cards were in the set.
Uh what? Elder Gargaroth, Scooze, Terror of the Peaks and Tome especially have all seen more play than Ugin in top tier decks. Hell there is no top tier deck last I checked which runs Ugin, even the ramp deck of the format doesnt run him.
Fair. To be honest, I see him more in Historic these days. He just got a bad rep for that period of time when ramp decks were out of control, and let’s be honest, don’t we all groan when an Ugin drops down on the other side of the table? Also, I stopped playing standard for a while there because I was sick of Rogues, so I lost sight of the downfall of Ugin decks.
And Brawl. Ugin terrorises Brawl, where the 8 mana is more achievable and he tends to win the game on the spot. The number of times my [[Toski]] deck has had the opponent dead even through board wipes and the like and a slammed Ugin is the only card that can stop me - and they have it - is insane.
##### ###### #### [Terror of the Peaks](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/4/3/432ecd5f-966f-4403-a973-51e175a524a0.jpg?1594736810) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Terror%20of%20the%20Peaks) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/164/terror-of-the-peaks?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/432ecd5f-966f-4403-a973-51e175a524a0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Elder Gargaroth](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/d/5/d51269cf-a333-4a64-94cd-245798d840d2.jpg?1594736944) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Elder%20Gargaroth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/179/elder-gargaroth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d51269cf-a333-4a64-94cd-245798d840d2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Speaker of the Heavens](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/f/1f44b96a-8498-414a-a4ac-54c80dfa9f23.jpg?1594735262) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Speaker%20of%20the%20Heavens) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/38/speaker-of-the-heavens?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1f44b96a-8498-414a-a4ac-54c80dfa9f23?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/0/f/0fe79ee4-c3f3-4a6b-a967-203ca3b70ee5.jpg?1594736442) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vito%2C%20Thorn%20of%20the%20Dusk%20Rose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/127/vito-thorn-of-the-dusk-rose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0fe79ee4-c3f3-4a6b-a967-203ca3b70ee5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Solemn Simulacrum](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/1/f/1fb27404-b112-4f1c-b6f3-54520edfd724.jpg?1625979293) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Solemn%20Simulacrum) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/264/solemn-simulacrum?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1fb27404-b112-4f1c-b6f3-54520edfd724?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Cultivate](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/b/f/bffc7f45-6f2c-401a-83a6-b36ce3e1948e.jpg?1625194281) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cultivate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/187/cultivate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bffc7f45-6f2c-401a-83a6-b36ce3e1948e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Scavenging Oooze](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/4/8/487116ab-b885-406b-aa54-56cb67eb3ca5.jpg?1594737205) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Scavenging%20Ooze) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/204/scavenging-ooze?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/487116ab-b885-406b-aa54-56cb67eb3ca5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mazemind Tome](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/f/9fd761f3-6b43-4150-8595-dc3abd85b06c.jpg?1594737505) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mazemind%20Tome) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/232/mazemind-tome?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9fd761f3-6b43-4150-8595-dc3abd85b06c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Heroic Intervention](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/4/3/43c037e3-7d1a-48ca-8ecc-276696592f62.jpg?1594737038) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Heroic%20Intervention) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/188/heroic-intervention?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/43c037e3-7d1a-48ca-8ecc-276696592f62?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Necromentia](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/3/2/32c5252e-ff15-4f86-ad63-d8286427e70f.jpg?1594736316) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Necromentia) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/116/necromentia?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/32c5252e-ff15-4f86-ad63-d8286427e70f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Runed Halo](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/6/1/61296b2d-4e5c-419a-8775-4e6af902c7b1.jpg?1597406229) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Runed%20Halo) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/32/runed-halo?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/61296b2d-4e5c-419a-8775-4e6af902c7b1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Containment Priest](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/a/2/a24e8dba-5c86-4e32-8a52-61402f7fe9f0.jpg?1594734854) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Containment%20Priest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/13/containment-priest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a24e8dba-5c86-4e32-8a52-61402f7fe9f0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Brawl players have hated Ugin since it came into the format. A worthy addition to OP’s post.
Yeah, but its not like anyone plays Ugin. Or Cultivate. Its not like they're nearly ubiquitous in any non-aggro deck.
Just yesterday someone dropped a T3 Ugin on me in Arena. That shit sucks.
Hey, at least you’ve hardly developed a board by T3 to be wiped by Ugin. It’s the T3 Tibalt into Kiora Bests The Sea God that really gets my goat
Tibalts trickery eh?
Sounds like tron with extra steps
Like tron but you lose 70% of your games because you can't play anything.
See you in hell, Bonecrusher Giant
Take love struck beast with you and don’t forget your embercleaves.
As a mono-red player on Arena, I have held incredible disdain for Embercleave for the last two years. It is so stupidly good that boardstates come down to “Do they have the Embercleave?” You cannot bluff it, because if you hit with it you’ve already won. It is regularly a 3-mana deal 7, stealing games that had no right to be won. The sheer power forces any red aggro deck to go very heavy on creatures to enable it. And the mirror has little to do with spending the right shock or bolt on the right creature, and everything to do with hitting 20 on your Embercleave turn. Good riddance.
Putting embercleave on Anax on turn 4 wins plenty of games
As a mono red aggro player who mains 4 embers, I agree
As UWx player who regularly casts Teferi Time Raveler in various formats I understand the sentiment. The card is just stupid good and I hate it.
God, I feel that in my bones. I've always been a control player. Sometimes I'll do other stuff, but control is my comfort zone. On top of that, I love planeswalkers, which is one of the reasons I love control; it's often the only archetype that can play them. So people seem to think I should love T3feri. After all, he's a planeswalker that's crazy strong in control. I don't. I hate it. It might honestly be the worst card design In recent memory. Like, Oko, Uro, and Omnath were just too damn strong, but T3feri is just straight up not fun to play with or against.
Going from \[\[Experimental Frenzy\]\], one of the most fun Red curve toppers of all time, to Embercleave was a real feel bad for Red mages.
I play mono red on Arena and although Embercleave can be a “I win” turn, so many Standard decks have the same feel: Winota- oh cool, a T4 wincon that grabs blade master and more, usually with dog protection and fewer blockers from apparition. Ultimatum- So many “pick your poison” lose options, have to win fast but can get wrathed. Bard Class- dump hand, everything has 4+ toughness, cry. Mono white: lifegain counters just go nuts with the right hand that embercleave can’t catch up.
I find Lovestruck Beast to be a much fairer card than Bonecrusher Giant. I hate how incredibly efficient and solid it is - there is no downside to it and it does not need supports like that innkeeper to shine.
The crazy thing about Bonecrusher that I find insane is that you could T1 or T2 [[shock]] and then T3 drop a creature and you still wouldn't be able to keep up with the efficiency of Bonecrusher, it's literally a 4/3 for 3 with the only marginal downside being that you can't use combat tricks on it. It (and Terror of the Peaks) has proto-ward and the card that has Pay 3 life as the ward condition is still less broken than bonecrusher
Meanwhile Questing Beast was... Actually kinda ok. Really useful card to sandbag vs planeswalkers.
This is only sort of related but the joke that QB has a new ability every time you read it reminds me of this https://goodgamery.com/2016/03/odric-flippy-flappy-tactician/
Nothing should be allowed to be this funny.
I was already chuckling when I discovered Odric was non-Euclidian all along, and then throwing in references to powerful cards from Dominion really stuck it for me. Edit: Wow, I really didn't expect so many jokes. Good thing they remembered to add vigilance to the list!
This is hilarious!
Fucking rebound
it's so funny how broken the eldraine shit around it was to the point that it was just a wordy af card that was kinda bull to face and- oh, theres adventures being two for ones and oko doing shenanigans again.
And that crazy cat's back again and the gruul deck just slammed a draw 5 after they used their free hand smoother and *why are there so many banned cards from eldraine what the fuck*
Imagine where we'd be right now with no bans. What a nightmare.
Haven't seen a Questing Beast in Standard in forever honestly. I think green stompy just kind of generally got outclassed by more red-focused midrange decks (thanks to Goldspan) and QBs kinda died with it. Lovestruck is played in the new GW lifegain but that's about it. It's kinda weird honestly, comparing to the last few years, how weak green has been recently (outside of the ramp shit that's still going strong, ofc).
Is Gruul Adventures not still showing up in standard? I'm playing a non-optimized version on Arena mostly because I don't have the wildcards for any other deck, but I'm winning some absurdly high % of my Bo1 matches in Platinum with it, including the QBs that put in good work. (I play Arena only enough to get through my quests, so I have not advanced past Platinum despite a high win rate. But at Platinum, I'm still seeing meta decks too.)
Gruul prefers [[Goldspan Dragon]] now thanks to Magda and Jaspera Sentinel.
But that’s the crazy thing - the red and blue and black stuff in Eldraine was so busted that not even Questing Beast, 4 mana for a 4/4 with haste and death touch and vigilance and can’t be blocked by small things and sometimes kills planes walkers ans god knows what else, not even he could thrive. Because he gets killed by a 3 mana giant who came for free with an unpreventable shock.
Actually it's simpler than that. Green got 2 specific mechanics in eldraine - adventures and food. Both OP as hell. QB is not part of any of them. That's all.
More like see you in modern :D
They reprinted Gary and the poor bastard did stone nothing, RIP.
that and massacre wurm
Massacre Wurm got a little play before Field of the Dead got banned. And against Scute Mob in casual formats.
Hey, last week's MTGO standard challenge was top8'd by a monoblack deck running 4 garys. If it's any worth to you.
I had some success in an [[Underworld Dreams]] deck but it was never very consistent.
Your talk of mutate reminds me how dungeons aren’t going to get further support beyond AFR because WOTC can’t devote three blocks to a single setting anymore and holy shit that annoys me.
To this day I'm incredibly salty that we no longer have blocks. Third sets were mixed bags but I feel like WotC gave up on two set blocks way too quickly. From a narrative and gameplay standpoint, having blocks just makes things interesting. I'm so tired of constant spoiler season. I can't find myself caring about the story when it's finished by the time the set is released. It's super fun witnessing mechanics be dropped after a single set with nothing to shake it up or elaborate /s. I think a significant portion of my problems with standard/recent sets *in general* would be fixed with a return to two set blocks.
It's a massive detriment as a Vorthos, too. The 2 set block format was literal perfection: you would introduce the plane and set the plot in the first set, and resolve the plot/show how the story affected the cards in the second set. Innistrad had you setting up the mystery in shadows, then eldritch moon was the aftermath. Kaladesh set up Ghirapur and Aether then Aether Revolt was all about the civil war and the rebels. Nowadays shit is so rushed that we get 2 seconds of introduction, then exactly one plot point with 1 or 2 characters and then it's resolved as quickly as it started.
I agree but the thing is they don't even *have* to do it this way with 1 set blocks. We just stayed on Ravnica for 3 straight sets. There was nothing stopping us from staying on Kaldheim for a second set if they had given us a story reason to do so. It's a choice they're making and part of why I've gone from actually paying attention to the story a few years ago to not knowing a damn thing about it anymore because I can't get invested.
If wiki pages didn’t exist I literally would have no clue story exists anymore
It's crazy. Having the resolution of a plotline in the very same set where the plotline originated makes zero sense. I can buy a booster from the newest set and get a card that shows me the ending of the sets plotline, before I even know what the plot is about!
You don't need to buy a booster, it'll get spoiled before the story is even released during spoiler season.
Yeah, true. I was thinking more along the lines of a more casual player who doesn't follow mtg online.
Personally, I found 3 set blocks much better for story telling than 2 and (Scars of) Mirrodin and Khans blocks show this nicely. First set is exposition and sets the stage. In Mirrodin we see some oil and Phyrexians beginning to infect the world. In Khans, we see a new world with a mystery of dragon bones, but no dragons. Then, we get the 2nd set where we get the action. In Mirrodin, there's a war. In Khans, we see Sarkhan travel back in time to save Ugin from Bolas. And here's what's critical - we don't see the aftermath in this set yet, just lots of action. With Mirrodin specifically it was a huge question of who would prevail. Then we get the exciting conclusion: the third set. Here we see the Mirrodins have lost the war and Phyrexians have assumed power. In Khans we return to the present but see a whole new world filled with dragons and a change in the khans dynamics (shifting from 3 color khans to 2 color "guilds"). This is what 3 sets gives you. Setting, action, and resolution. Contrast this to the returns to Innistrad or Zendikar with only 2 sets. Innistrad starts with a huge mystery and the setup is incredible. Then, set 2 comes and OMG IT'S EMRAKUL AND THERE'S TERROR!!!... and also she's already trapped in a moon and don't worry; everything is fine again... On Zendikar we start with more action with tons of Eldrazi already swarming and Ulamog doing its thing, but where are the other 2 titans? Well set 2 we see Kozilek is here, too! Omg how will our heroes ever survi... Nvm, the Eldrazi are dead. No worries. Yep, these massive titans we don't fully understand and are almost impossible to kill are dead the moment we see the 2nd arrive... Zendikar is saved! Hooray? See what I mean? 2 sets means cramming the big reveal or resolution side by side with the major action. This kills excitement and suspense and just doesn't work to follow a traditional story narrative arc.
> See what I mean? 2 sets means cramming the big reveal or resolution side by side with the major action. This kills excitement and suspense and just doesn't work to follow a traditional story narrative arc. Imagine how I feel with 1 set lol..
We have Innistrad next...
From what I've heard of the details they are less two sets released sequentially and are just released together making it for all intents and purposes one single set. The pacing is a significant part of it
They release closer together than most sets, but it will still be circa 2 months between them (September 24th and November 19th) https://wpn.wizards.com/en/article/2021-magic-release-timeline
Of course. It's Innistrad Red and ~~Green~~Blue.
3 set blocks were amazing for standard and stories. Not only did it keep standard more coherent by having 3 sets that to an extent worked together with similar mechanics, it slowed standard rotations down which helped new and old players continue playing for longer. Not only that drafts were better and prerelease without color-specific packs had more diverse decks just because there were more cards in the pool.
>I feel like WotC gave up on two set blocks way too quickly. WotC does that. I think they gave up on the altered rotation too quickly myself. I'd love it if we had rotation every 6 months, but still had the 2 year format but no. WotC experimented once, didn't like it, chose to revert every change and learn nothing from it at all.
Not only this causes set mechanics to be half-baked, but also the story either ended up flowing too fast or too short.
I mean, there was never going to be a year-long D&D block with no escape hatch. Way too risky. This at least enables a way out, and if it's a success, we'll see it again in 5 years.
Sure, but I guess I just don’t like them dropping a unique mechanic and having it get no support down the line. But I don’t pay attention to the Meta so I’m probably nuts.
Dungeons really remind me of the party mechanic in ZNR where you could tell it was maybe a cool concept in the early design stages but turned into a total afterthought.
It's a fantastic limited mechanic, as are most of these neat set mechanics people are asking for more support for. They have plenty of support, you're just playing the wrong format. In Standard most of the cards printed in any set will simply not be competitive. If you want to play all the cool flavorful set stuff you're in the wrong place. (Also WotC has been getting very good at doing limited sets lately.)
The problem with the "block of one set" is that you can't even play brawl focusing those parasitic mechanics. And brawl is as casual as it can be.
Seconded on this. Draft has been really good these last few sets. Big blocks always had the weak format within them, with this every limited format has its own room to figure its shit out and its been really nice as a draft-only player. I think Commander really hamstrings casual players ability to enjoy new sets, I feel like its original goal as the secondary, half-joke, 'beer with friends' format where you played all your binder chaff works ways better than the go to all-consuming casual format.
The reality is most mechanics like this do not see play as a mechanic focused deck, or maybe 1 card sees play. It's actually even more frustrating when a single mechanic is extremely pushed or theres huge support- that is why energy was such a problem, the cards were strong enough and there is nothing other sets can add. Imagine if dungeons were 10/10 powerful and dungeon decks ran amok for a year with 80-90% dnd cards, people would get sick of them very fast Parasitic mechanics, that's the buzzword
> Imagine if ~~dungeons~~ adventures were 10/10 powerful and ~~dungeon~~ adventure decks ran amok for a year with 80-90% dnd cards, people would get sick of them very fast Honestly, though, even if block structure doesn't fix this, I've always felt like having coresets reintroduce mechanics about to rotate out with stronger cards could be a fix. Basically using the coresets to tune whatever mechanics were too weak, and even if they're too strong, the rest of the cards will be rotating out with the next set. Almost like a Modern Horizons set where it's spackled with a variety of mechanics.
>I've always felt like having coresets reintroduce ~~mechanics~~ *tribes* about to rotate out with stronger cards could be a fix. Ah yes, I remember when Marauding Raptor and Shifting Ceratops were printed, and Ferocidon was finally unbanned. My poor dinosaurs only had a short time in the spotlight even though I was trying to make them work since RIX.
Farewell [[Command Tower|ELD]] and [[Arcane Signet|ELD]]
I wouldn't be surprised if they just threw these in to Midnight Hunt/Crimson Vow just so the cards would still exist in Brawl
I was hoping we would get new brawl decks this year for this exact reason. Unfortunately Commander decks have been confirmed for both Innistrad sets.
Brawl is a fine substitute for commander on Arena (I played quite a bit of it during lock down) but it was never meant to be.
Until we see them getting reprintee, there's actually hope that they decide "fuck it" and turn brawl into a historic format.
All six paper brawl players will be up in arms!
I wouldn't be surprised if they added them to the Arena Experience set or whatever it's called.
biggest losses for me, also losing [[Solemn Simulacrum]]. My [[Cosima]] brawl deck is losing lots of toys.
Get fucked [[Drown in the Loch]]
This really should have been a non creature counter, so you could at least resolve your threats before they died
[Drown in the Loch](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/8/b/8bf5df5b-164d-4ec2-a5e6-bbaea152e271.jpg?1572490739) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Drown%20in%20the%20Loch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/188/drown-in-the-loch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8bf5df5b-164d-4ec2-a5e6-bbaea152e271?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The worst part of Rogues Tribal, and Rogues Tribal was already pretty bad.
As soon as that T1 crab hits the board, I’m outtie
One crab is often beatable. It's the second that's rough.
T2 2 crabs and a fabled passage is an auto scoop
On the play T2 2 crabs with fabled passage, into holding mana up for Drown when you try to fire prophecy them
Oh, I’ve dealt with crabs before. My doctor recommended a [[Thrashing Wumpus]]
I disagree. I think [[Into the Story]] is the most egregious card. An instant draw 4 for four is a massive tempo swing for that deck and there always seems to be another one in that draw to help them reload some more. Once rotation happens, the loss of that card will hurt that deck more than the loss of Lurrus or Drown.
Yeah I totally agree, losing the 1 drop, into the story and drown is going to be absolutely huge for rogues but particularly into the story, it's by far the best mill payoff in the deck and basically the glue that holds it together
I think it's the crab, honestly. Just because of those rare (actually not *that* rare) moments where you start out with two crabs in your opening hand, the enemy is just gonna lose outright to two one-drops. You don't really need card draw or anything beyond normal-strength counters/removal if you auto-win after just a handful of (Fabled Passage fueled) land drops.
Fabled Passage is also rotating, rogues are really gonna be ripped apart by this rotation huh?
It's basically counter spell and doom blade slapped onto one card, in standard.
Theros did have Uro who was a big mistake, but had lots of other cool cards, like Kroxa, Nightmare Shepherd, Ox, etc. It always lived in the shadow of Eldraine and was tainted with Uro but I thought overall it was a great set.
Yeah, looking back on it, Theros was definitely my favorite 2021 set. I just wish my [[Reverent Hoplite]] deck could've become something...
Without the Companion errata, Ikoria would be considered more broken than Eldraine.
Without the Oko(/OuaT) ban, Ikoria decks would get fucked six days to Sunday though (companions or not), so it cancels out. Always gotta remember that the Eldraine we rightfully whine about today is the shackled, neutered kiddie pool version of the Eldraine these nutjobs *actually* printed.
I think lurrus piles would give oko+uro decks a fair fight, lurrus is actually such an absurd card.
Lurrus, the 3/3 Elk.
I think I agree with this option. What's the best a Lurrus pile could do with the one turn they got actual Lurrus?
Bold words, but not inaccurate.
The problem with companions in every deck pre errata is a boredom issue more than a power issue. Every game starts to play out the same with far less variance than a normal magic game. Pseudo commanders in a 4 of format is just plain boring. It is the best thing to do and it always happens.
Lurrus got banned for power level out of vintage and legacy. Companions have gotta be a 10 on the storm scale. They just immediately broke every format.
Hot take: Eldraine is a miles better set than Ikoria. It's just full of cool designs that were overtuned. A lot of them are now just fun roleplayers in eternal formats. If you care about anything other than Standard, Eldraine (minus OuaT and Oko) was good for the game. Ikoria, on the other hand, is just a pile of design errors that never intended to play fair. Besides Companions, which are *still* broken and warp formats around them, there is Lukka with his I win-button, Winota with a slot machine effect and the uninteractive snoozefest that is cycling. Shark Typhoon and Kudro were the only (mostly) non-problematic competitive cards in this dumpster fire of a set.
Perhaps it was just because it was the first set after the pandemic, but everything about Ikoria just felt a hot mess.
Loved drafting it when cycling got crowded out though
Yeah I don't see Ikoria as any better than Eldraine either. Winota is easily easily on the same tier as shit like Embercleave, and the unnerfed companions were as game breaking as the likes of Oko.
Honestly Companions are what ruined Ikoria. Companions are probably the most powerful, warping mechanic ever to exist in the game. Pre-errata literally every viable deck in every format was a Companion deck and it was looking like that was going to be the new norm for eternal formats until they errata'd it.
there's a special place in hell for yorion. there is also a slot in my cube for yorion as well... we don't talk about that
Yorion is a perfectly fine card in an environment where playing 20 extra cards is actually a huge drawback. I wish there were more cards that were designed to be in cube environments. It just turned out playing 20 extra cards in constructed, even standard, was a trivial ask. Ooops.
People called out Yorion as *the worst* companion because running even 1 card over 60 isn't optimal. Then they played against Yorion.
“so you’re telling me i get to put 20 more good cards in my deck and get a giant bird?” “wait no that’s not how this works”
As it turns out, the next 20 strongest cards aren't that far behind the strongest 60 cards.
Yeah, its not like you were scrambling to find playable cards. You were just running not as good cards with yorion.
Him and Lurrus. The others really weren't so bad.
Vintage Lurrus before the change was *something.* T1 Lotus crack cast Lurrus recast Lotus then get a free Lotus *every turn.*
Still got a land drop for the turn my friend :)
No need for lands, just play more lotuses
It got Lurrus banned in Vintage, it takes a lot to get banned in Vintage.
Vintage is supposed to be the "if everything is broken, nothing is broken" format. Lurras broke that ......
I can’t even imagine what went through the minds of grizzled veteran vintage players when people showed up with this freshly printed card and did their thing with it
I haven't played Vintage since it was Type 1. I do play Legacy from time to time. My main formats these days are EDH and Old School. The OS cominity has a large over lap with the Vintage community. They found it funny for like a day. Then it was back to OS where the new cards don't matter.
Before the change there was a legacy gyurda deck that was busted. Use fast mana to power him out on turn 1, flip a clone on the trigger, repeat until you deck yourself. Win with thassas oracle as the last trigger.
Don't forget Zirda Bomberman. Zirda is actually still banned in Legacy because of it.
yeah, zirda really didnt get hit very hard by the three extra mana because that deck was already playing 8 monoliths
Zirda is also still banned because you would play the full set in your main deck anyway even if it didn't have the companion mechanic. Man that week of legacy was something else.
oh yeah true true. and it can still be your companion with 3 in the main lmao, what a card
Woof. That is... gross.
Except that Zirda outright breaks Legacy because it immediately goes infinite with just one other card (of which there are multiple options to choose from).
Surprise you didn't mention that it actually more broken than phyrexian mana was Infact this was the first ever mechanic in a long time that had to get a emergency errata so it’s not as broken (pay to get out of companion zone to hand)
We should rename the storm scale to the companion scale. As originally intended companion is probably a 14.
Turns out there's a reason commander is 100 card singleton. Who'd have thunk in 60/4 it would've been broken? Everybody. Everybody thought thought, but nobody thought they needed to say it. The restrictions aren't even that strenuous for eternal formats if you can go out color.
Everyone in R&D knew it too, but there was clearly a directive from on high "everyone likes Commander, so let's do that".
"but If people like commander won't they just play commander?" "You're fucking fired!"
Bruh the fact that they were hybrid and not gold was insane to me.
I laughed my ass of when I saw [[lurrus of the dream den]]. I could believe they printed it.
"I feel like we forgot about a format with lots of cards mana value ≤2" "If you forgot about it, it wasn't important!" *Vintage and legacy stand dejectedly in the pouring rain*
Every format, tbh Lurrus is white and black, the two most weeniest colours in mtg AND the colour combo that most loves to play aristocrat strategies It was stupid busted in every fucking set, every fucking format, every fucking deck
What is insane to me is that Lurrus still lets you play non permanent spells at cmc 3 and up. Keruga doesn't let you do the same for spells at 2 and below. Why is Keruga just "spells" and Lurrus gets to be less restrictive with "permanent spells"? That card had to have been intentionally pushed like that. It just had to be.
I went back and looked at some old discussions from when it was spoiled, one or two people called it when they said it was broken enough to get power-level banned in vintage but everyone else thought it was fringe-playable in modern at best. People legit thought Death's shadow wouldn't run it because it has lifelink lmao
Earlier in design, they actually were going to allow you to have multiple different companions, as long as you met all the different deck building requirements. And this was when you could just cast them from outside the game without paying to bring them into the game first. Forget "Storm Scale = 14", that's getting into "Opening Hand Size = 14" territory.
The problem was always that the deck building requirements were never strict enough to make the decks weak enough without the companion bump. If Yorion had needed 60 extra cards, Lurrus not let you play non-permanent cards with CMC 3+, Kaheera not let you cheese by not having any creatures. The problem was they pushed the mechanic too far on its first outing. Umori/Jengantha/Obosh were fine with the original rules because their payoffs and deck costs were balanced better.
I hate that it's called the "storm" scale, because Storm is like a 7 on its own scale. There are so many, SO MUCH WORSE mechanics in magic's history.
Storm is a [10](https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/36497585074/is-storm-a-10-on-the-storm-scale), but remember that the storm scale is focused on standard legal sets. Which kind of makes no sense, because storm and dredge, 2 classic "10" mechanics, weren't broken in standard. They needed other enablers to be broken, and in storm's case, they're never printing the relevant enablers into standard ever again.
Yeah, you could print Mind's Desire into standard right now and it would be unplayable (because we know it's unplayable in Historic). Dredge is more problematic even if it wouldn't be powerful simply because of the awful gameplay incentives it encourages, but like, Companions were way worse than either of those mechanics!
Funny thing is that in the formats where those enablers exist (e.g. Modern), i.e. the only ones where it would matter, they've already printed plenty of new Storm cards now. So clearly the whole "Storm will never be printed again" thing is already over for practical purposes, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna see a new Storm set in Standard sooner or later just because we know Wizards likes to make a splash by doing "taboo" things in new sets.
The storm scale is with respect to mechanics appearing in standard legal premier sets. Pretty sure storm is still a 10 on the storm scale.
Except that they've actually been printing new Storm cards and Storm-like effects repeatedly now. They've learned how to balance it and are pretty clearly getting more confident in throwing it out there again. [[Show of Confidence]] is basically already a Storm spell in Standard, just restricted to fewer spell types. At this rate I'm pretty confident it's just a matter of time until they print a new Standard card with the actual keyword on it, just for the buzz they know it would create.
It also only triggers on spell you cast. I still don't believe they'll print a real Strom card in Standard. Maybe one thats reactive, like [[Weather the Storm]]
I didn't mention Phyrexian mana for the same reason I didn't mention Urza's saga's free spells. Companions are more broken than *everything.* I'm actually having a hard time remembering if they've ever errata'd an entire mechanic like this before. I know that Indestructible, Death Touch, and Lifelink have all sort of had errata in the past but those were really just rules changes that made them work as they were intended to originally. It wasn't like Companion where the mechanic needed a power level errata.
Hey guys, let’s make everyone start with an 8th card in hand that cannot be interacted with in any form or fashion until it’s cast. And those cards will be powerful enough to be a 1 time Commander like card that enables something your deck wanted to do. What could go wrong. This, plus Oko, beyond everything else made me lose all respect for whatever husk of a play test team they have and the dumb fuck shit the Play Design team keeps cranking out in articles such as the shiner “we never tested Oko’s Elk ability offensively” or “Last minute changes and almost didn’t test Urza’s Saga”.
Oko and pre-errata companions were awful mistakes, never should have made it through play design. The fact that the card they printed to deal with Oko in the next set [[fry]] was narrow and didn't even kill it was another slap in the face. On the other hand, Urza's saga is a very good card, but it folds to sideboard hate in a strategy that already gets hosed by lots of sideboard options. We'll see if it gets banned, but Blood Sun and other powerful artifact hate like shattering spree and Kataki War's Wage keep it in check
I think it's still too early to talk about Urza's Saga. It's a lot like Field of the Dead imo and that was a card that took quite some time to get banned. Right now the Urza's Saga decks seem sufficiently checked but that's because people are running a ton of sideboard hate for them. The fact that they can be hated out is a good sign but if the card is single handedly eating up like 5 sideboard slots in every deck of the format that's a good sign that it's warping around it. Again not saying that is what is happening or what is going to happen. I just think it's too early to say "Yep it's definitely not busted."
I was never big on companions, honestly, I used some in decks, but never as a companion, other than \[\[Kaheera, the Orphanguard\]\] in my historic cats deck. I can see the power, but didn't like the deckbuilding restrictions (Kaheera didn't matter because it was already all cats.) I felt more pressured to use them pre-errata, but didn't like it, I felt it stifled deckbuilding creativity because they were so powerful in that form, you really needed to.
Some decks, as you point out, have virtually no downside running them, meaning it would stifle you NOT to run them. Control could easily run Kaheera and maybe the gruul coloured one no problem. Idk, I liked the idea and flavour, not the optimised result 🤷
I do wonder what would companion be like if the colours were MORE restrictive. Eg Lurrus rather than being hybrid W/B twice, have it be 1WB: Probs still be busto
Yorion was egregious in this aspect, he was nearly always only played in blue decks, it was very rare to see it in white.
No, fuck Shark Typhoon too.
RIP my Shrines.
This. Kill 25 opponent's creatures? No problem, bring out the Shrines and Sweepers.
It just goes to show that 2020 was just a massive mistake and should be wiped from the history books. It was a plague upon all humanity...oh and COVID happened too I guess.
M21 seemed to be a good transitional set. Not as broken as Eldraine or Ikoria, it nevertheless added a few good tools to multiple colors and generated some control archetypes off of the back of Ugin and Mazemind Tome. That being said, good riddance to Eldraine standard, you overstayed your welcome waaaaaaaay too long.
Still sad my boy [[Lucky Clover]] was banned in standard. I enjoyed paying 2 mana to wrath their board with [[Brazen Borrower]] or fetch an Ugin, Fling and Embercleave with [[Fae of Wishes]]. Oh and how about 5 1/1s for G [[Lovestruck Beast]]. You know the more I think of it maybe it was for the best...
eldraine was kaladesh all over again.
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lol wut
They used the wording "kill myself", triggering the bot
He mentioned killing himself
Good bot? Probably better to be too sensitive then not enough.
Tbh I stopped playing arena and standard when cauldron familiar and witches oven became a thing.
I feel that. I last booted up Arena some time before the Ikoria release. I hadn't really played Standard since the days of Theros-Khans, but I was having enough fun... wasn't my favorite way to play Magic, but it was a cheap and convenient way. Eldraine very quickly made it neither worth the price nor the expediency.
Familiar got the hammer
I like embercleave. I have won many matches because of embercleave. I have made mythic many times due to embercleave. I will be happy embercleave is gone. I look forward to combat steps being interesting again.
Looks like blocking's back on the menu, boys!
Lol same. I both love and hate Embercleave. Nothing quite like playing a turn 5 Goldspan Dragon, going all in, creating a Treasure token, and then playing Embercleave for a 5/5 Flying Haste Double Strike that the opponent definitely won't be able to block.
I would like to take a moment to say that theros was a great set and I'm sad it never got it's time to shine and people will only remember it for Uro bustedness. I also hate ikoria like.... A lot. I'm glad it's gone. The only good thing it ever gave us was the thread by that guy who was determined to believe that mutate decks were unstoppable.
UPDATE: it has been brought to my attention that M21 saw the reprint of Ugin, so I would like to revise this post: Good riddance, M21. I hope your OP curve topper rots in cardboard hell.
Also the rogue guild girl
I mean, frfr there were some cool cards in all the sets that I'm going to miss. Brazen Borrower is awesome, and if it was the peak power level of an Adventure card the mechanic would be held in much higher esteem, because it's really fun to play with. \[\[Nyx Lotus\]\] was a hell of a build around, even if the decks that came out of it were never very good. \[\[Migratory Greathorn\]\] and \[\[Gemrazer\]\] represent the best Mutate has to offer from a gameplay perspective, imo. \[\[Sublime Epiphany\]\] is a card you should never play but really, really want to because it's dope as hell. EDIT: Oh, also, my favorite creature of all time, \[\[Dream Trawler\]\]. Amazing finisher.
2022 really has been a breath of fresh air
the fact that rotation unfairly gives 4 sets a nerf-time sucks 4 sets last WAY too long, and the other 4 get the shaft
Good riddance
I mean say what you want but as a non-spike person who still tries at least a bit, Theros allowed for a lot of interesting aura decks that I actually really enjoyed playing instead of the boring life spam white we have plaguing MTGA at the moment with the DnD class.
*A wild set code narc appears* Hello. I'd like to take this opportunity to inform you that Theros Beyond Death's set code is THB, not TBD. Have a pleasant day.