LOVE the design. i really like the art, too. this accomplishes what i think is rarely accomplished so well on a card: when you play it, its mechanics will effortlessly make you feel its flavor. when you tap out every turn, it will really feel like he has absorbed your mana, and when you spend it will feel like you're syphoning off the mana from him directly. i feel like exalted accomplished this in that playing exalted creatures makes me feel like i'm really experiencing ritual combat, but this might do an even better job.
"It lets you break a fundamental rule of Magic, letting you pass from phase to phase and turn to turn without having your mana pool deplete itself."
If that hadn't explicitly been in the article I would not have believed that your mana pool doesn't empty when you pass the turn. Sure the ability bypasses steps and phases...but turns? no way.
It is not intuitive at all. Ever since I stated playing magic semi-seriously, in my mind there's been 3 very basic structures to a round in magic; steps, phases, and turns. This idea is reinforced by the fact that so many cards say "until end of turn," which insinuates that passing a turn is somehow different than passing priority from step to step to phase.
I understand that when the rules state that mana empties as steps end, it covers the passing of turns through the clean-up step. I need no further explanation here.
However, I know a LOT of the kids at our local shop are NOT going to understand this, and it will just create another moment of "it is this way because the rules say so in a roundabout way," which wizards seems to trying to avoid like the plague as of late.
This idea is reinforced by the fact that so many cards say "until end of turn," which insinuates that passing a turn is somehow different than passing priority from step to step to phase.
i think this is why cards don't say that anymore. you have a history of reading that but newer players won't. they will see "at the beginning of your next end step," which is terribly clumsy and inelegant, but that's not really the point i'm making.
in general i agree with you. it seems like they've made things more confusing rather than less so.
I don't feel like this will ever be seen by the developer's eyes, but whoever designed Omnath, Locus of Mana deserves an award. This is one of the most interesting designs I've seen in a long time. I usually trawl the spoilers with a design perspective for no particular reason. It's just how I think about the cards at first glance -- Then I turn in to Spike.
This card, though, isn't letting the transformation happen. I feel like I'm discovering old cards after just entering the game again. I don't know what to think about this but I love the way that it explores the rules and captures my intrigue.
For linking a card to Gatherer without writting the name of said card for readers, use the autocard brackets together with and equal sign and right the name of the real card. Then put the message you want inside the tags, like you would do with autocarding. Like this:
I like storm crow because I really like crows in real life, as an animal, and the card isn't terribly stupid, but packs a good deal of nostalgia and also a chunck of the game's history. So it's perhaps one of the cards I have most affection to, but not because "lol storm crow is bad hurr hurr durr".
Although I do assume you deliberately refer to them (DCI) as The Grand Imperial Convocation of Evil just for the purposes of making them sound like an ancient and terrible conspiracy.
Now, now. 1994 doesn't quite qualify as "ancient".
Oh, it's a brilliant plan. You see, Bolas was travelling through shadowmoor, causing trouble, when he saw a Wickerbough Elder with its stylin' dead scarecrow hat. Now, Bolas being Bolas took the awesome hat and he put it on his head, but even with all his titanic powers of magic he couldn't make it fit. He grabbed some more scarecrows, but then a little kithkin girl asked if he was trying to build a toupee. "BY ALL THE POWERS IN THE MULTIVERSE!" he roared, "I WILL HAVE A HAT WORTHY OF MY GLORY." and so he went through his Dark Lore of Doom (tm) looking for something he could make into a hat that would look as stylish on him as a scarecrow does on a treefolk. He thought about the Phyrexians, but they were covered in goopy oil that would make his nonexistant hair greasy. He Tried out angels for a while but they didn't sit quite right. Then, he looked under "e" (because in the Elder Draconic alphabet, "e" for Eldrazi is right next to "h" for Hat) in his Dark Lore of Doom and saw depictions of the Eldrazi, and all their forms. "THIS SHALL BE MY HAT!" he declared, poking a picture of Emrakul, "AND WITH IT I WILL USHER IN A NEW AGE OF DARKNESS -- ER, I MEAN A NEW AGE OF FASHION!"
And so Nicol Bolas masterminded the release of the Eldrazi.
The last couple days have been roughly every perverse fetish imaginable, but it only got "creepy" when speculation on Mother of Runes's mob affiliation came up?
I like to think up what I consider clever names for my decks, only later to be laughed at by my wife. It kills me a little on the inside, but thats what marriage is about.
Of course, the best use [of tolaria west ] is transmuting for the real Tolaria.
Absolutely. I used to loose to my buddy's Banding deck for ages, it was then that I found out about Tolaria , and I was finally able win my first game.
Browbeat is a card that is an appropriate deck choice when there's no better idea available. "No better idea available" was pretty much the running theme of Odyssey era.
Modern is like playing a new tournament every time : you build a deck, you win with it, don't bother keeping it. Just build another, its key pieces will get banned.
I always find it helpful when im angry to dress up in an owl costume and rub pennies all over my body in front of a full body mirror next to the window.
Dymecoar:
Playing Magic without Blue is like sleeping without any sheets or blankets. You can do it...but why?
Omega137:
Me: "I love the moment when a control deck stabilizes. It feels so... right." Omega137: "I like the life drop part until you get there, it's the MtG variant of bungee jumping"
Zigeif777:
Just do it like Yu-Gi-Oh or monkeys: throw all the crap you got at them and hope it works or else the by-standers (or opponents) just get dirty and pissed.
Normally it's difficult to pick up on your jokes/sarcasm. But this one's pretty much out there. Good progress. You have moved up to Humanoid. You'll be Human in no time.
This idea is reinforced by the fact that so many cards say "until end of turn," which insinuates that passing a turn is somehow different than passing priority from step to step to phase.
i think this is why cards don't say that anymore. you have a history of reading that but newer players won't. they will see "at the beginning of your next end step," which is terribly clumsy and inelegant, but that's not really the point i'm making.
in general i agree with you. it seems like they've made things more confusing rather than less so.
The phrase "until end of turn" appears on 23 cards in Magic 2010, 36 cards in Zendikar, and on all of the newly revealed Worldwake man-lands.
Ah, you're thinking of "at end of turn" which has been updated to "at the beginning of the end step" or "at the beginning of the next end step" - clumsy and inelegant, as you say.
I agree with you both that his ability isn't entirely intuitive, and I also agree that it seems certain things could have been done differently to make the game's rules more elegant.
