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2 years ago ::
Feb 14, 2011 - 11:27PM
#51
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Date Joined:
Aug 25, 2003
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First Action spoilers!
Let me be the first to say that, based on these spoiled cards, I hope against hope that the next set will be Mirrodin Pure. The New Phyrexian card is interesting, maybe even good, but it could fit in anywhere. The Mirrodin Pure card, however, is genius. A callback in art and function to a block (and a cycle of talismans) we all remember, and the twist on the Talisman mechanic is delicious.
I haven't liked Scars of Besieged so much because they do not feel like the old Mirrodin block. They do a good job capturing a world at war, but that could be any world. The single spoiled Pure card brings all the memories flooding back like I wished Scars or Besieged had. Please, PLEASE let Pure happen. If it's half as good as the Talisman suggests, I will personally fill Wizards coffers as best I can, and I'll love every minute.
Uhh, that seems a bit silly. Not only will both cards actually get printed, but they've been doing a lot of throwbacks throughout the two sets. Finishing the sword cycle, reprinting the mana myr, Darksteel Juggernaut  , silly stuff like Myr Turbine  and Spikeshot Elder  , the corrupted versions of Mirrodin stalwarts ( Viridian Corrupter  , Phyrexian Juggernaut  , Blightsteel Colossus  , Plague Myr  ) and putting it all together you've got the most nostalgic block since Time Spiral. Beyond that, Scars of Mirrodin block was never going to feel like Mirrodin block, because Mirrodin block was two sets of complete and utter brokenness and then a random third set which could've basically been the third set of any block. It took the game years to recover from Darksteel. Skullclamp  is still banned in basically every format you could imagine.
I think that regardless of which side wins, the last set will still have an artifact theme with a lot of nostalgia. Mirrodin Pure will have the obvious throwbacks and a simple artifact theme, while New Phyrexia is more likely to have more corrupted versions of Mirrodin originals (am I the only one who thinks Infect Arc-Slogger  would be funny?) as the Phyrexians adapt and integrate the Mirrans into their own.
As an aside, I just realised how close the new Phyrexia idea is to the Borg (or, as zammm would put it, any other machine-themed evil civilisation).
Zindaras' meta is like a fossil, ancient and its secrets yet to be uncovered. Only men of yore, long dead, knew of it.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:04AM
#52
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Date Joined:
Oct 10, 2009
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Mechanically, suture priest doesn't seem very white.
http://magiccardswithgooglyeyes.tumblr.com/
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:09AM
#53
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Date Joined:
Aug 20, 2007
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So, Wizards, let me try to grasp this marketing strategy: You are spending almost a year to hype up a set that could be one of two things and do everything to make people to commit to one side or the other. In the end, you then make one of these groups happy and the other group angry. Since the ploy worked so far and people do get worked up about wanting to get either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia and in almost equal numbers as well, you will have almost fifty percent of your player base being sorely disappointed in this last set before they even opened their first booster!
Considering "Action" is to be the conclusion of a strategy that already almost forgot a set - Mirrodin Besieged felt disappointing enough as only being something that we have to buy and be content with as a filler on the way to the grand finale - my only hopes were on a clever gimmick that would please both Mirran and Phyrexian fans (and the 175 card count had given me an idea that was obviously wrong.)
I would say this is the close to the worst flop, marketing-wise, that Wizards has ever come up with. It's even worse than those Zendikar "treasures" that left over 90% of players disappointed at being losers and not getting anything special in order to give the other 10% something extra. At least that disappointment set in after buying and opening the product, meaning Wizards already had the money.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:40AM
#54
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Date Joined:
May 31, 2010
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Reguarding the Besieged Game Day Cards: The Phyrexian Artwork is amazing. Part of me wishes Gameday cards (Like the Peace/Pierce Strider) were alternate art, but I suppose just having them for bragging rights early is enough to excite. I was wondering: How can 2 sets be developed and how is the "winning" set to be chosen? The answers obivious now. One set is developed and for story purposes we're not told who wins. That's a relief, cause it tells me the time's been spent on one "proper" set.  Finally: Both these cards will be in the final set? (but one with a different expansion symbol then pictured)? Hmmm. You know at first when scars hit I was all about the Phyrexians, lately I'm been backing the Mirrians. Now I'm not sure... I guess I'll hop back over to the Infect-Crew... In a bit... maybe...
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:50AM
#55
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2009
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(I dont have time to read the whole thread right now, so apologies if this has already been addressed...) Todays Arcana says: If you pick Mirran and win, you'll get a card from Mirrodin Pure, and if you pick Phyrexian and win, you'll get a card from New Phyrexia.
wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?...
However, a recent article said:
The Top 2 finishers with Mirran-affiliated decks receive a Pristine Talisman preview card from Mirrodin Pure. The Top 2 finishers with Phyrexia-affiliated decks receive a Suture Priest preview card from New Phyrexia!
www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/events.aspx?x=...
So which is it Wizards? Only the winner gets a card, or the top 2 from each faction?
(4 promos or 1 is a big difference...)
Can we get an official response/clarification? I need to pass this info on to my playgroup, and I dont want to give people the wrong impression or have anyone dissapointed when the promo support turns up.
Cheers!
~ Tim
 Reached DCI Rating 1800 on 28/10/11. :D Sig
Show
Not bad. But what happens flavor wise when one kamahl kills the other one?
Zis iz a sign uf deep psychological troma, buried in zer subconscious mind. By keelink himzelf, Kamahl iz physically expressink hiz feelinks uf self-disgust ova hiz desire for hiz muzzer. [/GermanPsychologistVoice]
That makes no sense to me.
If they spelled the ability out on the card in full then it would not be allowed in a mono-black Commander deck, but because they used a keyword to save space it is allowed?
~ Tim
Yup, just like you can have Birds of paradise  in a mono green deck but not Noble Hierarch  . YAY COLOR IDENTITY 
Is algebra really that difficult?
Survey says yes.
You want to make a milky drink. You squeeze a cow.
I love this description. Like the cows are sponges filled with milk. I can see it all Nick Parks claymation-style with the cow's eyes bugging out momentarily as a giant farmer squeezes it like a squeaky dog toy, and milk shoots out of it.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:53AM
#56
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2009
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Mechanically, suture priest doesn't seem very white.
If she had cost   I wouldnt have been at all surprised.
~ Tim
Reached DCI Rating 1800 on 28/10/11. :D Sig
Show
Not bad. But what happens flavor wise when one kamahl kills the other one?
Zis iz a sign uf deep psychological troma, buried in zer subconscious mind. By keelink himzelf, Kamahl iz physically expressink hiz feelinks uf self-disgust ova hiz desire for hiz muzzer. [/GermanPsychologistVoice]
That makes no sense to me.
If they spelled the ability out on the card in full then it would not be allowed in a mono-black Commander deck, but because they used a keyword to save space it is allowed?
~ Tim
Yup, just like you can have Birds of paradise in a mono green deck but not Noble Hierarch . YAY COLOR IDENTITY
Is algebra really that difficult?
Survey says yes.
You want to make a milky drink. You squeeze a cow.
I love this description. Like the cows are sponges filled with milk. I can see it all Nick Parks claymation-style with the cow's eyes bugging out momentarily as a giant farmer squeezes it like a squeaky dog toy, and milk shoots out of it.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 12:56AM
#57
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Date Joined:
Sep 19, 2007
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Given the last two blocks have ended in disaster I think it's more likely that phyrexia is quashed and Kharn can lead the neowalkers against Nicol Bolas. Plus the expansion symbol looks a little better designed, which is all I can really go on.
Having said that I LOVE phyrexia more than any other force/nation/flavour in the Multiverse and believe they wholly deserve their own plane-of-operations. Where better than Argentum? Plus the praetor's stories are so interesting, phyrexians have been the largest antagonist in MTG but we've never had such insight into their culture.
Finally one of my goals is to do the artwork for a Magic card and if it is a Phyrexian card then I can die happy.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 1:45AM
#58
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Date Joined:
Aug 20, 2007
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Hey, guess what: I liked Phyrexia as a villain... when it still was a villain. The evil, scheming and dominating Yawgmoth was an antagonist worthy of a story or six. However, we now know that most Phyrexians aren't villains at all. They are victims, prey to an insidious disease that warps not only their bodies but their minds, similar to real-world rabies. Unfortunately, this makes the conflict in Scars of Mirrodin block less than great. We have one side, individuals who are fighting and waging a war to defend their homes. The other side is a mindless something that just spreads and uses its victims as additional vehicles of destruction. Mirrodin Besieged is supposed to show us the height of the conflict, yet we have not even seen any actual, memorable enemy characters. (Yes, of course we have Glissa, but she's more a side story and her turning sides was all too expected after her own people did not recognize her for what she did).
From my feeling of what is good and right, I want to see the Mirrans win and keep their freedom and their hard-earned home. They feel alive, not just like a controlled menace. From the perspective of "I want to finally see some faces on the evil " and from maybe seeing something really worth being called Phyrexian again, not these infected drones only, I want to get New Phyrexia.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 2:03AM
#59
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Date Joined:
Feb 15, 2011
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So either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia. The issue here is that just because the name stands as one 'winning', it doesn't mean the set would be void of the other faction. There are always the ones left behind.
Knowing little about the story behind it and going on the cards alone. I've heard that the image for the Mirrodin Pure card is a continuation of an earlier series where as the New Phyrexia card is completely new.
Then if we look at how each card would would fit into the opposit set. A New Phyrexia set with a talismen... nothing to bat an eyelid at right? The Mirrans just left it when they were killed....but the Suture Priest looks Phyrexian, it in a Mirrodin Pure set would be quite out of place. This being said, going back to my original statement, it can't be used as a sure fire way to tell.
As for the story purpose, if Phyrexia win... there opens up whole new block some time down the line of the Mirrans fighting back and releasing their home from evil. If the Mirrans win, the book can be closed on this block.
I believe it will be a New Phyrexia set though I don't want it to be. Give me more metalcraft.
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2 years ago ::
Feb 15, 2011 - 2:05AM
#60
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Date Joined:
Aug 25, 2003
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Given the last two blocks have ended in disaster I think it's more likely that phyrexia is quashed and Kharn can lead the neowalkers against Nicol Bolas. Plus the expansion symbol looks a little better designed, which is all I can really go on.
They did? That was a surprise. I really wish the flavour column ever talked about how things ended. There's practically zero information on that and I have no idea how to get that kind of info, as google has failed me and my store doesn't carry the books, never mind the fact that they suck these days (I didn't even finish the Time Spiral series I bought).
I like how they finally gave Phyrexians some more diversity and morphed it into the colours that are philosophically closest to it: red being the most anti-Phyrexian colour makes a lot of sense, even if it contradicts with old stuff like Tsabo Tavoc  . I did really hope to see some Praetor cards already, though I also kind of like the idea of Phyrexia mainly fighting through a series of puppets and the leaders never actually engaging (Yawgmoth never was a card but he certainly made his impact). Karn as the new Father of Machines was just a pretty all-around cool idea.
Zindaras' meta is like a fossil, ancient and its secrets yet to be uncovered. Only men of yore, long dead, knew of it.
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