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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 3:47PM
#1
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This thread is for discussion of this week's Savor the Flavor, which goes live Wednesday morning on magicthegathering.com.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 9:32PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jan 24, 2011
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I love magic artwork so articles like this make me happy.
As for the walker cards, more would be cool. I was disappointed when I saw the uncommon walker cards wouldn't be coming back since I was hoping for a cool Vamp for Sorin and I really like Garruk's and Chandra's cards.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 10:07PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Feb 27, 2007
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 11:10PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 23, 2003
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I like the Planeswalker-themed cards as well, particularly their implementation - as build-around cards that function in Limited.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 11:16PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Feb 26, 2004
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Great to hear from Brady again; he's the guy what recruited me to write flavor text for New Phyrexia and M12 (and maybe, just maybe, for some other sets you'll be hearing about one of these days).
The point about treefolk is an extremely valid one, and one that still wasn't solved completely when the tribe took over Lorwyn, although definite progress was made. But I firmly believe Dungrove Elder hit it out of the park; I haven't checked the entire spoiler but I suspect that its current status as my favorite M12 art will face very few challenges. (Which is not to say anything against the other art, only to emphasize how surpassingly epic this one piece is IMO.)
It's just that being funny is really hard, and when you try to be funny and fail, it's worse than if you didn't try at all.
He's very right here, and this is a lesson that I wish was taken more to heart by my fellow flavor text writers. Almost none of my submitted flavor texts are intentional jokes, because I know that the secret to being funny is most often not to try - when your joke is too obvious (a problem that several cards in M12 have in my opinion, but I'll refrain from naming names), it becomes the equivalent of saying "Hahah GET IT?", which we all know is exactly how to ruin a joke. The power of subtlety becomes abundantly clear when you get something like the FT of M12's Fling - our airborne goblin is being completely serious, and the humor derives from our knowledge of the impending doom which he is hilariously oblivious to (there's a reason you always see those happy/sad masks in pairs; laughter and tragedy have always been dance partners).
Oh, and Brady, let me know if you ever want the creature type problem solved once and for all. I'm exactly the sort of person to make such distinctions and to outline a consistent logic behind them; my ultra-Vorthosian love of versimilitude may be something of a problem when I start demanding changes to the rules, but it's exactly the kind of trait you need in someone like a creature type guru. (I'm even better with the color pie, but I know you already have several people who have that as their job and I'm not looking to step on any toes...you know, until they're ready to retire.)
My New Phyrexia Writing CreditsMy M12 Writing CreditsAs far as the benefit of the rest of Magic is concerned, gold cards in Legends were executed perfectly. They got all the excitement a designer could hope out of a splashy new mechanic without using up any of the valuable design space. Truly amazing.
--Aaron Forsythe's Random Card Comment on Kei Takahashi 
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2 years ago ::
Jul 05, 2011 - 11:33PM
#6
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Almost none of my submitted flavor texts are intentional jokes, because I know that the secret to being funny is most often not to try - when your joke is too obvious (a problem that several cards in M12 have in my opinion, but I'll refrain from naming names)[...]
Goblin Chieftain  's. I read that and just shook my head. The old flavor text was leaps and bounds better.
Actually, an even better flavor text than either would have been to take Goblin King  's classic flavor text and advance the names one slot. I was always disappointed they didn't do that when they were still printing Goblin King in every core set. To be chieftain, Vurk did in Numsgil, who did in Blog, who did in Unkful, who did in Viddle, who did in Loll. . . .
And so people say to me, "How do I know if a word is real?" You know, anyone who's read a children's book knows that love makes things real. If you love a word, use it! That makes it real. Being in the dictionary is an artificial distinction; it doesn't make the word any more real than any other word. If you love a word, it becomes real.
--Erin McKean, Redefining the Dictionary
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 12:11AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Oct 10, 2009
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Please, no more planeswalker "signature spells." The core set walkers are entirely bland; bland spells derived from such bland characters are simply an embarrassment.
http://magiccardswithgooglyeyes.tumblr.com/
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 1:00AM
#8
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"But wait until you see the version with three times as many Planeswalkers in it. Epic. It's my desktop wallpaper."
Does such a picture exist? And if so, why have I not heard of it? Does anyone know what he is talking about?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 1:07AM
#9
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So if the Plant type is for nonsentient, nonsapient plants, and the Fungus type is the fungal equivalent of the Plant type, then why is the Fungus type also used for the very sapient Thallids? Shouldn't they be Shroomfolk or some such?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 06, 2011 - 1:33AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 28, 2006
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I like the signature spells, if for nothing more than flavor reasons. But I'd like to see more; one in each rarity, topping out at mythic with the planeswalker itself. Those cards don't have to look like cycles, like for example all the commons are {C}{1} enchantments. It could differ, depending on the 'walker. For example, I'd love to see Gideon's Sural at uncommon.
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Kicker Aggro (Invasion Block)
