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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 4:23AM
#21
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I only just realized that Latest Developments is a column about development. I thought it was just a column about... latest developments?
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 4:55AM
#22
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- Warm, wet and squishy inside
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"We found the card was creating a lot of negative experiences in limited, so we increased the rarity instead of changing the card". Really, that's a cop out. I'm saddened by how far apart the experience of limited and constructed are. And the situation is still going to come up, it will just do so less often now.
Does it never occur to you that the "limited experience" is more or less what the average noob has for constructed? And when constructed decks completely dominate them because they're playing cards of higher rarities, it leads to the obvious conclusion that, in order to win, one only needs to spend more money (i.e. this isn't a contest of skill, but of wealth). That kind of logic is what drives people away from the game. You guys seem to have forgotten what "fun" really is.
As for the rule on drafting DFC, I think there is no way to make it work "well", especially for limited. I think the logistical problems of DFC will not be worth the trouble, however fun they look like they'll be.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 5:15AM
#23
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I found infect to be extremely boring and played only a handful of Scars block limited. I am finding werewolves to be even more boring without even playing them. I find it funny that you have a rules change for manual dexterity reasons, but playing with werewolves is going to be a hastle. I was really looking forward to this set. Flavor looked great, and I could play limited again. Then I saw what you came up with for it. I doubt I'll play any limited with this stuff. The prerelease card sucks so there's no draw to even try that out. Why a tribal rare...instead of a tribal mythic that made me skip M12 too? Drafted none of that one either. You are really really good at making sets I don't want to draft.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 5:53AM
#24
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Date Joined:
Apr 11, 2011
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I'm really on the fence about the mechanics of the double-faced cards. The art, however...
I fear the amount of money that I will end up spending in this set.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 6:45AM
#25
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Date Joined:
Nov 18, 2004
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If you don't want other people to know what you are playing, then don't draft DFCs. As 12 of the 20 DFCs are Werewolves that shouldn't really be an issue. The only real concern is showing the vampires, Ludevic's Test Subject, or Garruk.
It is quite likely that several of the 'Wolves will be powerful enough on their own. If an opponent does nothing on his/her turn 1 (drop land, pass), your turn two with LaPille's preview card will be a turn 2 3/2 swing, and you'll have two mana up: This is akin to Rogue Elephant  territory, and is powerful. This card is pushed, not because it's a Werewolf, but because it's powerful as a beater. You draft it in beats, and you try to keep them from your opponent.
Aside from the apparent impression that the 'Wolves are gamey, but not the vamps, perhaps because you can "control" the transformation, it should be noted that this continues to step around the issue that drafting now forces sleeves except for those shlubs that in one day will be forced to allow their opponents to start drafting anti-DFC cards, instead of using the inherent skills in drafting about following the color-choices being passed and what you're intentionally passing. Drafters are having to take a loss here, and no skill is involved, in order to qualify the cards' existence. As I said, this is a shame. More so when you consider the issue of sleeves.
In a way, as I said in MaRo's first article on this, the only time the amount of information you give to receiving from your opponents in Limited with DFCs is in Rochester.
Incidentally, Dragon_Bloodthirsty, they are not ignoring what fun is. They are trying to redefine fun for a subset. They are also, as MaRo recognized his him mailbag post, more concerned with making money than in us having fun. In this way, it is more about "wealth" than "fun" for both the suppliers and the demanders. This is why functionally powerful and nearly 4-of required cards have appeared at mythic of late, to force them to be acquired by buying more packs. Allowing the casual Joe to have access to planeswalkers by making them rares and making those PWs mandatory to playing the COLOR by making them so over-the-top powerful is a mistake on a fundamental level but only when WotC started losing money; Mike Flores championed retaining the cards because it was making pros lots and lots of money, and WotC realized -- although not seemingly deeply enough -- that it is the casual player that gets them most of their money.
(We really should go back to the Alara-Block type of Mythic, although that won't make WotC nearly as much money.)
"Possibilities abound, too numerous to count."
"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)
"Ever since man first left his cave and met a stranger with a different language and a new way of looking at things, the human race has had a dream: to kill him, so we don't have to learn his language or his new way of looking at things." --- Zapp Brannigan (Beast With a Billion Backs)
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 7:02AM
#26
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"...and you should play with it before you make a decision."
Sage advice for all.
To the pro-KAM flipper contingent: Flip cards don't flip back. I can't imagine trying to track multiple flip cards going back and forth. As for the art aesthetic, I don't see how any commercial artist can defend KAM flip art.
I don't see transform as being any more complex than casting Sprout. Heck, there's only one card to find per checklist compared to Rhys EDH (which is no problem to play either).
Great article, Tom. Can't wait to play this set!
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 7:12AM
#27
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Date Joined:
Jan 13, 2008
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I'm really on the fence about the mechanics of the double-faced cards. The art, however...
I fear the amount of money that I will end up spending in this set.
QFT. I want a wallpaper-sized version of Reckless Waif's  art!
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 7:37AM
#28
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Date Joined:
Feb 26, 2004
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There was a Magic celebration? Odd that I don't recall reading anything about it on the official Magic website. (And I thought I posted this already.)
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 ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 7:53AM
#29
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Date Joined:
Jul 10, 2003
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I found the link to the Magic Celebration events by accident while searching for ways to consolidate my prior DCI numbers. It said it would be a free event that used the pack wars format, but when I checked my local stores, none of them were adhering to that, instead playing straight constructed events (and only one of the stores was doing it for free).
As for werewolves, I like the trigger mechanic. It's interesting design space. After seeing this preview card, I'm amazed you didn't give it to Mike Flores to write about, because it's some hot stuff. Well, aside from having to limit yourself to only one spell per turn.
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2 years ago ::
Sep 16, 2011 - 8:15AM
#30
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Date Joined:
Mar 26, 2007
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MtG isn't just a card
game; it never was. We have coin tossing, card trading, deck
construction strategy, skill at playing the right card at the right
time, etc. What is wrong with a single card that requires a bit of
manual dexterity? Your argument hinges around the basic premise that
manual dexterity has no place in the game. Unless I accept that, which
I don't, there's no way to convince me that the Chaos Orb is
"bad". Maybe if people started explaining *why* dexterity has no place
this discussion will go somewhere.
There is a fundamental difference between what you've mentioned here and what is required by manual dexterity cards. The former only concern matters of how cards interact with each other by game mechanics, while the latter add an additional element: how the cards interact with the physical environment.
While it doesn't really require a ton of manual dexterity to flop a Chaos Orb over onto the battlefield, I don't think that's the heart of the issue. The problem is that it requires an extraneous amount of actions outside of the normal game mechanics: measure the height off the table (do you have a ruler?); rearrange your field to dodge the Orb; turn off the fan / shut the window, lest the breeze thwart you. That has the potential to be time consuming, and all for what gain? A fancy Vindicate  or Lightning Bolt  .
Wizards has already set the precedent (which I tend to agree with) that cards that require a lot of physical action tend to get banned from tournament settings. Look at Sensei's Divining Top  in Extended. Or Thawing Glaciers  and Land Tax  . The ideal is to keep as much of the real world out of the game as possible. Having factors outside of the contents of the decks at the table, and decisions made around them, decide a game's outcome is aggravating.
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