I have no complaints about the art they did use for Manor Skeleton, it's quite spectacular, but I agree that it could have gone in any set whereas the initial version would have been very spot-on for this setting. The set could use a little more subtlety to suggest the creeping menace of it rather than starting out as a full-on fright-fest; we have the expansion for that! Perhaps someday they could turn it into an FNM promo or something using the first sketch? Sadly they seem to do very little of this.
As 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
It seems that everyone agrees the first version of the art was better. I really can't understand why the first version wasn't used. It's just spetacular.
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.
I have no complaints about the art they did use for Manor Skeleton, it's quite spectacular, but I agree that it could have gone in any set whereas the initial version would have been very spot-on for this setting. The set could use a little more subtlety to suggest the creeping menace of it rather than starting out as a full-on fright-fest; we have the expansion for that! Perhaps someday they could turn it into an FNM promo or something using the first sketch? Sadly they seem to do very little of this.
Exactly what I was thinking. The truly scary things aren't those which are in your face (like the second art, the art they used, is) but those which are creeping inevitably slowly, currently shrouded in mystery but soon to be revealed at the worst possible moment (more the style of the first art). A skeleton standing in-your-face laughing or shouting boo (or maybe his jaw is just unhinged, which is even less creepy) is a cheap one-off make-the-audience-jump-in-their-seats scare. It's a fear that won't linger. And your second point was also exactly what I'd hoped they'd do. Seeing as everyone posting here likes the first art more, they really should do a reprint (From the Vaults: Skeletons? Duel Decks: Skeletons vs. Spirits? FNM promo?) with the first art someday.
"This is a slightly updated version of a Melira, Sylvok Outcast–based combo deck that Magic R&D director Aaron Forsythe piloted to win an unscanctioned Modern tournament at Pro Tour Philadelphia."
[21:07] [Ragnarokio] there might be more than 30 zebras after all Rag: regular mafia should be practice for white flag
"This is a slightly updated version of a Melira, Sylvok Outcast–based combo deck that Magic R&D director Aaron Forsythe piloted to win an unscanctioned Modern tournament at Pro Tour Philadelphia."
"This is a slightly updated version of a Melira, Sylvok Outcast–based combo deck that Magic R&D director Aaron Forsythe piloted to win an unscanctioned Modern tournament at Pro Tour Philadelphia."
There, iambic pentameter clearly shows that both of you are wrong, it is not important that he won, and it is also not important that it was unsanctioned.
Now, all I need is someone to come and explain how I messed up the iambic pentameter, and my troll will be complete.
If you look closely at the final art for Manor Skeleton , you can still see pretty clearly that he's coming down an ornate staircase. So it's not as bad as you guys are making it sound.
