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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 5:49PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 24, 2008
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This thread is for discussion of this week's Top Decks article, which goes live Thursday morning on magicthegathering.com.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 9:06PM
#2
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For the love of all that is holy. Why, oh why, do you guys design cards like this?
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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 9:47PM
#3
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Date Joined:
May 17, 2009
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Because they don't want combo decks to win on turn 2-3. Wizards seems to really be explicitly pushing for heavy creature based decks. Even control cannot be draw go anymore, they need to play substantial creatures. Which is as it should be in my mind.
As for the hint for next week, my guess is he'll be showing an upgrade to Kitchen Finks with Undying.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 11:01PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Mar 27, 2011
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Thalia seems neat. I want to know her story, mainly how she earned the title "Guardian of Thraben". It seems like there's a great tale behind that one.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 11:38PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Feb 26, 2004
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Vorthos popping in for a moment, don't mind me
Show
I think the design team's goal for this card must have been "Design the most boring Legend in history". If so, they succeeded brilliantly. It's probably a useful card and all, but why make it a Legend at all if it's going to be this flavorless?
Apologies for being off-topic for this column; please don't let me interrupt your Spikefest.
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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1 year ago ::
Jan 11, 2012 - 11:51PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Feb 21, 2009
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Vorthos popping in for a moment, don't mind me
Show
I think the design team's goal for this card must have been "Design the most boring Legend in history". If so, they succeeded brilliantly. It's probably a useful card and all, but why make it a Legend at all if it's going to be this flavorless?
Apologies for being off-topic for this column; please don't let me interrupt your Spikefest.
A legendary creature in M:tG has a mechanic that has nothing to do with her personality or flavour identity? I'm sorry, but isn't this common?
I should think the reason she's legendary is fairly obvious: you're not meant to be able to stack multiple copies. I'm not sure what would be an appropriate way to conceptualise that mechanic, so no matter what the solution was, it would have been kludgy.
Lack of concern for the flavour of a character on a legendary card is genuinely an issue with major storyline characters - see: Gerrard Capashen, Toshiro Umezawa, etc. - but Thalia is not a significant character. This is a card that is legendary for mechanical reasons; so they invented a name for her.
Honestly, from a flavour perspective I find two things much more annoying. Firstly, like Angelic Destiny, the woman is so waifish. Is it really so much to ask for a female character who's a tough warrior and guard-captain to actually look like one? Why does this supposedly veteran knight-cathar have the build of a twenty year old student? Secondly, in her right hand she is holding a straight rapier, but in her left hand she's holding a curved Japanese sheath? What?
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1 year ago ::
Jan 12, 2012 - 1:06AM
#7
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With Gut Shot and Geistflame in Standard, this may be more of a sideboard card. It's still a great card, and I'll be getting four of them for my GW Human deck. At the very least it puts your opponent off tempo. Control decks can't play DoJ till turn 5. Mana Leak suddenly costs 3. Illusions, RDW, and any other deck that plays lots of instants but runs light on lands might find themselves in a bad situation if they took a one or two mana opening hand.
The question is if it's better than Grand Abolisher, which seems to fill the same roll.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 12, 2012 - 1:35AM
#8
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Honestly, from a flavour perspective I find two things much more annoying. Firstly, like Angelic Destiny, the woman is so waifish. Is it really so much to ask for a female character who's a tough warrior and guard-captain to actually look like one? Why does this supposedly veteran knight-cathar have the build of a twenty year old student?
Because she excels more at magic than at physical combat? =p Her ability is more hatebear than the Knight type of cards.
Or who says she's veteran? Innistrad is in dire straits, so maybe the turnover in guardians of Thraben is so high they just give rookies the job.
I love the look and pose on those cards. Coloring and texture, not so much.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 12, 2012 - 3:14AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Mar 16, 2004
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People complaining about the girl's build? Well, I guess it's progress, but shouldn't we be at least complimenting Wizards that she's actually wearing armour? And not some kind of chainmail bikini. I really like her pose: the dynamism of the clouds and the wind blowing her hair, and the resolute expression. Although that big billowing ribbon is just asking to get tangled around some zombie. The mechanics of the card are somewhat forgettable; least mechanically relevant Legend since Kemba, Kha Regent  . But eh, who comes to Top Decks during preview week for a card with interesting mechanics anyway? :P
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1 year ago ::
Jan 12, 2012 - 3:22AM
#10
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The mechanics of the card are somewhat forgettable; least mechanically relevant Legend since Kemba, Kha Regent . But eh, who comes to Top Decks during preview week for a card with interesting mechanics anyway? :P
Huh, what do you mean with "least mechanically relevant Legend"?
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