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1 year ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 5:36PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 24, 2008
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This thread is for discussion of this week's Latest Developments, which goes live Friday morning on magicthegathering.com.
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13 months ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 9:18PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Apr 23, 2008
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Damn you! Now that song's going to be playing through my head all night.
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13 months ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 10:29PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Oct 23, 2003
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Hey! I feel like you stole my icon! :P
On the actual topic of the article, 60-card multiplayer is my preferred constructed format, so I feel that I am definitely in the target audience Zac is talking about. Anyway, I am fine with new cards being printed in both Commander and Planechase, and the cards they've shown us are pretty cool. The one thing I do think they need to look out for, however, both in these products and in normal sets, is printing cards that are broken in a multiplayer environment. So, what do I mean by that? In multiplayer, some people play decks that are better than others. That's normal and expected; however, it's not good if those people reliably triumph. Fortunately, there's a built-in balancing factor: the weaker players can gang up on the strong. The additional cards, land drops, and life points available to a temporary alliance can overcome many disparities in deck quality, and ensure that everyone has a chance to win. However, some recently printed cards ( Consecrated Sphinx  , Lighthouse Chronologist  , Emrakul, the Aeons Torn  , Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur  , some of the other Praetors) give their caster more resources than all of his or her opponents put together, upsetting this balance. Cards that can make a player stronger than the rest of the table combined are very appealing to the Spikier of casual players, so WotC, with their new push to design for casual players, has made an effort to include that sort of splashy cards in their sets. After all, they're often not an issue in Standard at all - a card that draws you a card for each opponent is only a cantrip in a duel. In multiplayer, however, they can break the format, particularly at weaker tables. The current status of most such cards as Mythic Rare has slowed the onset of the problem, in my experience, as many casual players do not have easy access to them. However, in the long run, continuing to print such cards may permanently damage the format. Unlike Modern, Legacy, and Vintage, WotC will have no way to repair it if that happens. Please be careful, Wizards! P.S. Of course, there are many combinations of cards that can dominate a table, or outright win the game. They can be a problem too, but at least they are somewhat easier to deal with, either mechanically or socially. What I am concerned about here are "one-card Archenemy"s such as those listed above. They are a new phenomenon in Magic ( Seedborn Muse  and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir  weren't on quite this power level), and a worrisome one.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 12:22AM
#4
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This is just the natural progressing way of casual. I remember when Akroma, Angel of Wrath  came out, and suddenly you could be dead in 4 turns! What a beast. Until then maybe the most scary thing was Spiritmonger  ? Then Darksteel Colossus  , then Progenitus  and now Emrakul, the Aeons Torn . And so it is with a lot of effects. Each year, casual Magic is slowly morphing into something different, to never return to what it once was. As for the card, it seems interesting enough to try and build a RUG or Bant Living End  deck for modern. Demonic Dread  has always been ugly, as it required a target to be cast. The deck could go Bant with Ardent Plea  , but Violent Outburst  is still the best as an instant. With RUG, you could play the 2 best cascaders and ALL 16 1-mana cyclers from Reborn... at the cost of a horrible mana base =p EDIT: OH WAIT these cards aren't legal in Modern... shame.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 2:04AM
#5
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Damn you! Now that song's going to be playing through my head all night.
I already did that when Phenomena were first revealed--it's out of my system by now. 
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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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 7:24AM
#6
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I play Casual Multiplayer Magic exclusively, and never tournaments. Frankly, I welcome these new cards with open arms, if only because I like to see what new designs the environment allows for.
And yeah, as fractal brought up, cards should be more prepared for multiplayer environments, lest things like Vorinclex or Consecrated Sphinx ruin them. Do you guys playtest for multiplayer? Even when making cards for core sets or expert level sets? No offense meant. I just want to know.
Frankly, what I want out of casual games are relaxed games with a relaxed pace, and where things like mass discard, mass land destruction, tribal decks and hard locks are tossed to the side. But that's more a product of the playgroup then what cards are printed.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 9:22AM
#7
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Date Joined:
May 25, 2012
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What exactly makes Shardless Agent green-blue? Unless cascade has been shifted to be only green and blue in the colour pie, I see no indication why this creature is these colours.
Also, the artifact creature part just seems tacked on. The only reason I can see for it being an artifact creature is a flavour one, to show that the shards really have merged.
These thoughts are all through seeing this card alone, not in whatever deck it's going to be presented in. Although that's exactly why this seems like a poor preview, especially given that the explanation for the card focused more on the fact that cascade is powerful, not why cascade is there.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 10:15AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Jan 13, 2008
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I can't figure out why Shardless Agent  is green-blue either. Bant was the only shard that had access to green and blue, and Esper was the one with colored artifact creatures...but I can't think of any connection to any other shard.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 10:17AM
#9
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What exactly makes Shardless Agent green-blue? Unless cascade has been shifted to be only green and blue in the colour pie, I see no indication why this creature is these colours.
My guess: green/blue are the ones getting captripping creatures the cheapest ( Elvish Visionary  , the new Strix, Wistful Selkie  , Coiling Oracle  so it's not so much the cascade, but "the efficient creature that gets you a new card" part that makes this those 2 colors.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 10:35AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jan 13, 2008
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But the new Strix  is blue-black. =P So the idea is that, now that Alara is whole again, the shardless agent can do the etherium thing and the card drawing thing without being considered a heretic  by Esper? That's some pretty dense storytelling...
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Kicker Aggro (Invasion Block)
