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Huh, I thought Thundermaw Hellkite looked pretty awesome. Not sure why everyone's so underwhelmed. But I saw it last week, along with "the blue enchantment" (Omniscience). Wizards, you should really be more on top of things with the previews. It's pretty embarassing when the super ultra sweet preview card on the first day of preview week that Maro spends half the article building up to... has already been spoiled. Good job. And I agree that while Exalted is a sweet mechanic, it has to be one of the most awkwardly named and least resonant mechanics ever.

Jun 25, 2012 -- 2:04AM, Scurra wrote:

Jun 25, 2012 -- 12:01AM, Senyuno wrote:

It's a great idea that is not executed to its full extent, and this is a problem with all sets. That, the mechanic's support vanishes once the block is over. 

This. ...I can only presume that it has something to do with design/development cycles and timing, but it strikes me that this is exactly what the whole NWO is all about, and it still doesn't seem to have happened.  If they want Magic to feel like a cohesive whole, then looking forwards (by looking backward!) is surely a part of that.

NWO - New World Order - in Magic: The Gathering design doesn't support what you are talking about. Mark Rosewater has mentioned in many, many, many different avenues (for example, this article as well, and also numerous times on his tumblr) that NWO is about limiting complexity creep by limiting the complexity of common rarity cards in sets. Since it's about limiting complexity at common, NWO disagrees with you asking for support for the previous set's mechanic at common while also supporting that set's own mechanics at common, as that would be more complexity than is allowed by the NWO system; certainly having the previous set's mechanic as another mechanic in the next set violates this principle. You're correct that providing support for the previous set's mechanic is a good idea, but NWO doesn't support your idea at all, which makes me think that you number among the many Magic players that seem to have the wrong idea of what NWO is.

Personally, I think everyone is considering this problem worse than it is. Only so much support for the mechanic(s) of a previous set can be in the next set, as while those sets will be in Standard together for a little bit, all of those support cards then seem weird in the next Standard when that previous set rotates. Yes, some support cards are good, but too much is just so obvious as to be silly. Great design is subtle; asking for the same amount of slots for support for the previous set's mechanic as would be given for the set's other goals is just wrong. To ask for that much support for the previous set's mechanic isn't asking for cohesiveness in Standard, it's asking for R&D to build your decks for you; you build decks out of the cards they design, and I've always felt that players asking R&D to design cards for the deck's players have built is just begging to have the silver spoon handed to you.

Again: A handful of support cards in the next set to produce cohesiveness across disparate sets is a noble request to make of WotC. Asking for a whole bunch of cards in the next set to fill that role is just silly for a bunch of reasons. And none of this has anything to do with NWO.

THUNDERMAW HELLKITE.
Journal entry #147.
Thursday, March 21st.

I witnessed something today that I fear may cast me out as the laughing stock of society. Honestly, I'm not sure that I can believe it myself. I keep telling myself there must have been something else at play, something that my senses could not zero in on, but strangely, I cannot take comfort in believing the unseen. I only know what I saw and what I saw is hard to believe.

I was tending my sheep on a day given by the gods themselves. Clear skies and a cool breeze (just enough to keep the sweat off my brow) left my work easy to attend to and admittedly, even left it enjoyable. Not only were the sheep behaving, but also were my kids! It truly was an amazing start to my day.

It was mid-day when I first heard the crackle of thunder. It sounded odd.. sounded.. forced. It was as if someone - or some THING - was deliberatly attempting to disrupt the day set forth by the gods. The second crack of forced thunder made me realize that they were succeeding in triumphing the gods! Although the skies were clear and the breeze remained unchanged, something in the air was not right. I rushed the family inside and barred the doors and all but one window shut. It wasn't long before the sky darkened and lightning arced the skies. 

Forced thunder continued to crack the skies. I couldn't help but think that the sky itself was breaking apart and falling to the earth. The clouds darkened the skies to a shade of darkness that can only be imagined. The lightning struck down everything from the skies. Griffins, our sacred guardians, fell to the earth. I feared this would allow the drakes to ravage our villiage, but they too were cast down from the lightnking. Many of the weaker creatures simply perished. I saw, in the distance, a shadowy figure. I watched and waited for it to get cast aside like the others but continued to fly through the storm. As the shadow got closer, I could see that this beast was not merely dodging the lightning, but that the lightnint itself was staying out if ITS way! And each flap of its wings cracked the sky with that forced thunderous roar that I had been hearing. This is when I felt my life would end. As the beast got closer, I held my family tighter. I closed my eyes and winced my face preparing for the house to cave in.. but it didn't happen. My face grew tired of holding its muscles in place and when I finally relaxed, my eyes opened without my knowing. I could see sunlight cast under the doors and through the window. I looked outside and saw this beast - in all its glory - standing out in MY field. it appeared frightened?! It was staring in my direction and I could only assume that a more ferocious beast rest outside my other window. I rushed over to the other side of the house to look outside. I saw nothing. What could have caused this beast to simply stop its flight, land in the middle of the field, and cower like a mut who just crapped on the carpet?

After what felt like hours, and since the beast still remained petrified, I ventured outside to get a better look. Looking up at the skies, you would have no idea that dead and/or crippled griffin and drake littered the streets. The sky was again looking like a gift from the gods. For a moment, I had completely forgotten that a beast of immense powere was sitting on my field scared of something even more frightening than itself. As I stepped over a griffin's lost wing, I kept my eyes glued to the beast. To my surprise, the  beast didn't even acknowledge my pressence. Its gaze was glued to whatever lay beyond the far side of my house. I turn around slowly as to not make any sudden movements. Again, I still see nothing - just a small bird sitting on my roof. 

That's when it hit me. Dead/crippled griffin, drakes, and birds of all sizes litter the roads. Yet this bird roosts unharmed. 

This dragon of immense power, a dragon able to conjur up storms against the will of the gods, is afraid to push on farther because of this single bird. After a moment, the bird stretches his wings ans stands up. The dragon raises its head. If this beast's instincts are in fight or flight mode, it's definitely prepared for flight. The bird again roosts back in its nest and the dragon slowly raises up. It takes to the skies in the exact direction from which it came - thunder in lightning in tow. 

I later went to get a better look at the bird. I discovered it was a Freewind Falcon.

X end X
 

Jun 25, 2012 -- 10:38AM, Smauls wrote:

THUNDERMAW HELLKITE.
Journal entry #147.
Thursday, March 21st.

I witnessed something today...... 

Post of the week.

I feel like the "new" Core Sets have jumped the shark. Why?

With the place Magic is at right now, I'm actually yearning for the old days of nothing but reprints, and Core Sets only seeing release every 2 years. 

These new sets are too much. Maro embraces the "restriction breeds creativity" philosophy, I just wish WotC as a whole would also embrace "less is more." Not just less volume, but have you seen the wordiness on these Core Set cards? It seems like the Core Set is moving more towards player retention than acquisition.

Enough functional reprints.
Enough shoe-horning previous expansion mechanics in.
Enough Planeswalker facelifts.

I just cannot muster up any excitement for this Core Set (M12 was the same way).