It’s a bit of an awkward time for me right now. It feels like I’m right on the threshold of a lot of different changes in my life, but nothing is happening, yet.
I mean, there are all sorts of changes coming, and yet, there’s not much to be done until then.
Chief on the list is my forthcoming daughter. As I’m writing this, my wife is due today. Everything is ready, hospital bag is packed, car seat is ready to go. Just waiting on the baby. My wife and I have previously had our children’s names picked out beforehand, but with this one, we just haven’t had one. We decided we’d wait until she was born, and pick her name based on how she looks, you know?
Kind of like M10 previews. We know the cards exist. We know we’re going to play with them, we just have to wait until they come out. Our friends over at MTGSalvation do their best to get us all the info beforehand, though, scouring sites across the globe to bring us the freshest spoilers around. Well, here’s a little help for them, the English versions of a few cards they grabbed from France.
Vampire Nocturnus will be the prerelease card, for those of you shuffling up that weekend, while Ant Queen is the Launch Party promo for the following weekend.
Looking at the Vampire, it looks like there may very well be a Vampire tribe in M10, or at least a potential incentive to cobble one together. I was hoping for more Zombie Lords, but they might be there too. Speaking with one of my local players who likes playing MBC (Mono Black Control) he’s excited to play around with it, and thinks that a +2/+1 for his team could be very powerful. However, I think it’s only something you’ll want to drop for an Alpha Strike. I think that keeping him around for more than a turn or two is giving away more information than the pump is worth.
It looks like they’re going to be pushing the mono-color theme pretty heavy, too. Previously, we might have seen this bonus apply if the card was a different color (traditionally Red or Blue) but now it’s pushing monochrome solutions instead of two or three color goodness. Expect to see a lot of this kind of same-color linear design in M10, and probably following in Zendikar as well. We’ll talk later about the push towards more basics.
Ant Queen looks like it will be a fun creature, but there will need to be a feasible engine to make it tier 1. Overall, the effect would be better on a 3/3 for 2G, but on a 5, you expect more. Look at the other options you have for 5 mana: Mulldrifter, Bituminous Blast, Primal Command, Reveillark, and Puppeteer Clique, just to name a few. I do think it will be a lot of fun in Limited, Sealed, and casual games. I’m thinking of putting one in my EDH deck, too.
Now, if there’s some sort of Insect Lord, that may change the math a little bit, but I just don’t see that happening. Although, now that I think about it, Lord of the Flies would be a pretty cool card.
Here’s a mostly new card for you, though.
From the rules article, we knew that there was going to be a cycle of lands with this mechanic. So, here’s a name and some art, which is of course, fantastic.
I’m about to spend an entire paragraph about just the art, so if that’s not your thing, skip the following paragraph. That’s where the crunchy analysis starts
Man, I love the art on this card. I’m a big fan of Dave’s work, having more than a few pieces of his work. He’s what some might call a darker artist, and I think this particular piece is beautiful. The single light, reflecting off of the dark, murky pool, a singular point in a dead and drowned expanse. The entire area is coated in a layer of what looks like decay itself, a filmy coating of decomposition. What really makes it for me is the waterfall in the background, as if to say “You can bring fresh life into this copse, and even it too shall join us in eternal death.” Next time I see Dave, I’m going to try to buy this piece. Heck, I’m half-tempted to fly there anyway. It’s immaculate.
Okay, now on to the crunchy bits. Obviously, R&D is trying to reign in the chaotic craziness of recent memory, what with quality mana-fixing in almost every set. Pain Lands, Tribal Lands, Filter Lands, Tri-lands, and of course the Vivid land/Reflecting Pool insanity. However, you can’t just play single color monstrosities, there has to be a balance. Furthermore, Basic lands need to be more than just “That stack of lands I use for my Draft decks.” I think this will help push two-color decks in a good direction. Unfortunately, this does provided just a little more power to Faeries, allowing them to replace Underground River for this. Extended will like them as well, as they go very well with the Ravnica Duals. Ooh, I just realized that they’ll go well in a Doran deck, as Murmuring Bosk is a Forest. I hope there’s an off-color cycle too, like G/B, although that’s unlikely in a core set.
I also think that these will go well with the Borderposts. I think you’ll see a lot of decks running 70/30 splits on color, with only 4 Borderposts, 4 of this cycle, (which reminds me, we need a good nickname for the cycle. Ideas in the forums?) and a token off-color basic for Path to Exile. This will depend on how much Anathemancer sees play, and if there is any more hate for running non-basic lands.
One thing that makes me a bit worried (other than the rules, but we’ll get to those in a bit) is the power level. We’ve seen cards like Ball Lightning and Lightning Bolt coming back. Lightning Bolt? That’s definitely on the upper end of the power curve. I worry that between the great mana fixing still available, and the new power levels, we may be in for a rough 3 months before Lorwyn and Shadowmoor cycle out of Standard. I’m also thinking heavily about running Mono-Red Burn in Extended next season, based solely on the power level we’re seeing. If all the colors get the kind of power boost Red is getting, we could be in for a very interesting time. (See, this is another change that’s coming, but we don’t know the exact nature of it.)
Another change coming that we know about is the new rules. We’ve read them, analyzed them, and even, in some cases played with them. But they are not yet actually real. They are not a part of my universe right now. Part of me wants to start playing with only the M10 rules, to have a jump on the field when they do become legal. But another part of me wants to just play Magic, and not worry about it. It’s an interesting struggle. Besides, the FNM crowd isn’t quite as devoted (or demented, some might say).
However, one thing that has constantly intrigued me as I read various forums and their M10 responses, and then go back a year, and read all the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons threads, with the same style of complaints, is a vast sense of entitlement. So many players have a sense of entitlement to the game. Ignoring the Logical Fallacy here (every customer’s wish cannot be granted, obviously, and therefore, whose theoretical entitlement is more valuable, etc.) it amazes me how many people think they deserve or are owed something.
I’ve read posts from players who believe that the creators of Magic somehow are indebted to them to create the game that they want, and that they cannot change the rules of the game.
“I have a collection,” they decry. “They owe me,” they say. “I bought these cards to play Magic, not whatever they’re turning it into.” Players across the globe feel that because they have invested, they deserve something other than the cards they bought.
Pay attention to this next bit, it’s important.
Wizards of the Coast does not owe you anything.
They are under no obligations to do anything for you. (Unless you are a shareholder, and then they are only obligated to make profit.) Wizards of the Coast needs only to make a game that will sell. You’ve bought the cards, so they must have been doing something right so far. If they continue to sell cards, probably at a higher rate, then they did the right thing. Maybe not in your eyes, but remember that part above? Yeah, you still aren’t owed anything. Not the casual kitchen table players, not the FNM pack-crackers, not the PTQ hopefuls, and not the gravy trainers on the Pro Tour. Yes, you all have something invested in the game, but the game does not have anything invested in you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the game will go on. It went on after Garfield, after Finkel, and after Kai. It will last long after all the current Pro Players, after Rosewater, after Gottlieb, and after Forsythe. It will last after you, and after me.
The game will go on.
This is Jeff Phillips, reminding you: Don’t make the Loser Choice.