Design – Page 4 – MTG Color Pie

Too Rare or Not Too Rare, That is the Question

Alas poor Darksteel, I knew him Horatio...

As we begin the second block with the Mythic Rarity included into the game of Magic, it’s time to take a look and see how’s it been so far and how’s it going into Zendikar block. It’s been a source of controversy and a source of tension between developers and players.

MaRo first announced the Mythic rarity June 02, 2008. What most players remember is this quote:

This now leads us to the next question: How are cards split between rare and mythic rare? Or more to the point, what kind of cards are going to become mythic rares? We want the flavor of mythic rare to be something that feels very special and unique. Generally speaking we expect that to mean cards like Planeswalkers, most legends, and epic-feeling creatures and spells. They will not just be a list of each set’s most powerful tournament-level cards.

And from Aaron Forsythe’s Twitter account in the past few weeks here:

My definition of mythic rare: cards that are jaw-dropping to some part of the audience.

And here:

The mythic definition should be broad, not “planeswalkers + cards that aren’t very good.”

By taking these two definitions (Epic-feeling creatures/spells, non-staples/most powerful tournament, jaw-dropping), let’s take a look back at what’s been printed so far and how they fair to these definitions. But to make one more definition of our own: What is a staple card? Cards that are staples can be used in a variety of decks, not a very narrow deck that is very good. Staple cards include: Cryptic Command, Tarmogoyf, Bitterblossom, Reflecting Pool. Non-staple cards are Mistblind Clique, Doran the Siege Tower, Arcbound Ravager. Continue reading “Too Rare or Not Too Rare, That is the Question”

After MaRo – The 2009 State of Design Response

This is the 5th State of Design that MaRo released since his tenure as Head Magic Designer who is the mouthpiece of Wizards. But this is quite an important one as now, after this amount of time, he has developed a pattern. Before we look at the present (and the “future”), we must look at the past.

MaRo always has goals that he wants to do for design for the upcoming block. This is always an easy task because *shock* they have already designed and close to printing the future block that MaRo is wanting to make goals for. It’s easy to make goals for something you’ve already done. Maybe goal in the traditional sense (the act of throwing, carrying, kicking, driving, etc., a ball or puck into such an area or object), should be replaced with another definition (Synonyms: 1. target; purpose, object, objective, intent, intention. 2. finish). Um, let’s use intent. It’s their intent (goal) to do hit these marks and make them go over well.

Taking a look at the past year’s “goals” there is a pattern going on here (MaRo says humans like patterns). Let’s take a look at them for each year and see what the goals were with what they accomplished:

2005 – Ravnica: City of Guilds Block

1. Institute block design (Have colored pairs throughout the block rather than one set)

2. Design between blocks (Don’t have Ravnica beat up Champions, let them work together)

3. Design and create integration (Create more Spirits!)

2006 – Time Spiral Block

1. Continue with the past goals (Past-present-future, cards that work with multicolor, mix dredge/hellbent with flashback)

2. Embrace the tools of the past (Use old mechanics)

3. Find ways to surprise (Surprise! Psionic Blast is back! Surprise! Wrath of God is now Black! Surprise! Magic is making contraptions!)

2007 – Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Blocks

1. Go back to our roots (Creatures smash and Blue/Black get the best spells)

2. Find innovation that doesn’t shock (Besides that four sets a year thing. Two/two blocks (race-class, friendly hybrid/enemy hybrid))

3. Be all inclusive (Spikes got Faeries/Cryptic Command, Johnnys got hybrid and Timmys got the entire Lorwyn block)

2008 – Shards of Alara Block

1. Give things more time and space to breathe (The middle set? No new mechanics)

2. Embrace Flavor (5 shards each with their own keyword/theme)

3. Don’t be afraid to diversify (We about to go to war, invest in some nuclear bombs)

2009 – Zendikar Block

1. Explore new areas of design (No set around lands yet? Brilliant!)

2. Bring more resonance to the game (It’s a Trap!)

3. Continue to challenge expectations (Third set? Yeah, it’s big)

What does that mean? Do MaRo’s goals actually mean nothing then just big giant spoilers for the whole block? Is the cake a lie? Continue reading “After MaRo – The 2009 State of Design Response”

Virign Pie – M10 Edition – Rares

M10 Rare Ah, that little gold symbol. You get one, maybe if you’re lucky a foil one as well, in each pack. They can be the best of times, they can be the worst. That one card can determine what colors you play in draft. You may open 10 of a certain one and can’t pull any of the one you really want.

Rares are interesting: they’re the cards that you want the most yet get the least, hence representing that they’re rare. In terms of price range in the second market they can range from 50 cents to 20 bucks for a new rare opening out of the pack.

But which ones were right for the color? Again, these are new rares printed this is core set. If you haven’t been paying attention the past few posts, well then I can’t save you. You can check them out below.

Black

Sanguine Blood – 3BB
Enchantment
Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.

This would’ve even made a great White/Black Gold card, but it is perfect in Black. Thanks to some lifelink creatures as well as some black drain life spells, you do a vampire effect: you gain stronger while your opponent gets weaker. This is an interesting twist on the lifelink concept but it gets you more bang for you buck if you do that way. Example: one of my EDH decks has Sygg, River Cuttthroat as my general, with Subversion and Sanguine Blood. I tend to draw cards while gaining like and making my opponent’s lose it; very very black.

Also Ran –
Cemetery Reaper for being a great way to “zombify” your opponent’s creatures and making your Thriller army. Continue reading “Virign Pie – M10 Edition – Rares”

Virgin Pie – M10 Edition – Uncommons

M10 Uncommon Yesterday was commons and today we go up in the rarity scale to uncommons (as seen by the title). There are some interesting choices here in silver land as I believe one of the best cards in the set will be shown here today. One color was completely hard to choose since there was so many new good choices. I really like what Wizards did here in this Core Set identifying the colors, much better than previous Core Sets.

Remember, these cards are one that haven’t been printed before since this is the first Core Set with new printed cards. I’m also not looking at functional reprints (bye bye Act of Treason) nor cards that changed rarity (welcome back Serra Angel). As the name suggests, this is “virgin” pie, something I’m sure that most gamers are familiar with (Ugly stereotype, I know it is but the jokes write themselves).

Black

Rise from the Grave – 4B
Sorcery
Put target creature card in a graveyard into the battlefield under your control. That creature is a black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types.

While it does cost more than Zombify, I believe it’s a better one. If you brushed over the card due to it’s casting cost, please note that it does say “in a graveyard.” As we learned in Fight Club it’s company policy never to imply ownership…, it’s always a, not your. As a Black mage you should be able to take control of your opponent’s graveyard. Also, the fact that it now turns the creature into zombie (which would’ve made more sense on Zombify) is perfect flavor for Black.

Also Ran –
Howling Banshee for paying life for a good flying creature (bonus that it hurts your opponents as well). Continue reading “Virgin Pie – M10 Edition – Uncommons”

Virgin Pie – M10 Edition – Commons

M10 - Common By now M10 has been released and hopefully you’ve been playing with it for a few weeks now. This will be a different type of set review as I won’t look at cards that you should be playing, but cards that should be printed due to the Color Pie. Sometimes they’ll be a little over-costed or not powerful enough to see serious play, but they’re great examples of what the colors should be.

As you know by now, Wizards printed new cards in a Core Set since Alpha. This, by very definition, are virgin cards. I am not going to look at functional reprints of cards (Runeclaw Bears, Essence Scatter) nor am I looking at Mythics (every color got at least 1 new Mythic card and we may save it for next year).

Today we look at the commons from M10. There are some very good first timers here as Wizards wanted to get back to more of a fantasy route. I believe they hit it out of the park. Without further ado, let’s look at the cards.

Black

Black is the color for getting whatever it wants for a price. As various cards in the past have shown, Black is always comfortable with paying life to draw cards. While I was campaigning to have Night’s Whisper in a Core Set, this is not good if not better in various situations. Not only can you draw a card, but you have a teammate draw or even an opponent if you want them to lose life or deck themselves. I am really surprised this card is common, but it is really that good and fits black perfectly.

Also Ran –
Soul Bleed for making a creature deal damage to its controller (very Black), and Child of Night for getting the Vampire flavor just right (sucking someone’s life blood and taking it as your own). Continue reading “Virgin Pie – M10 Edition – Commons”