Board 8 > Magic the Gathering topic: How did that purge before Prerelease

(+) Yeah! (+)

They brought in the woman who designed Reveillark as a guest judge? Why does she even still have a job?!

Im not bitter, no sir.
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Announcement Zone

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/2018-spring-announcement-day-2018-05-18

Long and short of it is the next three sets (Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019) are all on Ravnica.

First two sets are splitting the guilds 5/5 like RtR block. First set is Selesnya, Boros, Golgari, Izzet, Dimir. Second set is Rakdos, Azorius, Gruul, Orzhov, Simic.
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Bah. I figured this was coming but not that it would take so long. Well, Ravnica is very popular, so I understand the move.
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Almost wish I still had my Ravnica cube. Oh well.

Edit: On the bright side, at least it sounds like we're almost done with the Bolas shit.
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Im OK with this. Ravnica is great. Also it sounds like this is the end of the Bolas Saga?
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Oh, and because there's always bad news, they 're continuing the unique buy-a-box promo because apparently they got "great feedback" about it.

Uh huh.
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I can't really complain about more Ravnica, but I was really hoping they'd do a return to Theros first. Especially since with THREE Ravnica sets in a row, that means Dominaria will rotate out of Standard, and there could have been some sweet cross-block synergies there with Sagas and Historic.
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At least Standard gets that sweet Shockland + Checkland manabase again.

Assuming shocks are reprinted. They'd have to be real dumb not to, though.
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The Mana Sword posted...

Oh, and because there's always bad news, they 're continuing the unique buy-a-box promo because apparently they got "great feedback" about it.

Uh huh.

Jesus...
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Seems like this announcement day isnt quite getting the positive reception they were probably expecting.
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Im just glad they didnt announce another garbage Masters set.
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The Mana Sword posted...

Seems like this announcement day isnt quite getting the positive reception they were probably expecting.

It's weird. We always used to spend a full year on one plane but with the new structure it feels like an overkill to me.

What are you seeing negative about it?
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Whats going to drive the plot forward once/if Bolas is gone? Are we going back to standalone plots like Kamigawa, OG Ravnica, and Lorwyn, or having some new Big Bad? Phyrexia is cool but I cant see them being the long-term villains they once were.
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I see a lot of people upset at 3 sets in a row on the same plane, and I see a lot of people upset there wasnt more to the announcement. For how much they hyped it up, all we got was the name of two sets. Nothing about the Commander release this year, nothing about supplemental sets over the ne t year. It felt a little barren.

Also the video was like 10 minutes of cringe.
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Well going back to Dominaria and introducing Karn's subplot points pretty strongly to Phyrexia being the next focus. They could just let them have planar travel and do a few sets of them corrupting old planes every once in a while so it doesnt get too stale. That's how we can finally get new sets on Kamigawa and Lorwyn - sets about them being destroyed!
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Omg I'm so excited to have more Ravnica!! It seems like a pretty quick turnaround though. I thought it would be a few more years. Unfortunately I don't really play Magic anymore. :/ The last Ravnica set was actually my last main set I was familiar with, so maybe it's time to get back in.
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Join the Orzhov! Even if you dont have a great life, youll have a comfortable undeath!
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Selesnya for life!
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The Mana Sword posted...

Also the video was like 10 minutes of cringe.

The comments are just utterly brutal to the announcement video. Of course, some of the responses (like Unsleeved Media) are actually way worse in their naysaying "SJWs are killing magic!" paranoia.
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SJWs shot JFK

SJWs supported Hitler

SJWs faked the moon landing

SJWs nuked Japan
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SJWs took the last cookie and left the empty package.
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boooo we didnt see 2 of them :(

Vehicles is back to being the best deck... but it's still quite beatable.

I'm actually thinking of playing Standard again with GB Snake.
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Oh hey, Battlebond spoilers. Nice.

...I still need to get around to doing a real draft of Dominaria and not the fake ones they do on MTGA. Digital Magic has made me so lazy.
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New designs for Battlebond are strong. Amazing Comeback seems hilarious.
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I think Im about set with Dominaria drafts. Ive done around 25 and Im not really itching for too many more. The draft format ended up being somewhere in the middle for me. It was fine, but not something I see myself being excited to do in a flashback 2-3 years from now.

Battlebond w/e
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Any insights after that many? Is gb saprolings worth trying to force
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Ive found the saproling deck to underperform, personally. If it comes to you, its fine, but I definitely wouldnt try to force it. You really need one of the lords to make it work.
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You don't need to worry about forcing it because you can just start out taking good black and green cards, and any dedicated engine cards are lower priority. Stuff like Thallid Omnivore and Soothsayer are not worth taking until late. The only card that really pays you off that might be hard to come by is Sporecrown Thallid, I think.
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Im not sure I agree. Omnivore is good in any black deck, really. I dont see them going super late usually. I also think Soothsayer is just kinda bad. On the off chance you arent able to get one of the engines, the deck straight up does nothing.
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There's the backup plan of casting creatures and removal spells. This isn't some narrow archetype here, most of your deck is going to be decent, standalone cards. If you don't have any engine cards, then you're just playing GB value, which is a fine place to be.
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Right, I just mean that if you get stuck with a bunch of Saproling Migrations, Sapherds, etc, and nothing to do with them, your 1/1s and 2/2s get outclassed real quick. A pile of decent cards doesnt generally hold up in this format in my experience.
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Well, ideally you're making use of them somehow with bombs or premium uncommons. If you don't have those, then yeah, your deck is liable to stall. The format is ultimately bomb-heavy, so most decks are in the same boat.

If there's any conclusion to come to from this, it's that forcing anything is an incredibly bad idea in this format. Try to stay open and follow the bombs.
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Yeah, at the outset I thought this would be a two-color format, but its really a two-color but the good cards are worth splashing a third or even fourth color for format.

Skittering Surveyor is a super high pick because of that and the overall lack of any real mana fixing.
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oh shit, theyre reprinting True-Name Nemesis in Battlebond

gimme dat foil
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Some more Battlebond highlights:

Land Tax
Arena Rector (Academy Rector for Planeswalkers)
Veteran Explorer
Vigor (maybe theyll have all the Elemental Incarnations?)
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Sower of Temptation is nice too, thats a pretty expensive cube foil I dont have yet.
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GDS challenge 2 was posted today too.

I disagree with who was eliminated but I honestly don't know who I would eliminate. There was no horrible set like there was last week imo.
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Doubling Season too, that was like a $60-80 card just from casual and EDH demand
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My Immortal posted...

GDS challenge 2 was posted today too.

I disagree with who was eliminated but I honestly don't know who I would eliminate. There was no horrible set like there was last week imo.

I really disliked that the eliminated player had flat out created a new mechanic when they weren't supposed to do that. So I thought it was a correct choice to eliminate them.
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Seedborn Muse. About time.
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No one here cares about mtga, right?

Idk, went 7-1 in xln/xln/rix daft a few days ago just by clicking on all of the vampires.

The bots are not very good and drafting feels more luck based than it should.

I think the bots automatically get out of your way when you commit to a color combo
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Greater Good reprint! Karrthus has needed one of those for a long-ass time.
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banananor posted...

No one here cares about mtga, right?

I'm going to start caring a lot about it if it ever goes mobile.
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Id start caring if they ever let me into the beta.
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huh

they printed an imperial recruiter for instants and sorceries
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http://mythicspoiler.com/bbd/cards/grothamaalldevouring.jpg

This is a spicy card. Can't wait to see the jank Johnny EDH decks for him.
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What a weird card. It'll certainly create some funny and/or unusual moments around the table
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http://mythicspoiler.com/bbd/cards/thrillingencore.jpg

Hello there new EDH staple.
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sick raptor companion reprint in battlebond

too bad we didnt get colossal dreadmaw
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