Planar Chaos info - timeshifted cards are dull reprints in new colours

[eldaec]

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=62393

Planar chaos info is starting to come out through the magazines.

Nothing very interesting. Timeshifted cards from PC are just functional reprints but in a different colour.

Eg. Muscle Sliver and Blastoderm are being printed for 1W and 2WW instead of their traditional 1G and 2GG. They have new names and art - and some of the text is in white instead of black (gosh). Ho hum.

[Margalis]

Yeah I'm not that excited. It also annoys me that white gets a creature control card and black doesn't. (Or at least, doesn't yet)

Edit: I hadn't looked at the most recent spoiler, white has *two* creature control cards. Ugh. Breaking the color pie for nostalgia is ok but breaking it just to break it is too much for me.

[Raging Turtle]

Holy crap - the reprints aren't ALL dull - on magic's official site they have a regular wrath of god fading into 'damnation' - a black reprint of WoG 

Standard is going to be turned on its head for two years.

[Johny Cee]

Hmmm...

Monoblack control looks like it could be back in a big way.  Just needs a reprint of Duress or some other good 1 casting cost targetted discard...

[eldaec]

Today's preview tries to make Zombify interesting when it costs 4U and has the ability to target the other guy's graveyard....




...also, from yesterday, an Akroma rehash which comes out as a Dragon with pro-WU, trample, and firebreathing....




...much like old Akroma, I suspect this card will never be hardcast in constructed, instead I see a red finisher for put-into-play trick decks.

[Raging Turtle]

Actually, I'm pretty sure old Akroma is being hardcast in tounrey constructed control decks right now.

[eldaec]

Really? I'd have thought there is something out there for less than 8 mana that can do the same job if you are going to hardcast - but fair enough.

[Margalis]

Akroma is typically re-animated but sometimes hardcast late-game. So the uncounterability will be vaguely relevant.

However Akroma can swing on the turn she comes into play, making her WOG resistant. The new one can't, which means it will basically suck IMO.

I'm not digging PC, I want new cards, not direct reprints, functional reprints and variations.

[Johny Cee]

White Akroma is played as a finisher in U/W control (along with Sacred Mesa,  or Academy Ruins/Pentavus combo),  or reanimation type decks.

With storage lands to build mana,  regular U/W control can easily hardcast and leave mana open for defense.  U/W tron has even less problems.

[Margalis]

I don't think there will be a red tron variant though. UR tron? Tough without a Wrath effect. WR tron? Tough without draw and land searching.

Red doesn't have any re-animation spells either, although blue has some clone/doppleganger guys that work on the yard.

We'll see but my prediction is basically zero constructed play. In a UR deck I think Niv-Mizzet is probably better, and UR has dropped off a lot recently.

[Johny Cee]

UR Izzettron ran urzas, signets, and land,  and used Wildfire as a clearer.  Basically, you sac out your mountains and islands to leave urza lands to fuel the signets.

With Solar Flare, one of the top two decks in Standard before TS.

The morph ability makes Red-kroma decent.  Momentary blink on opponents turn for an attacking/pumpable Akroma next turn.  The unmorph cost is only 6,  which is much more doable,  and can be done at end of turn after covering your opponents turn with counter.

In Extended,  could fuel an Astral Slide comeback.  Play morphed for 3,  and slide it out during opponents turn.

If some kind of R/G control or land D becomes popular,  would work nicely as a finisher.

Also,  protection from White is really pretty strong in this format.  Most decks are splashing W for lifegain (get out of Dragonstorm reach), WoG, and targetted removal (Faith's Fetters, Condemn).

Hell,  W/R Control now might be an option.  You have good lifegain and removal (Helix, Faith's Fetters, Condemn, WoG) added to good creatures with decent abilities (Firemane, Shard Pheonix, Akroma),  slap on regular red burn like Demonfire, Char, etc.  Firemane and hard casted Akroma get around counter.  Seering Meditation decks were rogueish back before TS,  and could be better now with some Red backup.  Storage lands for the win, too.

Black should be a real power in the format now.  The biggest reason to splash W is for a finisher (Akroma, Mesa) and removal.  Black gives you the same level of removal (Damnation, Sudden Death, Last Gasp, Cruel Edict, etc ad nausem), comboed with hand disruption (Persecute, Stupor, even Hyppie) and card drawing (Arena).


A Solar Flare that jettisons W to run B/U turns into a deck where EVERYTHING must be countered.  Turn 2 Looter, Turn 3 Arena/Compulsive, Turn 4 Persecute/Damnation, etc.

The new spell Wistful Thinking could be interesting in a mill strategy in U/B.  Yes, your opponent draws cards,  but net discarding 2 on turn 3 is bad news.  Combine with Glimpse,  and any assorted card milling (Traumative....  maybe even the U/B hard counter that mills),  round out with cantriping to get cards in hand (Remand, Repeal, Mishra's Bauble, Looter, etc), card drawing,  and good targetted/global removal (bounce, various black killer cards) to keep you alive and get yourself stabilized.

Either G/R or Mono Green aggro should be pretty tough.  Lot's of great G hasty guys,  to add to Solifurge, pump, and burn.

I defy the Grammar Snake...  I was on a roll.

[Margalis]

Mono-green does ok online, and it does look like it well be getting better.

You are right about white and black. Right now white has the most powerful removal spell. In black you can pay 2 or 3 to kill 1 creature, or in white pay 4 to kill them all - tough choice. Life gain and Condemn are nice cards but with a black wrath I expect to see black go way up and white go way down. Skeletal Vampire is also a fine kill card. I'm happy to see black get Damnation, IMO white having the best removal spell is really sort of silly. I hope WOG isn't in 10th, it has been format-defining for too long. (I do think Wrath at 4 is overpowered in general)

I can see UB reanimation being a real threat. Japan had some interesting builds and Damnation will give it some power to clear the board if things go bad or to stall. I can't say enough times how much better Wrath is than targeted removal, which is nearly always a 1 for 1.

[Johny Cee]

With the new card, Body Double, I think a U/W Blink/Reanimate deck could be very good.

Play red-kroma, Body Double, Resurrection, looter or courier, compulsive, remand, blink, Angel of Despair, maybe even Hellkite or White-kroma.  More drawing, removal, or utility cards to order.

Blink can make your Body Double use come-into-play effects multiple times (Angel of Despair... blink... flash back blink...).  Or be used to unmorph your turn 3 morphed red-kroma.

With backup like Fetters, hard counters, trickbind, circles of protection, reanimate targets that hose opponents (Kaervek!!), etc.  There's lots of Azorius guild stuff that's been waiting for the right deck....  (Azorius guildmage to counter storm activation?  That's 4 cc U/W remove from game spell and draw lots of cards? etc)


White has been the general color (colour, for eldaec) of "global" and symmetric effects.  WoG for creatures, Armageddon for lands, Balance, Limited Resources, etc.  Most times,  it's intentionally powered down because they have a couple of hugely powerful effects available.

Black is traditionally targetted kill effects.  But black has a much better card pool because they never had a few powerhouse cards that got reprinted over and over and over.  Sure, black has occasionally had broken effects, but these were banned or not reprinted.  By and large,  Black's quality of card pool is much, much higher then whites.

To leave Damnation in black,  they'd have to nerf the fuck out of the available pool of black cards.  Damnation would come at the cost of Arena, Persecute, etc.

[Margalis]

Black has plenty of global creature-control spells though. Just never anything as good as wrath. Plague Wind, Hex, Hideous Laughter, Barter in Blood, etc.

Red also has a fair number of global destroy effects - really I don't know what is going on there, and I don't buy into the wizard "motivations for each color" psychobabble.

I do agree that outside wrath the White card pool is pretty weak. I also don't get the Wizard logic that since green is the fatty color that green fatties should be better in constructed. I mean black is the discard color but how often is discard relevant in limited? The same is true of blue and counterspells. If wizards wants the colors main strengths to be relevant in all formats they have a lot of work beyond green, and I'm not sure if that is a good goal or not.

They've teased bringing back Armageddon by saying it would never be in the same set as Wrath - maybe this is their chance.

[eldaec]

First remotely interesting preview card imo.

[schild]

Someone let a mage into the Library of Alexandria?

[eldaec]

Rumours suggest they let the Black land-magus into the Cabal Coffers.

[Johny Cee]

They did!  It's up on MTG Salvation:

Magus of the Coffers: B4; 4/4; T, B1, Add B for each swamp you control

[Johny Cee]

Force Spike is timeshifted to white!!!!

Mana Tithe; W; Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1.

This is HUGE.  Force Spike sees alot of play in Extended,  and is a viable Std card when it's a heavy aggro environment.

This also says to me that Wizards may be looking at dropping Wrath, if it's back by some more power cards.

On the edit:

Dust Elemental; 2WW; 6/6; Flying, Fear, Flash; Return 3 creatures you control when dust elemental comes into play.

Wow.  Begging to be in WW, or other W/X aggro deck.  Lay out creatures turns 1,2,3; hold this guy in hand with mana to cover your creatures if removal gets played.  Or play end of turn if no removal.

Dawn Charm; 1W; Instant; Choose one - Prevent all combat damage, or regenerate target creature, or counter target spell targeting you.

Seems like this could have lots of legs.

[Raging Turtle]

crazy stuff over at salvation.  Not sure how I feel about this set.

[eldaec]

More Green card draw.



If tidings can see play - then no doubt this will.

imo, all the fuss about black in PC has been misplaced.

I'm fully expecting a summer of UG combo.