I'd Like a Slice of That - **Circuit Challenge**

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Comments

  • Okay, I feel it's worth it to point out that entries that use non-evergreen keywords or effects are less likely to be looked at by me, since all the factions already have a mechanic.

    That is, except for Elf Dragons. I never settled on one. If there's enough entries with soulbond that give me a good reason to make it that, though, let's see what y'all got.

    Vehicles and protection are also perfectly acceptable. But anything else might need to be tweaked for reconsideration.
  • edited February 2018
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  • edited February 2018
    Entry 3:
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    Made for either Abzan forest spirits/Sultai Horros, really works either way (Similar to Winterflame or Secret Plans in KTK).

    Works well in legacy and commander, what with all the land destruction. Wasteland? Now your opponent is down a land! Fetches? This card is a mana accelerant. Creature lands? Get some extra value out of them!

  • Man. I'm going to be sticking around this site a little more while the Masters 25 previews are rolling in, because Wizards is making me depressed.
  • @AustinSmith Me too. Why the fudge are they printing all of these cards that are literally worthless (not just in value, but also in limited!) in a set with $10 packs??!! Honestly, this set could have been great, but everything about it is looking sub-par to say the least. Honestly, I could have done better and I don't even have a background in game design.
  • @KrampisZman I'm not usually one to complain about Magic sets in comment sections or whatever, and I think mass box openings for value is a waste, but god, this set looks miserable to draft.

    As someone who lived original Innistrad in my heyday of playing Magic, and loved the set dripping in flavor and cool card design, Tree of Redemption at mythic felt like a huge punch to the balls. It doesn't convey anything about one of my favorite limited formats ever.

    I could easily create my own list of cards that accurately represent Magic's history, and balance needed reprints at correct rarities with fun draft archetypes. I might just start a thread to do so, too.
  • @AustinSmith I came back to the game around the time Theros released, and I think it is safe to say that they have not done one of my favorite blocks of all time justice. Personally, I think Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Xenagos, God of Revels should have been in the set instead of stuff like Prossh. Sneak Attack should have been there instead of Akroma. I'm fine with Phyrexian Obliterator as a mythic, but Doomsday should be Liliana of the Veil. While I like Vendillion Clique, I think it should have been Force of Will. Clique does not need another reprint, FOW does. Both of the Green Mythics are dreadful. Replace them with Nylea, God of the Hunt and OG Garruk. We don't know what white's second mythic is, but personally I think it should be Avacyn. I think Armageddon was a good thought, but they should have used it's expensive functional reprint Ravages of War. Psychatog should be in the set. Chalice of the Void should be rare, not mythic. Gisela shouldn't be here at all. Same with OG Nicol Bolas. We should have Wurmcoil Engine or the Mirrodin Swords in here somewhere.

    Also, for the love of god, they should have put Storm Crow in this product. Jeeeez.
  • @KrampisZman I agree with a lot of that (especially the vendilion clique part), but some of those parts were unavoidable. There really are no good cards in Legends, so they decided to do Nicol Bolas because he has his fans, and making Chalice mythic is just good economics - its $65 dollars right now, why wouldn't they capitalize on it.
    But yes, there is a lot to be desired. I'm hopeful though; they still have a lot to reveal.
  • @TheCenterOfTheUniverse But they already put Pendlehaven in the set. That's from legends.
  • @KrampisZman yes, I missed that. I guess then WOTC thinks that Bolas has a) enough fans and b) enough nostalgia value - it's far from a powerful card.
  • @KrampisZman there are several cards that come to mind over Akroma that could've been reprinted. Balefire Dragon needs a reprint, and even though it still doesn't represent Innistrad it would've been a FAR better pick than Tree of Convenient Place to Hang Myself. Scourge of the Throne would've been cool in draft. Purphoros was the absolute stupidest God in Theros and deserves a reprint.

    Stormbreath Dragon saw extensive standard play, comes from Theros, and is mythic. Not even that valuable, but heck, at least it brings back memories. Lol, at least Tibalt would've been FUNNY.

    Gary's one of my favorite cards from a block I otherwise disliked (personal opinion, mostly; I was riding the Return to Ravnica high), I better see it reprinted seeing as monoblack devotion has a lot of support in this limited.
  • edited March 2018
    @KrampisZman @AustinSmith

    It looks like Masters25 is, from a financial viewpoint, highly variable. The value of a box can vary from 400$ (if you pull even a few JtMS and other chase rares/mythics) or 40$ (if your box is full of the aforementioned Tree of Redemption and friends). Can either be really rewarding or really frustrating.

    Also, I feel the very nature of Masters 25 makes it a poor draft environment. As bad as Iconic Masters was, it was at least carefully chosen to have clear limited archetypes. When you are merely choosing 'iconic' cards (or what you feel are iconic cards), it is hard to have a lot of cohesion.

    The mythics are certainly disappointing. I had my hopes up when I saw Jace and later Imperial Rec, but most of the slots have been wasted on the likes of Gisela, Prossh, etc. I think some of the lands are decent, though (Port, Pendelhaven, filterlands).
  • edited March 2018
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  • @AustinSmith I think Theros gets a really bad rap because it was stuck between one of the best blocks of all time (RTR) and one of the best sets of all time (Khans, but not the rest of the block). It did a lot of things really well. They just didn't use their space as well as they could have.

    @KalamMekhar that's what a cube is. All of your favorite cards bundled up in a fun-to-draft package. All WOTC needed to do to make this set a slam dunk was look at cubes and use those cards.

    And please notice, not all cubes need to have Power 9 and such. Pauper and Peasant cubes are very popular and usually contain a lot of nostalgic and iconic cards. My cube contained about 30% of each rarity, plus give or take %10 Mythics. Actually, had WOTC just printed a version of my cube they would have had a more valuable set than this.
  • Personally, I'm a big fan of Theros block.
  • @Faiths_Guide The first deck I won FNM with was a Temur monsters deck that played out a bunch of mana dorks and then either smashed your face in with a Polukranos, gained a bunch of life and drew a bunch of cards off Shamanic Revelation, or combo'd you to death with Savage Ventmaw and Crater's claws. It was sweet. There used to be this one guy who always played a version of the competitive R/W burn deck at the time, minus the mana base. After losing to him 2 weeks in a row, I noticed that his deck could easily get mana screwed if I threw in some LD, since his deck played few lands, most of which were basics. I realized that Peak Eruption from Theros hit his face and destroyed a mountain, so I threw 2 copies into my sideboard. The next week, I get to the finals, and I am pared up against this guy again. I lose game one, so I bring my Eruptions out from the sideboard. I win the next 2 games by cutting him off of red. Needless to say, he was not pleased.

    Plus, I opened a Jace, Vyrn's prodigy in my Prize packs. I felt pretty good after that. :)
  • I remember Battle of Zendikar fondly... favorite deck I ever made was a RW rush Ally deck for a friend's birthday present.
  • There's some guy over at WotC who is so excited they decided to go with his picks for 25... oh, sorry MaRo... was that you?
  • edited March 2018
    Heres my take on it!

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    funny enought both design started mush les powerful at uncomon rarity but whiole making them i just kept on adding stuff XD they ended up at rare altough i think calamity could be mythic and/or legendary (edit i actually just made it mythic)

  • Only two more days for the contest!
  • Entry 4, for the Temur Elf-Dragon tribal:
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  • edited March 2018
    Here are my entries! I decided to do a cycle of enemy-colored uncommon cards for draft.

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    This card works really well with waste/bog/moss counters, since you can transform Mountains and Islands into the land types that don't effect the creeper. It is also just always a 4/4 against the mirror, so that's pretty good.

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    I think steam-powered lands would probably be something you would have to pick up during a draft, not something you can just have an infinite number of. I think a way of producing steam-powered mana when you don't have very many of the lands is important, and this guy fits the bill. He also has an on-curve body if you do have steam lands to use, so he's never a dead card.

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    The eldritch horrors wanted a way to get creatures into the graveyard repeatibly. I thought milling a reward for playing Lurking creatures was a good way to tick all the boxes.

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    Someone needs to stop the Cultists from killing themselves, or the Cult dies! This card gives you a reward for paying pact costs (other than just keeping the permanent) while punishing your opponent in a very minor way. It allows you to keep the pact up for longer for a smaller opportunity cost.

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    Temur wanted a way to ramp into it's Dragons. It also wanted an elf tribal payoff. I think this card provides everything the color pair wants. It's especially good with Firebreathing.

    @Austinsmith I hope you like my designs, and thanks for a cool contest!
  • https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/dryads-embrace

    This is meant for the Abzan faction, to cripple an opponent's creature in concert with something that turns their land into a forest.
  • edited March 2018
    My first entry. Because I doubt steam-powered mana would make that much of an impact in Legacy anyways, I chose to make a primarily Storm-based card. Thoughts on how it functions?

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  • @Gelectrode that seems really broken, even outside of storm. It's like, turn 3 you play this and just get a free Fleecemane Lion or Wooly Thoctar. Heck, with a Utopia Sprawl or Mana dork, you can do that on turn 2.

    Not to mention the free Horde of Notions...
  • @KrampisZman, gotta think about that Horde of Notions tribal deck!! Choo-choo, here comes the hype train!!! All hail our Lorwyn overlord!!!

    Oops, left my Reddit thinking cap on. How embarassing...

    Good point with Wooly Thoctar and Fleecemane Lion though. I'll try and fix it soon.
  • Last minute-submissions, ahoy! Got until tonight to make submissions, then I'll close the contest for judging. Good luck everyone!
This discussion has been closed.