Post by sdfkjgh on Sept 14, 2018 6:16:07 GMT
Welcome back to No Reservations II. Before we begin, I’d like to give a special shoutout to MTGO user Wizard_Gadolfini, and his evil, evil deck I played against a few days prior to me writing this. We had a few laughs at his name, I posited that it implied a mob connection in Middle Earth, then went on to suggest the imagery of Tony Soprano in a constantly half-opened wizard robe. He trounced original recipe Bouncing Soldiers easily; I had no defense. So, Wizard_Gadolfini, this shoutout is for you.
• 47 cards stay on The Reserved List.
• 82 cards reprinted for Standard.
• 35 cards reprinted in supplemental sets.
•79 cards sealed in concrete and then detonated at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
• And Dark Ritual is still languishing in Solitary Confinement.
This gives us a total of 197/244, or 80.73770491803279%.
Let’s do it to it.
And that’s it for this episode. The depletion counters cycle of lands kinda threw things off, but we’ll be back next week with the last 10 cards from Ice Age. Before we go, here’s our tally:
• 47 cards stay on The Reserved List.
• 86 cards reprinted for Standard.
• 38 cards reprinted in supplemental sets (with, in this episode, Mystic Might downgraded from
1 to 
).[/b]
•82 cards that just should never have been.
• And Dark Ritual, after spending a little too much time in The New Revised Reserved List’s Mark Rosewater Memorial Library, tried to sign up for the Suicide Squad, but was informed that a) That’s not an actual thing here in this reality, & b) It needs to report to the Medical Ward for an immediate psych eval.
This gives us a BSQ of 207/254, or 81.49606299212598%. It’s creeping back up there, folks.
Until then, this is sdfkjgh, now accepting applications to fill the yuuuge shoes of our dearly departed Daij_Djan. I’ll see you all next time.
And now for our recap:
• 47 cards stay on The Reserved List.
• 82 cards reprinted for Standard.
• 35 cards reprinted in supplemental sets.
•
• And Dark Ritual is still languishing in Solitary Confinement.
This gives us a total of 197/244, or 80.73770491803279%.
Let’s do it to it.
{I rag on Harold McNeill a lot, and he does deserve it, but this is probably one of his least controversial illustrations. Pity it’s so simplistic and too on-the-nose.}
Lightning Blow1; see below.
Price
Here’s what I and the gang had to say about Lightning Blow the first time around:
Oh look! Yet ANOTHER “Why is this a rare?!” card! Oh joy! Srsly, did everyone at Wizards around this time get high on lightning blow and say,
“Dude. Duuuuuuuuuuudde. We should, y’know, we should just do EVERYTHING we can to make rarity NOT mean anything! You see this card?--“
“Hey! That’s my cutting card!”
“Sorry. Well, you see this card? Now, normally, we’d print it at common, right? Well, how about we print it at RARE in the next set?!”
“Dude, that’s brilliantly stupid!”
“I know, right?! So, we’re doing it?”
“Of COURSE we’re doing it!”
“Awesome, man. Raises & promotions for everyone!!!”
Reprinting at common, WHERE IT BELONGS, like Masters Edition III did. 79.
Well, this time around, I’ve changed my mind. It’s not because of our “favorite” Nazi-sympathizing artist, although that is a small part of it. No, the main reason is the same for Gravebind: that this effect, even with the slowtrip (hell, even with a regular cantrip), just isn’t worth an entire card, much less a card with cmc of 2. I mean, hell, just look at Sure Strike.
Powercreep can oftentimes be good for this game, and it’s for this reason that Lightning Blow gets placed, gently and without malice, onto the Flaming Pile of Garbage Cards. The game has moved on without you, and I feel confident no one will mourn my decision.80
Lightning Blow1; see below.
Price
{Here’s every instant and sorcery that grants first strike ueot.}
Look around, you’re bound to find better options.
Look around, you’re bound to find better options.
Here’s what I and the gang had to say about Lightning Blow the first time around:
sdfkjgh and the gang said:
Wasn’t there an episode of Mork & Mindy where Robin Williams & Jonathan Winters got high off of some lightning blow & completely derailed the script?(6)Oh look! Yet ANOTHER “Why is this a rare?!” card! Oh joy! Srsly, did everyone at Wizards around this time get high on lightning blow and say,
“Dude. Duuuuuuuuuuudde. We should, y’know, we should just do EVERYTHING we can to make rarity NOT mean anything! You see this card?--“
“Hey! That’s my cutting card!”
“Sorry. Well, you see this card? Now, normally, we’d print it at common, right? Well, how about we print it at RARE in the next set?!”
“Dude, that’s brilliantly stupid!”
“I know, right?! So, we’re doing it?”
“Of COURSE we’re doing it!”
“Awesome, man. Raises & promotions for everyone!!!”
Reprinting at common, WHERE IT BELONGS, like Masters Edition III did. 79.
{Relevant Footnotes from That Episode}
| (6) | LXIV. TOO SOON!!!(7) |
| (7) | Ral: What, that famous Korean diplomat, Sun Tuu Soon?(8) |
| (8) | Teferi: No, no, no, you’re thinking of the OB/GYN Premature Baby specialist!(9) |
| (9) | Ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinaries, I wish to humbly, deeply, and sincerely apologise for what passes for humor among these Philistines. They shall be disemboweled when they least expect it. |
Well, this time around, I’ve changed my mind. It’s not because of our “favorite” Nazi-sympathizing artist, although that is a small part of it. No, the main reason is the same for Gravebind: that this effect, even with the slowtrip (hell, even with a regular cantrip), just isn’t worth an entire card, much less a card with cmc of 2. I mean, hell, just look at Sure Strike.
Powercreep can oftentimes be good for this game, and it’s for this reason that Lightning Blow gets placed, gently and without malice, onto the Flaming Pile of Garbage Cards. The game has moved on without you, and I feel confident no one will mourn my decision.
{That á really screws with the Official Reprint Policy’s linking to Gatherer}
Márton Stromgald 83
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Do I wish that Márton Stromgald was a 2/2 or a 3/3? Of course I do, especially since that’s about what he would be if he were printed today; either that, or they wouldn’t have excluded him from his pumping abilities. However, the very fact of his fragility is what makes him so interesting. Do you block the lowly 1/1, taking a 1-time, massively huge hit in order to stop all subsequent huge-ass attacks & blocks, or do you ignore the puny little dude enabling all these bigly pumps in favor of staying alive by blocking one of those pumped up, beefy bois? Márton is probably perfectly safe for Standard.
Márton Stromgald 83
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Do I wish that Márton Stromgald was a 2/2 or a 3/3? Of course I do, especially since that’s about what he would be if he were printed today; either that, or they wouldn’t have excluded him from his pumping abilities. However, the very fact of his fragility is what makes him so interesting. Do you block the lowly 1/1, taking a 1-time, massively huge hit in order to stop all subsequent huge-ass attacks & blocks, or do you ignore the puny little dude enabling all these bigly pumps in favor of staying alive by blocking one of those pumped up, beefy bois? Márton is probably perfectly safe for Standard.
{It’s a shame such a flavorful card is just…so…bad!}
Mercenaries181
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I look at Mercenaries and I think “If only.” If only it cost just
. If only it was . Mebbe then, it’s actually be playable. As many pointed out in Gatherer, ”Envying Hill Giant is a lousy place to be.” +100 for flavor, -1100 for playability.
Mercenaries1
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{This mechanic has been done since then to varying levels of success.}
Mtenda Lion According to Google Translate, mtenda means “you love him”, whereas Mtenda mean “Thank you”. Weird. Considering the flavor text, I’d say it’s the latter.
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Quenchable Fire
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Mtenda Lion According to Google Translate, mtenda means “you love him”, whereas Mtenda mean “Thank you”. Weird. Considering the flavor text, I’d say it’s the latter.
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Quenchable Fire
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I look at Mercenaries and I think “If only.” If only it cost just
. If only it was . Mebbe then, it’s actually be playable. As many pointed out in Gatherer, ”Envying Hill Giant is a lousy place to be.” +100 for flavor, -1100 for playability.{I actually hope this breaks something…}
Mesmeric Trance 84
Price
As usual, if there’s an effect or ability that’s pretty solidly known for being in one color, odds are good that it was in
first! Thanks, Rosewater; early R&D really didn’t have the slightest idea how to colorbalance. I’d go through a long list of things did first, referencing the South Park episode, Simpsons Did It, but really, what would be the point? You’ve all gotten the message already, right?
Anyways, Mesmeric Trance, as the first rummaging, is pretty mana-intensive, color intensive, and really only for the late game, even for a combo deck, so it should be fine, right? ^Cut to skyscrapers on fire, rioting in the streets, martial law being declared, and the metagame in shambolic tatters, from which no amount of bannings could possibly hope to save it!^
Mesmeric Trance 84
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As usual, if there’s an effect or ability that’s pretty solidly known for being in one color, odds are good that it was in
first! Thanks, Rosewater; early R&D really didn’t have the slightest idea how to colorbalance. I’d go through a long list of things did first, referencing the South Park episode, Simpsons Did It, but really, what would be the point? You’ve all gotten the message already, right?Anyways, Mesmeric Trance, as the first rummaging, is pretty mana-intensive, color intensive, and really only for the late game, even for a combo deck, so it should be fine, right? ^Cut to skyscrapers on fire, rioting in the streets, martial law being declared, and the metagame in shambolic tatters, from which no amount of bannings could possibly hope to save it!^
{Holy crap, creatures were bad back then!}
Minion of Tevesh Szat I so desperately want to reprint this for Standard, but I also want to give it the best chance of actually seeing play, which means there’s really only one place for it: 36
Price
It’s incredibly hard to judge Minion of Tevesh Szat on its own merits, but I’ll try.2 MaRo himself has gone on record as saying that back in the early days, R&D didn’t realize that a high mana cost was its own drawback, one that would be sufficient for its purposes. This is why you see all these ludicrous upkeep costs on these ridiculously overcosted cards.
About the only good thing that can be said about Minion of Tevesh Szat is its activated ability. Having a constant mini-Auger Spree on hand can be very powerful, like turning a 3/3 into a 6/1, or an x/2 or less into a dead thing.
Minion of Tevesh Szat I so desperately want to reprint this for Standard, but I also want to give it the best chance of actually seeing play, which means there’s really only one place for it: 36
Price
{Every 7-mana 4/4}
Though relatively few, there’s STILL a greater preponderance of better choices than equal or worse.
Just for completeness’ sake, here’s every 7-mana creature…
…And here’s every 7-mana noncreature
Though relatively few, there’s STILL a greater preponderance of better choices than equal or worse.
Just for completeness’ sake, here’s every 7-mana creature…
…And here’s every 7-mana noncreature
It’s incredibly hard to judge Minion of Tevesh Szat on its own merits, but I’ll try.2 MaRo himself has gone on record as saying that back in the early days, R&D didn’t realize that a high mana cost was its own drawback, one that would be sufficient for its purposes. This is why you see all these ludicrous upkeep costs on these ridiculously overcosted cards.
About the only good thing that can be said about Minion of Tevesh Szat is its activated ability. Having a constant mini-Auger Spree on hand can be very powerful, like turning a 3/3 into a 6/1, or an x/2 or less into a dead thing.
{There’s only one thing you need to read about this next card:}
This guy should be taught in Economics 101 as an example of "opportunity cost". After you're done burning a bunch of mana and chump spells to make him merely mediocre, think of all the cool stuff you could've had instead.
Posted By: Dogstein (1/5/2013 10:23:42 AM)
Mountain Titan382
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This guy should be taught in Economics 101 as an example of "opportunity cost". After you're done burning a bunch of mana and chump spells to make him merely mediocre, think of all the cool stuff you could've had instead.
Posted By: Dogstein (1/5/2013 10:23:42 AM)
Mountain Titan3
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{Bartender, I’ll have an Aunt Roberta, a Suffering Bastard, a Pousse-café, and a Smoker’s Cough to go with my next card.}
Mudslide 85
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The drinks in question.
Is Mudslide a wee bit more powerful than they’d make today? Probably. Is it in the wrong color? Possibly, but it does seem to lend itself to a deck archetype little seen:
control. Can you imagine a mono- version of The Deck, using Mudslides instead of Moats, and Shivan Dragons instead of Serra Angels? I think Mudslide might be a contender.
Mudslide 85
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The drinks in question.
Is Mudslide a wee bit more powerful than they’d make today? Probably. Is it in the wrong color? Possibly, but it does seem to lend itself to a deck archetype little seen:
control. Can you imagine a mono- version of The Deck, using Mudslides instead of Moats, and Shivan Dragons instead of Serra Angels? I think Mudslide might be a contender.{This next card is only really notable because of Obsidian Fireheart.}
Musician 37
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Beyond the fact that creature destruction belongs in
, not 4, there’s not much else to say about Musician, other than due to its breaking of the color pie, and that unless the cost is really interesting, I don’t particularly like cumulative upkeep, I don’t believe Musician belongs in any current or future Standard. Commander? Eh, why not?
Musician 37
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{Shortly after Obsidian Fireheart was printed, they errataed Musician with the reminder text of “The music continues to play after Musician has left the battlefield.”}
Obsidian Fireheart
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Obsidian Fireheart
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Beyond the fact that creature destruction belongs in
, not 4, there’s not much else to say about Musician, other than due to its breaking of the color pie, and that unless the cost is really interesting, I don’t particularly like cumulative upkeep, I don’t believe Musician belongs in any current or future Standard. Commander? Eh, why not?{This makes it three so far, in just this episode.}
Mystic Might 38, downgraded from1 to .
Price.
just doesn’t get p/t pumping. Sure, it gets toughness pumping, and +2/-2 or -2/+2 or less, and prowess, but you usually only see +2/+2 ueot in &/or 
.
This is one of the few times I actually like cumulative upkeep as a limiting factor, as something like this will make combat math a little nightmarish to keep track of. I’d like to think that that’s why they originally printed Mystic Might at, but their track record so far tells me that I should know better, that they had little to no idea what the hell they were doing, and any correct decisions were, at best, happy accidents. As it is, the cumulative upkeep cost is high enough that seems like their usual gross overreaction & blatant disregard for actual power levels.6
Mystic Might 38, downgraded from
1 to .Price.
just doesn’t get p/t pumping. Sure, it gets toughness pumping, and +2/-2 or -2/+2 or less, and prowess, but you usually only see +2/+2 ueot in &/or .This is one of the few times I actually like cumulative upkeep as a limiting factor, as something like this will make combat math a little nightmarish to keep track of. I’d like to think that that’s why they originally printed Mystic Might at
, but their track record so far tells me that I should know better, that they had little to no idea what the hell they were doing, and any correct decisions were, at best, happy accidents. As it is, the cumulative upkeep cost is high enough that seems like their usual gross overreaction & blatant disregard for actual power levels.6{For something so huge, and so hugely important to early Magic design, this is gonna be rather short.}
Polar Kraken 86
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Hey, if it worked for Leviathan7, it can work again for Polar Kraken.
MaRo has talked at length multiple times about the inflationary p/t shenanigans R&D used to get into, of which Polar Kraken was a large part, so if you’d like to hear more about that, you can search The Mothership or his tumblr or even Google for that stuff.
Polar Kraken 86
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Hey, if it worked for Leviathan7, it can work again for Polar Kraken.
MaRo has talked at length multiple times about the inflationary p/t shenanigans R&D used to get into, of which Polar Kraken was a large part, so if you’d like to hear more about that, you can search The Mothership or his tumblr or even Google for that stuff.
And that’s it for this episode. The depletion counters cycle of lands kinda threw things off, but we’ll be back next week with the last 10 cards from Ice Age. Before we go, here’s our tally:
• 47 cards stay on The Reserved List.
• 86 cards reprinted for Standard.
• 38 cards reprinted in supplemental sets (with, in this episode, Mystic Might downgraded from
1 to ).[/b]•
• And Dark Ritual, after spending a little too much time in The New Revised Reserved List’s Mark Rosewater Memorial Library, tried to sign up for the Suicide Squad, but was informed that a) That’s not an actual thing here in this reality, & b) It needs to report to the Medical Ward for an immediate psych eval.
This gives us a BSQ of 207/254, or 81.49606299212598%. It’s creeping back up there, folks.
Until then, this is sdfkjgh, now accepting applications to fill the yuuuge shoes of our dearly departed Daij_Djan. I’ll see you all next time.
{Footnotes}
| 1 | Why was this originally printed at ? It makes absolutely no damn sense! |
| 2 | I fully expect to fail miserably, because it’s just so terribad! |
| 3 | I almost typed “Mountain Titty”. |
| 4 | There’s yet another thing got that eventually went to a different color!5 |
| 5 | Terror? Terror who? No, I’m not familiar. |
| 6 | Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, as they didn’t even have a playtest team back then, at least, not how we know them today. |
| 7 | Price |