deja vu index: The Brother's War

User avatar
folding_music
glitter pen on my mana crypt
Posts: 2236
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: they / them

Post by folding_music » 1 year ago

this is a rating of how fun or surprising the cards are to read, not whether they're ineffective, expected or power-crept. no originality points are won by combining three utterly worn-out lines of ability text (e.g. any planeswalker or modal spell in this set!) ratings are purely from a personal perspective, of course.

some of these cards will have inherent deja vu because they're set in or portray characters from nations we were introducted to in '93 to '95. I won't punish that, but I will punish direct nostalgia bait (Mishra's Foundry and so forth). in opposition to that, I generally approve of reprints; better that, than a new card with almost the same text that you also have to contain in your memory!

generally: Prototype doesn't hit me as meaningfully new, just feels like another reversed kicker. of course, there's exceptions where the prototype's stats have interesting consequences... I like Powerstone a lot & all those cards feel new (and that particular Mishra feels like one of the freshest cards in the set) Unearth's return can't really be praised or punished with rating points, it's a good ability which can only be interesting if the things the creature does are interesting too, and 99% of the time that just means mixing it with an old standard. tempted not to rate the Meld sides of the cards at all - i don't own them and they're plastered with squint text, just assume I'm not a fan x3

notables:
+ stuff i love
Airlift Chaplain - white milling itself is fun
Kayla's Reconstruction - I like the 3cmc limit, feels meaningful and becomes a type of trinkety Coco which can grab prison bits or whatever
Loran's Escape - fantasy flavour text with wording i like a lot
Meticulous Excavation - the unearth escape is really cute. maybe they'll find a wording which trumps this one, too
Prison Sentence - smart flavour text
Recommission - I know this is literally Unearth but I like it for the same reason I like the reconstruction, a new manipulable subset
Survivor of Korlis - i like that this ISN'T an unearth ability but one you spend from the grave, showing that not everyone in the setting is a war machine
Warlord's Elite - i like this pliable Convoke-y drawback & generally want to see more (nonbroken!) alt. costs in all colours

+ purely because Powerstones are new: Great Desert Prospector, Powerstone Engineer, Repair and Recharge (-1 for the name >:3), Static Net
+ reprints I approve of: Disenchant|BRO although the flavour text wasn't worth it

- groaners
In the Trenches - hideous goodstuff with very cramped text templating. absolutely the wrong place for flavour text
Kayla's Command - exhausting combination of boring abilities including the whiny plains fetch TM
Lay Down Arms - the swords-to-plowshares theme has been hammered on too much at this point
Tocasia's Onulet - the original onulets were already "Tocasia's onulets", lol, just reprint them
Tocasia's Welcome - flavour text phraseology only helen mirren could pull off imo, just hate that writing

notables:
+ stuff i love
Arcane Proxy - prototype combined with power mattering (beyond simple Gain X life stuff) feels really satisfying
Combat Courier - it's just ancient ability mixing (the Urza's Destiny 2: sac me to draw with Alara's unearth) but it's the biggest "oh %$#%" power common creature since Sacred Cat to me. it could be too good or nothing special but the card has presence!
Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam - i like the repeatable artifact rescuing, as much as it'll be used exclusively to cause trouble. it's funny, though, I thought Hurkyl was the one who liked bouncing artifacts x3
Hulking Metamorph - another fruitful use of prototype
Hurkyl, Master Wizard - ignoring the weird card-filling template on this I love the feel it'd give to a commander deck: you are a diversified slinger of spells and summoner of planeswalkers!
Hurkyl's Final Meditation - ok she still bounces artifacts lol. found the opposite wording to Discontinuity interesting
Machine Over Matter - robots matter! but surely the golem marries the princess...
Take Flight - flavour text is very sweet
The Temporal Anchor - rather this than One with the Multiverse; strategy-based resource gathering expressed in a new way (the "while scrying" caveat feels unnecessary, anchoring the anchor a little too much considering it costs six and is vulnerable & I wanna draw seven with Dig Through Time!)
Zephyr Sentinel - tribe-based rescue is surprisingly nice

+ cos powerstones: Koilos Roc, Splitting the Powerstone, Stern Lesson (though you see how boring ability combinations are becoming my bugbear since this is just loot + The Next Thing with no interplay), Urza, Powerstone Prodigy, Urza's Command (which would definitely be a negative without the Powerstone text)
+ reprints I approve of: Curate|BRO with smoothened wording

- groaners
Flow of Knowledge - flavour text does not make sense for more than five seconds
Involuntary Cooldown - I just can't look at the flavour text box x3 the text here is so shrunken by that extraneous "for long"
Lat-Nam Adept - text seems smug and arrogant combined with the art, always minus points for nerdomysticalism. keeper of the cadence is verging on guilty too, I guess this is just the insufferability of blue magic rather than a design flaw
One with the Multiverse - exhausting combination of totally staid abilities... i guess the land bit is new in blue? but I don't want that to be in blue so, to say the least, it did not cause excitement
Surge Engine - sometimes this kind of quest-template results in a powerful card but it never results in one that doesn't cause eye strain. improves on figure of destiny's nine lines, but it still uses the name of the card four times, there has to be a better way and, if not, I hope they retire this kind of gimmick
Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim - currently the most repetive character to read in the multiverse, maybe my least favourite card here

notables:
+ stuff I love
Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist [/card] - a card designed for me. goes beyond just being Powerstone-good and into a single-card philosophy, plus "Zombie artifact creature" is amazing and new on a token
Disciples of Gix - burying an artifact has a different connotation in black than usual, just for this set
Dreams of Steel and Oil - the rare songtitle-y card name that works
Dredging Claw - just marries Sai with Desecrated Tomb but the line made me gasp anyway
Fateful Handoff - we like that payoff for donating and it's outside of Zedruu's monopolistic anti-monopolistic colours
Gurgling Anointer - incredible use of the word "gurgling", and I like that it has a quest
Hostile Negotiations - all Fact or Fictions rule. wordy, though
Phyrexian Fleshgorger - i like that they found a way to give black Hexproof without just saying the line (i think this combination of abilities is too good but that's an entirely separate conversation)
Ravenous Gigamole - incredible use of the word "gigamole". giggle. for fun look up how many cards there are with Ravenous in the name and tell me I don't have a point buried in all these pet-hate greavances x3
Razorlash Transmogrant - nonbasic vendetta is beautiful in black. i don't mean the card vendetta, the concept
Thran Vigil - "artifact and/or creature" is clever phyrexian philosophy written as rules text and this is the card I like it on best

+ cos powerstones: Gix's Caress
+ reprints: Corrupt|BRO (definitely improves on the Shadowmoor flavour text, too; "fish be hungry"?), Diabolic Intent|BRO, Disfigure|BRO, Go for the Throat|BRO, Painful Quandary|BRO (all reprints are beautiful)

- groaners
Battlefield Butcher - skippable marvel movie-tier flavour text
Gix's Command - not feeling quite as harsh on this one cos it has a black Tariff hidden at the end, but I always dislike taking in these "wow! I can do everything in a generic manner" cards and templating's always at fault: not enough room for anything exciting cos we don't maintain enough keywords to make charms pop. exciting modal cards can be done - see the various Ravnica block 3c split cards which I generally adore
Goring Warplow - why does this particular creature have deathtouch but normal five power piles of junk don't? and why would its prototype be a 1/1 dork, did they initially intend to knock down tiny walls? doll's houses everywhere look out! is it a banding-less reference to Battering Ram? cos if so I hate it giggle
No One Left Behind - a couple of cards in this set have overkill protectors where you get a payoff if you spend the card on a small target. i approve of the ones that don't have names and flavour text this bad
Powerstone Fracture - giving ashnod dialogue this generic makes me like her less
Thraxodemon - don't call back to Artifact Possession unless you are brave enough to make the creature bright purple

notables:
+ stuff i love
Conscripted Infantry - love this incisive depiction of amazon workers
Feldon, Ronom Excavator - I love this depiction of attacking-as-exploring; three very aggressive abilities on an artificer is super cool
Mishra, Excavation Prodigy - card's abilities describe a person, someone who treasures the act of discovery without being interested in keeping the catch. very good
Mishra's Research Desk - unearth takes on a new meaning when combined with other costs including costs you don't yet know
Obliterating Bolt - flavour text attempts to describe sorcery, kinda gnice
Over the Top - the ability is absolute chaos and i welcome it
Penregon Strongbull - I just love the card's name. minotaurs are still 2/3 lol
Raze to the Ground - overkill bonuses are good design to me
Scrapwork Mutt - unearth mattering beyond the single turn

+ cos powerstones: Excavation Explosion, Horned Stoneseeker, Sibling Rivalry, Visions of Phyrexia
+ reprints: just Monastery Swiftspear!

- groaners
Arms Race - after initially liking this card mechanically i've decided it's cowardly. remember sneak attack? here's a handcuffed version for artifacts, wowww!
Brotherhood's End - hate it when cards are simultaneously boring AND pushed
Draconic Destiny - nostalgia-bait so goodstuff-brained they didn't even make the firebreathing cost R
The Fall of Kroog - this flavour text helped me put my finger on a vague sensation I had about the whole set - it clunks in the exact same way P3K did
Goblin Blast-Runner - we're still doing this after 30 years huh
Mishra's Command - generic option spam again
Mishra's Juggernaut - oh, you're talking about Mishra's juggernaut. *his* juggernaut.
Mishra's Onslaught - skippable marvel movie-tier flavour text (2)
Sardian Cliffstomper - the opportunity to make a -4/4 creature was ripe
Tyrant of Kher Ridges - second Shivan Dragon nostalge card in the same set to make Shivan Dragon look completely useless
Unleash Shell - just side-eyeing the card's name. unforgivable giggle

notables:
+ stuff I love
Alloy Animist - repeatable animation of artifacts is exciting AND totally unheard of in green
Awaken the Woods - it's a dryad arbor reference but it's a very exciting line of text; creation rather than fetching, easier on the hands and way more concise than the average ramp text
Cradle Clearcutter - seen this kind of line on gyre sage but i like the prototype tie-in
Fade from History - mechanically average-as-heck but the card is so soothing to look at
Mask of the Jadecrafter - these non-creature unearthers get weirder the more ultra-orthodox the rest of the set becomes
Rust Goliath - ten ten common is ridiculous <3
Shoot Down - good barbarian novel type of prose
Tawnos's Tinkering - an expanded version of cards that've gone before but it makes Tawnos ultra sympathetic
Wasteful Harvest - the brothers as shorthand for all the world's visionary charlatans, good text

+ cos powerstones: Argothian Opportunist, Fallaji Excavation
+ reprints: Blanchwood Armor, Epic Confrontation (although flavour continues to make Mishra out to be a deeply boring person), Fauna Shaman, Giant Growth, Obstinate Baloth all of them beautiful. though I miss Parente's armor

- groaners
Argothian Sprite - boringly crept argothian pixies reference with unsightly dangling flavour text
Audacity - attempts to recreate fervor but the flavour makes a lot less sense
Gaea's Gift - tree pun rejected
Haywire Mite - just a possibly unfair "this does too much" reaction on my part. also "explosioneer" can get lost
Titania's Command - i command you not to make any more commands

notables from the rest:
+ stuff I love
Argoth, Sanctum of Nature - this may well be too good! i really like the "unless" clause for it hitting play and self-mill on a land is rather rare
Battery Bearer - "you are all powerstones" is cute
Bladecoil Serpent - the X in the corner makes this card exciting design-wise, same with Clay Champion
Fortified Beachhead - the "or you control a soldier" section makes this a step beyond Lorwyn tribe duals and I appreciate the very late-game morale option
Hero of the Dunes - i like the little guy anthem and it has that Kayla's Restoration device
Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter - the card's quest that gets harder and harder is cool design
Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa - fixed-cost welding is beautiful
Queen Kayla bin-Kroog - insane and brave text
Spectrum Sentinel - creatures that notice nonbasics hitting the battlefield feel exciting somehow, like they might move towards printing a new fixed Ruination or Global Ruin-on-a-robot in the future
Tawnos, the Toymaker - I don't know why he's 3/5 but the ability text is unique and clever
Thran Spider - good new iconic name and a fun middle ability which should be great in lower-powered commander (where the other players aren't people who get mad at kingmaking or whatever nonsense)
Tocasia, Dig Site Mentor - surveil to mean dig is cute
Tocasia's Dig Site - short and snappy, surveil is a great ability that I'm glad is becoming more universally available. does make me wonder about the instances of Scry in this set; you would think they'd use one or the other like +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters, but it's interesting
Urza, Prince of Kroog - i like that he makes his little golems solely inspired by others. of course they're Soldiers but that's the fault of a set mechanic, card is otherwise a good description of a jerk we already know (ps I'm not that into the set having multiple portrayals of the same legend and I don't think I'll ever grow to like it)

+ cos of powerstones: Arbalest Engineers, Cityscape Leveler, Junkyard Genius, Sarinth Greatwurm. Slagstone Refinery, Stone Retrieval Unit
+ reprints: six lands which are player faves, thank you! ok, evolving wilds is ever-present but some of us have a billion decks made out of commons and it's still meaningful to have more copies

- groaners
Mine Worker / Power Plant Worker / Tower Worker - singled out for their exploits in extreme nostalgia. like... I opened playsets of the lands out of 5th ed or chronicles boosters at a time when the game was exciting and every set was full of cards that did Significantly New Things and I love the originals (despite them being too strong in certain competitive environments or whatever) and I just don't see why their coattails need riding if you're going to use their names to print rubbish generic creatures, even if they're slightly pushed past the point most common robots end up. mine worker also has that speechwriter's tendency in the flavour text to present past and future as evocative things by themselves when they aint
Argivian Avenger - urza's avenger 2022 right down to the word choice in the flavour text causing it to spill onto a new line. I *love* that this card's framing demonstrates how much better we had it in 5th edition
Evangel of Synthesis - "the future" is always a crap stand-in for under-written motivations; it's really hard to imagine what phyrexians would do with a future, cos they're a swarm and those NPH praetors never made a lick of sense
Fallaji Vanguard - the Burnished Banner TM will show the Warlord TM that etc, just really bad on the eyes
Legions to Ashes - ...devices to dust?
The Mightstone and Weakstone - nah, I've read those cards, they don't do this >:3
Mishra, Claimed by Gix - the card is honestly unappealing to the point that I couldn't read it. they made a piece of cardboard I'm allergic to, somehow. i shudder to think what's happening on the back
Mishra's Foundry - scaredy-cat nostalgia
Saheeli, Filigree Master - that certainly is a planeswalker
Su-Chi Cave Guard - dislike 8/8 wherever I see it and mmmmm, the point of the original Su-Chi was that it was vulnerable and exploded with mana to its caster's detriment; feel like it's kind of a dishonest way to present the idea as mega-goodstuff
The Stasis Coffin - i want this to say "you get an emblem with You skip your turn."
Third Path Iconoclast - iconic terrible flavour text

overall:
total cards I love minus total cards I have problems with = 50
cards the set claims to have: 287
The Brother's War deja vu index = 0.825

I don't know if that's good because this is the only time I've ever done one of these x3 at least it's less than 1? will try again with the next standard set!

Return to “Casual”