Unreleased and New Card Discussion

[Dunadain]

So, Wotc just printed a 2 mana rock in Standard.

Did not see that coming. Of course, it is legendary, so you can't have a bunch out at a time, but, uh yeah I really was not expecting wotc to ever print another 2 mana rock.

The Irencrag

Slam dunk in Ebondeath, Dracolich!

It's not going to revolutionize the deck or anything, but the deck runs Fractured Powerstone for Pete's sake. A 2 mana rock with an actually relavent upside? yes please!

[Mookie]

More stuff!

• Throne of Eldraine looks like a strong option for monocolor decks. Four mana is a lot for a five-mana rock, and tapping to draw two cards is also quite nice.
• Brenard, Ginger Sculptor is a reasonable value commander. Exiling is a little awkward, but double dipping on value creatures is always fun.
• Korvold, Gleeful Glutton looks a bit overcosted, but cost reduction means he can come down a bit earlier. After that, you have a strong beater / draw engine. At the very least, seems like a fun build-around for delirium decks.
• The new court cycle (Court of Ardenvale and friends) looks quite nice. I don't think they're super strong in terms of power level, but they look fun to play with. I'll note that Court of Garenbrig is a three mana monarch enabler, which may have Legacy implications.
• The Irencrag looks pretty meh, but the floor for an untapped two mana rock is pretty high.

[Dunadain]

The Irencrag looks pretty meh, but the floor for an untapped two mana rock is pretty high.

As I said, it's not going to revolutionize any decks, but it is one of the better two mana rocks. It's behind Mind Stone, and, at least for multicolored decks, Fellwar Stone and Arcane Signet, but it's a heck of a lot better than Fractured Powerstone.

[Guardman]

Brenard, Ginger Sculptor is a reasonable value commander. Exiling is a little awkward, but double dipping on value creatures is always fun.

Brenard, Ginger Sculptor is a card that has most excited me (from an EDH) standpoint. He seems like a great Golem tribal commander. Especially since most of the best Golem cards aren't Golem cards, but the splicers. Add in a little bit of food synergy and healthy dose of populate (and maybe some token doubling effects) and you have yourself a fun time.

As for Korvold, Gleeful Glutton... Korvold, Fae-Cursed King was my first EDH love after Etali, Primal Storm. I just wish he wasn't so overtuned that he made all of the games the same. Gleeful Glutton looks like a more fixed version of the original. And he looks like he could be a decent fit for my Jund Treasure deck that I've been brewing off and on for years now. On the other hand, I am sure someone is going to find a way to consistently play him on turn 4, pump his power, and draw a new hand of cards. On the bright side, at least he doesn't combo as well with Giant Growth as Yargle and Multani.

[Avacyn Believer]

Reading The Irencrag was such an emotional journey... it sounded better and better and better until you read the last line and then it's just... meh.

loses all other abilities... why?! It could have been such a perfect rock for Voltron Equipment decks.

[Dunadain]

Reading The Irencrag was such an emotional journey... it sounded better and better and better until you read the last line and then it's just... meh.

loses all other abilities... why?! It could have been such a perfect rock for Voltron Equipment decks.

I think you made the same mistake I did in my first reading, The Irencrag loses all abilities, (so you can't tap it for mana anymore) not the equipped creature.

[DirkGently]

@Dunadain lmao I read it correctly the first time, then @Avacyn Believer made me read it incorrectly the second time

[CommanderMaster999]

Why are people misreading The Irencrag the artifact doesn't lose the abilties the equipped creature does

[Mookie]

Why are people misreading The Irencrag the artifact doesn't lose the abilties the equipped creature does

Emphasized: 'If you do, it gains equip {3} and "Equipped creature gets +3/+3" and loses all other abilities.'

If the ability affected the equipped creature, it would be 'If you do, it gains equip {3} and "Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and loses all other abilities".'

The position of the punctuation is pretty relevant here. As the joke goes, contrast 'Let's eat, grandma!' and 'Let's eat grandma!'

[Dunadain]

Why are people misreading The Irencrag the artifact doesn't lose the abilties the equipped creature does

Look where the quotation marks end.

[duducrash]

@Dunadain lmao I read it correctly the first time, then @Avacyn Believer made me read it incorrectly the second time

Unfortunately not the first time people who believe in Avacyn led people down the wrong path. Sadly, we cant blame Emrakul this time.

Both of today's rocks are pretty sweet

[Dunadain]

@Dunadain lmao I read it correctly the first time, then @Avacyn Believer made me read it incorrectly the second time

Unfortunately not the first time people who believe in Avacyn led people down the wrong path. Sadly, we cant blame Emrakul this time.

Both of today's rocks are pretty sweet

Talk about an inside joke.

I chuckled when I read this and my wife asked me what I was laughing at.

I had to explain The Irencrag, how people are misreading it, Emrakul, AND Avacyn, for one joke.

[Avacyn Believer]

@Dunadain lmao I read it correctly the first time, then @Avacyn Believer made me read it incorrectly the second time

Unfortunately not the first time people who believe in Avacyn led people down the wrong path. Sadly, we cant blame Emrakul this time.

Both of today's rocks are pretty sweet

ouch but yeah my bad, I can only blame it on reading it late at night after a long day, and that second quotation mark is easy to miss

Turns out this rock will go into my Voltron Equipment decks after all!

I had to explain The Irencrag, how people are misreading it, Emrakul, AND Avacyn, for one joke.

You are welcome

[duducrash]

I had to explain The Irencrag, how people are misreading it, Emrakul, AND Avacyn, for one joke.

and I bet that after all that, she didn't even laugh


Edit to avoid double posting.

The enchantments deck looks better than the premium commander masters enchantment deck. Heliod land is great, some great reprints, really great. and the new cards seem great. Eldrazi Conscription will be a popular addition, hope it doesnt super spike. minot nitpick it would be All That Glitters would be a nice include, even the double tap after masters. even above Ethereal Armor its somewhat popular with the new pauper legality

[Dunadain]

I had to explain The Irencrag, how people are misreading it, Emrakul, AND Avacyn, for one joke.

and I bet that after all that, she didn't even laugh

I mean, she wasn't laughing at the joke...

[Serenade]

No one:

Me: Way too excited to use Songbirds Blessing in Queen Marchesa to puke out more curses.

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

That person who really loves Pillarfield Ox finally got their card printed. Good for them.

[heridfel]

Throne of Eldraine looks really appealing. Is it expensive? Moderately so. But it pays commander tax up to twice, is a significant mana ramp, and also acts as card draw to refill your hand after you use it it to cast all your spells.

Green players can also ramp into it, which makes it even more appealing to me. I don't own a The Great Henge which potentially fills a similar role.

[Avacyn Believer]

No one:

Me: Way too excited to use Songbirds Blessing in Queen Marchesa to puke out more curses.

I like it, I think this set might be what makes me rebuild Sythis, Harvest's Hand back to Sigarda, Host of Herons Enchantress Voltron

[folding_music]

starting to think that an Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty edh deck full of all the high-cost Adventures we're getting would be a lot of fun... between WOE and Baldur's Gate there's amassing a silly suite of control spells stapled to 6 CMC walls of beef

[duducrash]

Is it over with the last cards being spoiled tomorrow on the dump? This spoiler season was so weird and unhyped

[Avacyn Believer]

Is it over with the last cards being spoiled tomorrow on the dump? This spoiler season was so weird and unhyped

How can you hype something that never ends?

[duducrash]

Is it over with the last cards being spoiled tomorrow on the dump? This spoiler season was so weird and unhyped

How can you hype something that never ends?

A few days ago I saw a brian kibler tweet about the importance of a healthy standard for mtg design and mtg business. and It makes total sense notal. This is the first flux of new cards since march of the machines to both standard and pioneer. and yet its no big deal because we don't care that much about that product. But we didnt care much about cmdr masters either. They hit the jackpot with LOTR, but i'm lowkey worried abotu how they managed players interest in regular products

[Avacyn Believer]

A few days ago I saw a brian kibler tweet about the importance of a healthy standard for mtg design and mtg business. and It makes total sense notal. This is the first flux of new cards since march of the machines to both standard and pioneer. and yet its no big deal because we don't care that much about that product. But we didnt care much about cmdr masters either. They hit the jackpot with LOTR, but i'm lowkey worried abotu how they managed players interest in regular products

I'd make a case that LotR was an easy win for them, the celebrity marketing and One Ring lottery aside, LotR has a massive fanbase and it was the first Universes Beyond set, so I don't see how it could have failed. 40k Commander decks showed them how popular these kind of sets can be.

The regular product, not to sound like a broken record, I don't see how anyone can get hyped for it, maybe only if it is a plane that you love. Couple of years ago you had time to enjoy the spoilers and then play with the cards in draft and other formats for couple of months before new spoilers started, but now? Even if I got hyped for cards in Wilds of Eldraine, before I can even buy the product the spoilers for the next set will start, trying to get me hyped for that one. There is a reason why even music albums have highs and lows, you need a break between hypes

I haven't played Standard since 2017 so can't comment on that, but as far as Commander Masters, I think people lost interest because of the stupid high pricing, and sub-par Commander Decks (for the price).

[Guardman]

Honestly, I don't know where I would go to even play standard around me. It would probably be at least a thirty minute drive (probably more on a Friday night). The places around me are commander, draft, and pioneer for FNM.

I don't even play standard on Arena outside of a game or two just to see how the format is doing. And thanks to drafting I have most of the cards and all the wildcards I could need. It just isn't that interesting of a format right now. On the other hand, its still a lot better than Pioneer.