So it seems as if this blog is coming out of a retirement of sorts - let's call it a sabbatical. Well, in order to commemorate it in some marginal way, I think this calls for a moment of reflection. The first post here was to do with Zendikar block, many moons ago. What should we return to for this post of resumption?
Why not Return to Zendikar...?!
Seriously, though. In keeping with Wizards' recent trend of regular "Return to a place you didn't like the first time" blocks, which I suppose is still a step up from "New plane every block; never look back," we're finally getting to revisit that crapsack world of floating rocks and Lovecraftian wannabes, Zendikar. It was promising in theory: an unprecedented theme of Lands Matter, revisiting the Kor, and even a decent surprise in the form of Eldritch horrors. Unfortunately, it somehow ended up being all Razor Boomerangs and The-Land-Continues-to-Burns. How a block simultaneously "upped the power level" and dropped more balls than a palsied basketball team, I couldn't tell you. Clearly one of those statements must be fallacious. Hint: quotation marks.
Anyways, we're not talking about Zendikar, here. We're talking about "Zendikar, after these words from our sponsor." The question is... with the bar set, and not particularly highly at that, how does it compare? We should examine the important things in any set, particularly one spearheading a new block: the story, the mechanics and the playability.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
1001 Ways to Die: A Treatise on Removal
It's late and I'm bored, so I'm going to write something of a deckbuilding tidbit.
Generally people will decide what is the "best" removal and run a set or two of said cards to cover themselves. As Magic aggressively evolves and changes with each set, though, there is by now a vast multitude of threats to consider. Certainly, you can't answer all of them, but it's wise to be prepared for as wide a range as possible. I'll break removal into (broad, non-exhaustive) categories to give you an idea. Remember that this is all off the top of my head. No, I won't do any research for you animals.
Generally people will decide what is the "best" removal and run a set or two of said cards to cover themselves. As Magic aggressively evolves and changes with each set, though, there is by now a vast multitude of threats to consider. Certainly, you can't answer all of them, but it's wise to be prepared for as wide a range as possible. I'll break removal into (broad, non-exhaustive) categories to give you an idea. Remember that this is all off the top of my head. No, I won't do any research for you animals.
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