PC discussion

[conelead]

I like the red giant growth. That is gonna f*ck around in standard big time. Boros will love it.

[unowncj]

This set bugs me, all middle sets do, so it seems. Im not a fan of screwing up the color wheel as it is one of the few things that makes magic so much better than all the other TCGs.

[alamoth]

I liked Mark Rosewater's completly impossible to follow article on how he isn't really messing up the color pie, just the outer crust of the color pie... and then i wanted a piece of pie...

I don't care what they do. I'm a Spike through-and-through. Whatever they print, I'll play with it.

Cards that have been previewed that I would like to test with in Extended:
Dash Hopes (Black Counterspell)
Seal of Primordium (Green Seal of Cleansing)

[conelead]

Dash Hopes is going to be an absolutely phenomenal card for aggro decks running black. It really is strong. Brute Force (red giant growth) is as close to Lightning Bolt as we will ever get, and in many instances will surve a similar function in terms of tempo destruction. It is VERY VERY good. Giant growth suffers from the same problem as Savannah Lions, it was printed in the wrong color. Now, it is in the right color. Other cards that will haev far-reaching impact on Standard and Extended,

Akroma, Angel of Fury (yeah...the real version of Akroma looks pathetic next to this thing. The only real argument for white akroma is the targeted black removal. But, I like the can't be countered and ability to end the game in 1 swing. 6/6 Firebreathing. OUCH.)

Calciderm (hey, another card that got moved to the color that wants it. Boros players everywhere drool)

Tomb of Yawgmoth (this might not do much in T2, but it could. It will change extended. Cabal Coffers much anyone? Could be really really strong with green land search. I'm looking at you Sylvan Scrying...Living Wish too)

That's all I see now for very major things.

Cards to watch:

Damnation (I don't think this will do too much. It will be horribly overpriced to start. The major deck it will change is Psychatog, allowing it to cut the splash and return to straight U/B, with Wrath as a creature control spell. It might open up some new black-based control archetypes, but most of these seem significantly worse than psychatog. I can't really forsee black standing without assistance from white, red, or blue. If the assistance is white, you could just run Wrath. If the assistance is blue, you are running psychatog. If the assistance is red, well, you might have a viable new archetype enabled by Damnation. But, B/R seems strictly worse than B/U or B/W, because of inability to deal with enchantments. B/G will have Deed, which is still a better card, so, it won't affect that much. We'll see how this does in T2, but I suspect lack of a strong end game plan in black will force ppl to dip into other colors. B/R may be a viable control deck in T2 though.)

Mire Boa (Depending on the popularity of black in the post-damnation world, this could be a pretty good 2-drop)

Groundbreaker (You can be sure if a viable green-based aggro deck comes out, this will be the centerpiece)

Rebuff the Wicked - This could prove to be a very very strong utility spell. Once again, a utility spell that got moved to the right color.

Nodes of Porphyry - Not sure on this one. It could be really strong, it could also be too slow to do anything. Who knows?

Overrated:

Timbermare (I'd play Groundbreaker over this generally, and I would never play both in the same deck. Timbermare is simply ineffecient with a 6 mana echo cost. It's a cool card, with an awesome story, that I will collect, but will see minimal tourney play imo).

All of the dragon legends (no one will play any of these. If you are hitting with a 6/6 dragon, why do you care about the added effect? Only the red one potentially, as that can turn a slipped in hit into a game win).

Damnation (I'm putting this here because it will be highly overrated in the beginning. It's good, but it's not the end of the world as we know it. White is still the premier control color in T2).

[alamoth]

Brute Force and Calciderm are going to make Boros extremely tempting to play, moreso than it already is. GP-Dallas results should be interesting.

The Dragons are already overrated. If you want a 6/6 beater you want Akroma. The new Akroma has trample. Trample + Firebreathing = AWESOME!

Damnation will be okay in T2. I don't forsee Mono-Black Control hitting extended, but you never know.

[conelead]

MBC can't do extended because it doesn't have the raw power. If it did, it already would have, as in MBC, Mutilate is the same as Damnation. So, Black needs help as a control color, and whatever other color you dip into, the only one that really benefits from Damnation is blue, and U/B control is Psychatog. That is the best way to build U/B control IMO. So, Damnation affects 1 deck. It'll stabilize at 12-15 dollars, but I bet after the prerelase, they'll be going for 25-30 easy, a la psi blast.

[greatyogurt]

Meh, i think the new akroma is akwardly bad, only things it seems to avoid are condemn and repeal.id love to see a good black aggro deck to stick dash hopes in, something like an efficient rakdos, but i kinda doubt itll happen .

[conelead]

Don't forget yogurt that BB can be obtained in extended via fetchlands. I really don't think it will be that difficult for something like Boros to include Dash Hopes, although I personally think the green splash is stronger. But I was thinking RB aggro, centered around Slith Firewalker and his friends. I realyl haven't gotten around to testing in extended. But, I think new Akroma is better than old Akroma in extended. Cannot be countered will be very relevent, as will pro-blue. some UR control deck will spring up supporting her, as she single-handedly wins the game against Psychatog (which will come back) and scepter-chant if backed by a counter or two.