Rotating Theros: A Retrospective
Standard forum
Posted on Sept. 3, 2015, 6:52 p.m. by JWiley129
So Theros is rotating soon, so i want to know what T/O thought about it.
What did you love about Theros?
What did you hate?
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
canterlotguardian says... #3
What did you love about Theros?
Basically just the flavor. The lore from this block is amazing.
What did you hate?
Thoughtseize. Fuck that card. Seriously though, control was a bitch during RTR/THS. Same with Abzan in THS/KTK.
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
Stormbreath Dragon. That was my shit yo.
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
Thoughtseize. Fuck that card. (For real, this time.)
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
10/10, would Theros again.
September 3, 2015 7:01 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #4
What did I love... Eidolon of Blossoms and Eidolon of the Great Revel.
What did I hate... How the block slowed standard down to a first play on turn three format for two years. Between that and the overall lack of good cards, the set just made standard bad for such a long time.
What will I miss from Theros in Standard... Thoughtseize. That's about it. Turn one Thoughtseize after they take a mulligan is just the best thing that you can be doing in the format.
What will I not miss from Theros Standard... Hero's Downfall being a useful removal spell agaisnt every deck ever. It's too efficient for that environment and turns off any planeswalker that doesn't put something else onto the board immediately.
Final Impressions... Theros is by far the worst block of the last 10 years. Very flavorful, very good as a block environment, but as a standard set it's just unplayable. Fortunately the sets surrounding it were amazing (Khans and RTR, both top notch sets). If we had had something like an Alara with Theros, I would have quit playing Magic.
I'm sure other people will have much more affection towards the set than I do, but hey, to each their own. I did not like Theros and am glad to see it gone.
September 3, 2015 7:03 p.m.
I can't help but feel like Theros is a "fixed" Kamigawa. As in, the block is sooo flavorful, but 90% percent of the cards were either just sub-par or bad. However, there are those choice few of stupid good cards; examples being Thoughtseize, Hero's Downfall, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Courser of Kruphix, and Eidolon of the Great Revel off the top of my head. As far as I can remember, the Standard environments that Theros block was in (RTR-THS and THS-KTK), it was mainly cards from the other block running the cards I listed above if they could.
All-in-all, Theros wasn't bad, but it was certainly lacking. If there was a good overall level of power distributed between all the cards (or the rares/mythics, at least), it would have been much better. I'd personally like to see a Return to Theros, because I love Greek mythology, so the lore of the block is great to me. They'd just need to put better cards in the block.
September 3, 2015 7:14 p.m.
What did you love about Theros?
- The theme was so so so good. If they had just made more of the themed cards like Ephara, God of the Polis and Pharika, God of Affliction better then you could have seen constellation strategies in every single color pairing, shard, or wedge.
What did you hate?
- CMC for many spells was to high to be standard constructed playable and not enough was able to make it into modern. Also they used Stormbreath Dragon to counteract Sphinx's Revelation decks which is seemingly a good thing, but after that went out of standard he really didn't need pro
as much until they made Abzan Charm which also F that spell.
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
- Elspeth, Xenagos, Heros Downfall, Ember Swallower + Desecration Plague + Sylvan Caryatid.
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
- Thoughtseize. The card is to good for the mana costs of most of Theros' creatures that are all about synergy. Also not enough of the creatures that were good for creature aggro could survive Anger of the Gods, much less Drown in Sorrow.
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
- Theros did well with the theme and it is a set that I would draft if not for Thoughtseize and Anger of the Gods ruining strategies that relied heavily on synergy and cheap aggro respectively.
September 3, 2015 8:03 p.m.
I'm going to miss the hell outta Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Basically just him.
Theros is when I started playing, so the block will always have some nostalgic value to me, but I'm really looking forward to rotation so I can finally play in a standard without it.
September 3, 2015 8:06 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #8
TheHroth oh god yes Ashiok. lore-wise, I'm iffy because there isn't much about him (her?) that I've read, but the card itself is bonkers.
September 3, 2015 8:09 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #9
Well, I can't say Theros was a complete waste. It made me quit standard, so without it I probably wouldn't have entered Modern. I also was able to focus on acquiring cards for Modern and EDH, so my collection grew considerably. Now that it's leaving, I can feel good about rejoining Standard (hopefully).
I loved the concept at first, and was disillusioned in thinking that there was room for innovation. But really, any creativity in decks came from RtR or KTK, and just used Theros cards for value fill ins. I love the Stormbreaths, Elspeths and Thoughtseizes, I just wish that any of the mechanics introduced could have been used more thoughtfully. Heroic was the only one that really maintained any power throughout the entire course, but I'm not into Aggro/Voltron. Devotion was strong, but not very thought intensive, Monstrous was cool, but also pretty bland. Constellation seemed cool, but had very few triggers that were worth playing. All in all, the block had a good amount of stand-alone strong cards, but lacked a cohesion that I desire
September 3, 2015 8:19 p.m.
Theros was pretty shitty, honestly, except for Thoughtseize. Similar sentiments as ThatJunkMage.
September 3, 2015 8:22 p.m.
Love: I played a ton of different archetypes throughout the Theros season. I played aground, a few versions of mid range, and will be finishing it up with control.
Hate: the insane Goblin decks that functioned so well from Theros cards but utilized creatures exclusively from outside of the block. Goblins are assholes.
Miss: Dissolve. I really like countering a spell and then looking at the top card to reveal something my opponent wouldn't like to know about. I'll miss all the scrying in general actually.
Won't Miss: Elspeth, Sun's Champion. She was bonkers, is bonkers, I even used her. I'm just sick of her now.
Final: decent block. Got me spoiled on scrying.
September 3, 2015 9:37 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #12
Luckily for you capriom85, scry is evergreen now.
September 3, 2015 9:55 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #14
No, scry is like flying now, where it just happens whenever
September 3, 2015 11:10 p.m.
Dalektable says... #15
What I Loved
The flavor was spectacular, amazing lore.
What I Hated
It generally weakened standard, which is something I am not in favor of.
What Will I Miss In Standard From Theros
Enchantments matter. It wasn't as good as it could have been, but I liked the concept. Also devotion was super sweet.
What Will I Not Miss In Standard From Theros
Anger of the Gods. It made many of my decks sad.
Final Impressions?
Theros generally weakened standard as a whole, but it enabled some interesting strategies such as devotion and enchantment.
September 3, 2015 11:41 p.m.
Nobody in the thread played with Courser of Kruphix - the defining card of Khans standard?
What did you love about Theros?
- Constellation. Extremely thematic and I liked the starry borders of those cards.
What did you hate?
- I hate how BNG and JOU felt... lacking. Like they had enough good cards for one of those but spread them between the two. Thankfully, that should not happen in the new model.
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
- Thoughtseize x1000. Best card in standard by miles.
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
- Thoughtseize. It is so powerful that every time I tried to build a non-black deck in standard, I lamented I could not include it. Very restrictive on the meta and deckbuilding.
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
- 12/10 for flavor. 7/10 for power-level. It had the unfortunate situation of being stuck being RtR and Khans, two VERY powerful blocks. plus top-down design rarely produces powerful tournament staples.
September 4, 2015 3:15 a.m.
JaceArveduin says... #17
As others have said, the flavor of the block was fun, and they even added some "off" tribal support!
Hatewise? Hmm... Probably how both Anger of the Gods and Drown in Sorrow where a thing, it makes playing tribal decks no-bueno. Also BileBlight, to hell with that card.
I'll miss being able to play my Minotaur deck in standard, it wasn't the greatest, but it could get out of hand very quickly if they didn't have the answers at the right time. Sadly, my version really didn't start looking so good until FRF/DTK came out, so it's time was sadly limited.
I love green, but I don't believe I'll miss green decks going Elf > Courser > Polukranos, which also tends to stop my beloved tribal decks in their tracks. Mostly I won't miss black having access to tons of great removal, I suppose. Not that it matters now that we have Languish, lol
Final thoughts? As others, it's the set I really started Magic with, so it'll hold a spot, and There are some cards that I just love, such as Chromanticore and Colossus of Akros.
September 4, 2015 10:39 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #18
Boza nope. never played it. I played R/W aggro for most of Theros block. I only recently started playing Naya aggro, and I was playing Esper dragons for like two weeks before I realized it completely was not my playstyle.
September 4, 2015 10:47 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #19
While Courser was amazeballs, I don't really have any comments on it. It's a fine card, but I'm not happy or sad to see it gone. I respect the time I got to use it, and now it's time for something new.
September 4, 2015 11:03 a.m.
As a huge Greek mythology fan, I loved the flavor. I will miss ashiok like a MF, as well as thoughtsieze. I have personal love for dissolve, counter and scy was great and downfall made it happen.I won't miss the most other cards in the set, but I don't think I hated anything.
September 6, 2015 11:01 a.m.
I think we know what nolooloo played while Theros was legal.
September 6, 2015 12:11 p.m.
What did you love about Theros?
I loved the flavor, I'm a sucker for good lore and flavor. I love stories and cool stuff. I also loved Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, Polukranos, World Eater, the devotion mechanic as a whole. So i was enjoying the mono-green devotion and the mono-black devotion. Grey Merchant of Asphodel and this guy... I like this guy. I had four in my deck to just make people cry. People would be like, "Okay...we're through the merchant, I can still do this..." Then I play Grey's brother! Gary! : 3 I also loved the heroic and constellation mechanic! : 3
What did you hate?
Hate is such a strong word, but a valuable one too! I hated Hero's Downfall and Bileblight. These two cards always came around to ruin my day ;w; I finally get a cool creature on the field! Here comes my super awesome combo and....it died from 3 mana. ;w; but but...my plan ;w; That and I could never find them, except one in german and overpriced.
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
The things I love, but...with time they shall return! Maybe....hopefully with better other cards...right guys? Be optimistic?
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
Bileblight Go away....no one loves you. Except people who have you.
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
Kinda what other people said, there were a few very good cards. I'll keep my theros decks together for modern as just for funsies! : 3 However, with a few edits to make it better...faster...stronger. FEAR ME! The Grey Merchant Quadruplets are coming to town!
September 6, 2015 2:39 p.m.
BlastercoolWeird says... #23
_ _What did you love about Theros?__The first set, Theros proper, the concept and flavor devotion and the idea of grand heroes and titanic monsters and gods
_ What did you hate?_Courser. Courser. Polukranos. Caryatid. oh, and Courser.
The limited environment was stale with white/x heroic decks and the standard environment was a eye-rolling slog of Mono-black and mono-blue devotion replaced with RTR's rotation by Green-Rd Devotion ramp.
Born of the God and Journey were both mediocre at best imo.
Flavorfully, I felt it was actually a failure as a set compared to Innistrad where the gameplay was itself flavorful (not casting spells to let your werewolves transform evoking the feel of letting the inner beast take control, UB zombies cannibalizing your graveyard to stitch together more abominations. etc.etc) In theros it was like "oh, yeah I guess my Hero of Blank got stronger from ...a boon delivered by their controller??? Monstrosity flavored as "oh my monster got monsterier?"
_ What will you miss in Standard from Theros?_Fanatic of Mogis I guess?? tbh I'm more sad about Magic 2015 rotating than the whole of Theros block rotating
_ What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?_Green Devotion, Cary', Courser and 'Kranos. Whip of Erebos and Doomwake Giant
_ What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?_A starry summer delight that quickly left me feeling varying measures "black-and-blue" and "green to the gills" so now I'd prefer to see this Voyage's End
September 6, 2015 3:04 p.m.
BlastercoolWeird says... #24
Also will not miss Brimaz, King of Oreskos.
The only thing more soul-crushing than it's power and prevalence was it's price-tag
September 6, 2015 3:07 p.m.
TheNextRedDude says... #25
What did I love? The control. I could blow through everything quickly with a fast mono red deck.
What did I hate? The control. I hate control.
What will I miss? The control. I love punishing players for playing too slowly.
What will I not miss? the control. I hate control.
September 7, 2015 7:11 p.m.
McSleuthburger says... #26
What did I love?
Constellations, some of that art was amazing and dat lore
What did I hate?
Really didnt hate too much, just kinda rolled with it
What will I miss?
Im going to miss my scry deck because nobody ever expected a decent scry deck to beat them
Not miss?
Mono-black devotion, it just made me sad
September 8, 2015 9:54 a.m.
What did you love about Theros?Flavour!!!! i like it!!! and Gods are great!!!!!!What did you hate?People bitching about standard format that i loved soo muchWhat will you miss in Standard from Theros?heroes downfall....all devotion decks,brimaz,nykthos....so much things :(.What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?people bitching about formatWhat will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?i liked it AND ITS BETTER THAN KHANS!!!! i dont like dragons,just that XD
September 16, 2015 6:51 p.m.
What did you love about Theros?
- Enchantments (specifically Auras) matter. The last attempt was in Urza's Saga, and that block was overshadowed by powerful artifacts and their enablers. It was refreshing to finally see WotC to make so many playable enchantments in one block.
What did you hate?
- By far, this was one of the worst Limited formats I've played (I think the original Mirrodin is the only thing that might have been worse). A lot of the time, you had to force White or Blue. If you got stuck playing Black or Red because the people next to you were forcing White, it was open 4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel/all the Lightning Strikes or you were eliminated round one. They did a really poor job of giving each color meaningful heroic triggers. Too many were one-turn only. Removal was also garbage, especially with bestow.
What will you miss in Standard from Theros?
- Getting to play Tarmogoyf outside of Modern.
What will you not miss in Standard from Theros?
- I hate how slow and midrangey this format is. I stopped playing Standard completely over a year ago.
What will your final impressions on Theros be (for Standard)?
- Yay! All the Standard staples drop down in price! Time to load up on those Legacy and Modern playables! (which is always the best part about Standard)
Rasta_Viking29 says... #2
We'll miss you Stormbreath Dragon and Xenagos, the Reveler.
September 3, 2015 7 p.m.