Thoughts on gatecrash
Standard forum
Posted on Dec. 5, 2012, 12:17 a.m. by Wabbbit
What do you think the guildleaders will do? Any speculation on the new abilities? What arts do you think match up with what cards (if you have seen the gatecrash arts)?
http404error says... #3
Momir's dead, unfortunately. More likely just a senior Simic scientist.
December 5, 2012 1:08 a.m.
The new Borborygmos is insanely powerful, if you can get to his high mana cost. He makes Seek the Horizon = 3x Lightning Bolt for 4 mana.
December 5, 2012 1:25 a.m.
Timekeeper says... #5
@zandl
I definitely agree, and I love the way they tied green and red together in that mechanic. But I do think he is balanced by his obscene (for G/R) mana cost.
Having said that though, if Borby is any indication this iteration of Gruul is going to have a land based mechanic. For me, that is a very exciting prospect. Last time around they had a very aggressive, red-influenced mechanic that emphasized and rewarded being the fastest player on the field. With Rakdos fulfilling that role now, I would love to see Gruul take a more mid-ranged land-based approach to show off their green side. On the other hand, a "lightning ramp" style that gives the player direct offensive rewards for having and using land could be a lot of fun as well.
December 5, 2012 2:06 a.m.
killroy726 says... #7
What im hopeful for is a rogue creature focused dimir I need something like that for my EDH deck Rogue EDH
December 5, 2012 1:24 p.m.
I think that someone could make a cool Deathrite Shaman plus Borby deck with Jund colors for Standard, or perhaps an updated Aggro Loam for Modern. Looks pretty promising.
December 5, 2012 5:34 p.m.
TheOne4221 says... #9
I am personally hoping for some sort of ability swapping mechanic for Simic. It'll be fun to see what each of the guilds has to bring to the game this time around.
December 5, 2012 6:45 p.m.
http404error says... #10
I find it interesting that only Trostani out of the 5 guild leaders in RtR has a solid connection to her guild's keyword (some even have antisynergy!). Therefore I doubt that the guild mechanics can be accurately divined from the leaders we've seen.
December 5, 2012 7:58 p.m.
Timekeeper says... #11
According to wizards, Rakdos lor's ability is one of the other mechanics they considered for the rest of the guild. It would have been called paincast.
And I really don't see any of them being anti-synergistic. Jarad, Rakdos, Trostani, and isperis are all very synergistic with the strategy that is implied by their guild mechanics. Niv-mizzet is just like the rest of izzet, adaptable.
December 5, 2012 10:21 p.m.
Im not sure how Isperia, Supreme Judge is synergistic with detain. Detain keeps creatures from attacking you, and Isperia gives you cards for creatures attacking you. Thats pretty anti-synergistic. The one common factor (not synergy) is that both reduce the number of attacking creatures. One by preventing the attack and the other by deterring the attack.
December 6, 2012 12:09 p.m.
"Detain" isn't what Azorius is about, though.
Azorius is all about preventing your opponents from doing anything. Both Detain and Isperia, Supreme Judge do this very well.
December 6, 2012 12:43 p.m.
Arachnarchist says... #14
I would expect Orzhov to get another death- or graveyard-centered mechanic as thats really the only common ground white and black have. I wouldnt be surprised if Simic had some kind of Transmute for creatures. Gruul's ability will most likely have something to do with land. Boros is looking to have some combat-related ability. Dimir I cant even venture a guess on.
December 6, 2012 12:46 p.m.
http404error says... #15
Jarad wants you to keep creatures in the bin. Scavenge gets rid of them.
Unleash can help you get Rakdos up and running, although this is a rather indirect argument. Unblockable or Intimidate would be directly synergistic; Unleash is much less so.
Isperia gives a deterrent to attack. Detain prevents attacking. Both accomplish the same goal, yet detain doesn't enhance Isperia at all, nor does she help detain. They just have different modus operandii.
Niv-Mizzet couldn't care less about spells, much less Overloaded ones.
Only Trostani's ability benefits directly from her guild's keyword, and she has it printed on her.
Other notes: since Golgari are so heavily graveyard-based, I would expect the Orzhov to care more about creature death. Reanimation is possible as a subtheme, but not suitable for a keyword. Note also that the guild's keyword isn't always the central focus or theme, such as Transmute was in Dimir.
December 6, 2012 2:47 p.m.
killroy726 says... #16
maybe something dealing with discard we did see Mind Rot from RTR although on the other hand it might just be a red herring
December 6, 2012 7:14 p.m.
The R/W Angel of War is the bomb to watch. My god what a beatdown, that's just disgusting.
December 7, 2012 6:02 p.m.
I'm trying to compare what Ravnica block introduced, vs what we've seen so far in RTR:
Azorius: Forecast > Detain These two abilities have nothing to do with each other.
Golgari: Dredge > Scavenge Dredge fills your graveyard and allows for recursion while Scavenge makes your graveyard a resource.
Izzet: Replicate > Overload Overload seems like a bigger version of Replicate.
Rakdos: Hellbent > Unleash Both abilities share a "living dangerously" theme. Playing with no cards in hand or fewer blockers his a high risk/reward payoff.
Selesnya: Convoke > Populate Basically, having creatures gets you more creatures.
Boros: Radiance > ? I don't have any idea how Radiance could be beefed up, so they may just go anti-Rakdos, and give creatures defender.
Dimir: Transmute > ? I think Dimir will give us something to do with card advantage, but I'm not sure how that will work as a keyword ability. I make this guess based on the "Welcome letter" I saw online,
Gruul: Bloodthirst > ? I would be really surprised if we didn't see a land-based mechanic. Maybe like a reverse Goblin Guide . Not exactly, but you see what I'm getting at.
Orzhov: Haunt > ? Haunt seemed a bit underwhelming. Maybe we'll see something more graveyard hate in here to combat Golgari decks, and possibly even something that reanimates from opponent's graveyards instead of exiling them.
Simic: Graft > ? Graft really did seem the perfect blend of blue and green, and I don't know what I'd like to seem replace it. Maybe there will be some form of imprint that will infuse creatures with spells in some way.
Timekeeper says... #2
I'm pretty sure the 5 already spoiled cards are legit.
Here is something that has bothered me: Each page on the guilds of ravnica shows art from a number of cards. One is the guild leader, one is the guildgate, and another is the guildmage. (There might also be the new shockland art, but I don't remember.) The downloadable folders of art have the same stuff, generally (though they definitely include the new shock arts).
But with the Simic there is a discrepancy in the slot for the guildmage. On the website that slot is taken up by a red-haired girl weaving a spell. In the downloadable art however, she is absent, and replaced by what looks like a very old elf with long white hair.
I almost wonder if the girl is the guildmage and the old elf guy is what's left of Momir Vig. I don't know if this is possible, story-wise, as I am not very familiar with the old Ravnica story. Still I almost want this to be the case.
December 5, 2012 12:48 a.m.