Lorwyn Previews

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EricBess

Guest
Killer Joe said:
Is "Evoke" new?
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Well...new??? That's such a relative term, right? I mean...they've already come out and said that Kicker is a bad mechanic because it's too open ended. "Evoke" is just a subset of kicker (similar to Skizzik, for example, but without waiting until EOT).

In the case of Evoke, however, there was a recent set of cards that didn't remain in play unless you paid certain color mana to play them. Again, not strictly Evoke (since the converted mana cost to play is the same with or without the "Evoke" portion on those), but very similar. You might say that those were a subset of Evoke.

Is it just me, or is there something about this set that just isn't calling...Everything feels recycled to me. It's sad because when we saw the flavor and originally heard about the set, I was pretty excited, but now that we are getting previews, I can't help but feel it's all been done before and there isn't anything really cool here.

The Champion mechanic...Love the article. Notice how he goes out of his way to say "Champion is a verb...they are coming to his rescue"...If that's the case, why does he take off running? But the point is, what they are really trying to say is, "we are not turning a guy into a champion. This is not an upgrade. We did NOT borrow a mechanic from Pokemon..." Yeah, sure you didn't.

Silvergill Adept at least is an original concept...No one's ever done "Loyalty - Reveal" bef...um...okay, except for Vs, but I'm sure they would never borrow a mechanic from a game they didn't create. Right???

And the plainswalkers certainly don't resemble Heroes from WoW...except that they do. At least in that case, you can argue that they probably had Lorwyn locked in before WoW was released. But as has been stated by a few other people, the Plainswalkers are interesting, but whether or not the drawbacks are worth it is yet to be seen. Seems that all they are doing with these is to try to encourage creatures and creature battles (great, better chump block again, just to keep you from hitting my plainswalker - or, great, better make a sacraficial attack again, just so I can keep your plainswalker from getting too much loyalty).

I can't help but feeling that their goal in this set was to beef up the power level in general with an extra boost if you are willing to play tribal, but I'm still not feeling anything new or particularly exciting.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I always wait until the full set comes out and to get the full picture before making judgements. I haven't really paid attention to the Planeswalker cards so I don't fully understand them yet. But I do like tribal themes and that the Kithkin are getting a bigger fleshing-out. I just wish the dwarves were on the list :)
 
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EricBess

Guest
I agree Spidey, but I don't think I was clear. This set appears to be very good. I personally think it will be a very fun set to play and it looks as if it will shake up the tournament scene as well as give a lot of fun deck ideas.

I'm just not seeing anything that shouts out that this set has anything cool and new. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, to be honest, but usually if there are going to be splashy new stuff that will shake up how things work (the 6/6 Dragons from Invasion, for example), they will usually be the rares and often get previewed. I still hold hope for the set, but there have been quite a few articles so far with lots of build-up about how great this card is going to be, only to reveal a straight-forward card with no twists to it.

Perhaps it's just not a Johnny set, or maybe they just haven't revealed must of the Johnny content yet. I'm just a bit disappointed...so far. I still have hope.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I don't know, from my experience, new and cool cards usually have to be found in the set. Sometimes the preview cards have them, but more often they don't. That's why I wait for the full set :)
 
Mooseman

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
EricBess said:
"Evoke" is just a subset of kicker (similar to Skizzik, for example, but without waiting until EOT).
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Not sure I understand this. Kicker is, pay extra get something, or just pay the normal cost.
Evoke is, pay something different and don't keep the creature, or pay normal cost and keep it........

Why is evoke a subset of kicker?
 
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EricBess

Guest
Change the casting cost to 2GG with a kicker of GG. Change the text to read "When Cloudthresher comes into play, sacrifice it unless you paid the kicker cost."

The point is, anything that can be done with Evoke can be done with Kicker. Aaron wrote an article about this a while back about how many new mechanics could be redone just using kicker instead. Most are different enough that it's not obvious and has a different feel. Evoke is a lot more similar to kicker than most.
 
Killer Joe

Killer Joe

New member
Evoke seems to be pretty good to me, having a card that serves in a mulitple of ways is just a damn good idea, imo.
 
Oversoul

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
Killer Joe said:
Evoke seems to be pretty good to me, having a card that serves in a mulitple of ways is just a damn good idea, imo.
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Not that I dislike it or even have a problem with it being called "evoke." But there are already cards that are similar. I don't think this is so much an original mechanic as it is a new name for something that already existed and is maybe now being taken to a new level.

The planeswalker cards still suck though.
 
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Ephraim

Guest
He also stated outright that there will be more than five, but fewer than eight. I am inclined to believe that there will be six of them, corresponding to each of the two-colour tribes in the set. It would be very uncharacteristic of them, though, to create an imbalanced cycle of two-colour lands, though. Sometime tells me that we'll be seeing the remaining colour pairs treated to a similar nonbasic land in Morningtide or the following block.
 
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Nightstalkers

Guest
G/R/U Changeling/Treefolk is still going to be wicked...
 
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EricBess

Guest
Ephraim - actually, he says "There are more than one of these..." He also says "The clues are there if you think about them, though the answer is not easy."

You may be correct that there are six, but I suspect there are only 5. I don't think giants get one for two reasons:

1. All of the other two-color combinations are friendly colors. Red/White is an opposing color scheme.
2. The stated purpose of the lands is to help weenie decks. Kithkin, Merfolk, Goblins, Elves, and Faries are all clases that you would expect to see for weenie decks. Giants...not so much. I don't think we have too many 2-cost giants and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon :D

I think the reason he says that the answer isn't easy is because it's unclear between 5 and 6 since there are 6 classes that span only two colors. But for the reasons stated above (particularly #2), I don't think red/white will be getting one of these lands.
 
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Ransac

CPA Trash Man
This is what MTGSalvation is currently confirming for the dual lands.


Wanderwine Hub

Land Rare
As Wanderwine Hub comes into play, you may reveal a Merfolk card from your hand. If you don't, Wanderwine Hub comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {W} or {U} to your mana pool.


Secluded Glen

Land Rare
As Secluded Glen comes into play, you may reveal a Faerie card from your hand. If you don't, it comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {U} or {B} to your mana pool.


Gilt-Leaf Palace

Land Rare
As Gilt-Leaf Palace comes into play, you may reveal an Elf card from your hand. If you don't, Gilt-Leaf Palace comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {B} or {G} to your mana pool



Auntie's Hovel

Land Rare
As Auntie's Hovel comes into play, you may reveal a Goblin card from your hand. If you don't, Auntie's Hovel comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {B} or {R} to your mana pool.



Ancient Ampitheatre

Land Rare
As Ancient Ampitheatre comes into play, you may reveal a Giant card from your hand. If you don't, Ancient Ampitheatre comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {R} or {W} to your mana pool.



Ransac, cpa trash man
 
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EricBess

Guest
Both of these cards are a bit more like it...I would rather the flier had been 1/1 for 1U instead of 2/1 for 2U, but it's a great card for limited. I can see how the Changeling might be good in constructed or limited. For 7 mana, all of your creatures are 4/4 this turn. And if you don't kill the Changeling, it gets even worse next turn...
 
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Nightstalkers

Guest
I'd like to point out that there are some nasty shapeshifter effects you can churn out on top of this as well as tribal combinations for the Changeling that will make it a staple for weenie decks alike.
 
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