tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post3140835322810099088..comments2024-03-11T02:32:15.295-04:00Comments on Goblin Artisans: Scars, in RetrospectUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-13513372040088277232012-09-13T15:31:39.972-04:002012-09-13T15:31:39.972-04:00For example, check out the Aaron Forysthe "Be...For example, check out the Aaron Forysthe "Between Ravnicas" talk you on youtube. One of the things he mentions about Shards is that design was split up into "mini-teams" on each shard. They each built a strong identity around some pretty cool mechanics, but cards like Etherium Sculptor didn't play well outside its own faction.<br /><br />Nich, I think you would say that's a development issue, but I think the real problem was not enough communication among the design team.<br /><br />For Scars block, I want to take it another step and say there wasn't enough communication between the different design teams for the different sets. Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-73316477279240595882012-09-13T15:22:43.304-04:002012-09-13T15:22:43.304-04:00I'm not sure those ARE purely development conc...I'm not sure those ARE purely development concerns anymore. Part of the changing focus from "Research and Development" to "Research and Design" is that the design team needs to start thinking very early on about how its cards work, which in turn means thinking about the formats where they exist. I don't think it's good enough any more just to say, "Well, here are the mechanics and pet cards we like. Get to it developers!" Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-29688386879114346522012-09-13T15:15:30.302-04:002012-09-13T15:15:30.302-04:00If you were doing a block with Slivers, you'd ...If you were doing a block with Slivers, you'd have a 5-color identity faction. <br /><br />You could also think about something like the Eldrazi as a no-color faction.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-25660298988959087932012-09-13T10:23:32.202-04:002012-09-13T10:23:32.202-04:00Cool. That all makes sense.
So, is the only thing...Cool. That all makes sense.<br /><br />So, is the only thing off-limits a five-color faction? One with, effectively, no color identity?Jay Treathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428861685923241850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-47014295041726081082012-09-12T23:03:34.066-04:002012-09-12T23:03:34.066-04:00This is the weirdest article. It's mostly abou...This is the weirdest article. It's mostly about Development stuff like crafting limited and making cards for different formats? Wouldn't a design article talk about the mechanics from the set in retrospect? Talk about Poison's late rotation boon, or Metalcraft's shallow impact. Or something designy? Also it could be interesting to look at how design dovetails into the block that follows it. But it was a very indepth and interesting article.Nich Graysonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-16503856370008855382012-09-12T18:17:44.874-04:002012-09-12T18:17:44.874-04:00Segmenting factions by colors makes it easier to c...Segmenting factions by colors makes it easier to clearly communicate who's on which team, which in turn makes it easier to set up the story's heroes and villains. <br /><br />I think it may actually make it easier to build different draft plans into a format. Let's say you have a block with GW enchantresses fighting UB artificers over control of Mountain Land. If you seed red with a few auras, a few metalcraft cards, and a few undecided cards that just like other red stuff, you set up a guy playing mono-red, passing auras to the player building an aura deck, passing the metalcraft cards to the guy building the artifact deck. Add a cool secondary theme for Green and Blue (Beasts vs Mutants!), and you now have a range of different draft patterns with non-overlapping limited cards in the same color (ie, you now have GW, UB, BR, RG, UR, WR, UG, mono-R as potentially viable plans). Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-49190689536157656782012-09-12T18:05:18.597-04:002012-09-12T18:05:18.597-04:00Yeah, I flubbed the corrections :P
And I'm pr...Yeah, I flubbed the corrections :P<br /><br />And I'm pretty sure you correctly identified the reason Sad Robot didn't show up in M11. Remember, Destructive Force was also in M11, and I think the developers were afraid of a Wildfire-style mana advantage deck taking over.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-77563475556730719242012-09-12T18:00:14.073-04:002012-09-12T18:00:14.073-04:00Yes, thanks for the banning correction.
I'm n...Yes, thanks for the banning correction.<br /><br />I'm not sure I agree that Cloudpost was the original offender. Obviously, once Glimmerpost was printed and set up the 12-post combo, Cloudpost became a huge issue. But if Glimmerpost was never printed, I think Cloudpost could have been a fair card (it was very powerful in its Extended, but I'm not sure if that would have held up in Modern).<br /><br />If I remember right, one of the R&D writers mentioned that Glimmerpost was designed before Modern was considered as a format. At that point, it was considered safe for Legacy and would never meet Cloudpost in the revised Extended, so it wasn't really tested.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-26664324912086477612012-09-12T17:54:00.722-04:002012-09-12T17:54:00.722-04:00Thanks for catching the assorted errors gang; I ad...Thanks for catching the assorted errors gang; I added a note to the original post. Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10417959233780755818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-78663313649910845272012-09-12T13:46:31.655-04:002012-09-12T13:46:31.655-04:00Thanks for this neat analysis, Dan.
I'd like...Thanks for this neat analysis, Dan. <br /><br />I'd like to hear more about your first point, Telling Stories with Color. Why do you think segmenting factions by color makes for a better story? <br /><br />Do you think that conflicts at all with your next point, "The reason is the ability to have three neighboring players in the same color, yet pursuing three completely different deck types?"Jay Treathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428861685923241850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-29129787065401262802012-09-12T11:52:19.951-04:002012-09-12T11:52:19.951-04:00Glimmerpost was never broken nor banned. The offen...Glimmerpost was never broken nor banned. The offender is Cloudpost, from the original Mirrodin.Jenesishttp://goblinartisans.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-69686655519709707582012-09-12T10:49:36.604-04:002012-09-12T10:49:36.604-04:00Just as a note, I had actually caught the Simulacr...Just as a note, I had actually caught the Simulacrum error before Dan published this, but I think he decided that adjusting that paragraph to reflect Simulacrum's actual heritage wasn't worth the effort, as the overall point was still clear.<br /><br />And thinking back on it, I'm a little confused as to why it was reprinted in M12 (post-Scars) and not M11 as an October-set seed. I guess they just didn't want to further feed Valakut while it still had a full year and change before rotation?metaghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18301191638894756414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-48444080476776341292012-09-12T02:10:19.836-04:002012-09-12T02:10:19.836-04:00I believe Solemn Simulacrum was in M12, not Scars ...I believe Solemn Simulacrum was in M12, not Scars block. But I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis. Very well done! Hevaenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16354353334585116017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-64456069980753987832012-09-12T01:50:20.631-04:002012-09-12T01:50:20.631-04:00Great article - especially the analysis of Scars c...Great article - especially the analysis of Scars cutting short its potential icons. The one quick note would be that Solemn was printed in M12, not Scars.Pasteurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02058331124653341978noreply@blogger.com