tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post7622224359497256483..comments2024-03-11T02:32:15.295-04:00Comments on Goblin Artisans: Design Review of Dark Ascension—GreenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-23179995174373377092012-02-04T09:58:30.928-05:002012-02-04T09:58:30.928-05:00Oh man, how could they not do morbid plant? That w...Oh man, how could they not do morbid plant? That would've been so much better than supportive bear.<br /><br />Which Troll guy?Jay Treathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428861685923241850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-18327163927473861702012-02-04T01:14:30.160-05:002012-02-04T01:14:30.160-05:00That's a good point about the Elk helping morb...That's a good point about the Elk helping morbid.<br /><br />I think MaRo said somewhere that Crushing Vines was designed function first. If I'm remembering that correctly, Creative did great work because we can't really tell if it was top-down or bottom-up!<br /><br />I agree that Favor of the Woods looks so bad as well as unflavorful. I wonder if it was a last minute swap that was designed to fit the art. Maybe they found that they needed to tone down the green cards. (Although then again, in Innistrad green was only good with GW, so having a strong pack here shouldn't be a big problem...)<br /><br />As for your comment on Grim Flowering, I think it's great that all the self-mill strategies don't blend together into the same deck. It is a problem if UB Zombies contradict itself, though. That said, I never get an all-Zombie deck so I usually have a random non-Zombie creature to exile to a Stitched Drake.<br /><br />We've had a card that's even closer to Predator Ooze! The Troll guy.<br /><br />I wish Ulvenwald Bear had more flavor about how it helps other creatures get bigger. It should be some gruesome fruit plant that grows fruit off of the nutrients of corpses.Chahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15574587448667619081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-69040175604938847632012-02-03T21:58:43.995-05:002012-02-03T21:58:43.995-05:00You don't really even need a mill theme in you...You don't really even need a mill theme in your deck to make Increasing Confusion worth playing. It's potent enough to mill someone out all by itself. Even easier with the abundance of decks that are actively milling themselves. It's a better finisher than Devil's Play (though lacks the flexibility of being used as removal).Alex Spaldinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03747145070824848773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-75471645096145888972012-02-03T19:17:00.528-05:002012-02-03T19:17:00.528-05:00I hope your evaluation of Increasing Savagery bein...I hope your evaluation of Increasing Savagery being "worst of the cycle" is a reference to its design and not its power level, because damn, that card is savage in Limited. In a format where most removal either has restrictions on its usefulness (Bonds of Faith, Rebuke, Tribute to Hunger) or is toughness-based (Dead Weight, Brimstone Volley, Prey Upon), a properly timed Increasing Savagery is a four-mana flashbackable Lava Axe at worst, and will eat one or two chumps before mashing their face in at best.<br /><br />For Limited, I'd rank Devotion as the best of the cycle, Vengeance as the worst, and Confusion and Ambition both a little lower than Savagery, because you need a mill theme and bombs, respectively, to make them optimal. Savagery is just fine in any deck with creatures that aren't going to die right away. Hunger of the Howlpack is susceptible to the same "dies to Doom Blade" criticism that you level at Savagery, and you seem to love that card.Jenesishttp://goblinartisans.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-67909828777410302842012-02-03T15:57:06.236-05:002012-02-03T15:57:06.236-05:00I'm assuming the hypothetical token-producing ...I'm assuming the hypothetical token-producing card would be sorcery simply because 7/8 token spells in the set are sorcery-speed.<br /><br />As to the conflict described: on a board with one or more unflipped werewolves, if I'm going to cast a spell on my turn I'd prefer that spell to be either another werewolf (because it increases a pressure of YOU BETTER WATCH OUT MY DUDES ARE GONNA FLIP) or some form of removal, like Prey Upon. Obviously that's an ideal line of play that suggests I've successfully drafted the all-werewolf deck that never really happens, but it's something that I think Development would consider when developing how werewolves function in Inn limited.<br /><br />Also, consider that tokens are better associated with swarming behaviors that in-block make more sense connected to zombies and spirits than they do werewolves.metaghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18301191638894756414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-84372295042940422972012-02-03T15:27:03.810-05:002012-02-03T15:27:03.810-05:00Haha. I was so focused on the Rootwalla ability, I...Haha. I was so focused on the Rootwalla ability, I totally missed that it's a 2/2 for G. Add that ability back in and I see exactly what you mean. Funny how the mind works.Jay Treathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428861685923241850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-49223292458157279822012-02-03T15:25:53.119-05:002012-02-03T15:25:53.119-05:00I'm not sure why green's theoertical token...I'm not sure why green's theoertical token production would need to be sorcery-speed, or why it would conflict any more than other green cards or even multiple werewolves, but otherwise I think you hit the nail on the head. Makes sense to me anyhow.Jay Treathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428861685923241850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-74123322770255635602012-02-03T15:24:41.433-05:002012-02-03T15:24:41.433-05:00Ghoultree is actually pretty bad in Commander most...Ghoultree is actually pretty bad in Commander most of the time. A vanilla 10/10 isn't so impressive with such large life totals and such an abundance of token chumps and mass removal.<br /><br />Wolfbitten Captive is much better than you're giving it credit for. Being a one-drop is important, especially with the potential to be a 2/2 the first turn it attacks while still casting a spell, or attacking with a 3/3 and letting it flip. Being a werewolf with its own mana sink is awesome, too. You can activate a pump ability while the transform trigger is on the stack, giving you a 4/4 or 5/5 for the turn (or pump it twice, once from each side, for a 7/7 or 8/8). And it stays relevant in the later game as well (unlike Reckless Waif), when you have excess mana to pump it and still play spells. It's not flashy, but it does a lot of work for a one-mana creature.Alex Spaldinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03747145070824848773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479847193762153273.post-1572562241003289182012-02-03T15:21:39.460-05:002012-02-03T15:21:39.460-05:00Jay, I believe the perceived downgrade of Green...Jay, I believe the perceived downgrade of Green's token producing power has to do with a desire to emphasize Werewolves within the basic construction of G/x limited decks. <br /><br />Green received 42 total monocolor creatures, 3 more than White and 6 more than either Blue or Black, with obviously a good deal of those creature slots dedicated to Werewolves. If Green were to have received additional token-producing effects beyond what they did (which I believe is isolated to rares, like Kessig Cagebreakers), they would not only be hyper-saturated in creature production, but you would also experience a certain tension in your board development, as sorcery-speed token production doesn't play too well with Werewolves.metaghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18301191638894756414noreply@blogger.com