I would like to talk about the new Core set Magic 2010, and a few of the changes being made to the game. At the beginning I will look at some of the reprints (existing cards being reprinted) in Magic 2010.
Painland Replacements As many of you know, the painlands will be replaced by the new lands that have the text "... Comes into play tapped unless you control a (insert basic land type here) or (insert another basic land type here)" with the usual tap to add one mana of said colors to your mana pool. From what I have heard, most people seem to like the new lands, because you don't need to take the "pain" damage to get your colors. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the change. Although many of the decks I design, use lands that come into play tapped, those lands have more unique abilites, such as producing a third color, or the Vivid lands.
All-star Reprints In Magic 2010 there are also a lot of extremely powerful cards from back in the days being reprinted like for example:Lightning Bolt, or Ball Lightning. It looks like red aggro decks will be a force to be reckoned with. But my main concern is that Lighting Bolt is a COMMON, that's right, a common. This is going to cause some major pain in future draft games. I also wonder why Ball Lighting is not a Mythic Rare. Am I the only person that finds that a bit odd?
Firestarter vote
New Mulligan Procedure The way in which you take mulligans will also change with Magic 2010. Under the old rules the player who went first had to resolve all his mulligans first and the second player could wait and then decide afterwards if he wants to take a mulligan too. This whole procedure has usually taken a lot of time. The new rules speed up the whole mulligan process because now the first player has to decide if he takes a mulligan and then the second player has to decide too thereby players take their mulligans at (almost) the same time.
New Terms Wizards decided to rename some of the zones and make them easier to understand for new players. Magic is full of special terms such as graveyard, library, in play, spell, sorcery, combat and so on. For seasoned players this might look quite simple, but for newer players all the different terms can be an obstacle. Wizards also believes that a lot of these terms can be unclear or misleading, so a few of the names are going to change:
Battlefield The first change will be "The Battlefield", changing from "In Play". A good example would be Garruk's (-2) ability. Instead of being worded "Put a 3/3 green Beast token into play." it will now be "Put a 3/3 green Beast token onto the battlefield". Cast Another change will be the term "Play" to "Cast", referring to any spell, so now you'll be "Casting" spells, rather than "Playing" them.
Exile Also, Removed From Game (RFG) is being changed to "Exile" (just like everybody's favorite removal spell "Path to Exile".
Beginnig of the End Step One of the slightly more significant changes will be "The Beginning of the End Step", referring to when creatures such as Hellspark Elemental, or Ball Lightning are to be sacrificed. Ball Lightning's new text will be "At the Beginning of the End Step, sacrifice Ball Lightning". Mana Pool and Mana Burn Many players cannot distinguish phase to phase, and some people don't even know that when you tap a land for mana - that mana goes into your mana pool. The thought of floating Mana from step to step is hard to understand. Mana Pools now empty at the end of each step AND phase, meaning that mana in the pool cannot be floated from the upkeep to the draw step, or from the declare attackers to the declare blockers step of combat. In addition there will no longer be mana burn! Mana left in the pool at the end of turn (or due to the new rules, step or phase) will simply vanish, and there will be no resulting loss of life.
Combat Damage Combat damage no longer uses the stack. I couldn't put this one into my own words, so this is copied and pasted from the Wizards web page, because this is where it gets tricky.
"The Reality: The intricate system via which combat is currently handled creates many unintuitive gameplay moments. For starters, "the stack" is a difficult concept, even after all these years, so it is no wonder that many players go about combat without invoking it at all. Second, creatures disappearing after damage has been put on the stack leads to a ton of confusion and disbelief: How is that Mogg Fanatic killing two creatures? How did that creature kill mine but make your Nantuko Husk big enough to survive? How can you Unsummon your creature and have it still deal damage? While many of us may be used to the way things are now, it makes no sense in terms of a game metaphor and only a bit more sense as a rule.
The Fix: As soon as damage is assigned in the combat damage step, it is dealt. There is no time to cast spells and activate abilities in between; the last time to do so prior to damage being dealt is during the declare blockers step.
This was a particularly tricky change to implement, as it had the potential to create bad experiences in situations where double blocking occurs and the defending player has access to a damage prevention ability (or anything similar). If damage was prevented to one creature, the attacker would just kill the other, which is unintuitive. Players expect to be able to use their healing spells to save creatures that are actually going to die. To solve problems like these, during the declare blockers step, if a creature is blocked by multiple creatures, the attacker immediately announces an order in which that attacking creature will be assigning damage to the blockers. When it comes time to actually deal the damage, lethal damage must be assigned to the first blocker before any can be assigned to the second, and so on. Now, in complex combat situations there will be some foreknowledge of which creatures are in the most danger before damage is dealt." Deathtouch and Lifelink As for this new rule and Deathtouch: With the new rule in play, keeping Deathtouch as it was, would prevent the damage from being assigned how the creature's controller wishes, so... First, deathtouch is becoming a static ability. Creatures dealt damage by a source with deathtouch will be destroyed as a state-based effect at the same time lethal damage would kill them. As a side effect, multiple instances of deathtouch will no longer be cumulative. Second, deathtouch allows a double-blocked creature to ignore the new damage assignment rules and split its damage among any number of creatures it's in combat with however its controller wants to.
Like Deathtouch, Lifelink is also becoming a static ability, so now life is gained as damage is dealt. Also, instances of lifelink can no longer stack, such as Rhox War Monk attacking alone while a player controls Battlegrace Angel. You do not gain 8 life. End of story."
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"such as Rhox War Monk attacking alone while a player controls Battlegrace Angel. You do not gain 6 life. End of story"
gain 8 life, right?
I don't really like some of these new terms and rules... D:
yeah, it would be 8 under the current rules
Personally, I like the new lands. They won't necessarily be great in decks that use lots of nonbasics, but I'm looking forward to them.
Mulligans...that's how we play anyway here, because it's faster and makes everything easier, so that's a good change.
Some of my friends freaked out about the changes at first, but I can understand what Wizards is trying to do. Things like mana burn and combat tricks after damage has been dealt aren't necessarily difficult concepts to understand, but they aren't things that need to be in the game either. Haha, all you Mog Fanatic players! Lol.
The new blocking rules seem to do exactly the opposite of what everything else does...I think it will be somewhat annoying and a bit difficult for new players to understand. It's good that they cleared up the deathtouch thing, though, because I've heard a decent amount of complaining about that since the new rules were announced.
Lifelink not stacking anymore is awesome! I can't tell you how many times I've snuck that little 2/2 unblockable through as a 6/6 or higher with the Exalted bonus, and gotten anywhere from 2-5x lifelink. "I hit you for 6 and gain 30 life" is a phrase that will discourage any new player, rofl. I'm also a bit biased because it messes up all my friends' lifegain decks and doesn't affect mine. Hehe.
Overall, I think this is a clear step in the right direction, and I think Wizards is doing a good (ok, at least decent) job of it. We'll see how well everyone adjusts to the new rules in a couple weeks!
I am disgusted that combat won't stack This is the part of the game that I was innovative. I have done Thousands of core set drafts on mtgo that were made memorable by fancy combat. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR MIND WIZARDS!
I think that the new dual lands are getting a bad rap, I don't really believe that it is going to be such a huge deal that they MIGHT have to come into play tapped.
The no stack damage thing changes the usefullness of a lot of cards and I don't think I agree with it. It seems to almost be dumbing down the rules. For instance arcbound ravager is not half as useful and mogg fanatic is just a 1/1 : /
I think people that don't know the rules in depth enough to understand stacking combat need to get MTGO or ask someone that does because it's a VERY important part of the game. I am angered to see it leave
i cant wait for m10!
I don't like the name changes for the "battlefield" and "exile" zone. I like the new "cast" thing because that's how it used to be. I just don't like the way it looks on a card, I'm so used to seeing cards look a certain way and now it'll look differently.
Plus, I don't know how much it will help at FNM events where all the old players are still saying "play" and "remove from game" and there's a lot of cross talk that will confuse new players.
And the combat stack being removed is another thing that I think is a big issue because it screws with so many existing strategies and cards, best example being of course Mogg Fanatic. It'll be okay though.
I am a big fan of the new lands. It's a lot like Tainted Isle and Tainted Swamp, two lands that I always thought were very good.
The new lands are going to be great second turn and higher land drop. Even if it does come into play tapped, you will still get the mana without the pain. I think competitive players don't like them because you can't use them with other "dual" type lands without waiting a turn.
The "new" combat stacking rule change isn't really new. I believe Wizards is going back to basics because the "new" rule change is the way it was done back in the day. When I started playing Mtg again after some haitus, I was surprised to see that a Mogg Fanatic could block, deal its combat damage, and still be sac'ed for it's damage. It confused me and I had to get a judge to confirm that rule. After the ruling, I accepted it, continued on, and planned around it. I really didn't like the ruling cause to me it didn't make sense. I figured that Wizards was trying to keep the game fresh and innovative after soo many years. I also love the fact that Lifelink will not be stackable. It is soo frustrating to get an opponent down to 2 life and have a creature attack once to bring themselves back up to 20. Now I can see a little life here and there but full life in one attack, too OP. Bant players will surely be disappointed. No more Finest Hour, Rafiq, Sledgehammer, Battlegrace Angel, Sledgehammer combos.
I think we will see a rise in Red Decks with Ball Lightning and Lightning Bolts coming unto the scene. Watch out for the fast hastey red deck with Hellsparks, Ball Lightnings, Lightning Bolts, etc.
Lightning Bolt is not a Rare, it is a common.
If you would have actually read the article, rather than just spamming a comment, you would see that I wrote "Lightning Bolt is a COMMON, that's right, a common."
I don't understand why there's so much outward hate towards some of the reprints. Lightning bolt was always a common; to make it an uncommon or rare now wouldn't make sense, especially since people could just use the older prints of that card (although I don't know the rulings on the use of cards from older sets so long as they are reprinted in a newer set). I'm surprised at that and at how you people feel about ball lightning. I'll spare you all the "back in my day" stories from when I first started playing, and really, there are alot more painful cards these days than there were back then, and there's a ton more per set.
Deny power creep all you want, but it's been happening.
1) there isn't really that much hate towards reprints. i think that what people are upset about are the functional reprints, which wizards is counting in the quota of "new" cards to meet the 50% requirement, but are essentially only obsoleting older cards (such as essence scatter replacing remove soul, the only effect is that people can't play with their MPR remove souls anymore).
2) yes you can play with older versions of a card as long as it has been reprinted
3) it is perfectly logical for wizards to employ a power creep. reducing power levels is one way to make a game boring, and to keep power levels the same would just cause a stagnant card pool. also think about eternal formats like legacy and vintage, where a power creep is necessary to keep new cards entering the format. i think eventually we're going to get to a game like epic where we get 7/7s for 1 mana unless wizards can make more design space, such as an alternate card type
i think that most people are missing a crucial point about damage on the stack. being able to do combat interactions with damage on the stack favored a knowledge of the rules, but not strategy, because there was only ever one correct play. saccing mogg fanatic with damage off the stack was always a stupid thing to do. however taking damage off the stack adds strategic value because there is more than one viable play in a given situation. adding strategy to the game
insider word is that they are redoing phasing and banding, but i don't know if that means they're going to reprint it or not.
i honestly doubt it. soooo confusing for even veteran players
wizards will never to anything to make me quit playing magic, so change away, keeps everything fresh
I could certainly see Ball Lightning being a mythic because that is just a horrid card to see on as a three drop and I could see it being HUGE in extended decks.
I'm also a fan of making powerful cards available to new players and players who aren't willing to or simpy can't spend a fourtune on thier decks. I'd like to see more stuff Lightning Bolt printed as commons.
As for the lands I think they're great! I've recently been griping about how expensive mana bases are in my tourney decks and I like anything that encourages people to play some basic lands, especially in a meta full of B/R Anthemancer.
woo yeah , lets bring banding back!
I think most of these rules are good. It makes no sense for someone to be able to stack lifelink, someone should not be able to gain more life than damage dealt and you shouldnt deal more damage than the creature has toughness. Also I have always hated Mogg fanatic, it makes absolutely zero sense to be able to deal damage and then sac it to deal more damage. It just makes me sick! I am glad they are doing away with it. As far as the new lands are concerned, I am not one of those tourney players that has all nonbasic lands in my deck so it wont really affect me that much.
Lifelink stacking was broken. C'mon, a Nip Gwillion with Edge of Divinity AND other lifelinking enchants....if you're not packin' quick removal, you might as well concede.
From the looks of the spoilers I've seen, WOG is gone (for now). Hold onto your Martial Coup(s)!! Soldier's are going to be the 2nd best tribe...Elves will still be a force to be reckoned with. An early Coup = chump blockers. A 7+ mana Coup = new & improved WOG.
Does WOTC really think that THAT many new players are starting every day...enough to change the rules & phrases...effectively "dumbing down" the game? I can explain to people (new players) the technicalities of the game better if they are not coded in rediculously labeled zones and what not.
Messing with the combat step is taking even more away from people playing control & blue. They've stripped eveyone of one of the phases that benefits both veteran and wise players most (the damage dealing step). Noobs hardly ever manipulate the stack. It's kinda like putting in a wheelchair ramp in a place that has no stairs. Other than that, 2010 looks like it has interesting things to both introduce and re-introduce to both Extended and Standard.
I don't agree 100% with the Combat damage Change, as some of you have been saying the Noobs hardly use the stack, and doing it was half the fun of the game but I would Like to add That this will Force us to Change our Decks and Gameplay, I dont think that is so Bad. And the change of Terms like "Exile" instead of RFG, That's a thing that is been on MTG since the Begining the INSTANTS were "Interrupts", I think that Names will change when everybody is used to saying them, Not a big Deal at all. And I like the fact that WOTC Changed the lifelink to Static, In Fact I don't know why it wasn't like this from the start, Giving a Creature 3 Lifelinks sounded to me like giving a dude 3 First Strikes,I think these new rules will brng a new generation of Decks and Strategies, that, like always some of us will like and some of us won't...
...I have few complaints. Being in an area where I can't go to tournaments anyway, this is, honestly how we play. The only thing is the terms, and abilities NOT activating during the combat phase... WHY? That ruins the usefulness of most, if not all, instant/interrupt cards. Personally, I think that little bit fails.
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