Magic: The Gathering (Unreleased Sets)

So it's like this:

• WR (Lorehold) is archaeology.

• UR (Prismari) is theater.

• UG (Quandrix) is calculus.

• WB (Silverquill) is debate.

• BG (Witherbloom) is bio lab.

Edited by M84 on Feb 19th 2021 at 9:47:44 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised

I appreciate how they're all very different from their corresponding Ravnica guilds.

If this is not the Commander setup, I don't know what is. Edit: Elder Dragon Headmasters!

...

Lorehold Command◊ has a dwarf using scroll as a machine gun. I feel like I will love this set. Also, I dig the commando-librarian vibe Lorehold has.

Edited by googlebot on Feb 19th 2021 at 11:03:26 AM

“You can’t be an important and life-changing presence for some people without also being a joke and embarrassment to others.” -Mark Manson.

Lara Croft would feel right at home in Lorehold.

Edited by M84 on Feb 19th 2021 at 10:25:27 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised

I love how everyone in the MTG influencer space was predicting it'd be nothing but Harry Potter knockoff, and now they probably have egg on their face.

I also appreciate that hey build the colleges around real topics but with magic.

Edit: Like Quandrix being Mathematics + Magic; Lorehold being History/Archaeology + Magic; Silverquil being Literature/Politics + Magic; Prismari being Art/Drama + Magic; and Witherbloom being Biology/Bio-chemistry + Magic.

Edited by googlebot on Feb 21st 2021 at 3:16:52 PM

“You can’t be an important and life-changing presence for some people without also being a joke and embarrassment to others.” -Mark Manson.

Given that Thespian's Stage fits nicely into Prismari, I wonder if it will be extended into a cycle of lands (something like Archaeologist's Dig, Math Symposium, Debate Forum, and Bio Lab, although I guess the actual name Archaeologist Dig has already been used).

Edited by thok on Feb 24th 2021 at 8:45:02 AM

Strixhaven does seem ripe for a thespians stage reprint!

Hopefully one of the cards in the new Masterpieces is a Cabal Coffers reprint.

We can hope, but aren't we expecting the Mystical Archives to all be instants and sorceries?

So, people, are you aware of the future Universe Beyond cards controversy?

Basically, it has been announced that, starting 2022, they will produce new crossover cards, The Walking Dead style, with Warhammer 40k, The Lord of the Rings, and others, under the Universe Beyond brand. In the case of Lo TR, a whole set.

This cards will not be legal in Standard; it's uncertain if they will be on the other formats.

Based on what I saw, people on the Internet are livid. What do you think?

In my opinion, that is certainly a wrong path. I like the game with it's original flavour and lore, not as a simple billboard of other franchises. I'm already pretty sick of the predominance of sequels, reboots and remakes of popular movies in cinema, and that I see that as it's tabletop equivalent. It is completely soulless.

Into the Unknown

I'm pretty excited for it, and will absolutely buy these crossover cards. I just think the people who are upset over it are people who bristle at the very mention of "change" and "things will be different going forward". Now ACTUALLY VERY SIMILAR (edit), but the last time this happened, one of Magic's biggest content creators ran off and tried to start his own format out of spite.

It became a Nazi infested mess. Last I checked in on Kapitan, they wanted to unban the racist cards due to "virtue signalling". So Kapitan is STILL a Nazi shit pit.

So forgive me if I don't exactly have the highest opinion of people getting their pants in a twist over "soulless" corporate decisions or crossover media.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 27th 2021 at 5:32:52 AM

I think it's gonna be fun.

Like, this isn't taking away any of Magic's own IP; it's not replacing any of the Standard sets that actually build that IP, and they do say in the article "This is purely another cool thing we're doing in addition to the other cool things we're doing," so it doesn't sound like it's going to be doing much harm to the additional products.

More than that, though, I've been playing this game for a decade and I'm getting so tired of the "this isn't aimed at me specifically, so it's bad" reflex. No. You're still getting what you want. Other people are just also getting something that they want.

It is, purely and simply, not all about you.

Edited by CountDorku on Feb 28th 2021 at 5:58:30 AM

One of the things I kind of like about cards representing other I Ps is that it treats the mechanics themselves as an artistic medium, and we can judge the cards by how well we can see familiar characters and concepts in them.

THIS. So much this.

That's the attitude I've been seeing way too much about this. "I don't want this, therefore it's bad."

It's really that idea of toxic nostalgia, that if things are not like how they were when you were a kid then somehow that's a sign it's all "bad".

Thank you all for you responses! I appreciate that a lot, and it always helps to see other perspectives of the same issue.

I can see that some replies to the announcement out there are very "the end of the world" and exaggerated, while some others may come from extreme resistance to change or even more perverse mindsets.

Nevertheless, I still kind of agree with the more reasonable replies in this camp. They normally say they wouldn't mind if the cards were alters of another card (like the Godzilla ones in Ikoria) or silver-bordered; problem from them comes when WOTC will possibly force them to be legal in formats like Modern, Legacy or Commander. You know, opponent attacks you with Yoshi and Harry Potter, other opponent blocks your creatures with the God-Emperor and kills them with Palpatine's Lightning; this is funny the first times, but it gets old fast and, compared to their original worlds it is, sorry, very soulless.

Also, I agree that, because this format will sure be a hit (come on, Lord of The Rings set is a nearly sure win, and so are the others to a slightly less degree) there is a risk of a slippery slope for Wizards, that will see it makes them more money with much less effort and uncertainity, and because of that they will push them more and more in detriment of their original sets...

However, I agree there is no need to overreact. Let's simply wait and see how it turns out or, at least, until we have more information of Universes Beyond way of working. Also, since I play MTG via Arena, it would not affect me .

Into the Unknown

The problem I have with slippery slope arguments is that they are usually wrong, and when they're used to make the case that something cool and fun should not exist out of the hypothetical that it will lead to something bad down the road if a bunch of unlikely hypotheticals play out, they are not only usually wrong but also extremely tedious.

I mean, surely, by the context of your own arguments, you should be goddamn furious about the Forgotten Realms set? I mean, that actually is Standard-legal and replacing a set, and while Wizards owns the Forgotten Realms IP, it is not a Magic world.

Life is short and death is everlasting. Let people who want to play a Ghazghkull Thraka commander deck have that. It's not gonna eat your pets, I promise.

Edited by CountDorku on Mar 1st 2021 at 6:09:31 AM

So why are you so upset about it then? You only play on Arena after all.

You openly admit your reason for opposing it is a farcical slippery slope argument only really indulged in by people opposed to change, who want by all appearances to exaggerate and make it seem like we're heading for nothing but crossovers.

And again the "soulless" argument with you. It's a thing I've seen on reddit so far too. Wherein anything that is different is considered "soulless" or "Not Real Magic". It's the mythologizing of the notion of the soul at work. And usually these people go ahead and say "oh, we're not opposed to change! Just this change!" And then go on to oppose any further changes.

And again Dorku put it well.

and Well, I'm not furious about Forgotten Realms nor about Universes Beyond in general because this is not a life or death issue; I would say not even an important issue. I have a life, thanks. But this being the MTG thread, I talk about news and controversies related to Magic.

Semantics aside, Forgotten Realms has the same issues and on top of them it will be on Standard, but I guess it being already of WOTC and being very similar to Magic worlds and/or not being overusded (at least in the mainstream) makes it a little easy to pass, I suppose. But yeah, there are the issues.

Anyway, as I said I think most people wouldn't have a problem with Universes Beyond/Forgotten Realms being printed like Ikoria Godzilla/unsets/etc. One "Magic" for purely MTG and another for people to play whatever they like and have fun. But if you force together the "true" Magic Cards and the cash grab adverts, frictions start.

Our friends and I on one or two ocasion printed inside jokes of the group and ourselves as custom Magic cards, and there are 0 problems if one day we want to play with that cards between us, or with other players if they agree. But I can see why people would not like if Wizards made this cards legal for everyone in several game modes (also let me be clear, they are in no way balanced too xd).

Edited by Caliu on Feb 28th 2021 at 12:50:29 PM

Into the Unknown

Speak for yourself about "frictions starting" - you and the anti-change groups start problems and crafting disorder, and then you go on and say that the disorder you caused is proof that products like this are divisive.

It seems more like you came here to talk about controversies and try to recruit people into making more noise about it.

I have no problem with crossover products as long as they aren't made to take advantage of FOMO. I mean I can already add Xiahou Dun the One Eyed and Sima Yi to my deck if I wanted to.

What you do in your home and with friends has nothing to do with this.

Introducing and debating a hot topic about unreleased sets of MTG in this thread doesn't make me a recruiter-arsonist of the Shadow Nerd Guardians of Magic Purity. Not agreeing with you point for point and then quietly departing doesn't either. Especially since, I think, I have been civil and respectful in debating.

With all said, I still don't like the whole thing, I still think it's not the direction the game should take. But, repeating myself, I'll wait and see how it turns out, with an open mind.

With those teeth and looks, I want a written vow

Into the Unknown

Maro's Strixhaven Teaser

Edited by Lightblade on Mar 19th 2021 at 6:16:51 AM

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

So with the new Kasmina, I'll be able to tick up my Ashiok, Narset, and increase Teferi Master of Time's loyalty more easily, which also has the effect of tailoring my draws.

This is going to be a very nice set for Atraxa Superfriends.

Agreed. And new Lili being able to go infinite with Chain of Smog is kind of amusing.

Liliana as a character has really grown on me. She has really outgrown the cliche she was.

“You can’t be an important and life-changing presence for some people without also being a joke and embarrassment to others.” -Mark Manson.