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Guilds of Ravnica Specs: the top five standout cards of each color combination that could impact #GRN Standard
I can’t believe that we are just one week away from Return to Return to Return to Return to Ravnica. The full spoiler is available on the WotC website here. Now that we’ve seen all of the cards, these are the Guilds of Ravnica #GRN cards that you should hope to open or trade for at the prerelease:
Persuasion Check: Unearthed Arcana – Dragonmarks
A new month, a new Unearthed Arcana. This time around we’re taking a look at some content from Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron from the Dungeon Master’s Guild, specifically looking at Dragonmarks.
The Dragonmarks are essentially 12 new subraces or variant races for humans, half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, elves, gnomes, and dwarves. Each of the 12 can only be used with a specific race, though they can be boosted with a feat for Greater Dragonmarks, and Aberrant Dragonmarks can be applied to any character at any time, though they come with a cost.
Due to the sheer size of this Unearthed Arcana, I have forgone any extreme number crunching in exchange for bite-sized takes on how I feel they stack up. If I miss something good or bad, please be sure to let me know in the comments!
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Wizards continues printing exclusive yet Standard-legal cards in supplemental products.
For better or for worse, Wizards continues to print exclusive Standard-legal cards that can only be obtained by means other than sealed booster packs. On August 28th, the image and translated text of the Guilds of Ravnica Buy-A-Box promo Impervious Greatwurm was leaked to the internet.
[Premodern] Gold: A primer on some of the best multicolored cards in Premodern!
In our second-to-last Premodern primer (colorless Artifacts and Lands will be the last one!), we take a look at the multicolored “gold” cards that are legal in Premodern!
A Handful of Magic Items 9
We’re almost to the double digits with the 9th installment of A Handful of Magic Items! Today we have portable portals, a ring that gives and takes, and the (potentially cursed) crown of an insane monarch. Let’s dive in!
Gatestone Portal
As an action, a creature holding the Gatestone can target any point within 60 feet of their location and drop the Gatestone onto the ground. At both the chosen point and the current location of the Gatestone a portal opens leading to the other for a duration of 1 minute. The gates can only be entered from one side, show a blurry image of what lies on the other side, and will not transport projectiles or magic targeted through the portal. Creatures attempting to stop halfway through the portal are pushed back out to the side they came from.
The portals closed after 1 minute or until someone picks up the Gatestone. The Gatestone cannot be picked up through the portal as to be retrieved on the other side. Once the Gatestone has been used, it cannot be used again until dawn of the next day.
[Premodern] Blue: Mo’ Phling, Mo’ Problems.
The fifth and final color that we have left to review is none other than the bane of WotC R&D: Blue! Over the Premodern years (1995-2003), Blue brought us some of the most busted cards of all time.
Persuasion Check: Unearthed Arcana – Races of Ravnica
With all the hype featuring the most ambitious crossover event in history, that being the upcoming Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica for D&D, it makes sense to get a set of playtest races from Ravnica for this month’s Unearthed Arcana. Any Magic: the Gathering player will surely recognize these iconic races, and seeing them playable for D&D is elating the inner nerd in me.
Some of each of these four races, those being Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken, and Viashino, will compare directly to another race to see how they stack up while the others can be analyzed on their own. Analysis is a bit lighter today as these races appear a bit simpler in design than what we’ve seen in the previous few months, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad!
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Old School Brawl – 93/94 Commander: Mana Dorks, Mana Rocks, and Other Mana Acceleration
Having set forth which Legendary Creatures are eligible to Command your Old School Brawl deck, we turn our attention to the little dudes that make big things happen: Mana Dorks. Mana Dorks, and Mana Rocks, are great early-game plays in Brawl and/or Commander, because they aren’t threatening by themselves. In Commander, diplomacy is key! You shouldn’t draw too much attention from the other players just by amassing a bunch of mana. It’s only once you start to use it do you start to step on toes!
Old School Brawl – 93/94 Commander: Who are my Options?
I’ve written about Old School 93/94 before. I’ve written about Elder Dragon Highlander (“EDH”)/Commander/Brawl before. But I’ve never written about this format: Old School Brawl. The article that precipitated my article here was none other than DFB’s article: Old School Brawl — a 93/94 Commander variant — The Sentinel. After some very light research, it looks like Magnus de Laval got to it much earlier, as early as last year on February 22, 2017: Old School Mtg: Old School Commander. Discussion got going in a local Facebook group, New England Old School MTG (93/94), and now here we are! I highly suggest that you read those two articles for the rules. Let’s meet our contestants!
Persuasion Check: Unearthed Arcana – Races of Eberron
Although a tad late, July’s Unearthed Arcana still delivers! Not one, not two, but three revised races in addition to a brand new one! We have updated versions of Changelings, Shifters, and Warforged and for the first time we can play as Kalashtar! While we won’t be diving into the lore of these races (there’s a lot to cover here!), I would recommend giving those parts a read!
As is my usual way, I will not be comparing the revised options to their older versions, but rather seeing how they stack up to published options. If you would like to add your thoughts on how these stack up to their old versions we would love to hear it in the comments! Also please note, I’m not getting as analytical here as I normally would like to based on the sheer volume of races/subraces, though I try to provide insight into why I think they are fair or not in a way that promotes conversation. But without further ado, let’s dive in! Read More
[Casual] Shark Week Deck
It’s Shark Week! As an exclusive treat chum for our Instagram and WordPress followers, here’s a shark-themed decklist! Unfortunately, shark isn’t its own creature subtype, so these Fishy… shark… mutations… will have to do. Doubly unfortunate is that sharks somehow caught Sea Serpent’s terrible drawback which requires your opponent to control Islands before the Shark can do, well, anything. Thankfully, there are thematic cards which can turn the tide and bah that’s enough Shark idioms/jokes for deck. Here it is:
[Premodern] Red: Have fun by making sure that your opponent doesn’t!
eThis week, we take a look at Red’s contribution to Premodern and how great of a day you can have while ruining someone else’s. As always, this is not a definitive list of Premodern staples, it’s more or less just hitting the high notes while sprinkling in a couple sleepers. I’ll leave it to the brewers to do their thing. Red gives us some wonderful options for removal, creatures, and combos. Let’s take a look!
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