Monday, May 08, 2006
My First Preview Card - Appetizer
Welcome to the first preview day of the first preview week! Today, is just a light article, with a light preview card. But all preview cards deserve an interesting article. If I preview all the snazzy rares first, the simple commons would seem… pretty dull. So we’ll start with a simple common first, with no background story on my set, and over the next few days we’ll tackle my development cycle and the themes and problems with my set.
So what’s better: Youthful Knight or Glory Seeker? Let’s check out some matches:
Youthful Knight vs Glory Seeker – Youthful Knight wins!
Elvish Archers (1/2 first strike) vs: Youthful Knight (tied, both lose); Glory Seeker wins!
Lumengrid Warden (1/3) vs: Youthful Knight loses, Glory Seeker tied, both live.
Youthful Knight vs Rain of Embers – Rain of Embers wins! Glory Seeker would win!
Youthful Knight vs Pyroclasm – Pyroclasm wins! Glory Seeker loses too!
And so on…
So… how can we make this interesting? Well, we can obsolete both… but how? Well, obviously – 2/2 first strike! But… that’s not really interesting. So what then? What else can we do to semi-obsolete both without being so simple?
Well, it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the phase between first strike damage and regular damage. There was that magic puzzling article, where your own Nekraatal with first strike could kill you before the other creatures kill the player. There’s the Boros Swiftblade and Umezawa’s Jitte combo, where the Jitte gets counters after first strike damage, and then the Swiftblade can use the counters and get stronger for the 2nd strike. And lastly, there was that time when Akroma blocked Phytohydra; Akroma dealt first strike damage, Phytohydra got stronger, and then proceeded to deal 7 damage to Akroma instead of the intended 1.
So there is indeed a phase between first strike damage and regular damage. It’s like sending a scout into battle before sending in the rest of the troops. The scout can be used to gain information about the defending party, and thus help out the rest of the troops. So how does that translate to Magic? It looks something like this:
Okay, so I lied – I obsoleted Youthful Knight, but not Glory Seeker. But it functions as a Glory Seeker during combat if the first strike didn’t help. If the first strike did its job, then instead you can help out any other creature you control. This Knight really likes helping things stay alive.
Anyway, post away! DO IT….
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Welcome to the first preview day of the first preview week! Today, is just a light article, with a light preview card. But all preview cards deserve an interesting article. If I preview all the snazzy rares first, the simple commons would seem… pretty dull. So we’ll start with a simple common first, with no background story on my set, and over the next few days we’ll tackle my development cycle and the themes and problems with my set. So what’s better: Youthful Knight or Glory Seeker? Let’s check out some matches: Youthful Knight vs Glory Seeker – Youthful Knight wins! Elvish Archers (1/2 first strike) vs: Youthful Knight (tied, both lose); Glory Seeker wins! Lumengrid Warden (1/3) vs: Youthful Knight loses, Glory Seeker tied, both live. Youthful Knight vs Rain of Embers – Rain of Embers wins! Glory Seeker would win! Youthful Knight vs Pyroclasm – Pyroclasm wins! Glory Seeker loses too! And so on… So… how can we make this interesting? Well, we can obsolete both… but how? Well, obviously – 2/2 first strike! But… that’s not really interesting. So what then? What else can we do to semi-obsolete both without being so simple? Well, it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the phase between first strike damage and regular damage. There was that magic puzzling article, where your own Nekraatal with first strike could kill you before the other creatures kill the player. There’s the Boros Swiftblade and Umezawa’s Jitte combo, where the Jitte gets counters after first strike damage, and then the Swiftblade can use the counters and get stronger for the 2nd strike. And lastly, there was that time when Akroma blocked Phytohydra; Akroma dealt first strike damage, Phytohydra got stronger, and then proceeded to deal 7 damage to Akroma instead of the intended 1. So there is indeed a phase between first strike damage and regular damage. It’s like sending a scout into battle before sending in the rest of the troops. The scout can be used to gain information about the defending party, and thus help out the rest of the troops. So how does that translate to Magic? It looks something like this: Okay, so I lied – I obsoleted Youthful Knight, but not Glory Seeker. But it functions as a Glory Seeker during combat if the first strike didn’t help. If the first strike did its job, then instead you can help out any other creature you control. This Knight really likes helping things stay alive. Anyway, post away! DO IT…. |