Happy Holidays and some Legends
I don't really recall why I decided to do a spoiler on Christmas Eve. Might have been thinking that it would be fun to show Spirit of the Night today as a pun of sorts, forgot that The Dwarven Warriors would spoil that one along with Dwarven Miner, and then it just slipped my mind to update the schedule. Or something. Anyways, right now I'm smack dab in the middle of a snowy hinterland, far up north on the Norwegian countryside. So I actually wrote this a couple of days ago as to not have to sneak away from any festivities with the Norwegian side of the family.
I guess there's a lot I could write about. The NOSMTG Brother's Highlander tournament, reactions to the spoiler season thus far, strange tech or ideas. But Christmas is knocking on the door, and time is of the essence. If you want some proper oldschool fix, I suggest re-reading the spoiler article from 52-Week Beta. It is simply fantastic and keeps on giving.
So spoilers. I was supposed to spoil something today, and it can't be Spirit of the Night. But in the vein of summon legends, it could be a good time to spoil a couple of (very) niche rares in the set. If you've been following the spoilers, you might have picked up on these three cards from before:
These are pretty good cards. As Homelands cardboard go, one could even call them very good. If they'll find a home, I don't know, but they measure up well against most creatures from the early to mid 90s. And as monocolor legends they represent something previously absent from 93/94.
Which brings us to birds. What's up with all the birds in Scryings? Duskrider Falcon, Wild Aesthir, Freewind Falcon, Storm Crow? Is this all just niche or filler, or are we seriously trying to give subtle incentive to people to build a stupid tier4 bird deck? Well, I think this card will answer that question adequately:
Just add Zephyr Falcon and you'll have a deck right there. Confuse people with banding and ride the skies to victory. Soraya can even be saved by Karakas. There's a white legend for you.
Having mono-colored legends in three or four colors rather than five in the set was just too inelegant. Cycles and symmetry are things after all, even if we don't immediately recognize them. In fact, quite a few things in Scryings that may appear somewhat random at first often have an idea of sorts. Like the gold cards distribution. There are three of them total, as a nod to the multi-color setup in The Dark. In The Dark, gold cards were limited to green, red and black. And here, as Lord of Tresserhorn is in fact blue as well (along with the acknowledged black and red), only white doesn't get any mana symbols on gold cards. But instead white gets a special land in Kjeldoran Outpost. So the fact that not all colors get gold cards and only one color gets a non-basic do have some sort of precedence to the madness.
What was I talking about? Oh, yeah, the blue Legend.
I'm kinda happy that this wasn't the rare for any of the spoiler boosters. In a vacuum, this is an underwhelming card. And for sure it was one of the last cards added to the set. However, there are no monocolored Legends in ordinary 93/94, and I for one have tinkered quite a bit with both 93/94 EDH and 93/94 Brawl. The common consensus for 93/94 Brawl is to errata creatures that are "clearly legendary" (like Niall Silvain and Uncle Istvan) to legends for monocolor deck building purposes. While effective as a brewing option, it isn't that pretty, and giving players that want to test EDH or Brawl with 93/94 Scryings the opportunity to go monocolor without special rules seemed like a nice idea.
On that note of old school legends, in just four days we'll have the Scryings release event! And as I and Kalle knew all the cards in the set already, I figured that we needed some skillful opposition to even out the odds a bit. This is the rooster for Saturday (this picture layout may look odd on small screens btw):
Name: Martin "Fluffy" Lindström
Invite via: Won the 2019 World Championship
Sharks: 2
Martin's name frequently comes up when discussing the strongest players in the old school format, and he's probably the best 93/94 control player in the world. He is also physically strong.
Name: Olof Robertsson
Invite via: Won the 2019 Scandinavian Championship
Sharks: 1
With a couple years' experience slinging 93/94, Olof is actually kinda new to the format as this rooster goes. He hosts the bi-weekly 93/94 meetups in Gothenburg, wins n00bcon invites in Vienna, and most recently won the Scandinavian Championship.
Name: Svante Landgraf
Invite via: Just a spike brewer with a platform. Also have like infinite 2nd places in tournaments.
Sharks: 0
Svante combines being a natural spike with a love for brewing. He'll only win tournaments Gordon Anderson organizes, while placing second in most others. He also blags and have a tendency to join podcasts and streams.
Name: Kalle Nord
Invite via: Original gangster of 93/94 and fixer for the event.
Sharks: 2
Kalle co-founded 93/94 back in 2007 and has a black belt in anything casual and elusive. He also makes most of the art related to 93/94 Magic here in the north, including the Scryings booster for all y'all wondering where that one came from. Stellar human and player.
Name: Magnus "Mg" de Laval
Invite via: Knows the organizer well
Sharks: 0
Hey, I invited myself. I know all the cards in the set, but unlike most of the rooster here I've never drafted at a Pro Tour, so I guess it evens out.
Name: Mikael "Åland" Johansson
Invite via: Scandinavian Champion 2018
Sharks: 1
Åland has been at the top tables in the format for many years, and eventually picked up a well-deserved Shark at the 2018 Scandinavian Championship. Matching strong plays with strong beer, and somehow representing a small island outside the coast of Finland.
Name: Markus "Kungen" Guldbrandsson
Invite via: Organizer of the Scandinavian Championship (and the Arvika Festival)
Sharks: 0
Markus represents the city with probably the highest density of 93/94-players in the world. An organizer of large events, a very solid player, and not the least the luckiest booster ripper north of Cape Horn. He also looks dangerous.
Name: Olle Råde
Invite via: Most Pro Tour top8s at the time Scryings cards were actually relevant.
Sharks: 1
Olle is, simply put, a very good Magic player. He also has a kinda dry humor, which I often find surprisingly hilarious.
So that's the crew for Saturday. 8 players, 7 Giant Sharks, a bunch of Pro Tours, and about 60 years combined experience in the 93/94 format. Most of us going in blind in regard to the full set. We'll draft, then play seven grueling rounds with ante each duel. The card you lose you lose ownership of, and your opponent may rebuild their deck with any cards won after each duel. The winner last standing gets glory and some stuff. The last twenty cards or so from the set will be spoiled during the event, either by booster openings or by the commentators. There will be an unlimited flow of beer. I look forward to this. Feel free to check in at Wak-Wak's Twitch channel around 3 PM CET Saturday December 28th.
'Til then, season's greetings and a happy Christmas!
I guess there's a lot I could write about. The NOSMTG Brother's Highlander tournament, reactions to the spoiler season thus far, strange tech or ideas. But Christmas is knocking on the door, and time is of the essence. If you want some proper oldschool fix, I suggest re-reading the spoiler article from 52-Week Beta. It is simply fantastic and keeps on giving.
So spoilers. I was supposed to spoil something today, and it can't be Spirit of the Night. But in the vein of summon legends, it could be a good time to spoil a couple of (very) niche rares in the set. If you've been following the spoilers, you might have picked up on these three cards from before:
These are pretty good cards. As Homelands cardboard go, one could even call them very good. If they'll find a home, I don't know, but they measure up well against most creatures from the early to mid 90s. And as monocolor legends they represent something previously absent from 93/94.
Which brings us to birds. What's up with all the birds in Scryings? Duskrider Falcon, Wild Aesthir, Freewind Falcon, Storm Crow? Is this all just niche or filler, or are we seriously trying to give subtle incentive to people to build a stupid tier4 bird deck? Well, I think this card will answer that question adequately:
Just add Zephyr Falcon and you'll have a deck right there. Confuse people with banding and ride the skies to victory. Soraya can even be saved by Karakas. There's a white legend for you.
Having mono-colored legends in three or four colors rather than five in the set was just too inelegant. Cycles and symmetry are things after all, even if we don't immediately recognize them. In fact, quite a few things in Scryings that may appear somewhat random at first often have an idea of sorts. Like the gold cards distribution. There are three of them total, as a nod to the multi-color setup in The Dark. In The Dark, gold cards were limited to green, red and black. And here, as Lord of Tresserhorn is in fact blue as well (along with the acknowledged black and red), only white doesn't get any mana symbols on gold cards. But instead white gets a special land in Kjeldoran Outpost. So the fact that not all colors get gold cards and only one color gets a non-basic do have some sort of precedence to the madness.
What was I talking about? Oh, yeah, the blue Legend.
I'm kinda happy that this wasn't the rare for any of the spoiler boosters. In a vacuum, this is an underwhelming card. And for sure it was one of the last cards added to the set. However, there are no monocolored Legends in ordinary 93/94, and I for one have tinkered quite a bit with both 93/94 EDH and 93/94 Brawl. The common consensus for 93/94 Brawl is to errata creatures that are "clearly legendary" (like Niall Silvain and Uncle Istvan) to legends for monocolor deck building purposes. While effective as a brewing option, it isn't that pretty, and giving players that want to test EDH or Brawl with 93/94 Scryings the opportunity to go monocolor without special rules seemed like a nice idea.
On that note of old school legends, in just four days we'll have the Scryings release event! And as I and Kalle knew all the cards in the set already, I figured that we needed some skillful opposition to even out the odds a bit. This is the rooster for Saturday (this picture layout may look odd on small screens btw):
Invite via: Won the 2019 World Championship
Sharks: 2
Martin's name frequently comes up when discussing the strongest players in the old school format, and he's probably the best 93/94 control player in the world. He is also physically strong.
Invite via: Won the 2019 Scandinavian Championship
Sharks: 1
With a couple years' experience slinging 93/94, Olof is actually kinda new to the format as this rooster goes. He hosts the bi-weekly 93/94 meetups in Gothenburg, wins n00bcon invites in Vienna, and most recently won the Scandinavian Championship.
Invite via: Just a spike brewer with a platform. Also have like infinite 2nd places in tournaments.
Sharks: 0
Svante combines being a natural spike with a love for brewing. He'll only win tournaments Gordon Anderson organizes, while placing second in most others. He also blags and have a tendency to join podcasts and streams.
Invite via: Original gangster of 93/94 and fixer for the event.
Sharks: 2
Kalle co-founded 93/94 back in 2007 and has a black belt in anything casual and elusive. He also makes most of the art related to 93/94 Magic here in the north, including the Scryings booster for all y'all wondering where that one came from. Stellar human and player.
Invite via: Knows the organizer well
Sharks: 0
Hey, I invited myself. I know all the cards in the set, but unlike most of the rooster here I've never drafted at a Pro Tour, so I guess it evens out.
Invite via: Scandinavian Champion 2018
Sharks: 1
Åland has been at the top tables in the format for many years, and eventually picked up a well-deserved Shark at the 2018 Scandinavian Championship. Matching strong plays with strong beer, and somehow representing a small island outside the coast of Finland.
Invite via: Organizer of the Scandinavian Championship (and the Arvika Festival)
Sharks: 0
Markus represents the city with probably the highest density of 93/94-players in the world. An organizer of large events, a very solid player, and not the least the luckiest booster ripper north of Cape Horn. He also looks dangerous.
Invite via: Most Pro Tour top8s at the time Scryings cards were actually relevant.
Sharks: 1
Olle is, simply put, a very good Magic player. He also has a kinda dry humor, which I often find surprisingly hilarious.
So that's the crew for Saturday. 8 players, 7 Giant Sharks, a bunch of Pro Tours, and about 60 years combined experience in the 93/94 format. Most of us going in blind in regard to the full set. We'll draft, then play seven grueling rounds with ante each duel. The card you lose you lose ownership of, and your opponent may rebuild their deck with any cards won after each duel. The winner last standing gets glory and some stuff. The last twenty cards or so from the set will be spoiled during the event, either by booster openings or by the commentators. There will be an unlimited flow of beer. I look forward to this. Feel free to check in at Wak-Wak's Twitch channel around 3 PM CET Saturday December 28th.
'Til then, season's greetings and a happy Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Looking forward to see the stream!
SvaraRaderaThat Riven Turnbull made my day :) /Åland
SvaraRaderaThis will be Legendary.
SvaraRadera