Champions of Kamigawa: Justy what the Doctor Ordered

[Exaulted_Leader]

Y'know, I was always pretty excited about CoK's release. The art, the them, the Legends... it seemed like a very original concept. The hype had it's ups and downs, and in the end, I thought the overall playability and power level of a majority of the set would be - at best - mediocre (though that wouldn't stop the set from being rediculously awesome).

Today, myself and a car load of friends drove out to the pre-release. We paid our entry fee, got our promo cards (the red Lendargy Dragon? A promo card that's actually playable for once. Neat) and got our sealed-deck packs. We opted to immediately drop-out of the tournament and take the sealed stuff home, purchasing two boxes each on our way out the door to set-up some casual deck-construction shannanigans.

Champions can only be described in one word:

WOW.

Bushido just may be the most devastating psychological weapon I've ever seen. It convinces your opponent that letting creatures through for direct damage straight to their life points is a terrific idea. By the time you've poked-away over half of their life and they start to realize what's going-on, it's too late.

Soulshift wasn't all that meaningful, though perhaps another set or two needs to be released before Soulshift really sees it's hayday.

The Color Wheel has been Repaired!

I don't mean totally fixed & balanced in one fell swoop - but significant alterations have been made to bring lesser colors forward a good margin. White's weenie power is now awesome, Black has been given the necessary tools to fight it's way back into the tier 1 scene, Green now has some insane tricks up it's sleeve and Blue has been largely left with the same stuff it's always had.

The moment you get the opportunity, check this stuff out. It will not disappoint.

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

I went to the Atlanta pre-release, as usual looking for the foil Dragons from the set, and hankerin' to play with the new cards.

I entered 2 flights, went 2-1 in each, and won a few packs.

None of the dealers in the room had gotten any of the foil Dragons in trade, so I guess I'll be going on line for those.

First impressions after playing w/ the cards are the same I had after reading the spoiler - weenie/bushido rules, as long as you have a little beef for the late game.

My personal MVP was Devouring Rage, the instant that allows you to sac spirits (plenty available - I had 9 in my deck) to boost a creature by 3/0 for each spirit sacced, and a base boost of 3/0. This card won me several games when I was dead the next turn by giving an attacking creature a boost of 9-15 points - definitely a first pick in future limited events, IMO.

Anyway, the set is not as powerful as the previous block, when you could just drop Cranial Plating, Skull Clamp, or Loxodon Warhammer and just win - and that's a good thing. I like having to actually play the game that relying on a broken card or two.

Overall, a very balanced set. I saw people playing all colors and doing well with each.

 

[Notepad]

See...I told you walls would matter, eventually. With Kamigawa comes a major needed overhaul to the complex and often tournament-floundering wall rule. Nice to see. Walls now matter!

*yuck yuck*

 

[Oversoul]

I know. It was so confusing. I tried to attack with Carnivorous Plant one time. My opponent was like, "you can't." Then I was like "why not?" and he said "because you're an idiot" then he killed me by ripping my kidneys out...

 

[Killer Joe]

Report to follow on front page either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Here's the quick stats:

I played in 2 flights.
Flight 1 - Round 1 - Lost
Flight 1 - Round 2 - BYE
Flight 1 - Round 3 - Lost
Flight 1 - Round 4 - Lost
Flight 1 - Round 5 - Drop!

0 - 3

Flight 7 - Round 1 - Lost
Flight 7 - Round 2 - Won
Flight 7 - Round 3 - Draw
Flight 7 - Round 4 - Won
Flight 7 - Round 5 - Won

3 - 1 - 1
7th Place and walked away with six booster packs of CoK

 

[Exaulted_Leader]

My Kamigawa MVP thus far:

Soilshaper. This guy can cause an awful lot of early-game havok with some cheap Arcane business (Kodoma's Might being my personal favorite) and a few support Spirits. You can work-out a REALLY awesome turbo-land deck with these guys, Azusa, Lost but Seeking and Rude Awakening.


I'm also a huge fan of all the synergy happening with all of the new white weenies (My most favorite art pf the entire set goes to what Christopher Moeller did with 'Samurai of the Pale Curtain', followed by Stephen Tappin's rendering of 'Sensei Golden-Tail'. Holy crap they look awesome!). Samurai of the Pale Curtain shuts-up any hope for decks to compete through redundant recursion, Sensei Golden-Tail strengthens your forces every turn that he's out (beyond the first), Takeno, Samurai General invokes a massive tempo-swing (possibly a game-ending one) in your favor, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails can keep disruption away from your troops and big bombs like Yosei, the Morning Star and Konda, Lord of Eiganjo are huge payoffs for your weenies' ability to keep the board under pressure.

 

[Nightstalkers]

So far, the only real thing I get outta COK is...


XD


I just noticed something, if you try saying COK by the acronym and not the long drawn out name you say ****... Okay, sorry... went a little juvenile on ya there...



Anyways, its all eye candy, so it makes me wonder if she should have more whimsical stuff like this printed on cards or not.

 

[Oversoul]

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that most casual players love the COK. In popularity, the COK is growing.

 

[Ephraim]

I don't think that the acronym provides any problem whatsoever. Just consider that the contraction of the word of is o', pronounced as a long Ō. Therefore, CoK could just as easily be pronounced kōk.

 

[Oversoul]

It could also be pronounced the way it is spelled, which is to say that it would be pronounced the same way as the word "****." While this is normally used to define a male bird of some sort, it can also mean the call that a rooster makes, an upward tilt, a hammer on a firearm, the action of moving the hammer on a firearem into the firing position, a weathervane shaped like a rooster, or a valve which regulates liquid or gas. I see nothing wrong with COK and **** sharing this pronunciation...

Besides, I think that since the magic community has been pronouncing it the same way as "****" for so long, that pronunciation of COK has penetrated our way of saying the word. It's too late to go back now. The COK is already firmly in place. Just leave it there...

It appears that some glitch in the forum has caused my usage of the word "****" to turn into series of asterisks. How odd...

 

[Spiderman]

It's not a glitch, it's called forum auto-editing.

I only realized too late last week (after I made plans) that the prerelease was last weekend. Oh well. Maybe the next one.

Exaulted_Leader: Why did you drop out immediately of the tournament again? Just to go home and do lots of sealed?

 

[Oversoul]

Originally posted by Spiderman
It's not a glitch, it's called forum auto-editing.

I know. I was joking. It's sort of ridiculous, since the word "****" usually means, well, what I detailed earlier. And that was how I used it. I was not referring to a phallus, oink, oink, or schmuck. None of which was auto-edited, oddly enough...

 

[Spiderman]

Oversoul: It usually means a male rooster but has taken a new context of late, especially when used with the wink*wink*nudge*nudge of COK. Kinda how "faggot" got morphed from its meaning of bundled sticks to a gay person.

NorrYtt: Hey, you should've submitted it to the front page here, unless you're still hoping to see it at StarCity and they have a policy against double-posting of articles at different sites...

 

[Oversoul]

I know, but I was not using it in THAT context...

The auto-editor can't tell that, because it has no brain...

 

[Spiderman]

Hey, if you know of an editor that can tell context from a post, please share...

 

[Oversoul]

Huh?

 

[Spiderman]

I'm saying that I get the impression you think the editor should know the context of the word you type. So if you dislike what this forum uses, you should try to find one that CAN tell the difference.

 

[Oversoul]

If I come across one that does have a brain or something, I'll be sure to let you know...

I don't know how complex auto-editors are though. I never researched it. I never liked auto-editors at all, for the reason that they usually make mistakes like the one that butchered my post...

 

[Spiderman]

Yes, but who actually uses that word in that context often? Only those "intellengsia" people who want to seem witty... most people are going to use rooster and the word in question is going to be used in the context for why it's edited.

 

[Oversoul]

I hadn't thought of it that way. Good point...