I just want to say that I'm still excited about this set.
It looks like a fun limited set (my preferred format) as well as opening up all sorts of possibilities in the new Standard environment. Even Extended got thrown a couple of nice juicy bones. And what on earth the "casual players" are griping about is beyond me.
Don't focus on what cards are not as good as what's available now in Standard, as nearly half of those cards are going away in a month. Instead, try to think of ways to use these cards with Masques blocks and 6th ed cards.
I was under the impression that we were sick of losing to Morphling and Masticore, that we wanted to play with more than one color at a time, that we wanted a new way to win, and that we wanted - above all - great creatures.
Well, guess what? Our wants are about to become reality.
I think that this block will prove to be one of the more interesting in the history of
Magic.
It will force players to reconsider the way they think about how the game is played.
Too much multicolor? I don't think so. It's only too much if it can't be played. But there are so many ways to put together a multicolor deck that there should be no problem at all playing whatever cards you want to play, in whatever combination you want to play them in, without having to fork over big cash for Birds of Paradise, dual land, City of Brass, or any of the other stuff that has traditionally been required to compete this way.
For limited, one can easily draft (or open in sealed) a three or four colored deck. In NetDrafts the last couple of days, I have even seen four-color decks that use only two basic lands types! I never would have expected it.
Enough rambling and ranting for now... I'll be back after the pre-release, with some articles (yes, that's plural
) for you (as in, sorry to have been away for so long, but I'm back, dammit) to peruse and decks to abuse.
Happy
Invasion!