Sliver Emperor's Blog

[markrosewater]

Inquiring Minds Want To Know - Planes to Visit in the Future

In today’s information gathering, I’m interested to hear what planes you want to visit in an upcoming Standard-legal set. Here’s how I would like you to respond. Please list, in order, your favorites from one up to five. You can list less than five, but please restrict yourself to five answers. Number 1 should be the plane you most want to see us visit in the future. 

If you’re interested you may also tell me why you want to return to that plane. You can list any known plane including ones we’ve never visited before. I need names of existing planes though and not “wild west plane”. 

Here’s an example:

1. Innistrad - It’s my favorite plane

2. Fiora - I love Conspiracy and would like to see Fiora in a Standard-legal set.

3. Tarkir - Go back, but there better be clans.

4. Rath - I don’t know how you’d do it, but I’d love it.

5. Alara - More Esper please.

I would love to get a lot of data, so please pass this along to your Magic friends to answer as well.

Please number your answers as the data will be weighted. I will count them in the order listed if you don’t number them. Please don’t list the same plane more than once. 

[sliveremperor]

1. Lorwyn, it’s my favorite plane

2. Dominaria, it’s my first plane

3. Alara, I want to know where the world is today

4. Innistrad, I want to see what Emrakul has in store

5. Vryn, I want to see how the death of Alhammaret affected the war, if Jaces parents are alive and remember him, and whether there are other telepaths about as good as Jace (whether or not they walk the planes)

[markrosewater]

A Couple Questions

I was hoping you guys could help me gather some data to settle a conversation we’ve been having.

1) What is your favorite Magic color?

2) How long have you been playing Magic rounded to the nearest year?

[sliveremperor]

All 5 colors, 15 yrs. I’ve gone through more than one esper, Mardu, and sultai phase so I guess Black if I really have to pick

[markrosewater]

Re: White vamps on Innistrad. Could we see Orzhov colored vampires on Innistrad with Sorin there, or does that dilute his identity as the only vampire with white to come out of that plane?

Innistrad is not getting white Vampires outside of Sorin.

[sliveremperor]

So, does this mean we will never see Edgar Markov in a regular set?

[markrosewater]

I hate Nicol Bolas, and I hope we get a break from him -- really, I hope Ugin kills him on Dominaria so the story can be free of him for good. I get that he's not in Ixalan, but if Vraska is working for him (River’s Rebuke) and the whole block is just part of his master plan, that's going to be super disappointing.

Let’s test the waters. Answer the following questions: (if you’re so inclined)

1) Do you like Nicol Bolas?2) Why or why not?3) How soon do you want to see him again?4) What’s in that egg between his horns?

[sliveremperor]

1) favorite character in all mtg. 2) I am a spike who LOVES his not-spike Bolas EDH deck. I get to roleplay as an evil powerful mastermind who steamrollers everything. 3) every other year seems good. His influence every 3rd plane. 4) Gem of Becoming. It has a card, finds you two basics. The gem probably stores mana.

[markrosewater]

We get The Scorpion God and The Locust God, but whose the third of the new gods and is it also an insect?

The Scarab God was previewed today,

[sliveremperor]

Technically a scorpion is an arachnid

[markrosewater]

Could you please be more specific about what's wrong with squirrels? WHY does creative not like them?

They think they’re too silly, I believe.

[sliveremperor]

Might of Oaks disagrees...

[markrosewater]

How do you match the pairings in MTG Head-to-Head? I'm just sad that damage prevention was paired with mass destruction, it didn't stand a chance.

Head-to-Head is seeded. Mass Creature Destruction is the top seed (#1) and Damage Prevention is the bottom seed (#16) so they meet in the first round. According the seeding is accurate, Damage Prevention was assumed to lose to everything.

[sliveremperor]

That sums it up nicely, "damage prevention is assumed to lose to everything" XD

[markrosewater]

"There is a method to our madness." Considering the lack of answers in standard being one of the overwhelming complaints with the format, I'm sure you can understand why many of us see that answer as not good enough.

Part of what I do on my blog is tease things. That means I can’t always give full answers.

If the majority of people want me to stop teasing with the occasional cryptic answer, I can do that, but my gut is that isn’t what the majority would want. Maybe I’m wrong though.

So I guess let’s ask all of you. Do you like my occasionally cryptic answers?

a) Yes, it’s cool to try and piece together what you mean.

b) No, if you can’t outright tell us something, don’t bother responding.

Please pick and answer and explain why.

[sliveremperor]

Not answering Maro's question, just putting this out there. "New players don't like answers" seems like studying part of the issue and not the whole. The great MTG boom with Innistrad happened at a time when strong answers DID get printed - 4 CMC wraths, color hate, GY hate. New players don't like it, but they're necessary for a fun tournament scene - a scene new players take a while to join. I think answers need to have a reasonable out, like RIP which has a number of naturalize answers. What's unfun is having a deck that's tough to beat before and after sideboard, no matter what's in your sideboard (Mardu Vehicles 🚗, Emrakul), unless you dedicate 6-7 slots (which smells like a bad metagame). Cat and mouse is fun, and that's what hate cards bring to tournament mtg.

[markrosewater]

Blogatog Feedback

I would love for you all to help me make this blog better. Please answer each below with as much information as you see fit. 1) What is your favorite thing about Blogatog? 2) What is your least favorite thing about Blogatog? 3) What change would you most like to see on Blogatog? 4) What would you most like see added to Blogatog? 5) Any comments you would like to make about Blogatog not captured by any of the above questions? Thank you for taking the time to give feedback.

[sliveremperor]

1- Access to an awesome mtg designer 2- Can't talk more openly about mtg's future 3- Announced themes (for 1 hr ask me about X) 4- Other wotc staff guest posts 5- keep being awesome

[markrosewater]

Could an unpopular plane be returned to under the context of it being invaded by a popular antagonist? I would love to see Phyrexians invade Kamigawa.

A fine question for the Kamigawa lovers, if the only way to return was an invasion (by something like the Phyrexians) which destroyed the world, would you be in favor or against it?

[sliveremperor]

Umm. I think it's about time for another bad guy win. Planar destruction hasn't happened since Serra's Realm (with timespiral events coming close to exploding planes)

[markrosewater]

Could there be a set where the colors are a evil twin of themselves? White is the villains, black is the heroes, green depends on the unnatural, blue is less knowledgeable, and red has thought out plans?

We like to find different facets of the colors to explore, but no we’re not interested in the colors not being themselves.

[sliveremperor]

Sounds interesting but you'd want the colors to be mechanically "in pie". Perhaps blue has no knowledge but desperately seeks it. R has no freedom but desperately wants it or bears insurmountable responsibility. B is selfless because they're magically compelled. G wants nature but is addicted to tech. W is perhaps at fault for the state of planar affairs (an Elesh Norn type villain). Is your color what you are because of circumstances or what you want in spite of circumstances?

[markrosewater]

When deciding if a card needs a ban, will the card having a recent reprinting as an Expedition/Invention/etc be a point of consideration?

I don’t think so. When we ban, the most important consideration is properly solving the problem.

[sliveremperor]

See Eye of Ugin. Eldrazi temple did not get an expedition.

[markrosewater]

What happened to Golems? Did you get rid of golems and replaced them with constructs! RUDE!

Golems don’t exist in every world.

[sliveremperor]

I think that a certain invention feels rather left out (solemn simulacrum is a golem, right?)

[markrosewater]

What Worlds Do You Want to Go Back to?

This poll is about worlds you’d like to return to. You can list as many as you like but please put them in order of preference so that your number one choice is where you may want to return.

[sliveremperor]

1. Lorwyn, 2. Dominaria, 3. Shadowmoor, 4. Alara, 5. Innistrad, 6. New Phyrexia

[markrosewater]

Hi Mark! I'm trying for the third time, some people say that's the charm. My Birthday was May 6th. First I asked for trivia about Emrakul - dashed hopes. Then, I asked about Uncle Istvan - dissipated. Now I'll ask for trivia on Vendilion Clique! It's an interesting card to ask about, because it is simple yet versatile and powerful. Hope you don't have a force of will for this 3rd trivia request. You seem to be tapped out.

All the Faeries in Lorwyn/Morningtide had flying. Originally they all had flash as well, but that proved a little too much, so we just had the blue Faeries have flash. That was still too much so we had most the blue Faeries have flash.

One of the big discussions with Vendilion Clique was can Blue have discard. Blue in theory is a distant secondary at discard usually because you force someone to discard and draw, so we used that technology to make Vendilion Clique. 

Happy Belated Birthday!

[sliveremperor]

Thanks for answering my question Mark!

[sliveremperor]

elazar125, Clique has 2 keyworded abilities in Flash and Flying, one is evasion and the other is a one time effect - they don’t make the card complex. Its one true ability is looking at a player’s hand, choosing to tucking a card, having them draw a different card if they do tuck. It’s a simple “one true ability” but also powerful because it has so many implications - it can be used on your opponent, especially during their draw step or end step before you try to combo off, it can be used on yourself to smooth your draws, or you can choose to “take a peek” and not use the ability at all. I like that a single ability is so versatile and powerful - plays very well with Flash but I think it’s not a “complex” ability, just one with many uses. Clique is powerful, not broken. It fits in aggro, control, and combo alike. Very few cards have so many uses - Clique has earned its place in the Modern and Legacy metagames.

[sliveremperor]

MTG Modern Prices

What competitive deck will experience the biggest price drop due to Modern Master’s 2015? I speculate it will be Splinter Twin. Namesake card, Cryptic Command, Vendilion Clique, Remand, Lightning Bolt, Mana Leak, and sideboard cards like Hurkyll’s Recall. Even the looming possibility of a reprinted scalding tarn in BFZ will affect prices. Do you think it will be a different deck?

[sliveremperor]

MTG Online Bots

Hi all,

I’m looking to feed my habit of playing Magic the Gathering Online by starting a bot farm. I have some equipment and am looking to start Sliver Emperor Bots around August if possible. What advice do you have?