Zendikar
I think this new block of Magic the Gathering is shaping up to be pretty awesome. It's like Indiana Jones on steroids, where the traps and natural dangers are so extreme that even Planeswalkers with all their magic and power can't just stroll in. In fact, the flavor articles are giving the impression that magic might not even be all that helpful in the face of the ferocity and power of Zendikar.
I'm also digging the way it's set up. For one, it really conveys a good flavor sense of why you're basically fighting everyone you meet. Blocks like Alara and Lorwyn can do that to an extent, but the flavor pretty much disappears the moment you're up against someone running the same tribe/shard as you. Also, it feels more like the Planeswalkers (the players) are large and in charge, instead of just the general of some Kitkhin or Elvish or Bantish or Esper army. With so much chaos and danger, the world also really feels big enough and attractive enough to contain myraid Planeswalkers, fighting each other and the natives and the world itself for awesome treasure.
Landfall is a cool ability, and will add another dimension to planning. You can't just decide on if you have enough mana to play your spells. You have to decide if it's worth it to put extra land in that will pump your guys or put free 4/4 Beasts in to play, or several things at once. Oh wait, who am I kidding? A few real Magic players will put in all the time and effort and brainpower into constructing and tweaking and modifying a deck into perfection, and then all the parasites will just copy off of them.
Yeah, I'm kinda' bitter here.
My main hopes with Zendikar is that the special lands will really live up to the hype--I'm only halfway sold as-is--and that the format will slow down and not be dominated by one or two particular types of decks. (Though with the latter, again, who am I kidding?) I'll settle with just slowing down the format. It's kinda' sad that a lot of really cool decks just aren't viable because friggin' Kithkin will kill you by turn 4. Vampires look really cool, but I'm really hoping they don't become 'black Kithkin.' They *probably* won't, since they don't have Ajani or Honor of the Pure and don't seem to have ridiculous token-production thus far. Their lord is fairly sick, but also is conditional and doesn't come down 'til at least turn four. I think they'll be powerful enough to be cool and fun (and I actually want to try my hand at it), but not enough to be black Kithkin. This is good.
So yeah, I'm pretty stoked for this set.
EDIT: Haha, how could I forget one of the coolest bits? Full-picture lands for the win!
I'm also digging the way it's set up. For one, it really conveys a good flavor sense of why you're basically fighting everyone you meet. Blocks like Alara and Lorwyn can do that to an extent, but the flavor pretty much disappears the moment you're up against someone running the same tribe/shard as you. Also, it feels more like the Planeswalkers (the players) are large and in charge, instead of just the general of some Kitkhin or Elvish or Bantish or Esper army. With so much chaos and danger, the world also really feels big enough and attractive enough to contain myraid Planeswalkers, fighting each other and the natives and the world itself for awesome treasure.
Landfall is a cool ability, and will add another dimension to planning. You can't just decide on if you have enough mana to play your spells. You have to decide if it's worth it to put extra land in that will pump your guys or put free 4/4 Beasts in to play, or several things at once. Oh wait, who am I kidding? A few real Magic players will put in all the time and effort and brainpower into constructing and tweaking and modifying a deck into perfection, and then all the parasites will just copy off of them.
Yeah, I'm kinda' bitter here.
My main hopes with Zendikar is that the special lands will really live up to the hype--I'm only halfway sold as-is--and that the format will slow down and not be dominated by one or two particular types of decks. (Though with the latter, again, who am I kidding?) I'll settle with just slowing down the format. It's kinda' sad that a lot of really cool decks just aren't viable because friggin' Kithkin will kill you by turn 4. Vampires look really cool, but I'm really hoping they don't become 'black Kithkin.' They *probably* won't, since they don't have Ajani or Honor of the Pure and don't seem to have ridiculous token-production thus far. Their lord is fairly sick, but also is conditional and doesn't come down 'til at least turn four. I think they'll be powerful enough to be cool and fun (and I actually want to try my hand at it), but not enough to be black Kithkin. This is good.
So yeah, I'm pretty stoked for this set.
EDIT: Haha, how could I forget one of the coolest bits? Full-picture lands for the win!