Magic: The Gathering 10th Edition
By: Eric M. Martin |
Wednesday July 11, 2007 |
| "The hallmark for card games" |
| "The hallmark for card games"
I spent some time at a local comic book shop, as I usually do. But that day was no ordinary day. That day was Friday, and Friday means Magic tournament night. Talk about a test in patience for me. I have no love of the game and I probably never will, but it’s a big seller at the shop, as well as nationwide. There’s no denying that Magic: The Gathering is going to be around for a good long while. So what’s next on this little venue? The inevitable release of Magic: The Gathering 10th Edition. I spent a little time speaking to many of the Magic-ites swarming the shop, as well as our writer Jeff Lajaunie, who is faithfully employed at said shop and is given the task of monitoring these tournaments. Let’s see what they had to say about this latest incarnation of the popular card game. What are you looking forward too with the release of Magic: The Gathering10th Edition? Alex Gaudet: They’re bringing back a couple of cards that I played with when I first started playing Magic that I was never able to play with in competitive Magic because they went out when I started playing competitive Magic. But now they’ll be coming back, so it’ll be awesome for, you know, the next two years, to be able to play with the cards that we know are strong that I just couldn’t use. Other than that, Birds of Paradise and Wrath of God are still here, so it doesn’t change the way we play all that much, but they printed Goblin Lure again, so that’s gonna be awesome. Philip Wortman: I like that they’ve brought back some of the older Legends, such as Arcanis, which have so far been out for about two or three years, which were very powerful. They’ve started to bring them back now since the game is now thirteen years old. It’s the hallmark for card games. Brody Bozeman: My favorite part personally, and with a lot of the Magic players, is the black border because most Magic players hated the white borders anyway. Gerald Poirrier: The return of the Urza’s Legacy lands, especially the Fairy Conclave and and the Treetop Village, especially. They were some of my favorite cards back when they were legal. Being able to play them again makes it more interesting. Anna-Marie Maple: A lot of the cards that I thought might leave play from 9th edition are actually staying in 10th. There are a few coming back that I am really excited about. Aaron Courvelle: The Muse Cycle seems to be what’s really handy as far as tournament play. The Muse Cycle is one of my favorite cycles ever made. The Black Muse gives really good card and creature advantage. The White Muse is good against agro. The Green Muse is just all-around good. Jeff Lajaunie: BLACK BORDER! Woooooooooooo! Is there anything in 10th edition that you feel that they’ve adjusted that they shouldn’t have? Alex Gaudet: They took out Urza Tron, but they didn’t add anything else that provides a massive Mana advantage. Urza Tron is three separate lands. With all of them in play, two of them provide two Mana and the third provides three. Philip Wortman: Counterspell. It’s been out for a few of the editions. I was kind of hoping they’d bring it back for 10th edition, but they’ve replaced it with a card called Cancel, which does the same thing , but it’s a little more costly. Brody Bozeman: They took away some of my personal favorite cards in the control aspect of the game. They took away the Rewind. They also took away some real staples, such as Persecute. Gerald Poirrier: Not really. Anna-Marie Maple: No. I think it’s fine. Aaron Courvelle: Maybe the card advantage for Black. They’ve replaced the Phyrexian Arena with the Black Muse, which does the same thing, but the Arena is a lot cheaper. It kind of slows down the game a bit. Jeff Lajaunie: BLACK BORDER! Are there any adjustments in 10th edition that you’re very happy about? Alex Gaudet: They put Pithing Needle back in, and they’ve put back in some really quality Green creatures. Philip Wortman: Adding Legends to these editions. Never before have there been Legends in these editions. Brody Bozeman: They brought back a great card in Pithing Needle. I think in every thing they took away that was too powerful, they added something new to the loop. Every time they add a core set, something broken gets taken away and something broken gets brought back. So really, I think it’s about the same as the other sets in terms of stability and unknown factors for people to figure out exactly what they can do with the cards. Gerald Poirrier: Labeling some of the abilities with Keyword names makes it easier for players who are just starting. Anna-Marie Maple: I look forward to the changes, because it’s part of the game. Looking forward to certain cards coming out, and how things play out, and how are you going to tackle this and combat that, what have you. It’s all part of the game. Aaron Courvelle: Squee Goblin Nabob. It’s another card advantage for Red. Jeff Lajaunie: BLACK BORDER, BLACK BORDER, BLACK BORDER! As you can see, there are many reasons for long-time players to be excited about 10th Edition, even if it’s only about the revival of the black border. What truly remains to be seen is the actual execution of product. But one thing is for sure: Magic players will buy it, even if it ends up totally sucking. Why? If I knew the answer, I’d be a rich man. |
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