Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

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Porting Innistrad

Post by Strahdsbuddy »

First, a question: Is the next expansion, Dark Ascension, a continuation of the Innistrad theme? The information I found said it is "block 2 of 3 in Innistrad capsule" and since I'm not familiar with the game, I'm unaware if capsules are usually theme-consistent . It would be nice for them to make 3 sets of gothic goodness!

Because I'm a sucker, just the kind of obsessive sucker a company like Wizards
loves, I've collected about 700 Innistrad cards and begun playing with some friends of mine. The Ravenloft lovers among the group play with that grim smile, knowing how nicely the Innistrad tropes would fit into the demiplane. Has anyone tried porting Innistrad, at least in concept?

I could see the four provinces existing as its own cluster. The game doesn't necessarily introduce any ideas that are not in use elsewhere in the setting, but its unique combination of familiar ideas could be a good way to throw off Ravenloft grognards who get their silver out the moment the cross into Verbrek (tough to separate player knowledge from character knowledge at ALL times).

I'm looking forward to the Nov 9th "Savor the Flavor" article regarding the openly vampiric Stensian nobles. I hope they touch on humans' opinion of their aristocrats a bit more. How do you think the peasant view the bloodsuckers? How do they even maintain power?

The fading Church of Avacyn is brilliant. The fact that their patron was actually physically a part of their world is a great way to shake a faith to the core in her absence. Avacyn's disappearance could even be the sign that the area had been drawn into Ravenloft, a place where gods--or archangels--are not allowed to tread. The idea of the church trying to maintain the faith, and its power, without the divine focus could make for some shady dealings, even from those white-deck goody goodies!

I also liked the idea of the Erdwal subterranean market place. If I didn't bring the entire setting into the demiplane, i think I'd still like to add something like that to an existing Ravenloft city. Maybe Egertus?

I'm interested in your thoughts. Obviously, there is no need to steal the whole setting, but what about Innistrad has got you guys thinking differently about our own setting?
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Re: Porting Innistrad

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Strahdsbuddy wrote:First, a question: Is the next expansion, Dark Ascension, a continuation of the Innistrad theme? The information I found said it is "block 2 of 3 in Innistrad capsule" and since I'm not familiar with the game, I'm unaware if capsules are usually theme-consistent . It would be nice for them to make 3 sets of gothic goodness!
Yes. "capsule" is a word i haven't heard. They call them blocks. Each year has a new block of 3 related sets, all (usually) taking place in the same world and all (usually) being a continuation of the story, flavor, and mechanics established in the first set. (Usually) the first is a "large" expansion of about 300 cards, and the other two are "small" expansions of about 100 cards. So "Dark Ascension" and the following set will both be sequels to Innistrad.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Strahdsbuddy »

that makes me happy! Four of my friends and I are all getting back into the game r playing for the first time because of this set, so I am hoping similar interest in occurring elsewhere, driving up sales and showing WizBro just how profitable Gothic horror can be, both for MTG and for certain OTHER properties...

By the way, Black/Blue zombie deck with some vamps sprinkled in, completely dominated my brother all night. He was frustrated by my twice-cast Army of the Damned. They don't call it Platoon of the Damned!
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Dark Ascension previews have started. You can see all the officially spoiled cards here:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/articl ... ension/cig

So far the only major twist is "Undying" which is pretty much "Persist" in reverse, but I think it will work really well in this theme. There's also "Fateful Hour," abilities that trigger or turn on when you have 5 life or less. Everything else is pretty much the expected new twists on the stuff from the first set. (Double-face cards that turn into different types, etc.) (Not that this is a bad thing! Since I loved Innistrad, more of the same with a few new twists is a good thing!)

Art continues to be amazing, and very Ravenlofty.
ImageImage

And my personal fave:
Image

JAR OF FREAKING EYEBALLS!!!! :)

Can't wait for the pre-release (weekend of January 27th!)
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

The full Dark Ascension spoiler is up:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/articl ... ension/cig#
(click on ALL CARDS)

Once again, a home run for flavor, with some awesome sounding cards. Can't wait to see them in action this weekend.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by herkles »

I am not a magic player, but the artwork is cool.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Had a lot of fun at the pre-release. The set is definitely "more of the same" of Innistrad, but since I loved Innistrad, that's great!

Huntmaster of the Fells was great. I managed to flip him back and forth like 5 times in one game, getting 6 life, 3 wolves, 4 damage to my opponent and killing two of his critters.

I pulled TWO jars of eyeballs. Kinda mediocre card, though I love the flavor. Didn't really need two, though. One kid popped TWO "Sorin, Lord of Innistrad"s. He won before he even played. :)

The only art I'm disappointed with is Elbrus, the binding blade. reading the spoiler, it sounded like the perfect version of Ebonbane. But the blade side looks like some kind of bone dagger, not a sword. wah.

Now I'm curious/worried about Avacyn Restored. I'm not sure why they decided to do a mechanics reboot. I think there's plenty of steam left in these mechanics, unlike the land-matters of Zendikar. I hope the flavor at least stays similar. I don't want Avacyn to come back and make Innistrad all cheery and happy. WotC usually likes to change the setting for the worse, though, (Rise of the Eldrazi, Shadowmoor, New Phyrexia...) not the better, so maybe it'll be OK.

Maybe Avacyn can come back and start a Carnival. :)
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Strahdsbuddy »

I thought it was a bold move to change Mikaeus the Lunarch into Mikaeus the stitched-together-undead-horror-that-eats-parishoners. He's a skaab, too, which means some sicko specifically harvested him for terrible purpose!

I was also worried about the happy ending implied by the return of Avacyn. Not terribly Ravenloft-ish. Overall I think the line has great flavor. The guys I play with, a mix of old grognards and casual gamers like me, seem split on Innistrad as it relates to building decks. The old school guys don't seem impressed with the abilities. For my part, I play exclusively with Innistrad cards and lose a lot. Only thing that keeps me afloat is the (universal) mana costs being lowered compared to older sets that are brought to the table.

Looking forward to grabbing some DA cards on Friday, though!
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Strahdsbuddy wrote:The guys I play with, a mix of old grognards and casual gamers like me, seem split on Innistrad as it relates to building decks. The old school guys don't seem impressed with the abilities. For my part, I play exclusively with Innistrad cards and lose a lot. Only thing that keeps me afloat is the (universal) mana costs being lowered compared to older sets that are brought to the table.
Depending on how old you're talking, it's not so much that mana costs have gone down in general, just mainly on creatures. They've made a push to make creature combat more relevant over the years, and creatures have had power creep, while for the most part non-creature spells have gotten more expensive.

A long time ago, Serra Angel was considered too powerful to be reprinted. Now we have Baneslayer Angel.
On the flipside, Counterspell was reprinted more than 10 times. Everyone thought it was fine. Now we have Cancel instead.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by DeadReborn »

Because of Innistrad and Dark Ascension, I've gone from not really interested in MtG, to were do I sign up. This is a really fun game and I wish I would have discovered it sooner.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Well, from what I've seen of Avacyn Restored so far, I'm much less interested in it than I was in the last two. Maybe I'll "get it" when I see a bit more, but so far, I don't see the point to rebooting the mechanics of the block. Individual cards from the set are exciting, but there's nothing that says, "this is why we had to dump flashback, double-faced cards, morbid, fateful hour, etc." I mean, it's still magic, and I'll still play, but I'm not rushing to the pre-release this time.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

It's widely perceived storywise that Avacyn Restored represents a break from previous cycles; for the first time in four or so years, the current world has a "happy ending." Lorwyn, Alara, Zendikar and Mirrodin all suffered from "bad" endings: Lorwyn became Shadowmoor, Alara was forced to reform, the primordial Eldrazi were released unto Zendikar, and Mirrodin became New Phyrexia.

Game-wise, "undying" still exists. There's a new mechanic called "miracle" that lets you cast a spell for less if it's the first spell you played on your turn. The other mechanic is the "bond" thing which seems okay.

After a gothic world such as Innistrad, I personally can't wait for the Return to Ravnica (a gothic architecture world).
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by herkles »

ooh the next one is a Gothic architecture world? thats pretty neat. I don't play magic, I know some of my friends do though, however the cards are pretty and I like to look at them and get ideas from the artwork there.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Yeah, undying is still there, but undying was hardly the most exciting part of Innistrad/Dark Ascension. A happy ending is nice for a change, but I'm not sure why that couldn't have been accomplished with a normal, small-sized 3rd set in the block.

I thought the Return to Ravnica was debunked as a hoax. Has is been confirmed?

I mean, they'd be crazy not to do it eventually. Ravnica was probably the best block ever. But it seems too soon after the return to Mirrodin, and also soon after the last multicolor block (Alara). I doubt it will be next.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Algaris »

You might want to take a look here Return to Ravnica.
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