Technology – The Alpha Build: Avacyn and the Tempest
August 19, 2016
By Rachael
Remember how Weatherlight was our “second biggest update”? Ya, now it’s only the third biggest.
I’m not going to lie: I almost didn’t want to count a game or two because it felt like they ended way too fast. But being selective with our games isn’t really how I roll.
IN:
Ancient Tomb, Marble Titan, Scroll Rack, Serene Offering, Cloudchaser Eagle, Winds of Wrath, Sacred Guide, Pearl Medallion, Orim, Samite Healer, Flickering Ward, Orim’s Prayer, Oracle en-vec, Master Decoy
On the one hand, I love that we got a bunch of card that I can get excited about. I really do. But that also means some cards are just straight getting kicked out of the deck. Some, like Marble Titan, actually feel like upgrades since they do something that an existing card already does with some upside.
I’m really excited to have Orim, Samite Healer in the deck. At one time I was considering playing her as my mono-white Commander of choice. Atalya, Samite Master ultimately won that role before Avacyn came out, but I’ve always kind of wondered about Orim and the adventures we could’ve had.
OUT:
Plains (x1), Meekstone, Jalum Tome, Illumination, Abeyance, Icatian Town, Sacred Mesa, Afterlife, Ivory Tower, Library of Leng, Mana Vault, Rashida Scalebane, Wall of Swords
These were decent cards we just cut. But in the interest of trying new things, some of these cuts had to be made. Again, some cards felt like they had just been strictly upgraded. Others either weren’t performing as well as I had wanted or weren’t showing up at all. After a certain point, you get tired of waiting and want to move onto something else.
You’ll note that there is a pretty noticeable absentee from this update: Wasteland. Unfortunately, that card is not cheap, even by MTGO standards. Rest assured, it will be added in after next month’s Patronage has been collected. You guys deserve to see the best cards possible (within the means that you provide me, again, via Patreon).
Next time, we’ll be continuing the Tempest block with a Stronghold update.