Basically if you don't draw this or it gets countered, your deck would just be filled with subpar creatures...

Uh... this is really not better than Leyline of Sanctity.

Considering that this costs 4, can be countered, and be subjected to artifact destruction, I'd say Leyline is way better.

Well, first of it, it's got flash, and that's a huge deal. It's also blue, so it pitches to you know what. It has a decent body as well. Lastly, most of what you would want to reuse in vintage are instant and sorcery anyway, so the limited card type doesn't really matter much.

This is quite amazing, and certainly has eternal potentials. I think the greatest thing about this is that it has flash, EoT this + ancestral will be a pretty common play. The 2/1 body is also very very decent. The only question would be, what do you cut for it? Flash it, target FoW -> pitch another card would be a pretty decent last resort counter as well.

Btw, isn't this radically different from the Tiago's original version? I thought that was a counterspell on a land...

It's a pretty terrible oath target.

1. After an activation, there's no guarantee that anything worthwhile will be left in your library.

2. It's probably worthless if it's oathed up on second activation.

Rumor just came in from Salvation:

Thopter Assembly 6
5/5 Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control no other thopters, return ~ to your hand and put 5 1/1 flying artifact thopters into play.
 
Very nice synergy with smokestacks. Seems like this block will be VERY good for Stax.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Edit* Image added, name corrected.

It requires a little tailoring, but the beauty of it is that it doesn't require your deck to run crap for it to be good. Sure, it's useless by itself, but artifact destruction should already be included in your deck, and they work wonders even without Liquidmetal.

Poison becoming a real Legacy deck? If only I could see the day....
 
Anyway, Liquidmetal is real, and full spoiler is out:
 
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/scarsofmirrodin/spoiler#

Well, you want a card that's good on its own, not a card that makes you play other crappy cards in your deck.

I really think this is way too slow an answer for jace though... in order for it to kill jace, you need to drop it early AND add counters each turn. You'd look like an idiot when this thing gets to 4 and your opponent still doesn't have jace, or you have 2 lodestones on your side.

Well, it serves a completely different purpose as Portal, not to mention 3 mana is so much easier to cast in shop than 4. One of the biggest difference between these two is that, in the case of portal, you want to imprint stuff that's USEFUL. While in terms of Anvil, you want to imprint stuff that's EXPENDABLE. Nobody will run things to imprint just for this, yet this can fit in shop nicely without needing any other cards to help out. Depending on situation, you might want to imprint an extra mox to it, or if null rod is on the table, you might wanna imprint a sol ring.
 
You also compared it to Metalworker, which is a fine comparison, but I disagree with your conclusion. One of the reasons why MW has faded out is that it's 1. slow, 2. vulnerable and 3. null rod. Anvil shares none of its weaknesses. In fact, Anvil is fast enough so that you can T1>Shop>Anvil>free sphere



I really think that 1 mana makes a world of difference, just like how ancient tomb is marginal, while workshop is archetype defining.

Very sure this guy won't get played. First of all, finisher spot is pretty tight in Stax, this unfortunately doesn't offer a body AND a usable ability, such as Karn or Steel Hellkite.
 
One of the best things about this thing, the indestructability, is rendered half as useful due to the fact that it can't block, so no Inkwell protection with this.
 
All in all, useless.

 
Basically the same as Power Keg. Will definitely see play?

This seems infinitely more playable than Kozilek. It also overcomes oath's weakness of creating anti-Eldrazi tokens for their opponents.

Context, my friend, context.
 
I compared the PLAYING/SPORTING part of magic with F1. Actually, I find your statement to be pretty hilarious. I'm not sure what you're implying, are you implying that money/donors doesn't matter in F1, or are you implying that Magic is not a skill based game?
 

1. You do realize that the majority of investment options out there do not pay dividend, right? In fact, most stocks don't even pay dividend.
2. Liquidity of cards depend entirely on the type of card you invested in. To say duals, or extended/std/legacy staples take forever to move is factually incorrect. They are easier to liquidate than a PE investment, or any structured product.
3. I didn't say I take cards as investment, nor did I 'cry about card value'. I simply stated that investing in cards isn't a 'bad choice'. To say that in absolute terms means you know nothing about investment. Say you buy duals in 2007, and you buy the equivalent amount in blue chip stocks in the same year, this year your card value would have gained 30% or more, while your stock would still be down.
 

I'm all ears.

Uh... google goldfarmer, google Fatal1ty, google Fragdolls.
 
We really need to end these archaic line of thoughts in this thead. Fact: people invest in internet companies, comic books, video games, wine, and guess what, MAGIC.

It's almost absurd to compare Magic to a Wii, they have nothing in common other then the fact that they are both a part of entertainment. Magic has more in common with an issue of Newsweek than Wii.
 
On to your main point, video game consoles are not designed to be collectable (although many collect them), people know this going in. However, magic IS designed to be collectable, and people went in to Vintage in particular, with a sense to retained value. Again, just because you 'lose money' on other entertainment options, doesn't mean you have to do so here.

People who call those who don't wish for reprint elitist are quite ridiculous. If you want to compare Vintage to other hobbies, you might as well compare it to F1. Only a hand full of people can race in F1, those who do need a ton of money from corporate backing. Those with less money from sponsors race in lesser leagues. Do you see drivers cry about how F1 drivers are elitist, and ask for the authority to allow EVERYONE to join F1? Fact of the matter is, Magic is a hobby built on money, like any other. Even in T2, those without means simply play a cheaper deck, rather than cry to wizards to give away free BSA and Jace 2.0 in order for everyone to be able to afford whatever the hell deck they want. If wizards were to do that, there would be no expensive cards that are played competitively, PERIOD. Whenever something is expensive, wizards would have to step in to artificially curb the price? That sounds like communism to me.
 
Fact of the matter is, people should play according to their means. If you can't afford to eat at Robuchon, then don't eat there, eat at MacDonalds. It's ridiculous to hold a sign outside of Robuchon to ask them to decrease their price. You are NOT entitled to Vintage, or magic, for that matter. If you can't pay to see a movie, then don't see it. To say everyone deserves to play whatever the hell they want is ridiculous, and unrealistic.
 
Lastly, there IS something resembling a solution in vintage, it's called proxy tournaments. People can easily play in proxy tournaments if they want to play vintage (in the states at least), yet they're simply not doing that. To say that card availability is THE reason vintage is unpopular is faulty.

I beg to differ.
 
Anything with a monetary value can be an investment, especially those that are deemed as 'hobby'. I'm not sure where you get that "hobby = lose money" view point from, but that is simply untrue. Let's take a look at comics, a geeky hobby just like magic. You can argue that comics are meant to be read... but guess what, it's now a legitimate investment. Action Comic #1 can buy you a house. We no longer live in a world where hobby needs to lose you money, or that hobby is simply an abyss for your disposable income.
 
I'm forced to take your 'if you want an investment that won't lose you money, invest in stock or put it in a bank' as an indication that you really don't know much about investment. As many people here can attest, stock markets can crash, so can a bank. To say those are better investments than, say a set of beta duals, is pretty ridiculous.
 
In fact, your claim that Magic wasn't created with card value in mind is completely false. One of the most ingenious part about Richard Garfield's invention is that he combined card game (uncollectable) with trading cards (collectable). Without this element, magic would not be the game it is today. If you want proof, simply look at the reason why they created boarders in the first place. They made unlimited white boarder for the purpose of  distinguishing reprints from the original, and to retain the value of the original card. Sure, they had no idea the cards would later become this valuable, but to say they didn't have the value/collectability of cards in mind is certainly bogus.


You are correct, people who play T2 have to accept their cards losing value once they rotate. Thus, if you played T2, you'd realize that people sell their cards a month or two before standard rotation. This is how the format keeps afloat, people sell their cards before rotation and plays block decks until the next set is released. Additionally, they KNOW their cards will lose value upon purchasing them. Nobody expects to buy a set of M10 duals, and expect it to be hot after rotation. However, ask the people who fork over thousands of dollars on powers if they expected their cards to lose value. Part of the reason why people don't think their cards will lose value is because of the reserve list, which is wizards way of telling people their collection will not be rendered worthless.


It really doesn't matter what you think Magic should and should not be about. If you think magic should be about losing money, then Gunslinga would be the anti-christ. Fact of the matter is, Magic is different things to different people, you really shouldn't subject your narrow view on other people.


Just because you are willing to have your collection turned to trash doesn't mean other people would like that. You might laugh at the guy who says his kid's collect tuition is in his cards, but it's true to some people. The thing about eternal is, a player can realistically play this hobby for years and then cash out for more than he put into. This is why some people play eternal. Not a lot of people would dump thousands on powers if you tell them their powers will be worthless in the future.
 
Bottom line, if you look at polls about the reserve list on any site, one thing is clear, we're talking about redistribution of wealth here. The have-nots advocate reprints since they have no monetary interest. The haves advocate no reprint. The Angelina Jolies (like Markse) advocate reprint to better the community. But redistributing wealth is not a good idea in real life, it also isn't good to magic. I believe Wizards will be forced to make a choice, and I believe the correct choice will be an unpopular one.