[Premium Article] Morningtide Set Review

[Smmenen]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15344.html

Includes analysis of all of the potential playables and a top 5 list!   Go morningtide!

[vroman]

Deglamor = naturalize effect that shuffles back. good vs welder. however thats narrow, and afaik naturalize isnt played over oxidize or krosan grip. theres really a glut of decent artifact/enchant spot removal, w ancient grudge, ray revelation, hide/seek, etc. deglamor has a long line to overcome to get noticed.
I feel safe writing off this whole set as irrelevent.
unlikely earwig squad+frogtosser banaret will propel RB gobins to tier 1. even if frogtosser replaces vial to increase threat density, pure aggro still is weaker against the meta than aggro-control.
grimoire thief is worse than voidmage prodigy, bc it cant counter a spell unconditionaly, nor the turn it comes into play. having actually played jester's scepter in vintage tourneys (and top8ing) I can tell you the effect is unduly narrow. voidmage is only good bc it trumps counter-wars, and even that rarely justifies UU for 2/x, plus further mana investment. grimoire thief is backtracking from that standard for gimmicky extra utility that does not pay off.
I tested at length a UB rogue deck built to exploit earwig squad and knowledge exploitation. it was very good at what it did, and getting turn 2 earwig was common. it still lost to gat.
even mutavault I find questionable. although it can be pumped by factory, it cant pump itself or each other, which strips away the fundamentaly important ability of blocking as 3/3 by itself. which is why factory is so good vs fish. Ive played factory in many different archetypes, and obviously enjoyed what they have to offer. I do not seem to remember wanting 8 of them though, especialy w diminished capacity. if mutavault shows up anywhere, it will probably be in the aforementioned hypothetical RB goblins, due to pumping piledriver and gempalm, etc. Im still not convinced this deck is going anywhere though.
the situations where Disperse would be better than echoing truth are such a slim, slim minority, I cant possibly imagine giving up the ability to erase ETW tokens is worth it.
comes-into-play tapped lands are UNPLAYABLE. I will laugh at anyone who plays murmuring bosk for any reason.
countryside crusher is ungodly effiicient for every format except vintage. I expect extended/legacy RG loam to whore this monster out big time.
Id expected you to mention vendilion clique. 3/1 flyer for 3 w flash, and decent ability to trade out their yawgwill for random card. similar in tactical ability to aven mindcensor. maybe even better and more fish-centric color. great answer to tutor if you get priority before they go off. maybe this will find a home where mindcensor did not. +1 power might make the difference. confidence is low.

top 5 vintage morningtide:

1. earwig squad
2. frogtosser banaret
3. vendilion clique
4. mutavault
5.

the last spot has no realistic contenders. if RB goblins doesnt pan out, then this list has exactly one sub-par card on it.

[Tobi]

Deglamor = naturalize effect that shuffles back. good vs welder. however thats narrow, and afaik naturalize isnt played over oxidize or krosan grip. theres really a glut of decent artifact/enchant spot removal, w ancient grudge, ray revelation, hide/seek, etc. deglamor has a long line to overcome to get noticed.

Deglamer is the solution to Darksteel Colossus that green lacked.

I am very curious to see if anyone can get Maralen to work. Since she prohibits card draw, most decks will have to tutor for an answer. If you can counter that, it is up to you to abuse her ability --> walk --> will / walk --> etc

On the rest I agree with Steve.

[xycsoscyx]

top 5 vintage morningtide:

1. earwig squad
2. frogtosser banaret
3. vendilion clique
4. mutavault
5.

the last spot has no realistic contenders. if RB goblins doesnt pan out, then this list has exactly one sub-par card on it.

I think you should just push everything down one and put Warren Weirding on the top, since THAT gives RB Goblins a huge boost (and an actual answer to first turn Tinker->Colossus other than having to splash White for Swords).  I think Warren Weirding will be one of the more used cards in Vintage and Legacy from Morningtide, but time will tell.

[wiley]

How did they not have this "answer" with edicts?  Granted for a goblin deck this provides the ability to make two hasty goblins out of the non hasty one you played this turn, but is this really such good "new tech" for the deck? 

I haven't seen a huge number of lists for RB Goblins in a while, did they run edict?  Did this just become a situationally better/worse version of a card they already ran, or is it something they will now make room for?

If the latter, then it probably makes 5, but either way I doubt it makes 1.

[squeegee]

I agree with Wiley.  I don't think this card is near as good as diabolic edict, and only sometimes as good or better than chainers.
I guess if it gets misdirected, it is better, but other than that, it's just not as good as diabolic.
I'm not sure gobbos run either.

[Jo84]

And please don´t forget Stingscourger!

[Smmenen]

Let me just put it this way: Vroman's predictions, while always intriguing, have been further off the mark than mine.   He predicted that Wipe Away and Trickbind would transform vintage.  They sadly did not.  It took restrictions and unrestrictions to do that.

[vroman]

steve:
if you seriously think murmuring bosk is one of the five best vintage cards in this set, that implies one of two things
A) there really arent 5 vintage caliber cards in this set, and you should have just said that and not bothered w the list
B) you were lazy or misguided in this set review

regardless, the viability of RB goblins is the make or break question to decide whether morningtide will go down as the most irrelevent set since Prophecy.
do you seriously think RB goblins will be tier 1? I dont. if it fails, then every card we are talking about falls right off the map.

[TopSecret]

I agree with Wiley.  I don't think this card is near as good as diabolic edict, and only sometimes as good or better than chainers.

Of note, Warren Weirding can be tutored for with Matron and other goblin tutors.
Warren Weirding's cost is reduced by War Chief, and it can also perform situational tricks to pump Piledriver.
It counts as a Goblin, so it will often be much better than Diabolic Edict in a goblin deck.

I didn't see any discussion of the Reinforce cards in here. How is this possible?
They're instant speed uncounterable Tarmogoyf pumpers that allow your 'Goyf to stay alive in 'Goyf to 'Goyf combat!
Also, Reinforce cards have extra utility since they have a different effect when hardcast.

[Smmenen]

steve:
if you seriously think murmuring bosk is one of the five best vintage cards in this set, that implies one of two things
A) there really arent 5 vintage caliber cards in this set, and you should have just said that and not bothered w the list

You've got it half right.   That doesn't mean I shouldn't have bothered with the list. 

[EVG]

Yea, after reading the article I kind of feel that Morningtide does not offer that much to Vintage to be honest. Mutavault is by far a worse option then Factory and playing both does not seem like a plausible option. Bosk should never see play over any Dual ever. I can understand the Squad and the Banneret seeing some play but even then they arent going to be that impressive. Lorwyn had far better additions to Vintage then Morningtide looks as though it is going to have.

Thankfully Shadowmoor moves away from the whole tribal aspect and hopefully this will allow for some cards to be printed that will see some Vintage play. 

[SonataOfTheCathedral]

The 5/3 Goblin is good. But heres the problem. Goblins is clogged up with three slots as it is usually. Very often you rather set up an alpha Strike with Matron or Warchief and take a gamble on the next turn. Turn four is Goblins most important turn. Vial is set at the cost for the win and your Gobbos are stacked up. It's that simple. If you are Jester's Capping someone, good luck.

But if you have a mediocore draw, and you swing with your turn one Mogg Fanatic. The card is a lot better on those draws.