Welcome to the third installment of The Abstract. Today’s subject: limited. Considering the recent release of Magic: 2010 I am going to focus on core set limited play. Core set drafts vary from expert level drafts in that core sets don’t have any set mechanics, so the general synergy of one’s 40 will usually be significantly less than that of an expert expansion. For this reason one’s limited picks from a core set will fill much more basic roles than those from an expert expansion. Today I’m going to take some time to compare how cards from expert expansions in their respective limited environments compare to cards from core sets in their respective limited environments.
First I’m going to compare
jhessian lookout to
coral merfolk. Barring the occasional
merfolk sovereign these guys are both two mana 2/1s, however they perform much differently. For starters, jhessian lookout has to compete with much better cards. With shards the lookout is in contention with the two drops of every other color due to the sets gold theme, where in Magic: 2010 it is more than likely that a limited deck will end up being two colors with a minimal third splash at most. Coral merfolk is one of only two two-drops in blue. It’s certainly not an amazing card in any set, but there are a few good reasons to pick coral merfolk. For starters, most players are going to see the card and scoff at it. Frankly there aren’t a lot of “good” two drops in M:10 and as always in limited one drops are few, far between, and usually poor. The tempo gained from playing earlier drops than one’s opponent if supplemented properly can easily win games.
Now let’s take a look at
elvish visionary and its M:10 counterpart
elvish visionary. Elvish visionary is much better than elvish visionary. Terrible jokes aside, visionary is much more powerful in M:10 limited than in shards limited. Considering the aformentioned general lack of synergy in core sets the ability to draw more cards than one’s opponent is invaluable. The idea of synergy is to make (1+1)>2, and in a format where 1+1 usually equals 2, getting 2 for the price of 1 is a steal. The other idea here is that a core set limited deck will have a large amount of threats at low converted mana costs and/or some number of bombs. Digging for either yields positive results. Also of note is that visionary trades with the surprisingly playable coral merfolk and
goblin piker.
Going with the trend of comparing identical cards my next example will be
canyon minotaur. Once again we find the M:10 counterpart to be better in its respective limited environment. The power curve of creatures in a core set is generally lower than an expert set, and where canyon minotaur is behind the curve yet playable in conflux it is on the curve and somewhat good in M:10. Canyon minotaur will at worst be able to trade with any creature of a lower casting cost, and many creatures of equal casting cost.
Since making every point being that “card x is better in M:10 limited” would be boring it’s time for a slight change up. The next card I’m going to look at is
armored ascension. While the card is certainly not bad in M:10 limited (far from it) it is simply that much more amazing in Shadowmoor/Eventide limited. The hybrid theme of Shadowmoor made monocolor decks very easy to build, and a mono-color deck is where “landtype-x matters” spells really shine. The flying that armored ascension grants is arguably more powerful in M:10 limited, but the card will not be able to generate a 2-3 turn clock as well as it did in shadowmoor limited.
In a manner that is completely predicatble I will now compare a black card from M:10 to a similar one from Shards of Alara. I have settled on
doom blade versus
executioner’s capsule. I saved this example for last for one reason- it is the most important. The comparison here is moot. I could take some time to say how capsule is going to be dead so much of the time or how doom blade doesn’t kill several relevant creatures, but the breakdown here is that no matter what the limited environment removal spells are high picks.
All right, let’s review.
1) Efficiency is relative, and bad creatures are good in core set limited.
2) Removal is good. Seriously.
3) In core set limited, card advantage is kingier than king.
That’s all for now, folks. Join me next time when I talk about… something other than M:10 limited. No promises that it won’t be
gargoyle castle. Happy drafting!
