German basic lands (RtR) and a rhino token

My local drafting group sometimes bring in foreign boxes and packs for drafting. Magic is, after all, translted into eight different languages! Earlier this fall we drafted with Russian packs, after a couple of members had participated in tournament in Mosocw, and that sure was a confusing experience! You realize that even if you know every card by heart and picture, you still depend heavily on the text, especially when evaluting cards. At least it worked that way for me. It's similar to how musicians depend on the music sheets they always keep in front of them.

This rhino token, "Nashorn", would be "Neshorn" in my language Norwegian (another germanic language). Kreatur is Creature, and Those Long Words Verursacht Trampelschaden means "Causes trample damage"

This time there were german packs in the mix! I picked some basic lands, or "Standardlanden" as is their name in German. I was so fascinated, because German is the closest magic cards will ever get to Norwegian (my mother tongue). Some words are written just the same - example: Angel of Serenity is Engel der Reinheit in German, and that would be translated into Renhetens engel in Norwegian.

Here are pictures of the five kinds basic lands from Return to Ravnica in German: Ebene,  Insel, Sumpf,  Gebirge and Wald. Click them for bigger size pictures.

I wanted to display a larger version of this card for three reasons: 

• we need green spaces in our life
•  this is the odd one of the five lands
• because the art is beautiful
• But larger images hurts for people on slower connections

When scanning these cards I used 300dpi and the TIFF-file format, as it's better for editing than PDF. The cards are a bit brighter than I would like, so I edited light and contrast. There are some bright spots here and there, they are products of a dirt on the glass plate. Next time I will rinse with soap, NEXT TIME.

5CC is becoming too easy

At the release of Alara reborn (early May 2009) I was thinking that maybe non-basic lands are getting too powerful, and mana-fixing too efficient. Alara Reborn gave us the trilands...See, the point is that when you use more than one colours, you're taking a chance. You have to sacrifice constistency for power Using more colours gives you more possibilities - see, instead of having to use the enchantment destruction of, white you can use the slightly better one of green.

With all these dual doublelands - it's becoming even easier to play 5CC, as it's called, the decks with all five colors. Now, take a look at the new double lands for the M10 core set

Given you already control one of lands of a friendly color-pair, this kind of dual land will produce both types of mana. It is not a first turn-land, meaning it is kind of balanced. It simply gives you better choice for the next turn.

But I wonder, why are these new duals rare? Is it because they're so good, so strong? So by putting them in the rare slot, their power will be limited? If they are so strong, they should never have been printed. Moneyspending and serious players will get four of these even though they are rare. If they were common - they would deplete basic lands.

On the other hand, there won't be more than four of any of these in a deck. Maybe it is just good for the game, making it easier to taste the colour cake.

Comments on the core set policy changing with M10

Changes brought with the new core set that will be released in june:  
Link to news: Recapturing the magic with Magic 2010 


Decreased set size
Isn't this a good thing? Less cards to collect, less bad/redundant card ideas. Will this earn Wizards less money? Smaller sets will also lead less variety, as common cards make up most of a set's size. BUT: with the introduction of a new rarity, this in practice means that collecting all cards will be harder: booster peasant will have to crack open more boosters to get the cards they want. That equals more money to Wizards. YaY.
 
Core set change
There will be new cards, and not only reprints, making it desirable even for older players. And there will be a new core set every year, as if it was a good thing wizards even call it 'refreshing the core set'. The core set will not have the same cards every year, and there will be new cards - that sounds like an expansion to me. Wasn't a core set supposed to just be there, as a stable supply of staple cards that could always be used?

What is a good thing is card borders be black. That's good on the eye. All that remains now it that I finish painting the old ones.


Set rotation thing
The core set will rotate out with the preceeding block. So all noobs that buy core set cards can't use them in tourneys and games the following autumn (that is, standard games).

New names for old concepts
When cards are in play, they will be on the battlefield. Personally I liked them being in play better, I just think it sounds and looks nicer.
When a spell is played - it is now casted.

Change? Change is SCARY! I welcome CHANGE.