In General: Gatecrash Reprints

Hey Zoners. GG here to talk about some non-Commander stuff. When the full Gatecrash spoiler went up, I was very surprised. This set has more reprints than you can shake a stick at. It feels like there are maybe 10% new cards and everything else is just a rehash of some previous nonsense card. This happens in many sets because of the need to create a balanced limited environment. Gatecrash is the worst offender in recent memory; it is quite possible that it has the highest number of reprints for any non-core set release in the history of the game. Considering the amount of time RTR block was in design/development you would expect that they could come up with some new ways to fill these slots, but I guess not. Join me as I take a look at some of the reprints and near-reprints in the set and air my complaints about each one! This is what the blogosphere is all about right?

It is true, I did a fair amount of ranting about this card in the set review, but all of the things I mentioned there are important. This is a functional reprint, a card that that is exactly the same as a previous card from a design standpoint, but has a new name and new flavor. Except this card doesn't have new flavor. It is still an angel getting upset and banishing some dude forever. This new iteration has a better name, that will be usable in future sets, but has way worse flavor. Why would you build a prison in the sky to lock up enchantments? That's not even a...thing right? You can't cage magic and it wouldn't do anything even if you did. Stupid. Bad reprint.

Well well well Snapping Drake...we meet again. I love me a Snapper. I was even pretty happy when this card was first printed in White. It is a simple design that fits well in both colors. I would have like to see Snapping Drake get reprinted in RTR block because it was a staple card in the original Ravnica block limited environment and it is a balanced design that has existed for years. It is a little lame that they couldn't come up with any new Boros or Orzhov flavored card that could fill the same role as Assault Griffin in limited, but I don't mind this reprint. The biggest knock I have on this card is the flavor text, which is not only silly, but also innaccurate. Just look at Drakewing Krasis. If these two fought, they both die. That is pretty evenly matched I would say. Do I get a prize? No. This griffin even has armor on. It is like it's flavor has built in equipment. You could suit up a Krasis in armor and probably give it at least +1 toughness. Flavor. This is why it doesn't ever make any sense.

Wizards has been sneaking Portal cards into 'real' sets for a while now. They have distributed them pretty well and have done a good job of keeping the flavor intact while positioning the cards in an environment where they can be powerful. This is a great reprint for Gatecrash because of the powerful interaction with Battalion. This is perhaps my favorite reprint of the set, save for the shocklands.

I like that this was moved up to uncommon. I think it is appropriate for this to be a sorcery instead of an instant because there are already several iterations of this effect at common (including the Starter '99 printing of Righteous Charge). I don't like it when 'team pumps' get slotted at common, it really lessens the playability of the card, which is awkward because you usually have 1-2 in your White draft decks, but people are used to playing around them more effectively, so they tend not to be as good.

What is this card doing here? It has notable impact for hosing Bloodrush, but so does every instant speed removal effect. This is not the card I like for common White removal. In Stronghold, it was really not that great. I have been playing long enough to remember this card when it first came out. Since then it has been put into sets where it can have a much bigger mechanical impact. Killing Eldrazi and Gruul beaters is important, but it kind of cheapens the role of fatties in limited when you just get blown out by a cmc 1 removal spell.

As far as the flavor changes go on this card it only ever gets worse. In Stronghold, the flavor was perfect. This card lets your smaller monster 'kill' a bigger monster. Which was perfect when Gerrard defeated Volrath, Evincar of Rath. The flavor text was put on the card to help tell the story of the set. WHICH IS HOW IT SHOULD BE! This printing has no flavor. The creatures in the art aren't even in combat. They are not fighting anyone. The guy just spontaneously combusts. That is Red. Not White. And the flavor text. Good god. DAT TEXT. I just can't...please make it go away.

This card is nearly as old as the game itself. It has been in several different colors, had several different names, different costs, and it always works slightly different, but basically the same. You tap their squad. Either to kill them or to stop them from killing you.

This is an important example of when the flavor on a card works PERFECTLY. It is a Dimir card, mechanically not so much, but the flavor makes perfect sense and this is backed up by the actual flavor text. The Dimir work in secret and strange ways. Subtlety is the key to their organization's success. The art shows an Azorius controlled district, made obvious by the rooftop fountains. Of all the guilds, the Azorius would have the slowest response to an event like this. It would literally take hours for them to resolve. This card is hinting at a nefarious purpose for a simple act. What are they trying to delay, what are they trying to cover up? This card tells a story that is worth listening to. It isn't cheeky, it isn't silly. Cards like this make the game move, awkwardly enough.

Jeez. Temporal Spring has really fallen a few rungs down the ladder lately. This card is more expensive and it can't hit lands. That is pretty substantial. I talk about power creep often. Some people say it doesn't even exist. I think it is a really strange subject and often confused. A popular counterargument is that power creep is circular and that eventually the game will shift back around until cards we thought were too good are in fact not very good. I think some of that is happening, but not really. Look at Legacy these days. It is heavily populated by cards that have been printed in the last 5-6 years. There are of course, still many older cards that see a ton of play like Lightning Bolt or Counterspell, but these cards are long standing fixtures of the game that have been present at many moments in the history of the game. They are simple and timeless and thus will always be good. There will be dudes to zap and spells to counter no matter what happens.

The kind of power creep that concerns me the most is the widening gap between rarities. Mythics are about 40% broken and 60% just regular rares in disguise. Uncommons and commons are pretty much only playable in limited except for the occasional breakout like Delver of Secrets. What happens to the game if rares get better and commons get worse. The price for competitive decks rises substantially because you have to crack tons of packs to get to just a few cards. The value of the other 14 cards in the pack tanks because the market is completely over-saturated. Two years from now, cards that were staples in their Standard environment would barely be playable in the new Standard. What it boils down to is higher gains for the game maker and lower gains for the collector of the product. You don't think that all this evil grows out of printing weak commons? Think again.

Final thought: What is your Doorkeeper doing out in the street? Go home Doorkeeper, you are drunk.

Yet another awful reprint. This card has been in tons of sets and never been any good. This might be the most useful printing yet. In limited, this card pretty much breaks the Orzhov mirror. It cuts off access to White and will save you 3-4 life off of missed Extort triggers. Outside of that....it sucks. Spreading Seas was used to great effect to hose Jund in 2008-09 Standard, but that was different. Jund had bad mana and Seas drew you a card, which is just huge. "Draw a card" turns pieces of cardboard into Magic cards. I don't think this is going to to see any sideboard play in Standard. The mana is just too good right now. Midrange control decks don't care about waiting a turn to play their spells. That might not even happen since there is so much life gain in the format. I would happily pay two life for another card of Sphinx's Revelation.



Disembowel was a cool card in the original Ravnica format. Again, like Snapping Drake, I would have like to just see either a straight reprint for nostalgia's sake or a new version that interacts with the Guild mechanics. This just doesn't hit any trope that I care about. I think cards that feature planeswalkers from a flavor perspective can be cool and I like that this has a name that doesn't suck. Overall, this card is pretty reasonable. I like that it plays better against the new Evolve cards, but only if you time it correctly and hit them early. A bit of a skill tester, but that is no reason for this card to be uncommon.









Alley Grifters!!! I use to love this card as a kid. Before I was good at the game, I use to play it for fun. Imagine that. Well back then I loved disruption, just like I do now, but less on the counters more on the discard. I am happy to see an update of this card that has a more appropriate costs and different creature type. The only problem is that this card's name will stop it from getting reprinted in future sets. Which sucks and is a real bummer. Also. Flavor text. What? What does having psychosis have to do with making other people lose their minds? Is it contageous? I wasn't aware of that. If it was I think a lot more psychotics would be gainfully employed.





Oh man. Get ready for another tirade. I HATE this card. I don't who at R&D loves these effects, but they don't need to print one in every set. It isn't even all that great in limited and the last time someone cast this in constructed it was stealing Primeval Titan, which is just like...THE MAXIMUM possible value to be achieved by this card. It's not just this kind of effect either. Horned Turtles, Cancels, Shocks, Bears; they are getting whored around and bastardized, dressing up in new names and putting on silly 'new' mechanics. I understand that these are the basic building blocks of the limited game, but their absence can sometimes be a stronger signal than their presence. These cards are starting to show up so much that it is stifling design and making every limited environment run together. The game doesn't need a new Grizzly Bear, even if it is black.

Secondly, let's talk flavor. This card is telling an important part of the Gatecrash story. The New Guildpact is starting to unravel as people lose faith in the guilds. More people are becoming independent or, as shown in this art, moving to different guilds. That is cool, just like it was cool on Gridlock, but let's take a step back from these two cards. The game is about two super powerful wizards casting spells to kill each other. Breaking a wagon wheel isn't exactly a magic spell. It has intrigue and subterfuge written all over it and it is certainly powerful in the right context, but it isn't magical. One of your opponent's supporters leaving him because of a propaganda campaign or poor management is equally useful, but also not really a spell. Let''s go back in time. THREATEN has just been printed. Temporarily stealing a dude has been shifted from Blue to Red. A good switch if you ask some folks. It diversifies the color pie and redistributes powerful mechanics more evenly. The problem? Threatening your opponents body guard ISN'T A SPELL. Ray of Command was a spell. It is literally a wizard mind controlling some dork and making him switch sides. This kind of stuff just drives me nuts. Why do they even bother faking flavor? Stop giving cards bad names. Stop giving them silly flavor text. Tell a story...or don't. I don't care. Just don't make flavor that doesn't make sense.


Again, I have to ask myself. What is this guy doing here? Why reprint this card? What is the point? There is no elemental theme in the set. No spellshaping theme. No sacrifice theme. There isn't even a strong burn component. This just seems so out of place. I like the card fine and it is sure to be good in limited, I just don't get why they wouldn't make a new card that had something to do with Ravnica. Is that too much to ask?











Momentum is sick. Momentum that never stops growing is super sick. I like the update. It is sure to see play and it interacts beautifully with the Evolve mechanic and all the cards that move counters around. Super cool.















A slight oversight on my part, I left out Fog on the list of cards that gets over-printed. Not every set needs Fog. This is how you end up with wonky deck like Turbo Fog that just plays 35 copies of the same card and never interacts with their opponent. That might be a fun novelty, but is more the realm of casual nonsense than tier 1 constructed. It isn't healthy for any format when it gets too much of a 'good' thing and it doesn't really add anything new to the game. It is just lame and lacking in creativity.










Every block does actually need Naturalize, but not necessarily ACTUAL naturalize. These are starting to show up way too often as well. They are never main deck material. Which is fine, but you don't need 40 hammers when one will do. There are so many side board cards available, but you are only ever going to use one. Why print so many? Why print them so often? Make something new, damnit.













Okay, cool. Another update of an original Ravnica block card. I like that this saw print without the Hexproof aspect that Silhanna Ledgewalker had, because that card is already kind of snapped in Pauper. We have another killer piece of flavor text here. Guess what morons, cartographers on Earth also 'chart the vertical'. Where do they find these people?













I think this card is super sweet. I loved Agony Warp. It was good in limited. It sees play in Pauper and it is even in the MTGO cube. This card is obviously not as good as Agony Warp is, but the symmetry is evident and this is still a very strong card. The ability to kill your opponent quicker than they expect cannot be overrated. Doing so in a way that gains you card advantage is something special.












One of the most iconic Boros cards from original Ravnica block. One of the best common air threats of the Modern era. A beautifully designed and costed card. Perfectly balanced. I am Grandpa Growth and I approve of this reprint.
















Surprise! I don't like this reprint. It is a great multicolor enabler and Gatecrash definitely needed something to take the place of Transguild Promenade. I am excited that this card is going to be in the set, but again, running theme here, I want NEW IDEAS that result in NEW CARDS.

Obligatory flavor text rant: HOW THE EFFF DOES LOOKING THROUGH A PRISM HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THE GUILDS STABILIZE RAVNICA!

I would like to finish by talking about the reprinting of the shocklands. Obviously, as an avid EDH player, I was simultaneously rejoicing and cursing the decision to reprint shocklands. Financially, my collection is worthless, but it will be cheaper to pick up additional copies of ubiquitous cards. As a fan of singleton fomats like Commander and Cube, I was hoping to see dual lands with searchable basic lands types, but a different drawback mechanic. Having your opponent gain life, having some kind of Milling or Delving costs, just anything new really. I think that having new cards that fill the same role as popular old cards is better than just getting a reprint of what you already knew you liked.

I absolutely hate that the shock lands were reprinted with flavor text. Considering that 90% of flavor text never gets read I think they should just do away the idea in general. Of the few instances of flavor text that do get read, most of them are just puns. It's shameless, albeit occasionally funny. That is okay, but having a snarky line at the end of a magic card doesn't really enhance the magic card. It is distracting, silly, and unnecessary. As far as the new arts are concerned. I did not like the new arts from RTR. I think Hallowed Fountain got an upgrade, but the other lands just looked worse. This is not the case in Gatecrash. All of the arts are good. All of the new arts except for Breeding Pool are actually improved in my opinion. This is noteworthy becuase four of the five most popular and expensive shocklands are coming in Gatecrash, so it was important for Wizards to really nail this.

Well that's it. Those are the cards I felt like talking about anyway. If you feel like discussing any of the other reprints in the set or just want to share your opinion on the cards mentioned here make sure to leave a comment. Until next time zoners...

P-p-p-p-p-passin' the turn.