Reviewing 2014: Hits

Welcome to The General Zone's annual review of ITSELF! At the end of the year we should always take a moment to look back and reflect on what we have accomplished this year. Here on the general zone we have had an interesting journey in 2014. Plenty of twists, turns, and surprises. In today's article I will be examining my own performance in the set review articles...starting with my successful predictions. If you were hoping to hear about my most dramatic slip-ups and omissions, stay tuned to the blog because next week's In General will be fully dedicated to my biggest misses.

So just to be clear, if you see a card on this list it means that my pre-release predictions about the card came true. Either I said it was bad and it was, or I said it was great and it is.

This card drew a lot of attention when it was initially previewed. There were many opinions about its playability on both sides of the coin. I however, would like to take full credit here for correctly determining that it was, in fact, not good.

The real killer here seems to be that there is really no easy way to repeat this effect. Worst Fears can give you a big advantage, but the up front cost is high. Additionally, being a Sorcery means that you don't have much control over when you pull the trigger on this, which is unfortunate.



I feel bad about this one, but when you're right: you are right. I think that everyone, from the design team, to the community, to the players, wanted Godsend to be good. It is just a really cool idea, but the execution falls short.

Personally, this doesn't discourage me, and I hope that it doesn't discourage R&D either. I want to see more Legendary planeswalker equipment in the future. I would love to find out what Sorin's sword could do or what Ajani's busted shovel-axe is supposed to be called.

It is pretty unfortunate that this is two colors, but that could also be a good thing. If this were just one color it would really be tearing up the league. Listen guys, I am going to break it down here for you real simple like: Haste is good. I know this might not be much of a revelation, but I have to take victories where I can get them.

This has been a banner year for Clone effects. We have seen some great updates that have brought this effect back to the forefront of the Commander game. After a change to the rules for how Commander treats cards like this one just a year ago, things were looking grim for the future playability of our shapeshifting friends. I for one am glad to see that they are still around and kicking, maybe as good as ever.

The Rabblemaster! Sir Rabblerino has had a great end to the year. A breakout performance in Standard has brought Gobbos back in to the spotlight in a big way. I am usually not down with the G-men, but I have been excited to watch the coverage of high-level tournaments this season because of how cool this Jeskai has turned out to be in Standard. It has been cool to see how the archetype has developed from the release of Khans, to the Pro Tour, to the Grand Prix scene. I am finally excited about pro-level Magic again.





Here we have another M15 card that is Standard legal, but this one hasn't yet been given its chance to shine...in Standard. To my people who keep an impressive library size, we have been loving the new Nissa. Apparently she is still on Zendikar and still busting stuff up.

Bring it in close here guys, because I have something important to tell you: Four lands...is a lot of lands. As Creatures and spells get cheaper and more efficient, four land might mean more than they ever have in the past.

This gal just makes so much mana, how could she not be good? Well, if you still haven't gotten on the bandwagon, we have plenty of room! Come and see why the grass is greener on the Green side of the fence.

Say no to the Rhino! Hushwing has seen action in Standard, Modern, and some limited Commander play. I have switched away from playing Aven Mindcensor and instead I am now packing Hushwing Gryff whenever I can.

I think that it is pretty funny that the place you most want to play this is in Modern Pod decks, but there are so few Pod decks left in the format that you don't have to worry about the mirror match very much.

You know I had to talk about this at some point. My exact words were something like, this is the closest thing to Ancestral Recall that we are going to get. AND BOY IS IT CLOSE! There isn't much left to be said about Treasure Cruise that hasn't already been said so I will just leave it here.

Alright, it's time to return to my college football extravaganza! I will be back next Sunday where we will turn the tables and take a look at my biggest whiffs; the worst predictions that I made in 2014.

-GG