There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
While some players find this beginner-friendly product less interesting to play, I have always really enjoyed core set limited. M13 was the first set I played on Magic Online, when I really learned how to draft, and was well-balanced and one of my favorite sets to the day. My first Grand Prix Top 8 was also in core set limited, playing M15 Team Sealed. With less heavy themes, there are more individually flavorful cards and the identities of each color stand out more. While it might not take as many drafts to figure out the format, it is a very pure form of limited magic. This format will not be played at the Pro Tour this summer, but there are a couple of Grand Prixs at the end of July. I’ll have a hometown GP Sacramento, getting to drive 20 minutes and sleep in my own bed.
With the full spoiler released, I have poured over the commons and uncommons. While not as flashy, they are always my favorite part of a set spoiler, as they are the key to have a limited format plays out. Since the last core set, there has been a recent trend of signpost multicolor uncommons, which are a great started point to see some of the themes of the color identities. Some of these uncommons require specific support that will push the color pair in a specific direction:
Red-black looks to sacrifice creatures for value, especially hoping to use Act of Treason to steal and then sacrifice the opponent’s creatures.
Most of the other gold cards don’t require as much build around, and are just solid cards:
Heroic Reinforcements might not be that powerful, as a finisher is it probably worse than Inspired Charge, but the go-wide theme is well-supported in red-white. Angel of the Dawn is a functional reprint of Dawnfeather Eagle, a common from Aether Revolt that really overperformed. While not a card I usually want to play, Rustwing Falcon could become a fine role player given enough of these mass-pump effects.
After then looking through each of the colors’ commons, I was most impressed by white. There is a full curve of very strong commons. Pegasus Courser was arguably the best white common in Dominaria, an essential part of white aggressive decks. Along with Star-Crowned Stag, it will be very hard to block against white decks. There are also two removal spells at common that can answer any creature at an efficient rate. While Take Vengeance is fairly conditional, it does combo well with the Stag. White looks like a great place to start a draft, with strong commons as well as multiple synergistic themes like artifacts or lifegain to look for.
Finally, I’ve thought about how this format will look for sealed deck, which will be most players first experience with the format at the upcoming Prerelease, as well as the important first day of the Grand Prixs. One interesting feature is a full cycle of 10 dual lands at common, which is unusual for a set without a specific multicolor theme. This should make splashes very common for sealed decks.
I will also be happily maindecking Plummet in sealed. Sparktongue Dragon gives every color besides green solid fliers at common, and Plummet will also answer many of the rares, including the cycle of Elder Dragons at mythic, which will more easily see play given the density of dual lands.
Thanks for reading!
Previous Articles · Meet the Massdrop Teams: http://dro.ps/mtg-team-announce · *2nd* at Pro Tour Ixalan: http://dro.ps/ixalan · Unclaimed Creature Types: http://dro.ps/ari-creatures · Why I Never Drop From Tournaments: http://dro.ps/eric-nevergiveup · The Art of Sideboard Construction - Sultai Energy: http://dro.ps/jon-sideboard · A Commoner’s View on Pauper: http://dro.ps/mark-pauper · Blue Moon Beach Control: http://dro.ps/scott-bluemoon · Top 5 Modern Decks: http://dro.ps/pascal-modern · Storm in Vintage Cube: http://dro.ps/ben-storm · An Early Look at Rivals for Standard: http://dro.ps/shaun-rivals · A Standard Approach to Evaluating New Cards: http://dro.ps/rob-newcards · Drafting Rivals of Ixalan: http://dro.ps/tim-ixalan · Team Sealed Secrets: http://dro.ps/eric-secrets · Steal My Standard Ideas: http://dro.ps/tommy-secrets · Vexing Devil. Any Questions?: http://dro.ps/jon-devil · Team Massdrop Rivals of Ixalan Limited Primer: http://dro.ps/ari-primer · Gestation of RG Eldrazi: http://dro.ps/ben-gestation · Top Tim Tournament Training Tips: http://dro.ps/tim-tips · What Makes Someone Bogle?: http://dro.ps/tommy-bogle · A Pauper Adventure: http://dro.ps/pascal-pauper · Blue Moon at GP Phoenix: http://dro.ps/rob-bluemoon · Brawling into Dominaria: http://dro.ps/scott-brawling · Looking at The Current Lands(cape) of Legacy http://dro.ps/jarvis-land · Deconstructing Dominaria Limited: http://dro.ps/jon-dominaria · Diving into Dominaria Standard: http://dro.ps/mark-dominaria · What are your.. drives?: http://dro.ps/tommy-drives · Top 10 Cards for Dominaria Modern: http://dro.ps/rob-dominaria · Brewing Standard with Dominaria: http://dro.ps/pascal-dominaria · Dominaria Team Sealed: A Case Study: http://dro.ps/tim-dominaria · Battlebonding in Vintage and Legacy: http://dro.ps/jarvis-battlebond · Decks I Almost Played at PT Dominaria: http://dro.ps/ben-dominaria · RB Chainwhirler for the Non-Aggressive Player: http://dro.ps/jon-chainwhirler · Top 4 at GP Vegas: http://dro.ps/mark-top4vegas