昨日の記事の続きです。

BDM: Do you see any new deck archetypes emerging from the new set, such as blue-green Madness, Astral Slide, and Affinity from the last three blocks?

Zvi Mowshowitz: The Arcane deck seems interesting, but I don’t expect it to make an impact on Standard for another, oh, 13 months.

Ken Krouner: I think that if Affinity is reined in it would be possible to make an interesting Arcane deck, but again, Constructed isn’t my bag.

Osyp Lebedowicz: As long as Affinity exists I don’t believe it’s possible for a beatdown deck to exist. That limits your options when constructing decks.

Mike Flores: Every year people say White Weenie. I actually think mono-red control got a lot of tools but I don’t know if mono-red control can possibly be good in a format with some of the available cards in black and green. Then again, green lost Ravenous Baloth.

Aeo Paquette: Not a single.

引用元
CHAMPIONS ROUNDTABLE Posted in The Week That Was on September 30, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/week-was/champions-roundtable-2004-09-30

今度は、新しいアーキタイプが出現するか？という話です。

残念ながらネガティブな意見が優勢と言えます。ここでもやはり親和デッキの存在が大きいです。

実際、親和デッキとアンチ親和デッキがトップメタという歪な環境になってしまったので、予想は当たったと言えるでしょう。

昨日の記事の続きです。

BDM: Are there any cards that stand out for Constructed? Specifically, are there any cards that intrigue you for Standard? If you were preparing for States/Provincials/Prefectural Championships, what cards would you be focused on?
Aeo Paquette: If you know me at all you know I’m strictly a Limited player. I’ve never really cared for Constructed, so I haven’t really looked into it at all. If I were to say off the top of my head what the top 5 constructed cards are…in no order I would say Zo-Zu the Punisher, Ghostly Prison, Hinder, Cranial Extraction and…well…I guess Sakura-Tribe Elder.

Mike Flores: Cranial Extraction, Keiga, the Tide Star, Kodama’s Reach, Horobi, Death’s Wail, Nezumi Shortfang, Nezumi Graverobber. The best Constructed card in the set is probably Sakura-Tribe Elder.

Osyp Lebedowicz: There are some cards that seem pretty solid for Constructed play in T2. I like Peer Through Depths as a replacement for Thirst for Knowledge in blue-white and the like -- it effectively does the same thing but digs two cards deeper. Imi Statue seems like a very good card in combination with Relic Barrier against Affinity. Boseiju, Who Shelters All seems very good in Tooth and Nail against control decks -- so much so that I have to believe a permission deck would need to board in Time Stop in order to deal with it. Although I’m not sure that would be enough. Sakura-Tribe Elder is strictly better than Rampant Growth for the green-white deck and Hinder is the best counter they’ve made in a long time. Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Gifts Ungiven, Glacial Ray, Nezumi Shortfang, Glimpse of Nature, Soilshaper, and Dosan the Falling Leaf all seem like playable cards in Constructed.

Ken Krouner: No cards really jump out at me right now. Ghostly Prison maybe. Affinity looks to be even more dominant than it was before and to tell the truth I think it was underplayed at Worlds this year. I expect Affinity to rule the day at States.

Zvi Mowshowitz: A few cards stand out. Players will have to watch out for the new land that makes spells uncounterable and there are several other Constructed-worthy cards. However, anyone who doesn’t play a Mirrodin Block deck at States is going to get run over. The new land makes Tooth and Nail a lock over blue decks, and Affinity is as strong as ever.

引用元
CHAMPIONS ROUNDTABLE Posted in The Week That Was on September 30, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/week-was/champions-roundtable-2004-09-30

今度は構築視点での注目カードの話です。

人それぞれ挙げているカードは異なりますが、一番の注目は《桜族の長老》のようです。実際、当時の構築においては中・低速のデッキによく採用されていました。この評価は「戦闘ダメージがスタックにのる」という当時のルールが前提である点には注意が必要ですが。

もう一つは、親和デッキに対抗できるか、という点でしょう。元々ミラディン・ブロックのカードが多数を締めるデッキなので、ローテーション後も強さはほぼ変わりません。となれば、それがトップメタとして意識されるのは必然です。

BDM: So what were your initial impressions of the new set?

Gabriel Nassif: I didn’t really try to find out what’s good in constructed and we barely started testing extended. The format is fun in Limited but the good rares spoil it a lot. Like the dragons are very good, all 5/5 flyers -- which is huge. If you are able to deal with them, they still are a pain. I only drafted a few times, but I think I like every color as they all seem to be fine, maybe blue a little less. That’s about it. Sorry, I realize this doesn’t help you much, but I never really know what I think when a set is released.

Osyp Lebedowicz: I think the new set is underpowered and poorly designed for Constructed. I think in block at least they made blue too powerful, so they probably have to fix that in the second set or the Block PT won’t be much fun.

Mike Flores: I quite like it. I actually have disliked almost every set since Invasion for Constructed because I believe that the heavily mechanic based cards point players too concretely into particular directions. For example, the multicolored cards in both Invasion Block and Odyssey block were vastly overpowered for their mana costs, leading directly to Fires and Psychatog decks with little room for variation or dissent. You have essentially the same situation with Affinity but I don’t see any such mechanic in Champions of Kamigawa. In fact, I think that the aggressive costing of Legends lends itself to difficult design choices. For example, if you want to hit 2/2 on turn 1, how many Hounds will you loose?

Zvi Mowshowitz: My impression of the set is that it has a lot of fun stuff in it, and plenty of cool ideas, but that it doesn’t have what it takes to compete with Mirrodin Block.

Ken Krouner: I am not a Constructed expert so it is hard for me to pick out things in the early going there, but I think this appears to be the best set for Limited since Odyssey. I am really excited about drafting it.

Aeo Paquette: I like every new set to some extent. I enjoy playing with new cards, drafting sets that I don’t yet know very well, but when comparing this set to most other recent ones I don’t have very much to say about it. There is basically nothing special about it, no money rares or cool new mechanics of any sort. I would give the new set a 3 out of 10 on the CrazyAeo scale.

引用元
CHAMPIONS ROUNDTABLE Posted in The Week That Was on September 30, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/week-was/champions-roundtable-2004-09-30

MTG界の著名人に、『神河物語』の第一印象をインタビューしている記事です。

リミテッド視点ではそこそこ良いようで、「オデッセイ以来で最高」という評価もあるほどです。

一方、構築視点ではやや厳しい評価で、特にミラディンと比べてカードパワーが低いことは、この時点でも指摘されています。

その他、気になった意見は、Mike Floresの「インベイジョン以降、プレイヤーを特定の方向に向け過ぎていた。このセットにはそのようなことはない」という点で評価していることです。

『神河物語』と言えば、孤立的で、同じセット内での相互作用ばかりが強い、というイメージがあるのですが、それとは対照的です。また、メカニズムにしても、連繋や転生は直線的で、デッキの方向性を決めています。

ただ、実際に活躍したカードとなると、連繋や転生はパッとせず、ドラゴン・スピリットサイクルや、明神サイクル、その他伝説のクリーチャーが挙がります。ある意味、言った通りです。

中々興味深い指摘だったと言えるでしょう。

What’s In Iname?
Matthew Lubich wrote in to suggest this evil little gem:

Play Iname, Death Aspect and drop all four Kokushos into your graveyard from your deck. Then play Patriarch’s Bidding naming either Spirits or Dragons. All of the Kokushos spring to life, they all see all the other Kokushos, they all die from embarrassment that someone else is wearing the same dress, and your opponent loses 20 life from the four leaves-play triggers. You gain 20 life in the process, but that’s probably only incidental.

Matthew Smith (the same one from last week) emailed me an Iname, Death Aspect-Patriarch’s Bidding-Death Cloud deck, but there’s a combo that Alan Comer came up with I like even more:

Well, that just seems too perfect, doesn’t it? He was postulating this for a Prismatic deck, but we can squeeze it into a 60-card concoction. Popping both combos into the same deck means that Iname & Patriarch’s Bidding puts you in good shape, Iname & Mortal Combat puts you in good shape, and Patriarch’s Bidding & Mortal Combat… umm… two out of three ain’t bad.

Creature (23)
4 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 He Who Hungers
1 Horobi, Death’s Wail
4 Iname, Death Aspect
4 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Revenant
1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
3 Thief of Hope
4 Wicked Akuba

Sorcery (10)
2 Sickening Dreams
4 Diabolic Tutor
4 Patriarch’s Bidding

Enchantment (3)
3 Mortal Combat

Land (24)
20 Swamp
3 Cabal Coffers
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
60 Cards

引用元
PARTS AND PARCEL Posted in Feature on September 30, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/parts-and-parcel-2004-09-30

《死相の否命》による大量墓地肥やしを活かしたデッキです。

勝ち筋は主に二つです。１つは、《総帥の召集》による大量リアニメイト＆《夜の星、黒瘴》ETBドレイン。もう１つは、《死闘》による特殊勝利です。

直接的に噛み合っているという点では《黄泉からの帰還者》が一番いいでしょう。一撃で相手を倒せるだけのサイズに膨れ上がっているハズです。

能力と勝ち筋の都合上、大量のスピリットカードを入れる必要がありますが、『神河物語』だけでも選択肢は豊富にあります。デッキの自由度、勝ちパターンの多様性という点で面白いと言えます。

Anything I Can Do, I Can Do Better

Creature (4)
4 Seizan, Perverter of Truth

Sorcery (12)
4 Chainer’s Edict
4 Cranial Extraction
4 Turbulent Dreams

Instant (8)
4 Peek
4 Plagiarize

Artifact (6)
4 Howling Mine
2 Talisman of Dominance

Enchantment (6)
4 Underworld Dreams
2 Zombie Infestation

Land (24)
4 Island
9 Swamp
2 Polluted Delta
4 Salt Marsh
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
4 Underground River
60 Cards

引用元
PARTS AND PARCEL Posted in Feature on September 30, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/parts-and-parcel-2004-09-30

《真実を捻じ曲げるもの、逝斬》の、お互いにドローをもたらす効果を最大限利用したデッキです。同系統の《吠えたける鉱山》も入っています。

ただお互いにドローするだけでは意味がないので、《盗用》で盗んだり、《地獄界の夢》でライフロスに変換したり、自身の手札は《荒れ狂う夢》の妨害に変換したり、と言った具合です。

後に発売される『神河救済』は知恵カードがテーマであり、ドローカードや、手札枚数参照カードが多数収録されます。

そこで、《吠えたける鉱山》内蔵の《三日月の神》や、起動型能力になった《海の中心、御心》、手札をダメージに変換する《黒檀の梟の根付》を軸としたデッキ、ハウリング・オウルが成立しました。

このデッキはある意味その源流と言えるでしょう。

余談
この記事ではキキジキアラームも紹介されていますが、すでに別の記事でも紹介されているので、飛ばします。
神河当時 - キキジキアラーム
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/202005171933181109/

Mechanics and Strategerie

I’ve already touched on how the ability to copy spells essentially makes Uyo a really strong anti-counter card. There are other implications of this ability, and other mechanical factors that I’d like to get into more.

Huge counter-war advantages

Fighting a counter-war against Uyo is likely to be frivolous. If you are not casting a copyable spell, you can still always copy their counterspell and protect your original spell. If you are casting a copyable spell, you can always copy your original spell once again. If they cast yet another counter, well, you’re still in fantastic shape. As long as you feel like returning land to your hand isn’t crippling you, keep copying as long as you’d like.

Other plays with their spells

One of the darnedest things about Uyo is being able to “steal” your opponent’s wind right out from under them. Many decks like to “do things” and if these things involve Instants or Sorceries, well, you get to do them too.

Many spells simply become too dangerous for a player to cast. A player trying to kill Uyo with a big burn spell might not have the luxury of casting it if you can just copy it again and again back at their head. Other powerful spells carry the same risk. Time Walk is a lot less exciting for your opponent when you get several copies of the Walk too. You don’t have to be the one playing with Time Walk (or Warp) to be able to get many, many turns in a row. But, hey, you could always run it yourself.

Splice and other abilities

The copy ability of Uyo copies all aspects of a spell. Splice, Kicker, and Entwine are all a part of the initial spell that you are copying. If you cast a spell with any of those extra abilities, your copies get the extra bits too, all without the hassle of the extra cost.

When you wish upon a star

Three of the Wishes from Judgment really do well when they are copied. Death Wish, Burning Wish, and Cunning Wish can all search for another copy of the same spell that is in the removed-from-game zone or your sideboard (if you have one). This means that copying one of these Wishes can get you another Wish. This is a nice, potent power.

Creature (9)
3 Uyo, Silent Prophet
3 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
3 Eternal Witness

Sorcery (11)
4 Living Wish
4 Time Warp
3 Nostalgic Dreams

Instant (8)
4 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge

Artifact (4)
4 Horn of Greed

Enchantment (4)
4 Exploration

Land (24)
4 Yavimaya Coast
11 Forest
9 Island

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)
1 Uyo, Silent Prophet
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Eternal Witness
1 Nantuko Cultivator
1 Dust Bowl
1 Masticore
1 Silklash Spider
1 Palinchron
4 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Genesis

引用元
UYO, SILENT PROPHET Posted in Feature on September 29, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uyo-silent-prophet-2004-09-29

《沈黙の預見者、ウヨウ》の能力を活かしたデッキです。

「1ターンに1度しか土地をプレイできないの制限を破るカード」は、マナ加速で６マナまで到達すると同時に、《沈黙の預見者、ウヨウ》の起動型能力のコストを払いやすくします。

一旦それが着地さえすれば、相手のカウンター呪文を利用して自分を守れますし、《生ける願い》カードをコピーしてシルバーバレットし放題、《時間のねじれ》をコピー＆回収による無限ターンなどで、圧倒するプランです。

同じムーンフォークでも《曇り鏡のメロク》の方が、フィニッシャーとしては色々優秀でしょう。単体でも充分強く、１マナ軽く、シングルシンボルでタッチでも使え、トークンを出すので除去にも強いです。

ただ、《沈黙の預見者、ウヨウ》の方がロマンがあると思います。

What I normally do after I have sorted through my cards is pull the chaff out of each color and find my strongest color pools. From there I look for synergies and try to build a deck. Examples of synergies in this set are Soulshift and Splice onto Arcane. Here is what I think the ‘playable’ cards in each color are… The italics represent cards I would consider sideboard cards but wouldn’t necessarily start maindeck.

Creature (15)
1 Pain Kami
1 Soratami Cloudskater
2 Soratami Rainshaper
1 Soratami Seer
1 Soratami Savant
1 Kami of Twisted Reflection
2 Moss Kami
1 Kashi-Tribe Warriors
1 Humble Budoka
1 Myojin of Life’s Web
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Vine Kami
1 Orochi Ranger
Sorcery (1)
1 Kodama’s Reach
Instant (7)
1 Pull Under
1 Yamabushi’s Flame
1 Glacial Ray
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Reach Through Mists
1 Thoughtbind
1 Consuming Vortex
Enchantment (1)
1 Mystic Restraints
Land (16)
1 Swamp
2 Mountain
6 Island
7 Forest
40 Cards

引用元
T-MINUS ONE WEEK Posted in Feature on September 28, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/t-minus-one-week-2004-09-28

プレリリースの報告です。ここでは、シールド戦でした。

デッキ構築において、シナジーを見る、ということで転生や連繋が挙げられています。

どちらも神陣営のメカニズムです。定命の者たちは、神と戦う陣営ですが、メカニズム的にはあまり統一性もシナジーもありません。強いて言えば、アンチスピリット能力が所々にある程度です。

フレイバー的にもそうですが、リミテッドに深みを与える上でも、できれば陣営内でのシナジーや戦略の方向性はあった方がいいと思いました。



余談
イラストについての記事もあったのですが、またリンク切れなので、飛ばしました。

BUILDING HEROES Posted in Arcana on September 28, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/arcana/building-heroes-2004-09-28

昨日の記事の続きです。

The White Hall
I’m closing this year’s Hall with what is probably the color with the most multiplayer momentum from the last three sets. On a roll since Onslaught block (Akroma’s Vengeance, Windborn Muse, Wing Shards, etc.), white got plenty of goodness in Mirrodin block as well. Champions looks even better. Here are the top choices from what’s new:

Auriok Champion
Bringer of the White Dawn
Masako the Humorless
Pristine Angel
Reverse the Sands
Yosai, the Morning Star

White went well beyond this list when looking at similar cards: Konda, Lord of Eiganjo (similar to Radiant, Archangel); Ghostly Prison (similar to Windborn Muse); and Myjojin of Cleansing Fire (similar to Mageta the Lion). White’s hall is right here.

Underlying trends for white are very promising. Bushido as a whole is a very strong multiplayer mechanic which should generate plenty more Hall entries before the block is done; and I have my eye on both white "flip" cards to see if they’re worthy of Hall mention next time around.

What I’m starting to like about white (historically my least favorite color) is the slightly broader range of goods it’s bringing to the table. Rather than depending upon "stupid" life-gain like Congregate and Angelic Chorus, white mages can now do more clever tricks with Reverse the Sands and Exalted Angel. Rather than burdening an entire board with horrendous (yet classic) slowdowns like Kismet, white can selectively punish with Yosei, the Morning Star. Rather than a bunch of 0/4 walls with little personality…it has Glory.

From my perspective, that’s where white began turning the corner – in Judgement, with Glory. The card was a terrific way both mechanically and aesthetically to offer protection. Protection had been pretty boring before then – but this bomb incarnation really opened up a bunch of creative possibilities.

Pristine Angel does something similar. Back when vigilance wasn’t called vigilance, the non-tapping nature of angels was getting a bit routine. Pristine Angel offered some interesting options – tap but lose protection, but play lots of instants to allow untapping. Encouraging white to play lots of clever instants, rather than heavy-handed sorceries like Wrath of God, is a good thing.

Speaking of stuff at instant speed, the latest card to broaden white’s horizons is Masako the Humorless. This may rapidly become my favorite white card. How much fun will it be to "overextend" and then punish some sloppy opponent who thinks being tapped out on creatures means you can’t defend?

In fact, Masako combines extremely well with just about every new card listed above. (Reverse the Sands is the one exception, since it has its own agenda – see my preview article for ideas there.) With Auriok Champion, she provides a quick point of life and lets Auriok Champion shine a bit brighter against black and red. With Bringer of the White Dawn, she lets the beefy 5/5 trampler both swing and block. She untaps Pristine Angel at instant speed, always a good thing. And if a tapped Yosei, Morning Star can engage in combat unexpectedly, there’s really no way for the battle to go badly!

引用元
MULTIPLAYER HALL, PART THREE OF THREE Posted in Serious Fun on October 5, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/multiplayer-hall-part-three-three-2004-10-05-0

多人数戦で強い『神河物語』の白のカードとして、《生真面目な君、昌子》《砂の逆流》《明けの星、陽星》などが挙げられています。

《明けの星、陽星》は通常の１対１でも強力ですし、《砂の逆流》はいかにも多人数戦向けの派手なカードですから、ラインナップされても不思議はありません。

そんな中、《生真面目な君、昌子》は一見して浮いている気がします。

これは単体の強さより、ここで挙げられている他の多人数戦向けカード《オーリオックのチャンピオン》《白の夜明けの運び手》《清純な天使》などとの相性の良さから、挙げられています。

単純に「多人数戦向け」と言っていいのかは疑問ですが、こういう視点もあることは面白いです。

昨日の記事の続編の記事です。

The Red Hall
Red, like blue, has a certain reactivity to it. (You cannot Shock or Pillage what isn’t there.) But because it has an aggressive nature – and plenty of distributable damage spells – it has plenty of ooomph in group play. Since picking up some of blue’s stealing and redirection capabilities, it’s gotten even more dangerous.

The one thing red decks need to keep in mind when playing in group is the long game. Red often spends so many resources gaining an early advantage, it finds itself out of cards and/or removal before too long. Fortunately, this Hall suggests many solutions, ranging from Seige-Gang Commander to Dragon Mage to some of the cards from the past year:

Bringer of the Red Dawn
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Myojin of Infinite Rage
Ryusei, the Falling Star
Shunt
Tide of War

Magma Giant also gets listed as a similar card (to Crater Hellion); and Kumano, Master Yamabushi is certainly similar to Shivan Hellkite.

Just about everything on the list has gotten enough press from me or my colleagues here at the site recently…except Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (not counting the Intruder Alarm combo). When he’s not breaking mirrors, Kiki-Jiki likes to sit there and threaten opponents with hasty creatures. He’s a bit difficult to make work, in that you need another (non-legendary) creature in play. But even something as simple as a Keldon Champion can be helpful. Soulshift creatures should probably provide some good fodder as well. You can also mix and match with sacking effects like Altar of Dementia or Shisato, Whispering Hunter (and a non-legendary snake). In short, I may be too enthusiastic about Kiki-Jiki right now; but I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt for what it does.

引用元
MULTIPLAYER HALL, PART THREE OF THREE Posted in Serious Fun on October 5, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/multiplayer-hall-part-three-three-2004-10-05-0

多人数戦で強い『神河物語』の赤のカードとして、《鏡割りのキキジキ》《激憤明神》《降る星、流星》などが挙げられています。

やはりというか、明神サイクルと、ドラゴン・スピリットサイクルは赤でも入っています。盤面全体に影響があるためでしょう。

一方、《鏡割りのキキジキ》は相手へ直接影響をもたらすわけではありません。しかし、１対１でも強力なコンボを形成するため、それが多人数戦でもそのまま強い、ということです。トーナメントプレイヤーにも、カジュアルプレイヤーにも、使われる人気カードです。

昨日の記事の続きです。

The Hall’s Greenery
Green is the color most casual players love best. Part of it is the stompy-creature aspect; part of it is the acceleration; and part of it is the way green can facilitate creative endeavors in 5-color decks. However you analyze it, most casual players like to see green do well.

As with one or two of the other colors, green didn’t gain as much from an artifact-dominated year. What it has gained appears quite solid:

Dosan the Falling Leaf
Heartbeat of Spring
Myojin of Life’s Web
Tornado Elemental

Pulse of the Tangle also gets a "similar" listing (to Oath of Druids). Molder Slug also came quite close; but the problem there is obvious – in a game with few artifacts, the slug is merely a decent fattie. Waiting in the wings of the Hall: Jugan, the Rising Star and Nature’s Will. Right now, neither looks like it has a powerful enough effect to make it in; but I’ll entertain stories (actual experiences, mind you: not fantasies of seven-card combos) to convince me otherwise.

Here’s the entire green hall.

引用元
MULTIPLAYER HALL, PART TWO OF THREE Posted in Serious Fun on September 28, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/multiplayer-hall-part-two-three-2004-09-28

まず、緑がカジュアルプレイヤーには人気という点です。特にマナ加速から、重くて派手な呪文を唱えるのはロマンがあるでしょう。

「カジュアル」ということですが、そもそも、多人数戦は公式にルールが整備されていませんでした。それがルールに記述されたのが、『神河物語』ブロックの後、『第９版』からです。ゆえに、多人数戦という時点でカジュアルにならざるをえません。

それはさておき、ここでは多人数戦で強い『神河物語』の緑のカードとして、《落葉の道三》《春の鼓動》《生網明神》などが挙げられています。

特に、《春の鼓動》《生網明神》は先ほど述べた、「マナ加速からのビッグアクション」という戦略に合致しています。デッキ構築意欲の湧く良いカードでしょう。

昨日の記事の続きです。

No Hall Is An Island
Many blue mages have difficulty shifting from duel to multiplayer. As a largely reactive color (you play a spell, I counter it or bounce it or steal it), blue finds many of its cards and strategies underpowered when it faces more than one opponent. But it can still find success in group play – often by using cards no self-respecting tournament junkie would touch.

You wanna see the amazing list of new Hall entries blue compiled over the past year? Okay, here it is, in alphabetical order:

Keiga, the Tide Star
Uyo, Silent Prophet

Last week, I made clear that blue really does have two other cards – Memnarch and Vedalken Shackles. And blue continues to get very flashy cards like Time Stop and Gifts Ungiven that should work fine as utility in group. So this isn’t as pathetic as it looks. But this is certainly a switch from the days of Quicksilver Dragon, Blatant Thievery, and Willbender – all in Onslaught block, and all in blue’s Top Ten overall. See the entire blue Hall here.

This site hasn’t touched much on either card yet, so a few notes on each:

Keiga, the Tide Star is beautiful – and not just because of the artwork. It does exactly what you want out of a rattlesnake card: give you an excellent chance of striking back. Sure, opponents without much in play won’t be as worried, and something like Spinal Embrace will totally ruin your day; but 90 percent of the time, this fellow will work as planned and intimidate the board into acceptance.

Uyo, Silent Prophet takes another road toward intimidation: imitation. Mischievous Quanar is still great fun – heck, so is Fork – so seeing the ability attached to a durable flyer works for me. You might consider combinations with Seismic Assault, for additional retaliation.

引用元
MULTIPLAYER HALL, PART TWO OF THREE Posted in Serious Fun on September 28, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/multiplayer-hall-part-two-three-2004-09-28

まず目につくのは、青が多人数戦であまり強くない、という評価です。カウンターやバウンスなどが受け身だったり１対１の処理だったり、という点がマイナスのようです。

統率者戦においては、青は強い方だと聞いています。サーチカードによりコンボの成立しやすさ、追加ターンによるアドバンテージが理由だそうです。

多人数戦といっても色々フォーマットがありますので、他のフォーマットも含めた評価かもしれません。あるいは、当時はまだ強さが発見されてなかったのでしょうか。

それはともかく、ここでは多人数戦で強い『神河物語』のカードとして、《潮の星、京河》《沈黙の預見者、ウヨウ》などが挙げられています。

黒のように対戦相手全体に作用する効果ではありません。

相手のやりたいことを妨害すること、または、自分のやりたいことをやるカードです。これはMTG（というよりはTCG）全般に通じることですから、それがそのまま多人数戦でも強い、ということでしょうか。

The Darkest Hall Of All
Black has historically been my favorite color, in part because of the risks it takes. It can be exhilarating to play a mono-black, watch a horrific opposing enchantment like Subversion come out, and realize you have a race on your hands.

The past year has been pretty good to black, from a multiplayer perspective. Two new cards from the last three sets are in the Top Ten, and two more in the Top 20. What placed where? Click here to find out. For those who just want to skim, here are the new entries:

Death Cloud
Endless Whispers
Horobi, Death’s Wail
Kokusho, the Evening Star
Mephidross Vampire
Myojin of Night’s Reach
Nezumi Graverobber
Seizan, Perverter of Truth

In addition, Hideous Laughter and Night of Souls’ Betrayal made the list under similar cards (to Bane of the Living and Ascendant Evincar, respectively).

I’ve talked about most of these cards by now – and what I haven’t discussed, other writers have explored quite well (e.g., Horobi, Death’s Wail). It’s still worth noting that Seizan, Perverter of Truth continues the revived tradition Endless Whispers began: black cards with a strong "pigeon" element. I always appreciated the way cards like Living Death and Tombstone Stairwell proposed benefits to everyone while not necessarily helping them, and it feels very flavorful for black. I hope Wizards continues to explore cards that share black’s perverse outlook on the game.

引用元
MULTIPLAYER HALL, PART TWO OF THREE Posted in Serious Fun on September 28, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/multiplayer-hall-part-two-three-2004-09-28

多人数戦カードの有力カードを色事にまとめた記事です。この週の記事では黒・青・緑を取り扱っています。

まずは黒です。《死者の嘆き、崩老卑》《夜の星、黒瘴》《夜陰明神》《鼠の墓荒らし》《真実を捻じ曲げるもの、逝斬》《忌まわしい笑い》《魂の裏切りの夜》などのカードが挙げられています。黒らしく、ハンデスや除去が揃っています。

中でも有名なのは《夜の星、黒瘴》でしょう。一対一の戦いでさえ、「状況を選ばない」「決定打になりえる」ドレインが非常に強力です。そして、「各対戦相手」とあるため、多人数戦では尚のことです。

その強さは、一時期、統率者戦で禁止カードとなっていたことからもわかるでしょう。

多人数戦についての記事です。

The Hall Has Landed
I’ve pared back on the lands in the Hall – too many of them are just plain good utility, not necessarily multiplayer powerhouses. And frankly, I’m in the mood for more pruning next year, I think. But in the meantime, you’ll see many familiar faces here (30k Excel file).

The one newcomer is Hall of the Bandit Lord, which threatens selective haste for your new creatures. I’ve talked about how haste can impact a group game in a previous article, and the Hall provides some interesting options to decks that don’t run Fires of Yavimaya or its several red/green variants. Most people, for example, don’t expect a white deck to rely on haste – but using white’s considerable life gain capacity, you can offset the Hall’s payment pretty easily. Should make it worth playing Serra Avatar with haste, no?

I also like seeing haste capability (as well as the uncounterability provided by Boseiju, Who Shelters All) in a land. Land is generally more secure in most formats than enchantments or artifacts.

For those who need more background in the animal elements, read on. For everyone else: thanks for your patience this week as we spent most of the time going over artifacts in Darksteel and Fifth Dawn. Expect more talk of recent cards a couple of weeks from now. I’m excited about what Champions offers multiplayer environments – we just have to get into the five basic colors to have most of our fun!

引用元
ALONGI’S FABULOUS 500! Posted in Serious Fun on September 21, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/alongi%E2%80%99s-fabulous-500-2004-09-21-0

多人数戦において速攻を重要視していることから、《山賊の頭の間》を取り上げています。どの色でも速攻を付与できるカードは希少です。

ただ、《山賊の頭の間》が活躍したと言う話は寡聞にして知りません。むしろ、同じ記事で取りあげられている、《すべてを護るもの、母聖樹》の方が活躍したと言えるでしょう。

もっとも、モダンのドルイド・コンボデッキで、最速2ターンキルを実現するために投入されたことはあるので、まったくダメなカードとも言えません。そういう意味では、可能性を感じて取り上げるのもまったくの見当違いでもありません。

My initial impressions of Champions is favourable. There are no doubt a lot of powerful legends in the set – the five Dragon Legends all being amongst the best of these – but it still didn’t feel like these decided too many games. The overall power level of the set seems to be comparatively low as I took part in a couple of drafts where there really were no playable picks in a pack that still had seven or eight cards left in it. Many draft decks I looked through at the pre-release had several sketchy cards in them but that could just be down to people’s card evaluations being a little off at this stage.

引用元
CHAMPIONS: PRE-RELEASE IMPRESSIONS Posted in Limited Information on September 27, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/limited-information/champions-pre-release-impressions-2004-09-27

プレリリースを体験しての『神河物語』の第一印象は、かなり好意的なもののようです。あくまでも、この記事の著者の個人的感想ではありますが。

いまでこそ評判が散々なだけに、こうした好意的評価は、気になるところです。

その他、リミテッドで強いカードの話などがありますが、そこは詳しく語ることはしません。１つ取り上げるならば、当時の構築環境でも活躍した《鼠の殺し屋》がここでも強かったことでしょうか。

Welcome to Combo Week! This week we’ll be exploring one of the cooler aspects of the trading card game – the chemical reaction when two or more cards come together to create something greater than the sums of their parts. And since this is the design column, it makes perfect sense for me to talk about the design of famous combos. There’s just one teensy problem. We don’t design combos.

The game of Magic has millions, perhaps billions, maybe even trillions, possibly quadrillions, who are we kidding – some number so large than it would mentally cripple any human who could truly comprehend it – of combos. (Be aware that the quality level varies greatly – there are scores of combos of the Great Defender / Creature Bond / Fissure quality.) How can R&D not have designed any?

Matchmaking

The answer to this question rests in how design works. You see, when creating a card, we don’t design it to interact with any one other card. Rather, we design it to interact with many other cards. Magic is a modular game. This means that it’s crucial that as many cards combine as possible. Let me use Legos as a metaphor. Legos wouldn’t be the defining brand it is right now if each piece only fit one or two other pieces. What makes Legos Legos is that each piece fits with every other piece. It is the ultimate modular play system. Magic works much the same way. The game would quickly become boring if each card only worked with a small handful of other cards. Thus, it is up to the designers to make cards as open-ended as possible.

This means that it’s inefficient to design cards to specifically work with other cards. Rather, we try to create effects that we know interact with key elements of the game, things that will apply to multiple other cards. That said, we do create linear cards (for more on this terminology, see “Come Together”) that push you towards a particular type of card. Goblin King, for instance, does encourage you to combine the card with goblins.

But this is Combo Week, so explaining why we don’t specifically design combos isn’t going to cut it. Instead I’ve decided to let you in on a deep dark secret. We do in fact design combos. But not as often as many of you think. The combos I’m talking about are a series of cards, what I call sets, that are clearly designed to be played together. And not in a larger group sense like slivers or shrines. I’m talking about a group of cards that, by design, require you to play all of them to get the desired effect. So without further ado, here are the R&D designed combos:

（中略）

Peer Through Depths / Reach Through Mists / Sift Through Sands / The Unspeakable (Champions of Kamigawa)

And we end with Champions of Kamigawa. The designers of Champions (Brian Tinsman, Brady Dommermuth, Mike Elliott and Bill Rose) were once again inspired by Spirit of the Night, but this time they decided to change the trigger condition to get the “big guy” (and also change the color). Instead of needing three creatures, they thought, what if you needed to cast three spells?

引用元
COMBO PLATTER Posted in Making Magic on September 27, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/combo-platter-2004-09-27

この週のテーマである、コンボについてマローが書いた記事です。

ただし、ここでは一般的な意味でのコンボはなく、直接名前を指定したカードとのコンボです。デザイナーズ・コンボと呼ばれることもあります。

この手のカードで一番有名なのは、ウルザランドでしょう。各種フォーマットで、ウルザトロンデッキを成立させています。

『神河物語』では、《深遠の覗き見》《霧中の到達》《砂のふるい分け》から、《語られざるもの、忌話図》が呼び出せるコンボが紹介されています。

こうしたデザイナーズ・コンボは、不特定のカードとの想定外の相互作用が起きにくい分、パワーバランスは抑えやすいのではないでしょうか。一番強いウルザトロンでさえ、禁止にはなっていません。

もっとも、それ以外があまり活躍できていないので、抑え過ぎているのかもしれませんが……。

Eight-and-a-Half Tails + Cowardice
This fox cleric is a bomb in limited and might even see some tournament play in constructed. For two colorless and a white you can protect any one permanent you control from one spell or effect. Three mana is a lot to hold back, but if it keeps that removal spell in your opponent’s hand, it may be worth it.

Of course, that’s playing fair with Eight-and-a-Half Tails. Why not slap down Cowardice and for one mana each send all of your opponent’s creatures screaming back to their owner’s hand? The fox cleric’s ability can even be used to protect Cowardice itself from Disenchant or Naturalize!

引用元
MAGICTHEGATHERING .COMBOS - CHAMPIONS OF KAMIGAWA EDITION
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/magicthegathering-combos-champions-kamigawa-edition-2004-09-27

『神河物語』のカードを使った、コンボが多数紹介されています。一々紹介してコメントするのも何なので、ここでは１つのみ取り出しました。

上記で、引用したのは、その中でも分かり易いものです。《卑怯》+《八ツ尾半》により、１マナでクリーチャーをバウンスし放題になります。

どうせなら、《死者の嘆き、崩老卑》と組み合わせる方が破壊になる分強力ですし、同じ『神河物語』である点が美しいと思いますが。

Champions is a Trip
Portland players, like players the world over, got their first taste of Kamigawa last weekend. Many people commented on the literally more colorful world-- getting back into playing colored spells feels almost weird after a year on the artifact world of Mirrodin. Here are the types of things that came up at the prerelease.

Q: Can I splice the same card onto an arcane spell multiple times?
A: No. All splices are revealed at the same time (much like revealing for amplify), and all costs get added together and paid at once (like kicker / buyback).

Q: Does Nezumi Graverobber flip the turn it comes into play if my opponent has no cards in his or her graveyard?
A: No. The “heroes” (aka flip cards) all have activated or triggered abilities. Nezumi Graverobber can’t even be activated until there is a “target card in an opponent’s graveyard” (because it’s a targeted ability). When the ability resolves, the last part of Nezumi’s activated ability checks for a condition and flips if the condition is met.

*Extra* If the card is removed by another effect, when the Graverobber’s ability tries to resolve it is countered for lack of target (no removal = no flipping). If there are other cards in the graveyard in addition to the targeted one, the targeted one will be removed, but the flip condition won’t be met.

引用元
GIT YER GATHER ON Posted in Feature on September 25, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/git-yer-gather-2004-09-25

寄せられた質問に答える形式のものです。発売当初ということもあって『神河物語』のものが多いですが、それ以外のカードに関する質問もあります。



2021/03/09 追記
日本語訳を見つけました。
オンラインルール学校#33――神河物語 #1（Saturday School 2004/09/11～2004/09/25 より）
https://web.archive.org/web/20041112101714/http://www.hobbyjapan.co.jp/magic/articles/files/20041004_01.html

昨日の記事の続きです。

Finally we get to the big man, Kokusho the Evening Star. We had a tough time figuring out what to do with these Dragons. At first, they were all going to have colored firebreathing, but that had two problems. One, many people don’t like “{U}: +1/+0” on a card, even a blue dragon, since blue doesn’t get firebreathing. Two, the art that came in didn’t show any of them breathing anything. The next iteration of them had “attack triggers,” but that felt too much like the dragons from Invasion. Finally, we came up with the “dies” triggers. These fit well, since these Dragons are supposed to be really smart, and would want to do everything possible to ensure their own survival. I think they’re some of the cooler cards in the set.

引用元
DECK OF MANY THINGS Posted in Latest Developments on September 24, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/deck-many-things-2004-09-24

ドラゴン・スピリットサイクルに関してです。

最初は「(色):+1/+0修整」をつける予定でした。言わゆる《炎のブレス/Firebreathing》能力であり、「火を吹く」ことを表すものなので、ドラゴンにはピッタリです。しかし、青には合わないこと、イラストで火を吹いていないことを理由に没になりました。

次に、攻撃誘発を検討されましたが、今度は『インベイジョン』のドラゴン・サイクルに似てしまうことを理由に没になりました。

最終的に死亡誘発能力になりましたが、その理由が「ドラゴンは賢いから、その生存戦略のため」というものです。死亡誘発で賢さを表すという発想はありませんでした。

以前に取り上げた記事（※１）では、「死亡誘発は疑似的な除去耐性」のためにつけたそうです。それをフレイバー的に解釈したものが、今回の記事ということでしょう。

※１
神河当時 - 《明けの星、陽星/Yosei, the Morning Star》のプレビュー
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/202004051946217392/

昨日の記事の続きです。

One card that did a lot of good work for me was No-Dachi. Yes, it feels weak compared to its Mirrodin-block equipment counterparts, but it may actually be better in limited than most common equipment from the previous block. Few people are running any artifact destruction, which means your equipment will stick around forever, most likely. There will be no Unforge after blockers have been declared! Our decision to continue equipment into this block is one that I love, since I feel equipment cards are some of the most flavorful we could do in a fantasy-based card game.

Kami of the Hunt is what we call a “spiritcraft” creature, meaning one that triggers when a Spirit or Arcane spell is played. This mechanic also almost got a keyword—“Tatari,” which was Japanese for “curse,” specifically a spirit-world curse. We eventually chickened out on the keyword, mostly because we had never keyworded a trigger condition before (that, and people thought the word was a little too weird) and ended up giving it a less-cool nickname (spiritcraft). In retrospect, I think we would have been happier had we left it there.

引用元
DECK OF MANY THINGS Posted in Latest Developments on September 24, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/deck-many-things-2004-09-24

スピリットクラフトは当初、「たたり/Tatari」という名前がついていました。この点は以前の記事でも触れられていました。

キーワード能力化も検討されていましたが、「誘発型能力をキーワード化したことが殆どない」という理由で見送られた、とのことです。キーワード化されなかった理由はここで初めて知りました。

結局、スピリットクラフトというニックネーム（俗称）をつけるに止まりました。しかし、このネーミングもイマイチ（less-cool）だそうです。

呪文もクリーチャーも誘発条件とする能力に、フレイバー的にしっくりくるネーミングはあるのでしょうか。見つけるのは中々難しいかもしれません。

Keeping with the Snake theme, we come to Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro, one of the few uncommon legendary creatures in the set. During design, there was a huge debate about the role of legendary creatures at uncommon. The “pro” argument was that legends were going to be the focus of the set, and it’s hard to make a theme stand out if all of its components are rares. The people in the pro camp are the ones responsible for Pious Kitsune, which mentions a particular legend by name in its text, and the variety of cards that reference other legends in their names, such as Kumano’s Pupils and Hisoka’s Defiance, which help solidify the “This Set Is About Legends” idea. The “con” camp thought that putting legends at uncommon would make legends overall feel lamer. After all, those of you that remember Chandler from Homelands know how lame he was. A compromise was reached, and only four legendary creatures were put at uncommon, which was the minimum number we felt was necessary to make the theme stand out in limited play and to people that are only opening a few packs.

引用元
DECK OF MANY THINGS Posted in Latest Developments on September 24, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/deck-many-things-2004-09-24

記事の本筋は、プレリリースの話です。ただ、気になったのは、この部分です。

伝説がテーマと言うことで、「レアのクリーチャーはすべて伝説」としてデザインされました。

この点は、大失敗であり、後に「テーマがコモンに存在しなければ、それはテーマではない」という教訓になりました（※１）。

ただ、当時というか開発の時点でも、伝説がレアのみというのはテーマとして分かりにくいと感じており、アンコモンにも数枚伝説のカードを入れることにした、という話です。

そこまでいけば、コモンにも伝説を、と言いたいところですが、流石にそれは後知恵が過ぎるでしょうか。

※１
神河教訓 - テーマがコモンに存在しなければ、それはテーマではない
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/201912020954324054/