What's your favorite Core Set?
General forum
Posted on July 23, 2014, 3:58 p.m. by JakeHarlow
So, I've only been playing since Dragon's Maze, so the only core sets I've been around for are m13, m14, and m15 (most recently).
What are your guys' opinions on what the best Core Set was since 8th edition? I wasn't a huge fan of m14, I'm pretty certain that I liked m13 better.
MindAblaze says... #3
M11 also had Baneslayer Angel and Scry. Preordain !
That was during the Jace, the Mind Sculptor travesty though...
July 23, 2014 4:55 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #4
I think 10th ed was pretty sick. I wasn't playing at the time, but it had awesome reprints like Crucible of Worlds and the muse cycle (Seedborn Muse , etc). Plus I love the symbol
July 23, 2014 5:08 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #6
M13 I liked a lot. It had its own brand of crazy and retro from Rewind to Door to Nothingness . I also really liked the Exalted in it and the colours it was given.
July 23, 2014 5:45 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #7
I also really like Tenth, and M12 had some pretty cool cards.
July 23, 2014 6:20 p.m.
5th. Edition, back when WhatSee let us have nice things. Necropotence , Mana Vault , Underground River , Animate Dead , Pyroblast , Ball Lightning , Birds of Paradise , Benalish Hero , Goblin King , Jester's Cap , Llanowar Elves , Counterspell , White Knight ...ahhhh what I wouldn't do to have a core set like it back.
July 23, 2014 6:27 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #9
I loved M13. Thragtusk , Thundermaw Hellkite , Garruk, Primal Hunter and Farseek were all part of my favorite Standard format ever, and the cards are sick.
July 23, 2014 7:12 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #10
Let's not forget that OP stated "since 8th edition". If it was any core set, the obvious answer is Beta. Or Revised, if you aren't into antes
July 23, 2014 7:27 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #11
Yeah. M13 was awesome, while I felt M14 to be a bit bland.
July 23, 2014 7:59 p.m.
From a limited and vorthos view, I loved M13, because it contained the best flavor of any core set ever (all these Bolas themed cards and quotes... Hrrr....).
Also, all five of the legendary creatures are awesome (Nefarox is SO underrated) and both Krenko, Mob Boss and Talrand, Sky Summoner probably still are the most popular mono colored Commanders of all time.
But from another point of view... Liliana of the Dark Realms is, was and will always be AWFUL. Tibalt atleast had the courtesy to be dirt-cheap...
Next, Thundermaw Hellkite was way too pushed and Thragtusk -standard was just the worst.
July 23, 2014 8 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #13
@JakeHarlow Same here. There were no big bombs that everyone was clamoring about, except maybe Scavenging Ooze , and no cards that really bolstered my love for big flashy things.
July 23, 2014 8:01 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #14
Kalonian Hydra and Garruk, Caller of Beasts were solid. Appreciated the reprint of Mutavault , too. But mostly the set was just meh.
July 23, 2014 8:03 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
@TexasDice But... don't you get a warm feeling when you play a Thragtusk , then on your next turn Restoration Angel for all the value? That, or killing all their stuff and killing them with a 10/10 Olivia Voldaren ? Does the very sight of those cards not thrill you? Does the feel of twenty-plus nonbasic lands and perfect mana not tingle your inner planeswalker?
M13 had fun cards that were also playable and appealing to all classes of players. I loved it when I was a newer, casual player and still love it as a more competitive player.
July 23, 2014 8:06 p.m.
@Unforgivn_II: Shit I didn't even see the 8th. Edition part.
- 8th. had some good cards, but also a lot of junk rares.
- 9th. was a simple set for new players. However, it also had more powerful cards to make it desired by experienced players looking for good cards. This is probably my favorite core set.
- 2010 comes in 2nd. for me. There's a lot of good cards. It's also the first core set to have black borders.
- 2011 gave us the power creep that is Baneslayer Angel and the titans. I despise this move by Wizards both for the shift in design and the number of playable Mythics that destroyed the cost of Standard more than it already was.
- 2012 was mostly reprints, and again, too many playable Mythics. However, most of the non-Mythics were balanced and good cards overall. Probably my 3rd. favorite core set.
- 2013 gave rise to "good stuff" decks in Standard. Thragtusk was a serious mistake, in my opinion. You either played a deck with Thragtusk or you played a deck that beat Thragtusk .
- 2014 ran into the problem of too many junk rares, but sold packs anyways because of Mutavault and Mythics. It was also a mediocre set to draft.
- I like 2015 a lot. It's nice to see painlands back. I'm unsure how I feel about the souls and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth however.
July 23, 2014 8:08 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #17
@sylvannos I don't want to turn this into a discussion of WotC mistakes, but a lot of people say that Thragtusk was a mistake just because "you either played it or you tried to beat it". Is that not the case with any powerful card? It's not like people said, "Hey, whatever" to Thundermaw Hellkite , as many people had answers to it specifically in their maindecks, but no one by any stretch is calling it format-defining.
July 23, 2014 8:15 p.m.
I just remembered how good black was in M13 limited... Murder , Public Execution , Essence Drain , Vampire Nighthawk ... Oh Nighthawk, why did you have to leave?
Probably the only uncommon I'd slam over a foil Mythic.
July 23, 2014 8:25 p.m.
@thispersonisagenius: The issue with Thragtusk was it's mana cost, the lack of answers in the format, and its size.
In Modern, Thragtusk is still a powerful card, but we have things like Snapcaster Mage and Lightning Bolt . At the time in Standard, you could Snapcaster Mage plus Searing Spear , but that's six mana versus four. The point being that once Thragtusk hit the table in Standard, it would most likely two-for-one you. Or, you had to spend ridiculous mana (3URR to one-for-one something that cost 4G?).
EDH, we see the other end of the spectrum, where there's plethora of good countermagic (as well as in Legacy and Modern). That was probably the best way to deal with Thragtusk in Standard. But oh...right: Cavern of Souls and Unburial Rites .
There were a lot of good cards in Standard at the time with a lot of different decks. Unfortunately, the card pool wasn't big enough that we saw a way to really deal with Thragtusk that matched his value. This lead to a lot of topdeck wars and goodstuff decks where he was easily splashable. I had no issues casting Loxodon Smiter into Thragtusk into Desecration Demon , for example.
It wasn't as bad as Affinity or the Caw Blade era, but it could have easily been avoided if Thragtusk wasn't printed, or it cost 2GGG, or was a 4/3, or didn't gain you five life, or anything else that made that card ridiculous. Really made M13 a joke of a set.
July 23, 2014 11:40 p.m.
I think 9th ED and 2011 were probably a couple of the best.I did like a lot of 7 though.
July 24, 2014 6:32 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #21
sylvannos you left one out. M10, and 10th edition are different.
July 28, 2014 5:33 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #22
I really like the mini write-up you did there though sylvannos
July 28, 2014 5:34 p.m.
@Didgeridooda: I always forget about Tenth Edition being different from Magic 2010 haahaa. The description I gave for M10 was meant for Tenth.
That being said, I didn't like M10 because of the Mythic Rares, especially when they did something like bump Darksteel Colossus from Rare to Mythic Rare. There was also a lot of junk rares. M10 did introduce us to the buddy lands (Drowned Catacomb et al), so that's one of its redeeming qualities.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #2
8th had some good cards, Merchant Scroll and the like. As did m11 amd m12, with the titan cycle.
July 23, 2014 4:16 p.m.