You know, this is exactly the kind of thing that I really like in magic. Not necessarily the format that this makes, but just wotc doing an event just because it's fun for players, that's something I haven't seen for a good bit : ) I could definitely build something fun out of what I've got laying around and have a good time with this.

That being said, I think it would make a terrible format, but a great event. Imagine somebody playing 5 color Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Walking Ballista combo that could hold up Fierce Guardianship and Force of Will to protect the combo. Or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician with an undying partner for a command zone combo.

I like that it's a fun event, it's a theme that just works great for me, and I don't know, I think it's kind of nice to see wotc saying to players, fun is playing the game, after so long of them saying, fun is buying the game.

wallisface For sure, in 60 card the flares seem like they won't be a problem, that's a great point! I don't even think the flares will be very good in cEDH or anything, I just think it's a big problem in casual commander where sometimes it feels like they prey on player's want to optimize decks little by little. I mean, I don't think that Esper Sentinel has ever, ever actually won me a game of edh, but just the fact that it makes so many decks slightly better has sold so many copies. I don't know, it's just a different feeling when you find some cool new tech card that fits your deck perfectly rather than wizards just printing something slightly different or slightly better in the color you're playing.

And yep, I agree that card draw is getting a little out of hand, or at least card splashable card draw. Draw in blue never felt too bad, even if Brainstorm was very good, the cards blue had to play used to be objectively less powerful 1 for 1, so it evened out. With things like The One Ring it adds powerful draw into every color, and that's pretty broken. I think the London Mulligan also plays a part in it. Players being able to just mulligan with little cost because if they hit their draw engine it didn't really matter how deep they went, that's unhealthy gameplay on a pretty big scale.

I get that draw is maybe a good overall feature because it evens out mana floods/bricks, but for a format with a large and older card pool like modern, most of those cards are not balanced for games that have that much draw. Tron almost never whiffs now, and that absolutely blows my mind. Hitting a brick on Tron was like the one downside it always had and now it's just, well, I guess you can't cast a Ragavan off of Tron, so...mid...

Ultimately I do wonder if The One Ring will get banned in modern though. The way it plays with cascade is one of those things where I feel like neither player really has fun in that match. Protection plus card draw really shores up the random aspect of cascade way too well. The one ring really feels like something that should have been in commander only. Even if it's rough in edh, at least it's not, one ring drew me a new one ring, rough.

I think the flares will probably be less powerful than Fierce Guardianship but decks will have access to both, and it does feel very snowballey in nature. It's like, Monologue Tax is much worse than Smothering Tithe but many decks can just play both.

My main problem with 0 cmc interactions is that having a lot of them makes board assessment less and less possible. You could usually look at somebody tapped out and say, well, at most they have one Force of Will so odds are they don't have it, but when there are enough 0 mana interactions in enough colors, it becomes impossible to reason out your best plays.

Part of me thinks that the problem stems from how relatively limited bans are in commander. The RC really wants to have rule 0 do most of the work, and then by having a lot of probably problem cards in the format interaction becomes a premium, and then wizards uses it as a selling point. Hey there are new 0 cmc interactions, or better board wipes, or new tax or punish effects like Orcish Bowmasters. They are kind of bandaids that aren't anywhere near as needed in other formats because they are much more active in bannings.

Personally, I worry about these new cards, just because I'd much rather play a format with too many problems rather than too many answers. Like, I can think, I should run more artifact removal or something, but I can't think, oh I should not play big spells whenever people might have free counters if there are too many free counters.

You know, I have to agree that the community on this site is kinda just the best : ) Tappedout has always seemed like a place of good will and talking games, and the discussions here really keep me more interested in magic than Wizards does a lot of the time, and that's kinda crazy. Always appreciate the group here and everyone being awesome to chat with!

I definitely haven't been in any magic content (ha, I am not very good at the game!) but have been in a documentary about indie book writers and have a "guy on a porch playing music" youtube, and I'm always a little conflicted about these kinds of things because I'm a massive introvert.

If anyone is on the fence about doing a magic channel, I'd always suggest to try it a couple times. You might end up liking content creation more than you thought you would, and the first time or two it might seem super bad, but it does get better...I think : )

Gleeock You know, being doomed by Wand of Wonder sounds like a really fun way to lose a match, so still a good time : )

Honestly, I'm not really sure how "commits a crime" works yet, but good to know that it might be something fun to explore. I was trying to get back into the game a bit and then the Princess Bride cards kind of broke my brain, so not really sure if I will check out the new sets right now. It's kind of weird that they don't have reminder text for these effects. I mean, I guess I should know what these effects do, but I really kinda don't.

And yep FormOverFunction the original Terror was such a creepy card, but in the best way. Part of me misses those legitimately scary cards, but then part of me thinks it went maybe a little too far with something like Ad Nauseam, so I don't know, but I love the original terror!