Archenemy: Nicol Bolas Revealed
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 5, 2017, 11:24 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
WotC has now revealed all of the decklists for Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, including the schemes, as seen in this article, here.
I do not have time for a detailed review of this set, but I shall say that I am very disappointed with the low power level of the individual decks (other than Baleful Strix, because a reprint of that card will lower its price and make it more easily available, as I am seeking it for my black/blue deck), with the fact that nearly all of the cards are reprints of newer cards, with very few older card reprinted in the new border, and with the fact that this set introduces only twenty new schemes, while the original Archenemy had far more schemes than that (although it does seem as if WotC is focusing on quality over quantity this time with the schemes).
However, the schemes are as awesome as I had hoped for them to be. I cannot comment on every individual scheme, but I am very fond of some of them. For example this world belongs to me will be a nice replacement for The Pieces Are Coming Together , since playing an additional lands is almost always better than reducing the cost of a specific type of spell; power without equal will definitely replace Your Puny Minds Cannot Fathom , because one less card is worth being able to cast spells for free; my laughter echoes is simply too awesome to not have two, which I believe that I shall use to replace Nothing Can Stop Me Now , which is an awesome scheme (with a name that is very fun to say aloud dramatically), but not sufficiently powerful for serious use; because I have willed it is obviously too powerful to not use; what's yours is now mine will likely replace Your Will Is Not Your Own , because permanently taking a creature will compensate for the lack of increasing power/toughness only temporarily; make yourself useful is nice, but I would much prefer the versatility of Tooth, Claw, and Tail over gaining life; choose your demise is very nice, but too risky for me to seriously consider using it.
What does everyone else have to say about this? What are your opinions of Archenemy: Nicol Bolas?
MindAblaze says... #3
The new schemes are all powerful. While some of them seem a bit underwhelming it's only because I'm a bit spoiled. Edicts, tutors, free spells...what more can you ask for?
June 5, 2017 11:42 p.m.
Wow, you weren't kidding. These decklists are extremely disappointing. I will not buy this.
June 5, 2017 11:43 p.m.
I am tempted by this because it comes with two planeswalkers I don't have. Also it is more of a social thing,you could set this up as a party game.
June 6, 2017 8:24 a.m.
I love how every deck but Nissa's.got a Titan, because Primeval Titan is actually deec and we cant put good cards in
June 6, 2017 9:22 a.m.
It's $50 for four decks plus the schemes. $50 doesn't sound bad to me for this.
June 6, 2017 11:21 a.m.
For me, it's 49.95 for the whole set, or I can grab all 20 schemes for 17.95 (GBP, haha pound symbols don't show up for whatever reason).
The only pre constructed deck from the boxset I'd want to pick up is the bolas one, but the new art on the walkers is really pretty, so I might pick up Chandra Pyromaster and Nicol Bolas too, if they're not too pricey. And maybe the life counter too.
Of course, there's this LGS in my area that I really like to support when I can, so if they're selling for less (he normally does because he's awesome) then I'd get the whole thing from him.
The Talisman reprints, while not particularly noteworthy financially (you could pick them up for about 0.75 gbp each), are really nice because it puts them in the new card frame and Mirrodin block cards for whatever reason printed mana symbols in rules text in a disgusting grey colour.
June 6, 2017 6:44 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
K34, I will not purchase the complete set, but I shall purchase individual cards from it, such as those that I have already mentioned, above.
Zaueski, I would have greatly preferred that Chromatic Lantern had been in Bolas' deck instead of Obelisk of Grixis, but, apparently, WotC does not like to have powerful or valuable cards in preconstructed decks; I know that the obelisk is suitable from a flavor perspective, but the lantern or even Darksteel Ingot would have been far better choices for that deck.
And I cannot believe that Vampire Nighthawk has the same artwork, again! Is WotC really so miserly that they cannot afford to pay for new artwork for that card? I really wish to have new artwork for it for a deck of mine that has four copies, so that I can have three different images on the same card in that deck.
June 6, 2017 11:12 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #11
I love the original Nighthawk art. It's about as iconic as cards from the modern era get. Also, I'm pretty sure Chris Rahns four planeswalkers ate up a lot of the reprint art budget. I agree Chromatic Lantern should have had a reprint though.
June 6, 2017 11:38 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
I have decided that I shall replace my "choose self or others" schemes with some of the new schemes from this set, because, too often, my opponents are able to collaborate and choose the option that will hurt them the least, or they are useless when I have one opponent.
For example, I will replace Feed the Machine with pay tribute to me, which will almost always be superior. I am not certain if I shall replace Surrender Your Thoughts with every dream a nightmare, because making my opponents discard multiple cards is awesome, and I shall have plenty of other schemes with which to draw cards. I believe that both Embrace My Diabolical Vision and I Call on the Ancient Magics are too risky, as they have the chance to help my opponents more than they help me, so I shall replace them, as well, possibly with no one will hear your cries, which is another scheme that is too awesome to not have.
June 7, 2017 9:28 p.m.
I am returning back to magic after 20 years so I have nothing except for amonkhet and some revolt/kaladesh and I am not at all familiar with a lot of the mechanics of the game now. I decided to pick up this set along with the new planescape and commander anthologies so I could have some fun! I have been listening to the finance naysayers and I really don't care about the worth of the cards, I just want to have FUN!!!
June 8, 2017 12:31 p.m.
rcorwin3, it might be worth it for you. I think the reason most of us are unhappy with the set is that we all already have a dozen copies of these cards. Wizards seems to have this thing going where they only reprint a few cards from each set, and they just continually reprint those same cards.
June 8, 2017 4:11 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #15
K34, I have very much noticed that, as well, and I wish that WotC would use the supplemental sets (i.e., those that are not part of standard rotation) to reprint cards from older sets, since doing so will not make those cards legal in standard or modern.
June 10, 2017 11:35 p.m.
I am EXTREMELY excited about this Archenemy set.
One of the problems I have been having with Archenemy for a long time is that, if you play in a competitive play group like mine is, and you are playing 3 against 1, the Archenemy deck is frequently overpowered.
I love the fact that there are actual pre-con decks that can address that issue.
DemonDragonJ says... #2
As a side note, if WotC ever prints a third Archenemy set, I hope that it focuses on Phyrexia, because, as powerful as Bolas is, Phyrexia has come closer than anyone else to successfully conquering the multiverse.
June 5, 2017 11:27 p.m.