MtG Unstable Spoilers

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Seems like we are getting the Evil Geniuses faction today. Neat, also, I knew there was something up with the Rules Lawyer having the word combined in it.

Looking at this set I'm kind of torn. While I love the joke cards I kind of wish they weren't there and instead we just have a set that's just out of control in terms of power and playability because a lot of these cards are just good and synergize beautifully.

funny, when the set started spoiling there where others that complained that there weren't any good joke cards.

Do melded cards count as combined?

No.

not initially, but if you pulled two meld cards like Brisela. then their meld effect will occur normally.

I don't get it

EtB effects: Y/N?

She's the evil Mastermind that always escapes because the heroes caught or destroyed a robot clone. Kind of like Dr. Doom and his Doombots.

Casual game design doesn't mean trivial design.

Mary O'Kill and her swarm of bots are doing things that we've never seen. The card represents an entire design space within Magic that we could see in a future set. To understand the card, let's first establish some things:

Mary O'Kill's ability can be activated when she is in your hand. She can bounce herself into your hand or out of it.

The exchanged Killbots or Mary O'Kill do not enter the battlefield. It's a state swap, so the cards never transition through another state.

What excites me about Mary O'Kill's effect is the ability to move cards between zones in Magic without transitioning. The first immediate effect is that the mechanics reflect her flavor and setting abilities perfectly. You can see what she can do on the card, and the card text lets her do just that.

What this means when you are drafting Unstable is that Mary O'Kill with enough Killbots is hard to deal with. On the surface, she is a 5/5 for six mana, but since she can use her ability when she is in your hand, you never cast her for her converted mana cost, ever. One Curious Killbot on turn two means an instant-speed 5/5 can hit the ground on turn three. Once you have her robot army, Mary is the ultimate combat trick. Normally trying to switch attackers and blockers once they are declared resets your state, but not so with this effect.

Mary gives you the last word in many situations:

"Oh, I think you'll actually block this creature instead."

"Nice combat trick . . . I'll withdraw and let you destroy another Killbot."

Once she gets going, she will be hard to stop, but there are limits to her assassin powers. She can't create an exchange that resets targeting, so when removal hits, it won't fizzle for an absent target.

Also, Mary's ability is cheap, but it isn't free. You'll only be able to do it so many times in a turn, and if you are spending too much time holding open mana for the ability, you are limiting your own plays.

what do they mean by this?

Oh, look, it's what fucking Ludevic SHOULD have been.

As cool as Mary is in the Draft context, I get most excited about what a future Magic set might look like with a mechanic templated on her abilities. The best design spaces are often those that break the rules or our perception of the rules in a profound but elegant way.

The switch that Mary O'Kill and the Killbots do breaks the "rule" of transitions in Magic.

Normally, every card in Magic has to go through one or more transitions to create an effect. To go from your hand, a card becomes a spell, and from there transitions either to a graveyard, exile, or the battlefield.

Those transitions can then trigger other effects. Think about how much of how you play Magic is shaped by these transitions and the ability to respond to them.

The switch is a perfect "ninja" ability, letting you change the state of the battlefield with minimal chance for your opponent to respond. R&D wisely seems to tie it to activation so that something is on the stack, but you don't have to move too far in this space to see it leading to interesting territory:

What if:

You allowed instants to switch places on the stack?
You allowed different permanent types to switch places (e.g., artifact and enchantment)?
You implemented partial replacement (you don't inherit the untapped, targeted, attacking, etc. state when swapping)?

We won't likely see anything else in this design space for a long time, but I like being able to peek at R&D's brains to see what they might be thinking.

>Whoohoo, subgame!
>1 life

Wow mtg players are autists

While I agree, I really think this kind of effect could have only been done in silver border.

>no deathtouch

Also note that it doesn't have to be a creature you own or control.

That's a MtG designer, not player.

>tfw Ludevic will always be shit

That's literally taken straight from the reveal article you fuckwit

THAT'S NOT HOW THE GAME WORKS, THERE'S A WHOLE THIRD OPTION YOU FORGOT ABOUT YOU PG SONS OF BASTARDS

>Start subgame
>Turn 1 Bolt, Shock or Swiftspear

>Mary O'Kill's ability can be activated when she is in your hand.
now, maybe i am wrong and it was stated by someone that you can use the ability from hand, but the card doesn't say that, i am ppretty sure it just means you can switch another bot on the field while she is on the field, or switch her.

What?

Would you Fuck Mary o Kill?

See

>turn one gut shot
expanding brain.jpg

4 LIBRARIES

magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-preview/mary-okill-and-killbots-2017-11-15

>Mary O'Kill's ability can be activated when she is in your hand. She can bounce herself into your hand or out of it.

This. Is. Awesome.

MULTI-LIBRARY DRIFTING

I love this set, haven't gone to a prerelease since Lorwyn

Okay, this card has got me hooked.

I can't believe they brought back split screen multiplayer

Should have a weaker body, but the possibility to use her ability from your hand if you reveal it.

9 Full art tokens

>Unstable
>Prerelease

why the fuck didn't they write that on the card then? In what way is someone who didn't read the article supposed to know it can be used from hand?

So I assume you choose which library to draw from every turn.

Kek.That's pretty cool actually, and could have been made into a regular set i think. Would have been nice on a creature for exemple.

And their back sides
>voice of resurgence token
fuck yes

Because the card doesn't function without that assumption.

Not that user, but whenever they refer to a card being hand centric, like ninjutsu, I assume it means you can use it in your hand. I will admit, that its poorly worded for Mary O'kill.

>cast Split Screen
>bounce it to your hand while etb is on the stack
>ltb resolves before etb giving you 4 permanent libaries
>cast Split Screen, get 7 libraries
>etc

what is the top right one?

yes it does function, you can bounce her to dodge removal or use her ability to change a bot on the field with another. You cannot use activated abilities from hand unless otherwise stated. Why didn't they state it?

clue token.

>Play successive splitscreens
FOUR DECKS
SIXTEEN DECKS
SIXTYFUCK DECKS
TWOFUCKETYFSIX DECKS

Every pack of Unstable will include:

2 Contraptions
1 Foil Token
1 John Avon Land
11 Unstable Cards

>there are 2 types of tokens, normal tokens, and the double sided ones, full art ones. The full art tokens have no text or name on them.

Those are neat and all, but I was really hoping for them to do some of the weirder tokens that we don't yet have in paper. Sand Warriors never.

The second splitscreen would only split one of your libraries tho

Wanna know how I know you didnt read the card?

They probably thought it was a pretty obvious assumption to make, plus they were more focused on explaining how the 'switch' rule functions.

You should realize this is common in unsets, the rules are poorly written and you frequently need to refer to either the mothership or Blogatog for the full rules of a card.

These will be foil right?

well i am retarded, i forgot magic wording for a second, if a card references a name directly liek that it is referencing itself. Damn

yes

add Panharmonicon to that.

I love this. Suddenly I'm a kid again.

It's shahrazad but not fucking annoying.

Gifting this to a person heavy on tutors and fetches could have fun results.

My hopes in Agents of S.N.E.A.K. have been well placed. I'm getting similar vibes to when I first saw knowledge pool.

>paying 2 of your 1 life to cast a spell
Really adds mana to my mana pool

Order of the Widget and Agents of S.N.E.A.K. seem like the most enjoyable to play if you like really fucking with the game.

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What happens if you stifle the leaves trigger?

they stay split, but unrevealed.

You also probably have to chose a library as your "main" one and the three+ others become completely inexistent to the eyes of the game

Well, curious killbot. Should have scry.

Would you?

The ability that made them split gives you all the rules you need. once its gone, the libraries still have those rules.

This set is all about mad science, and wizards is clearly doing a future sight here and testing all sorts of weird, off the wall mechanics in this set.
>multiple libraries
>Contraptions
>attacking during an oppponents turn
>Marry or Kill's super ninjutsu

But the "choose a library" effect is on the artifact

I'm pretty sure its 1st ability, in its entirety, exists indepently after being triggered. Any one part of it remaining tire means all parts of it remain true, varri g replacement effects.

Its 2nd exists as long as it's out.

Its 3rd triggers as it leaves, and as its 1st, exists independently of its artifact body.

Un is looking fun. What’s your fave card? Mine is this. Still.

Out of everything, multiple libraries/ extra decks has me the most excited. I never played Yugioh but I always thought the extra deck was a neat thing.

I do believe this is correct.

"Choose" is all on the first ability which ETBs and maintains its effect.

The only thing that happens if you remove the artifact (without triggering the third ability) is that your 4 libraries will no longer have their top card revealed.

The whole point of the UN-sets is that there is no solid rules for how they work.

Alright

I feel like that one won't see much use since it costs $5 to play.

>The whole point of the UN-sets
stopped reading right there

>paying the colored mana cost for a phyrexian mana spell
Really taps my lands.

Depends on your LGS
It costs 3€ in mine

I'm jazzed about the more normal cards in the set. That watermark sol land works with killbots and Mary o Kill looks like a barrel of fun.

So if you give this guy Vigilance, can he both Attack and Block in the same Combat? And if he Attacks during the current Opponent's Turn, can they Block?

Never before have I wanted to use an uncard

Can he block himself?

And crow storm. Jesus why must it be an uncard?

Just looking at the Combat Phase rules, it doesn't look like the player whose turn it is can declare Blockers, so with Vigilance he's a free 3 damage each combat for each opponent.

I think it's a "marry, fuck or kill" reference.

Yes.
>attack and block in the same combat
Maybe.

No.

>obnoxious card that will likely be hated by other players who might verbally express their opinions about the card.
It's implied.

Almost every card we've seen so far could be black-bordered with some minor tweaking. That's my biggest disappointment here. I'm glad to see all the zany shit they've been doing rather than just printing jokes, but it all feels kinda pointless when none of these are playable outside of kitchen table.

I think the Vanilla Mythic will have something to do with watermarks or flavor text, since those are both themes for this set.

Un-Sets are usually a testing ground for some of the weirder stuff. Aside from the zany shit intending to poke fun at the rest of Magic or TCGs in general, a lot of mechanics will likely come back with some tweaks.

Combining requires some significant rules changes to function in black border.
Switch and abilities on a card that you can use while that card is in hand require significant rules changes in order to function in black border.

Unstable is a testing ground for ideas they might want to use in the future. If Mary O'Kill turns out to be the most beloved card of the set, expect to see a 'switch' set in the future.