11 Reasons to Be Excited About M11

The reception for Magic 2011 has been luke-warm from many.  For our own part, Gathering Magic has been kicking rocks down the alley asking, ‘what are we even excited about in M11?’  Common question, but after writing an entire column last week detailing why we’re bummed about the latest core set, it’s time to stop the whining and face reality.  Even without new dual lands, and recycled Planeswalkers, M11 has plenty to get enthused about.  Here, in reverse order, are the Top Eleven reasons to be hopeful regarding Magic 2011.

11.  Red Burn at the Tipping Point - Red Deck Wins strategies are always hanging around Friday Night Magics, and the perimeter of constructed tournament play. However, with both M10 (Ball Lightning, Lightning Bolt) and Zendikar (Burst Lightning, Kargan Dragonlord) already in circulation, any nudge from M11 pushes the theme over the top into old-school Fireblast levels of power.

10. A New Evergreen Mechanic – Scry certainly does not set the world on fire with its pure, and raging power.  But, it does expand the small school of mechanics WotC lets sneak into a core sets.  Scry represents a beacon of hope that someday in the future, all kinds of cool key-words and abilities see the light of an M-set.  Including a next-level mechanic like Flash on mythic rare Bogardan Hellkite is one thing, but trusting us with multiple instances of an ability on common cards is another.

better than it sounds

9. Magic 2011 is M10 and Then Some – This past week when I wrote, “Magic 2011 will simply carry the torch lit by M10, instead of lighting something new” in the M11 Planewalkers column, it was meant as an insult.  After some thought, this realization hit me, that’s awesome!  Magic 2010 was a brilliant foundation, and now we’re seeing the structure built.  The incredible balance between the colors, the fantastic fantasy flavor, and sense of homage are all things that M11 will have in spades.  It really doesn’t matter if M10 did it first, as long as M11 does it better.  And that may well be the case.

8. Simple Mana – Nobody is too excited about the M10 dual land cycle staying stagnant in M11, however let’s play devil’s advocate.  Pushing the brakes even a little on dual lands mean WotC is making at least a show of returning mana-fixing to an art form.  This is a glimpse into the olden days, when a man had basic lands in his deck, and smoked cigarettes on airplanes.  Or something to that affect.

7. More Playable Uncommons and Commons – For much of Magic’s past, the common and uncommon slots in each set were doomed to contain almost exclusively unplayable cards.  The creatures were bad, and the spells were utilitarian at best.  However, the recent push by WotC has been to make cards without mythic rarity playable outside limited formats.  This trend has led to rediscovering cards like Duress and printing new cards like Vampire Nighthawk and Garruks Companion.  M11 promises to be chock full of cards good enough to find their way into any deck, even the cards that aren’t rare.

6. New Tribal Lords – Number six on the list is a bit speculative, admittedly.  However, with the release of Captivating Vampire the door to all-new lords has been cracked slightly.  After hope faded with the dual lands and PWs, a new hope has sprung up regarding the final rare cycle we know will be in M11.  New lords may be a pipe dream, but even if we see Elvish Archdruid and friends return, there is a silver lining: players witnessing vampires finally attain their rightful place as the fifth tribe.

blue wizards on july 15th

5. No Matter the Cards, Blue Wizards Will Complain – This joyous tradition has almost nothing to do with the Magic 2011 set specifically, but instead is something to be enjoyed during every release.  Cards are revealed and judgments are made, and then it happens: the Blue wizards start posting their irritation all over the internet.  No return of Counterspell?  “Lame.”  Lack of creature sweeps?  “Totally  unfair!”  It’s like clockwork and M11 will be no different, so sit back and prepare to be entertained.

4. Nostalgia Bombs – The Gathering Magic staff (all two of us) took a long hiatus after the mid-1990s, and didn’t pick up the game again until recently.  When M10 was released it was the first time we had a real chance to play with older, and awesome, cards like Time Warp and Darksteel Colossus.  Surely some collectors are still bitter that the sell price on DC dropped from about $15 to around $3. But that is only because a new generation of fans has had a chance to throw this fatty around themselves.  What forgotten treasures await buried in M11?

3. Limited Formats are Best with Core Sets – Magic 2011 brings with it a new season of Limited format gaming, and we believe it to be the best season of all.  Admittedly this is an opinion, and you are allowed a dissenting one, but indulge us a moment.  Core sets don’t have strong themes or mechanics that tend to muddle the game play.  M11 means white does this, and black does that, so draft/build accordingly.  RoE was a fun limited set, but plenty of poor souls drafted a first pick Time of Heroes and then were only able to snag one or two levelers.  M11 guarantees every card is useful on its own.

2. Baneslayer Angel is Back – Because of the value of the card, and its high level of use, duelists assumed BSA was showing up in M11.  Of course, after they were revealed to be correct, the reaction seemed more like relief than celebration.  Screw that!  Our favorite angel is cool for just about any reason a creature can be cool – flavorful, powerful, and easy-to-play.  If M11 only contained BSA and Lorwyn Planeswalkers, the boosters would still be worth picking up.  Like shiny Lottery tickets: you never know when $60 could be staring back at you from inside them.

1. The Eight Remaining Mythics Could Still Blow us Away – Magic expansions are judged almost entirely on their Mythics these days.  Each core set will contain 15 Mythic spells, and already seven (BSA, our new friend the Sun Titan, and the five PWs) have been revealed for M11.  That still leaves eight spaces for WotC to unleash a mind-blowing card or two.  Magic 2010 would not have been nearly as esteemed without Baneslayer.  We expect to be impressed again, and so should you.