Got an email from my WotC rep earlier today that indicates that 1) there will be launch parties held for Planechase, 2) there will be exclusive promo planes given out as the participation prize, 3) there will be exclusive promo planes available as participation prizes at the Zendikar prerelease (no word on whether or not this is in addition to a normal prerelease promo), 4) each Planechase deck will contain one preview Zendikar card, and that 5) many of the promos available for organized play for the remainder of 2009 will in fact be additional exclusive planes.
It sounds like they're pushing this awfully hard for a multiplayer format, though it does kind of sound awesome. Here's the full text of his email:
"Hello, This email is to inform you about Planechase, an exciting new product from Wizards of the Coast. These come 4 decks to a display, each deck has a MSRP of $19.99. Contact me at XXX-XXX-XXX, ext XXXX. Quantities are limited.
With this new Magic: The Gathering release Planechase™, plane cards introduce a groundbreaking new way to experience planeswalking. Through this innovative new card type, two or more players can battle each other across a variety of diverse worlds, each with its own unique effect on the game. Planechase is an action-packed, larger-than-life way to enjoy Magic: The Gathering!
KEY SELLING POINTS
Planechase is a fun new multiplayer format for Magic: The Gathering. Plane cards represent different worlds in the Magic Multiverse. As the game moves from plane to plane, it has a fun and exciting impact on game play.
Players can use plane cards with their own magic decks or the powerful 60-card decks that come with each game pack.
The Planechase set has four different game packs available, each one with 10 unique plane cards and a 60-card preconstructed Magic deck.
Each 60-card deck that comes with the Planechase game pack is composed of popular cards from throughout magic’s history and is tuned for multiplayer play. Each deck contains a 8 rare cards – the same total number that appear in Duel Deck releases.
Each of the four 60-card decks also contains a different preview card from the October 2009 Magic set, ZendikarTM.
Four Versions - Each One Contains:
10 different all-new plane cards
A ready-to-play 60-card deck with 8 rare cards and a Zendikar preview card
Six-sided planar die
Planechase strategy insert with multiplayer rules
Magic “learn to play” guide
MARKETING SUPPORT
Organized Play
Launch Parties (with exclusive plane card for participation)
Wizards Play Network “Featured Format”
Exclusive plane card to be given out at Zendikar™ Prereleases
Organized play events scheduled for 2009 will support attendance with exclusive plane cards.
I'm calling it right now- worst rare in the set. Even good limited players will find better bombs at common and uncommon no sweat. Worst. Episode. Ever.
I really do predict this to be our worst rare in set award winner. I'd be happier opening a jar of eyeballs, so I think anything worse is highly unlikely. This card wont just have zero constructed potential, but not be significantly better than a mass of ghouls in a draft.
I like what it sounds like. sure does sound more and more like an official "Chaos magic" format. Though I would prefer to just get the planes cards without the precon attached, to lower the price. At lease it does sound like they are attempting to make the precons decent (8 rares rather than 2)
still need more info but at the moment i am hopeful
I'm having a hard time accepting this... its just not practical, especially if the sleeves are different between the players, or if two players have the same planar card (hell, if one is in poorer condition and they get mixed somebody is gonna leave that game unhappy). I think the piles will be kept by each player as an additional library of sorts, with the current player and planar die somehow influencing the chosen plane.
Ooooh I like that actually. Each player playing in a Planechase game has their own deck of planes (20 minimum). At the begining of each players upkeep that player must roll the 6 sided die. If the die comes up with the Planechase symbol (6) that player reveiles the top card of their Planechase deck. Untill the next player rolls a 6 the combat takes place on the revieled plane.
It would be cool if the theme of the game was more of a "chase" than we're used to. If you get a certain dice roll, then draw a card from the planar deck of the player with least life - the planeswalker who is losing the battle flees to a plane that will (hopefully) give them an advantage, and their opponent pursues them.
Doesn't seem very elegant.
I still stand by my original speculation.
This is Chaos Magic, simplified.
You start the game with a Plane card in play (I guess there is a Plane deck, it would be the top card) and each Plane has a static effect printed on it, Enchant World style.
During each player's upkeep, they roll a 6 sided die, and the Plane card tells them what each die roll will result in. 6 would likely be 'Planechase' or something, discarding the current Plane for the next one.
1-5 would be one-shot effects relevant to the plane. (Gain control of target creature, Gain X life, Draw X cards, etc)
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I still stand by my original speculation.
This is Chaos Magic, simplified.
You start the game with a Plane card in play (I guess there is a Plane deck, it would be the top card) and each Plane has a static effect printed on it, Enchant World style.
During each player's upkeep, they roll a 6 sided die, and the Plane card tells them what each die roll will result in. 6 would likely be 'Planechase' or something, discarding the current Plane for the next one.
1-5 would be one-shot effects relevant to the plane. (Gain control of target creature, Gain X life, Draw X cards, etc)
These seems a little inelegant as well. Instead of rolling dice (Something they've tried to avoid), why not just have each plane have either a static ability (Howling Mine, Death Pits of Rath, etc) or an ability that triggers at the beginning or end of each players turn (Beginning of each upkeep, Wrath of God) or a combination of both (Forsaken Wastes). Then every turn cycle (Once every player has taken a turn with that plane card) you flip the next plane card over. That's normally how these effects works in multiplayer games anyway.
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Confirmation of four preview cards, huh. I have to say I didn't expect that. There goes seds's "It's probably a land" idea.
My english may be a bit rusty, but for me
4) each Planechase deck will contain one preview Zendikar card
sounds like there could also be just one Zendikar preview card (but this has to be the same in every deck then) so Seds theory of a land is still viable. (Or a mana fixing artifact?)
sounds like there could also be just one Zendikar preview card (but this has to be the same in every deck then) so Seds theory of a land is still viable. (Or a mana fixing artifact?)
Farther down it says:
Each of the four 60-card decks also contains a different preview card from the October 2009 Magic set, ZendikarTM.
I prefer that to a land. I thought they would just take the easy way out and do a land.
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so my idea that the zendikar promo cards are in fact one of the planes might actually be correct in addition to planes being in Zendikar? OMG I can't believe this... i might have actually gotten something right YES!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!
Ooop... Ooop ... Ooop and Nissa Revane's text suggests planes in Zendikar too:
This is Nissa Revane, a proud and ruthless nature-mage. She seeks to prove that her people, the elves, are the true heirs and best stewards of the planes of the Multiverse. She hails from a world known as Zendikar—and you'll see her card by October of this year.
p.s. Wizard's supporting multiplayer play is sensical because the current tournaments prefer spikes, multiplayer is more open to Timmies and Johnies creating a little more play space for a demographic that is usually hosed by tournament decks.
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The way it reads to me, there are going to be launch parties (not prereleases) for Planechase. For participating in this launch party there will be an exclusive plane card given away.
Additionally, players in the Zendikar prerelease will get an exclusive plane card. The email didn't say one way or the other whether or not that plane was in addition to the normal alternate art foil prerelease card that most sets get. And it didn't say one way or the other whether or not Zendikar will contain planes (but my inclination is that it won't, since, you know, they're too big to fit in boosters).
Wow, this sounds like it could be really cool. I agree that it feels like they're trying to 'test' the idea for normal magic, but for the time being, it's just cool to have a new element to add to multiplayer games on occasion. I can't wait to try it out in our EDH games.
Man, this "Plane" thing sounds like Chaotic. I was watching some kids play it in the local shop, and they had all these locations cards that they had to randomly roll to get it out into play.
Though I do like myself some chaos Magic, those were fun times.
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Just thinking about the way the plane cards could work. I still don't like the idea of some random effects triggered after rolling the dice. How about this: At the beginning of each player's upkeep players throw dices, and the one who wins (gets a higher number) decides whether they stay on the plane they're currently on or planeswalk away...
Doesn't explain why it has to be a D6.
If that was the case, it would use D20's.
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Since I didn't see it anywhere else in this thread, we do have the names of the four Planechase decks.
Elemental Thunder Metallic Dreams Strike Force
Zombie Empire
........
Those sound like they could be representative of the different Alara shards. Maybe not though - they might be some of the other major planes from over the years (mirrodin, phyrexia, etc).
my first thought was Metallic Dreams was for Mirrodin's plane... maybe grants a static ability of Affinity?
I AM of the impression that planes will operate much like the vanguard cards, have 1 or more static abilities (mana flare, hand size, life-gain, whatever)
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"...3 or 4 life isn't that huge of a deal, so who cares if you lose it? Only the last point of life matters, the other 19 are unimportant in the grand scheme..."
just a guess - I could easily see them being classic planes too. especially since the shards were supposed to be joined into one plane by the end of the block.
Each one comes with ten planes, so assuming there's no planar overlap between the different box-sets, chances are each of the four will contain current planes, old planes, and planes we've never seen before.
I'm pretty sure it's going to be one planar deck per player. Nothing else really makes sense since there are going to be 40 different planar cards as of the Planechase launch split between four different planar decks of ten cards - and likely more in the future (and since casual players aren't likely to be at prereleases, I'm willing to be the first to suggest that the prerelease Plane card is going to be an alternate art of a Plane card in an intro pack, providing an incentive to attend prereleases without punishing players that don't attend them). This strongly implies a deckbuilding component, which would mean every game would start with "you wanna play with the planar deck you made to help your stuff, or with the deck I made to help my stuff?"
As for the cards themselves, I have so many odd ideas for how Planechase will work that I'm done trying to think of them. I do think that the planar die will likely be used for a large number of the cards, if not all. Also, I think it's likely that all players will be playing with their own planes, but there may be some level of interaction with other players' planes (like 'walking to them). For example, one player could be sitting in Mirrodin tinkering with his Myrs while another is simultaneously mustering a force of various Etherium-enhanced individuals over on pre-Conflux Esper. There ought to be some way to just 'walk from one to the other to try to pick up some momentary planar benefits.
Update! Talked to my rep today and the exclusive plane available at Zendikar prereleases is probably in addition to the normal alternate art prerelease promo foil. So, it's not taking that card's slot. He didn't have concrete information about anything that he could share with me, though.
I like this idea better if the other one hasnt been confirmed. Each player has a stack of 5-10 different plane cards. At the start of the game each player flips one over. That effect is static for BOTH players.
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It sounds like they're pushing this awfully hard for a multiplayer format, though it does kind of sound awesome. Here's the full text of his email:
"Hello, This email is to inform you about Planechase, an exciting new product from Wizards of the Coast. These come 4 decks to a display, each deck has a MSRP of $19.99. Contact me at XXX-XXX-XXX, ext XXXX. Quantities are limited.
With this new Magic: The Gathering release Planechase™, plane cards introduce a groundbreaking new way to experience planeswalking. Through this innovative new card type, two or more players can battle each other across a variety of diverse worlds, each with its own unique effect on the game. Planechase is an action-packed, larger-than-life way to enjoy Magic: The Gathering!
KEY SELLING POINTS
Organized Play
still need more info but at the moment i am hopeful
Ooooh I like that actually. Each player playing in a Planechase game has their own deck of planes (20 minimum). At the begining of each players upkeep that player must roll the 6 sided die. If the die comes up with the Planechase symbol (6) that player reveiles the top card of their Planechase deck. Untill the next player rolls a 6 the combat takes place on the revieled plane.
Doesn't seem very elegant.
I still stand by my original speculation.
This is Chaos Magic, simplified.
You start the game with a Plane card in play (I guess there is a Plane deck, it would be the top card) and each Plane has a static effect printed on it, Enchant World style.
During each player's upkeep, they roll a 6 sided die, and the Plane card tells them what each die roll will result in. 6 would likely be 'Planechase' or something, discarding the current Plane for the next one.
1-5 would be one-shot effects relevant to the plane. (Gain control of target creature, Gain X life, Draw X cards, etc)
Twitter
These seems a little inelegant as well. Instead of rolling dice (Something they've tried to avoid), why not just have each plane have either a static ability (Howling Mine, Death Pits of Rath, etc) or an ability that triggers at the beginning or end of each players turn (Beginning of each upkeep, Wrath of God) or a combination of both (Forsaken Wastes). Then every turn cycle (Once every player has taken a turn with that plane card) you flip the next plane card over. That's normally how these effects works in multiplayer games anyway.
Wizards could put $100 bills in packs and people would complain about how they were folded.
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My english may be a bit rusty, but for me
sounds like there could also be just one Zendikar preview card (but this has to be the same in every deck then) so Seds theory of a land is still viable. (Or a mana fixing artifact?)
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Farther down it says:
Each of the four 60-card decks also contains a different preview card from the October 2009 Magic set, ZendikarTM.
I prefer that to a land. I thought they would just take the easy way out and do a land.
Twitter
Ooop... Ooop ... Ooop and Nissa Revane's text suggests planes in Zendikar too:
This is Nissa Revane, a proud and ruthless nature-mage. She seeks to prove that her people, the elves, are the true heirs and best stewards of the planes of the Multiverse. She hails from a world known as Zendikar—and you'll see her card by October of this year.
p.s. Wizard's supporting multiplayer play is sensical because the current tournaments prefer spikes, multiplayer is more open to Timmies and Johnies creating a little more play space for a demographic that is usually hosed by tournament decks.
"I feel like I haven't done my job unless somebody says, 'How the hell is that supposed to work?'" - Mark Rosewater
Collecting Islands need:
Unhinged & Unglued
Arena: Donato Giancola, Tony Szczudlo, Anson Maddocks, John Avon (ravnica)
European Land Program: Ben Thompsom, Eric Peterson, Ben Thompson
Fifth Edition J. W. Frost Islands foil
Location: Bangkok
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=9203201#post9203201
Additionally, players in the Zendikar prerelease will get an exclusive plane card. The email didn't say one way or the other whether or not that plane was in addition to the normal alternate art foil prerelease card that most sets get. And it didn't say one way or the other whether or not Zendikar will contain planes (but my inclination is that it won't, since, you know, they're too big to fit in boosters).
Though I do like myself some chaos Magic, those were fun times.
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Elemental Thunder
Metallic Dreams
Strike Force
Zombie Empire
First posted EDH deck: Hakim, Beardmaster
Doesn't explain why it has to be a D6.
If that was the case, it would use D20's.
Twitter
........
Those sound like they could be representative of the different Alara shards. Maybe not though - they might be some of the other major planes from over the years (mirrodin, phyrexia, etc).
I AM of the impression that planes will operate much like the vanguard cards, have 1 or more static abilities (mana flare, hand size, life-gain, whatever)
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GRB Kobold Combo (Legacy/1.5)
WBR That Bloody Rack! (Extended)
R (Pseudo GB) Goblinesque Aggro/Midrange (Standard)
U Arcanis the Omnipotent (EDH)
WUBRG Karona, False God + Slivers (EDH)
"...3 or 4 life isn't that huge of a deal, so who cares if you lose it? Only the last point of life matters, the other 19 are unimportant in the grand scheme..."
Elemental Thunder - Naya
Metallic Dreams - Esper
Strike Force - Bant
Zombie Empire - Grixis
just a guess - I could easily see them being classic planes too. especially since the shards were supposed to be joined into one plane by the end of the block.
As for the cards themselves, I have so many odd ideas for how Planechase will work that I'm done trying to think of them. I do think that the planar die will likely be used for a large number of the cards, if not all. Also, I think it's likely that all players will be playing with their own planes, but there may be some level of interaction with other players' planes (like 'walking to them). For example, one player could be sitting in Mirrodin tinkering with his Myrs while another is simultaneously mustering a force of various Etherium-enhanced individuals over on pre-Conflux Esper. There ought to be some way to just 'walk from one to the other to try to pick up some momentary planar benefits.