:3mana::symr::symr: Creature - Goblin
When Siege-Gang Commander enters the battlefield, put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens onto the battlefield.
:1mana::symr:, Sacrifice a Goblin: Siege-Gang Commander deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Acidic Slime
:3mana::symg::symg: Creature - Ooze
When Acidic Slime enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
Deathtouch
2/2
It's quite clear this isn't a coincidence. I would say that there's a 50% chance that it's just a two card cycle, and a 50% chance that we'll see a similar creature 5cc 2/2 creature with a comes into battlefield ability, and a useful ability for the other three colors as well.
The question is, what would that comes into play ability be. Feel free to speculate away.
Here's my ideas...
3UU - Minimorphlng
When Minimorphling enters the battlefield, target permanent phases out.
1: Give +1/-1 or -1/+1 to Minimorphling
2/2
3BB - God of Darkness
When God of Darkness enters play, destroy target nonblack nonartifact creature. It can't be regenerated.
All Vampires, Skeletons and Zombies in play get +1/+1 and B, Regenerate.
2/2
Also, I absolutely love love all the m10 cards so far. Does anyone else feel that this is by far the best core set they've ever seen, in terms of art, flavor, simplicity of the cards, and the powerlevel and the balance of the set as a whole.
I love how all the black creatures are either Skeletons, Vampires or Zombies! There hasn't been a single bad card spoiled so far. Probably the worst card in the whole set thus far has been Drudge Skeleton, which honestly isn't a bad card. It works very well as a blocker.
Yeah, that's a pretty tenuous link, cycles are usually much more obvious than that. WoTC aren't known for subtlety in their cycles, especiallyin Core Sets...
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Cycles are the best way bar none to illustrate each color's strengths and weaknesses.
And magic cycles are usually obvious.
Like a cycle of creatures that are the same rarity with the same power/toughness and the same casting cost.
Or a cycle of creatures with the same creature type, rarity, and general power/toughness.
But not a Goblin Commander (who is, by the way, a REPRINT) and an Acidic Slime that eats something and has deathtouch.
Cycles are far more obvious than that and chances are the fact that they have the same cc and p/t is a coincidence. Flavor-wise they have nothing to do with each other.
2-card cycles are things like Black Knight and White Knight.
5-card cycles are things like the command cycle, or the kamigawa elder dragon cycle, or the bringer cycle, or the wind cycle.
It is an obvious cycle. How do you guys not see it.
They have the exact same cc.
They have the exact same power and toughness.
They have an "when this enters the battlefield ability..."
They have an additional ability.
It is an obvious cycle. How do you guys not see it.
They have the exact same cc.
They have the exact same power and toughness.
They have an "when this enters the battlefield ability..."
They have an additional ability.
You better check out some past sets then, because there are a LOT of cycles people never found with those parameters (especially 2-card cycles!).
Yes, it could well be a two card cycle rather than a five card cycle, I pointed out that possibility in the OP.
But show me any two cards that have the exact same casting cost, the exact same power and toughness and two other aspects in common like the above cards, but that aren't already part of a cycle.
Yes, it could well be a two card cycle rather than a five card, I pointed out that possibility in the OP.
But show me any two cards that have the exact same casting cost, the exact same power and toughness and two other aspects in common like the above cards, but that aren't already part of a cycle.
There is no such thing as a two-card cycle... it's called a coincidence or balance (as the case of Red and Blue elemental blasts).
Also, cycles are all the same rarity. That's why they are cycles. You can have a sort-of pseudo-cycle, but that isn't really a cycle.
morphling and torchling are not part of a two-card cycle - see thornling and to a lesser extent windreaver.
giant growth and brute strength are not a two-card cycle. They didn't even appear in the same set. brute strength is a time(color)-shift from planar chaos. There are a bunchofthose.
Just off the top of my head, Giant Growth and Brute Strength come to mind. There's been many others though.
Just off the top of my head, Morphling and Torchling come to mind.
Those are from different sets so they can't be a cycle. Brute strength was a color-shifted card from Planar Chaos, so you can't even count it. Under that logic half of the Planar Chaos set is part of a cycle because the color-shifted cards are replicas in a different color.
Torchling and Thornling were both throwbacks to Morphling for veteran players. This is a common practice by wizards to keep their older players feeling of nostalgia. (ex. Ancestral Recall and Ancestral Visions)
To be a cycle, you must have the following criteria:
- Same rarity
- Released in the same set/Reprinted in the same set
- Extremely similar abilities
In the end, you could even win this argument; Siege-Gang and Acidic Slime aren't part of a cycle. They aren't similar enough. This would be in the same cycle as siege gang:
GreenGang Dude 3GG
When GreenGang Dude comes into play, put 3 1/1 insect tokens into play. 1G, sacrifice an insect: You gain 2 life.
2/2
Just off the top of my head, Giant Growth and Brute Strength come to mind. There's been many others though.
Just off the top of my head, Morphling and Torchling come to mind.
Do you mean Brute Force? Because it's the timeshifted version of Giant Growth. You also forgot Thornling. This segment of the supercycle doesn't do exactly the same thing, but they do similar things that are color-appropriate.
Just off the top of my head, Giant Growth and Brute Strength come to mind. There's been many others though.
Just off the top of my head, Morphling and Torchling come to mind.
Doesn't count: those are from Planar Chaos; any cards from Time Spiral block are automatically exempt from this conversation, otherwise we'd be naming off cards all day
In the end, you could even win this argument; Siege-Gang and Acidic Slime aren't part of a cycle. They aren't similar enough. This would be in the same cycle as siege gang:
GreenGang Dude 3GG
When GreenGang Dude comes into play, put 3 1/1 insect tokens into play. 1G, sacrifice an insect: You gain 2 life.
2/2
That's not even remotely true.
Using your logic, Dark Ritual, Ancestral Recall, Healing Salve, Giant Growth and Lightning Bolt are not a five card cycle since each card does something completely different, even though Wizards explicitly stated that they were indeed a cycle.
Planar Choas was all about cycles and symmetry. Wizards said this actually. Torchling was specficially designed as the second part of a two card cycle with Morphling.
Throngling came later and made it into a 3 part cycle.
No they were never in the same sets together, but that's not a prequesite. The only prequisite for a cycle is that the cards are designed based on each other AND made symmetrical so that all of them have many and often all elements in common. The point is that the three cards were designed to match the other two while showing off their particular colors flavors. Hence, a cycle.
I don't think that Morphling, Torchling, and Thornling were intended to be a cycle and I believe that it is a choice by wizards to print cards that are throwbacks to Morphling. Because Morphling was so iconic it will produce many copies and similar cards that entertain new players and give throwbacks for older players.
Siege-Gang Commander
:3mana::symr::symr: Creature - Goblin
When Siege-Gang Commander enters the battlefield, put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens onto the battlefield.
:1mana::symr:, Sacrifice a Goblin: Siege-Gang Commander deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Acidic Slime
:3mana::symg::symg: Creature - Ooze
When Acidic Slime enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
Deathtouch
2/2
It's quite clear this isn't a coincidence. I would say that there's a 50% chance that it's just a two card cycle, and a 50% chance that we'll see a similar creature 5cc 2/2 creature with a comes into battlefield ability, and a useful ability for the other three colors as well.
The question is, what would that comes into play ability be. Feel free to speculate away.
Here's my ideas...
3UU - Minimorphlng
When Minimorphling enters the battlefield, target permanent phases out.
1: Give +1/-1 or -1/+1 to Minimorphling
2/2
3BB - God of Darkness
When God of Darkness enters play, destroy target nonblack nonartifact creature. It can't be regenerated.
All Vampires, Skeletons and Zombies in play get +1/+1 and B, Regenerate.
2/2
Also, I absolutely love love all the m10 cards so far. Does anyone else feel that this is by far the best core set they've ever seen, in terms of art, flavor, simplicity of the cards, and the powerlevel and the balance of the set as a whole.
I love how all the black creatures are either Skeletons, Vampires or Zombies! There hasn't been a single bad card spoiled so far. Probably the worst card in the whole set thus far has been Drudge Skeleton, which honestly isn't a bad card. It works very well as a blocker.
I dunno, that's two things in common.
But seriously, if they were parts of a cycle I would expect they be at the same rarity and be either all new or all reprints.
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The rarity is honestly the least important part of the cycle as it has no effect on the actual card's design.
Cycles are the best way bar none to illustrate each color's strengths and weaknesses. Rarity plays no role in that.
Both creatures read as follows...
3XX
When [cardname] enters the battlefield, ...
Useful Ability
2/2
That's 4 fundamental aspects that are identical between both cards and zero differencess. I would say 4 is too many to be a coincidence.
A better speculation of a cycle would be 3CC rare creatures with a 1C activated ability.
Siege-Gang Commander & Ant Queen.
Still a stretch, but more likely than Acidic Slime.
Like a cycle of creatures that are the same rarity with the same power/toughness and the same casting cost.
Or a cycle of creatures with the same creature type, rarity, and general power/toughness.
But not a Goblin Commander (who is, by the way, a REPRINT) and an Acidic Slime that eats something and has deathtouch.
Cycles are far more obvious than that and chances are the fact that they have the same cc and p/t is a coincidence. Flavor-wise they have nothing to do with each other.
2-card cycles are things like Black Knight and White Knight.
5-card cycles are things like the command cycle, or the kamigawa elder dragon cycle, or the bringer cycle, or the wind cycle.
They have the exact same cc.
They have the exact same power and toughness.
They have an "when this enters the battlefield ability..."
They have an additional ability.
You better check out some past sets then, because there are a LOT of cycles people never found with those parameters (especially 2-card cycles!).
But show me any two cards that have the exact same casting cost, the exact same power and toughness and two other aspects in common like the above cards, but that aren't already part of a cycle.
There is no such thing as a two-card cycle... it's called a coincidence or balance (as the case of Red and Blue elemental blasts).
Also, cycles are all the same rarity. That's why they are cycles. You can have a sort-of pseudo-cycle, but that isn't really a cycle.
Usually all the good cards are spoiled first because of hype, only 1/5 of the set has been revealed, and most of it is basic land.
white knight + black knight
holy strength + unholy strength
pyroblast + hydro blast
the list goes on and on
two card cycles exist
Can you find examples where the cards in the cycle aren't enemy colored and don't do exactly the same thing, but reversed?
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Ok, I guess what I meant was that there are few two/three card cycles, and that most of them are just to balance each other out flavor-wise.
Phyrexian Rager and Civic Wayfinder and Treasure Hunter AND Venerable Monk
It's a giant CYCLE of comes into play creatures!
Seriously, search gatherer if you want to sift through core sets that have cards with similar data. It's not hard to find some examples.
Just off the top of my head, Giant Growth and Brute Strength come to mind. There's been many others though.
Just off the top of my head, Morphling and Torchling come to mind.
giant growth and brute strength are not a two-card cycle. They didn't even appear in the same set. brute strength is a time(color)-shift from planar chaos. There are a bunch of those.
Those are from different sets so they can't be a cycle. Brute strength was a color-shifted card from Planar Chaos, so you can't even count it. Under that logic half of the Planar Chaos set is part of a cycle because the color-shifted cards are replicas in a different color.
Torchling and Thornling were both throwbacks to Morphling for veteran players. This is a common practice by wizards to keep their older players feeling of nostalgia. (ex. Ancestral Recall and Ancestral Visions)
To be a cycle, you must have the following criteria:
- Same rarity
- Released in the same set/Reprinted in the same set
- Extremely similar abilities
In the end, you could even win this argument; Siege-Gang and Acidic Slime aren't part of a cycle. They aren't similar enough. This would be in the same cycle as siege gang:
GreenGang Dude 3GG
When GreenGang Dude comes into play, put 3 1/1 insect tokens into play.
1G, sacrifice an insect: You gain 2 life.
2/2
Do you mean Brute Force? Because it's the timeshifted version of Giant Growth. You also forgot Thornling. This segment of the supercycle doesn't do exactly the same thing, but they do similar things that are color-appropriate.
Edit: Guess I was beat.
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Doesn't count: those are from Planar Chaos; any cards from Time Spiral block are automatically exempt from this conversation, otherwise we'd be naming off cards all day
<edit>S'd
That's not even remotely true.
Using your logic, Dark Ritual, Ancestral Recall, Healing Salve, Giant Growth and Lightning Bolt are not a five card cycle since each card does something completely different, even though Wizards explicitly stated that they were indeed a cycle.
Planar Choas was all about cycles and symmetry. Wizards said this actually. Torchling was specficially designed as the second part of a two card cycle with Morphling.
Throngling came later and made it into a 3 part cycle.
No they were never in the same sets together, but that's not a prequesite. The only prequisite for a cycle is that the cards are designed based on each other AND made symmetrical so that all of them have many and often all elements in common. The point is that the three cards were designed to match the other two while showing off their particular colors flavors. Hence, a cycle.
Wrong.
There are "mega-cycles" which can appear across multiple sets, but those are generally tighter cycles that appear at regular intervals.
There are also vertical cycles, such as the red split cards from Planar Chaos.
Horizontal Cycles almost always appear in the same set at the same rarity.