![]() Frankly, my biggest complaint is that the blue-red d20 mechanic doesn’t seem to have enough support. I expected to dislike rolling d20s, since it embraces high variance while Unstable’s die rolling was restrained, but the 45-50-5 convention really works for me. This mirrors the feel-good of rolling a natural 20, avoids the feel-bad of rolling a natural 1, and makes it so you can always know what’s going to happen (unless you’re playing with Power of Persuasion, which seems like it was designed to be looked at rather than played with). Most of the designs follow an excellent convention: a 45% chance of something good, a 50% chance of a better version, and a 5% chance of an amazing version. It has to be powerful enough to be a centerpiece of Limited, but weak enough that it doesn’t show up in the Spikey Constructed formats. As someone who enjoys grinding value, I’m surprised that I don’t like Venture more but it feels like building a mediocre, inconsistent Saga rather than something powerful and feels nothing like roleplaying through a dungeon.Īs with Venture, rolling d20 is another hard mechanic for Wizards to nail. It feels like a lot of work for fairly minimal rewards. ![]() I appreciate all the thought that went into these designs-each Dungeon needs to be a viable option without being cognitively overwhelming while also telling a story-but I’ve mostly lost enthusiasm for Venturing. I’ve almost never Ventured into the Dungeon of the Mad Mage because of how long it takes to be better than the Lost Mine of Phandelver (or just going through the Lost Mine twice). The time delay and uncertainty between each Venture further dilutes the rewards. Yet the variance of those bonuses makes them weaker than if you could just consistently Scry 1 or create a Treasure. It’s cool in that it allows a variety of inputs to combine and output a variety of bonuses (like Energy). Having played with it a fair amount, it feels fun but weak. Venture we took a few stabs at last week. There is a lot for a Spike to appreciate and many ways for a game to go astray.Īnother way that AFR isn’t a Core Set is its array of new mechanics: Venture + Dungeons, rolling d20, Class enchantments, flavor words, and Pack Tactics. You are constantly presented with choices like when to sacrifice your Treasure or save it, which dungeon to commit to Venturing through, and whether you can afford to have a d20 roll not go your way. You need to stack Reaper’s Talisman and Spare Dagger‘s triggers correctly if you want to build your own Doom Blade. You can give Deathtouch creatures Trample. It’s very much a product that benefits from Arena ensuring that all abilities trigger properly and all rules are followed. It’s a necessary boon, since between all of the modal “You Encounter A Thing” spells providing two disparate effects, creatures with similar abilities having differing rewards (the UB archetype is saboteur abilities but all of them are different), the d20 effects having a range of 2-3 similar-but-still-distinct bonuses, and the incredible variety of Venturing rewards there’s just so many more things that could happen in a game of AFR than in almost any other set.ĭespite being the summer release, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is absolutely not a Core Set. While no creatures are actual vanillas, most have one triggered ability upon entering the battlefield, dying, attacking, or dealing combat damage to a player-this helps prevent a creature’s text box from complicating combat math on the fly. So much of its design works to keep complexity in check to counterbalance its massive possibility space. ![]() The first thing which stood out to me is AFR’s approach to complexity. I’ve got about fifteen drafts and a few traditional 3-0s under my belt (and a slew of 2-1s), so there’s a fair bit to discuss. But despite the short time frame, Magic Arena makes it easy to draft quickly. ![]() AFR has a lot going on and had less time than ever to pore over the spoilers-just one day between the end of previews and the format’s availability online (and two days before Commander spoilers began). It’s the longest name of any Magic set ever, and it’s quite unlike the usual fare of summer Core Sets. We’re well into the first week of Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Limited. ![]()
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