Noting the New

The Zendikar release has come and gone and so analysing and valuing cards within the set now brings diminishing returns.

However, with Worldwake and M11 around the corner, I thought it may be interesting to discuss a philosophy around discovering the new.
If you've read any Nassim Nicholas or Malcolm Gladwell (or even if you haven't) you'll understand the importance of being able to quickly and easily evaluate something new.
To demonstrate how this might work, I'm going to re-evaluate Zendikar, and use some mental shortcuts to help out. One particular shortcut will looking at Zendikar through the eyes of Johnny, Timmy and Spike, the Mark Rosewater pseudo-psychonanalysis of player types in Magic. And to make them super-shortcuts, I'm going to reduce Mark's naunced analysis to Johnny = Combo, Timmy = Big Effects, Spike = Efficiency.

Johnny (Combo)

Johnny looks at a set and asks, "What can I do in this set that has never been done before?". Here are the cards Johnny would take a long look at in Zendikar.

* The Landfall Mechanic, especially Lotus Cobra. What's new? Getting a bonus for playing a land. Free Mana - no need to tap, sac, or pay to activate Lotus Cobra - is very new. COmbos with: Fastbond, Crucible of Worlds, Fetchlands, Harrow.
* Vampire Hexmage. What's new? Removing counters is nothing new, but removing counters from any permantant at instant speed is. Combos with: Dark Depths, Mystic Rhemora
* Blood Tribute. What's new? Instantly removing half your opponent's life with a spell. Combos with: Sanguine Bond.
* Lolmage Mentor. What's new? Producing a token when you counter a spell. Combos with: Stonybrook Schoolmaster and Grimoire Thief.
* Felidar Sovereign. What's new? Alternative 'Test of Endurance' win condition on a creature. Combos with: Starting life totals in EDH.
* Iona, Shield of Emeria. What's new? Denying your opponent the ability to cast spells on a creature. Combos with: Painter's Servant.
* The Rare Tapped-Land Cycle. What's new? Free turns from a land, free reanimation from a land, free counters from a land, free damage from a land. Combos with: Rings of Brighthearth (Magosi), Iona (Emeria), Persist creatures (Orin-Reif), Scapeshift (Valukut).

Timmy (Big Effects)

* Kicker Cards, especially Rite of Replication & Conquerer's Pledge. What's new? Getting huge amount of dudes at once from kicker. Bigger than: Clone & Martial Coup.
* Lorthos, the Freshmaker. What's new? Tapping permanents for a cost is not new; tapping eight of them at once for eight mana is. Bigger than: Icy Manipulator.
* Gigantiform. What's new? An enchantment that grabs another enchantment when cast. Bigger than: Wildsize.
* Armament Master. What's new? A creature that pumps other creatures when equipped. Bigger than: Leonins.
* The new Planeswalkers. What’s new? By definition, almost every new Planeswalkers will have new effects. The Zen effects are particularly big and impressive. Every elf in my deck? Every instant and sorcery in my graveyard? I control your turn? Big effects.

Spike (Efficiency)

* Trap Cards, especially Mindbreak Trap. What's new? A new subtype bringing alternative casting costs as little as zero. More efficient than: Any other counterspell when paid for using the alternative casting costs.
* The Quest Cycle, especially the Quest for the Gravelord. What's new? Rewarding behaviour that would occur anyway (eg playing lands, killing creatures) - Gravelord is particularly appealing; a 1 mana 5/5 is about as efficient as you can get and has never been seen before. More efficient than: The suspend mechanic, the comparable mechanic of spending time rather than mana cost.
* The Ascension cycle, especially Pyromancer Ascension. What's new: Free cards. That's all Spike needs to know when looking at Pyromancer Ascension. Although spell copying has been done before (think Twincast, Wild Ricochet), they've never been as efficient as this. Spike has taken to heart the need for card advantage and free cards sounds perfect to him. More efficient than than: Twincast once activated.
* The one-mana creature cycle (Goblin Guide, Vampire Lacerator, Steppe Lynx, Scute Mob). What's new? Their efficiency is unprecedented in Magic history. Spike is conflicted about Goblin Guide, due to the trade-off between card advantage and tempo advantage; only time will tell which will win out. More efficient than: any other 1 drops printed, ever.
* Bloodghast. What's new? Endlessly recurring your creature at zero expense. More efficient than? Nether Shadow, Ichorid.
* Vampire Nighthawk. What's new? Three good keywords on a 3 mana creature - flying, lifelink and deathtouch. More efficent than? Any other black 3 mana flyer.
* Goblin Ruinblaster. What's new? Avalanche riders without the downside. More efficient than? Avalanche... Riders...?
* Gatekeeper of Malakir. What's new? Cruel Edict on a CIP creature. More efficient than? Nekatraal.

While not every card listed will see constructed play (though I hope Lorthos makes some EDH player very happy one day), this techniques gives us a quick way of looking for the gems amongst a new set. When Worldwake becomes known, I will run this exercise again to demonstrate how we might quickly identify the must-have cards.