Predicting M11

Everyone loves predictions, right? Mainly because they make a fool of the ones making them. I was taught never to make a prediction, lest I become one of those fools.

However, sometimes it's worth putting your balls on the line a little, even if only to see how well you're on your game.

Over the next few months all eyes will be on Worldwake. But with M11 coming out later this year, now's the time to put a stake in the ground (preferably through the heart of a sparkly vampire) and make some predictions as to what will be in and what will be out of M11.

So here's my prediction for what Rares and Mythic Rares will be in and out of M11, based on the totally unsubstantiated notion that 50% of current cards will stay, and 50% will go.

OUT	IN
Mythic Rares
Bogardan Hellkite Darksteel Colossus Platinum Angel Protean Hydra Sphinx Ambassador Time Warp Xathrid Demon	Ajani Goldmane Baneslayer Angel Chandra Nalaar Garruk Wildspeaker Jace Beleren Liliana Vess Master of the Wild Hunt Vampire Nocturnus
Rares
Captain of the Watch Capricious Efreet Cemetery Reaper Coat of Arms Djinn of Wishes Elvish Piper Gargoyle Castle Guardian Seraph Haunting Echoes Hive Mind Indestructibility Kalonian Behemoth Lightwielder Paladin Lurking Predators Magma Phoenix Magebane Armor Mesa Enchantress Might of Oaks Mirror of Fate Planar Cleansing Polymorph Royal Assassin Sanguine Bond Shivan Dragon Silence Traumatize Warp World	Ant Queen Ball Lightning Birds of Paradise Clone Elvish Archdruid Earthquake Great Sable Stag Goblin Chieftain Honor of the Pure Howling Mine Hypnotic Specter Manabarbs Merfolk Sovereign Mind Shatter Mind Spring Nightmare Open the Vaults Pithing Needle Siege-Gang Commander Twincast Underworld Dreams Dragonskull Summit Drowned Catacomb Glacial Fortress Rootbound Crag Sunpetal Grove

Points of note:

* I think the new Rare lands are a lock until at least M12. WotC have declared them the new pain lands, and I believe they're here to stay.
* With the Planeswalkers taking up a full five of seven/eight mythic slots to stay, it means either seven or eight of the remaining ten mythics will cycle. I think this is a good thing, with WotC mixing it up with iconic cards from the past (eg. Time Warp) and new mythics (eg. Master of the Wild Hunt). As such I think those iconic cards will likely only get a single season before cycling away again.
* Yes, I think Baneslayer Angel will stay. I think WoTC have no desire to garner the bad will of the people most invested in the game by cycling the Mythic Beast too soon.
* I am unsure if this is really a list of what I think will be in M11, or what I'd like to see in M11. Though they may well be one and the same. After all, why would WotC keep around the cards I don't like?

Labels: analysis, m11, predictions, speculation