As expected, the Champions of Kamigawa previews started off without a hitch and everybody was happy. Look at what all the satisfied people had to say!

[Bleiweiss] it's absolutely stupid
[copernicu] legends suck
[Yawgatog] sux

What's everybody clamoring about? The new legend rule! But before I get into that, let's go ahead and check out Rosewater's preview card! Hey! (Sorry, Ken. Use it or lose it.)

At a glance, the card isn't too zany or rule-breaking or any of those things you've come to expect in the first preview card of a set, but it is a perfect showcase for the new and improved"Legend rule"-and not the one which states that any non-MacGuyver Richard Dean Anderson show sucks.* After a quick edit and a lot of not-so-gentle ribbing at Rosewater's expense (something I will not be indulging in, as I'm much too civilized for that cough Phage cough) the rule is now understood to be:

"420.5e If two or more permanents with the same name have the supertype legendary, all are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called the"legend rule." If only one of those permanents is legendary, this rule doesn't apply." **

Waitaminute! Legends now destroy legends? Big legends now create a powerful triggered ability when they go to the graveyard? Say it with me! DUUUUUH!

To be honest, I've exaggerated the reactions of the populace regarding the new rule. Most folks actually seem pretty jazzed about it. The old rule did need a bit of tweaking if potent, tournament-caliber legends were ever going to be printed en masse, but why such a destructive, swingy change? Folks like our very own Ben Bleiweiss have suggested the rule that each player could control a duplicate legend or legendary permanent (but that each player could not control more than one). Other games use a similar rule, and it seems intuitive enough. I think Ben'll be writing something up about this later in the week, however, so I'll try not to steal too much of his thunder. Or maybe he already wrote about it. I dunno. I don't read this site.

(Of course, if we adopted that rule, those awesome new legends that blow up the world when they die wouldn't be nearly as cool! Ahem.)

Reading Maro's article did remind me of an issue that had been nagging me way back in Onslaught block. Rosewater actually didn't have all that much to do with the set, so how does that affect the way he writes about it? Is he bored out of his mind and just stalling for time before Control comes out? It'd be nice if he discussed this phenomenon that apparently happens once every other block.

Okay, that pretty much wraps it up for today. Join me tomorrow when I-what? No, I already talked about the card. What? There were two cards today?! That Wasn't Part Of The Deal!

Okay, blah blah blah Japanese name outrageous casting cost new keyword for an old ability scratch that two new keywords for two old abilities some third keyword I mean English word wait, creature type Samurai? That's awesome!

So yeah, not tapping to attack is finally keyworded. Whoopty doo. No, really. That's great. I'm quite happy with it and the word, which has been bandied about for some time. No, I didn't say banded! That's just horrible. But Bushido? Bushido?! They should have just called it Chub Toad. I don't like that Bush in there.

I did have a brief chat with Mr. Nakazawa himself about the card (honest to God I did! Am I cool or what?). And he's tickled pink to have been able to reveal a crucial character in the storyline, and who's got multiple new and unexpected abilities. And that it wasn't leaked before showtime! Seriously though, I'd like to thank Rei for his input, and if he'd like to help me out again when I talk about the whole Japanese flavor aspect of the set, I'd be much obliged.

I think that's finally it for today. There's still so much to cover! I just wish I weren't so lazy! Join me in the upcoming weeks when I delve further into Japanese culture, the set's new mechanics, Constructed and Limited strategy, and, due to popular demand, the CHK/CoK debate! If you think you've seen and already grown tired of every CoK pun imaginable, you're wrong!***

Oh, and I guess I'll talk about all those other preview cards too.

-Pugg Fuggly
pugg_fuggly@hotmail.com

*I know there's a lot of Stargate SG-1 fans out there. Those people are weird.

**For those of you not in the know or who have better things to do than read every Magic site at midnight, Maro made one of his classic blunders and pretty much made the new rule sound like nonsense. Far be it from me to rub it in any further and quote exactly what he said here, but then again, he did call me a Borg."When a legend comes into play, it destroys all copies of that legend in play, including itself."

***Hopefully the powers that be will not wind up blocking the CoK.