Core Sets in Review.

Origins still has a few weeks left of drafting so it's not time to wrap it up just yet, but it is the last of the core sets and that era already feels like it's done and dusted.
So I think that serves me up enough of an invitation to bring to you the inaugural and final CORE SET AWARDS!
Get excited people.


Yeah, they really did reprint that;
The Winner - Necropotence. Yes they really did.

Most Unlikely Face of Magic;
The Winner - Hurloon Minotaur

Best open; For the card I actually got to take home and keep from the set.
The Winner - Slim pickings here, I think the most valuable was the Badlands I opened but I parted with it before the day was done. Traded it away for a Dragon Whelp.

Worst open; The card that elicits the greatest groan when you open it.
The Winner - There have been some stinkers over the years and my memory won't serve them justice. Honored Heirach seems to invoke a lot of anger from people and it's not even that bad in limited.

Most coveted reprint; For the card you were super hyped to come back.
The Winner - Shivan Dragon, they took nearly everything else out of Revised but at least left big Shivan intact for 4th edition. 

Cutest card; for the cutest card, duh.
The Winner - I am going with Forge Devil in M15. I loved that guy and his cute little come into play mini flame tongue ways.

Pretiest card; 
The Winner - Elvish Archers.

Ugliest card; 
The Winner - Starfield of Nyx from Magic Origins. Maybe it looks like something other than pastel vomit if you look at it closer. I am not prepared to do that though. I think there are at least 5 articles worth of material just looking at older Magic art. Earthbind comes to mind.

Favourite card to draft; A smile every time this non rare goes into your pile.
The Winner - I have pretty good memories of Howl of the Pack in M14. A near mono green deck throwing down 6 or 7 2/2's was a draft strategy I could manage when returning from the game and playing with Korean cards for he first time.

I can't believe you played that; For that card other people loved for reasons I will never know.
The Winner: 2 x Cruel Saddist, I went pretty deep with that draft. Too deep, a well deserved scrub out.

Most improved; For the card that didn't look like much, but got there in the end.
I am going to vote for Returned Centaur. It seems to have a lot more synergy with the cards around it in Origins than it ever did in Theros.

Don't forget to; The card that is easiest to misplay.
The Winner - Interrupts, mana sources and banding, the whole game was pretty much a mystery when I started playing. 

Most fun thing you could legally do; My vote is for Zur's Weirding, it certainly led to a different game when it was played that still felt like Magic. It was also hilarious when the person who plays Zur's Weirding finds out his opponent has a much better hand. 

Most fun thing you could illegally do; Black marker pen = no more white border.

Not as good as I remember
The Winner - Hypnotic Spectre was hugely hyped when it returned but was hardly played throughout it's time in standard. Goblin Pile Driver might be a late challenger but as it stands Hippie gets the nod.

Bye Bye Tarkir

Depending on the supply of Modern masters 2 then this Sunday might be the last Tarkir block draft at Dalmutis. Triple Khans is one of my favourite formats of all time and it's time for the coveted Angry Hermit Awards for the good, bad and the ugly cards from Tarkir.

Best Open; For the card I actually got to take home and keep from the set.
The Winner - I never opened an Ugin, which would be the automatic winner. It even has it's own chant. I was pretty excited to open a Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker pack one pick one and force red. That was my worst draft and I went 0-3 with Sarkhan doing nothing. It was still cool to open him.

Worst Open; The card that elicits the greatest groan when you open it.
The Winner - Dragon Style twins was at least playable and fairly descent in limited even though I got sick of opening it. I think the winner has to go to Ghastly Conscription as a horrible Mythic in a set famous for busted and powerful rares. You know your neighbour opened something better.

Most Coveted Reprint; For the card you were super hyped to come back.
The Winner - Ultimate Price or Arc Lightning, how can I choose between them. Oh I don't have to because the winner was far and away the Onslaught fetch lands which caused fetch mania when they were announced.

Prettiest Card; for the prettiest card, duh.
The Winner - I am going with the morph overlay token. The actual art could be done by a three year old but I certainly thought a battlefield with 3 or more morph overlays on my side with a bunch of untapped lands was one of the prettiest sites in the history of Magic.

Ugliest Card; For the prettiest minus 268 card in the set.
The Winner - I will nominate Flatten which unless you look close appears to be just a pile of brown ****. A card that is such a high draft pick and usually a nice blow out deserves better.

Favourite Card to Draft; A smile every time this non rare goes into your pile.
The Winner - There were a lot of cards that this award could have gone too. My final choice was Icefeather Aven as it was one of the best cards in five colour morph and a great representation of everything I loved about the format. It was consistent, tricky and I was always finding something new to do with it.

I can't Believe You Played That; For that card other people loved for reasons I will never know.
The Winner: Banners are in the running for another award, I did see Lens of Clarity played in an actual deck but thankfully not often.

Middle Child Syndrome; For when it just doesn't fit.
The Winner - The entire Fate Reforged set. It was much better as the third set in a Dragons, Dragons and Fate draft, but it was definitely worse than a third pack of Khans.

Most Improved; For the card that didn't look like much, but got there in the end.
Summit Prowler, a difficult mana cost in Khans turned into a high pick in the best colour come Dragons of Tarkir. Plus it got Dragons in the background, DRAGONS!

Don't forget to; The card that is easiest to misplay.
The Winner - If you had such a bad draft you had to play banners, at least remember to cash them in and get a real card.

Most fun thing you could legally do; A fun card that makes it impossible not to smile
The Winner - Quite a lot more options for this award than in Theros block which only had two nominees (Chromanticore and Minotaurs). I am going to have to give the points to Villainous Wealth. Random, powerful and skill testing.