I agree 100% this story should be told in New Capenna. Wotc probably got afraid of the murder mystery theme not having enough pull by itself so they decided to do it in one of the fan favorite planes as a failsafe.
they also mentioned feeling like there was no police force in Capenna that would justify crime investigation, but i really find that misguided. They couldve had someone killing important members of one or 2 families, and then everyone is investigating whos done it, etc... I think by doing it on ravnica they have the fallback that it's their popular fanservice plane, and also the fact that technically people would care more about major ravnica characters being killed (I don't think so though, especially how death barely matters in ravnica they just become ghosts)
I haven’t played at a FNM in years but every set I sit down and watch your set review. Always enjoy your content Jim, I’ve been watching since Dominaria release and Karn was the scariest planeswalker in standard. I don’t have much but I’ll support as much as I can for all your hard work.
Fully agree with the Best in Show here, some people understimate the value of the Thopter but Shark Typhoon showed us how important a surprise blocker can be. Of course the opp get's to choose the size of it but you will split the piles so that it benefits you either way
Intrude on the mind seems great! Even a 5/0 split might be the best choice if your opponent is 10 life or less. They almost can't give you the 5/5 flyer, but 5 cards is also a nightmare for them!
Instant speed 5/5 flyer and mill 5 or draw 5... yeah we are being jebaited with this punisher card in a flimsy disguise but it's suckered me into liking it as well.
My prediction for. Best in Show was Reenact the Crime due to it comboing with Beseech the Mirror for Storm count 16, but I agree that Intrude on the Mind is probably more obvious.
Case of the ransacked lab is super cool alongside galvanic relay, as you can dump a bunch of resources into solving the case and then pass the turn, and then just go hogwild with all the exiled cards the following turn. Might be a bit too cute though.
Dramatic Accusation bothers me as a color pie break. I'd have been fine with it if the shuffle effect cost WW or BB or something to that effect, but I don't think mono-U should be able to get a creature off the board without either just bouncing it to hand/top of library or without having to spend a second color of mana.
Breaking Conspiracy Unraveler might be easier than it seems (outside of Standard, at least). If you use it to cast a 10+ mana instant or sorcery, it will be immediately go to the graveyard, where it can fuel the next spell. Use it on Enter the Infinite, and you can cast any spell in your deck. Edit: In stabdard, we can also abuse the new (sort of) split cards ruling. Jetsam//Flotsam is an 8cmc card that can be put in the graveyard for just 2 mana.
Maybe i’m wrong but reenact the crime seems kind of insane to me. It seems particularly good with breach the multiverse in standard, allowing you to build around it as more of a combo finish than midrange top end
Steamcloak Scholar could be really good in Reanimator on the base that a lot of good reanimation targets fly (Atraxa, Griselbrand, Emrakul, Archon of Cruelty...). Could also discard Arklight Phoenix, but it seems a bit too slow for that deck.
Behind the Mask is a weird, cheap toolbox. On one hand it it boosts a creature into artifact creature tribal, or it is a weak debuff. I wonder if it creates some weird paste on synergy between a golem/Roaming Throne deck and some other random creature type with a nice triggered ability. And then is Collect Evidence a WinCon, or just triggers?
17:58 it is a real problem. By not having blocks we see card designs spilling from one set to another, reducing the uniqueness of each plane. This is further worsened by the increase of releases, including commander decks for each set. Overalli get the idea os sameness and that they are using up design space to fast. I am pretty tired of every set having vehicles, clues and some type of tokens (like blood tokens) .
Case of the Ransacked Lab has the additional problem that 4 spells is a lot. You need your cheap cantrips to chain to make that work and you're probably ending the turn out of spell gas. Two Maltese Falcon references in one set? In this card economy? Think Twice is better than Deduce when milled, with cast triggers or against Karn, so it's not ~strictly~ better. Intrude is technically a surprise blocker but I don't think you're gonna get someone attacking into 5 open mana and then giving you a big enough pile for the thopter in a real game. Reenact the Crime is super interesting. I wish it was easier to cast for brewers' sakes.
Primal Amulet saw some standard play at 4cmc, so there is hope. The real question about the cases, is how will they fare against all the incidental enchantment hate like Destroy Evil, Archdruid Charm, pick ypur poison...
I'm with you on the Best in Show decision. There's plenty of graveyard synergies for the cards they dump, and getting the flyer at instant speed reminds me a lot of Shark Typhoon, drawing a card and getting a body. Yes, it's not Shark Typhoon, but that card sees play beyond standard, which means it's probably good enough for standard.
