Riddleform

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wereotter

The nice thing about those two is that you can use them for objectives that require you to not lose too many creatures. As for combos for creatures dying, many of them have been changed in PQ so they don't really exist, but more will if they continue to more closely follow paper cards. Here are a few examples of cards that have been changed, or that could be problematic if you can have creatures you control die instead of exile every turn:

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bk1234

I literally don't know what the objectives in AX are. I use it as Standard TG. 

So this thread has been educational. 

Enygma6

I’ve given up on the use of Riddleform for the node-1 objective, usually opting for speed.  I can more easily hit both objectives on nodes 2 & 3 in a single go, so that’s my 40-points in 3 matches target.  
Plus it lets me play with other PWs for the different objectives.

wereotter

Rigsby said:

wereotter said:

The nice thing about those two is that you can use them for objectives that require you to not lose too many creatures. As for combos for creatures dying, many of them have been changed in PQ so they don't really exist, but more will if they continue to more closely follow paper cards. Here are a few examples of cards that have been changed, or that could be problematic if you can have creatures you control die instead of exile every turn:

Well, many cards with triggers COULD be problematic: Adeliz the Cinder Wind, for example, or Firesong and Sunspeaker, or Oath of Teferi.... they still printed those. Oath of Teferi, in fact triggers when creatures are exiled, and isn't that the exact thing we've been saying the developers should have been trying to avoid?

My point was more if I'm able to pair Riddleform or Valduk with a Butcher of Malakir or Dictate of Erebos then not only am I getting easy power on my side of the board, but at the end of the turn, I'm also forcing you to remove one of your creatures. In this format where creature space is limited that's even more powerful than in paper magic and why I was saying it's a good thing they exile rather than destroy.

Combos are inevitable, but in this case they've intentionally written most token producing cards, especially red ones, to exile instead of sacrifice to limit their combo potential. Oath of Teferi is one where they went WAY outside the lines to make the card work since it's otherwise worthless in this game, and creates combos that otherwise wouldn't exist. However I do think gaining two loyalty is not as powerful as getting a free kill spell every turn.

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bashbash

I only had a problem with Riddleform during the "destroy x or less creatures" objective when my opponent was running it.  Then the exile vs. destroy clause was very relevant.

wereotter

Rigsby said:

wereotter said:

Rigsby said:

wereotter said:

The nice thing about those two is that you can use them for objectives that require you to not lose too many creatures. As for combos for creatures dying, many of them have been changed in PQ so they don't really exist, but more will if they continue to more closely follow paper cards. Here are a few examples of cards that have been changed, or that could be problematic if you can have creatures you control die instead of exile every turn:

Well, many cards with triggers COULD be problematic: Adeliz the Cinder Wind, for example, or Firesong and Sunspeaker, or Oath of Teferi.... they still printed those. Oath of Teferi, in fact triggers when creatures are exiled, and isn't that the exact thing we've been saying the developers should have been trying to avoid?

My point was more if I'm able to pair Riddleform or Valduk with a Butcher of Malakir or Dictate of Erebos then not only am I getting easy power on my side of the board, but at the end of the turn, I'm also forcing you to remove one of your creatures. In this format where creature space is limited that's even more powerful than in paper magic and why I was saying it's a good thing they exile rather than destroy.

Combos are inevitable, but in this case they've intentionally written most token producing cards, especially red ones, to exile instead of sacrifice to limit their combo potential. Oath of Teferi is one where they went WAY outside the lines to make the card work since it's otherwise worthless in this game, and creates combos that otherwise wouldn't exist. However I do think gaining two loyalty is not as powerful as getting a free kill spell every turn.

Ok, so to pull the discussion back to the topic of the thread, you seem to be saying that not only is Riddleform a mistake, but that they shouldn't print any more cards like it?

We've been talking about whether Riddleform is a valid card to make in terms of combos, but do you think it's invalid with respect to the 'Lose X or more' creature objectives, too?

My opinion on if other cards like Riddleform should exist in the future will depend a lot on how cards like the ones I provided end up interpreted when new versions make their eventual way into the game. I think they were trying to interpret the effect of Riddleform into Puzzle Quest as best they could, but it's important to see that in the paper card, the enchantment just becomes a creature until the end of turn, it doesn't make tokens. So if they were to redo this, I would think the tokes should exile rather than be destroyed just to cover their bases when it comes to future cards. As it is right now, Riddleform is fine, but I can see it being a mistake if other cards that punished your opponents for your creatures dying were ever put into the game.

As far as if it's an invalid strategy for the objective listed, I'm not the best one to answer. As I said, I ignore that objective whenever I see it. That doesn't just go for Across Ixalan, but applies to any event where you have to lose enough creatures as I see intentionally destroying my own creatures as too much of a liability.

Mainloop25

I typically tend to go for 2 of 3 objectives per match. I tend to be done with it in 4 matches  so it doesn't typically take much longer than a typical training ground session.

arNero

Ah, Riddleform. That's one card I completely forgot to use to help with the "Lose 5 or more", especially since I also have Forbear's Blade which should help power up the token on top of causing them to kill themselves (just be careful about Vraska in green or black Ixalans)

As for the objectives, yeah, one of the most efficient play I can suggest is just to win once on each of the first two nodes, then power your way on the third node. At least to me, personally, since I have both Hazoret's Undying Fury, Hour of Devastation and Inferno Jet, getting full 15 points from the 3rd node even without playing Ob Nixilis is just easy peasy.