The Best of Block
By Andrew Trebing

Worlds may have finished, but there's still plenty to be learned from what transpired in Austin. In his first article for the main page, Andrew Trebing gives the Block Format one last once-over.

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Glenn Jones
Contributing Editor - WoW TCG and WoW Minis

Coverage Writer Extraordinaire
The War Wagon @ www.starcitywow.com
One Card at a Time @ www.wowtcg.com

Season 2 Feralas Realm Champion

I would rank Gladiator's Regalia higher. It completely blows out some decks entirely. I maindecked Talisman of the Horde specifically for it.

Hesriana should be down with Wub's. They defined the format so well, they were hated out. Either people had WoTF, Escape Artist, or not allies worth stealing. I did have the pleasure of stealing Adam twice.

Weldon fits where you put him. Everyone was so ready for him. I only saw one or two all weekend.

Vicitimize was the most format defining. Some classes were unplayable because of it and was the reason mage was so popular (since it has Mana Ruby).

i personally like Mana Ruby and Spell Suppression.  both of these cards served huge purpose and contribute towards mage success.  spell suppressing is the cheapest and arguably the most efficient way to deal with opposing problems.  it shuts down the article's #1 by itself too which is hard to do for any card.

#1: The Taste of Arcana
#2: Mikael the Blunt
#3: Adam Eternum
#4: Hesriana
#5: Eye of the Storm
#6: Mana Ruby
#7: Everlasting Cold
#8: Weldon Barov
#9: Gladiator Regalia
#10: Detect Traps

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Nico's Shady Trading

I'm sorry, but if that's the Top-10 then Mana Ruby has to be at #0.  How can you possibly rate anything else above drawing 7 cards?  And where's Call To Arms Arathi Basin - the single most heavily played card in the format?

Considering that 50% of people brought Mage, and 6 of the Top-8 was Mage, surely it's right to highlight why that deck was so powerful, and Mana Ruby is perhaps the main reason that sets it apart from all the other decks around.  And Eye of the Storm did so much more than just keep Adam alive - it bought you turns, it dealt damage with Mikael and Everlasting Cold, it allowed you to get alpha strikes in... it won games, flat out.

1. Mana Ruby
2. Call To Arms: Arathi Basin
3. Adam Eternum
4. Eye of the Storm
5. Dimzer the Prestidigitator
6. Victimise
7. Dethvir the Malignant
8. Taste of Arcana
9. Elder Achillia
10. Talisman of the Alliance

Seems a bit more like it to me.  The only one in that list I'm not sure about is Elder Achilia, but she makes something like half the cards in the Loraala/Jihan/Velindra deck better (Taste, Heartburn, Blizzard, Mikael, Everlasting Cold, Brittilize, Loraala...) and when she appeared on the board you pretty much had to remove her.  It's just that you CAN remove her...

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You have gained 250 reputation with World of Warcraft. You have lost 350 reputation with Girlfriend.
You are now Neutral with Girlfriend.

Yeah, mana ruby should have definitely been on the list :P that card is sick!

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2383840:

And where's Call To Arms Arathi Basin - the single most heavily played card in the format?

To be fair, the fact that everyone played this quest does not make it influential or even powerful; it just means people were hurting for good quests. I heard more people complaining about being forced to play this card than anything else (excluding the preponderance of Mage)

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Glenn Jones
Contributing Editor - WoW TCG and WoW Minis

Coverage Writer Extraordinaire
The War Wagon @ www.starcitywow.com
One Card at a Time @ www.wowtcg.com

Season 2 Feralas Realm Champion

319784:

2383840:

And where's Call To Arms Arathi Basin - the single most heavily played card in the format?

To be fair, the fact that everyone played this quest does not make it influential or even powerful; it just means people were hurting for good quests. I heard more people complaining about being forced to play this card than anything else (excluding the preponderance of Mage)

Complete agreement - it was one of the two 'best' midrange/control quests, but that's saying a lot more about the lack of other options than the quality of the card.

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My deckbox says "Other Matt"
Northwest WoW messageboards - Northwest WoW forums

I'll agree that mana ruby probably should be on the list, but the way I put together this list is the 10 most format defining cards. With that in mind c2a arathi basin simply can't be this list. It was good...but in testing it wasn't THAT good. I'd still say that question of gluttony is the best quest in the format. With meta-defining cards in mind I'll agree that mana ruby probably should have been somewhere on the list..possibly in the top 5 or so.

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Arsenal for the Premiership!

i disagree, i hate mana ruby...i like never wanna play it...everytime i have it in my hand im like crap...the only turn i want it is the turn i play it...

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2010 poty and world champion

1301935:

the only turn i want it is the turn i play it...

I'm just going to quote that and let it stand on it's own, because I'm not sure I can make it any better. 

I'll tell you one thing though, Mana Ruby is better than Lifetap. :)

1212750:

I'll agree that mana ruby probably should be on the list, but the way I put together this list is the 10 most format defining cards. With that in mind c2a arathi basin simply can't be this list. It was good...but in testing it wasn't THAT good. I'd still say that question of gluttony is the best quest in the format. With meta-defining cards in mind I'll agree that mana ruby probably should have been somewhere on the list..possibly in the top 5 or so.

Grats on landing the article gig! I'm looking forward to seeing more stuff from you. What are you planning to focus on?

Your article would be better if it was more like the dflshow.

Funny that Markoff has been talking about his article series since like GenCon and yet you have an article posted before him.

Was C2A really the most played card? If I had to guess at most played card I'd say Taste of Arcana. I know some people left it out of their mage list (idiots!) but between 95% of the Everlasting Cold mages running it, plus 95% of the control mages running it... I'd guess it was either Taste or Gluttony.

1494572:

I know some people left it out of their mage list (idiots!)

If you say that, the only conclusion I can draw is that you never tested the mirror.

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My deckbox says "Other Matt"
Northwest WoW messageboards - Northwest WoW forums

1312007:

1494572:

I know some people left it out of their mage list (idiots!)

If you say that, the only conclusion I can draw is that you never tested the mirror.

Yes. Cause Taste is clearly so bad in the mirror... Um. Okay? The only reason not playing Taste is remotely a good idea is because people will play around it whether you have it or not in most situations. However once people figure out you are not playing Taste then you've lost a huge advantage by not playing it. Suddenly I can leave 1 open when I want to and force you to leave 1 open too. Meanwhile you can't do the same. You have to play around Taste and at the same time aren't bluffing Taste which is awful. So many game results in the mirror were explained by "he drew double Taste". Maybe it was you who never tested mirrors?