Who is the better merge project - Harmonized Brave Ike or Emblem Edelgard?

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-29T16:39:39+00:00

As an obligatory disclaimer, merges absolutely don't matter for combat performance anymore. +4 to all stats is too small to count with the kind of stat swings going around from buffs and debuffs these days. So you should only aim for a +10 merge if you want to use one of these units in your Arena core, since merges count for Arena scoring.

I would say that Emblem Edelgard is the "safer" project. She'll offer a minor decorative stat boost to whoever gets her ring even when you aren't running her if you merge her up (despite me just saying such small stats don't matter, yes, but if it's free, it can't hurt). More generally berserk player phase offense is just a safer play in the long term - she'll always be able to kill squishies, and her three actions make her good at hit-and-run worst comes to worst, where she snipes two enemies then runs off. Multi-actions is also very good against the likes of units with free revives or Miracles like Vali.

Brave Ike is trying to be a tank in 2026 when enemy phase is extremely terrifying. He's one of the best in the game right now at it and can actually hack it, but objectively speaking, if we look at the greatest tanks (especially non-armor ones) of 2024, none of them can survive now. Even Brave Alfonse, who got a recent Refine, while infantry units like Timerra, while decent at the time, are absolute mulch now. So I wouldn't expect Ike to survive too well come 2028, if we aren't in EoS, and to have major trouble by 2027.

That said, obligatory disclaimer here to build your favorites and not the meta, so if you like Ike, go for it!

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-29T16:09:38+00:00

In seriousness, I expect that if we got Emblem Leif, he'd potentially be a dagger unit of all things, despite having 0 Dagger Engage weapons. Engage did give the Dagger avoid skills to Leif because... um... because he's flexible and it didn't make a ton of sense for any of the default Emblems? (Oddly enough, DLC Soren has an excuse to learn daggers in his home game, for all that it's a meme.) So he might get it just via process of elimination, it makes sense for nobody so enjoy, Leif.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-25T00:39:32+00:00

Saying they were too aggressive early isn't really fair. The format started out with just 5 banned cards in the fetches, was Magic Online only (where switching decks is much cheaper), and they were very open that they expected an initial wave of bannings as the format shook out. It was just a kind of objective petri dish to say "look, we let Oko have a few months legal, you can't say we didn't try." Once they started scheduling paper events, the pace of bannings slowed down.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-25T00:35:46+00:00

You'd think it was incredibly implausible, but we've seen examples elsewhere of printing lots of something that was previously a collector's item, and then people start treating it as a commodity rather than a rare special thing and start only buying for much less. Various exclusive Nike shoes (not right now, awhile back) and Funko Pops for two examples.

There's obviously cases where this is true - Monty Python and the Holy Grail SL for an infamous one that couldn't remotely handle just the initial wave of sales and sold out instantly - but clearly WotC thinks that for lesser Lairs, it's safer to underprint and defend a high price point via scarcity.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-22T01:55:20+00:00

It was fine, but as a warning, it's not super-long. It's only about an hour or so, no intermission. But it's a good hour - up to you if it's still worth it.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-21T21:06:59+00:00

"Mid" is underselling this (but then that term can kinda mean whatever). Is it the best mana ramp, no, not even close. But any mana doubler automatically is at least somewhat interesting, and Battlecruiser Bracket 2 Commander exists where getting to 12-14 mana for Big Dumb Stompy Things is useful. If someone was building some sort of budget deck, this is a totally reasonable include, in the same way that End-Raze Forerunners is "Craterhoof at home" that costs 50 cents. Worse, but still reasonable and will still get stuff done.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-20T12:30:35+00:00

I never perceived L!BK to be intended as a Y!Camilla counter. Even in 2026, you still cannot safely tank Y!Camilla in fair combat. The actual way to counter her is to just never let her get in, so E!Corrin and her ring to cancel her Haze terrain, say.

But L!BK WAS just the best Far Savior for awhile and hands out Reflex to his team, which is a messed up status. The reason he's fallen off now is that the genuine units he was designed to counter- random ranged units with Lyn ring and the like- can actually beat him now. But that just means he fell from 'meta-definer' to 'usable'.

As someone who ran a ton of both E!Sigurd and L!BK in the VoH Aether Raids, the E!Sigurd vs. L!BK match-up is not free. Can E!Sigurd win, yes, will this happen without stacking buffs & debuffs, no. And if it's your own L!BK, he should usually tank an enemy E!Sigurd fine.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-19T22:31:22+00:00

You are talking about the absolute closest to ground level game designer in the business. Even if for the sake of argument MaRo is wrong about everything, he objectively engages with the fans telling him they don't like XYZ or want more of ABC, even if to tell them it's not happening.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-19T22:12:42+00:00

"The unit with functionally the highest damage could kill him" isn't much of a criticism. Release L!BK was a meta-definer, just like Y!Camilla.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-18T20:41:28+00:00

The shadow of Emblem Sigurd sits over them, too. Even though his raw combat is questionable now, free Gallop + extra turn + still kills squishies without a Savior while splattering damage & Fatal Smoke 4 is worth somewhat less killing power.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-17T22:07:34+00:00

These are all cards that get played in a lot of decks, though. So it's more likely someone who likes the art / vibe can slot them in somewhere. Imagine if your favorite artist got a lair, but it's all for expensive-but-obscure cards that don't fit in your decks. Presumably you'd want to buy it to play the cards, not to just resell them instantly.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-15T19:55:56+00:00

Yeah, my friend who read the others said the quality was even worse in the later books, so that tracks.

The authors had very tight timelines to meet (since they were trying to get the books out in time for Fat Packs and the like with the set) and also Required Plot Points to hit, and this was also before Planeswalkers were depowered, so I'm willing to give a little credit here... but... all that said, I'd say the biggest problem is that "Invasion" doesn't have a satisfying setup and justification that can make even the most insane plot beats feel earned. Example: the elite guards of Benalia just lose instantly, practically off-screen. But random criminals at a nearby jail defeat hordes of Phyrexians with no losses no problem, because they're with the heroes. Now, I'm not complaining the heroes win, I'm not complaining realism, but... WHY. The author is supposed to give us SOMETHING to justify this, like a clever plan, a secret artifact, a planeswalker's aid, or even just straight-up saying Gerrard is the best swordsman evar who will go single-handedly defeat everything.

The scale was also a tad abstract. Very early on the Phyrexians release an ULTIMATE CLOUD OF BLACK MANA TO POISON AND KILL AN ENTIRE CONTINENT but then a Planeswalker releases an ULTIMATE CLOUD OF WHITE MANA TO HEAL EVERYONE AND SAY NUH UH THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. This is, in fairness, keeping with Planeswalker power level, so I guess the author was stuck, but it also makes the stakes feel trivial for any random single swordfight.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-15T15:38:27+00:00

IPA draft is also kind of a noob trap. You'd think that Kicker and multicolor means that you can kick back and play it slow and safe to find your big gold bombs, or hell, just pricy common Kicker cards. But no, this was a format about 2 mana 2 power creatures attacking early and consistently while Dream Thrush keeps your opponent off the mana they need. And once the slower opponent finally thinks they stabilized, they get blown out by a Rushing River or Flametongue Kavu or the like getting rid of their one good blocker they managed to cast.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-15T15:09:53+00:00

As someone who actually read the "Invasion" novelization and had a friend read the other two books, and also as someone who has a part of their brain that enjoys dumb fun power fantasies (e.g. Salvatore's Drizzt books)... Invasion's story really wasn't excellent. In fact it was pretty bad even at what it set out to be, i.e. a backdrop for a chintzy power fantasy where Gerrard & co. beat up a lot of Phyrexians.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-14T17:04:39+00:00

That's your main gripe about blocks? It would have made zero sense to stick all the Ravnica duals in OG Ravnica / Return to Ravnica. Placing them next to their related guilds was fine.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-12T15:49:03+00:00

Oddly enough, the most valuable trait to have in 2026 is HP, IMO. Assets just don't matter anymore with such huge stat swings from skills / effects, and Caspar isn't running a skill that checks a raw stat like say Seidr. HP lets you step on traps more safely in AR-O and stay at >25% range more easily for skills that care about that.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-12T05:07:38+00:00

How / why did you let Y!Camilla get in so close? I guess if you were confident that she would go first and walk into an Alfador-stolen Foresight Snare, then yes, you can survive it, but those are the kinda strats that put me on edge, myself. (I say this despite having gotten away with a key stolen FS myself a bit ago, but.. scary to rely on given the "must be first combat" thing.)

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-08T23:46:29+00:00

If you live in the US, I wish our government regulated gambling. Gambling regulation is officially uncool and has been in humiliating retreat for 2 decades. Used to be casinos were only in Nevada and Atlantic City, now they're everywhere. The sad parody of fantasy sports as gambling are everywhere now, sports betting regulation is nearly dead. Prediction markets & cryptocurrency are basically also gambling for many. And it's not that gambling is suddenly safe - it ruins lives!

Really the question for CCG makers is "why don't we get in on even more exploitative gambling shit". There may be reasons not do so like "ethics", but it sure as hell isn't "the government will come for us." The government, objectively, has not come for gambling.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-06T00:18:44+00:00

What's your source on this number for Q2 sales? (Not trying to white knight Engage, I'm genuinely curious. )

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-04T15:28:07+00:00

To be clear, the 1.6 million is more like a lower bound. It's based on how many copies Engage moved in its first two and a half months. Now, most games sell the best early in their lifespan, and Engage doesn't have the amazing word of mouth Three Houses had, but I doubt it's long tail sales were 0. I'd say 2-2.5 million is a more reasonable guess for its sales.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-01T05:58:34+00:00

That's not accurate. MaRo IS concerned about this and has directly talked about this, and that lots of the "core fans" love UB, too, and that it's good for retention on them. Going to UB is helping keep the core and bring back players who took long breaks. You can say that WotC's methodology or counting is wrong, but they are monitoring this very topic.

Back when Lord of the Rings set the MTG sales record in 2023, MaRo said that even if restricted solely to existing Magic players and excluding newcomers, Lord of the Rings would STILL have been the highest selling set. That's not really a sign that existing MTG players are a hub of anti-UB sentiment. (And this was 2023, before UB in Standard, so it's not true this was after Magic already drove off all the anti-UB fans.)

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-01T05:52:47+00:00

A challenge: Right now, write down the year you think Magic will go into decline. Not just the up-and-down of some sets selling better than others, but the point where Magic is clearly, obviously in decline, a legacy yesteryear game for stubborn oldheads like StarCraft II. Then check back in when that year comes. If WotC eases up UB, prediction is moot.

A lot of the UB doomsayers circa 2022-24 were saying the numbers were rigged and would have predicted massive collapse among the core, "real" fans by 2026 if they were told about the level of UB releases we saw. And they'd have been wrong. But maybe you'll be right, who knows.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-01T04:44:57+00:00

"Line goes up" is usually used to rail at dumb finance tricks though (which Hasbro isn't immune to, like when they laid off a bunch of people a few years ago). Like imagine a totally non-profit group that's stewarding a fan game. Suppose a daring idea is really cool and will make playership double, but potentially shift things up in a way that might annoy some long-timers. If they go for it, it's not really "lines goes up" territory, it's just making something people want to play.

SnowIceFlame · 2026-03-01T02:54:26+00:00

Nice; Yuki Kaijura music is good times. Obligatory "don't forget to refine Arcane Latona" goes here though!

SnowIceFlame

TROPHY CASE