Originally Posted by
MattH
One MAJOR thing ya'll are missing is the emphasis, repeated many times, on inter-block design: they never again want standard to look like "battle of the block decks" like it did 2002-2005. So look for some element which is playing quietly in the corner of Alara block and extrapolate from there.
My guess? They're going to do threshold again, but pull a trick like what they did with echo circa Time Spiral to open up design space. Change the rules so threshold can be at any number*, errata old cards so Werebear & co. all have "Threshold -- 7", and be able to print new cards with threshold-3 or threshold-12.
And yes, this rewards players for playing out their spells, in accordance with what Sek'Kuar was remembering. And the threshold guys, especially green ones, were and are very popular.
And oh look, threshold interacts extremely well with both unearth and devour, and the tri-fetches, and cycling, and several of the mini-cycles scattered throughout Shards block (Rockslide Elemental appreciates you filling your graveyard with creatures). The Naya 5-power-matters cycle also works if there's threshold cards which get big enough upon threshold (Krosan Beast, for example).
*or possibly any condition, such as "this card has threshold when you have exactly 7 cards in hand"? Maybe!