Today's installment is all about the unique cards. Wizards has this habit of making weird one-of's that have decent mechanics and could be beneficial for the Commander community. This week, our panel picked a card with a unique set of mechanics, and we want to talk about how many more of these things we want to see.
And this is how it turned out.
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Protection is a little "overpowered" in some cases, like Spirit Mantle, and some might even call it "mana-racist", as in the case of Knight of Glory, but it really is neat, especially when applied to a CMC. I use this guy in my Rafiq of the Many Voltron deck and he really does wonders when my opponents only have Khalni Hydras and Wurms on defense. His particular protection ability also prevents any Control Magic or Act of Treason style spells from turning him on me when I've beefed him up with Ethereal Armor and Triclopean Sight.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I could go in for some more irregular Protection abilities. Protection from Legendary. Protection from Instants. Protection from activated abilities. I think this keyword is overused, but too often spent on the usual suspects. Prot. Black and White, maybe Red, not much else. I don't necessarily think this would be good for the game, but it would be mildly amusing if the theme of an upcoming block was Protection from Green. Like Oprah bought all the extra Prot. Green and she is just throw them at the audience by the hand full.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm with GG on this one, but maybe not to the mass production/mass color hating he's talking about. There's definitely a need to bring balance to the force, but I don't see a single set being good for the format that way. I've been wrong before though.
Pro-Legends and Pro-Instants seem like sweet ideas, as is the strange CMC thing here. Little aggro Daxos likes his "can't be blocked" clause, and it's a pretty similar design here, I think. Pro-Instants might shut most of my decks down.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
While I would not play this specific card, the Fateseal mechanic in general is very strong. In fact, it only appears on one other card, Spin into Myth, but has a functional equivalent on Jace the Mind Sculptor. There are also other cards like Ransack which have similar effects, but predated even Scry. I would love to see more of this. The extra information has high strategic value. The extra control is a key decision making point and a true skill tester. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen because Fateseal is such a 'griefer' mechanic. It isn't fun to play against and only sadistic bastards like me are into this kind of thing.
What I would really like is a repeatable activated ability...Imagine this:
--
Theoretical Cardname {4}
Artifact
{2}, {T}: Put up to two target cards from a graveyard on top of that player's library in any order.
--
Continually forcing your opponent to draw garbage late in the game. The best part is that they have to relive the horror of drawing a bunch of situational cards that they chose to put into their deck. The punishment! You can't hear it, but I am doing a maniacal villain laugh right now.
Venser's Journalist- ONE THUMB UP, ONE THUMB DOWN
I guess the only reason why I'm on the fence about fateseal is that I haven't had much experience with it (perhaps a stronger argument for it needing to be more pervasive in the MTG community). In theory it does seem like an excellent ability, and because I'm a fan of library manipulation and things like scry, I'm all for anything that allows you to change the "future" in a sense.
My big concern with it is the potential for abuse. Like GG mentioned, this could prove to be sadistic and "un-fun" if people were to build decks around it, but since Extraction mechanics and Psychic Surgery type decks already exist, this would only provide another option for those types of control players.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm never playing Mesmeric Sliver, mostly cause I don't play Slivers, but Fateseal is good. I don't want it to invade the metagame the same way I want more cards with say, "Destroy Target Planeswalker," or aggressively costed red creature/enchantment removal, but a few cards will work. I'd like to see a cheap Instant so I could throw it on Isochron Scepter instead.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
All I want is a few more permanents that give me a little more casting speed. Wizards has been printing stuff, but really limiting their playability by giving them slightly more technical drawbacks (Like Hypersonic Dragon, Yeva, and Alchemist's Refuge). I don't care what kind of permanent the actual card is, but I'd like to see more enablers for Sorceries, Auras, and Artifacts. Maybe a little lower on the mana curve too. They're powerful, but they're still only as good as the cards you're casting at instant speed. Also- they still cost you a turn.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
There deinitely should be more ways to flex the casting restrictions on your cards. A creature version would be awesome. I would also like to see something that lets you play lands on your opponents turn. That would be a very difficult predication: is he holding an extra land that he can play in order to have counter mana? That is a whole new level of leveling. That idea probably makes some people sick to their stomachs, but the more thinking I have to do in a game the more excited I am about said game.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Flash all day and night. Teferi would love this artifact, even if it makes the sorceries with flash redundant. Having mana open is a huge part of a lot of decks, and to me makes MTG closer to poker and other bluffing games. Whenever I have open mana, I kind of want to look my opponents in the face while taking a long sip of a martini.
Be sure to leave your picks in the comments below. I'm sure there are good ones we missed.
That's all that's here for today. It is now my intention to sit down and play video games for several hours. Pass Turn.
-UL/VJ/GG
Protection is a little "overpowered" in some cases, like Spirit Mantle, and some might even call it "mana-racist", as in the case of Knight of Glory, but it really is neat, especially when applied to a CMC. I use this guy in my Rafiq of the Many Voltron deck and he really does wonders when my opponents only have Khalni Hydras and Wurms on defense. His particular protection ability also prevents any Control Magic or Act of Treason style spells from turning him on me when I've beefed him up with Ethereal Armor and Triclopean Sight.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I could go in for some more irregular Protection abilities. Protection from Legendary. Protection from Instants. Protection from activated abilities. I think this keyword is overused, but too often spent on the usual suspects. Prot. Black and White, maybe Red, not much else. I don't necessarily think this would be good for the game, but it would be mildly amusing if the theme of an upcoming block was Protection from Green. Like Oprah bought all the extra Prot. Green and she is just throw them at the audience by the hand full.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm with GG on this one, but maybe not to the mass production/mass color hating he's talking about. There's definitely a need to bring balance to the force, but I don't see a single set being good for the format that way. I've been wrong before though.
Pro-Legends and Pro-Instants seem like sweet ideas, as is the strange CMC thing here. Little aggro Daxos likes his "can't be blocked" clause, and it's a pretty similar design here, I think. Pro-Instants might shut most of my decks down.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
While I would not play this specific card, the Fateseal mechanic in general is very strong. In fact, it only appears on one other card, Spin into Myth, but has a functional equivalent on Jace the Mind Sculptor. There are also other cards like Ransack which have similar effects, but predated even Scry. I would love to see more of this. The extra information has high strategic value. The extra control is a key decision making point and a true skill tester. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen because Fateseal is such a 'griefer' mechanic. It isn't fun to play against and only sadistic bastards like me are into this kind of thing.
What I would really like is a repeatable activated ability...Imagine this:
--
Theoretical Cardname {4}
Artifact
{2}, {T}: Put up to two target cards from a graveyard on top of that player's library in any order.
--
Continually forcing your opponent to draw garbage late in the game. The best part is that they have to relive the horror of drawing a bunch of situational cards that they chose to put into their deck. The punishment! You can't hear it, but I am doing a maniacal villain laugh right now.
Venser's Journalist- ONE THUMB UP, ONE THUMB DOWN
I guess the only reason why I'm on the fence about fateseal is that I haven't had much experience with it (perhaps a stronger argument for it needing to be more pervasive in the MTG community). In theory it does seem like an excellent ability, and because I'm a fan of library manipulation and things like scry, I'm all for anything that allows you to change the "future" in a sense.
My big concern with it is the potential for abuse. Like GG mentioned, this could prove to be sadistic and "un-fun" if people were to build decks around it, but since Extraction mechanics and Psychic Surgery type decks already exist, this would only provide another option for those types of control players.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm never playing Mesmeric Sliver, mostly cause I don't play Slivers, but Fateseal is good. I don't want it to invade the metagame the same way I want more cards with say, "Destroy Target Planeswalker," or aggressively costed red creature/enchantment removal, but a few cards will work. I'd like to see a cheap Instant so I could throw it on Isochron Scepter instead.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
All I want is a few more permanents that give me a little more casting speed. Wizards has been printing stuff, but really limiting their playability by giving them slightly more technical drawbacks (Like Hypersonic Dragon, Yeva, and Alchemist's Refuge). I don't care what kind of permanent the actual card is, but I'd like to see more enablers for Sorceries, Auras, and Artifacts. Maybe a little lower on the mana curve too. They're powerful, but they're still only as good as the cards you're casting at instant speed. Also- they still cost you a turn.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
There deinitely should be more ways to flex the casting restrictions on your cards. A creature version would be awesome. I would also like to see something that lets you play lands on your opponents turn. That would be a very difficult predication: is he holding an extra land that he can play in order to have counter mana? That is a whole new level of leveling. That idea probably makes some people sick to their stomachs, but the more thinking I have to do in a game the more excited I am about said game.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Flash all day and night. Teferi would love this artifact, even if it makes the sorceries with flash redundant. Having mana open is a huge part of a lot of decks, and to me makes MTG closer to poker and other bluffing games. Whenever I have open mana, I kind of want to look my opponents in the face while taking a long sip of a martini.
Be sure to leave your picks in the comments below. I'm sure there are good ones we missed.
That's all that's here for today. It is now my intention to sit down and play video games for several hours. Pass Turn.
-UL/VJ/GG
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