It doesn't have anything that's really unique about it and it's weaker than most other common creatures. It does have awesome flavor, but it could have been designed to be on par with the other weaker commons, maybe even raising its cost to 4B for a 4/4, which is a nice body for a black common at that cost. If they didn't want black to be too powerful in limited, then why not just print a card for another color like red, which has 1 less card than the other colors?
Mindless Null shows what 20 years of experience in card design will get ya, right? A well thought out and polished card like that, right?
And like it was said before, Steamflogger Boss works as a lord for changelings, so it's not as useless as Mindless Null is.
Mindless Null is hated because it has a badly executed drawback and is a 2/2 for 2B. I'd rather play Stonework Puma. It has an upside and supports allies. I don't see how this card is even worth it. I play a lot of limited and would rather not even see this card. I wouldn't even considering playing it at all.
I think Mindless Null is pretty funny. I understand that it's a terrible card, and I understand that it's worse than Scathe Zombies, but I don't understand why that has so many people up in arms about its existence. Even costed at 1B, it would've just ended up in piles of discarded draft commons, never seeing play outside of Limited except by players who only own a few packs' worth of cards, or ones who like the flavor and would put it in their Vampire decks anyway.
After the draft, Warpath Ghoul and Mindless Null are pretty much equally useless to the vast majority of players. Every set is going to have its pack dregs. Mindless Null is just the next in a proud tradition that includes Jump, Behemoth's Herald, Zephyr Spirit, and Chimney Imp.
It's literally a waste of space. Considering the tribal implications they could have printed a zombie bears, or something interesting instead of this squire-worthy waste of a pack. I had to explain to a new player that he would never be able to use his 3 copies of it at the prerelease
I don't get what the big deal is, crappy cards get printed. It is just how it goes. At least the artwork is kinda cool...I do feel sorry for the poor soul that pulls a foil mindless null though...
While by and large I agree with most thoughts on this guy, he is still better than the original Gray Ogre, and why? Simple really, a relevant creature type.
While no one in their right mind should consider playing this guy, he could be really fun in a casual Zombie/Vampire deck, packed in with Zombie Lords to make him less full of fail.
He gets an F in most decks, a D in a zombie deck, C in a zombie/vampire deck... but an A in flavor.
Still averages out to be nothing worthwhile, but he is not all that terrible.
Really people? Would you have ever played with this if it was 1B instead of 2B? I highly doubt it. Some of you are even threatening the Dev team over a common that would be worth a nickel no matter what it's mana cost was. You're making it sound like you people were buying booster packs in hopes of getting a crappy black Grizzly Bear with a horrid drawback, and instead you got a crappy black Grey Ogre with a crappy drawback, and you got screwed over. Get real and stop being completely irrational, please.
With Vampire Nocturnus out, it give ALL your vampires +2/+1 AND FLYING! WITHOUT even being on the FIELD! Clearly a staple in all decks that can splash it.
The fact this card costed 1B in design and yet had it's mana cost changed as nothing more than a practical joke is what offends me. I shouldn't have to pay 20 cents for an 'inside joke' at Wizards, because Mindless Null is not funny.
QFT.
If funny cards are so beloved by the magic fanbase, why aren't they printing an un-set with every block?
So apparently they aren't. Printing a crappy card like Mindless Null is disrespectful to the consumer.
Gray Ogres aren't playable in Zendikar, Gray Ogres that can't block is even worse. "Who blocks anyway" sounds like someone who doesn't really understand limited at all.
Really people? Would you have ever played with this if it was 1B instead of 2B? I highly doubt it. Some of you are even threatening the Dev team over a common that would be worth a nickel no matter what it's mana cost was. You're making it sound like you people were buying booster packs in hopes of getting a crappy black Grizzly Bear with a horrid drawback, and instead you got a crappy black Grey Ogre with a crappy drawback, and you got screwed over. Get real and stop being completely irrational, please.
Magic has two environments, not just Square1286's favorite environment. 1B could make it a 22nd or 23rd card in limited, especially if you had some vampires so it could block sometimes. Black is used to having to scoop up all the fat it can get.
If funny cards are so beloved by the magic fanbase, why aren't they printing an un-set with every block?
So apparently they aren't. Printing a crappy card like Mindless Null is disrespectful to the consumer.
Actually there have been several replies in this thread alone that indicate that there are people who find the card entertaining. And how is it disrespectful, exactly? I mean, if the card said "YOU ARE DUMB" in big red letters, I could see that, but my copy doesn't have that anywhere on it. It's just a bad, near-unplayable Limited common. If any of you folks feel like you're wasting your money buying Zendikar packs because of the existence of this card, then feel free to stop buying them. Leaves more for me to draft with, since the set's sold out and all.
I wouldn't blame you, though. I mean, "slightly-improved Spineless Thug" would've really made this set hum. As it is, it's pretty meh. </sarcasm>
I love how everyone is calling this a mistake and an accident and bad card design.
They knew how bad this card was when they printed it. Every person on the team knew. It wasn't unintentional.
They have to print bad cards. If they don't print bad cards, good cards lose some of their shine. It's also good for people learning the game. Yes, this is a bad card. There is no way around it. Yeah, their may be better cards. Yeah, you CAN use it. But there is no disputing that this is a TERRIBLE card. One of the worst. Who blocks?!? Really? For 3 mana you can get a 5/4 with no drawbacks. 3 mana for a 2/2 with a drawback is INSANE.
They intentionally print bad cards. They know they're bad. It's not bad design, it's good for the game.
Bad cards aren't bad. They just shouldn't be that bad and should instead show some of that 20 years of card design knowledge by making it look good but is actually bad. Now that would be impressive to show what 20 years of card design experience can pull off, not Mindless Null.
Bad cards aren't bad. They just shouldn't be that bad and should instead show some of that 20 years of card design knowledge by making it look good but is actually bad. Now that would be impressive to show what 20 years of card design experience can pull off, not Mindless Null.
Exactly. There was no excuse for Mindless Null to simply look bad and be bad. Challenge the players with their card critiquing skills and see if they can figure out if the card that looks good is actually good or not.
Bad cards aren't bad. They just shouldn't be that bad and should instead show some of that 20 years of card design knowledge by making it look good but is actually bad. Now that would be impressive to show what 20 years of card design experience can pull off, not Mindless Null.
This is completely missing the point.
There need to be cards that people who are new to the game look at and think, "This is a bad card." and be right. Especially if you're going to use a 9/9 that that is above the curve and has removal prevention in a destruction heavy environment as a counter example.
I'm pretty amazed that people are really this upset about it. It's Rust all over again, and I love that Rust exists.
There need to be cards that people who are new to the game look at and think, "This is a bad card." and be right. Especially if you're going to use a 9/9 that that is above the curve and has removal prevention in a destruction heavy environment as a counter example.
I'm pretty amazed that people are really this upset about it. It's Rust all over again, and I love that Rust exists.
--Wow'ed Spikey
So new players need to solve jigsaw puzzles that are made of 4 pieces first before moving onto the 20 piece jigsaw puzzles? New players won't be able to play the card themselves and then learn by experience on why the card is bad, it just has to be blunt as Mindless Null is?
WotC has shown time and again that they are willing to print a random <something> that most players don't like but the occasional player might really enjoy. Examples:
Bizarre rares like One with Nothing -- Most players find them pointless. Someone, somewhere, sees them and dreams up combos just to prove to his friends that he found legitimate uses for them.
Obsidian Fireheart -- Most players hate the reminder text because it uses an undefined word in a game that desperately needs clear definitions. But a few players latch on to it and appreciate the flavor.
Mindless Null -- A complete waste of a card? Probably. But some people will find it funny. Some might try to find ways to exploit the card just to grief their friends. "I finished him off with a Mindless Null!" could be a really funny story.
Not every card is designed for every person. There are tons of commons that never see constructed play, and even some that never see limited play. Every set has to have a few. If the card is going to be effectively useless, why not make it a little funny for the small subgroup of players that will appreciate it?
It's ridiculous to think that every Magic card is designed to please YOU.
I think that people need to be honest with themselves and recognize that Development is tough. Design spends all its time pulling the toys out of the toybox and Development has to make sure they all still work when play time is over. Design never has to worry about accountability for the cards it designs because it expects Development to cover every aspect of the cards it creates. And that’s a very tough thing to do.
On the other hand, it is right that player’s show their disapproval when Development falls down on the job. In the case of Mindless Null, Development seems to have ignored the fact that players don’t suffer bad cards like this lightly. They have revealed to us polling data that Bog Hoodlums was the least liked card in Lorwyn. And Chimney Imp was so famously disliked, that every writer on WotC’s site has joked about it at some point. Yamas11 was right when he said that Development needs to be better about masking its badly designed cards.
So I guess my point is, express your disappointment, but try and remain respectful. Forums like this are good survey research for WotC and they need to see constructive and expressive explanations for what people don’t like.
For my part, I dislike that Mindless Null squanders tremendous flavor potential and is strictly worse than many, many other bad commons.
PS – My fixes for Chimney Imp and Bog Hoodlums:
* Chimney Imp was simply overcosted and hinged on the use of one of black’s weakest attributes (small common fliers) I would have reduced the cost and justified the not-terrible mana cost by making the leaves the battlefield trigger hit all players:
Chimney Imp 1B Creature – Imp (COM) Flying When Chimney Imp is put into the graveyard from the battlefield, each player puts a card from his or her hand on top of his or her library. 1/2
* Bog Hoodlums was overcosted and given an unnecessary drawback. I would reduce the mana cost by 2. That way it’s appealing if the clash effect works.
Bog Hoodlums 3B Creature – Goblin Warrior (COM) Bog Hoolums can’t block. When Bog Hoodlums enters the battlefield, clash with an opponent. If you win, put a +1/+1 counter on Bog Hoodlums. 4/1
Actually, a greater idea I had to really make it appealing is to keep the mana cost the same and raise the power to an engaging number:
Bog Hoodlums 5B Creature – Goblin Warrior (COM) Bog Hoolums can’t block. When Bog Hoodlums enters the battlefield, clash with an opponent. If you win, put a +1/+1 counter on Bog Hoodlums. 9/1
Now that’s a common you’d be waiting until turn 6 to play! It’s not great, but it excites people because of its potential, (and still probably only in limit).
Mindless Null can't be the worst card from Zen because it's a creature. If left on its own, it can win you the game.
However, I think the real question here is: Which is better, Mindless Null or Viashino Skeleton?
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Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Mindless Null shows what 20 years of experience in card design will get ya, right? A well thought out and polished card like that, right?
And like it was said before, Steamflogger Boss works as a lord for changelings, so it's not as useless as Mindless Null is.
After the draft, Warpath Ghoul and Mindless Null are pretty much equally useless to the vast majority of players. Every set is going to have its pack dregs. Mindless Null is just the next in a proud tradition that includes Jump, Behemoth's Herald, Zephyr Spirit, and Chimney Imp.
Legacy/Vintage: Sneak Attack!, Reanimator, SuiBlack, Painter's Grindstone
Standard:Mono-Black midrange, BW Vamp-Blade
Extended: Mono-Black Vampires, Faeries
EDH: Jhoira, Glissa (In progress), Kaervec the Merciless.
Liliana Vess Collection count: 91 and 8 Liliana of the Veil
While no one in their right mind should consider playing this guy, he could be really fun in a casual Zombie/Vampire deck, packed in with Zombie Lords to make him less full of fail.
He gets an F in most decks, a D in a zombie deck, C in a zombie/vampire deck... but an A in flavor.
Still averages out to be nothing worthwhile, but he is not all that terrible.
With Vampire Nocturnus out, it give ALL your vampires +2/+1 AND FLYING! WITHOUT even being on the FIELD! Clearly a staple in all decks that can splash it.
...
I'm kidding, of course.
I want a playset!
Gen. George S Patton, Jr
QFT.
If funny cards are so beloved by the magic fanbase, why aren't they printing an un-set with every block?
So apparently they aren't. Printing a crappy card like Mindless Null is disrespectful to the consumer.
Gray Ogres aren't playable in Zendikar, Gray Ogres that can't block is even worse. "Who blocks anyway" sounds like someone who doesn't really understand limited at all.
Magic has two environments, not just Square1286's favorite environment. 1B could make it a 22nd or 23rd card in limited, especially if you had some vampires so it could block sometimes. Black is used to having to scoop up all the fat it can get.
Actually there have been several replies in this thread alone that indicate that there are people who find the card entertaining. And how is it disrespectful, exactly? I mean, if the card said "YOU ARE DUMB" in big red letters, I could see that, but my copy doesn't have that anywhere on it. It's just a bad, near-unplayable Limited common. If any of you folks feel like you're wasting your money buying Zendikar packs because of the existence of this card, then feel free to stop buying them. Leaves more for me to draft with, since the set's sold out and all.
I wouldn't blame you, though. I mean, "slightly-improved Spineless Thug" would've really made this set hum. As it is, it's pretty meh. </sarcasm>
They knew how bad this card was when they printed it. Every person on the team knew. It wasn't unintentional.
They have to print bad cards. If they don't print bad cards, good cards lose some of their shine. It's also good for people learning the game. Yes, this is a bad card. There is no way around it. Yeah, their may be better cards. Yeah, you CAN use it. But there is no disputing that this is a TERRIBLE card. One of the worst. Who blocks?!? Really? For 3 mana you can get a 5/4 with no drawbacks. 3 mana for a 2/2 with a drawback is INSANE.
They intentionally print bad cards. They know they're bad. It's not bad design, it's good for the game.
--Chimney Imp Spikey
To give an example: Kalonian Behemoth, A bad card that looks good.
Exactly. There was no excuse for Mindless Null to simply look bad and be bad. Challenge the players with their card critiquing skills and see if they can figure out if the card that looks good is actually good or not.
This is completely missing the point.
There need to be cards that people who are new to the game look at and think, "This is a bad card." and be right. Especially if you're going to use a 9/9 that that is above the curve and has removal prevention in a destruction heavy environment as a counter example.
I'm pretty amazed that people are really this upset about it. It's Rust all over again, and I love that Rust exists.
--Wow'ed Spikey
So new players need to solve jigsaw puzzles that are made of 4 pieces first before moving onto the 20 piece jigsaw puzzles? New players won't be able to play the card themselves and then learn by experience on why the card is bad, it just has to be blunt as Mindless Null is?
Bizarre rares like One with Nothing -- Most players find them pointless. Someone, somewhere, sees them and dreams up combos just to prove to his friends that he found legitimate uses for them.
Obsidian Fireheart -- Most players hate the reminder text because it uses an undefined word in a game that desperately needs clear definitions. But a few players latch on to it and appreciate the flavor.
Mindless Null -- A complete waste of a card? Probably. But some people will find it funny. Some might try to find ways to exploit the card just to grief their friends. "I finished him off with a Mindless Null!" could be a really funny story.
Not every card is designed for every person. There are tons of commons that never see constructed play, and even some that never see limited play. Every set has to have a few. If the card is going to be effectively useless, why not make it a little funny for the small subgroup of players that will appreciate it?
It's ridiculous to think that every Magic card is designed to please YOU.
On the other hand, it is right that player’s show their disapproval when Development falls down on the job. In the case of Mindless Null, Development seems to have ignored the fact that players don’t suffer bad cards like this lightly. They have revealed to us polling data that Bog Hoodlums was the least liked card in Lorwyn. And Chimney Imp was so famously disliked, that every writer on WotC’s site has joked about it at some point. Yamas11 was right when he said that Development needs to be better about masking its badly designed cards.
So I guess my point is, express your disappointment, but try and remain respectful. Forums like this are good survey research for WotC and they need to see constructive and expressive explanations for what people don’t like.
For my part, I dislike that Mindless Null squanders tremendous flavor potential and is strictly worse than many, many other bad commons.
PS – My fixes for Chimney Imp and Bog Hoodlums:
* Chimney Imp was simply overcosted and hinged on the use of one of black’s weakest attributes (small common fliers) I would have reduced the cost and justified the not-terrible mana cost by making the leaves the battlefield trigger hit all players:
Chimney Imp 1B
Creature – Imp (COM)
Flying
When Chimney Imp is put into the graveyard from the battlefield, each player puts a card from his or her hand on top of his or her library.
1/2
* Bog Hoodlums was overcosted and given an unnecessary drawback. I would reduce the mana cost by 2. That way it’s appealing if the clash effect works.
Bog Hoodlums 3B
Creature – Goblin Warrior (COM)
Bog Hoolums can’t block.
When Bog Hoodlums enters the battlefield, clash with an opponent. If you win, put a +1/+1 counter on Bog Hoodlums.
4/1
Actually, a greater idea I had to really make it appealing is to keep the mana cost the same and raise the power to an engaging number:
Bog Hoodlums 5B
Creature – Goblin Warrior (COM)
Bog Hoolums can’t block.
When Bog Hoodlums enters the battlefield, clash with an opponent. If you win, put a +1/+1 counter on Bog Hoodlums.
9/1
Now that’s a common you’d be waiting until turn 6 to play! It’s not great, but it excites people because of its potential, (and still probably only in limit).
Scathe Zombies exists. Scathe Zombies was a bad card.
Mindless Null is strictly worse than Scathe Zombies. Therefore, even when taking "bad cards must be printed" into consideration, Mindless Null never had to be printed, since they could just reprint Scathe Zombies.
THAT is why people hate Mindless Null.
However, I think the real question here is: Which is better, Mindless Null or Viashino Skeleton?
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
When wouldn't you want it to be able to block?
The candles burn out for you; I am free.
it would have been playable in limited at 1B.
this card is nothing but a waste of good flavor.