Last Saturday, I hosted a real life custom set draft tournament (my 5th). There were 16 players (I didn't play) composing two pods of 8. It was more-or-less a success. Much fun was had and many lessons learned. Which is why I'm here. If you're reading this, you've probably heard of "signpost" cards - cards that signal and direct players/drafters towards strategic archetypes. This ONE card threw a several of my drafters (een the veteran Spikes) way off the scent. The card:
Reality Rift (Common) 1(U/R)
Sorcery - Arcane
Creature tokens can't block or be blocked this turn.
This card makes total sense to me because I know the ins and outs of the set (it's there to break through a swarm of black/green Insect tokens; or to make your red Devil and/or black/green Insect tokens unblockable). But to the uninitiated, it's a curve-ball that seems like a lame duck. Like I said, it even threw off the strongest players at my tournament, who were looking for an Izzet token archetype. But there's no blue tokens in the set. Not one. And they weren't happy about it. They literally felt as though there were cards missing from the set.
The moral of the story: Signpost cards have the potential to make or break a set. That being said, I think the card is fine, it's just at the wrong rarity. Putting it at common said "theme" to my players instead of "niche" or "sideboard".
It sounds more like the problem is that its blue. Are your blue archtypes struggling to break through insects? Why aren't they flying over or actually going unblockable? If you have 0 blue tokens then the reason this is blue has to be because blue is struggling against tokens. If this is true then I can better understand your stance, it just seems an odd problem for blue to have. That said as a common it definitely looks like its trying to set something up as opposed to being niche. This seems like the kind of ability that is stapled on to a decent but low pick rare for the "aha!" moment or a powerful uncommon that no one else will grab because its not for them.
Out of context I'm also wondering what Arcane magic is doing on Ravnica.
I was using it as a "marker" to for an Izzet mechanic:
Unravel (Common) 3U
Sorcery - Arcane
Each opponent puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Tempest (When you cast this spell, copy it for each Arcane card in your graveyard.)
Probably abusable in Eternal, but quite fun and balanced in Limited. I don't really want to use Arcane necessarily, but I needed something in order for it to work and at the same time give me a knob to tune. I like imagining the implications of backwards compatibility.
Is it unacceptable from a lore perspective?
Does anyone have better idea?
Arcane was the magic of the Kami, so its very out of place for the Izzet. How it was actually different is harder to explain. It also sounds wrong for the Izzet, it has an older vibe attached to it, while the Izzet have a more futuristic vibe.
Arcane was the magic of the Kami, so its very out of place for the Izzet. How it was actually different is harder to explain. It also sounds wrong for the Izzet, it has an older vibe attached to it, while the Izzet have a more futuristic vibe.
Any suggestions as to how this mechanic could be made to work without using Arcane... Traps?
Arcane was the magic of the Kami, so its very out of place for the Izzet. How it was actually different is harder to explain. It also sounds wrong for the Izzet, it has an older vibe attached to it, while the Izzet have a more futuristic vibe.
Any suggestions as to how this mechanic could be made to work without using Arcane... Traps?
I considered that, but then it's Arcane v0.05. At least with the Arcane subtype, it has some backwards compatibility that would make Tempest, Splice, and other Arcane matters cards more playable.
With that in mind, how about something that cares about Izzet's history (instead of Kamigawa's) without giving up Limited use?
Dynamize (When you cast this spell, copy it for each card in your graveyard with Dynamize, Overload, and/or Replicate. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
That is functional. Also 8nteresting. The problem is now you no longer have the simple plus 1 cards. Though depending on balance those might have been too strong.
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Reality Rift (Common)
1(U/R)
Sorcery - Arcane
Creature tokens can't block or be blocked this turn.
This card makes total sense to me because I know the ins and outs of the set (it's there to break through a swarm of black/green Insect tokens; or to make your red Devil and/or black/green Insect tokens unblockable). But to the uninitiated, it's a curve-ball that seems like a lame duck. Like I said, it even threw off the strongest players at my tournament, who were looking for an Izzet token archetype. But there's no blue tokens in the set. Not one. And they weren't happy about it. They literally felt as though there were cards missing from the set.
The moral of the story: Signpost cards have the potential to make or break a set. That being said, I think the card is fine, it's just at the wrong rarity. Putting it at common said "theme" to my players instead of "niche" or "sideboard".
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
I was using it as a "marker" to for an Izzet mechanic:
Unravel (Common)
3U
Sorcery - Arcane
Each opponent puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Tempest (When you cast this spell, copy it for each Arcane card in your graveyard.)
Probably abusable in Eternal, but quite fun and balanced in Limited. I don't really want to use Arcane necessarily, but I needed something in order for it to work and at the same time give me a knob to tune. I like imagining the implications of backwards compatibility.
Is it unacceptable from a lore perspective?
Does anyone have better idea?
Any suggestions as to how this mechanic could be made to work without using Arcane... Traps?
All kidding aside... ?
I considered that, but then it's Arcane v0.05. At least with the Arcane subtype, it has some backwards compatibility that would make Tempest, Splice, and other Arcane matters cards more playable.
With that in mind, how about something that cares about Izzet's history (instead of Kamigawa's) without giving up Limited use?
Dynamize (When you cast this spell, copy it for each card in your graveyard with Dynamize, Overload, and/or Replicate. You may choose new targets for the copies.)