Gideon armed with the Blackblade, plain and simple. His first ability is designed primarily to help with Mentor, as he has worked with the Boros before and likely will do so again come War of the Spark. His second ability helps you draw Auras and Equipment, both to play with Blackblade and to seed a possible upcoming Theros set. The ultimate is good ol' Gideon doing what he does best.
Gideon Blackblade2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control and untap it. That creature gains vigilance and indestructible until end of turn.
-2: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an Aura or Equipment card from among them and put it into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
4
Private Mod Note
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
When I see the word Blackblade I expect lands to be counted somewhere. The obvious one would be in his creature ability if it can fit, but some kind of removal would be good too as I have found it odd that "soul drinking" mechanically is just...being really strong.
As is this just seems like Gideon looking for the Blackblade.
So having the blackblade makes him search for more equipment? Ignoring the middle ability, its a neat Gideon that might be a tad too strong with the whole granting indestructible and vigilance.
Looking at the second ability, its frighteningly weak, so weak that even changing it to a +2 instead makes it still look bad. It only looks at 4 for a subset of cards that unless you are playing commander where the only creature is your commander and everything else is aura/equipment. Then you have a shockingly low number of hits in your deck. Even Bogles plays only 20ish auras. Which accounts for 1/3rd of the deck and you are only looking at 4 cards the most optimistic odds still have you hitting less than 50% of the time. As a -2 you can reveal cards from the top until you hit an aura equipment. Though its still strange that Gideon, while/because he is wielding the blackblade, helps you find more equipment.
Gideon Blackblade2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control and untap it. That creature gains vigilance and indestructible until end of turn.
-2: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an Aura or Equipment card from among them and put it into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
4
So you’ve very wisely sacrificed an ounce of flavor to gain a pound of playability.
That being said, “the top four cards” is painfully weak. I mean superbad. Frankly, he should just Open the Armory. GM’s idea of counting lands sounds good if it fits into the text box (which it probably would if you were to change the -2.)
The Blackblade ability typically involves land counting. However land counting is not very white. Giving the name Blackblade and his recent closeness to Lilliana adding a black mana cost seems like the best choice.
Perhaps the depth of the equipment digging is controlled by the amount of lands you control. This way it could get easier to get the Blackblade to boost is combat strength when equipped. Speaking of which the aura searching part does not make much sense to me.
Also... I actually don't know what happens with equipment when Gideon stops being a creature. Does that fall off? If yes, perhaps he is allowed to equip something from free when transforming in his Human Soldier form.
Last thing is his +1 ability. While being very Gideon, I don't really see how that reflects him during the story. He was pushing for the kill. So I would actually think his transformation ability should perhaps be hit +1 ability like in Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
Just a few thoughts...
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The Blackblade ability typically involves land counting. However land counting is not very white. Giving the name Blackblade and his recent closeness to Lilliana adding a black mana cost seems like the best choice.
I think any color/colorless could/should be able to count lands (see Domain). Adding black to Gideon would be a HUGE mistake imo. I mean, must every character in the multiverse be tainted by "evil" or otherwise exhibit a moral ambiguity that could somehow be perceived as evil, in the name of "realism"? It's just become so nauseatingly trite. I'd MUCH rather he remain traditionally good, at least in card form.
Perhaps the depth of the equipment digging is controlled by the amount of lands you control. This way it could get easier to get the Blackblade to boost is combat strength when equipped. Speaking of which the aura searching part does not make much sense to me.
Counting lands here is a great idea (that or setting his p/t to # of lands.) In regards to the Aura search, again, an ounce of flavor for a pound of fun.
Last thing is his +1 ability. While being very Gideon, I don't really see how that reflects him during the story. He was pushing for the kill. So I would actually think his transformation ability should perhaps be hit +1 ability like in Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
Initially Gideon auto-equipped any number of Equipment you controlled whenever you activated his creature mode, the intent being to equip him with Blackblade Reforged. But I felt it made his ability too wordy. The +, as I explained above, was designed for play with Mentor since this Gideon would be intended for War of the Spark. The second ability is so designed because I'm wary of repeatable tutors. Digging for Auras as well as Equipment is intended to make the effect more flexible, plus Gideon's indestructibility is clearly an Aura-like effect. I suppose his ability could tutor for Blackblade by name? Kinda like how Nissa Revane can tutor for Nissa's Chosen? Only problem is that ability would be useless in Limited unless Blackblade was reprinted in War of the Spark.
Trying a second swing, one that switches the creature mode over to the + with added Equipment attaching, changes the second ability so it reveals to an Aura or Equipment and thereby guarantees a hit, and making the ultimate an emblem that grants "exiletouch" to your Gideon planeswalkers.
Gideon Blackblade2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Attach any number of Equipment you control to Gideon. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
-2: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Aura or Equipment card. You may put that card into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0: You get an emblem with "Whenever a Gideon planeswalker you control deals damage to a creature or planeswalker, exile that permanent."
4
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Put the boost as the cost-worthy one, and put the scour as the loyalty boost one. Despite flavor, there's no reason to limit it, you should just make it any enchantment or artifact, and increase the range to the top 7 cards of your deck. This is going to make it way more viable against the game-pace, help players to hit the ground running better, and will enable you to increase the boost effect a greater amount (which is generallyneededdesperately).
I think the final ability is a little underwhelming as well. It needs some dynamic interaction that makes it pop. I would suggest something in the style of attaching an Aura or Equipment to it when it becomes a creature, the detaching it (or re-attaching it to something else) when the effect ends.
What do you think of using Legend's idea of setting his P/T as # of lands you control to really hit that blackblade flavor? It doesn't really feel like a Gideon ability but he is supposed to be different because he is using a very special piece of equipment, that I assume he wouldn't use after this or on a regular basis.
The exiletouch ability is neat but because Elspeth did something similar it feels wrong to have a different weapon fill the same role.
I'm not sure why Dakkon Blackblade cared about lands in the first place; given his colors and the general lifedrinking nature of the Blackblade, you'd think he would have exiled creatures and cared about creatures exiled with him.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Yeah, it doesn't make direct flavor sense, but it's tradition. Blackblade allows you to draw strength from the land somehow. It would feel off without this clause used somewhere.
Have the creature ability turn him into a 0/0 that gets a boost for each land/swamp/black colored producing land in play/under your control.
Idea being that Gideon is tied to the blackblade now and while it makes him stronger in most cases (base 4/4 assuming no ramp) it gives him a weakness (they can blow up lands). Making it count black producing lands could be a perversion of the weapon by the new cabal on its way to act more like korlash counting swamps.
While Gideon is a base 4/4 in his other incarnations, you can you tell a story of him gaining power from the blackblade by making him potentially stronger (more lands) and tying thematically to the other incarnations of blackblade.
Gideon Blackblade1WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token with lifelink.
-1: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and untap it. That creature gains vigilance until end of turn.
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes an X/X white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker, where X is the number of lands you control. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
4
This one's more straightforward aggro. For some reason, Gideon has never worked with Soldier tokens even though they make perfect sense for him (the Knight makes Soldiers and the Soldier makes Knights, go figure). The second ability revisits the Mentor support. And since Gideon's power and toughness can scale, his creature mode works fine as an ultimate. In practice, they'd probably shoot for 2WW since we already have Dovin and Kaya as three-drops in Standard, but otherwise I like these abilities. Sometimes simple is best.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I think the first version was the best with the adjustments I had highlighted. It works very intuitively to itself, as you can diversify your strategy between the effects. The mega boost will stack with other boost, which enable simpler strategies to madly rush forwards. But ideally, you want to diversify your contents, and your aura's would want toprovideprotectiveeffects. It gives you a more well-rounded offense and defense then. And that brings the design more full-circle in regards to revolving around enchantments and auras to begin with.
I would further question even if you could do something like, "Untap two lands you control. Look at the top 7 cards of your library..." for +1, instead of the single ability for +2. The boost would probably want to be -2, and not more or less than that. It assure there's good proportion between the dynamic exchange and of the effects, and their game-pace. And encourages that you're making good use of what you source from the first effect, while it never becomes useless either.
Gideon Blackblade3WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token.
+1: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn. Attach up to one target Equipment you control to him.
0: Create Blackblade, a legendary artifact Equipment token with Equip 5 and "Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control."
4
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
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Gideon Blackblade 2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control and untap it. That creature gains vigilance and indestructible until end of turn.
-2: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an Aura or Equipment card from among them and put it into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
4
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
As is this just seems like Gideon looking for the Blackblade.
Looking at the second ability, its frighteningly weak, so weak that even changing it to a +2 instead makes it still look bad. It only looks at 4 for a subset of cards that unless you are playing commander where the only creature is your commander and everything else is aura/equipment. Then you have a shockingly low number of hits in your deck. Even Bogles plays only 20ish auras. Which accounts for 1/3rd of the deck and you are only looking at 4 cards the most optimistic odds still have you hitting less than 50% of the time. As a -2 you can reveal cards from the top until you hit an aura equipment. Though its still strange that Gideon, while/because he is wielding the blackblade, helps you find more equipment.
So you’ve very wisely sacrificed an ounce of flavor to gain a pound of playability.
That being said, “the top four cards” is painfully weak. I mean superbad. Frankly, he should just Open the Armory. GM’s idea of counting lands sounds good if it fits into the text box (which it probably would if you were to change the -2.)
Perhaps the depth of the equipment digging is controlled by the amount of lands you control. This way it could get easier to get the Blackblade to boost is combat strength when equipped. Speaking of which the aura searching part does not make much sense to me.
Also... I actually don't know what happens with equipment when Gideon stops being a creature. Does that fall off? If yes, perhaps he is allowed to equip something from free when transforming in his Human Soldier form.
Last thing is his +1 ability. While being very Gideon, I don't really see how that reflects him during the story. He was pushing for the kill. So I would actually think his transformation ability should perhaps be hit +1 ability like in Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
Just a few thoughts...
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
I think any color/colorless could/should be able to count lands (see Domain). Adding black to Gideon would be a HUGE mistake imo. I mean, must every character in the multiverse be tainted by "evil" or otherwise exhibit a moral ambiguity that could somehow be perceived as evil, in the name of "realism"? It's just become so nauseatingly trite. I'd MUCH rather he remain traditionally good, at least in card form.
Counting lands here is a great idea (that or setting his p/t to # of lands.) In regards to the Aura search, again, an ounce of flavor for a pound of fun.
I thought about this too and really like the idea, but perhaps it's too wordy?
Seconded.
Trying a second swing, one that switches the creature mode over to the + with added Equipment attaching, changes the second ability so it reveals to an Aura or Equipment and thereby guarantees a hit, and making the ultimate an emblem that grants "exiletouch" to your Gideon planeswalkers.
Gideon Blackblade 2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Attach any number of Equipment you control to Gideon. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
-2: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Aura or Equipment card. You may put that card into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0: You get an emblem with "Whenever a Gideon planeswalker you control deals damage to a creature or planeswalker, exile that permanent."
4
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I think the final ability is a little underwhelming as well. It needs some dynamic interaction that makes it pop. I would suggest something in the style of attaching an Aura or Equipment to it when it becomes a creature, the detaching it (or re-attaching it to something else) when the effect ends.
The exiletouch ability is neat but because Elspeth did something similar it feels wrong to have a different weapon fill the same role.
Gideon Blackblade enters the battlefield with X loyalty counters on it, where X is the number of lands you control.
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
* Dakkon Blackblade
* Blackblade Reforged
* Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Idea being that Gideon is tied to the blackblade now and while it makes him stronger in most cases (base 4/4 assuming no ramp) it gives him a weakness (they can blow up lands). Making it count black producing lands could be a perversion of the weapon by the new cabal on its way to act more like korlash counting swamps.
While Gideon is a base 4/4 in his other incarnations, you can you tell a story of him gaining power from the blackblade by making him potentially stronger (more lands) and tying thematically to the other incarnations of blackblade.
Gideon Blackblade 1WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token with lifelink.
-1: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and untap it. That creature gains vigilance until end of turn.
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes an X/X white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker, where X is the number of lands you control. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
4
This one's more straightforward aggro. For some reason, Gideon has never worked with Soldier tokens even though they make perfect sense for him (the Knight makes Soldiers and the Soldier makes Knights, go figure). The second ability revisits the Mentor support. And since Gideon's power and toughness can scale, his creature mode works fine as an ultimate. In practice, they'd probably shoot for 2WW since we already have Dovin and Kaya as three-drops in Standard, but otherwise I like these abilities. Sometimes simple is best.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I would further question even if you could do something like, "Untap two lands you control. Look at the top 7 cards of your library..." for +1, instead of the single ability for +2. The boost would probably want to be -2, and not more or less than that. It assure there's good proportion between the dynamic exchange and of the effects, and their game-pace. And encourages that you're making good use of what you source from the first effect, while it never becomes useless either.
Gideon Blackblade 3WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token.
+1: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 white Human Soldier with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn. Attach up to one target Equipment you control to him.
0: Create Blackblade, a legendary artifact Equipment token with Equip 5 and "Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control."
4
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.