I was looking at the new cards for Aether Revolt and it seemed as though there were several cards that were functional reprints of other cards that would have worked just as well. For example, there was Precise Strike, which was a functional reprint of Kindled Fury. It seems like Kindled Fury would have worked just as well, so I'm wondering: is Wizards unnecessarily eroding name space with these functional reprints?
While I agree that sometimes the old card will work in all regards, most of the functional reprints we see are reprints with a different flavor more suited for the set.
Strong Example: There are no "Golems" on Kaladesh, thus "Glass Golem" is unsuited for the plane.
In the reverse example, when they get a card they're pretty sure they'll want to see in future sets regardless of the plane, they'll give it a nonspecific name. A good example is Disallow, which was given a name that could show up anywhere.
This applies to almost all of the above: "Gryffs" are specific to innistrad, so they created a more suited one (and the other two functional reprints this card has also don't fit). No golems, as above. Chandra is a fire mage, so her Pyrohelix and Flame Lash are better suited than the lightning-magic Twin Bolt and Lightning Blast. Eel may have been able to squeeze in, but the vendor "fits in better".
(Edit: Stopped at the AER reprints, since that was the end of the op list, initially)
All that said, Kindled Fury could easily have replaced Precise Strike, with absolutely appropriate flavor.
This is an instance I can't defend.
Sometimes they do it just to do it, I guess?
I can see your argument for some of these. The Gryff and the Golem wouldn't work, and there aren't eels on Kaladesh either. And Flame Lash and the Pyrohelix were in the Planeswalker deck, so they had to feature Chandra. But with name space being tight already, why would they go for Vampire Noble over Barony Vampire. They are literally the same thing except for their names. And what about Ghostly Sentinel, which actually seems to fit worse than Angel of Light, given that Zendikar angels have that whole halos-over-their-eyes schtick. They miss an opportunity to reprint old cards with the new border, and at the same time drain their reservoir of usable names. What is their reasoning?
Some of it is driven by Commander as well. They change the name on it and now you can technically have 2 copies of the same card in the set. Just look at 1 casting cost elves that produce 1 mana of some type there are quit a few out there
But who runs Festering Goblin or Throttle in Commander? All of this stuff is at common; it's just limited fodder. So why do they not just reprint them instead of wasting name space on new cards that do the same thing?
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Its entirely world building and they dont really check for some commons if a reprint exists if the card is so narrow, they just do it as a new card.
These cards are pretty much all only relevant in Limited, and for that, new names have the added effect that you do not remember a card right away, but you might remember the effect of the card and some might actually see them as functional reprints, while a lot of others wont even notice.
----
Flavor-wise, each plane should have its own stuff. Theres some super generic cards that work in different worlds, but you also have to question why do an exact reprint if you can do a functional reprint.
In terms of Pauper and EDH functional reprints with new name have an actual effect, you can play 4 copies of each. Ofcourse these cards are "limited stuff" and by that dont really matter for any constructed, but still ...
----
The planeswalker "spells" are done as they shifted from making a plane and a world to make the story evolve heavily around the planeswalkers, and they do the planeswalker themed intro decks, which feature cards of them.
Sometimes they just go with the old card and would give them a new artwork with the planeswalker, but changing the name works too.
----
If they would make functional reprints of actual reasonable constructed cards (say Ravnica Duals would have reprints in different sets and names) , or the fetchlands would have different names on Tarkir , THAT would be kind of a problem, as it introduces a big impact (so here they have to be pretty careful what they print, and better reprint a card, rather than making it slightly different).
For example theres Terror, Doom Blade, Go for the Throat ; and they could shift the card slighty based on the world they are in.
Reprinting Lightning Bolt in different versions and names, would be quite an issue.
On "Limited" cards, they can make a function reprint if they want to just switch a tiny bit of text, for example: Shambling Goblin = Festering Goblin
Are actually different cards, as the first has a "opponent controls" and the later is forced to target your own creatures if thats the only valid target.
If this would be a very relevant constructed card, they would probably shy away from that change and just reprint the card if they really wanted it.
But here, change the name, people either wont care at all, its better for Limited and some people might even like the fact they can play now 2x 4 copies in some casual deck (or a black/red Goblin EDH who knows).
----
In the past EDH was not a "relevant" factor for making cards, today its a product of them and they will make a lot of functional reprints.
But with name space being tight already, why would they go for Vampire Noble over Barony Vampire. They are literally the same thing except for their names.
Barony is a direct reference to Ulgrotha. There aren't barons in Innistrad, and the planes are similar enough already for them to muddle things even more.
And what about Ghostly Sentinel, which actually seems to fit worse than Angel of Light, given that Zendikar angels have that whole halos-over-their-eyes schtick.
Ghostly Sentinel fits fine in Zendikar; Soulbound Guardians already established the existence of kor ghosts protectors.
Better to show more of that than yet another angel. And they probably didn't want a common Angel outside of Innistrad; they are rarer in Zendikar.
And what about Ghostly Sentinel, which actually seems to fit worse than Angel of Light, given that Zendikar angels have that whole halos-over-their-eyes schtick.
Creature types are very relevant here and played a large part in the functional reprint choice, I'm sure.
All that said, Kindled Fury could easily have replaced Precise Strike, with absolutely appropriate flavor.
This is an instance I can't defend.
Sometimes they do it just to do it, I guess?
My best guess is that Precise Strike fits the mood of Kaladesh a little better than Kindled Fury does. The plane is full of relatively happy engineers, not brooding warriors full of rage. In a fight, the scientists are going to be executing calculated attacks rather than unleashing some pent up inner angst.
My best guess is that Precise Strike fits the mood of Kaladesh a little better than Kindled Fury does. The plane is full of relatively happy engineers, not brooding warriors full of rage. In a fight, the scientists are going to be executing calculated attacks rather than unleashing some pent up inner angst.
Like I said, just my best guess.
In KLD, absolutely.
In AER, however..
The consulate went through and confiscated many inventions and detained their inventors for ""safety reasons"". It then became apparent that Tezzeret was behind it for his own gains, which made most of the people who figured it out furious. When Pia Nalaar failed to stoke the flames of the rebellion, she enlisted her daughter's help. Chandra was able to remind them of what they lost, and she kindled their anger into an uprising. She "Kindled their Fury" (ba-dun tshh?)
</example>
They can make a lot of cards fit with work.
Some are much more forced then others.
I find this example to be fully acceptable. Coral Eel.. not so much. It just fails the flavor test.
With no more core sets, the more generic cards start flowing into the block expansion sets. Wetland Sambar will be rotating out long before Kaladesh block, so Curio Vendor was created to replace it, and the used name space is almost nonexistant.
Again, Precise StrikeIS name space that could be better suited, but there's still so much left to explore it's ridiculous. Who knows how many thousands of burn cards or fiery cards we have thus far, and we still don't even have a plain old "Scorch" spell yet. Add in the ever possible Name-ian Scorch variants, etc, and there's no shortage of spell names as we traverse the multiverse.
Edit: Nevermind, Morays are eels. Should have researched better But since animals in Kaladesh often had the energy mechanic it stands to reason that they wanted to use the Curio Vendor space to show of the inventor theme more while creating a Moray card that actually has energy as a mechanic. Just my guess.
I think we're probably in for more of this in the future. As the Gatewatch is pushed more, they are going to have more cards to reference them. There won't be enough design space in limited to have enough references and still make it a playable format. So the easy solution is just rename some cards to feature the poster children of the sets.
In my opinion Twin Bolt could have worked. Just have her shooting two Firebolts out of her hands, make the art look like Sarkhan's Rage or something.
Other Functional Reprints:
Ghirapur Osprey = Dawn Gryff
Prizefighter Construct = Glass Golem
Chandra's Pyrohelix = Twin Bolt
Flame Lash = Lightning Blast
Curio Vendor = Coral Eel
Shambling Goblin = Festering Goblin
Anointer of Champions = Infantry Veteran
Hitchclaw Recluse = Rib Cage Spider
Ghostly Sentinel = Angel of Light
Drag Under = Symbol of Unsummoning
Tattered Haunter = Welkin Tern
Magmatic Chasm = Seismic Stomp
Ancient Carp = Armored Cancrix
Vampire Noble = Barony Vampire
Lash of the Whip = Throttle
Strong Example: There are no "Golems" on Kaladesh, thus "Glass Golem" is unsuited for the plane.
In the reverse example, when they get a card they're pretty sure they'll want to see in future sets regardless of the plane, they'll give it a nonspecific name. A good example is Disallow, which was given a name that could show up anywhere.
This applies to almost all of the above: "Gryffs" are specific to innistrad, so they created a more suited one (and the other two functional reprints this card has also don't fit). No golems, as above. Chandra is a fire mage, so her Pyrohelix and Flame Lash are better suited than the lightning-magic Twin Bolt and Lightning Blast. Eel may have been able to squeeze in, but the vendor "fits in better".
(Edit: Stopped at the AER reprints, since that was the end of the op list, initially)
All that said, Kindled Fury could easily have replaced Precise Strike, with absolutely appropriate flavor.
This is an instance I can't defend.
Sometimes they do it just to do it, I guess?
No longer staff here.
These cards are pretty much all only relevant in Limited, and for that, new names have the added effect that you do not remember a card right away, but you might remember the effect of the card and some might actually see them as functional reprints, while a lot of others wont even notice.
----
Flavor-wise, each plane should have its own stuff. Theres some super generic cards that work in different worlds, but you also have to question why do an exact reprint if you can do a functional reprint.
In terms of Pauper and EDH functional reprints with new name have an actual effect, you can play 4 copies of each. Ofcourse these cards are "limited stuff" and by that dont really matter for any constructed, but still ...
----
The planeswalker "spells" are done as they shifted from making a plane and a world to make the story evolve heavily around the planeswalkers, and they do the planeswalker themed intro decks, which feature cards of them.
Sometimes they just go with the old card and would give them a new artwork with the planeswalker, but changing the name works too.
----
If they would make functional reprints of actual reasonable constructed cards (say Ravnica Duals would have reprints in different sets and names) , or the fetchlands would have different names on Tarkir , THAT would be kind of a problem, as it introduces a big impact (so here they have to be pretty careful what they print, and better reprint a card, rather than making it slightly different).
For example theres Terror, Doom Blade, Go for the Throat ; and they could shift the card slighty based on the world they are in.
Reprinting Lightning Bolt in different versions and names, would be quite an issue.
On "Limited" cards, they can make a function reprint if they want to just switch a tiny bit of text, for example:
Shambling Goblin = Festering Goblin
Are actually different cards, as the first has a "opponent controls" and the later is forced to target your own creatures if thats the only valid target.
If this would be a very relevant constructed card, they would probably shy away from that change and just reprint the card if they really wanted it.
But here, change the name, people either wont care at all, its better for Limited and some people might even like the fact they can play now 2x 4 copies in some casual deck (or a black/red Goblin EDH who knows).
----
In the past EDH was not a "relevant" factor for making cards, today its a product of them and they will make a lot of functional reprints.
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Barony is a direct reference to Ulgrotha. There aren't barons in Innistrad, and the planes are similar enough already for them to muddle things even more.
Ghostly Sentinel fits fine in Zendikar; Soulbound Guardians already established the existence of kor ghosts protectors.
Better to show more of that than yet another angel. And they probably didn't want a common Angel outside of Innistrad; they are rarer in Zendikar.
Creature types are very relevant here and played a large part in the functional reprint choice, I'm sure.
My best guess is that Precise Strike fits the mood of Kaladesh a little better than Kindled Fury does. The plane is full of relatively happy engineers, not brooding warriors full of rage. In a fight, the scientists are going to be executing calculated attacks rather than unleashing some pent up inner angst.
Like I said, just my best guess.
In AER, however..
The consulate went through and confiscated many inventions and detained their inventors for ""safety reasons"". It then became apparent that Tezzeret was behind it for his own gains, which made most of the people who figured it out furious. When Pia Nalaar failed to stoke the flames of the rebellion, she enlisted her daughter's help. Chandra was able to remind them of what they lost, and she kindled their anger into an uprising. She "Kindled their Fury" (ba-dun tshh?)
</example>
They can make a lot of cards fit with work.
Some are much more forced then others.
I find this example to be fully acceptable.
Coral Eel.. not so much. It just fails the flavor test.
With no more core sets, the more generic cards start flowing into the block expansion sets. Wetland Sambar will be rotating out long before Kaladesh block, so Curio Vendor was created to replace it, and the used name space is almost nonexistant.
Again, Precise Strike IS name space that could be better suited, but there's still so much left to explore it's ridiculous. Who knows how many thousands of burn cards or fiery cards we have thus far, and we still don't even have a plain old "Scorch" spell yet. Add in the ever possible Name-ian Scorch variants, etc, and there's no shortage of spell names as we traverse the multiverse.
No longer staff here.
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Edit: Nevermind, Morays are eels. Should have researched better But since animals in Kaladesh often had the energy mechanic it stands to reason that they wanted to use the Curio Vendor space to show of the inventor theme more while creating a Moray card that actually has energy as a mechanic. Just my guess.
I was thinking this too.
I think we're probably in for more of this in the future. As the Gatewatch is pushed more, they are going to have more cards to reference them. There won't be enough design space in limited to have enough references and still make it a playable format. So the easy solution is just rename some cards to feature the poster children of the sets.
In my opinion Twin Bolt could have worked. Just have her shooting two Firebolts out of her hands, make the art look like Sarkhan's Rage or something.
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Infinite name combinations.