This does kill Kitchen Finks and hits players to the face. I don't believe i will say this for a 2cmc sorcery 3 damage card, but i will give it a chance, at least in playtesting for modern.
Missed opportunity for a much better Incinerate though.
Seems like a strictly better Touch of the void, though that isn't taking into account the fact that touch can target creatures with protection from red.
This does kill Kitchen Finks and hits players to the face. I don't believe i will say this for a 2cmc sorcery 3 damage card, but i will give it a chance, at least in playtesting for modern.
Missed opportunity for a much better Incinerate though.
Just use pillar of flame if you need something to deal with Finks that can also go to the face. I can't really think of anything at 3 toughness that needs to be exiled enough to warrant running this over pillar.
I guess that it is still decent removal. I don't get why they think that Lightning Strike is too powerful though.
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
It's not awful, off course.
but I still don't get the logic behind improving dudes each set while nerfing removal that deal with dudes at the same time
I guess that it is still decent removal. I don't get why they think that Lightning Strike is too powerful though.
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
Seriously? What decks have ever "splashed" for lightning strike? Do they honestly believe that the card is THAT good?
I guess that it is still decent removal. I don't get why they think that Lightning Strike is too powerful though.
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
I can see that, Not that I agree with it being a problem. I have played Instant burn spells for over 20 years never felt like a problem to me.
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
I guess that it is still decent removal. I don't get why they think that Lightning Strike is too powerful though.
It's not that it's too powerful, it's that it's an "unnecessary constraint on design space" - the logic from Sam Stoddard's article goes that if lightning strike exists, they can't print cards that die to lightning strike, unless they don't cost more than lightning strike. Because according to wizards, if I have a 2 mana answer to your 5 mana threat, then I gained 3 mana worth of card advantage, despite that not being remotely accurate in any sense of the word.
I will accept that it's better than what we have, but right now red and blue do not exist as viable colors in standard, and black barely exists as a viable color. Printing stuff like this is a decent step forward, but I need to see some more push back against GW creatures being the only viable deck.
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Lightning Strike wasn't taken out because it was too strong.
...
Lightning Strike is the right power level for Standard, but it is pretty boring. And any time we take a card that is pretty boring but a four-of in a ton of decks and add extra text onto it, we aren't allowing for future sets to print cards that might be an option to play instead. Much like we have been experimenting with differences in mana accelerators in Standard, we are entering an era of experimentation on how to move the suite of burn spells around such that there is a lot of choice while ensuring you can't just put them all in a deck and end up with a Modern burn deck.
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Also sorcery speed on all these burn spells feels like dumbing down the game for red players.
Actually, it dumbs down the game for non-red players.
If you don't have to fear instant speed burn you don't have to bother making a deck that can deal with instant speed burn.
Instant speed burn is actually a learning tool, even if Wizards deems the lesson "harsh". Just like players have to learn not to blindly slap all of their threats on the table all of the time (opening them up to mass removal, etc) they need to be able to learn how to deal with managing removal and their life total.
This fills a needed niche in Standard, but as other players have pointed out in other formats we don't have any threats with 3 toughness that this card specifically deals with that don't already have burn + exile answers with Pillar of Flame et al.
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I guess that it is still decent removal. I don't get why they think that Lightning Strike is too powerful though.
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
I don't think this is true. Completely conjecture, but I think the reason Lightning Strike hasn't been in standard is because they thought Draconic Roar would have taken its place, when it did not. And the reason this isn't Instant speed is because they didn't want it to be 100% better than Lightning Strike. Strike will be back, they're just trying out slightly different effects for now. The last one, Draconic Roar, didn't really work, but this one might.
Also, flavor text is on point.
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It's no Lightning Strike, but it'll have to do!
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Missed opportunity for a much better Incinerate though.
Just use pillar of flame if you need something to deal with Finks that can also go to the face. I can't really think of anything at 3 toughness that needs to be exiled enough to warrant running this over pillar.
The only question is, does it help R/W humans more than it hurts G/W and Bant?
I don't remember the source offhand, but a recent Stoddard (I think it was Stoddard) said that the cards aren't necessarily too powerful for the format. They just restrict color identity and player color choice. If you have Strike in the format, people tend not to play red decks; they just play decks splashing red for Strike. I believe this was Wizards' rationale about this card and others like it.
but I still don't get the logic behind improving dudes each set while nerfing removal that deal with dudes at the same time
love the flavor text, though
Seriously? What decks have ever "splashed" for lightning strike? Do they honestly believe that the card is THAT good?
http://wizardsdeveloper.tumblr.com/post/146721797640/one-thing-that-frequently-comes-up-especially
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It's not that it's too powerful, it's that it's an "unnecessary constraint on design space" - the logic from Sam Stoddard's article goes that if lightning strike exists, they can't print cards that die to lightning strike, unless they don't cost more than lightning strike. Because according to wizards, if I have a 2 mana answer to your 5 mana threat, then I gained 3 mana worth of card advantage, despite that not being remotely accurate in any sense of the word.
I will accept that it's better than what we have, but right now red and blue do not exist as viable colors in standard, and black barely exists as a viable color. Printing stuff like this is a decent step forward, but I need to see some more push back against GW creatures being the only viable deck.
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But it's sorcery speed not instant.
I can't find that particular quote and am wondering where I read it, but this gives some more context:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/standard-power-level-2016-02-05
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Actually, it dumbs down the game for non-red players.
If you don't have to fear instant speed burn you don't have to bother making a deck that can deal with instant speed burn.
Instant speed burn is actually a learning tool, even if Wizards deems the lesson "harsh". Just like players have to learn not to blindly slap all of their threats on the table all of the time (opening them up to mass removal, etc) they need to be able to learn how to deal with managing removal and their life total.
This fills a needed niche in Standard, but as other players have pointed out in other formats we don't have any threats with 3 toughness that this card specifically deals with that don't already have burn + exile answers with Pillar of Flame et al.
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
I don't think this is true. Completely conjecture, but I think the reason Lightning Strike hasn't been in standard is because they thought Draconic Roar would have taken its place, when it did not. And the reason this isn't Instant speed is because they didn't want it to be 100% better than Lightning Strike. Strike will be back, they're just trying out slightly different effects for now. The last one, Draconic Roar, didn't really work, but this one might.
Also, flavor text is on point.