Thanks to Theros block X spells and the Black draw spell, I'm doubting the blue one taps or draws cards. So if it exists, what else does blue do that you might want to see in an X spell?
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Counter target spell unless the controller of that spell pays X
Do X something
I feel that X spells would be great in Tiny Leaders or any similar format. Tiny Leaders lack that big game breaking spell and X spells could be a means to go around that
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Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forums
My theory was that each color would get a draw or pseudo-draw effect.
Red (known): Exile X, can cast until end of next turn.
Black (known): Draw X, lose X life.
Blue (unkown): Counter unless they pay X, draw X cards.
Green (unknown): Reveal the top X cards of your library, put all permanents with cmc X or less into your hand.
White (unkown): Draw X cards where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less? (a la mentor of the meek)
This one's the toughest. There just aren't many ways for white to draw cards and most of those are [effect], draw a card.
The green one could be 'reveal the top X cards of your library, put a land spell revealed this way onto the battlefield and a creature spell revealed this way into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order'.
The white one could be, 'reveal the top X cards of your library, put all white creatures of converted mana cost 2 or less onto the battlefield, then the rest on the bottom of your library in any order'.
My theory was that each color would get a draw or pseudo-draw effect.
Red (known): Exile X, can cast until end of next turn.
Black (known): Draw X, lose X life.
Blue (unkown): Counter unless they pay X, draw X cards.
Green (unknown): Reveal the top X cards of your library, put all permanents with cmc X or less into your hand.
White (unkown): Draw X cards where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less? (a la mentor of the meek)
This one's the toughest. There just aren't many ways for white to draw cards and most of those are [effect], draw a card.
I really like your idea for green.
I imagine white could be "Prevent the next X damage dealt to you and sources you control this turn. At EoT, draw a card for each damage prevented this way."
I could see blue getting vanilla card draw, but blue does have access to Rebound right now... maybe "XXUU: Draw X cards, Rebound." to take advantage of it?
My theory was that each color would get a draw or pseudo-draw effect.
Red (known): Exile X, can cast until end of next turn.
Black (known): Draw X, lose X life.
Blue (unkown): Counter unless they pay X, draw X cards.
Green (unknown): Reveal the top X cards of your library, put all permanents with cmc X or less into your hand.
White (unkown): Draw X cards where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less? (a la mentor of the meek)
This one's the toughest. There just aren't many ways for white to draw cards and most of those are [effect], draw a card.
I really like your idea for green.
I imagine white could be "Prevent the next X damage dealt to you and sources you control this turn. At EoT, draw a card for each damage prevented this way."
I could see blue getting vanilla card draw, but blue does have access to Rebound right now... maybe "XXUU: Draw X cards, Rebound." to take advantage of it?
Um, rebound on that spell is useless, since you know, we draw none on rebound...
I just want xuu - instant - draw x cards. After all, if red can get instant card advantage...
Oh that'd be a great white card draw!
I might be mistaken but when an X spell rebounds the X is equal to 0? Yeah it could just be a generic 'draw X cards' but that seems boooring.
My theory was that each color would get a draw or pseudo-draw effect.
Red (known): Exile X, can cast until end of next turn.
Black (known): Draw X, lose X life.
Blue (unkown): Counter unless they pay X, draw X cards.
Green (unknown): Reveal the top X cards of your library, put all permanents with cmc X or less into your hand.
White (unkown): Draw X cards where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less? (a la mentor of the meek)
This one's the toughest. There just aren't many ways for white to draw cards and most of those are [effect], draw a card.
I really like your idea for green.
I imagine white could be "Prevent the next X damage dealt to you and sources you control this turn. At EoT, draw a card for each damage prevented this way."
I could see blue getting vanilla card draw, but blue does have access to Rebound right now... maybe "XXUU: Draw X cards, Rebound." to take advantage of it?
Green one seems very plausible given some of the colour's recent card advantage engines. It could be an X spell regrowth (probably with the same 'cost less than X' limitation). I think they're going to have to do something other than card advantage; even if you link it to a white mechanic, it just doesn't work too well for white. And blue would just be strictly better than the black one as card draw.
I think red gets a 'draw' effect because it's something different from an X damage spell and they aren't likely to top Crater's Claws in the same block - plus they seem to be pushing this as a way of making red a deeper colour by giving it some kind of card advantage.
Blue already has Fascination in FRF so it should differ quite a lot from it. Blue might also have no card in this cycle with fascination moved from one set to another.
I don't know how you can compare the steaming pile of dung that is fascination to having an instant speed that draws only you the cards. I don't see how red can get a great draw spell and blue can't...
While I like design speculation, I personally doubt that this is a full cycle. Commune with Lava has more Atarka flavor than Kolaghan which would mean Kolaghan doesn't get any part of the prospective cycle. It's like how there was one Guild in RTR that didn't get an X spell or how there was no rare or mythic creature with protection from black in Theros.
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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.
I could see blue getting vanilla card draw, but blue does have access to Rebound right now... maybe "XXUU: Draw X cards, Rebound." to take advantage of it?
Um, rebound on that spell is useless, since you know, we draw none on rebound...
I just want xuu - instant - draw x cards. After all, if red can get instant card advantage...
Oh, duh
Still, I'd like to see something with a little more creativity than pay X, draw X, and there has to be some kind of downside or it's strictly better than the suggested spells in the other colors.
Also note that the black card, even if good in limited is nowhere near Braingeyser or Skeletal Scrying and should not see play in constructed format at all.
You seem to be downplaying Damnable Pact's ability to act as a Fireball if you don't want to draw.
How about:
UUX: Return X non-land permanents with converted mana cost X or less to their owners' hands.
GGX: Search your library for up to X basic lands and put them into play tapped.
WWX: Gain X life and put X 0/2 defenders into play.
Edit: I'm imagining all of these as sorceries, to be clear.
Why would blue get the unplayable one? Just curious.
Dragon Teacher's Glare XUU
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X.
If X is paid, draw X cards instead. Learn some respect
"Do I let my best spell get countered, or do I let them draw X cards?" is an interesting decision. Could be cool in Standard and Commander, also for U Tron decks. Granted, with XUU, it is harder for mono U Tron to pull this off.
It also gets rid of one weakness of Counter unless X is paid spells - it is rarely good news if your opponent can afford the cost. One exception is Mindswipe, which deals damage regardless.
A more fun version would be "if you control a Dragon or reveal one from your hand, also draw X cards."
I hope its not a cycle. This set is infested with them, and it limits design space.
But certainly they also cause inspiration since you have to design a card to do something like 'card advantage' within the colour pie.
As for speculation, here's my throw in assuming we won't get a straight card draw.
XUU
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 3.
Draw x cards
Lol, mana leak + sphinx's revelation in one card. Are you on something?
Sphinx's rev? Show me the life gain.
Also, it's a card draw spell that A) can't counter anything meaningful when the opponent has the mana and B) can only draw cards when they play a spell, making it a punishing top deck. Powerful? Sure, but doesn't scale as well as the whole *Counter unless they pay x, Draw x* people are making up
I hope its not a cycle. This set is infested with them, and it limits design space.
But certainly they also cause inspiration since you have to design a card to do something like 'card advantage' within the colour pie.
As for speculation, here's my throw in assuming we won't get a straight card draw.
XUU
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 3.
Draw x cards
Lol, mana leak + sphinx's revelation in one card. Are you on something?
Sphinx's rev? Show me the life gain.
Also, it's a card draw spell that A) can't counter anything meaningful when the opponent has the mana and B) can only draw cards when they play a spell, making it a punishing top deck. Powerful? Sure, but doesn't scale as well as the whole *Counter unless they pay x, Draw x* people are making up
The thing that makes it so strong is that you only need 1 'card slot' for the whole package deal. Control would get stuck with draw spells early in the game, but this is a mana leak there, and when you draw it later, just draw some cards. Oh, and people play spells all the time, so its not really a drawback late game. The only way opponents can play around it is to, well, not do anything, which is exactly what control wants. Not to mention how OP it is when you get to cast it turn 4, counter their bomb and draw 2. That's a 3 for 1 with additional tempo gain in there. This spell is out of the universe.
No different to the counter unless they pay x and draw x though.
While I like design speculation, I personally doubt that this is a full cycle. Commune with Lava has more Atarka flavor than Kolaghan which would mean Kolaghan doesn't get any part of the prospective cycle. It's like how there was one Guild in RTR that didn't get an X spell or how there was no rare or mythic creature with protection from black in Theros.
There was originally a full "Protection from X" cycle in Theros.
We already know about Master of Waves' protection from red, Mistcutter Hydra's protection from blue, and Stormbreath Dragon's protection from white, but Agent of the Fates originally had protection from green and Fabled Hero had protection from black. R&D thought this made the two cards too powerful (which I could especially see with Fabled Hero), and cut the abilities.
How about:
UUX: Return X non-land permanents with converted mana cost X or less to their owners' hands.
GGX: Search your library for up to X basic lands and put them into play tapped.
WWX: Gain X life and put X 0/2 defenders into play.
Edit: I'm imagining all of these as sorceries, to be clear.
Why would blue get the unplayable one? Just curious.
Change of pace? Seriously though, it would already be a house in limited. As for constructed, I guess you could make it an instant so that it slots into tempo decks. Beyond that I'm not sure how you make "bounce x permanents" that's both constructed playable and not busted.
Well, you know, if you can't make it playable, don't make it.
Well, you know, if you can't make it playable, don't make it.
Worst design philosophy ever. There's a lot more to card design than making cards "playable". I suggest you read some articles on DailyMTG, they're quite enlightening.
There was originally a full "Protection from X" cycle in Theros.
We already know about Master of Waves' protection from red, Mistcutter Hydra's protection from blue, and Stormbreath Dragon's protection from white, but Agent of the Fates originally had protection from green and Fabled Hero had protection from black. R&D thought this made the two cards too powerful (which I could especially see with Fabled Hero), and cut the abilities.
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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I wonder what they would do.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
XUU
Counter target spell unless the controller of that spell pays X
Do X something
I feel that X spells would be great in Tiny Leaders or any similar format. Tiny Leaders lack that big game breaking spell and X spells could be a means to go around that
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
Red (known): Exile X, can cast until end of next turn.
Black (known): Draw X, lose X life.
Blue (unkown): Counter unless they pay X, draw X cards.
Green (unknown): Reveal the top X cards of your library, put all permanents with cmc X or less into your hand.
White (unkown): Draw X cards where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less? (a la mentor of the meek)
This one's the toughest. There just aren't many ways for white to draw cards and most of those are [effect], draw a card.
The green one could be 'reveal the top X cards of your library, put a land spell revealed this way onto the battlefield and a creature spell revealed this way into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order'.
The white one could be, 'reveal the top X cards of your library, put all white creatures of converted mana cost 2 or less onto the battlefield, then the rest on the bottom of your library in any order'.
I really like your idea for green.
I imagine white could be "Prevent the next X damage dealt to you and sources you control this turn. At EoT, draw a card for each damage prevented this way."
I could see blue getting vanilla card draw, but blue does have access to Rebound right now... maybe "XXUU: Draw X cards, Rebound." to take advantage of it?
Um, rebound on that spell is useless, since you know, we draw none on rebound...
I just want xuu - instant - draw x cards. After all, if red can get instant card advantage...
I might be mistaken but when an X spell rebounds the X is equal to 0? Yeah it could just be a generic 'draw X cards' but that seems boooring.
Green one seems very plausible given some of the colour's recent card advantage engines. It could be an X spell regrowth (probably with the same 'cost less than X' limitation). I think they're going to have to do something other than card advantage; even if you link it to a white mechanic, it just doesn't work too well for white. And blue would just be strictly better than the black one as card draw.
I think red gets a 'draw' effect because it's something different from an X damage spell and they aren't likely to top Crater's Claws in the same block - plus they seem to be pushing this as a way of making red a deeper colour by giving it some kind of card advantage.
I don't know how you can compare the steaming pile of dung that is fascination to having an instant speed that draws only you the cards. I don't see how red can get a great draw spell and blue can't...
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.
Oh, duh
Still, I'd like to see something with a little more creativity than pay X, draw X, and there has to be some kind of downside or it's strictly better than the suggested spells in the other colors.
You seem to be downplaying Damnable Pact's ability to act as a Fireball if you don't want to draw.
Why would blue get the unplayable one? Just curious.
But certainly they also cause inspiration since you have to design a card to do something like 'card advantage' within the colour pie.
As for speculation, here's my throw in assuming we won't get a straight card draw.
XUU
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 3.
Draw x cards
xWW
Put x 1/1 white creature soldier tokens into play
xGG
Search your library for up to x basic lands and put them into play tapped.
Dragon Teacher's Glare XUU
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X.
If X is paid, draw X cards instead.
Learn some respect
"Do I let my best spell get countered, or do I let them draw X cards?" is an interesting decision. Could be cool in Standard and Commander, also for U Tron decks. Granted, with XUU, it is harder for mono U Tron to pull this off.
It also gets rid of one weakness of Counter unless X is paid spells - it is rarely good news if your opponent can afford the cost. One exception is Mindswipe, which deals damage regardless.
A more fun version would be "if you control a Dragon or reveal one from your hand, also draw X cards."
Sphinx's rev? Show me the life gain.
Also, it's a card draw spell that A) can't counter anything meaningful when the opponent has the mana and B) can only draw cards when they play a spell, making it a punishing top deck. Powerful? Sure, but doesn't scale as well as the whole *Counter unless they pay x, Draw x* people are making up
No different to the counter unless they pay x and draw x though.
There was originally a full "Protection from X" cycle in Theros.
We already know about Master of Waves' protection from red, Mistcutter Hydra's protection from blue, and Stormbreath Dragon's protection from white, but Agent of the Fates originally had protection from green and Fabled Hero had protection from black. R&D thought this made the two cards too powerful (which I could especially see with Fabled Hero), and cut the abilities.
Well, you know, if you can't make it playable, don't make it.
Worst design philosophy ever. There's a lot more to card design than making cards "playable". I suggest you read some articles on DailyMTG, they're quite enlightening.
Actually, design never intended for there to be a protection cycle, but apparently Development did at one point and nearly modified Fabled Hero and Agent of the Fates to have the complimentary protection abilities. Personally I would have given protection from green to some kind of black-aligned hunter like Big Game Hunter from Time Spiral, while protection from black should go to some kind of white-aligned cleric.
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.