My current running theory is that each deck will focus on something that each four color combination shares an interest in, but one that the fifth color doesn't.
The largest example is WUBR; each of these colors gets along with artifacts in some way, while green has a long history of hating on them (Mirrodin in particular cemented this hatred).
But what do the other color combinations share, that their exiled color does not?
White lacks: Nothing in particular, I guess? A lack of interaction with instants and sorceries? Even black has Sins of the Past and green can recur any card. Maybe card draw?
Blue lacks: Destruction. Blue can't kill stuff outright.
Black lacks: Probably even less than white does. Pump? Even black does that occasionally.
Well, that's very true. Unfortunately four-color design is the absolute boogeyman of designers pro and amateur - there's no great way to approach it. The options seem to be:
Design around what's missing
Design by flavor and elegance and end up with something that feels three- or even two-color, the Nephilim problem
Include something unique to every color and end up with a Chinese menu mess
Yeah, there doesn't seem to be an elegant solution. I'd probably prefer the Chinese Menu option, if I had to choose. I have a soft spot for "Kitchen Sink" cards like Akroma.
My instinct is that the quad decks each focus on a different card type, plain and simple. You start with the easy and obvious choices, then deduce the rest. My picks:
WUBR Artifacts UBRG Spells BRGW Creatures RGWU Land GWUB Enchantments
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.
I like to imagine two color pairs teaming up. That way a pair can act like single color, so two pairs won't be too burdensome and remain slightly flavorful.
WURG Could simply have Doublestrike(WR) + Flash(UG), for instance.
White lacks strong card draw, with rare exceptions involving things like playing lots of cards white likes and turning them into cantrips, like enchantments or low cost creatures.
Blue tends to lack direct destruction of permanents without giving back something in return (flavor wise transforming it), tending to bounce permanents instead, and favoring counterspells over dealing with things already on the board in many cases. It also tends to have some of the weakest creatures outside of ones with weird drawbacks or hoops to go through at lower cmc.
Black lacks direct ability to deal with non-creature enchantments and artifacts on the board. It also tends to have to pay costs other than mana (inclding sacrificing creatures or paying life) to get many effects it otherwise 'borrows' from other colors, when it gets them at all.
Red lacks direct ability to deal with non-creature non-artifact enchantments. It also rarely has ability to efficiently deal with high toughness creatures. Additionally, red's card advantage tends to be relatively weak, temporary, random, or requiring sacrifices of card advantage beforehand, it's not quite as bad as white at it, but it isn't as good as green, blue or black.
Green lacks most forms of direct ability to destroy creature permanents without drawbacks or something like a base creature to provide the source of damage or whatnot. It also tends towards reach and flying hate over flight of it's own.
I think you are focusing on the wrong aspect of the four color decks. Instead of focusing on what the missing color lacks, you should focus on what the four colors have in common.
For example, I posit the notion that the non-red deck will contain a large number of creatures with Exalted. Even if it is not the main focus of the deck, it will be a subtheme.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
My instinct is that the quad decks each focus on a different card type, plain and simple. You start with the easy and obvious choices, then deduce the rest. My picks:
WUBR Artifacts UBRG Spells BRGW Creatures RGWU Land GWUB Enchantments
Personally, I can see something like this but, consider this: two effects that complement each other. One effect would fit in the ally colors in the middle and the other one would fit the enemy colors on the outside. Ally-ally and enemy-enemy wouldn't look as nice.
Well, that's very true. Unfortunately four-color design is the absolute boogeyman of designers pro and amateur - there's no great way to approach it. The options seem to be:
Design around what's missing
Design by flavor and elegance and end up with something that feels three- or even two-color, the Nephilim problem
Include something unique to every color and end up with a Chinese menu mess
None of those are great.
Which is why the demand for 4-color was baffling outside of people wanting them..just to have them. You're better off just going 5 color at that point honestly. 4-color just has no identity, they are defined by the color that they lack and it's just really inelegant and messy and a waste.
Still irks me they went for this instead of ally colors to go along with the enemy sets from last year.
I think the whole "It's basically a five-color commander" argument is valid, but I think that's also the allure. Five-color commanders are fun and relatively popular, but there aren't all that many to choose from. I mean, Child of Alara and Slivers are both fun, and there are so many different ways to customize them.
Like other people have already mentioned, I'm tempted to think that we'll get two-sided Commanders (or Generals) that transform from one color pair to another.
My other theory (and I'm more than prepared to be wrong on this) is that this might actually end up being a more tribal-based Commander Set.
Completely as a knee-jerk thought experiment, I could see something like Knights as the "Red-less" set, along the lines of Rafiq of the Many, or Elementals as the "Black-less" set, along the lines of Maelstrom Wanderer. Dragons, Wizards, and Warriors could also easily fall into a four-color menagerie.
All that to say, I'm glad Wizards is trying for something this ambitious. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, it's going to be tons of fun for the format, and definitely get people back to their binders to try some new things.
I think the whole "It's basically a five-color commander" argument is valid, but I think that's also the allure. Five-color commanders are fun and relatively popular, but there aren't all that many to choose from. I mean, Child of Alara and Slivers are both fun, and there are so many different ways to customize them.
Like other people have already mentioned, I'm tempted to think that we'll get two-sided Commanders (or Generals) that transform from one color pair to another.
My other theory (and I'm more than prepared to be wrong on this) is that this might actually end up being a more tribal-based Commander Set.
Completely as a knee-jerk thought experiment, I could see something like Knights as the "Red-less" set, along the lines of Rafiq of the Many, or Elementals as the "Black-less" set, along the lines of Maelstrom Wanderer. Dragons, Wizards, and Warriors could also easily fall into a four-color menagerie.
All that to say, I'm glad Wizards is trying for something this ambitious. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, it's going to be tons of fun for the format, and definitely get people back to their binders to try some new things.
I agree 100%
At the end of the day they'll make an attempt as to what most people agree is one of the most challenging design spaces in magic; and even if they end up bending the color pie or turning out a little wonky, it's still a solid attempt and I'm excited to see how they do it.
My instinct is that the quad decks each focus on a different card type, plain and simple. You start with the easy and obvious choices, then deduce the rest. My picks:
WUBR Artifacts UBRG Spells BRGW Creatures RGWU Land GWUB Enchantments
Personally, I can see something like this but, consider this: two effects that complement each other. One effect would fit in the ally colors in the middle and the other one would fit the enemy colors on the outside. Ally-ally and enemy-enemy wouldn't look as nice.
I've been thinking about this and have hit upon another option: Instead of each deck focusing on just one card type, what if the decks focus on the interaction between two different card types as determined by the color pairs? Like one deck that focuses on artifacts interacting with instants and sorceries, leading to reprints such as Isochron Scepter and Dynavolt Tower, while another is creatures and lands, featuring creatures with landfall and creaturelands?
This could tie in to the Co-commanders concept I've suggested before, but honestly I'd prefer the Co-commanders have abilities simple enough to play in a wide variety of decks, since their main purpose would be getting to play any three or four-color combination.
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.
White: Honestly can't think of anything Its kind of a jack of all trades colour. It does a lot poorly such as drawing cards but its not completely absent. If anything I would say it lacks a niesh strategy.
The largest example is WUBR; each of these colors gets along with artifacts in some way, while green has a long history of hating on them (Mirrodin in particular cemented this hatred).
But what do the other color combinations share, that their exiled color does not?
Blue lacks: Destruction. Blue can't kill stuff outright.
Black lacks: Probably even less than white does. Pump? Even black does that occasionally.
Red lacks: Interaction with enchantments?
Green lacks: This could also be flying, fwiw.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Black lacks direct artifact/enchantment removal.
Every other color does not have enchantment removal; it's also missing from red. Also, artifact removal alone would not an interesting commander make.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Artifact removal would indeed make a boring commander. MaRo himself admitted that "designing around whats missing" doesn't lead to the most exciting cards.
Well, that's very true. Unfortunately four-color design is the absolute boogeyman of designers pro and amateur - there's no great way to approach it. The options seem to be:
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
WUBR Artifacts
UBRG Spells
BRGW Creatures
RGWU Land
GWUB Enchantments
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.
WURG Could simply have Doublestrike(WR) + Flash(UG), for instance.
4-color Commander 2UB 3/3
UR: Draw a card and discard a card.
BW: Each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
These are obviously very unexciting abilities, but I think you can see what concept I'm getting at.
One option I havn't seen discussed though, is hybrid mana. Feels a lot easier to design around.
Blue tends to lack direct destruction of permanents without giving back something in return (flavor wise transforming it), tending to bounce permanents instead, and favoring counterspells over dealing with things already on the board in many cases. It also tends to have some of the weakest creatures outside of ones with weird drawbacks or hoops to go through at lower cmc.
Black lacks direct ability to deal with non-creature enchantments and artifacts on the board. It also tends to have to pay costs other than mana (inclding sacrificing creatures or paying life) to get many effects it otherwise 'borrows' from other colors, when it gets them at all.
Red lacks direct ability to deal with non-creature non-artifact enchantments. It also rarely has ability to efficiently deal with high toughness creatures. Additionally, red's card advantage tends to be relatively weak, temporary, random, or requiring sacrifices of card advantage beforehand, it's not quite as bad as white at it, but it isn't as good as green, blue or black.
Green lacks most forms of direct ability to destroy creature permanents without drawbacks or something like a base creature to provide the source of damage or whatnot. It also tends towards reach and flying hate over flight of it's own.
For example, I posit the notion that the non-red deck will contain a large number of creatures with Exalted. Even if it is not the main focus of the deck, it will be a subtheme.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Personally, I can see something like this but, consider this: two effects that complement each other. One effect would fit in the ally colors in the middle and the other one would fit the enemy colors on the outside. Ally-ally and enemy-enemy wouldn't look as nice.
Shards of awful never
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Which is why the demand for 4-color was baffling outside of people wanting them..just to have them. You're better off just going 5 color at that point honestly. 4-color just has no identity, they are defined by the color that they lack and it's just really inelegant and messy and a waste.
Still irks me they went for this instead of ally colors to go along with the enemy sets from last year.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Because ally has lot of choice compare to other choice and they can always put some in standard sets ?
I think the whole "It's basically a five-color commander" argument is valid, but I think that's also the allure. Five-color commanders are fun and relatively popular, but there aren't all that many to choose from. I mean, Child of Alara and Slivers are both fun, and there are so many different ways to customize them.
Like other people have already mentioned, I'm tempted to think that we'll get two-sided Commanders (or Generals) that transform from one color pair to another.
My other theory (and I'm more than prepared to be wrong on this) is that this might actually end up being a more tribal-based Commander Set.
Completely as a knee-jerk thought experiment, I could see something like Knights as the "Red-less" set, along the lines of Rafiq of the Many, or Elementals as the "Black-less" set, along the lines of Maelstrom Wanderer. Dragons, Wizards, and Warriors could also easily fall into a four-color menagerie.
All that to say, I'm glad Wizards is trying for something this ambitious. Even if it doesn't work out perfectly, it's going to be tons of fun for the format, and definitely get people back to their binders to try some new things.
I agree 100%
At the end of the day they'll make an attempt as to what most people agree is one of the most challenging design spaces in magic; and even if they end up bending the color pie or turning out a little wonky, it's still a solid attempt and I'm excited to see how they do it.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
I've been thinking about this and have hit upon another option: Instead of each deck focusing on just one card type, what if the decks focus on the interaction between two different card types as determined by the color pairs? Like one deck that focuses on artifacts interacting with instants and sorceries, leading to reprints such as Isochron Scepter and Dynavolt Tower, while another is creatures and lands, featuring creatures with landfall and creaturelands?
This could tie in to the Co-commanders concept I've suggested before, but honestly I'd prefer the Co-commanders have abilities simple enough to play in a wide variety of decks, since their main purpose would be getting to play any three or four-color combination.
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.
Red: Unconditional Card Draw,
White: Honestly can't think of anything Its kind of a jack of all trades colour. It does a lot poorly such as drawing cards but its not completely absent. If anything I would say it lacks a niesh strategy.
Black: artifact removal
green: unconditional creature removal
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)