This is a bit off-topic, but the question of why certain cards are commons or uncommons tends to come up often.
Starting back in the Revised day, I always thought commons were supposed to be simpler in terms of design. While there were weird commons like Atog, you were more likely to find straight-forward commons like Grizzly Bears or Pearled Unicorn. And while there were curiously-simple rares like Roc of Kher Ridges, many rares interacted with other cards or zones, e.g. Gaea's Liege or Nether Shadow. So was that just my imagination, or an actual R&D design tenet?
And regardless, what are the most complex commons you know of? What's the Humility of pauper? What decks, whether fun or competitive, have come up to exploit complex interactions found in commons?
I can't really think of any that are too bad in terms of "WTF does this do?" But, the closest thing I've run into is Tortured Existence - You run this with Madness cards and people slow you down and look at the stack unlike any other card in pauper.
In 3 years of playing Pauper though the only time we've ever had a rules question was with TE and even that was easy to resolve.
I've had trouble with newer players with certain commons, but this is mostly due to very specific mechanics not being intuitive to new players. For example, Knight of Sursi is a common with three key words, one of which takes the entire card to explain, and also contains a fourth keyword in its reminder text. I consider this a very complex card.
Other than that, there have been quite a few complex cards printed in older sets. Mystic Remora strikes me as a particularly strange one. Granted, no card at common is quite as complex as something like Shahrazad or Dance of the Dead, but it still has cumulative upkeep and a conditional trigger for noncreatures.
Oh, and there are many commons that have old key words like Banding...
Essentially, what I'm saying is that commons can be complex because of keywords, not because of function. For experienced players, this makes it rather easy.
Good thing none of these cards are really mainstream in Pauper.
Heh, I've actually been looking at the TE archetype. I don't think it's been too popular in competitive circles but it seems like a really neat idea.
Last summer I saw it a lot more online than I do now, so I know it's a solid card to build a deck around. I've got two decks that use it and those are the two decks that cause those "Okay let's slow down a second and make sure that's all correct" moments. Muuchan is clearly the guy who gets results from this card: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/muuchan
I've tried about every color variation and they are all solid.
I always see people misplay Spellstutter Sprite. They read it as a "counters unless its controller pays mana equal to the number of fairies you control" instead of being based on cmc. I always find it funny that spellstutter causes more confusion than ninjitsu.
Could this be errata'd to "Destroy two target nonblack creatures that share all of their colors."? The way WoTC words cards is often confusing but makes sense after you think about it for a really, really long time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
UW Caw-Blade GW Bogles U Delver GBTolarian Community College's/Turn One Thoughtseize's $2 Dredge UR Drake RUG Murasa Tron
UWR Twin GW Bogles B 8-Rack (budget) UWR Delver/Geist UW Gifts Tron UR Bedlam Delver WRG Burn UBR Death's Shadow
UR Artifacts (~M15) UW Heroic (~Theros) WBR Warriors (~KTK) R Aggro (~Origins) RUG Wombo-Combo Energy (~Kaladesh)
I like "shared color profile" because it works for two colorless creatures (in my mind at least). Not sure what sharing colors means when there aren't any colors to share. Anyway, a keyword allows for verbose, off-card rules text that explains it better, but you're unlikely to need such a keyword I guess due to how rare this sort of thing is. /shrug
Starting back in the Revised day, I always thought commons were supposed to be simpler in terms of design. While there were weird commons like Atog, you were more likely to find straight-forward commons like Grizzly Bears or Pearled Unicorn. And while there were curiously-simple rares like Roc of Kher Ridges, many rares interacted with other cards or zones, e.g. Gaea's Liege or Nether Shadow. So was that just my imagination, or an actual R&D design tenet?
And regardless, what are the most complex commons you know of? What's the Humility of pauper? What decks, whether fun or competitive, have come up to exploit complex interactions found in commons?
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
In 3 years of playing Pauper though the only time we've ever had a rules question was with TE and even that was easy to resolve.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
Other than that, there have been quite a few complex cards printed in older sets. Mystic Remora strikes me as a particularly strange one. Granted, no card at common is quite as complex as something like Shahrazad or Dance of the Dead, but it still has cumulative upkeep and a conditional trigger for noncreatures.
Oh, and there are many commons that have old key words like Banding...
Essentially, what I'm saying is that commons can be complex because of keywords, not because of function. For experienced players, this makes it rather easy.
Good thing none of these cards are really mainstream in Pauper.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
I've tried about every color variation and they are all solid.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
UW Caw-Blade
GW Bogles
U Delver
GBTolarian Community College's/Turn One Thoughtseize's $2 Dredge
UR DrakeRUG Murasa Tron
UWR TwinGW BoglesB 8-Rack (budget)UWR Delver/GeistUW Gifts TronUR Bedlam DelverWRG Burn
UBR Death's Shadow
UR Artifacts(~M15)UW Heroic(~Theros)WBR Warriors(~KTK)R Aggro(~Origins)RUG Wombo-Combo Energy (~Kaladesh)
My (upgradable) $150 Modern budget UR Delver (possibly outdated): http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/budget-modern/738332-ur-bedlam-delver
My Pauper Cube: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/69019
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.