A while ago, I had a discussion about reusing old mechanics without actually mentioning the mechanic. It was in regards to this card:
Preacher of Orthodoxy2GWB
Creature - Human Cleric (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target creature token you control.
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
2/4
Supposed to be a Selesnya/Orzhov dual guild card, it uses a mechanic from each of the guilds. Since there isn't any Populate in the set, the card can't just say "At the beginning of your upkeep, populate." My argument was that it isn't exactly Populate because the ability targets, while Populate does not.
Now, Wizards are printing an ability on the new Jace that, save its more favorable interaction with Remand, could be described as identical to Snapcaster Mage's ability:
"-3: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead."
I'd like to hear what other people think about this. Should this even be a consideration and if so, how similar can a new mechanic be before you have to actually use the old mechanic?
For starter it feels like cheating. If you want to use a non-evergreen mechanic, you either figure out a new take in a similar design space, or you reuse the mechanic. Using the mechanic while pretending you don't is just intellectually dishonest (and if R&D did that, players would be all over asking "why does this card have mechanic X without calling it mechanic X?"). At least when R&D does it, they do it only with evergreen mechanic (the only example I can think of is stuff like fake flying in green with Spire Tracer or Orchard Spirit).
If there's a need for a card to use a mechanic in an environment that doesn't explicitly use the mechanic, then the mechanic can certainly be used on the one or two cards that need that mechanic. In doing so, the mechanic should be spelled out, both to avoid emphasizing that the mechanic is a major theme of the environment, and to avoid alienating players who wouldn't be fond of the mechanic if it weren't written out.
A good example of this would be with +![landfall]]landfall. Though the cards featured in the link have the same trigger condition, they don't feature landfall because caring about lands isn't part of the list of themes of the sets that those cards are featured in.
With faction-based environments specifically, if you want to implicitly encourage specific mechanics without stating them outright, spelling them out is a good way to go. This is especially the case if the factions in question receive new mechanics or are changed or manipulated in a way that's different from their original counterparts (merging of Ravnican guilds, for example).
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How to use card tags (please use them for everybody's sanity)
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format Minimum deck size: 60 Maximum number of identical cards: 4 Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
they do. not often, simply because the demand is not high. either most keywords are narrow, linear, parasitic. so those are out. or some that are more general, perhaps too general, that many variations can be created without duplication. this is probably what Circeus is arguing.
Preacher of Orthodoxy 2GWB
Creature - Human Cleric (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target creature token you control.
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
2/4
Supposed to be a Selesnya/Orzhov dual guild card, it uses a mechanic from each of the guilds. Since there isn't any Populate in the set, the card can't just say "At the beginning of your upkeep, populate." My argument was that it isn't exactly Populate because the ability targets, while Populate does not.
Now, Wizards are printing an ability on the new Jace that, save its more favorable interaction with Remand, could be described as identical to Snapcaster Mage's ability:
"-3: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead."
I'd like to hear what other people think about this. Should this even be a consideration and if so, how similar can a new mechanic be before you have to actually use the old mechanic?
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
A good example of this would be with +![landfall]]landfall. Though the cards featured in the link have the same trigger condition, they don't feature landfall because caring about lands isn't part of the list of themes of the sets that those cards are featured in.
With faction-based environments specifically, if you want to implicitly encourage specific mechanics without stating them outright, spelling them out is a good way to go. This is especially the case if the factions in question receive new mechanics or are changed or manipulated in a way that's different from their original counterparts (merging of Ravnican guilds, for example).
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format
Minimum deck size: 60
Maximum number of identical cards: 4
Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
........................
I do not quite understand. Can you clarifiy what you mean? My reason for this thread was that Wizards did do it with Jace.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!