Red has also always been able to recur instants and sorceries, an ability it shares with blue.
Other than cards that recur themselves (which happens in all colors), the only old-border red cards that recurs an instant or sorcery (or gives an instant or sorcery flashback) are Anarchist and Recoup, both of which are sorcery-only.
Anarchist is paired with Scrivener, of course, and that pattern (red = sorcery, blue = instant) is repeated with Burning Wish and Cunning Wish, as well.
As for why Snapcaster isn't a red card, I suspect a large part of the reason is because Tiago Chan wanted it to be blue. Tiago's initial submission was:
Denying Channel
Land t: Add 1 to your mana pool. 2UU, Discard Denying Channel: Counter target spell.
It happened back in 2003, when 8th edition was released. WotC decided to more evenly distribute mechanics and keywords (because Blue and Black had too many, while White, Red and Green were (relatively) starved.
Denying Channel
Land t: Add 1 to your mana pool. 2UU, Discard Denying Channel:
Counter target spell.
I'm still sour over this. I would so love to run this in Legacy RUG Lands. But we can't have good utility lands or counter spells; only OP aggro/control creatures.
Free counter spells can break games, and lands that are also spells need to be balanced very carefully. I'm not surprised Denying Channel wasn't printed.
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Free counter spells can break games, and lands that are also spells need to be balanced very carefully. I'm not surprised Denying Channel wasn't printed.
It's not supposed to be free. The part before the comma is blank in order to leave a variable cost for design to figure out. An uncounterable counterspell that also functions as a land would almost certainly be costed along the lines of 2UU
To be fair, red also has the smallest color pie of any color, while black has the second largest slice after white. White, black, and green are more defined by what they can't do that what they can (white has poor card draw, black has trouble with noncreature permanents, and green's creature removal options require its own creatures or are hate-based), and blue gets a lot of unique mechanics that the other colors don't have in large quantities. Red has more restrictions than other colors (only has spot removal for artifacts, can't hit enchantments, can't interact with the hand, can't draw cards without discarding), and it has few truly unique mechanics (green is encroaching on damage-based removal and is the trample color, and white does first and double strike better). That leaves it with...haste? Green's haste, at least, is fairly limited in scope. Frankly, red deserves to cannibalize some of black's mechanics that have fallen out of favor.
Free counter spells can break games, and lands that are also spells need to be balanced very carefully. I'm not surprised Denying Channel wasn't printed.
It's not supposed to be free. The part before the comma is blank in order to leave a variable cost for design to figure out. An uncounterable counterspell that also functions as a land would almost certainly be costed along the lines of 2UU
I am pretty sure the oringal was that, not a discard but a sacrfise. so you sac the land +4 mana to counter a spell. Still playable but not as crazy as force of will on steoids.
Why did Yawgmoth's Will become Past in Flames? (And why isn't Snapcaster Mage 1R, for that matter?)
Has Maro or anyone ever talk about this?
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
Red has also always been able to recur instants and sorceries, an ability it shares with blue.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Anarchist is paired with Scrivener, of course, and that pattern (red = sorcery, blue = instant) is repeated with Burning Wish and Cunning Wish, as well.
As for why Snapcaster isn't a red card, I suspect a large part of the reason is because Tiago Chan wanted it to be blue. Tiago's initial submission was:
Land
t: Add 1 to your mana pool.
2UU, Discard Denying Channel: Counter target spell.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/land-destruction-weak-2002-04-05
Now red is lacking both LD and rituals.
I'm still sour over this. I would so love to run this in Legacy RUG Lands. But we can't have good utility lands or counter spells; only OP aggro/control creatures.
https://fieldmarshalshandbook.wordpress.com/
RUGLegacy Lands.dec
RUGBLegacy Lands.dec
RGLegacy Lands.dec
WUBRG EDH Lands.dec
UBR EDH Artificer Prodigy
B EDH Relentless Rats
Art is life itself.
It's not supposed to be free. The part before the comma is blank in order to leave a variable cost for design to figure out. An uncounterable counterspell that also functions as a land would almost certainly be costed along the lines of 2UU
I am pretty sure the oringal was that, not a discard but a sacrfise. so you sac the land +4 mana to counter a spell. Still playable but not as crazy as force of will on steoids.