...I just arrived home from dinner with the family and checked my answer phone messages, one from work about the early start on Monday, one about my overdue Amex bill and lastly a mysterious sounding Dutch woman (Sexy too) who had some rather interesting information about a certain upcoming MTG release!!!
She spoke softly, but quickly and told me the following:
"Hydrokinesis: I know that you have been wondering about where those easter eggs came from, and especially that note... I hope that this will let you know that we are serious, and that your efforts to uncover the truth has not been un-noticed:
Absorb: 1 "If a source would deal damage to a Sliver creature, prevent 1 of that damage."
Reach: 'This creature may block creatures with Flying'
and finally:
Deathtouch: "Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature, destroy that creature"
She then faded out saying that she was being watched closely, and would be in contact again when it was safe to do so...
My wife is quite confused by the whole thing... ;) But I knew where the message came from, needless to say my rumor-mongering evening has just begun...The truth is out there, and it will find you.
Quite an interesting find, brother Hydro. I would change locks and sign up for a witness protection program though...
Most of this is plain keywording, right? not really new abilities.
My personal appreciation (from 1 to 10, being 10 best)
Absorb: 7
Reach: 1
Deathtouch: 6
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Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
Absorb: Is this only for Slivers, or was that just an example? Either way, I don't really think this needs to be keyworded. Possibly from the red herring category?
Reach: Has been a long time coming, and I'm relieved Web isn't the keyword for the ability (that didn't make sense with the majority of creatures that had the ability). Thumbs up.
Deathtouch: Fine with this, but again, I don't really think it needs to be keyworded. Also, is this plain damage or combat damage that triggers it? IIRC, both kinds of abilities have been around, and what are they gonna do with them? Same keyword, different reminder text? Or could it be an ability word?
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Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Ok, reach and deathtouch are terrible names for those LONG NEEDED TO BE KEYWORDED abilities.
And I assumed they would pull crap like this when I read they would keyword existing abilities.
In the Shandalar game, that are called 'Web' and 'Stoning'.
Of course, the wording of 'deathtouch' is different than the usual Basilisk.
Why was the web ability reworded?
'block as though it had flying' to 'may block creatures with flying'?
Oh well, news be news.
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I don't like this. Are they trying to keyword everything? Sounds pretty lame to me. Really, I mean, that's just too much. I hope these are just for timeshifts and aren't going to stay for long.
I am assuming that absorb is specifically referring to slivers because it is on a card that says "All slivers have absorb 1 (If a source would deal damage to a Sliver creature, prevent 1 of that damage.)"
Do we have a cycle of slivers with future shifted keyword abilities: Poisonous 1, Absorb 1, Slivercycling 3, etc...
So... What's the difference between absorb and just giving a creature another point of toughness? =\
Absorb 1 prevents 1 damage each time a source would deal damage. For the simplest situation, if a creature were to only take damage from one source in a given turn, then it would be pretty close to just +0/+1. However, consider what happens if you activate a card like Crypt Rats two or more times with X=1 in each activation: you could deal as much damage as you have black mana to each creature without absorb 1.
I don't like this. Are they trying to keyword everything? Sounds pretty lame to me. Really, I mean, that's just too much. I hope these are just for timeshifts and aren't going to stay for long.
The information we had was that there are no new keywords on non-timeshifted cards.
So I am guessing with the keywords for existing abilities, it is a
'Lets see if people like this as a keyword or not by showing them what we can do IF it was a keyword' deal.
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So... What's the difference between absorb and just giving a creature another point of toughness? =\
An extra .../+ puts some out of reach of -/- cards and creature damage making the card overpowered accidentily.
But ya, nice keywords. SO apparently they are going to shorten alot of thier card rules text in favor of more flavor text and more abilities? Sounds okay thing to do, for later sets. Indeed it could just all be a red herring but, its a sound plan to do, imo.
[card=Dismal Failure]"Two magi could trade spells all day and never crown a victor.
The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you." —Venser[/card]
Urza's Armor for (creatures) all intensive purposes, is what is going on here. Not really something red looks forward to but agian that whole absorb thing could just flop and not happen.
[card=Dismal Failure]"Two magi could trade spells all day and never crown a victor.
The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you." —Venser[/card]
I guess giving Black removal more power... But why does absorb have to be a sliver creature? Absord would have been way cooler if it had just been a creature... "all white creatures have absord 2" would have been the sex vs red removal
It's not just Slivers, the reason the text is like that is because that is what card they got it off of (apparantly a card that gives slivers absorb 1)
I don't like any of these keywords to be honest. Reach's name is dumb (Web would be dumb as well, however) and Deathtouch is kind of boring. But really, neither of those abilities could be keyworded without restricting it to a certain type of creature (like if reach was web, only spiders could have it)
Absorb is a bit better than an extra toughness as it reduces the damage from each source if multiple sources are damaging the same thing (i.e. grapeshot, saproling gang-blocks, finishing something off, etc).
Reach is long overdue and very fitting. Any chance we will also see "Spirit Link" in this set?
Deathtouch I'm not entirely sold on for a couple of reasons:
A) There are about 5 versions of this ability floating around (When damaged, destroy at end of combat; when damaged, destroy; when blocking or blocked, destroy at end of combat; with and without regeneration and/or a non-wall clause). Unless they are planning on errataing old "deathtouch" creatures to conform to the mold they are choosing for deathtouch, it seems kind of counterintuitive to me.
B) The name. Most cases of "deathtouch" involve either venom or a basilisk stare (or venom, depending on how your interpret it). Also see Deathgazer. Why not make it "Deadly" or something along those lines. It's still a dumb name, but it fits the ability better.
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In the Shandalar game, that are called 'Web' and 'Stoning'.
I would have laughed harder than I think I had ever laughed if they actually keyworded it as "stoning" (come on, if I have to spell this out for ya, you aren't paying enough attention.)
Why does WotC feel like they need to keyword everything? Didn't MaRo say that he was disappointed that they keyworded "fear" when he talked about the "red-fear" stuff from PC?
I'm hoping (even though my hopes will go unfulfilled since Hydro's the one reporting this) that this is a load of bullcrap.
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Right now a Penumbra Spider can't block any creature with Dust Corona on it, regardless of whether the creature has flying or not. It's cause the way 'reach' works now is that when you would assign a 'reach' creature to block, the word Flying magically appears in its text box for the duration of the time you choose blockers.
Yes, it does.
A creature with actual 'Reach' won't have such limitations. Believe me, I *know* this crap. When Madness was reintroduced during TS spoiler season I was the first to point out that you couldn't do the old 'play land in between' and other shenanigans with the new madness wording.
...and Absorb better not appear on any red slivers. I'm sick and tired of losing to Pyrohemia, much less a creature that will enable it the entire freaking game. x_X
Urza's Armor for (creatures) all intensive purposes, is what is going on here. Not really something red looks forward to but agian that whole absorb thing could just flop and not happen.
I think Lashknife Barrier would be a better example card of Absorb... which makes me wonder, would Lashknife Barrier now read "Creatures you control gain absorb 1"?
As for the other two abilities, Reach makes sense and it may even change the functionality of the web ability (though that is a very gray area of rules, so I'm not sure)
Deathtouch... yeah I think the name could have been better, but it's not too bad.
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Now it seems that creatures with "Reach" can't block creatures that "can't be blocked by creatures with flying".
Or was it always that way?
Other way around. Right now, Giant Spider can't block Stone Spirit, but a potential spider with Reach would be able to block it. (Assuming the wording is correct in the first post).
Retroactively giving this to Giant Spider would be a functional change. Red herring? Fairly big rules change coming? Curious...
Quote from nickolai »
It's cause the way 'reach' works now is that when you would assign a 'reach' creature to block, the word Flying magically appears in its text box for the duration of the time you choose blockers.
Yes, it does.
According to this, it doesn't. If you know of something that says otherwise, I'd very much love to see it. (And for the record, I maintain that, given those rulings on "as though," Flash needs to be reworded in order for Aluren to work. Here's hoping they've made things work consistently in "the future.")
"Can block as though it had flying" is almost always associated with Spiders...
Actually, it isn't. I've made a list of cards that have or grant the ability, (this is a kind of pet peeve for me, so I keep tabs), and 26 cards would make sense if 'web' was the keyword, and 24 wouldn't (most of them are archery-related, which has nothing whatsoever to do with webs). Why would you keyword an ability if almost half the cards will look weird with it?
All these cards make sense with 'reach', however, and that's why I think it's the best solution to the flavor mess this ability has created.
...and Reach doesn't make much sense for it.
Well, think about it. If a Spider can block creatures with flying (or as though it had flying), it is because it can reach them. A web is simply a means to that end.
On an aside, though, I think it could be even better if they made the connection with flying more apparent. Make it something like 'skyreach', perhaps...?
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Sweet keywords that do a good job updating some of the more common mechanics. As of this moment, though, I'm interested to see what they'll do with Absorb. Preferably something that makes it more different to just increasing the creature's toughness by one (I know there are differences, but in a lot of situations they aren't evident).
She spoke softly, but quickly and told me the following:
"Hydrokinesis: I know that you have been wondering about where those easter eggs came from, and especially that note... I hope that this will let you know that we are serious, and that your efforts to uncover the truth has not been un-noticed:
Absorb: 1
"If a source would deal damage to a Sliver creature, prevent 1 of that damage."
Reach:
'This creature may block creatures with Flying'
and finally:
Deathtouch:
"Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature, destroy that creature"
She then faded out saying that she was being watched closely, and would be in contact again when it was safe to do so...
My wife is quite confused by the whole thing... ;) But I knew where the message came from, needless to say my rumor-mongering evening has just begun...The truth is out there, and it will find you.
Thanks to Ye Olde Sig and Avatar Shoppe and specially a_passer_bye for the cool avy!
and thanks also to R&Doom for the awsome Sig
Don't you miss this guy's comics! he's great! http://www.ugmadness.net/
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Most of this is plain keywording, right? not really new abilities.
My personal appreciation (from 1 to 10, being 10 best)
Absorb: 7
Reach: 1
Deathtouch: 6
"When you show up to the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease, you'll be asked to choose a faction: Mirran, Phyrexian, or Jaded A-Hole" Aaron Forsythe, on Twitter
Everything changes, nothing remains without a change - Buddha
Magic Rules Advisor
Specifically, "Sliver creature" is how it's worded, right?
Could this mean that there will be other types of permanents with the subtype Sliver?
Possibly.
Reach: Has been a long time coming, and I'm relieved Web isn't the keyword for the ability (that didn't make sense with the majority of creatures that had the ability). Thumbs up.
Deathtouch: Fine with this, but again, I don't really think it needs to be keyworded. Also, is this plain damage or combat damage that triggers it? IIRC, both kinds of abilities have been around, and what are they gonna do with them? Same keyword, different reminder text? Or could it be an ability word?
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
And I assumed they would pull crap like this when I read they would keyword existing abilities.
In the Shandalar game, that are called 'Web' and 'Stoning'.
Of course, the wording of 'deathtouch' is different than the usual Basilisk.
Why was the web ability reworded?
'block as though it had flying' to 'may block creatures with flying'?
Oh well, news be news.
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Do we have a cycle of slivers with future shifted keyword abilities: Poisonous 1, Absorb 1, Slivercycling 3, etc...
Web would make sense, although they want it to be able to apply easily to cards like Selesnya Sagittars.
Have you read Venom? It has the basilisk ability triggering on blocking, which is a completely different mechanic than deathtouch.
Absorb 1 prevents 1 damage each time a source would deal damage. For the simplest situation, if a creature were to only take damage from one source in a given turn, then it would be pretty close to just +0/+1. However, consider what happens if you activate a card like Crypt Rats two or more times with X=1 in each activation: you could deal as much damage as you have black mana to each creature without absorb 1.
The information we had was that there are no new keywords on non-timeshifted cards.
So I am guessing with the keywords for existing abilities, it is a
'Lets see if people like this as a keyword or not by showing them what we can do IF it was a keyword' deal.
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An extra .../+ puts some out of reach of -/- cards and creature damage making the card overpowered accidentily.
But ya, nice keywords. SO apparently they are going to shorten alot of thier card rules text in favor of more flavor text and more abilities? Sounds okay thing to do, for later sets. Indeed it could just all be a red herring but, its a sound plan to do, imo.
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The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you."
—Venser[/card]
Now it seems that creatures with "Reach" can't block creatures that "can't be blocked by creatures with flying".
Or was it always that way?
:symr::symu: Reality Bites
:symr::symu: Delver Cyclops
:symr::symu: Niv Control EDH
:symg::symw: Sigarda EDH
The real battle is not one of power but of will.
If your confidence breaks, so too shall you."
—Venser[/card]
It's not just Slivers, the reason the text is like that is because that is what card they got it off of (apparantly a card that gives slivers absorb 1)
I don't like any of these keywords to be honest. Reach's name is dumb (Web would be dumb as well, however) and Deathtouch is kind of boring. But really, neither of those abilities could be keyworded without restricting it to a certain type of creature (like if reach was web, only spiders could have it)
Reach is long overdue and very fitting. Any chance we will also see "Spirit Link" in this set?
Deathtouch I'm not entirely sold on for a couple of reasons:
A) There are about 5 versions of this ability floating around (When damaged, destroy at end of combat; when damaged, destroy; when blocking or blocked, destroy at end of combat; with and without regeneration and/or a non-wall clause). Unless they are planning on errataing old "deathtouch" creatures to conform to the mold they are choosing for deathtouch, it seems kind of counterintuitive to me.
B) The name. Most cases of "deathtouch" involve either venom or a basilisk stare (or venom, depending on how your interpret it). Also see Deathgazer. Why not make it "Deadly" or something along those lines. It's still a dumb name, but it fits the ability better.
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I would have laughed harder than I think I had ever laughed if they actually keyworded it as "stoning" (come on, if I have to spell this out for ya, you aren't paying enough attention.)
Why does WotC feel like they need to keyword everything? Didn't MaRo say that he was disappointed that they keyworded "fear" when he talked about the "red-fear" stuff from PC?
I'm hoping (even though my hopes will go unfulfilled since Hydro's the one reporting this) that this is a load of bullcrap.
Many thanks to:
Sig: CharlieD at Limited Edition Signatures
Avvy: XenoNinja at HotP Studios
Right now a Penumbra Spider can't block any creature with Dust Corona on it, regardless of whether the creature has flying or not. It's cause the way 'reach' works now is that when you would assign a 'reach' creature to block, the word Flying magically appears in its text box for the duration of the time you choose blockers.
Yes, it does.
A creature with actual 'Reach' won't have such limitations. Believe me, I *know* this crap. When Madness was reintroduced during TS spoiler season I was the first to point out that you couldn't do the old 'play land in between' and other shenanigans with the new madness wording.
...and Absorb better not appear on any red slivers. I'm sick and tired of losing to Pyrohemia, much less a creature that will enable it the entire freaking game. x_X
I think Lashknife Barrier would be a better example card of Absorb... which makes me wonder, would Lashknife Barrier now read "Creatures you control gain absorb 1"?
As for the other two abilities, Reach makes sense and it may even change the functionality of the web ability (though that is a very gray area of rules, so I'm not sure)
Deathtouch... yeah I think the name could have been better, but it's not too bad.
Making contraptions, wishing I could make them twice as efficiently.
Other way around. Right now, Giant Spider can't block Stone Spirit, but a potential spider with Reach would be able to block it. (Assuming the wording is correct in the first post).
Retroactively giving this to Giant Spider would be a functional change. Red herring? Fairly big rules change coming? Curious...
According to this, it doesn't. If you know of something that says otherwise, I'd very much love to see it. (And for the record, I maintain that, given those rulings on "as though," Flash needs to be reworded in order for Aluren to work. Here's hoping they've made things work consistently in "the future.")
Actually, it isn't. I've made a list of cards that have or grant the ability, (this is a kind of pet peeve for me, so I keep tabs), and 26 cards would make sense if 'web' was the keyword, and 24 wouldn't (most of them are archery-related, which has nothing whatsoever to do with webs). Why would you keyword an ability if almost half the cards will look weird with it?
All these cards make sense with 'reach', however, and that's why I think it's the best solution to the flavor mess this ability has created.
Well, think about it. If a Spider can block creatures with flying (or as though it had flying), it is because it can reach them. A web is simply a means to that end.
On an aside, though, I think it could be even better if they made the connection with flying more apparent. Make it something like 'skyreach', perhaps...?
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
U Twinsanity
WUBRG Reaper King
UBG Dredge
UR Howling Owl
GBU Thief of Time