So yeah, they brought back a lot of really old mechanics with a new paint job. I think we can all be assured that the developers for this game have basically plumbed every single angle they can without expanding more into messing with exile. Honestly, if they do more with the exile zone, it will probably turn the entire game into a circus.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
At first blush, the mechanics seem a bit lackluster, but if you think about how they interact with other ravnica mechanics (and not just in this block but previous ones) in the same color some are quite elegant.
Afterlife keeps creature on board for convoke, populate, evasivenes helps betalion, and mentor onto some 1/1 flyers seems good.
Adendum is a sort of call back to forcast, helps bolster the spells matter cards in blue with the inevitable instants and support creature decks with simic.
Adapt is a bit unfortunate that it doesn't really interact with previous simic mechanics but since it's instant speed it helps you keep up the adendum cards and other instants in blue
Riot can give counters so probably plays well with Adapt as there is probably going to be stuff to do with it, plus the haste helps batalion, mentor, the original gruul mechanic (bloodrush?), even spectacle (for the discounted type spectacle cards at least)
Spectacle also works well with the agressive style of boros and on the discounted spells could be good with Izzet spells mater cards and evasive dimir cards help trigger this mechanic.
I'm excited to see how it all plays out and how it can work well with the previous ravnica sets and interguild mechanics.
I think mechanically, Addendum would have been cooler and more original, if it was `splice onto your opponent's spells`. It would have been like adding an Addendum to your opponent's spells, would allow them to pass, etc. "Pass it, but with some stipulations." Very political.
Example:
Bureaucrat's Insight 2WU
Instant Uncommon
Draw 2 cards. Gain 2 life.
Addendum - 1UW, Reveal ~this~: Target non-creature spell an opponent controls that has
not been addended by ~this~, gains "Target opponent draws a card, and gains 1 life."
The intention is that you could target an opponent's spell with multiple copies of Bureaucrat's Insight, but only once for each one.
Another possible example:
Parole Officer 1UW
Creature - Human Soldier Rare
When ~this~ enters the battlefield, detain two target creatures an opponent controls.
Addendum - 3UW, Reveal ~this~: Target creature spell an opponent controls that has
not been addended by ~this~, enters the battlefield tapped, becomes detained as it enters
the battlefield, and does not untap during its owner's next untap step.
2/3
This would be an interesting interaction in that cards like Carnage Tyrant could be detained, to stall it temporarily.
So yeah, they brought back a lot of really old mechanics with a new paint job. I think we can all be assured that the developers for this game have basically plumbed every single angle they can without expanding more into messing with exile. Honestly, if they do more with the exile zone, it will probably turn the entire game into a circus.
I still think there is some design space. I just see it as them being lazy and afraid of complexity. They might as well bring back the decent older mechanics from Blocks of the past. If they would just improve the playability of some of the past mechanics I think people would appreciate playing them again. In other words lower the cmc or up the power on the cards with those mechanics.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
So, between Afterlife, Adapt, and Addendum, RNA is looking like a AAA set.
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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.
Addenum - Is just the return of a cycle of cards from Timespiral (Return to Dust/Careful Consideration), while one of the cards sees play in Infect and the other in EDH only, the 3 other cards are litterally garbage. Also no this isn't a cast trigger, if you counter the spell they get zip, nada, piss and all. Not a very strong mechanic, actually from the cards spoiled pretty weak.
We don't know what the rest of the ~8 cards will look like. But we already have the first instant speed Timetwister effect in the game. Even at 7 mana, that alone is worth a consideration, and does not a garbage card make. For a cycle with a tiny number of cards from Time Spiral, having two actually see play, one of which sees non-casual play, that's... actually quite good. Go look at the number of concepts in the game that have such cycles or can be made into an entire mechanic, and look at how many actually see play. 1-2 out of a mere handful total is very high a ratio.
Even with wicked mechanics like Infect, how many cards actually see play? There are a whopping fifty-eight cards that have infect, create a token creature with infect, or give a creature infect. A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
Riot - It's basically similar to unleash, you have to choose between one extra power/toughness or haste. A very boring mechanic that could have been improved if it was Unleash X. I would have loved to see a beast creature that came in as a cub with haste or a adult beast with counters.
It's boring, but effective, and fits Gruul very well. Do you want to hit them harder, or do you want to hit them faster? Simple, but fits to a t. Two bonuses to choose between rather than either nothing or one bonus with a penalty is more fun for people to play around with, and causes a similar kind of tension of choice. Either a bigger critter than can't block, or a smaller one that can? Hmmm. Either a bigger creature that has to wait to attack, or a smaller one that rushes the enemy right now? Hmmm.
Riot is perfectly fine and thematic an ability that fits Gruul better than Unleash would. After all, green and red both lean into haste, historically, with green having large creatures. While black and red both lean into creatures that can't block in exchange for being larger than normal for their cost/color, historically. With black being the other color with significant numbers of creatures incapable of blocking, Unleash fits Rakdos better than it would ever fit with Gruul.
Adapt - Monstrosity, it's just monstrosity without out the extra trigger or special state. So you can reuse it if there are no counters but it's still a bad mechanic. Walking Ballista is better than this mechanic, if they don't make a card similar to it or Hangarback walker than this mechanic has failed. I mean even Clockwork Dragon lets you keep putting counters on it and it's considered a bad card.
Again, this comparison to Monstrosity that asserts the Monstrosity mechanic is itself the triggers that go off with it. That's not the case, as is evidenced by the half-dozen creatures that gain exactly no benefit whatsoever for becoming monstrous, other than the keyword and the +1/+1 counters, one of which was, itself, a preview card for the mechanic back in Theros: Fleetfeather Cockatrice, Gluttonous Cyclops, Ill-Tempered Cyclops, Nemesis of Mortals, Nessian Asp (the preview card for Monstrosity), and Ravenous Leucrocota.
This is the entire Monstrosity mechanic:
Mana Cost: Monstrosity N. (If this creature isn't monstrous, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)
That is it. There is nothing else to the mechanic, itself.
Compare this to the Adapt mechanic:
Mana Cost: Adapt N. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.)
Some cards might use the monstrous keyword, or the trigger upon activating the Monstrosity ability for an additional effect, but those are not... the... Monstrosity... mechanic. Any more than the text on Zegana, Utopian Speaker that grants trample to creatures with +1/+1 counters on them is the Adapt mechanic.
But damn, that trample-enabling ability Zegana has sure does use the Adapt mechanic in a more versatile version of the way the monstrous keyword granted extra abilities. Many monstrous creatures gained nothing more than a keyword or two for becoming monstrous, like trample, menace, vigilance, etc. Zegana doesn't merely mimic that just as well, she does it far better. Because she also gains it when she gets a +1/+1 counter from anywhere else, no Monstrosity Adapt required.
Go through the Monstrosity creatures, and think of how they'd look if their abilities simply turned on when they have +1/+1 counters on them at all. If cards like Colossus of Akros, Fleecemane Lion, or Polis Crusher, instead said, "While ~ has any +1/+1 counters on it, it gains _____.", they'd look quite a bit stronger than they already are.
Additionally, the templating for triggered abilities could be equally versatile without shutting down the ability entirely. Nemesis of Mortals points the way to the formatting and the implications for this.
Mana Cost: If ~ has no +1/+1 counters on it, [ability to activate], then Adapt N. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.)
So, using an existing Monstrosity creature as an example, Arbor Colossus. How would that creature's monstrous trigger ability look in Adapt? I think it would look like this:
3GGG: If Simic Colossus has no +1/+1 counters on it, destroy target creature with flying an opponent controls, then Adapt 3. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put 3 +1/+1 counters on it.)
Thus, you can still get the same Monstrosity effect of Arbor Colossus in full while this version of Colossus has no +1/+1 counters on it. Only better, because if you remove those counters or move them elsewhere, you get to activate it again. Often easier than flickering or bouncing a creature to turn the monstrous keyword off for decks that feed off +1/+1 counters already.
Other creatures still point to another potential formatting of these abilities that could be far more versatile than Monstrosity ever had the hope of being. Look at Shipbreaker Kraken. That card puts exactly four counters on it with Monstrosity, then triggers exactly four blue tap-and-freeze effects. Looking once more at Zegana, Utopian Speaker, a Simic version of that kraken could easily, easily, easily be templated to have similar rules text below the Adapt that says, "Each time Simic Kraken gains a +1/+1 counter, you may tap target creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controllers' untap steps for as long as you control Simic Kraken."
Voila. Pay the Adapt cost that gives four counters while it has no counters, and you get the same effect as Shipbreaker Kraken. But, if you can throw counters on it in other ways--such as via grafting, or using Simic Ascendancy--you can get far more value, and start doing so much sooner.
Much like Zegana can be an 8/8 trampler if you Adapt her. Or, if you graft a counter onto her or otherwise toss a +1/+1 counter on her much more cheaply, she's "merely" a 5/5 trampler for four mana with no drawbacks, who might very well have cantripped when she came into play. A lot of value for that cost, no Adapt needed; the Adapt ends up being a bonus mode you may or may not use.
And if you can move counters around, or spend them for effects? Like Simic is wont to do anyhow, or if it gets a card akin to Sage of Fables? You could then turn Zegana's trample for herself on early, later spend those counters, then Adapt her for additional value.
But for real, Monstrosity was not, not, not all the riders that went with it. As the half dozen cards with exactly no other bonuses gained for being monstrous show. Rather, just like Zegana, many creatures with Monstrosity simply had abilities that turned on with or triggered off of what Monstrosity provided. Adapt, however, has more versatility in how this can be implemented, while still being able to mimic all those triggers Monstrosity itself had with ease. Adapt has, imho, far more potential design space that can be explored with the same basic mechanism.
Afterlife - This already exists from Innistrad in the form of Doomed Traveler and Mausoleum Guard. Everyone remembers the traveler cause it was good for its cost. Yet the others were unplayable even in limited, never saw anyone pick a Elgaud Inquisitor in a draft. Heck even this idea was taken from Legacy where their was a huge cycle of cards that crapped out insect tokens, Symbiotic Cycle.
I mean, 1/1 flying spirit tokens coming off creatures dying has been a thing, sure. Actually making it a keyword that fits the mechanic thematically, is rock solid, though. And fits the Orzhov lore brilliantly. But hell, Afterlife is good enough in theme and ability to become evergreen, imho. It is boring? I mean, sure, I suppose. But in a vacuum, a whole hell of a lot of keyword abilities are pretty darn boring. How they're used is what ultimately matters.
Spectacle - This is actually new, only card I can find similar is Needle Drop and even that is still too different. I mean it could be interesting, especially if they make cheap spells, heck they could even make a new lightning bolt out of it. I like it, I just hope they push it more than they pushed Unleash/Hellbent cause they never push Rakdos Mechanics.
Triggering extra abilities when something or someone has taken damage isn't new, but yeah, Spectacle is one of those abilities that has been designed for fun among fans many times, because it's pretty obvious. I'm actually more surprised it's never shown up yet, than by it actually existing. It is certainly a delightfully simple ability with tons of design space to explore.
Addendum spells should be like:
Azorius counter 1WU instsnt
Counter target spell with casting cost 3 or less
Addendum-if you cast this spell during your mainphase instead tap up to 3 creatures they do not untap during their controllers next untap phase.
This would mean the spell is effectively modal. But we have only seen riders (to borrow a political term) instead. This will be a hard ability to make successful, if the base spell us too good then it will be used as an instant, if the addendum rider/replacement is too good it will regale the spell to sorcery. There needs to be a really strong tension between wanting either the spell at instant speed or the addendum?
Addendum spells should be like:
Azorius counter 1WU instsnt
Counter target spell with casting cost 3 or less
Addendum-if you cast this spell during your mainphase instead tap up to 3 creatures they do not untap during their controllers next untap phase.
This would mean the spell is effectively modal. But we have only seen riders (to borrow a political term) instead. This will be a hard ability to make successful, if the base spell us too good then it will be used as an instant, if the addendum rider/replacement is too good it will regale the spell to sorcery. There needs to be a really strong tension between wanting either the spell at instant speed or the addendum?
We don't know that there won't be spells like that. The rules clarifications in the preview article suggested there would be Addendum spells that use "instead", rather than adding to the previous text. So modular spells like this could be a few of the ~10 Addendum cards we're supposed to be seeing.
I definitely agree that seeing Addendum work like this, with alternative abilities, would be a great... addendum to the mechanic.
Sorry if I has been asked already (I'm on a phone, I can't scroll trough the 10 pages of posts I haven't read)
When the 4 first mechanic were released but not addendum I noticed that each guilds had synergies with bordering guilds : rakdos needed to get dmgs to activate, no worries 1/1 flyers and haste creatures are perfect for that. Gruul's +1/+1 were also fited to work with Simic's probable +1/+1 rewards.
So we started looking for something that would synergies with on one side : small creatures, flyers or tokens. And the other side : big beasts or +1/+1 counters.
We got a bit stuck with effects in two parts like : creatures you control with 2 toughness or less have +0/+1 ans creature you control with 5 toughness or more get +1/+0.
But everything we though of was overpowered. Have you any idea of a good keyword that would have fitted well and not been overpowered?
Second question : how do you see the keyword we have being used to synergize in any way with orzhovz and Simic?
A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
I'm sure you made some good points but I stopped reading your novella after I got to the above sentence. No sentence should ever contain over 60 words.
A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
I'm sure you made some good points but I stopped reading your novella after I got to the above sentence. No sentence should ever contain over 60 words.
Maybe spend less time on twitter and more time reading books?
A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
I'm sure you made some good points but I stopped reading your novella after I got to the above sentence. No sentence should ever contain over 60 words.
Maybe spend less time on twitter and more time reading books?
Maybe take a junior high level English class and spend less time on the forums? 4,500 posts equate to a whole lotta time in mom's basement.
A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
I'm sure you made some good points but I stopped reading your novella after I got to the above sentence. No sentence should ever contain over 60 words.
Well it’s a good thing we’re on an Internet forum and not English-lit course. Not really sure how this impacts the relevance of his points, though.
A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
I'm sure you made some good points but I stopped reading your novella after I got to the above sentence. No sentence should ever contain over 60 words.
Maybe spend less time on twitter and more time reading books?
Maybe take a junior high level English class and spend less time on the forums? 4,500 posts equate to a whole lotta time in mom's basement.
someone should have told Faulkner to get out of his mom's basement I guess. Back on topic, originally I was crapping all over adapt too but framed in the sense of Monstrosity but triggering off all +1/+1 counters I think it may have a lot more legs than I anticipated.
Can we please never spoil mechanics like this again?
I believe there should be an article on MTG Salvation per each new update to the linked mechanic article by Wizards for one reason: All the content wasn’t spoiled simultaneously on the Mothership.
This means one article for Spectacle, one for Afterlife, one for Adapt, one for Riot and one article on The Rumour Mill for Addendum.
For future articles. Please.
I agree, the way it was done this time around was super annoying.
Or at least put all the cards on the front page of the thread
Can we please never spoil mechanics like this again?
I believe there should be an article on MTG Salvation per each new update to the linked mechanic article by Wizards for one reason: All the content wasn’t spoiled simultaneously on the Mothership.
This means one article for Spectacle, one for Afterlife, one for Adapt, one for Riot and one article on The Rumour Mill for Addendum.
For future articles. Please.
I agree, the way it was done this time around was super annoying.
Or at least put all the cards on the front page of the thread
I agree with all of this. It was inconvenient to scroll through five plus pages to see the third or fourth mechanical cards. Discussion about one set of cards is abruptly pushed aside for complaints about Adapt and the thread becomes a jumble. I appreciate the effort that went in but I would also prefer the old format of one thread per spoiler. Thank you.
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Protection from reason (Decadent_Creed can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by reason.)
I can see what the designers are doing: each guild just needs a small design space for each mechanic as it needs to fit in 5. Simpler, but more modular mechanics fit this requirement. We than have to judge the whole set (draft/constructed) to see if tbe mechanics work well.
I like Riot the best. It’s quite simple in papet but seems complex in practice. It interacts witth simic as well.
The simic mechanic will depend on cards that remove counters for profit.
Azorious one seems to play in isolation, but supports draw go well.
The best synergies are Gruul-Simic and Rakdos-Orzhov. It was like this in GRN too, where some neighbouring mechanics cooperated and others didn't. Expext draft to be lots of Simic splash R and lots of Mardu.
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
The best synergies are Gruul-Simic and Rakdos-Orzhov. It was like this in GRN too, where some neighbouring mechanics cooperated and others didn't. Expext draft to be lots of Simic splash R and lots of Mardu.
How does Spectacle and Afterlife synergies with each other?
The best synergies are Gruul-Simic and Rakdos-Orzhov. It was like this in GRN too, where some neighbouring mechanics cooperated and others didn't. Expext draft to be lots of Simic splash R and lots of Mardu.
How does Spectacle and Afterlife synergies with each other?
Small flying creatures make it easier to deal damage to the opponent, thus triggering Spectacle.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Afterlife keeps creature on board for convoke, populate, evasivenes helps betalion, and mentor onto some 1/1 flyers seems good.
Adendum is a sort of call back to forcast, helps bolster the spells matter cards in blue with the inevitable instants and support creature decks with simic.
Adapt is a bit unfortunate that it doesn't really interact with previous simic mechanics but since it's instant speed it helps you keep up the adendum cards and other instants in blue
Riot can give counters so probably plays well with Adapt as there is probably going to be stuff to do with it, plus the haste helps batalion, mentor, the original gruul mechanic (bloodrush?), even spectacle (for the discounted type spectacle cards at least)
Spectacle also works well with the agressive style of boros and on the discounted spells could be good with Izzet spells mater cards and evasive dimir cards help trigger this mechanic.
I'm excited to see how it all plays out and how it can work well with the previous ravnica sets and interguild mechanics.
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StaffExample:
Bureaucrat's Insight 2WU
Instant Uncommon
Draw 2 cards. Gain 2 life.
Addendum - 1UW, Reveal ~this~: Target non-creature spell an opponent controls that has
not been addended by ~this~, gains "Target opponent draws a card, and gains 1 life."
The intention is that you could target an opponent's spell with multiple copies of Bureaucrat's Insight, but only once for each one.
Another possible example:
Parole Officer 1UW
Creature - Human Soldier Rare
When ~this~ enters the battlefield, detain two target creatures an opponent controls.
Addendum - 3UW, Reveal ~this~: Target creature spell an opponent controls that has
not been addended by ~this~, enters the battlefield tapped, becomes detained as it enters
the battlefield, and does not untap during its owner's next untap step.
2/3
This would be an interesting interaction in that cards like Carnage Tyrant could be detained, to stall it temporarily.
I still think there is some design space. I just see it as them being lazy and afraid of complexity. They might as well bring back the decent older mechanics from Blocks of the past. If they would just improve the playability of some of the past mechanics I think people would appreciate playing them again. In other words lower the cmc or up the power on the cards with those mechanics.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
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.
We don't know what the rest of the ~8 cards will look like. But we already have the first instant speed Timetwister effect in the game. Even at 7 mana, that alone is worth a consideration, and does not a garbage card make. For a cycle with a tiny number of cards from Time Spiral, having two actually see play, one of which sees non-casual play, that's... actually quite good. Go look at the number of concepts in the game that have such cycles or can be made into an entire mechanic, and look at how many actually see play. 1-2 out of a mere handful total is very high a ratio.
Even with wicked mechanics like Infect, how many cards actually see play? There are a whopping fifty-eight cards that have infect, create a token creature with infect, or give a creature infect. A mechanic that has been used once before, and already has a good 20-40% of the previous cards with it seeing actual play, and when reintroduced now has the very first instant-speed version of a powerful, iconic effect, is not, I would think, a failure of a mechanic by the metric of how many cards of a given mechanic actually see real play.
It's boring, but effective, and fits Gruul very well. Do you want to hit them harder, or do you want to hit them faster? Simple, but fits to a t. Two bonuses to choose between rather than either nothing or one bonus with a penalty is more fun for people to play around with, and causes a similar kind of tension of choice. Either a bigger critter than can't block, or a smaller one that can? Hmmm. Either a bigger creature that has to wait to attack, or a smaller one that rushes the enemy right now? Hmmm.
Riot is perfectly fine and thematic an ability that fits Gruul better than Unleash would. After all, green and red both lean into haste, historically, with green having large creatures. While black and red both lean into creatures that can't block in exchange for being larger than normal for their cost/color, historically. With black being the other color with significant numbers of creatures incapable of blocking, Unleash fits Rakdos better than it would ever fit with Gruul.
Again, this comparison to Monstrosity that asserts the Monstrosity mechanic is itself the triggers that go off with it. That's not the case, as is evidenced by the half-dozen creatures that gain exactly no benefit whatsoever for becoming monstrous, other than the keyword and the +1/+1 counters, one of which was, itself, a preview card for the mechanic back in Theros: Fleetfeather Cockatrice, Gluttonous Cyclops, Ill-Tempered Cyclops, Nemesis of Mortals, Nessian Asp (the preview card for Monstrosity), and Ravenous Leucrocota.
This is the entire Monstrosity mechanic:
Mana Cost: Monstrosity N. (If this creature isn't monstrous, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)
That is it. There is nothing else to the mechanic, itself.
Compare this to the Adapt mechanic:
Mana Cost: Adapt N. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.)
Some cards might use the monstrous keyword, or the trigger upon activating the Monstrosity ability for an additional effect, but those are not... the... Monstrosity... mechanic. Any more than the text on Zegana, Utopian Speaker that grants trample to creatures with +1/+1 counters on them is the Adapt mechanic.
But damn, that trample-enabling ability Zegana has sure does use the Adapt mechanic in a more versatile version of the way the monstrous keyword granted extra abilities. Many monstrous creatures gained nothing more than a keyword or two for becoming monstrous, like trample, menace, vigilance, etc. Zegana doesn't merely mimic that just as well, she does it far better. Because she also gains it when she gets a +1/+1 counter from anywhere else, no
MonstrosityAdapt required.Go through the Monstrosity creatures, and think of how they'd look if their abilities simply turned on when they have +1/+1 counters on them at all. If cards like Colossus of Akros, Fleecemane Lion, or Polis Crusher, instead said, "While ~ has any +1/+1 counters on it, it gains _____.", they'd look quite a bit stronger than they already are.
Additionally, the templating for triggered abilities could be equally versatile without shutting down the ability entirely. Nemesis of Mortals points the way to the formatting and the implications for this.
Mana Cost: If ~ has no +1/+1 counters on it, [ability to activate], then Adapt N. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.)
So, using an existing Monstrosity creature as an example, Arbor Colossus. How would that creature's monstrous trigger ability look in Adapt? I think it would look like this:
3GGG: If Simic Colossus has no +1/+1 counters on it, destroy target creature with flying an opponent controls, then Adapt 3. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put 3 +1/+1 counters on it.)
Thus, you can still get the same Monstrosity effect of Arbor Colossus in full while this version of Colossus has no +1/+1 counters on it. Only better, because if you remove those counters or move them elsewhere, you get to activate it again. Often easier than flickering or bouncing a creature to turn the monstrous keyword off for decks that feed off +1/+1 counters already.
Other creatures still point to another potential formatting of these abilities that could be far more versatile than Monstrosity ever had the hope of being. Look at Shipbreaker Kraken. That card puts exactly four counters on it with Monstrosity, then triggers exactly four blue tap-and-freeze effects. Looking once more at Zegana, Utopian Speaker, a Simic version of that kraken could easily, easily, easily be templated to have similar rules text below the Adapt that says, "Each time Simic Kraken gains a +1/+1 counter, you may tap target creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controllers' untap steps for as long as you control Simic Kraken."
Voila. Pay the Adapt cost that gives four counters while it has no counters, and you get the same effect as Shipbreaker Kraken. But, if you can throw counters on it in other ways--such as via grafting, or using Simic Ascendancy--you can get far more value, and start doing so much sooner.
Much like Zegana can be an 8/8 trampler if you Adapt her. Or, if you graft a counter onto her or otherwise toss a +1/+1 counter on her much more cheaply, she's "merely" a 5/5 trampler for four mana with no drawbacks, who might very well have cantripped when she came into play. A lot of value for that cost, no Adapt needed; the Adapt ends up being a bonus mode you may or may not use.
And if you can move counters around, or spend them for effects? Like Simic is wont to do anyhow, or if it gets a card akin to Sage of Fables? You could then turn Zegana's trample for herself on early, later spend those counters, then Adapt her for additional value.
But for real, Monstrosity was not, not, not all the riders that went with it. As the half dozen cards with exactly no other bonuses gained for being monstrous show. Rather, just like Zegana, many creatures with Monstrosity simply had abilities that turned on with or triggered off of what Monstrosity provided. Adapt, however, has more versatility in how this can be implemented, while still being able to mimic all those triggers Monstrosity itself had with ease. Adapt has, imho, far more potential design space that can be explored with the same basic mechanism.
I mean, 1/1 flying spirit tokens coming off creatures dying has been a thing, sure. Actually making it a keyword that fits the mechanic thematically, is rock solid, though. And fits the Orzhov lore brilliantly. But hell, Afterlife is good enough in theme and ability to become evergreen, imho. It is boring? I mean, sure, I suppose. But in a vacuum, a whole hell of a lot of keyword abilities are pretty darn boring. How they're used is what ultimately matters.
Triggering extra abilities when something or someone has taken damage isn't new, but yeah, Spectacle is one of those abilities that has been designed for fun among fans many times, because it's pretty obvious. I'm actually more surprised it's never shown up yet, than by it actually existing. It is certainly a delightfully simple ability with tons of design space to explore.
Azorius counter 1WU instsnt
Counter target spell with casting cost 3 or less
Addendum-if you cast this spell during your mainphase instead tap up to 3 creatures they do not untap during their controllers next untap phase.
This would mean the spell is effectively modal. But we have only seen riders (to borrow a political term) instead. This will be a hard ability to make successful, if the base spell us too good then it will be used as an instant, if the addendum rider/replacement is too good it will regale the spell to sorcery. There needs to be a really strong tension between wanting either the spell at instant speed or the addendum?
We don't know that there won't be spells like that. The rules clarifications in the preview article suggested there would be Addendum spells that use "instead", rather than adding to the previous text. So modular spells like this could be a few of the ~10 Addendum cards we're supposed to be seeing.
I definitely agree that seeing Addendum work like this, with alternative abilities, would be a great... addendum to the mechanic.
When the 4 first mechanic were released but not addendum I noticed that each guilds had synergies with bordering guilds : rakdos needed to get dmgs to activate, no worries 1/1 flyers and haste creatures are perfect for that. Gruul's +1/+1 were also fited to work with Simic's probable +1/+1 rewards.
So we started looking for something that would synergies with on one side : small creatures, flyers or tokens. And the other side : big beasts or +1/+1 counters.
We got a bit stuck with effects in two parts like : creatures you control with 2 toughness or less have +0/+1 ans creature you control with 5 toughness or more get +1/+0.
But everything we though of was overpowered. Have you any idea of a good keyword that would have fitted well and not been overpowered?
Second question : how do you see the keyword we have being used to synergize in any way with orzhovz and Simic?
This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
Maybe spend less time on twitter and more time reading books?
Well it’s a good thing we’re on an Internet forum and not English-lit course. Not really sure how this impacts the relevance of his points, though.
I agree, the way it was done this time around was super annoying.
Or at least put all the cards on the front page of the thread
I agree with all of this. It was inconvenient to scroll through five plus pages to see the third or fourth mechanical cards. Discussion about one set of cards is abruptly pushed aside for complaints about Adapt and the thread becomes a jumble. I appreciate the effort that went in but I would also prefer the old format of one thread per spoiler. Thank you.
I like Riot the best. It’s quite simple in papet but seems complex in practice. It interacts witth simic as well.
The simic mechanic will depend on cards that remove counters for profit.
Azorious one seems to play in isolation, but supports draw go well.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
How does Spectacle and Afterlife synergies with each other?