I don't wanna be a soothsayer, but let's check the numbers: Ixalan has 12 tutoring cards (excluding PW deck cards) Rivals of Ixalan has 9, Dominaria has 4 and M19 doesn't have any so far - yes, the spoiler is imcomplete, but consider it - all tutoring cards spoilered so far are quasi-tutors with "looks at top X cards of your library and choose one of them" (even the Elvish Rejuvenator - I am pretty sure the pure land tutoring wouldn't hurt anyone here).
So, is tutoring as we used to know it going to an end? What do you think?
It's instructive to look at Amonkhet, which had six tutoring effects excluding the PW Deck dudefinders. Kaladesh also had six. Ixalan block can be considered an aberration due to needing tribal tutors for each of the tribes and Dominaria put a Llanowar Elves equivalent in Standard for the first time in years, obviating the need for more land tutors in order for ramp decks to function.
There's always going to be some tutoring. Effects like Rampant Growth are necessary to the game. Also, the most recent set released - although not a Standard product - is draftable and has an entire keyword that tutors. While R&D wants as few effects that slow the game down as possible, particularly in Core, I won't believe that tutoring is going away as a card effect entirely until I see a mothership article about it.
Tl;dr Elvish Rejuvenator effects are made so there can be fewer tutors (and so this card in particular can be more pushed by finding any land card instead of a basic land card), not so that tutors can be replaced.
r0369 asked: Hi Mark. I've really Iiked that recent "tutors" only search a certain number of cards on the top of the deck, and I understand the reasons why this is desirable. Is this the future of tutors, or just an ebb and flow thing?
Mark thinks a lot of things that aren't going to come true, fwiw. Some effects just have to be tutors - Rampant Growth for example, unless they decide to have land token generators, a fix that has its own issues. And we'll still see Demonic Tutor-variants at black at higher rarities.
I could see them swapping Rampant Growth out for something like a green Treasure Hunt; you reveal to the next land card in your library and put it into your hand or onto the battlefield, then put the rest on the bottom in a random order. That way you get an extra land drop, it just won't necessarily always be the exact land you wanted and so variance is preserved. Same deal with other types of tutoring, incidentally.
As for black, I feel that they should start adding a black cost onto tutoring like with Diabolic Intent; tutor any card without drawback is basically a GWU effect. With black, it feels weird to just get whatever you want. Heck, what if they did a "sacrifice X creatures, tutor X cards" sorcery for, say, 3BB?
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.
starlightofpenguins asked: Rebels are cool. Could they come back in green (complete with X tap, search for size X-1 or less), or are they in some other colour or colours pie?
We’ve moved away from tutoring mechanics as the greatly reduce game variance (aka they make games play out too much the same).
starlightofpenguins asked: Rebels are cool. Could they come back in green (complete with X tap, search for size X-1 or less), or are they in some other colour or colours pie?
We’ve moved away from tutoring mechanics as the greatly reduce game variance (aka they make games play out too much the same).
They may be moving away for the time being, but don't forget we also moved away from mana dorks costing 1 and the game came back around. I agree with Marks sentiments that tutors do make games play out much too consistently - however that doesn't mean they're going to disappear entirely.
Bricking on a look at top X effect feels AWFUL in play experience. The card is costed such that I should reasonably hit my tutor target every so often and when I don't I pump a bunch of resources into a quite mesicore creature or essentially a countered spell.
Tutors like traverse the ulvenwald are fine for standard as long as as there are sufficient hoops and the targets are kept in check (emrakul is just not an okay magic card and they need to stop printing her). A departure from grossly undercosted crap like worldly tutor is straight up correct from a design perspective imho. Lots of design space left because you can staple tutors to the set gimmick, mechanics, or add additional restrictions to vary them.
Tutoring cards out of the deck is always annoying, simply because it takes time and requires shuffling.
Fetchlands are the worst example of that.
In paper form that just asks for cheating and becomes quite a waste of time if it happens all the time.
----
In general, using effects that just reveal cards till you get something are way worse than tutoring specific cards, but they also work much faster.
To further make them quicker, they have to allow the player to choose the order of the cards they are put back under library. All the "random order" cards are just as annoying as you have to shuffle these little piles again, which really doesnt help much compared to tutoring a card and shuffling the entire deck, so i consider the latest attempts of avoiding tutoring and shuffling pretty terrible.
A much much better approach would be to use the sideboard much more.
Tutoring for a land ? Take one from your sideboard, no shuffling required at all, perfect and you have to sacrifice sideboard space to make tutors playable.
The wishes did that perfectly (and back in the time even better as you could get cards from the "exile").
As they more and more change the game to make online digital play better, avoiding tutors is also a reason as they dont want that giant all card fans to let the player pick the card they want. Its much easier to implement a smaller look at the top X cards and pick one, or reveal till you hit a specific card type, these effects work automatic in digital and are the easiest on the brain dead player to avoid any bigger amounts of information.
----
Anyhow, especially Maro has a set goal to dumb down magic and ensure more and more randomness, which is the absolute worst for anyone that wants to win with "skill" and wants some form of control of what they are able to accomplish in the game.
I absolutely expect them to shrink the amount of tutors, especially as they want to promote "Brawl" as a format, and tutors kinda cripple that formats approach of 1-ofs.
If a card simply requires tutoring to function at all, they will do so, but otherwise, they will do a lot to avoid shuffling effects.
So, is tutoring as we used to know it going to an end? What do you think?
There's always going to be some tutoring. Effects like Rampant Growth are necessary to the game. Also, the most recent set released - although not a Standard product - is draftable and has an entire keyword that tutors. While R&D wants as few effects that slow the game down as possible, particularly in Core, I won't believe that tutoring is going away as a card effect entirely until I see a mothership article about it.
Tl;dr Elvish Rejuvenator effects are made so there can be fewer tutors (and so this card in particular can be more pushed by finding any land card instead of a basic land card), not so that tutors can be replaced.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/169761554038/hi-mark-ive-really-iiked-that-recent-tutors
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
As for black, I feel that they should start adding a black cost onto tutoring like with Diabolic Intent; tutor any card without drawback is basically a GWU effect. With black, it feels weird to just get whatever you want. Heck, what if they did a "sacrifice X creatures, tutor X cards" sorcery for, say, 3BB?
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.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
They may be moving away for the time being, but don't forget we also moved away from mana dorks costing 1 and the game came back around. I agree with Marks sentiments that tutors do make games play out much too consistently - however that doesn't mean they're going to disappear entirely.
Bricking on a look at top X effect feels AWFUL in play experience. The card is costed such that I should reasonably hit my tutor target every so often and when I don't I pump a bunch of resources into a quite mesicore creature or essentially a countered spell.
Tutors like traverse the ulvenwald are fine for standard as long as as there are sufficient hoops and the targets are kept in check (emrakul is just not an okay magic card and they need to stop printing her). A departure from grossly undercosted crap like worldly tutor is straight up correct from a design perspective imho. Lots of design space left because you can staple tutors to the set gimmick, mechanics, or add additional restrictions to vary them.
Fetchlands are the worst example of that.
In paper form that just asks for cheating and becomes quite a waste of time if it happens all the time.
----
In general, using effects that just reveal cards till you get something are way worse than tutoring specific cards, but they also work much faster.
To further make them quicker, they have to allow the player to choose the order of the cards they are put back under library. All the "random order" cards are just as annoying as you have to shuffle these little piles again, which really doesnt help much compared to tutoring a card and shuffling the entire deck, so i consider the latest attempts of avoiding tutoring and shuffling pretty terrible.
A much much better approach would be to use the sideboard much more.
Tutoring for a land ? Take one from your sideboard, no shuffling required at all, perfect and you have to sacrifice sideboard space to make tutors playable.
The wishes did that perfectly (and back in the time even better as you could get cards from the "exile").
As they more and more change the game to make online digital play better, avoiding tutors is also a reason as they dont want that giant all card fans to let the player pick the card they want. Its much easier to implement a smaller look at the top X cards and pick one, or reveal till you hit a specific card type, these effects work automatic in digital and are the easiest on the brain dead player to avoid any bigger amounts of information.
----
Anyhow, especially Maro has a set goal to dumb down magic and ensure more and more randomness, which is the absolute worst for anyone that wants to win with "skill" and wants some form of control of what they are able to accomplish in the game.
I absolutely expect them to shrink the amount of tutors, especially as they want to promote "Brawl" as a format, and tutors kinda cripple that formats approach of 1-ofs.
If a card simply requires tutoring to function at all, they will do so, but otherwise, they will do a lot to avoid shuffling effects.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝