We are finally getting a much-needed reprint of Oubliette, which was only ever printed in Arabian Nights! You could regularly see this common going for 40-50$. Even reprinted as an uncommon, this card will probably start at 3-4$ and wind its way down once Pauper players have had their fill.
On to the topic:
The original Oubliette had some very strange wording to it, exiling anything attached to the creature as well as retaining counters. This does sound a lot like Phasing, which is what Oubliette was changed into. There is one major difference I wanted to point out, however: Oubliette will no longer trigger ETB abilities like it did before.
This is most likely an improvement to the card overall, but it all depends on what you do with it. No more Aven Riftwatchers coming back with FIVE vanishing counters, but that Skarrgan Pit-Skulk is coming back with all his counters and auras.
What do you all think of the change in text? For better or worse? Should they have stuck to the original, wordy ability?
What do you all think of the change in text? For better or worse? Should they have stuck to the original, wordy ability?
Importantly, your question is really "should they have changed to Phasing or just not reprinted the card". Wizards has been pretty vocal about a) not liking functional errata unless necessary and b) Oubliette was impossible to print with the current/previous wording. Unfortunately, they only get to choose one of these in this case so they went with functional errata.
I am not a fan of the change in functionality itself. People have pointed out that it now deals with Commanders much better, you have pointed out the ETB and LTB trigger differences, it works much better against Equipment, and sort of worse against Auras (in certain circumstances).
But, the change was one of necessity and not being able to print the card as worded compared to changing functionality means that I think they went the right way with it and I won't complain about them finding a way to reprint a much needed card. Or, at least, one being asked about for a long time.
Why couldn't they reprint Oubliette with the previous wording? I get that it sucks, but it reminds me a bit of the Animate Dead situation. Could they not have done the same thing?
What do you think is the most problematic thing about the current wording? Is it the noting of counters and quantity?
In the end though, I agree with you. This felt like the best way to reprint this odd-ball. I imagine it will see more play now with increased accessibility.
Animate Dead is a reasonable comparison. It seems that the word/character count for the two are just different enough to allow for that to be reprinted. Animate Dead has 75 words, 440 characters, and 3 paragraphs. Oubliette has 76 words,, 435 characters, and 2 paragraphs. Likely it is the letters themselves that post a problem since they are pretty close. That is, an 'i' takes up much less space than a 'w' for example.
They have also commented on the idea that reprinting in other languages is a problem. Sure, they might get things to fit onto the cards for English, but the translations may be even longer and cause problems. According to Scryfall, Animated Dead in Eternal Masters was printed in 3 languages. Oubliette is available in 5 languages so perhaps one of those becomes a problem when translated.
I don't think there is anything problematic with the current wording. I also don't think there is anything problematic with the new wording. At best, the old wording is simply "wordy" which would then tie into your comment about the fact that counters and auras are tracked and then need to come back with it. It has the same problem a lot of older cards do: it just says too many things and is insanely complicated to get the effect they want.
I had not thought about how it would be translated into other languages. My native language is French, which is generally wordier than English. I'll have to take a look at a translation of Oubliette when I can get my hands on it (I don't even know if they translated Arabian Nights into French, actually). "Oubliette" itself is a French word!
It's interesting to note how similar in word count and character count Oubliette and Animate Dead are. Thinking a bit more about Animate Dead, I see a major difference in how intuitive it is over Oubliette. Animate Dead does pretty much exactly what you expect it to do just by reading the card name. The same can't be said for Oubliette, in my opinion.
Again, thanks for your thoughts. The subject is much deeper than I'd imagined.
On to the topic:
The original Oubliette had some very strange wording to it, exiling anything attached to the creature as well as retaining counters. This does sound a lot like Phasing, which is what Oubliette was changed into. There is one major difference I wanted to point out, however: Oubliette will no longer trigger ETB abilities like it did before.
This is most likely an improvement to the card overall, but it all depends on what you do with it. No more Aven Riftwatchers coming back with FIVE vanishing counters, but that Skarrgan Pit-Skulk is coming back with all his counters and auras.
What do you all think of the change in text? For better or worse? Should they have stuck to the original, wordy ability?
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I am not a fan of the change in functionality itself. People have pointed out that it now deals with Commanders much better, you have pointed out the ETB and LTB trigger differences, it works much better against Equipment, and sort of worse against Auras (in certain circumstances).
But, the change was one of necessity and not being able to print the card as worded compared to changing functionality means that I think they went the right way with it and I won't complain about them finding a way to reprint a much needed card. Or, at least, one being asked about for a long time.
Why couldn't they reprint Oubliette with the previous wording? I get that it sucks, but it reminds me a bit of the Animate Dead situation. Could they not have done the same thing?
What do you think is the most problematic thing about the current wording? Is it the noting of counters and quantity?
In the end though, I agree with you. This felt like the best way to reprint this odd-ball. I imagine it will see more play now with increased accessibility.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
They have also commented on the idea that reprinting in other languages is a problem. Sure, they might get things to fit onto the cards for English, but the translations may be even longer and cause problems. According to Scryfall, Animated Dead in Eternal Masters was printed in 3 languages. Oubliette is available in 5 languages so perhaps one of those becomes a problem when translated.
I don't think there is anything problematic with the current wording. I also don't think there is anything problematic with the new wording. At best, the old wording is simply "wordy" which would then tie into your comment about the fact that counters and auras are tracked and then need to come back with it. It has the same problem a lot of older cards do: it just says too many things and is insanely complicated to get the effect they want.
I had not thought about how it would be translated into other languages. My native language is French, which is generally wordier than English. I'll have to take a look at a translation of Oubliette when I can get my hands on it (I don't even know if they translated Arabian Nights into French, actually). "Oubliette" itself is a French word!
It's interesting to note how similar in word count and character count Oubliette and Animate Dead are. Thinking a bit more about Animate Dead, I see a major difference in how intuitive it is over Oubliette. Animate Dead does pretty much exactly what you expect it to do just by reading the card name. The same can't be said for Oubliette, in my opinion.
Again, thanks for your thoughts. The subject is much deeper than I'd imagined.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio