I'm not sure any ban is needed yet. If there were a ban, I'd be in favor of banning Augur of Bolas or Delver of Secrets first.
Augur of Bolas: It was originally an uncommon. It's just better than it should be, and pushes aggro as well as many 2/1s out of relevance.
Delver of Secrets: It's not even that oppressive, but I could see a "violating the color pie" argument in that Blue just shouldn't have the best beater in the format. It dilutes the unique strengths and weaknesses of the colors, which IMHO is one of Magic's greatest parts.
I'm not in favor of banning Gush, since it hits non-Delver archetypes more than Delver itself. also, just like Force of Will and Brainstorm in Legacy, Gush feels like one of those cards that's key to Pauper's identity and provides some of the fun and flavor of the format.
Banning cantrips is a slippery slope, in that banning one doesn't have a significant impact, since people will just use the 2nd strongest instead.
I'm also not sure whether printing more answers would be the answer. After all, an answer to Delver of Secrets will either be too narrow to really be playable or so broad that it will also catch a bunch of other creatures in the crossfire.
Insecticide Canister 1
Artifact T, sacrifice Insecticide Canister: Destroy up to one target Insect. Draw a card.
Not sure Dragon Stompy is the best idea, since it largely hinges on Blood Moon/Magus of the Moon which doesn't really work in this Battlebox. You could tune it differently, but it would be a bit off from a normal list.
This is a mechanic I created in reaction to the preponderence of "good if dropped in the graveyard" mechanics: Flashback, Salvage, Embalm, Jumpstart, etc. I wanted to create a mechanic where it's bad if the cards end up in your graveyard.
My first attempt with this had non-standardized drawbacks, tied to the the ability.
Flea-Ridden Familiar 2G
Sorcery
Create a 5/5 green Beast creature token with trample.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is in your graveyard, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Insect creature token.
Forging Flame 2R
Sorcery
~ deals 3 damage to each creature an opponent controls.
If this card is in your graveyard, each creature an opponent controls gets +0/+1.
Alternately, I considered making it a standardized keyword.
Bloodpact: At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is in your graveyard, you lose 1 life.
This would probably mostly be in BR.
Juzam Pact 2BB
Sorcery
Create a 5/5 black Demon creature token.
Bloodpact
Infernal Retribution 2R
Instant
~ deals 2 damage to up to two target creatures.
Bloodpact
Borrowed Time WB
Sorcery
Gain 15 life.
Bloodpact
Just some examples. I think a mechanic like this has a lot of design space.
"You may cast this card for its spectacle cost as you draw it. If you do, you can't cast spells this turn."
This would also be a spectacle of some sort...
That would be completely useless with this card though, as it "draws" you two cards you can only play this turn...
"Until the end of your next turn, you can play these cards."
Why is everyone in the entire thread misreading the card istg
Why would Wizards make a card that everyone keeps misreading? Telling people they can cast spells at the same time as you take the ability to cast spells away from them is not a good design, even if there is an "until end of next turn" clause in there.
Also the cost reduction wouldn't make any sense in that context.
So you get to play it for R instead of 2R, saving 2 mana for that turn...except you can't use that 2 to actually cast spells. Yes there's edge cases ala Thran Turbine but that's not gonna be a marquee Uncommon in a Standard set.
I don't think they'd actually do this, but in my wildest dreams, Spectacle is "You may cast this for it's spectacle cost. If you do, each other player puts a copy of this spell onto the stack. They may choose new targets."
So you could have a Spectacle Lava Ave that turns into a Flame Rift, Diabolic Edict that turns into an Innocent Blood, Trumpet Blast that turns into a Magnify variant, etc. But that's probably too hard to design for, and WotC doesn't like abilities that are drawbacks.
For example:
Razor Carousel 7RR
Sorcery
Spectacle 2RR (You may cast this for it's spectacle cost. If you do, each other player puts a copy of this spell onto the stack)
~ deals 4 damage to each creature you don't control.
Slaughter Carnival 2BR
Sorcery
Spectacle BR (You may cast this for it's spectacle cost. If you do, each other player puts a copy of this spell onto the stack)
Create 3 1/1 black and red Goblin Rogue creature tokens with Haste and "This creature can't block."
They appear to be an FNM promo from Ravnica Allegiance, and the picture (attached here) looks pretty legit.
Here's someone's translation of the card:
"Illuminate the Scene"? "Light the Stage"? 2R
Sorcery (U)
Spectacle R
Exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you can play these cards.
"Everyone to their posts" (???) -- Judith. Probably something like "Places, everyone!" in English
So assuming this is real, any guess on how spectacle works? It looks like the new Rakdos mechanic, and is an alternate cost if some condition is met. Maybe you can cast something for it's spectacle cost if X or more creatures died that turn, or X or more damage was dealt to an opponent?
Hey y'all, I have a question about casting a spell off a Madness ability while discarding down to hand size. I'm not quite sure how this would play out.
Let's say I have two Islands and one Forest in play. I have Gush in hand. During my end step, can I tap two islands, floating the UU in my mana pool, cast Gush for it's alternate cost, and putting me above my hand limit, then discard down to hand size and use that UU floating to cast an Arrogant Wurm discarded because I was going down to 7 cards? Or would the mana pool empty before I get a chance to cast Arrogant Wurm for it's madness cost?
So I've been retired for about 1.5 years, and about 7 months ago I got back into Magic. I first started playing 21 years ago, and had been on a long hiatus, but discovering the Pauper format really ignited the fire again.
I've been going every week to a local Paper Pauper tournament, and another one that runs monthly. I've also been playing it on MTGO, as well as playing MTGA as a F2P user.
That said, since I have an obsessive personality, I'm wondering if I'm spending too much time on Magic. I'm retired, so I have plenty of free time, but it might be cutting into other priorities in life: personal creative projects, volunteer work, dating, etc. Magic is a game that can really bring you into an escapist, alternate reality, letting you think about brews, meta, and the finance side 24/7. Even though it's just a little casual tournament, I can spend so much time thinking about finetuning my deck and sideboard for the Pauper weeklies. As well as always thinking about prices and whether to buy into new decks, what are good pick-ups or hot cards to buylist.
So one experiment I'm considering: just write up a schedule of decks for a few weeks, set them aside, and just play them as is each week. I'm thinking of trying this for 3 weeks at first.
Also, I'm planning on cutting out MTGO and MTGA for now, and just play in the regular Paper tournaments, as well as blocking the Magic subreddits from my browser.
Has anyone else thought about this, or took steps to put the Magic/life balance back to right?
1st -- needs "use this ability only when you can play an instant" (or similar) clause.
Well, strictly speaking you don't, but the effect is very different. Just keep in mind how spells are cast -- the fierst step is to put the spell on the stack, then you pay for it. Without the clause, the opponent can just name the card on the stack.
Got it, will make the change.
I also think it might be best practice to make all mana abilities with any sort of choice or game state-altering instant speed, like Charmed Pendant, to avoid rules headaches.
Neverland
Land T: An opponent names a card. Then, add one mana of any color. You can't spend this mana to cast spells with one of the chosen names (the list of chosen names increases each time this ability is used).
Another weird card that encourages 1-ofs and weird, unpredictable rogue decks, my favorite things in Magic.
Alt Version:
Dystopia
Land
When ~ enters the battlefield, an opponent names three cards. T: Add one mana of any color. You can't spend this mana to cast spells with one of the chosen names.
The alt version has way less bookkeeping and takes less gameplay time, but I'm not sure I like how you can play it T1 and force your opponent to make all choices, when they have zero information about your deck.
On the other hand, I've played games of Commander with Ebon Praetor and nobody died.
Or, "I think WotC leans to far towards simplicity and it's fine to design your own custom cards with a higher level of complexity. Good game design is about making sure complexity is worth the added depth, not just avoiding complexity in all situations."
I don't like Jumpstart because it's just a more narrow and limited version of an existing mechanic. For example, the Jumpstart cost is always the same as the casting cost, which takes out a lot of possible knobs to twiddle to balance a card, by making the casting cost and flashback cost different.
So I know it's already been done with Overwhelm, but the green card here drives home how awkward it is to staple Convoke onto an Overrun effect.
Maybe instead you could make it a "target creature gets X +1/+1 counters and gain X life," or even "Each creature you control gets X +1/+1 counters," so you can still tap creatures this turn, but get use out of the buff later. With different cost, of course.
Or an instant that gives +X/+X and trample to one creature. Maybe that would be in the 2-3 CMC range. You gotta make sure it's expensive enough that the convoke actually feels relevant, and at 2 CMC there's the threat of it not feeling relevant. Maybe at 3 CMC giving the +X/+X, trample, and hexproof?
Augur of Bolas: It was originally an uncommon. It's just better than it should be, and pushes aggro as well as many 2/1s out of relevance.
Delver of Secrets: It's not even that oppressive, but I could see a "violating the color pie" argument in that Blue just shouldn't have the best beater in the format. It dilutes the unique strengths and weaknesses of the colors, which IMHO is one of Magic's greatest parts.
I'm not in favor of banning Gush, since it hits non-Delver archetypes more than Delver itself. also, just like Force of Will and Brainstorm in Legacy, Gush feels like one of those cards that's key to Pauper's identity and provides some of the fun and flavor of the format.
Banning cantrips is a slippery slope, in that banning one doesn't have a significant impact, since people will just use the 2nd strongest instead.
Insecticide Canister
1
Artifact
T, sacrifice Insecticide Canister: Destroy up to one target Insect. Draw a card.
Alternatives for red could be: Burn, Goblins.
My first attempt with this had non-standardized drawbacks, tied to the the ability.
Flea-Ridden Familiar
2G
Sorcery
Create a 5/5 green Beast creature token with trample.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is in your graveyard, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Insect creature token.
Forging Flame
2R
Sorcery
~ deals 3 damage to each creature an opponent controls.
If this card is in your graveyard, each creature an opponent controls gets +0/+1.
Alternately, I considered making it a standardized keyword.
Bloodpact: At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is in your graveyard, you lose 1 life.
This would probably mostly be in BR.
Juzam Pact
2BB
Sorcery
Create a 5/5 black Demon creature token.
Bloodpact
Infernal Retribution
2R
Instant
~ deals 2 damage to up to two target creatures.
Bloodpact
Borrowed Time
WB
Sorcery
Gain 15 life.
Bloodpact
Just some examples. I think a mechanic like this has a lot of design space.
Also the cost reduction wouldn't make any sense in that context.
So you get to play it for R instead of 2R, saving 2 mana for that turn...except you can't use that 2 to actually cast spells. Yes there's edge cases ala Thran Turbine but that's not gonna be a marquee Uncommon in a Standard set.
So you could have a Spectacle Lava Ave that turns into a Flame Rift, Diabolic Edict that turns into an Innocent Blood, Trumpet Blast that turns into a Magnify variant, etc. But that's probably too hard to design for, and WotC doesn't like abilities that are drawbacks.
For example:
Razor Carousel
7RR
Sorcery
Spectacle 2RR (You may cast this for it's spectacle cost. If you do, each other player puts a copy of this spell onto the stack)
~ deals 4 damage to each creature you don't control.
Slaughter Carnival
2BR
Sorcery
Spectacle BR (You may cast this for it's spectacle cost. If you do, each other player puts a copy of this spell onto the stack)
Create 3 1/1 black and red Goblin Rogue creature tokens with Haste and "This creature can't block."
They appear to be an FNM promo from Ravnica Allegiance, and the picture (attached here) looks pretty legit.
Here's someone's translation of the card:
So assuming this is real, any guess on how spectacle works? It looks like the new Rakdos mechanic, and is an alternate cost if some condition is met. Maybe you can cast something for it's spectacle cost if X or more creatures died that turn, or X or more damage was dealt to an opponent?
Let's say I have two Islands and one Forest in play. I have Gush in hand. During my end step, can I tap two islands, floating the UU in my mana pool, cast Gush for it's alternate cost, and putting me above my hand limit, then discard down to hand size and use that UU floating to cast an Arrogant Wurm discarded because I was going down to 7 cards? Or would the mana pool empty before I get a chance to cast Arrogant Wurm for it's madness cost?
I've been going every week to a local Paper Pauper tournament, and another one that runs monthly. I've also been playing it on MTGO, as well as playing MTGA as a F2P user.
That said, since I have an obsessive personality, I'm wondering if I'm spending too much time on Magic. I'm retired, so I have plenty of free time, but it might be cutting into other priorities in life: personal creative projects, volunteer work, dating, etc. Magic is a game that can really bring you into an escapist, alternate reality, letting you think about brews, meta, and the finance side 24/7. Even though it's just a little casual tournament, I can spend so much time thinking about finetuning my deck and sideboard for the Pauper weeklies. As well as always thinking about prices and whether to buy into new decks, what are good pick-ups or hot cards to buylist.
So one experiment I'm considering: just write up a schedule of decks for a few weeks, set them aside, and just play them as is each week. I'm thinking of trying this for 3 weeks at first.
Also, I'm planning on cutting out MTGO and MTGA for now, and just play in the regular Paper tournaments, as well as blocking the Magic subreddits from my browser.
Has anyone else thought about this, or took steps to put the Magic/life balance back to right?
Got it, will make the change.
I also think it might be best practice to make all mana abilities with any sort of choice or game state-altering instant speed, like Charmed Pendant, to avoid rules headaches.
Land
T: An opponent names a card. Then, add one mana of any color. You can't spend this mana to cast spells with one of the chosen names (the list of chosen names increases each time this ability is used).
Another weird card that encourages 1-ofs and weird, unpredictable rogue decks, my favorite things in Magic.
Alt Version:
Dystopia
Land
When ~ enters the battlefield, an opponent names three cards.
T: Add one mana of any color. You can't spend this mana to cast spells with one of the chosen names.
The alt version has way less bookkeeping and takes less gameplay time, but I'm not sure I like how you can play it T1 and force your opponent to make all choices, when they have zero information about your deck.
Or, "I think WotC leans to far towards simplicity and it's fine to design your own custom cards with a higher level of complexity. Good game design is about making sure complexity is worth the added depth, not just avoiding complexity in all situations."
Maybe instead you could make it a "target creature gets X +1/+1 counters and gain X life," or even "Each creature you control gets X +1/+1 counters," so you can still tap creatures this turn, but get use out of the buff later. With different cost, of course.
Or an instant that gives +X/+X and trample to one creature. Maybe that would be in the 2-3 CMC range. You gotta make sure it's expensive enough that the convoke actually feels relevant, and at 2 CMC there's the threat of it not feeling relevant. Maybe at 3 CMC giving the +X/+X, trample, and hexproof?