Subject: 6th Edition Rules Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 15:03:42 PST From: "Sebastian Holsclaw" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com I find some of the proposed sixth edition rules changes very troubling, but I also think that some of the concern which people have about them is overblown. I will deal with them in what I think is their reverse order of importance. 1. Artifacts not turning off when tapped. This really should not be a big deal, because if you read the explanation, they are going to be adding something like to the text of the card. I suspect that for the most part this is an example of moving the rules from the rulebook to the card. 2. Mana-pool This could be troubling in that "mana-pool" is a useful way of telling people that you are saving up mana to do something. Unless this shorthand is replicated in some other way, the subtraction of "mana-pool" will reduce strategic depth. For instance, now I can save some amount of mana for the time after I cast Armageddon, while without the concept of mana-pool, that would be impossible. Which brings me to another point: R&D needs to be very careful when meddling with established rules such as mana-pool, because the established rules make for a certain balance while even supposedly benign rules changes can end up having a dramatic effect on the game. The recent trample ruling is a classic example of this. Trample was redefined because of an obnoxious ruling with the En-Kor effect which allowed En-Kor creatures to totally nullify trample. Unfortunately, instead of erratting the En-Kor effect, trample (once a very stable and understood ability) was dramatically changed. As a result its effectiveness against multiple creatures has been dramatically reduced. For instance in a green vs. sligh match, trample would often allow the green player to get that last point of damage through, while now the red player can stack block in order to wait a turn to draw the crucial burn spell. This is an example of over-correcting the rules, and it definitely changes the balance of the game. I think that certain rules should be left alone if possible, not because they are necessarily in their ideal form, but because even small changes can end up being dramatic in their effect upon the game. 3. Damage Prevention This is a perfect example of how a small change in structure might dramatically effect game play. This is an admittedly sticky area, but it gives the game much of its strategic depth. It could be simplified without being eliminated by saying something like: after entering the damage prevention phase, you may only play mana sources, or damage prevention effects. I believe that one sentence capsulizes all of the generally understood functions of the damage prevention phase. Eliminating the phase, however, gives red (the one color which does not need an extra boost) quite an advantage. Entering the damage prevention phase marks the end of new assignments of damage. This can be a tactical advantage for the holder of a card such as Kor Chant or Healing Salve. Good heavens, do we really need to make these cards even weaker than they already are? Damage prevention cards already make it into good decks almost never! But in total, I am not against revamping this except for the fact that in my experience the rules changes tend to be more painful than the disease which they are supposed to cure. 4. No interrupts This is the area which is most likely to cause dramatic changes in the game which will not be noticed or appreciated until it is far too late. Let me first notice another rule fiasco: mana sources. The mana source designation seems to be a response to the ugliness caused by a single card: Abbeyance. This card was obviously playtested with one understanding, but when it hit the tournaments, a totally different understanding appeared, and it became a virtual cantrip timewalk. But wait mana sources were later defined as being untouchable: NOTHING could stop them. This was a vast departure from the old rules of the game which allowed for dark rituals too be countered, but nobody thought that it was a big deal. Welcome the law of unintended consequences. Tolarian Academy + Mind over Matter With cards in hand was ridiculous using this rule. It used to be understood that once you let a spell chain resolve, you couldn't do anything while it was resolving. But wait the mana source rule means that I can make a chain of Mind over Matter "untap" effects and while they resolve I can frustrate a Wasteland by tapping the Academy for mana mid-chain. All this mess because Abbeyance wasn't properly erratted. Interrupts are a very deep part of the game of Magic. I cannot possibly predict exactly how this change will effect the game (because WotC has not explained how they think it interrupts should be effectively transformed into instants) but I can predict that the change will have many unintended consequences which may be to the detriment of the game. And really, they are not that complicated, you declare a spell, and before going on to the next spell, you must deal with any and all interrupts which pertain to that spell. Strategically, this is a crucial factor, and I hate to see the errata on Power-sink which will attempt to capture the power sink effect in an instant. (Or worse I hate to think that something as strategic as power-sink would be removed from the game.) As to make this game like chess, you should start by not changing the established ground rules dramatically every six months, because in a game this complicated, it is impossible to predict how the changes will alter the character of the game. The core rules in Magic pertain to land, enchantments, sorceries, instants, interrupts, and creatures. Each have their own balance, and to tamper with them is risky. Creature abilities include first strike, flying, landwalk, trample, banding, and now shadow. As we have seen, tampering with them (trample) can may huge differences in the game. Please Wizards of the Coast, be careful or you will have killed your golden goose. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com