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The last post can be found here:
Hey Gamers! Still not going to bother with much of an intro.
Playtest Cards T – Z
It’s been a slog, but we’ve seen some really interesting new ideas along the way! In case you’re not caught up, here’s:
Part 1 – A thru E plus Alchemy cards
The final stretch! T thru Z! Let’s go!
Tax effects can be a nightmare to play against. Many were ignored the first time they were printed, like Rhystic Study, then found a home in the multiplayer, big-mana Commander format. These cards, including Esper Sentinel and Smothering Tithe, are big players in more competitive Commander circles.
WotC likes to leverage Commander demand. I expect something like Tax Taker to be printed for real. I hope not, as it makes tax effects more effective, and they don’t need it. Passive Treasure token generation is a recipe for success. This is very playable, but not friendly, and will help the tax collector snowball to easy victories.
What? Teferi cosplaying as Radagast? What?! Why???
It’s the same card! I don’t understand. Why is this a Playtest card? Do people wonder what life would be like if Teferi was Green? Exactly the same otherwise, just Green? What’s being tested here? Us?
This is yet another very plausible land design, in a set full of them. The elevator name is a joke on Ascend, which is cute, but I could easily see this as a cycle. As tri-lands that come in untapped, they’d quickly rise to the level of Commander staple. Playable, printable, likely.
The most farfetched part of this design is the ‘Athlete’ subtype. Maybe someday, but it would require a lot of errata, especially for Amonkhet, Theros and Battlebond creatures. Moving on to the rest of the card (zoom zoom), we can drive straight to the third ability, which allows us to ignore the words ‘Activate only as a sorcery’ while activating abilities.
Those words are usually there to keep abilities from being broken. I don’t know how broken this card is, but without even looking for examples I’d say very very broken. Very cool as a Playtest card, though, and I’d love to see what players could do with it… in theory. Let me know in the comments what you think the most broken thing to do with Terry Pin, Turboturtle is.
I don’t think Terry can be printed until we figure out all the possible effects and problems a design like this would cause. Just like they did with Nadu, Winged Wisdom. Oh wait, they didn’t test that card at all. Soooo… Modern Horizons 4?
What’s not to like here? Another design that’s perfect for Playtest cards. Too silly for anything but the kitchen table, but terrific for that. Could be a real card if player demand is high.
Wow. Casting a copy version of Emrakul, the Promised End for no mana off a land drop? Exiled opposing cards and proliferating your counters seems very doable. Then the game ends when you cast the big Eldrazi. Sounds like a bonkers control strategy. Could be very cool for a kitchen table Archenemy deck.
This is very intriguing, but all kinds of problematic. Great as a Test card, but should stay there, if only for the added nonsense of having to have copies of Emrakul, the Promised End to cast. Does that mean tokens? Proxies?
Three cards in one! Mark my words: this will happen in real paper Magic. Whether a triple split like this, or a double split with a second face. That means we can go 4-6 cards in one.
This card is probably too good to print. ‘There’ is an excellent default mode. ‘They’re’ is narrow, but very swingy, and can end a game. ‘Their’ is full of janky potential, which is what we all want in a mode. All three modes are at instant speed, are cheap to cast for what they do, and the whole package is a Lesson. So very playable, probably very printable when they figure out the format, and coming soon!
I like this design a lot, and it could easily be in a real set somewhere. It’s tough to make it work effectively, but the mana cost is good. It seems like it would be fun, and hard to imagine how it could be a problem unless you’re adding or removing counters to your Sagas at will. But if you can do that, many Sagas would be as or more dangerous than this. I think this will be a real card.
This is a 2 mana, instant-speed exile spell with no downside. That’s a great start. Now what can it target…? Guess you’ll have to wait and see.
I think this is borderline unplayable, and hope they never print it. Yes, the rules can be a quagmire. No, we don’t have to rub players’ noses in it.
Trample really wants to be intuitive, like Flying. Flying is super easy to understand, and rarely makes for weird interactions. But Trample was designed in the early days, and since Deathtouch and Indestructible appeared, Trample hasn’t been quite so cut and dried. Which is why I think Tantrum should stay as a Playtest keyword, and not just rely on being ‘like trample’.
Neat idea though, and something to explore. It’s definitely something players might respond to, even if there are weird interactions. Another Playtest card, Oddric, Lunar Marquis, mentions Tantrum in the text, which makes me wonder. Will we see it for real? Not out of the question. Is it playable? Maybe, but Toddler’s Rage has an uphill climb as an Aura, even with Flash. Similar cards giving Trample or First Strike, etc. do not see much play.
Toofer, Keeper of the Full Grip
What are cards? Are tokens cards? No? Because they are definitely card-sized paper things sometimes, and we get them in packs of cards. This card reminds us that tokens aren’t cards. But it doesn’t go far enough.
What does this thing count as cards? In hand, for sure. In play… yes? It seems like it counts cards in play even if the card’s art and name imply otherwise. But what about Graveyard? Library? Command Zone? Exile? Sideboard? The stack? Those are all places where cards go, and I don’t think they ever stop being cards.
Toofer, Keeper of the Full Grip is a Legend, which means he can be built around. Players that can leverage the convoluted rules can probably win a lot of games against confused opponents. This card is unlikely to lead to fun. I hope they don’t ever print it, but that seems unlikely.
This card is not worth the introduction of 2 new kinds of awkward tokens. This is just a bad pun stapled to a weird proliferate payoff. Even the art is too good for this. Please no.
Really neat idea for a land! Level up makes total sense with buildings. I don’t know about a cycle of these, however, and think maybe a single 5 colour version might be best. Hope it sees print someday, as it’s cool and playable for casuals. Seems likely.
Great design, and kind of scary. I like the notion of lands with adventure spells. It’s cool, but it’s very powercreepy. I feel like things would be broken. But not with Value Town, oddly enough. The base mode of Highland Lake is not great, unless the Town subtype really matters.
The adventure spell is very high cost. 6 mana means probably Commander only, especially with a mediocre land option. The spell is not great, but it is value if you would play the land anyway, which you can, but it’s a tapped land with no upside after you already have 6 mana on board.
I’m not saying this is unplayable, because it’s more value than almost any dual land, and a great late-game topdeck, but it’s not a powerhouse and not appropriate for non-Commander formats.
Very cool concept. I think this could easily be achieved without the keywords, but I don’t hate them. We’ve got a space set coming up in the future (the actual future, not the science fiction future), and this fits. The mana cost is a lot here, however. 6 mana gets more than a 6/6 flyer with a combat ability. Make this a vehicle for 4 mana with a 2 crew cost, please! Playable but not great. Very printable, however, and hopefully a cool preview of things to come.
This is an okay start, but this card needs to spend more time in design. The Werewolf type is weird. Why isn’t this a human? And why is it 4/3? That seems like a lot, and possibly bigger than the ‘Were’ side, which would be weird. I feel like this could have been a 1/1, and maybe 3 mana to cast.
Adding a Nightbound side to a card is cool as an idea. Just as an idea. While it’s understandable enough, Day/Night is a logistical mess. It’s annoying and tough to keep track of, and the payoffs are rarely worth it. One thing to remember here is that Transform does not give you an ‘Enters’ trigger, so the night side has to have other abilities or great stats to be worth your time.
One upside to consider here is that a 4 mana 4/3 Werewolf that exiles a card from your hand and then draws (basically Rummage), isn’t too bad for a Werewolf. I don’t think anyone would fault you for crossing out ‘Daybound’ with a sharpie. Not really printable, borderline playable.
Copying Emrakul, the Promised End is bad enough, but now we have to have 6 copies of Praetors? Are the copies considered cards for Toofer? I’m still unclear about using proxies for something like this. Are proxies considered cards?
The card seems good though, and copying it seems good too. Probably too good to print. Does the random choice constitute a dice roll? What if I use dice?
I’m glad this card exists. It’s a super fun idea for kitchen table Archenemy decks, especially ones built around Phyrexian cards to give players the experience of fighting off the Praetors and their creations. But it can stay as a Playtest card.
I’m a little confused. This seems like it could be a card. What’s the obstacle? Why is this Playtest? Too good? Seems pretty good.
Wouldn’t Commander players love this! What, no sideboard? Guess it’s just a straight up exile, bruh.
This card is probably good enough to see play in a mono-red Commander deck, but beyond that? 3 mana removal spells rarely see much play anymore, unless they’re much more flexible than this. You can’t do tricks with your own sideboard in formats that have them, either. And sideboards aren’t really kitchen table gaming. Overcosted, inconsequential, and an overall unappealing idea. Pass.
I think this is reasonable, straightforward and fun. I would like to see this printed. Being a Snow creature is odd, but requiring Snow mana works for me thematically. This wurm does all the things! Are we ready for card names being on two lines to save space?
Leknif is Finkel spelled backwards. In the early days of competitive Magic, Jon Finkel was one of the greats. He is still in the conversation for the best player ever. He would probably do very well with this card. This is just a little too good, and should not be printed ever.
Speaking of not printed ever, it’s a zero-mana Planeswalker. Hooray, we got there! Is this a pinnacle of powercreep, or can we stand on it to see even greater heights? I don’t know, but I expect we’ll find out.
What scary is how cute and reasonable this card seems. It’s either a Forest wannabe, or makes a Squirrel. Never mind how it builds up to a very powerful Emblem. And opponents have to decide whether or not to divert resources to deal with it, so sometimes it’s a Fog. This one needs to stay as a Playtest card, and hopefully this was printed to warn us of the dangers of powercreep and not as a preview of Modern Horizons 5.
Seems cute, is immediately broken with K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth. Must stay Playtest.
Weird that it synergizes much more with K’rrik than Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. Get on top of your own tropes, WotC!
It’s Form of the Phyrexian! Cool idea, and probably fairly strong. In the right deck, this would be a banger. Would be great for the kitchen table Archenemy decks I’ve referenced a few times in this post. Probably even printable, though it might be a while before the Phyrexians get back into the main story.
Kind of cool, but I feel like the Playtest cards that reference Sideboards and Matches are a miss for a lot of casual play. This will mostly only matter in drafts, and maybe cubes. It is possibly quite good there, and if there’s a lot of modal spell support, could be an all-star.
Wish cards have been successful every time they’re printed. This doesn’t seem too good, and could totally be a real card someday.
It’s very appropriate that our final card is the splashiest and derpiest Aura out there. At a whopping 7 mana, this is quite an investment. But it has potential to be a game-changer and game-ender. Enchanting zones isn’t so far off Enchant World or Enchant Player. I think this will happen on some level. Maybe specific zones.
If you take away only one thing from all this, it’s that Tokens aren’t cards.
Wrap-Up
This was a very interesting bunch of cards. A wide range. I think we can divide them up into four main categories:
- Extremely playable lands – lots of new abilities, lots of potential. I suspect we’ll see them all in real sets before long.
- Extremely broken cards – stuff like Wrenn and One and Wrath of Leknif. Powercreep can get us there, but hopefully not too soon.
- Bad jokes and duds – Punny cards like Subgoyf and Plain Walker. Stuff that can’t really be printed outside of an acorn or silver border set.
- Legit fun ideas – I’m surprised by how big this category ended up being. There’s plenty of things that need a little tweak here and there, or a set’s worth of synergy, and we could have some really cool new cards.
What do you think? Any standouts? Any cards that are a must-have for your collection? Any that you can’t wait to see in print?
Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
As a werewolf player (EDH) I like Werewhat some(were)what and will try my playgroup to rule-0 it. Would be quite creepy to play it in an Eldrazi deck, making Emrakul/Ulamog/Kozilek real NIGHTmares. These are flavor fails in a werewolf deck, though. Therefore the tougher question is what will happen if you exile another werewolf and it becomes day again: Will Werewhat flip back into itself or into the backside of the exiled card?
Great question! It would have been really nice to have some sort of feedback or Q&A btw the designers and players about these cards. So many seem like a slight adjustment away from being in a real set. I really hope your playgroup goes for the rule 0, even just once.