Pattern Recognition #143 - Red Crust

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

5 March 2020

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Hello everyone! Welcome back to Pattern Recognition! This is TappedOut.net's longest running article series. In it, I aim to bring to you each week a new article about some piece of Magic, be it a card, a mechanic, a deck, or something more fundamental or abstract. I am something of an Old Fogey and part-time Smart Ass, so I sometimes talk out my ass. Feel free to dissent or just plain old correct me! I also have a Patreon if you feel like helping out.

And so I come to on my tour through the colour pie. Had to happen eventually, you know. I've talked about in the past, back when I was just starting out. I addressed how Chandra Nalaar was emblematic of the problems to be found in this colour, and in the three and a half years since, Wizards has tried to more actively address some of these problems.

So today, I'm going to go back over in a larger measure and try to build up from that and into a better explanation of what is and how it contributes to the game. And that means covering quite a bit of ground, so let's get started.

has an interesting history behind it, but for this, I think I want to start with the conclusion and work my way backward through it to see how I get to the answer. And to that end, allow me to present to you my final conclusion regarding .

is the fundamental timer on the game. It is the colour that encourages faster play either directly or indirectly and is the little voice in the back of your head whispering "Keep moving forward". Without in the game, the game slows down dramatically as each colour jockies for position, waiting for that one perfect moment to strike, to win. looks around and says "Every time is that time." sets the tempo of the game. It plays fast, hits fast, and sadly, dies just as fast.

is the colour of speed, and it expresses that in several ways. Not the least of which but the way in which most people think, is in their creatures.

I've mentioned way back when that likes to synergize with when it comes to having cheap and cost-efficient attackers on the battlefield. I even included the example of Boros Recruit as an example of this sort of cooperation. However, the difference is tends to a more defensive, or rather a more plotting approach. They will plain creatures but it's within a larger plan and there is still more to come.

With , the opposite is more true than not. For you see, 's signature mechanic, the one thing that they do more than anything else (despite it first being a mechanic) is give their creatures Haste.

Now, if you are literally being introduced to Magic through this article, and have no idea what Haste is, I think you need to stop and go play Magic Arena or some other teaching tool/player at your Friendly Local Game Store. But if you're still here, Haste is an evergreen keyword that allows a Creature to tap and attack the turn it comes into play, rather than waiting a turn for summoning sickness to wear off. Please note that Attacking and Tapping are two distinct things, as you can attack without tapping with the Vigilace Keyword, and you can tap without attacking if it's for an activated ability.

While not a large thing in , this colour does get creatures like Cunning Sparkmage or Fanatical Firebrand or Jeska, Warrior Adept. (And when her full-art was previewed for Commander Legends, once I realized what we were getting, it almost made me more giddy than realizing that THE BARON IS BACK BABY!)

ahem

OK, let's get back to the subject at hand. and Haste.

I said earlier in this article that is the colour that likes to set the tempo of the game, and Haste is one of the fundamental tools to do this, giving the player a certain degree of initiative over other colours when it comes to acting with their ceatures.

On the other hand, historically, creatures have been seen as weaker than other card types thanks to summoning sickness, this gives more opportunity to act with their creatures than other colours can, giving them more value. Of course, what value can be generated is a different beast entirely, but it is a small advantage can get.

Another way that maintains tempo and the speed of the game is through its most iconic effect. It's ability to look at a target - be it a Planeswalker, a creature or even a player and throw so much damage at it that said target is reduced to a pair of smoldering boots on the ground.

I'm sure there's an Un-card with that exact image, but I can't find it! Or am I confusing it with the Paranoia cover?

maintains tempo through direct damage, reducing or removing a threat or potential threat in order to allow other things - like more damage or creatures attacking - to get the job done. One of the massive warps in the game that isn't a total break like the Power Nine is in , and it's the

Whose flavour text in this printing is just beautiful in how this card has echoed through the ages.

You see, Lightning Bolt is a card that is so good at what it does, that it affects how creatures are designed and built years after the last standard printing. Yoked Ox exists in a space where three damage can come out of nowhere, and gets a creature that can take it because something has to.

Of course, this sort of scaling is something that Wizards has toned back on with Shock and Lightning Strike being a happy median to work around, but the lasting legacy of that card is still a sleeping monster that resonates even today. Three damage on an instant is not cheap.

This sort of thing is how keeps the game moving. Because by stopping, you're setting yourself up as a target. Sometimes not even metaphorically.

Of course, is not without its disadvantages. There are a few, mainly in its inability to deal with Enchantments and lack of interaction with the Stack, but the biggest one for the purposes of this article and this theme is in how it handles card draw.

I've covered this subject in some detail before, back when I was starting out and experimented with two-parter articles, but there have been some developments since then. You see, for the longest time, 's card draw was pretty much non existence, being in the same boat as in its speed. Namely, cantrips on cards, as well as simply drawing a card on your turn.

But in recent years, has started to gain traction in two methods of card draw. The first is a sort of equivalent exchange, cards like Cathartic Reunion where you draw and discard - or discard then draw an equal amount of cards. You don't gain anything in the process, but you do remove deadweight from your hand in favor of hopefully better options. It lacks the raw growth of 's ability to draw, or 's ability to draw for a price.

The alternative is pretty new, and is something I see a lot of positive reaction to, something that Wizards calls the "Impulse Draw". This is a case where, such as with Chandra, Fire Artisan and her +1, you don't actually draw a card but rather you exile a certain number of cards off the top of your library with the option to play them in a set amount of time or lose them forever.

All those years ago when I talked about the issues surrounding and card draw, I described the situation as being one where will burn the future for the benefit of the present, and this is something I think ties well into how I think plays in general as the tempo-driver of the metagame. They are OK with just keeping in motion, keeping th game going forward, throwing away the useless in favour of more stuff.

And if the new stuff doesn't work out? Well, it's all well and good because you can do it again!

is the color of motion. It has to stay moving because stillness is death. A deck that does nothing is a deck that is out of options. I should know given the results I've been having lately with my Zo-Zu the Punisher Group Slug deck for Commander. Death or Glory. There's no real middle ground here.

And it is this speed of action that defines how interacts with the other colours in the colour pie. When you add to anything, you are adding a dash of the inevitable, a certain desire to see the future come to fruition now.

That is 's underlying responsibility in the colour pie, at least in my opinion.

I'm going to have to cut this week short as my next segment is too big for this article this week, but it will be in next week, so join me then when I look at the Filling!

So, until then, please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!