Storm Scale: Zendikar and Battle for Zendikar
General forum
Posted on Nov. 21, 2016, 4:12 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Mark Rosewater has now posted his newest article about the storm scale, this time focusing on the Zendikar and Battle for Zendikar blocks.
I am not surprised by most of the ratings of the mechanics and themes mentioned in the article, and I am particularly pleased that quests, kicker, and rebound are low on the scale, meaning that they are likely to return in the future, since I am fond of all of those mechanics. I was very surprised that "colorless mana matters" was popular, since introducing the new mana symbol was a fairly drastic change to the game.
What does everyone else here say about this article? How do you feel about Mar Rosewater's ratings of the mechanics of the two Zendikar blocks? How likely is it that he shall rate the mechanics of the Innistrad and Shadows Over Innistrad blocks?
Rhadamanthus says... #3
The "problem" with Kicker is that it's too general and its applications are too broad. Escalate is the latest in a long line of mechanics that are essentially just Kicker with a different name. I think Kicker rates as high on the scale as it does because R&D believes it's more interesting to do a mechanic with a more specific purpose and scope rather than simply re-use Kicker wherever it's applicable.
clayperce says... #2
DemonDragonJ,
I thought it was funny that Kicker is a Level 4 ... it honestly should have been a Level 2, since it essentially returned in Eldritch Moon. It's just that it's now called Escalate.
November 21, 2016 4:24 p.m. Edited.