Why Has WotC Been Reducing the Prevalence of "Tutors" in Recent Years?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 17, 2018, 10:41 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
A "tutor" is any effect that allows a player to search a library for a card (either unconditionally or with certain characteristics; named in honor of Demonic Tutor, the original card with that effect), but WotC has stated that, while they are not eliminating "tutors" from the game entirely, they are reducing their prevalence in recent sets, a decision that I severely dislike, because I am very fond of tutors.
Why did WotC make that decision? Are tutors too powerful, or is it simply annoying to spend the time searching a library and then shuffling it? What does everyone else say about this?
JANKYARD_DOG says... #3
Probably just so it becomes more "luck of the draw" than "T4, Look what I can do! I win!"
December 17, 2018 11:13 p.m.
WOTC have printed tutors in all recent sets - Ixalan had Mastermind's Acquisition and the forerunner cycle and Deadeye Quartermaster, Dominaria had Final Parting, GRN has Invert / Invent and Mausoleum Secrets...
I mean they are not against tutors, but lets say they are against tutors that are as aggressively costed as Demonic Tutor or tutors that only fetch a card from your library.
December 18, 2018 3:43 a.m.
landofMordor says... #5
What’s more, WotC has realized that shuffling a deck to resolve a tutor is about the most boring thing one can do in a tournament setting. So they’re also moving towards “top X of library, put them on bottom” to reduce the number of shuffles per match. Elvish Rejuvenator and Militia Bugler are recent examples.
December 18, 2018 8:03 a.m.
Limited is probably a factor in the costing of tutors. Two mana (with no additional work or costs) to find the bomb or silver bullet you need to win the game or stabilise can be problematic in a format defined by inconsistent decks.
December 18, 2018 1:39 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Mj3913, that is exactly why I like tutors: I always prefer to win through skill over luck.
landofMordor, but those cards have the chance of failing to find cards that meet certain criteria, whereas tutors do not.
December 18, 2018 9:29 p.m.
landofMordor says... #8
Yeah, I never said they were as powerful, but they did get printed at the common/uncommon rarity. It helps smooth Limited games without being completely busted in those formats. Those baby tutors still reward skill, but it’s skill at the deckbuilding level (as early GRN Standard decks running 4x Militia Bugler can attest, not to mention some Modern Humans lists!).
I’d also note that, even in a world where every tutor was a functional reprint of Demonic (and let’s assume everything becomes combo because it can be so consistent), competitive Magic would still be partially a game of luck, but the emphasis would shift from “did you draw into your combo” to “who drew enough lands, whose combo is favored, and who is on the play”, which sounds much less fun to me.
It depends quite a bit on the format, too. In Singleton formats, some amount of tutors might help janky decks built around Near-Death Experience win Commander games, or whatever. So I’m not arguing we shouldn’t have tutors, but I do clearly see and agree with WotC’s reasons for limiting their power (especially in Standard/Modern-legal products).
What formats do you prefer, DemonDragonJ? (Just curious)
December 19, 2018 7:13 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
landofMordor, I dislike rotating formats, because I dislike needing to constantly purchase new cards, so I typically play modern, legacy, EDH, or other, more causal formats, such as planechase and/or archenemy (I also like to combine formats if my friends are willing to do that, such a playing EDH with either a planechase deck or playing archenemy with EDH decks).
December 22, 2018 2:13 p.m.
Have you seen the 'commander adventures' on here? i havnt tried it but it looks like the guy did a great job on a planes chase expantion, looks like fun
December 23, 2018 5:51 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #11
Vash13, I saw it, but did not closely examine it, so perhaps I shall, in the future.
Vash13 says... #2
I think everyone likes tutors, (they are usually highest dollar cards due to cost and demand),and I think that their powerful is exactly the reason for WotC's desire to not print to many more, because if they printed more and more it would dilute the power/mana cost/$ cost/neccesity to the deck we all factor in our heads when building a deck. If there was one for every occation every deck would just stack them and combo search, that would be boring, so the way it is, some decks use them some decks dont making them just another factor and not a neccesity like mana.
December 17, 2018 11:13 p.m.