Why is Black Now Allowed to Sacrifice its Own Enchantments?
General forum
Posted on Aug. 21, 2023, 9:43 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
WotC previously said that black was not allowed to sacrifice its own enchantments because it has many "deal with the devil"-type effects, and players need to find some other way to escape from those deals than simply by sacrificing their own enchantments, but there have been several black cards in recent sets that allow players to sacrifice their own enchantments, so I wonder why WotC changed their mind on that issue.
What does everyone else say about this? Why is WotC now allowing black to sacrifice its own enchantments?
wallisface says... #3
On Mark Rosewaters Blogatog, he stated "The Council of Colors decided to start letting black sacrifice enchantments."
He also stated "We used to not allow it to allow us to make “deal with the Devil” enchantments. We found we made very few in recent years, so we decided to let black start sacrificing enchantments."
August 22, 2023 3:01 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
wallisface, I remember Mark Rosewater saying that, but that is not a good explanation, as it does not give an actual reason; it is completely arbitrary.
August 22, 2023 8:48 p.m.
DemonDragonJ What would you accept as a reason? Why do you think this decision was made? Do you believe this change has made the game worse?
Those questions aren't supposed to be aggressive or hostile; they're genuine questions to be taken at face value. (Taking the elcor approach: neutral, curious.)
It seems like you don't like or want this change. Mechanically, I don't see it as being much different from sacrificing a creature with a downside. Pulling out a Dark Privilege to escape the effects of a harmful Harbinger of Night has been valid for a long time. The flavor's a little.odd, but as long as black is getting the ability to interact with enchantments, it makes sense that it can interact with its own as well.
Also, this has been going on for all of one set. While it is kind of a lot of new cards with this effect, it's taking place in a set with a theme of creating and destroying Auras, and it's not unreasonable to expect the tide to settle down after Wilds of Eldraine.
August 22, 2023 10:06 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
legendofa, I hope that my own post did not seem to be aggressive or hostile, but black simply had very little interaction with enchantments for much of the game's history, so I simply did not feel that there was a need to make such a change, at this point.
August 22, 2023 10:11 p.m.
DemonDragonJ You didn't come across as hostile. I just wanted to make sure I didn't, either.
As I understand, the Council of Colors had noted that every permanent type at time the time (i.e. not battles) had three colors able to remove it reliably, except for enchantments. Since this didn't really make much sense, black was given the specific ability to remove enchantments with Feed the Swarm. The ability to remove its own enchantments expanded from there in Wilds of Eldraine. While I'm usually happy to speculate (and throw around wild guesses) about the future, I'm holding back on black's enchantment sacrificing until the next set comes out. Like I said above, I suspect that the number will be rolled way back in the next few sets.
August 22, 2023 10:26 p.m.
wallisface says... #8
DemonDragonJ my initial most definitely doesn’t answer any questions, but as far as correspondence from wotc on the topic, is probably the best we’re currently going to get.
To say anything more than that would be conjecture and guesswork - and I don’t see that helping in answering a question.
August 22, 2023 10:54 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
wallisface, that makes sense.
legendofa, you mentioning that makes me wish to mention shatter the oath from Wilds of Eldraine, because WotC said that black's ability to destroy enchantments would be nowhere as powerful and unconditional as white and green's ability to do so, as seen on Feed the Swarm, but shatter the oath has no drawbacks, so it seems that WotC has already forgotten what they said on that subject, so how do you feel about that?
August 24, 2023 9:15 p.m.
While Shatter the Oath doesn't have any drawbacks, it's also more than double the cost of an equivalent enchantment removal effect in or . So while it is unconditional and unrestricted, I would say it's very mana-inefficient. In fact, let's compare it to Hero's Downfall, which seems to be the current baseline for black removal.
Let's say that destroying a planeswalker is equivalent to destroying an enchantment plus creating a small Aura. Assuming that to be the case, it's barely half as efficient as Hero's Downfall. I would further argue that outside of an enchantment-heavy draft setting, the option to destroy a planeswalker is the more valuable choice. (There are, of course, plenty of destroy-on-sight enchantments and underwhelming planeswalkers, but as a broad and general rule, planeswalkers tend to demand more attention.)
Even comparing it to Murder, it needs a massive mana cost increase to match what or especially can do for 2-3 mana (Banishing Slash, Destroy Evil). There are more limiters than adding drawbacks and restrictions. Mana efficiency is the next big one, and Shatter the Oath is far from efficient. This is a draft common, and I suspect it will see next to no Constructed play.
It's worth keeping an eye on to see if it turns into a long-term trend, but my current position is that it's an appropriate effect.
August 24, 2023 9:38 p.m.
wallisface says... #11
DemonDragonJ mana costs are a huge drawback - paying 5 mana to destroy an enchantment is ridiculously weak when Green and White consistently can do the same for 1-2 mana.
August 24, 2023 9:45 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
legendofa, wallisface, that does make sense, so I suppose that I can accept a higher mana cost as a drawback for black being able to destroy enchantments.
FormOverFunction says... #2
I like the idea of having a mono-Black player trying to stay ahead of a snowballing trail of deals with various unsavory entities. I think the challenge is that there are some emergency exits, like Infernal Tribute that are 100% get-out-Of-jail-free ;p
August 21, 2023 10:27 p.m.