Potential New Mechanic for Red
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on July 28, 2015, 1:52 p.m. by JWiley129
So someone asked Mark Rosewater yesterday whether red could temporarily animate enchantments. This would help alleviate Red's main weakness to enchantments, albeit with Red probably having to 2-for-1 itself to get rid of them. What are your thoughts on this potential new direction for Red to go in?
HolyFalcon says... #3
That could be cool. 'Animate your Rancor as a 3/3, now I'll Lightning Bolt it' sounds like a cool synergy.
July 28, 2015 2:06 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #4
Thinking on it. I think it would make more sense for black to have this ability. It'd be like turning the enchantment into a poltergiest
July 28, 2015 2:08 p.m.
I'm skeptical on the flavor of the mechanic, but I'm all for seeing if it's emplimented.
July 28, 2015 2:12 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #7
I'm curious how this would actually carry over into game play.
July 28, 2015 2:20 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #8
Probably wouldn't matter. I can't think of a reason mono red needs a way to deal with enhancements outside of edh
July 28, 2015 2:22 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #11
VampireArmy Well enchantment creatures are already a thing, and there is already a few ways to turn enchants into creatures. Mainly Starfield of Nyx and Opalescence.
July 28, 2015 2:38 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #12
Of course I'm just speaking from red flavor perspective
July 28, 2015 2:40 p.m.
I think the big thing, for me atleast, is that Red has really one card that deals explicitly with Enchantments: Aura Barbs. The other ways Red has are all either BLOW UP THE WORLD or Chaos Warp which we're never going to see in Standard.
July 28, 2015 3:32 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #14
I don't like it. It doesn't fit the flavor of red at all, and it seems more like a consolation than an intelligent and necessary addition to the game.
July 28, 2015 4:55 p.m.
I think it'd just be better to extend the ability to turn permanents into artifacts into red. Then there is no need to animate them, just blow them up.
July 28, 2015 5:02 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
Even that doesn't make sense in terms of red's flavor.
Passion, fire, and wanton destruction don't really deal with the minutia of turning magical enchantments into animate objects or artifice. It's beyond red's capacity. That's why this kind of thing is typically seen in white or blue, which deal much more with enchantment and artifact manipulation and with enchantments and artifacts generally. That these effects aren't red isn't an oversight; it's a conscious design choice that respects the limitations of red magic.
July 28, 2015 5:11 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #17
That said, I don't argue that red hasn't been pigeonholed into a pretty limited position. I just don't think these "corrections" are the right way to mitigate that (if it even needs to be mitigated).
July 28, 2015 5:12 p.m.
I will note that Maro hasn't said that this will be showing up anytime soon, nor that it's likely too. Just that he'll "think about it." Ultimately, we are at Maro's whims for what is in a color's wheelhouse and what isn't.
July 28, 2015 5:28 p.m.
That is true. But, as we've seen with the with the run-up to and the Commander 2015 set, Wizards is keen on alleviating some of Red's weaknesses and exploring their secondary ability to manipulate artifacts. It may stretch the color pie too thin to give them the ability to turn things into artifacts.
A more elegant solution might be cheaper 'steal target permanent' cards, coupled with more 'sacrifice a permanent: deal damage' cards.
July 28, 2015 5:49 p.m.
Ruffigan - Red has had access to those effects for a while now: Zealous Conscripts and Magmaw being two that come to mind.
July 28, 2015 5:51 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #21
Yeah, I'm with Epoch on this one. I don't like it.
July 28, 2015 6:27 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #22
Now that I've thought about for a little it seems like a bad Act of Treason. It would be a really work around way to deal with enchantments but it'd give red a chance to remove the stupid hate ones momentarily. Actually seems fairly balanced and wouldn't be surprised to see it gain some legs.
VampireArmy says... #2
I wonder how that would work. It makes sense to animate artifacts. How do you give life to an aura ya know?
July 28, 2015 2:06 p.m.