why is oppresive rays running in two sets back to back?
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on July 11, 2014, 12:39 a.m. by diodice
Is there something I am missing because from what i understand M15 and the Theros block are becoming illegal at the same time so is there any real reason they are printing oppressive rays? Just to do it? I'm having a hard time understanding why WOTC would do this. Someone please shed some non-oppressive light on this subject for me.
CharonSquared says... #3
Same thing with Oreskos Swiftclaw . I think it's kind of annoying, I feel like they could run different cards for white removal and aggressive creatures. After drafting a format for 3 months, you want to see new cards.
July 11, 2014 12:46 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #4
What other spell would you recommend in white as a 1 mana removal? Path to Exile
or Swords to Plowshares
? They have to put cards in that are not going to warp standard either. Wizards has 6 formats that they are trying to actively consider for each card released. Sometimes the better decision is to run a card that players may be sick of playing rather than giving WUx ANOTHER way to exercise control.
They also decided that to tie Coreset 2015 closer to Duals of the Planeswalkers 2015 by featuring the 6 planes you visit in the coreset instead of just being a generic anyplane. This means that there are going to be some repeat cards from Theros block because they only have so much room for new cards and Theros is one of the featured planes.
July 11, 2014 1:01 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #6
Besides, once u own a card it's good u can use it again.
July 11, 2014 1:05 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #7
APPLE01DOJ: I think the OPs point was that reprinting it in M15 doesn't extend the time you get to play with the card since they both rotate out of standard at the same time. However I have tried to "shed some non-opressive light" on why they would reprint a card so soon by considering formats with even smaller card pools that this printing will matter for,
July 11, 2014 1:17 a.m.
plebeianglenn says... #8
I dunno. I get that printing Path or Swords would be moving away from their focus on slower removal, but the reprint just feels... lazy.
Here are some other "good" to "meh" 1cc spells they could have put in that are from the featured planes:
July 11, 2014 1:30 a.m.
They've reprinted Giant Growth , Stone Rain and Plains far more times.
July 11, 2014 5:42 a.m.
TurboFagoot says... #11
If you can't see how something like Oust or Smite plays differently than Rays then you're beyond hope.
It's not about having a "one white removal spell", it's about having a conditional, taxing removal spell that plays into the intended speed of the limited format. All of those cards affect their respective environments differently.
Not to mention, making Magic cards is a finite resource. Why make a new card when an old one fills a hole perfectly? Better to save that new card for a set that actually needs it; there are only so many ways to make a Magic card.
July 11, 2014 6:26 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #12
Don't forget that making another 1-drop white removal spell would put two of them in Standard at the same time.
Let's imagine for a second that Oppressive Rays was Path to Exile , and they put Path to Exile in consecutive sets. Would you be mad? Would you demand that they print Swords to Plowshares instead to give you more variety? I don't even want to imagine a Standard in which both Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares are both legal.
Sometimes you gotta reprint things right away just to limit the power of certain colors.
July 11, 2014 8:20 a.m.
I think NobodyPicksBulbasaur has the right of it, they just don't want white (or any colour) to have too many tools all legal at the same time while still having them in limited. Take Lightning Strike for example, they could have reprinted Searing Spear instead since they're the same card, but then you could play both of them in Standard.
Gidgetimer says... #2
Removal for M15 sealed and draft.
July 11, 2014 12:41 a.m.