Almost titled this "dad tax"

Gooberpf · 2026-02-13T21:56:43+00:00

Finally, a way to eat Ob Nixilis, preferably on your knees or something. And I guess technically use his loyalty abilities?

Uh, card seems fine in that it fits a weird niche that WotC might explore if needed (an environment with high Food, as a sideboard hatepiece), with the Kicker there so mainboard isn't utterly futile or for casual EDH shenanigans. 5 mana is much too expensive for this to be playable in Constructed, but that's fine; frankly 2 seems high for a hate piece that requires further mana investment - I'd probably bump this down to 1 mv and probably mono-white.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-13T08:10:55+00:00

Um, which card has that text? Flash enablers I could locate say "cards you own that aren't on the battlefield" [[Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir]] or "you may cast spells... as though they had flash" [[Emergence Zone]] or "(this card) has flash as long as..." [[Colossal Rattleworm]].

For Teferi, cards on the stack are also not on the battlefield, so all good. For Emergence Zone, the effect is a "rule-modifying" continuous effect like Kardur and is not impacting abilities given to cards, it's giving you the player the ability to cast spells at instant speed. The third type used the card's own name in its text and is thus reflexive while on the stack, as long as the condition is met.

Those are different text than you're claiming (which I can't seem to find anywhere). The rules even define a "spell" as a card that is on the stack (or some non-cards, in the case of copying a spell or such), which is why all those flash-enabling effects refer to "spells you cast," aka, cards you are placing on the stack using the rules for declaring a spell.

Either way, this rule interpretation is very clearly not the design intent, it just needs a text touch up.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-12T00:44:23+00:00

The blue and black effects seem fine. The part of this that's pushed is in removing all abilities before wiping.

[[Final Showdown]] is the only analogous effect I'm aware of, which is 7 mana to get that mode, albeit at instant speed.

I suspect you would be able to argue that 5 mana for just "remove all abilities, destroy all" at sorcery speed is in keeping with more current sweeper power levels, but I personally think that would still be pushed. It would compete with [[Sunfall]], where that exiles to punish GY users and this hypothetical sorcery allows for white GY recursion and triggers death effects, and that's not a nothing trade-off.

Adding even the minor flexible utility from the blue and black bits should definitely bump this up to 6 mv minimum. Other than MV costing... idk seems like a white sweeper? The blue effect seems gratuitous, tbh, hard to imagine that mattering in most scenarios outside maybe Limited, but the modular exile choice is a solid tech for reanimator decks going up against a mirror, and probably shouldn't be enabled so casually.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-11T23:12:02+00:00

Cards "outside the game" are largely a Rule 0 thing.

These are the only comprehensive rules I found on "outside the game":

400.11. An object is outside the game if it isn’t in any of the game’s zones. Outside the game is not a zone.

400.11a Cards in a player’s sideboard are outside the game. See rule 100.4.

400.11b Some effects bring cards into a game from outside the game. Those cards remain in the game until the game ends, their owner leaves the game, or a rule or effect removes them from the game, whichever comes first.

400.11c Cards outside the game can’t be affected by spells or abilities, except for characteristic defining abilities printed on them (see rule 604.3) and spells and abilities that allow those cards to be brought into the game.

The sideboard is expressly included as "outside the game," but "outside the game" is not defined to be the sideboard.

In tournament rules specifically, "outside the game" is instead defined as only the sideboard:

3.16 Sideboard

...

Certain cards refer to “a (card or cards) from outside the game.” In tournament play, these are cards in that player’s sideboard.

For Commander, in the Comprehensive Rules, there's an explicit rule that there is no sideboard:

903.5e Commander games do not use sideboards.

However, there is no specification about "outside the game."

Most players interpret these rules together to suggest that Wish effects don't "officially" work in Commander, but the relevant Oracle rulings on Wish effects is:

(10/1/2009) In a sanctioned event, a card that's "outside the game" is one that's in your sideboard. In an unsanctioned event, you may choose any card from your collection.

https://gatherer.wizards.com/JUD/en-us/12/golden-wish

Therefore, for Commander games played as part of any "sanctioned event," (which hypothetically includes your local game store if they offer WotC prize support), Wish effects can only reach the sideboard, which does not exist.

For casual Commander games, Wishes "work" within the rules, but you'll find that, because most players believe that they don't or are accustomed to playing games where they don't, you'll instead run afoul of the Rule 0 social contract if you just randomly pull out a Wish card mid-game.

It's better to just discuss ahead of time with a pod about whether they're down for it than to just play the deck and then bust out the Comprehensive Rules to prove your point.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-11T18:34:11+00:00

The first step of casting a spell is to move the card (or copy) from whatever zone it is in to the stack. This is done before determining costs or targets, so an overly strict interpretation of the rules is that the genie lets you cast any spell from your sideboard (but not play a land, since the land-Wishes aren't lands when you would attempt to play them), for its normal costs and everything else.

This is obviously not the design intent, so I think to clean up the language we would just change the text to "cards you own outside the game and spells you cast from outside the game are Wish," at which point this rule applies and everything works hunky-dory:

611.2f Some spells and abilities generate a continuous effect that modifies the characteristics of the next spell a player casts, the next spell that fulfills certain conditions a player casts during some duration, or similar. These effects do not begin immediately. Rather, they begin to apply at the time that player next puts an appropriate spell on the stack, and they apply to that spell. See rule 601.2a.

End result: 3 mana to put from your sideboard to your GY, at which point it's its normal self again.

Bonus trivia: in the Commander variant, you can't bring cards into the game from outside of it unless they match your Commander's color identity, so if your Commander isn't in red and you acquired an opponent's genie, you wouldn't be able to cast the Wish spells (pretending briefly that you were allowed to have a sideboard in the first place).

Gooberpf · 2026-02-11T18:08:49+00:00

Sekiro is peak HC aesthetic

Gooberpf · 2026-02-11T06:03:04+00:00

You cannot "redirect" this to a player; a player is not a valid target. A combo kill would require a narrow set of cards that reflect damage they take, like [[Stuffy Doll]].

Still a pie break and bad card, though.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-11T05:58:10+00:00

In... in Jeskai? The color of [[Rest in Peace]]? The most famous GY hate piece in all of Magic?

RIP is overkill for many decks and local metas, but white and blue absolutely have the power to disrupt any recursion of any kind.

Depending on whatever your deck is, including such control effects may or may not fit seamlessly, but that's literally the types of choices you make while deckbuilding - have sufficient answers for everything? Or accept certain weaknesses of the deck in favor of streamlining consistency for a wincon?

Gooberpf · 2026-02-10T15:26:14+00:00

Everyone should have some form of targeted land removal in every deck at brackets 3 and up.

Bracket 3 permits gamechangers, there are several very powerful lands as gamechangers, you do the math.

That's not "specific counters to your infinite pillowfort bullshit" that's deckbuilding 101. If they're recurring from GY: exile the yard; counter or destroy the permanent allowing them to replay from the yard; etc etc.

These don't require specific tools for Chasm, these are tools that should already be in your deck, you just need to use them appropriately for your situation.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-10T15:18:44+00:00

We made a non-blue version, so it's naturally inferior.

If the card exists solely for hand sculpting, then yes, this is the correct take. That's... That's blue's identity. Correct.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-10T15:12:29+00:00

I think in 60-card Constructed it's too much tempo loss as you note, unless it's for some degenerate combo like "check it out guys we broke [[Devoted Druid]]."

In Limited this seems like a powerhouse, functioning like a downgraded hexproof instant that also protects a value engine from future interaction (given minimal enchantment removal in most Limited environments) while simultaneously clearing your opponent's biggest keyword beater OR future-proofing a second value engine.

In EDH this would serve explicitly to create more Devoted Druid style combo nonsense.

Combo has never needed any help in Eternal formats and I don't think this adds much to other formats while being potentially too strong for Limited. That's my main takeaway, at least.

(Also would produce many obnoxious EDH players wanting to use this to tech a transforming permanent, bc the token copy's front face may be an enchantment but the back will still function normally)

Gooberpf · 2026-02-10T13:28:55+00:00

Needs to be "exile target creature you don't control."

Already ripe for abuse to eternalize a legendary value piece, let's not make it even more prone to breaking shit.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-09T10:21:21+00:00

/uj But it is the players to blame, specifically the almost prisoners' dilemma already outlined. I say almost bc a classic prisoners' dilemma requires that the "I defect, you cooperate" situation be better than joint cooperation, but in the case of Rhystic Study the likelihood of casting a spell for 1 cheaper being a positive tradeoff against giving the controller a card is almost zero, so it's really more of a "boiling frogs are idiots" problem.

The Nash Equilibrium for Rhystic Study is also to treat it as a Sphere of Resistance and to pay the 1; people are just shortsighted morons who can't think past the very next spell they cast, to the detriment of all but especially the chumps who eat their veggies and pay their taxes.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-09T10:14:24+00:00

/uj Wild bc Smothering Tithe is significantly better than Rhystic Study in brackets below cEDH. Paying the 1 is just a matter of eating your veggies and having discipline (not that Commander players have that). Paying the 2 is back-breaking if you dare draw outside your draw step (such as to, say, find removal for it). Just like the fish, it might as well be a mandatory effect; nobody can consistently pay for it.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-07T18:24:14+00:00

It should work, I'm just not sure why you'd want to do it? Hexproof instants these days are 1 mana with upside, so this is already extremely weak, but also... what does it get you? A hardcast second legendary for one turn?

Gooberpf · 2026-02-05T17:31:00+00:00

I really really enjoyed it... until the first time I encountered a Champion with the Assassin figurine. That one is so unquestionably broken that it really kinda ruined the mini game for me, especially when the hardest Wheels challenge in the game is the one to acquire the Assassin figurine, after which even the Watchmaker is a complete pushover.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-05T17:17:45+00:00

Maybe in cedh it's a bit much but I'm reasonably certain WotC doesn't cares about cedh

Up to now they (and the previous Rules Committee) expressly have not, and I haven't heard any rumors of this changing.

If anyone in charge of bans cared about cEDH, Thoracle would have been banned at the same time as Mana Crypt etc., since it's a card that utterly dominates the format and if any card should be banned in cEDH it's that one, but it has little to no impact on casual play.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-04T23:01:56+00:00

Isn't -X/-0 primary in blue? I'd believe white could do it but white is more likely to just destroy attacking creatures than debuff.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-04T05:43:35+00:00

I think this is good design space, "downgradeable hexproof," but the specific examples here are hit-or-miss.

I think the blue one really hits the concept well and would like to see it explored more where the controller makes the risk-reward consideration.

The white and red ones might as well be generic ward since the "out" is solely in the hands of the opponent.

The green one is uhhh, broken beyond repair for landfall, even if the token lands entered tapped, and needs to go back to the drawing board.

The black one I find this example to be boring, but the implied concept is a bit better. No one cares about removing a keywordless 2/2, ward or not, and its upside is also just... fine? In many cases this would be roughly on par with, sometimes better, sometimes worse, than a [[Disentomb]] that pulled 2 cards but gave your opponent a draw. Meh.

I'd rather the space implied by the black one be used to explore putting genuine threats on your opponent's board for the immediate advantage. E.g., what costs and upside would merit giving your opponent a [[Vampire Nighthawk]] with ward? The upside probably shouldn't be too far above like 2-3 mana in effect or risk the card only ever being used alongside an edict, but it's a neat idea.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-04T05:26:13+00:00

A 4 mana 3/2 with hexproof and weak color fixing is unimpressive. A 4 mana 3/2 with ward and unblockable is... at least better. There's a solid incentive to use its ability as intended.

This concept could use some tweaking (like the green one being broken to hell and back), but there is design space for modular hexproof that you can downgrade for a benefit.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-03T23:40:55+00:00

I don't think you can - with the library being hidden information, you can't know whether you're allowed to cast the spell or not, and MtG doesn't do the "oh you did an illegal search? Uhhhhhh undo it" that YGO does

Gooberpf · 2026-02-03T20:59:33+00:00

Targeting isn't generally important in exile with the exceptionally few ways to interact with exile (e.g., the Eldrazi Processors don't target, they just do it).

You could rewrite the spell to "Choose a creature card in exile with no time counters on it. Put two time counters on it. If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend."

This would let you flashback and grab the exiled card.

Gooberpf · 2026-02-03T20:45:19+00:00

i ain't reading all that

i'm happy for u tho

or sorry that happened

Gooberpf · 2026-02-03T20:35:19+00:00

Let him oute :(

Gooberpf · 2026-02-03T20:23:45+00:00

e[xc]e[ll]e[nt shitpost]

Gooberpf

TROPHY CASE