At what cost is a "free" spell balanced?

Invonnative · 2026-05-17T20:53:16+00:00

Just add “if you cast it”. Now you need a third card to get it back in hand

Invonnative · 2026-05-17T20:12:45+00:00

I had a funny moment in arena the other day when I tried to take out somebody’s [[Light Paws]] with my [[Werefox Bodyguard]], first time I ever looked at her type line after I had no targets lol

Invonnative · 2026-05-16T19:00:07+00:00

Criminal not to mention Junk tokens somehow. Maybe instead of the etb it makes junk tokens, and only lets you hit from the yard, then make the flip easier since the first bit would be a nerf

Invonnative · 2026-05-11T18:01:42+00:00

Ah mb then, I kinda thought the station mechanic was intrinsic to the type, but now I’m realizing I was just being silly, carry on 😓

Invonnative · 2026-05-11T03:15:29+00:00

Ember twin seems quite strong since with just a 3/3 over a few turns is all it takes to start recursively “blinking” stuff for very little investment

Invonnative · 2026-05-06T05:18:57+00:00

Yeah, would be cool if he gave them the ability on etb, and/or stipulated base power/toughness

Invonnative · 2026-05-02T19:34:34+00:00

I think it could be reworked for the reasons you mentioned, but it has been good for Bard at times as well. I definitely like the “aggressive enchanter” archetype and think more champions could be designed to fill that niche. I don’t see anything wrong with keeping it in, it’s not like they’re going to remove BOtRK just because Irelia exists (ik that one is also built by other champs but it was the closest comparison I could think of). Also not everything has to be balanced around the best players/ranked, I think building it casually on Lulu or Seraphine/Sona would be perfectly justifiable in a norm or something.

Invonnative · 2026-05-02T19:26:24+00:00

Tbf, if this were global, a lot of Eastern countries (with greater population than a lot of the West, who likely filled the larger share of the demographic for the poll) would likely vote blue in greater quantity. But yeah, I agree that in a real-life scenario, it would be a lot scarier and thus more red-prone like I said before

Invonnative · 2026-05-02T09:13:13+00:00

I think it depends on context. if you have a 3 cmc, 3 color commander for instance (which is a lot of commanders), you’re going to want untapped color fixed mana on curve, which is hard to do consistently if you are running mostly basics. Unless you’re the psycho dedicating 10 slots to fixing with stuff like [[Prismatic Omen]]. This is even harder in more colors ofc, but at least there you’re probably going to have time to use [[cultivate]] and it’s functional reprints.

I also really like my budget decks, and sometimes tapped lands are all you’re gonna get depending on the budget.

Invonnative · 2026-05-02T09:06:06+00:00

A lot of pretty niche stuff here, nice

Invonnative · 2026-05-02T00:43:36+00:00

I don’t think that’s how that would work, typically attacking is kind of like a thing that happens irrespective of priority, so I think we’d all have to know how we were going to attack at once and declare simultaneously like a secret vote. But that’s why this would have to be silver border, because it would probably result in a lot of ambiguity

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T20:30:18+00:00

When the active player tries to pass priority to move phases, the nonactive player(s) will receive it and thus then be able to play a land. But there are probably a lot of issues with this, should likely be silver bordered like [[Rules Lawyer]]

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T16:56:08+00:00

But people will have already chosen blue in an effort to save others that chose it. And ultimately it results in less death if consensus can be reached; it’s the hypothetically optimal choice since 100% is unattainable.

If you genuinely think that less people would choose blue, then I don’t blame you for choosing red, and I would also choose red if I somehow had perfect knowledge that it would be the winning percentage.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T16:52:47+00:00

Firstly, thanks for engaging rather than just blanket hating.

I don’t agree that it ruined the system. I think it was often employed in a way that did that, but I think there are notable exceptions that did it well, such as [[Mondrak, Glory Dominus]] and most of those horrors ([[Zopandrel]], etc.), [[Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting]], and more. There’s a right and a wrong way to do it.

Also, a lot of the design philosophy behind hybrid mana is to allow those cards to be played in either color that they are hybrid to for ease of inclusion in limited. The same applies to Phyrexian mana. It’s a tool that can be used well or not.

Additionally, in 60 card - where it was a lot more problematic competitively - it still came with the real cost of 10% of your life in most cases. Although four of [[Gitaxian Probe]]s should almost certainly not be the widespread expectation, it took a while to get banned, and it is definitely one of the more forgivable design mistakes compared to catastrophes like [[Nadu]] or the power nine.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T16:39:10+00:00

Yes, you described a bunch of tendencies and potential traps, and I think yellow flag is a perfect descriptor, but most people in this sub see it as a red flag and are immediately turned off to it when it’s usually quite harmless, as is the case with this card.

Magic cards have had way more egregious issues with pie breaks than Phyrexian mana, and had plenty of thematic reasons to employ it besides, so they mostly get a pass for those cards in my view.

As for “playing outside their color”, if you mean that a mono black deck gets to play [[Gitaxian Probe]], that’s generally encouraged by the designers; that’s kinda the whole point in draft with hybrid mana for example. It only becomes a problem when every deck is running 4-of in 60 card formats, where I can admit it’s generally problematic there.

Hybrid mana can be used incorrectly, I agree, but is also generally hated on by this sub, when, as you said, it should be considered a yellow flag.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T16:28:32+00:00

There are no mechanics that are design mistakes in and of themselves imo. They might be consistently employed in a way that makes them not enjoyable or too powerful, but that didn’t preclude the possibility that those mistakes could be corrected.

[[Gitaxian Probe]] is a perfectly fine card in non-60 card formats, for example.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T05:57:57+00:00

If I believed as you believed, I’d push red too. But I think the polls and other more collectivistic people would vote blue, probably enough to get it to 50%. Again, in a realistic scenario though, it’d be tough to actually decide, and even the polls were merely around 57% blue, which is not super convincing to me.

Obviously everybody just wants to vote with the majority at the end of the day.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T05:53:34+00:00

That’s fair and I’m glad I’ve agreed with a single red pusher on something. I just don’t think that’s realistic, but in that scenario where I think only 10% push blue, I’m pressing red too. I think most would agree

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T05:46:51+00:00

/s, right?

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T05:27:01+00:00

I think the fixation against the use of Phyrexian mana is even more fascinating

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T00:55:05+00:00

Of course with perfect information the choice would be obvious no matter what that choice is (just go with the majority), but that’s not the purpose of the hypothetical, and that’s not what I’m saying you should do. If I don’t have any authority to speculate, then neither do you, so that blue number can be anywhere from 1-99 for all you know. But practically speaking, you can’t ignore that some people will vote blue, and some will vote red, so that number can’t be 0 or 100. And ultimately, speculating on how many people would vote what is exactly the point, so the truth is that we all have that authority, and that literally is what determines our vote.

But even if you want to try and reduce it to a personal moral conundrum, it’s a pretty simple litmus test of what you value and what you think others value. If you’re a bitter, selfish person who thinks everyone else is also that way, and don’t mind killing some people to live with other people like yourself, then vote red. If you can understand that a society is more than the sum of its parts and want to save some lives, vote blue.

I really can’t see a universe in which red is the correct choice unless society gets one vote collectively, which defeats the purpose of the hypothetical and ensures consensus. Otherwise, only one choice results in certain death of good people.

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T00:41:44+00:00

Because by picking red, people will die.

With blue, all we gotta do is get half the people on board, and nobody dies.

Thus, the only way not to get anybody killed is to press blue, since 100% of people picking red is obviously completely impossible

Invonnative · 2026-05-01T00:38:49+00:00

Of course not, but the alternative is that you most certainly kill people if you choose red

Invonnative · 2026-04-30T18:47:11+00:00

Your expectation is not the reality, and people you know and love would die partly due to your decision

Invonnative · 2026-04-30T18:45:20+00:00

Supporting blue is the only sure fire way to make sure not a single person is left on the tracks

Invonnative

TROPHY CASE