Observations and ideas on competitive and semi-competitive Magic the Gathering.
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Messing with the rule of four.
Posted 06-26-2009 at 02:16 PM by Drathro
Tags standard
***SPOILER WARNING: I will be talking about a new M10 card, so if you don't want to know yet, go away.***
Everybody knows you play sets of four cards in your constructed deck whenever possible, right? Well, I've begun to notice a little sub-theme in Standard MTG lately that almost begs you to break this rule:
Relentless Rats - I'll start with the obvious. Relentless Rats says right on the card "Don't play with four of me! Play more!"
Maelstrom Pulse - If you have been playing Standard at all lately, you've probably been two-for-oned by Maelstrom Pulse, because you played two Fieldmist Borderposts or Putrid Leeches or what-have-you. The mere existence of MP suggests that you should consider mixing up the combination of permanents in your deck. One way is to play analogs (different cards that serve the same purpose), if you can.
Thought Hemorrhage - This Cranial Extraction redux is another incentive to break the rule of four by playing fewer of the "key card" the opponent thinks you have.
Now that M10 spoilers have begun to leak, there are a couple of cards coming into Standard which also affect the rule of four:
Haunting Echoes - That's right, Echoes is rumored to be in M10, and this is definitely a card that hurts you more when you follow the rule of four. Haunting Echoes in Elder Dragon Highlander? Not too useful. Haunting Echoes vs a highly tuned Standard deck? Potentially brutal. Maybe you should think about more variety and less rigidity in your list.
Sphinx Ambassador 5UU
Creature - Sphinx Mythic Rare
Flying
Whenever Sphinx Ambassador deals combat damage to a player, search that player's library for a card, then that player names a card. If you searched for a creature card that isn't the named card, you may put it onto the battlefield under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
This new Sphinx's ability, in it's own special way, actually gets better against you when you don't follow the rule of four. The more variety of creatures in your deck, the harder it will be for you to guess what card has been searched. If you play all four-of playsets, suddenly there are only a few cards that could be named. Of course, you could just make sure the Sphinx never actually deals combat damage to you.
That's what I've noticed so far. Any other Standard or soon-to-be-Standard cards that rail against the rule of four?
Everybody knows you play sets of four cards in your constructed deck whenever possible, right? Well, I've begun to notice a little sub-theme in Standard MTG lately that almost begs you to break this rule:
Relentless Rats - I'll start with the obvious. Relentless Rats says right on the card "Don't play with four of me! Play more!"
Maelstrom Pulse - If you have been playing Standard at all lately, you've probably been two-for-oned by Maelstrom Pulse, because you played two Fieldmist Borderposts or Putrid Leeches or what-have-you. The mere existence of MP suggests that you should consider mixing up the combination of permanents in your deck. One way is to play analogs (different cards that serve the same purpose), if you can.
Thought Hemorrhage - This Cranial Extraction redux is another incentive to break the rule of four by playing fewer of the "key card" the opponent thinks you have.
Now that M10 spoilers have begun to leak, there are a couple of cards coming into Standard which also affect the rule of four:
Haunting Echoes - That's right, Echoes is rumored to be in M10, and this is definitely a card that hurts you more when you follow the rule of four. Haunting Echoes in Elder Dragon Highlander? Not too useful. Haunting Echoes vs a highly tuned Standard deck? Potentially brutal. Maybe you should think about more variety and less rigidity in your list.
Sphinx Ambassador 5UU
Creature - Sphinx Mythic Rare
Flying
Whenever Sphinx Ambassador deals combat damage to a player, search that player's library for a card, then that player names a card. If you searched for a creature card that isn't the named card, you may put it onto the battlefield under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
This new Sphinx's ability, in it's own special way, actually gets better against you when you don't follow the rule of four. The more variety of creatures in your deck, the harder it will be for you to guess what card has been searched. If you play all four-of playsets, suddenly there are only a few cards that could be named. Of course, you could just make sure the Sphinx never actually deals combat damage to you.
That's what I've noticed so far. Any other Standard or soon-to-be-Standard cards that rail against the rule of four?
Total Comments 6
Comments
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I don't notice any others in Standard but there are a slew of other cards from the past like Eradicate and Cranial Extraction.
And speaking of Relentless Rats, I wouldn't be surprised if they make another card in the coming year that does what the rats do, except for a different tribe in a different color.Posted 06-28-2009 at 11:08 AM by Streetz 
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What about this rule of 4 hoser, Meddling Mage! Name a card and it cannot be played, so if your running 4x of everything, thats 4 cards in your deck shot down by one card!
What about a future mechanic that has a built in Restricted ability? A card that has a keyword ruling limiting you to only one per deck?Posted 06-29-2009 at 09:03 AM by Trapezoid
Updated 06-29-2009 at 09:05 AM by Trapezoid -
Yep, Meddling Mage and Pithing Needle both reward you for diversity, when playing against them.
Well, technically almost all Legendary cards mess with the rule of four as well, but they aren't quite self-restricting. If they did make self-restricting cards, I wonder if it would be better as a keyword or a new supertype?Quote:Originally Posted by Trapezoid
What about a future mechanic that has a built in Restricted ability? A card that has a keyword ruling limiting you to only one per deck?Posted 06-29-2009 at 11:24 AM by Drathro
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I would love to see this expanded upon to make a full blown article. You up for the task, Drathro?
Posted 06-29-2009 at 09:56 PM by Streetz
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I'll give it some thought - you know I already have one un-finished article, and I also have another article idea trapped in my brain, waiting to escape into published form.Quote:Originally Posted by Streetz
I would love to see this expanded upon to make a full blown article. You up for the task, Drathro?
By the way, look at the view count for this blog entry. It's gotten between 4-10x times the views of other blog posts here. From now on, every blog entry must contain the words "M10 Spoiler!"Posted 06-30-2009 at 11:06 AM by Drathro
Updated 06-30-2009 at 01:00 PM by Drathro -
Or I need to feature the blogs on the main site more often.
Posted 07-03-2009 at 06:00 PM by Streetz
