Erik's Random card 6/6/2011 I designed Master's Edition IV. I was also on the development team, which was led by Tom LaPille.
I was trying to give a feel of some of the old nostalgic cards. Powerful color hate was part of that. Magic used to have very powerful color hate cards that could quickly decide whole games. We don't tend to print cards like that any more. Why not? Most people find the game less fun when "Gloom" hits the table. The game goes on, but one player doesn't do anything. However Master's Edition is "opt in." If you want to experience how cards like this work, you can do it. If you hate stuff like this, you can play with other sets, or other formats.
A lot of people draft these sets; it's how most packs are opened (they are only for Magic Online). If this type of card is uncommon, roughly one person has it every draft, probably in their sideboard. It could actually be a "shy away from heavy green in draft" type of card. So I put this type of card at rare. It is a real experience to be shut down just for playing a color, but it is about every fourth draft that anyone has a copy at all.
Deathgrip certainly makes sense; it is a powerful hate card from Alpha that wasn't available on Magic Online. On the other hand, the Portal card "Nature's Ruin" also makes sense, and also wasn't available on Magic Online. I had to choose between the two of them.
On rare occasions, Nature's Ruin sees sideboard play in Legacy tournaments, including high level tournaments. Deathgrip hasn't seen high level tournament play for quite a number of years.
However when Nature's Ruin sees play, it is to get some card-name variety with Perish. I didn't see any high level tournament where a player used more than four of these, and I didn't see any deck that used green regenerators with Nature's Ruin (where it would work, but Perish would not). It was mostly to gain a small advantage against cards such as Cabal Therapy, where having different names would be advantageous. The actual advantage coming up in practice is an even rarer event.
In casual play, and tournament play if it became relevant at a future date, there isn't a card so close to the functionality of Deathgrip. So, after some thought, I decided to put Deathgrip in this slot.
At some point after handing the file off to Tom, I talked to him about some cards that were alternates to the ones I included in the file. Of course Tom had already thought of Nature's Ruin, and reached the same conclusions about it.
When we do play tests, I sometimes borrow other people's decks or watch other people play. That way I don't just learn how the cards I am playing with do; I get to see and experience a lot more. I got to see Zac Hill play this card (presumably from his sideboard) and give someone "the business". It sure looked frustrating; not losing to Zac, people are accustomed to that. But to be so locked down in a limited playtest by a 2 mana enchantment.
It was clear to me that Rare was right. Since this is only played as a sideboard card, I think it comes up at a tolerable amount, and is more a taste of "here is what Magic was like" than anything else. Of course that is a stretch; Alpha wasn't really made for drafting at all. Some colors are very weak while red gets Lightning Bolt, Fireball, and Disintegrate all at common!
This card had my favorite art when I was playing MTG as a kid. That was back in the day when I used to run cards because I liked the art...
OK, I never really had a physical copy of this, but it would be in my deck when I played the MTG video game, and I'd always be happy to see it come up, even though it's a very situational card. (As in, only useful if your opponent is green.)
Comments (6)
I designed Master's Edition IV. I was also on the development team, which was led by Tom LaPille.
I was trying to give a feel of some of the old nostalgic cards. Powerful color hate was part of that. Magic used to have very powerful color hate cards that could quickly decide whole games. We don't tend to print cards like that any more. Why not? Most people find the game less fun when "Gloom" hits the table. The game goes on, but one player doesn't do anything. However Master's Edition is "opt in." If you want to experience how cards like this work, you can do it. If you hate stuff like this, you can play with other sets, or other formats.
A lot of people draft these sets; it's how most packs are opened (they are only for Magic Online). If this type of card is uncommon, roughly one person has it every draft, probably in their sideboard. It could actually be a "shy away from heavy green in draft" type of card. So I put this type of card at rare. It is a real experience to be shut down just for playing a color, but it is about every fourth draft that anyone has a copy at all.
Deathgrip certainly makes sense; it is a powerful hate card from Alpha that wasn't available on Magic Online. On the other hand, the Portal card "Nature's Ruin" also makes sense, and also wasn't available on Magic Online. I had to choose between the two of them.
On rare occasions, Nature's Ruin sees sideboard play in Legacy tournaments, including high level tournaments. Deathgrip hasn't seen high level tournament play for quite a number of years.
However when Nature's Ruin sees play, it is to get some card-name variety with Perish. I didn't see any high level tournament where a player used more than four of these, and I didn't see any deck that used green regenerators with Nature's Ruin (where it would work, but Perish would not). It was mostly to gain a small advantage against cards such as Cabal Therapy, where having different names would be advantageous. The actual advantage coming up in practice is an even rarer event.
In casual play, and tournament play if it became relevant at a future date, there isn't a card so close to the functionality of Deathgrip. So, after some thought, I decided to put Deathgrip in this slot.
At some point after handing the file off to Tom, I talked to him about some cards that were alternates to the ones I included in the file. Of course Tom had already thought of Nature's Ruin, and reached the same conclusions about it.
When we do play tests, I sometimes borrow other people's decks or watch other people play. That way I don't just learn how the cards I am playing with do; I get to see and experience a lot more. I got to see Zac Hill play this card (presumably from his sideboard) and give someone "the business". It sure looked frustrating; not losing to Zac, people are accustomed to that. But to be so locked down in a limited playtest by a 2 mana enchantment.
It was clear to me that Rare was right. Since this is only played as a sideboard card, I think it comes up at a tolerable amount, and is more a taste of "here is what Magic was like" than anything else. Of course that is a stretch; Alpha wasn't really made for drafting at all. Some colors are very weak while red gets Lightning Bolt, Fireball, and Disintegrate all at common!
Gloom-grip Lockdown:
Land (23):
1x Plains
6x Island
6x Swamp
1x Seachrome Coast
1x Sejiri Refuge
3x Jwar Isle Refuge
1x Underground River
1x Roo***er Depths
1x Orzhov Basilica
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Terramorphic Expanse
White (1):
1x Enlightened Tutor
Blue (20):
4x Sleight of Mind
3x Man-o'-War
1x Mana Leak
1x Dream Cache
1x Memory Lapse
1x Force Spike
1x Daze
1x Power Sink
1x Capsize
1x Resounding Wave
1x Seal of Removal
1x Braingeyser
1x Whispers of the Muse
1x Foresee
1x Preordain
Black (16):
4x Deathgrip
2x Gloom
3x Dauthi Slayer
2x Black Knight
2x Dark Banishing
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Dark Ritual
1x Ihsan's Shade
Gold (1):
1x Dromar, the Banisher
Total Cards (61)
...it's not a great deck by any means, but it's a lot of fun against a similarly powered casual deck and it challenges your playing ability!
That was back in the day when I used to run cards because I liked the art...
OK, I never really had a physical copy of this, but it would be in my deck when I played the MTG video game, and I'd always be happy to see it come up, even though it's a very situational card. (As in, only useful if your opponent is green.)