Definitely interesting. But most situations where this would be useful would be before combat.
Abl
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
This is easily the worst rare in the block to open in limited. It does absolutely nothing 99% of the time. The end of turn clause is what really kills this card.
Nucleon
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Does this do ANYTHING worthwhile in-set?
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(10 votes)
Dat rulings.
ChttrBox88
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
You ever think "Man why does the second main phase have to be such a strong time for color-hosers?"
. . . Well if you did, Wizards got ya covered.
busdude
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Color-switching effects have been among the biggest do-nothings in magic ever since the useless lace cycle from Alpha.
And 20 years later, here we have color-changing trash taking up a rare slot.
GJ wotc.
0.5/5
TheVikingMage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can switch around lands! If that's ever a thing you wanted to do... mana fix or screw with your opponents counter spell mana? I don't know I've got nothing.
buffalotank
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(8 votes)
i'l give it a 1 only because it tried.
LordOfTheFlies87
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Guys...guys...you can CIPHER this. That means you get to cast this every turn...free!
Provided you meet a few conditions beforehand, and want to cast this card for any reason.
ThePinkBaron
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
NOW I CAN FARSEEK FOR A FOREST! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Cronomax
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Wizards wanted a cipher card at one so they put litteraly the most useless effect on it. If anybody says wizards doesnt hate Dimir point to this card.
SnickaPlease
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Aww man, I wanted Mind Bend on cipher, but they had to add "until end of turn." Lame. I wanted to slowly color screw them. Now what use could it possibly be?
Mindbend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Color hosing can only do stuff its an instant. This does nothing. Its a shame mind bend had so many uses.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
How many cards in this set is this worth playing on? Zero? One? Awesome...
Not to mention that cipher is absolutely useless on this card. How many permanents do you want to cast this on? And then you ain't even able to cast it on instants, to mess up spells such as "destroy target non-black creature" or whatever. It's just another generic boring filler that has no useful interaction with the rest of the set.
CaptainNinJoe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
While this card is definitely bad in limited, it isn't without its uses. For example, this offers mana fixing in blue. However, you either have to wait a turn for the fixing, or miss your "X-drop on turn X". Yeah, this card is bad.
Now, if you get into casual...
Teysa, Orzhov Scion. Change black to white. Exile as many creatures as you want for free (assuming you have 3 white creatures to sacrifice to get the combo going). And if you can Cipher this onto an evasive creature you control first, it effectively turns into "exile as many creatures as you want, and get a 1/1 Spirit. Activate this only on your turn, after combat."
As it is, though, very narrow scope and absolutely abhorrent in any non-casual format. This card is only good for making you think of zany combos that just might work.
MrBarrelRoll
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If I ended up drafting the Dimir-with-a-billion-extort-cards deck, I would MAYBE consider runnning this. Having something to extort every turn is not irrelevant, even if the spell is.
That said, a million things would have to go right before I would even consider taking this, and with this being the first pack and there only being one pack of GTC after this to pick up extort dudes? Unless I pick this up as a 15th card, and then somehow get 8 extorters pack 2, that's a hell of a pipe dream.
whitecow
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
the "until the end of turn" kills this card
Jake1991
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wall of text.
evenintheshower
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Too bad the card name Totally Lost was already taken because if you play this, then you will totally lose.
Dimir is my guild and I am saddened by this. Until end of turn? What the heck is one to do with that? Some kind of weird mana fixing, I guess, and it's a rare to boot. They should have made it mythic rare so I wouldn't have to worry about pulling it out of booster packs too often.
I sure hope it combos with something in the 2014 Core Set. Right now it is next to useless in Constructed or Limited. The only good thing I can say about it is that it only costs to cast.
Jalenstorm
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
Nivmagus Elemental, meet Trait Doctoring. Trait Doctoring, exile yourself and give Nivmagus Elemental two +1/+1 counters for FREE every turn.
Being able to theoretically win a game with (1) Island and (2) cards is pretty darn efficient. Of course, it probably won't win you a game, but it will put your opponent on the defensive immediately. It's a threat that they will have to either block to prevent it from getting bigger, or remove outright. While they are dealing with that, your other strategies will be able to win you the game.
MockingJ
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I love it! best card in the set by far!
TheChort
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Gah, I thought this card was going to be amazing until I read that "Until end of turn"
Seemed like it could be an all-star in my Sygg, River Guide EDH, Islandwalking and proceed to change all of my opponents forests into islands or whatever.
But now it only enables islandwalk on the turn its cast and doesn't do anything lasting. Seems pointless, other than "When a spell is cast" triggers but then you probably should just use Hands of Binding for a card that actually does something. :/
RAV0004
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Please stop printing moonlace effects" said everyone ever.
Haplo81
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is pretty disgusting with Chimney Imp. 0.5/5 for being broken.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I bet I get this as my 'Guild Pack Rare' lol 1/5 Stars
Mistralis
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When I first read it, I thought it sucked.
Then I saw "until end of turn".
Now it really sucks.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Well, here we go, Dimir's broken Cipher rare. Which is why experts point out Dimir is the least drafted guild.
rollinsclone
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(10 votes)
Well it will be a lovely bookmark.
JaxsonBateman
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I initially glossed over the card, and thought the effect was permanent. If it were, it'd have some use even in limited - to either colorscrew the opponent by turning their basic lands into lands they don't need (ie. swamp if they're not playing black), or to come out of the sideboard to give their Woodlot Crawler protection/walk for a more useful color. In casual play, if the effect were permanent it would definitely have some janky applications, though would still be quite narrow in usefulness.
I then noticed it was until end of turn. This thing is about as useful as Heroes' Reunion, and I can see it being one of the last few picks in a pack. Even rare drafters will stay away as this thing will likely sell for 10c in short order.
don_miguel
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
the worst of the card is that the two more common scenarios this card would be useful are "landwalk" and "protection" and by the momment you get the cipher that means your creature dealt damage already
Vakyoom
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I WILL break this card... just you wait, i'll do it.
Kalxandore
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I wanted a card like this, but not in this way, there are too little uses for this card, especially in this block, it really could have been much better, even if it did anything else. I will be using it, it is a combo piece I was waiting for in my mill deck, but I feel cheated.
1. Till end of turn 2. After the combat has ended 3. takes up a rare 4. Almost useless in this block
Nonprofitparrot
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Combos with Woodlot Crawler. And everything made sense forever.
MisterAction
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fellas, fellas fellas and also ladies! You're forgetting a clutch limited use of this.
If somebody plays Contaminated Ground on one of your lands, you can turn it into whatever land type you want until end of turn!
Yeah, okay. I tried.
yesennes
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Normally when I don't see how to use a card, I come and read the comments, and y'all prove it is really an awesome card. YOU HAVE FAILED ME!
SquareWhale
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I am disappointed. Not by this card, but by all if you. You spikes look at this and say "this won't work in my Johnny combo, EDH whatever." A true Johnny would find a combo! Nivmagus Elemental gets huge! Quirion Dryad gets huge and works with green spells! Go main deck four of these and then think of the rest of your deck!
Nagoragama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yeah, I can't wait to open this in my limited pool. Couldn't it have been uncommon?
Update: Wow, I shouldn't have said anything. I literally did open this in my sealed pool at the Prerelease.
Mightyass
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"OK, R&D, we need a rare card for Dimir. You know, the guild that everybody loves, but it really sucked in Gatecrash, co we can fix it now. Any suggestions for Dragon's Maze?" "Well, we could give them a nice piece of removal" "Nah, we already gave that to Golgari, you know, they only got the best removal in Abrubt Decay, they need Putrefy too." "Well, what about giving them some good counterspell?" "No, Azorius need the cool counterspell more, you know, they don't have any powerful instants whatsoever. I mean, who cares about life and cards?" "I know! Let's give them an effect that nobody cares about, but they can do it EVERY TURN!" "Yes, YES!!! THIS IS PERFECT!"
I wish my favourite guild was not Dimir, I really do :(
Toquinha1977
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First thing I thought of was Magical Hack, which is an instant and can target any spell, not just permanents, and lasts indefinitely when played on a permanent, which in most ways makes it a strictly worse version (can't even be imprinted on Isochron Scepter). Still, with a LOT of work, the card can have its use...
But yeah. Extremely narrow in use, very limited use in limited, and mostly interacts with cards that don't see a lot of play in Standard (except for maybe Liliana of the Veil). This set's most useless rare.
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Magic hack that trades speed for cipher. I'm for it. It feels like an upgrade minus the fact that you can't put it on an isochron scepter. Especially in a set with the aforementioned Nivmagus Elemental.
JimmyNoobPlayer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It doesn't combo with Woodlot Crawler very well. You can cast it once to make a forest for the Crawler to get through, but then the cipher is useless. It only triggers after combat. :( I guess Nivmagus Elemental is the only use for it. Or Legacy/Casual. (Other commenters have brought up Quirion Dryad and extort, which slipped my mind.)
CrimsonVoid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The only way this card could have been useful is if it was either an instant (still not rare-worthy) or if it was permanent (maybe rare-worthy then). The only reason I gave it a 1 star vice a 1/2 is because I love the idea of changing card text. Even though it's rarely very usefull.
Cyber_Squirrel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Could be used for mana fixing, to have one of your basic or shock lands produce mana of your choice until the EoT. Use with Crypt Ghast and Gem of Becoming to ramp a mostly blue deck with a pure Island mana base. Use with Grave Betrayal to make green zombies. Don't ask me why. It has a lot of uses, just none of them very common. Or useful...
doobideedoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
wouldn't this pair up decently well with creatures like Sage's Row Denizen, and Shadow Alley Denizen? I'm a noob.
Guest1515973801
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I see many many uses for this card...but relatively few in standard...once you get into modern and especially legacy this can become nasty. I still use magical hack in some old decks and always end up wishing I had sleight of mind instead...this effectively gives me both in one sloth...plus cipher as icing on the cake! The downside is that it only hits permanents unlike sleight/hack which can hit spells being played like instants and sorceries...but still very useful....you can maindeck good ol flashfires or boil with this and tailor it to your opponents colors...or if they run some creature that is pro whatever color you can change its protection....or if its pro blue you can change your blockers around to be able to deal with it instead...and therein lies the other fault..sorcery instead of instant like the hack was..3/5.
Alter_Boy
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Post-combat mana-filtering. Throw it on a flier to turn your third island into whatever colour you need right now. Helps the Innistrahd dual enter the battlefield untapped.
Havrekjex
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Couldn't it at least have been an instant?
Curlie-Joe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I know it shouldn't be possible for a card to be rated lower than 0.5 with this rating system, but come on, Community; with a slow variant of a Moonlace effect, anything should be possible.
(sarcasm) Now I can finally make that blue Valakut deck I always wanted! (/sarcasm)
Odee
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
It's a cipher card that always has a target, therefore you can ALWAYS cast it after combat damage. It's dirt cheap and nobody takes it seriously so it won't make ciphered creature priority #1. Seems to me that if your goal is just to sling spells (guttersnipe, nivmagus elemental, blistercoil weird) this card will sit nicely. It's also a subtlety card, lets you hide a colour in your deck without the need for chromatic lantern. Warleader's Helix from an Izzet deck or a Dimir deck is going to throw people.
johnnyinabucket
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I could see it useful if you splashed ___ color and have on the splashed color in your hand and you desperately need to play it but don't have a mana source. changing one of your own lands to said splashed color.
MojoVince
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not buying a lot of boosters when a new set comes out but sure out of the ten i've bought i was opening this , screw you MTG ! Someone at R&D thought that it was a long time since a "switch color" card like this and decided to plan one. Screw you , a game about changing colors is hard to make (i had one once) and this card add nothing cause cipher isn't that easy.
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think the intended trait of this card is doctoring around with cipher, and less with the actual effect itself.
Think of it as a gimmick card like Evermind, with the additional bonus of being a gimmick card like Mind Bend.
MrSunso
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Does nobody understand that you can use this card with cards like Crypt Ghast to help you mana fix? I see everyone saying this card is garbage, but its not. It just needs to be paired with other cards correctly.
Rootkit9208
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This it's by far the most flexible card I have ever seen
Protection from black? More like protection from green and murder ! Forest walk against monowhite? Plainswalk! Your power and toughness is equal to the number of islands in play? More like the number of mountains! Enjoy your new 0/0 Enchanted kand is a swamp? Nah, I like it better as a Mountain.
Problem is, in standard, flexible and standard are two entirely different demons to wrestle with. Unless Theros brings about some serious mana related coolness, this card will always be too cool for standard.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm pretty sure there are cards that'll do this permanently instead of requiring you to hit every turn to make it work. If there are niche uses for this, then they are few.
EDIT: Hmmm, I missed the fact that this can affect basic lands AND your own landwalk abilities. Anything with any landwalk will become unblockable the turn you cast it, and it performs various shenanigans afterwards. Still, the fact that Sleight of Mind and Magical Hack produce the effects PERMANENTLY make this seem a fair bit weaker.
Okuu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is one of those cards that baffles me. No value in any format whatsoever, even casual. Shouldn't have been a rare.
Good thing the effect lasts permanently... Oh. Well, good thing it's an instant... Wait, WTF? I call this a rare snipe.
kor6sic6
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The only use I can see for this is changing protection colors for my esper sideboard. Only pro-blue standard guy is Skylasher, and I run Woodlot Crawler, Lavinia and both knights "of" in my board to stalling opponents. Making a long-term Lavinia or whoever else could have its uses. But this is just til end of turn. So meh. Dimir got the shaft with this card and Selesnya got the shaft with Emmara. lol
TooDarkPark
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
What a god awful crock. This isn't even worthy of being a common. I'd rather open a pack and find a card from Homelands in the back than have this as my rare.
KvotheBloodless
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think next set should be: Whenever a permanent you control changes color, put 3 +1/+1 on that permanent.
Also, I would have loved tis be a bit more expensive and be: exile target instant or sorcery in an opponent's graveyard. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost. Maybe cost 4/5. Maybe toss it to mythic.
TowerDefender
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm glad it is hard to find a use for as I don't like the art. Less of the lobotomies please Wizards. Good for a sneaky off colour spell. Flash in any colour creature with Yeva.
The.Laughing.Man
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How to make Trait Doctoring useful.
Garruk, Caller Of Beasts.
I kid, its still bad in that scenario but still funny
DritzD27
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So sad that this doesn't continually enable Woodlot Crawler. Really unfortunate.
Majora_13
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@curlie-joe
Challenge Accepted (not sarcasm).
robox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Guys. GUYS! Sunforger can now do instants of any colour!
xoman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Got card in booster pack, It is now been dipped in my pool, ripped, cut about 9 times with the scissors, and frozen Now I will burn it and pound it's ashes with a hammer and hope that that makes me feel satisfied that I spent $4 on a trait doctoring.
HotHit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Gentlemen. Upcoming in Theros is Heroic. Heroic abilities as far as we know are (judging from the heroes vs monsters duel deck spoilers): Heroic - Whenever this card is the target of a spell
Now, Anax and Cymede might not be permanent, but if others are, we're in business. With most cipher cards you don't want to target your own creatures (or in some cases can't). So let's see...
Turn 1: Judge's Familiar Turn 2: Nivmagus Elemental (thankyou Jalenstorm), Trait Doctoring, cipher onto judges familiar, recast trait doctoring, exile with Nivmagus Elemental. Turn 3: Heroic 3 drop, recast Trait doctoring target the heroic creature to cause the trigger, exile it with the elemental.
You could also play extort if relevant heroic creatures are in white or black for free extort triggers. You could also play hidden strings for double the triggers and a useful ability. :/
Vicentil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I swear to glob, I'm going to find some relevant use for this. Trait Doctoring will save your life some day, hm hm.
NARFNra
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
From Mark Rosewater's blog:
Was the card Trait Doctoring from DGM made with devotion in mind? -k9gm3
Let’s just say we were aware of the interaction.
Devotion to color! Maybe this will have a use! Ruin their Devotion! Use any other color Devotion as Devotion to blue! There's gotta be strats there somewhere.
And it's not like this card isn't running for 30 cents atm or anything, so buying a playset should be easy.
thevegetable
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i was really hoping that i was being daft and gatherer would help me see tons of unrealized uses for this one. oh well, maybe someone at the wotc factory felt guilty about this card, and slipped in that foil teysa next to it for me. thanks.
hippoman23
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Devotion!!!!!
SirZapdos
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
It can turn Gods from creatures back into non-creature enchantments. 5/5
Yukaraya
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
I almost thought this was going to be relevant with Devotion, but then I realized this was a sorcery, not an instant.
Brakken
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I think Wizards was really careful in making this card because of Heroic that was added in Theros. This is the only one mana cipher spell, and it's power levels are actually pretty decent if you build a deck around it in standard alongside it's best friend,Akroan Crusader. Here's an example: Turn 1: Steam Vents coming in untapped, Akroan Crusader. Turn 2: Steam Vents coming in untapped, two Trait Doctoring, swing for 3, 5 1/1 soldiers. Turn 3: Island, Akroan Crusader, Hidden Strings targeting the Akroan Crusaders, swing for 7, 11 1/1 soldiers. Turn 4: Swing for 11, which should be lethal. This sounds pretty nice on paper, but considering Anger of the Gods is in the same set and it only takes one piece of removal to ruin the whole plan. I will still hope it comes up as a strategy, Izzet Aggro. We can always hope.
A3Kitsune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, it turns any land with a basic land type into a Mountain to be blown up by Peak Eruption, so that's something. Actually, this could have some use in blue-red decks by dealing with protection from red. And Young Pyromancer likes spells that cast themselves each turn for free.
TheMentalProdigy
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Alone, this card sucks, especially to Timmies. But in combos, it can be used quite well as stated by people before. The fact that the effect isn't permanent is a deal breaker for most people, but think about it: You have a card, that for one blue mana can change one land into another, or one form of -walk or protection to another. This card also has Cipher, allowing you, through careful management, to use this potentially the entire game, and cast it every turn. If the effect were permanent, 4 copies of this, along with the host of unblockable creatures availabe, would completely destroy an opponents mana base straight from the start of the game.
In other words, if not for the "end of turn" clause, this card would be completely broken.
The "end of turn" effect is also useful for you, and it combos magnificently off of, oh, I don't know... Nightveil Specter which was just released in the set before. Essentially, you can enable yourself to cast whatever card you exiled with it, without permanently changing one of your lands and for less mana than a Chromatic Lantern
All in all, 2.5/5. It's not good, but it's not crappy either, it all depends how you combo it.
Edit - Also, with the introduction of Heroic and some interesting color play in Theros, this card just got a bit better. 3/5
poonilli
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
maybe Akroan Crusader or to change a devotion count but pretty much useless
Hydrothermia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It needs some help, but I think Leyline of Anticipation and Braid of Fire. Leyline lets you play it with Flash, Braid's mana production can be changed by Trait's to whatever color you want to use allowing you to drop say a Gigadrowse with Replicate?
P.S.: I'm not really sure if the application of Trait Doctoring/Braid of Fire is a "legal" move by my interpretation of the card. Could someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.
Mosstone
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
not sure if anyone realizes this... it's for a chomatic decktype... bunch of effects for permanents of varying colors... cipher onto an unblockable... choose what colors different buffs affect each turn... or what color things are spit out by a system or permanent... or four of them if you search your deck for them... should be at least three stars... costs a single mana...
SystemSCSnake
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Could've found uses if it was an instant..
dies2doomblade
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Clearly, Wizards hates Johnny players. There is no other explanation for this card. I will admit it. I have lost an entire night's sleep trying to think of how to break this card.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Phalanx Leader. Congratulations, Trait Doctoring, you've earned another half star from me. 1/5
Spoonsire
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Slap this on Lightwielder Paladin and you can exile a permanent of your color choice every time you connect. Probably need to add some evasion...
Remember when MaRo wrote about some of the cards being designed for uber-Johnnies out there, who just want to prove that they could find a use for the seemingly (or literally, depending on your viewpoint) worst cards, and cited One With Nothing as an example?
Well I guess here's another such example.
Edit: I think I might have been wrong here. The combination of Nivmagus Elemental, Akron Crusader, Hidden Strings and Trait Doctoring seems potent.
Here's one of the optimal draws (that is reasonably possible), see if you can follow! Starting hand: 2 lands, Akron Crusader, Nivmagus Elemental, Hidden Strings, Trait Doctoring, one other card
T1 Mountain, Akron Crusader T2 Island, tap both lands for Hidden Strings targetting your two lands and cipher the Crusader, tap the two lands again and cast Nivmagus Elemental, cast Trait Doctoring targetting Akron Crusader (making a red 1/1 haste and changing red to black, ciphering the new 1/1 haste), Swing with both Akron Crusader and 1/1 haste token, getting two cipher triggers:
The Trait Doctoring copy targets the Crusader, making a black 1/1 token and gets eaten by Nivmagus Elemental. The Hidden Strings copy targets the Crusader and your Island and resolves, making a black 1/1 token and gives you one mana for Mizzium Skin backup. (If you do not have Mizzium Skin or Izzet Charm, just let Nivmagus Elemental eat the copy instead.) Now if your opponent taps out on his second turn, you cast Mizzium Skin on the Crusader at his end of turn (making another black 1/1) and let the Elemental eat it.
That's a hell of a turn two. In the end, you have a 5/6 and four to five 1/1s. You would really be living the dream if your turn three is land, Dynacharge. While this turn three kill is pretty unlikely, with some redundancy in Young Pyromancer, it isn't uncommon for Dynacharge to be lethal on the fourth turn.
Guys, this does NOT combo with Nivmagus Elemental. Ciphering Trait Doctoring onto Nivmagus Elemental only occurs during the resolution of Trait Doctoring. If you exiled Trait Doctoring using Nivmagus Elemental's ability, then Trait Doctoring does not resolve.
@CJOLL4: While true, that doesn't prevent you from feeding the copies to Nivmagus Elemental, which is the point of the combo. Which does work.
I should know; I've been building the deck described in a few comments here.
Gaiden.17
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Question: am I to interpret that if you can change the mana type produced from a basic land, that you can then change the mana type produced by rampers, i.e. could I switch a green mana symbol for a white mana symbol on mystic elves? If this is not a reasonable extrapolation, I wonder if the card could be errata'ed to that effect...
greenlanterndw
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Under the Rules: Trait Doctoring's effect changes only the text printed on the permanent. It can't change words found in abilities it's been granted. For example, if you've changed “green” to “blue,” and the permanent gains protection from green (as opposed to having protection from green printed on it), that protection ability is unaffected. The permanent will have protection from green.
Whats the point of this card then? if i cant change protection thats part of the text!
Kura-san
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Imho, while not remotely useful for the period it was released, I have some fun with it in casual play. It goes into my UB deck where I can use it to change the text of Nightscape Familiar's cost reduction from "Red" to "Black". I can Cypher it onto a safer creature, or rely on Regenerate to keep the little guy alive to pump out more Black and Blue spells. While not necessarily close to being a good card, it does have its uses. I know, I know, there are probably better combos and replacement cards out there, but you have to make do with what you've got, right?
NothinPuffin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@greenlanterndw That ruling is just reiterating the fact that the ability has to be printed on the card itself, not an ability granted to the creature. You can still change Protection From Black to Protection From Green on a card.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Odee makes a good point. The real use of this card is to have a cipher spell for . I don't think the effect needed to actually do anything.
Essentially, if you had a Guttersnipe out, this becomes "Whenever this creature deals combat damage, it deals 2 damage to each opponent". It's almost like Spiteful Returned.
I may consider using this in a combat-oriented casual deck. In fact, if you use this, you can play Peak Eruption, destroy a land AND deal 3 damage for .
DmitryM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Does this mean you can activate heroic every single turn?
That'd be really sweet if any creatures lived in a format with 10+ hate cards in every deck. Nice way to get 2 for 1-d.
Fawxkitteh
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
1 Star? I am so disappointed in people's lack of understanding.
Any "whenever you cast an instant or sorcery" or heroic creatures love this card. Lowest cost cypher, leaving mana open for other stuff like counter spell's or spells to ensure you hit, and has no negative effect on your heroic creatures pre-combat phase, like hidden strings might.
Nivmagus Elemental loves eating this (the copies guys, not the original, the copies) especially after you target a heroic creature (say... Triton Fortune Hunter) with it. The heroic effect WILL go off even if Nivmagus eats the copy, turning any hit with a Trait cyphered creature into something scary.
What else? Chained to the Rocks removal (especially if they have multiple things chained to one mountain <3) Potentially multiple Blister Coil untaps a turn, wonderful with Retraction Helix. Mind Sparker, creatures with protection or land walk. Mana fixing. Pressuring your opponent. Say you attempt to Trait Doctor their only plains. Do they respond with Supreme Verdict or become forced to wait until their turn to use it, using their mana for the turn. If you're holding a decent 3-4 cost creature, waiting for their decision, it can be nice seeing them blow it early rather than seeing your creature go with it.
I think this card is deceptively amazing. Guess I'm one of them uber-Johnnies.
Syrtees
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is part of a two card combo, prophesied by seers, that holds the power to end all Magic. It is said that after the first is released the next will follow shortly thereafter. We will see the next one soon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . That or it already came and we have absolutely no idea what it is.
Comments (97)
The end of turn clause is what really kills this card.
. . . Well if you did, Wizards got ya covered.
And 20 years later, here we have color-changing trash taking up a rare slot.
GJ wotc.
0.5/5
Provided you meet a few conditions beforehand, and want to cast this card for any reason.
Not to mention that cipher is absolutely useless on this card. How many permanents do you want to cast this on? And then you ain't even able to cast it on instants, to mess up spells such as "destroy target non-black creature" or whatever. It's just another generic boring filler that has no useful interaction with the rest of the set.
Now, if you get into casual...
Teysa, Orzhov Scion. Change black to white. Exile as many creatures as you want for free (assuming you have 3 white creatures to sacrifice to get the combo going). And if you can Cipher this onto an evasive creature you control first, it effectively turns into "exile as many creatures as you want, and get a 1/1 Spirit. Activate this only on your turn, after combat."
As it is, though, very narrow scope and absolutely abhorrent in any non-casual format. This card is only good for making you think of zany combos that just might work.
That said, a million things would have to go right before I would even consider taking this, and with this being the first pack and there only being one pack of GTC after this to pick up extort dudes? Unless I pick this up as a 15th card, and then somehow get 8 extorters pack 2, that's a hell of a pipe dream.
Dimir is my guild and I am saddened by this. Until end of turn? What the heck is one to do with that? Some kind of weird mana fixing, I guess, and it's a rare to boot. They should have made it mythic rare so I wouldn't have to worry about pulling it out of booster packs too often.
I sure hope it combos with something in the 2014 Core Set. Right now it is next to useless in Constructed or Limited. The only good thing I can say about it is that it only costs
Trait Doctoring, exile yourself and give Nivmagus Elemental two +1/+1 counters for FREE every turn.
Being able to theoretically win a game with (1) Island and (2) cards is pretty darn efficient. Of course, it probably won't win you a game, but it will put your opponent on the defensive immediately. It's a threat that they will have to either block to prevent it from getting bigger, or remove outright. While they are dealing with that, your other strategies will be able to win you the game.
Seemed like it could be an all-star in my Sygg, River Guide EDH, Islandwalking and proceed to change all of my opponents forests into islands or whatever.
But now it only enables islandwalk on the turn its cast and doesn't do anything lasting. Seems pointless, other than "When a spell is cast" triggers but then you probably should just use Hands of Binding for a card that actually does something. :/
1/5 Stars
Then I saw "until end of turn".
Now it really sucks.
I then noticed it was until end of turn. This thing is about as useful as Heroes' Reunion, and I can see it being one of the last few picks in a pack. Even rare drafters will stay away as this thing will likely sell for 10c in short order.
1. Till end of turn
2. After the combat has ended
3. takes up a rare
4. Almost useless in this block
If somebody plays Contaminated Ground on one of your lands, you can turn it into whatever land type you want until end of turn!
Yeah, okay. I tried.
YOU HAVE FAILED ME!
Update: Wow, I shouldn't have said anything. I literally did open this in my sealed pool at the Prerelease.
"Well, we could give them a nice piece of removal"
"Nah, we already gave that to Golgari, you know, they only got the best removal in Abrubt Decay, they need Putrefy too."
"Well, what about giving them some good counterspell?"
"No, Azorius need the cool counterspell more, you know, they don't have any powerful instants whatsoever. I mean, who cares about life and cards?"
"I know! Let's give them an effect that nobody cares about, but they can do it EVERY TURN!"
"Yes, YES!!! THIS IS PERFECT!"
I wish my favourite guild was not Dimir, I really do :(
-4 of the cycle of M12 color hosers (Celestial Purge, Deathmark, Combust, Autumn's Veil) will allow you to use those cards on just about any non-hexproof/shroud coloured permanent
-The Denizen cycle (Court Street Denizen, Sage's Row Denizen, Shadow Alley Denizen, Foundry Street Denizen, Ivy Lane Denizen) can now trigger off of any coloured creature.
-Liliana of the Veil: Dig up any non-Swamp card
-Any non-hexproof/shroud permanent with protection from any other colour than blue can now be targeted, or rendered unblockable by opposing creatures of a certain colour.
But yeah. Extremely narrow in use, very limited use in limited, and mostly interacts with cards that don't see a lot of play in Standard (except for maybe Liliana of the Veil). This set's most useless rare.
Use with Crypt Ghast and Gem of Becoming to ramp a mostly blue deck with a pure Island mana base.
Use with Grave Betrayal to make green zombies. Don't ask me why.
It has a lot of uses, just none of them very common. Or useful...
(sarcasm) Now I can finally make that blue Valakut deck I always wanted! (/sarcasm)
It's also a subtlety card, lets you hide a colour in your deck without the need for chromatic lantern. Warleader's Helix from an Izzet deck or a Dimir deck is going to throw people.
Someone at R&D thought that it was a long time since a "switch color" card like this and decided to plan one.
Screw you , a game about changing colors is hard to make (i had one once) and this card add nothing cause cipher isn't that easy.
Think of it as a gimmick card like Evermind, with the additional bonus of being a gimmick card like Mind Bend.
Protection from black? More like protection from green and murder !
Forest walk against monowhite? Plainswalk!
Your power and toughness is equal to the number of islands in play? More like the number of mountains! Enjoy your new 0/0
Enchanted kand is a swamp? Nah, I like it better as a Mountain.
Problem is, in standard, flexible and standard are two entirely different demons to wrestle with. Unless Theros brings about some serious mana related coolness, this card will always be too cool for standard.
EDIT: Hmmm, I missed the fact that this can affect basic lands AND your own landwalk abilities. Anything with any landwalk will become unblockable the turn you cast it, and it performs various shenanigans afterwards. Still, the fact that Sleight of Mind and Magical Hack produce the effects PERMANENTLY make this seem a fair bit weaker.
Dimir got the shaft with this card and Selesnya got the shaft with Emmara. lol
Also, I would have loved tis be a bit more expensive and be: exile target instant or sorcery in an opponent's graveyard. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost. Maybe cost 4/5. Maybe toss it to mythic.
Garruk, Caller Of Beasts.
I kid, its still bad in that scenario but still funny
Challenge Accepted (not sarcasm).
It is now been dipped in my pool, ripped, cut about 9 times with the scissors, and frozen
Now I will burn it and pound it's ashes with a hammer and hope that that makes me feel satisfied that I spent $4 on a trait doctoring.
Heroic - Whenever this card is the target of a spell
Now, Anax and Cymede might not be permanent, but if others are, we're in business. With most cipher cards you don't want to target your own creatures (or in some cases can't). So let's see...
Turn 1: Judge's Familiar
Turn 2: Nivmagus Elemental (thankyou Jalenstorm), Trait Doctoring, cipher onto judges familiar, recast trait doctoring, exile with Nivmagus Elemental.
Turn 3: Heroic 3 drop, recast Trait doctoring target the heroic creature to cause the trigger, exile it with the elemental.
You could also play extort if relevant heroic creatures are in white or black for free extort triggers. You could also play hidden strings for double the triggers and a useful ability. :/
Was the card Trait Doctoring from DGM made with devotion in mind?
-k9gm3
Let’s just say we were aware of the interaction.
Devotion to color! Maybe this will have a use! Ruin their Devotion! Use any other color Devotion as Devotion to blue! There's gotta be strats there somewhere.
And it's not like this card isn't running for 30 cents atm or anything, so buying a playset should be easy.
Turn 1: Steam Vents coming in untapped, Akroan Crusader.
Turn 2: Steam Vents coming in untapped, two Trait Doctoring, swing for 3, 5 1/1 soldiers.
Turn 3: Island, Akroan Crusader, Hidden Strings targeting the Akroan Crusaders, swing for 7, 11 1/1 soldiers.
Turn 4: Swing for 11, which should be lethal.
This sounds pretty nice on paper, but considering Anger of the Gods is in the same set and it only takes one piece of removal to ruin the whole plan. I will still hope it comes up as a strategy, Izzet Aggro. We can always hope.
In other words, if not for the "end of turn" clause, this card would be completely broken.
The "end of turn" effect is also useful for you, and it combos magnificently off of, oh, I don't know... Nightveil Specter which was just released in the set before. Essentially, you can enable yourself to cast whatever card you exiled with it, without permanently changing one of your lands and for less mana than a Chromatic Lantern
All in all, 2.5/5. It's not good, but it's not crappy either, it all depends how you combo it.
Edit -
Also, with the introduction of Heroic and some interesting color play in Theros, this card just got a bit better. 3/5
P.S.: I'm not really sure if the application of Trait Doctoring/Braid of Fire is a "legal" move by my interpretation of the card. Could someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.
I just enjoy trying to find ways to redeem this.
Well I guess here's another such example.
Edit: I think I might have been wrong here. The combination of Nivmagus Elemental, Akron Crusader, Hidden Strings and Trait Doctoring seems potent.
Here's one of the optimal draws (that is reasonably possible), see if you can follow!
Starting hand: 2 lands, Akron Crusader, Nivmagus Elemental, Hidden Strings, Trait Doctoring, one other card
T1 Mountain, Akron Crusader
T2 Island, tap both lands for Hidden Strings targetting your two lands and cipher the Crusader, tap the two lands again and cast Nivmagus Elemental, cast Trait Doctoring targetting Akron Crusader (making a red 1/1 haste and changing red to black, ciphering the new 1/1 haste), Swing with both Akron Crusader and 1/1 haste token, getting two cipher triggers:
The Trait Doctoring copy targets the Crusader, making a black 1/1 token and gets eaten by Nivmagus Elemental.
The Hidden Strings copy targets the Crusader and your Island and resolves, making a black 1/1 token and gives you one mana for Mizzium Skin backup. (If you do not have Mizzium Skin or Izzet Charm, just let Nivmagus Elemental eat the copy instead.) Now if your opponent taps out on his second turn, you cast Mizzium Skin on the Crusader at his end of turn (making another black 1/1) and let the Elemental eat it.
That's a hell of a turn two. In the end, you have a 5/6 and four to five 1/1s. You would really be living the dream if your turn three is land, Dynacharge. While this turn three kill is pretty unlikely, with some redundancy in Young Pyromancer, it isn't uncommon for Dynacharge to be lethal on the fourth turn.
Here's my list: 4 each of Akron Crusader, Nivmagus Elemental, Young Pyromancer, 3 Guttersnipe.
4 each of Mizzium Skin, Dynacharge, Izzet Charm, Hidden Strings, Magma Jet, 3 Titan's Strength, 2 Trait Doctoring.
4 Steam Vents, 4 Izzet Guildgate, 7 Mountain, 5 Island.
I should know; I've been building the deck described in a few comments here.
Whats the point of this card then? if i cant change protection thats part of the text!
That ruling is just reiterating the fact that the ability has to be printed on the card itself, not an ability granted to the creature. You can still change Protection From Black to Protection From Green on a card.
The real use of this card is to have a cipher spell for
Essentially, if you had a Guttersnipe out, this becomes "Whenever this creature deals combat damage, it deals 2 damage to each opponent". It's almost like Spiteful Returned.
Same goes from Nivmagus Elemental or Young Pyromancer.
I may consider using this in a combat-oriented casual deck. In fact, if you use this, you can play Peak Eruption, destroy a land AND deal 3 damage for
That'd be really sweet if any creatures lived in a format with 10+ hate cards in every deck. Nice way to get 2 for 1-d.
Any "whenever you cast an instant or sorcery" or heroic creatures love this card. Lowest cost cypher, leaving mana open for other stuff like counter spell's or spells to ensure you hit, and has no negative effect on your heroic creatures pre-combat phase, like hidden strings might.
Nivmagus Elemental loves eating this (the copies guys, not the original, the copies) especially after you target a heroic creature (say... Triton Fortune Hunter) with it. The heroic effect WILL go off even if Nivmagus eats the copy, turning any hit with a Trait cyphered creature into something scary.
What else?
Chained to the Rocks removal (especially if they have multiple things chained to one mountain <3)
Potentially multiple Blister Coil untaps a turn, wonderful with Retraction Helix.
Mind Sparker, creatures with protection or land walk.
Mana fixing.
Pressuring your opponent. Say you attempt to Trait Doctor their only plains. Do they respond with Supreme Verdict or become forced to wait until their turn to use it, using their mana for the turn. If you're holding a decent 3-4 cost creature, waiting for their decision, it can be nice seeing them blow it early rather than seeing your creature go with it.
I think this card is deceptively amazing.
Guess I'm one of them uber-Johnnies.
That or it already came and we have absolutely no idea what it is.
Yeah, I guess this card is mostly junk.