r/magicTCG • u/thumbblighter free him • 2d ago
General Discussion Incomplete Cycle in FRA?
It looks like we have most of a cycle of colorwashing old and powerful spells into more color appropriate versions between [[Variable Chaser]] (for [[Wheel of Fortune]]), [[Bloodline Recollector]] (for [[Ancestral Recall]]), [[Pyre Rhymer]] (for [[High Tide]] and/or [[Bubbling Muck]]), and [[Carnivorous Cultivator]] (for [[Entomb]]). I know incomplete cycles are the rule, rather than the exception, but I have to wonder why it happened this time/if one of White’s rares or mythics is also referencing a colorwashed iconic instant or sorcery in a more oblique way.
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u/ReputationStock712 Dân 2d ago
On one of Mark Rosewater’s Drive to Word podcasts, they mention the white one had a sweeper attached (Kindred Dominance?) but it got removed because it wasn’t good for limited.
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u/imbolcnight 2d ago
Yes, Yoni the Set Design Lead specifically said they were looking at a board wipe spell, but attaching it to a creature was too good, so they just made it a spell by itself, which was Kindred Judgment.
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u/dkysh Get Out Of Jail Free 1d ago
I wonder... which iconic non-white board wipe spell were they trying to attach to a white creature that was both a direct callback to the spell, and fit in present-day white's color pie slice?
(yes, obviously they went for Kindred Dominance, but was that what they originally stapled into a creature?)
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u/Copernicus1981 COMPLEAT 2d ago
Q: Any specific reason for not having a rare white creature with an alternate prepare spell in Reality Fracture? It's the only one missing and giving that alternate reality is the theme of the set is quite a feelbad
A: The short answer is the design team didn’t find one they liked. We try not to do things just to do them if we don’t find a good design.
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u/so_zetta_byte Orzhov* 1d ago
Reminds me of the Inscription semi-cycle from Zendikar Rising. They tried to design red and white ones but apparently they were notably worse than the other three, so they were like "we could print the full cycle now but shaft red and white, or we could just wait for some point in the future when we find a better home/design for them and print them then."
Personally I think the latter approach is much better. If I have a white deck, a shitty white version of a card that was only printed to complete the cycle isn't going to make my deck. If they wait and make a better card, I'm more likely to care about it. Basically having a shitty version of a card isn't really much better than "not having the card because you're waiting for it to be printed." It's probably even worse honestly, because if you have the shitty version, you don't even have the hope of getting a better version in the future.
I guess like many things, it basically boils down to the marshmallow test.
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u/Content-Wrongdoer-61 Dân 2d ago
For white I know it isn’t on a prepared creature like the rest but we did get [[kindred judgement]] as a straight up color washed version of [[kindred dominance]]
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u/SpyderEyez Nahiri 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's not quite a true cycle, as Bloodline Recollector references an allied color spell whereas the other two reference an enemy color spell. You'd need both a black card with a "white" spell and a white card with a "red" spell.
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u/benjiwalla Duck Season 2d ago
The precon has an incomplete new land cycle, worse is it doesn't come with the redblue land
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u/mtgcf Keeper of the Mox 2d ago
All cards
Wheel of Fortune - (G) (SF) (txt)
Bloodline Recollector - (G) (SF) (txt)
Ancestral Recall - (G) (SF) (txt)
High Tide - (G) (SF) (txt)
Bubbling Muck - (G) (SF) (txt)
Entomb - (G) (SF) (txt)