Mtg Arena exclusive cards design. Thoughts?

ArmisJoeArmisJoe
in Off-topic Chat
First of all, I'm not sure how I feel about an exclusive set for arena. But this is not the point of this thread.

Arena handles things automatically now (okay duh, you're thinking). But that really changed things. You don't have to worry about players forgetting things, or too many different counters, etc.

Mechanics like suspend or phasing are not problematic anymore. Ascend counts your permanents for you, even Energy counters would be very nice to manage.

As a Cardsmith, do you feel interested in creating cards that benefit from arena's automatization? Let's say, for example, some sort of enchantment climate deck that changes every X turns or something of the sort?

(Sorry for bad English)

Comments

  • LujikulLujikul
    I'd like to see planeschase make an appearance on arena, honestly.
  • ArmisJoeArmisJoe
    @Lujikul the fact that there are no multiplayer formats at ALL is just so weird to me. They could re-release kaladesh/amonkhet/etc with modern horizons and release edh
  • AnimistAnimist
    It's worth remembering that WotC doesn't intend for there to be any divergence between Arena and paper Magic. Arena makes the game much easier to play, sure, but any card they create will always have to be playable in paper so that it's the same game. Also, MTGO has been around for nearly two decades and has all the automation of Arena but never spawned online-only mechanics.

    Game modes are a different story though. Regardless of whether you like Momir, for example, it's a heck of a lot easier to play online than on paper.

    Proper EDH would require WotC putting thousands and thousands of cards onto Arena, which is probably asking too much. Brawl would be great though, perhaps even an extended Brawl with the sets you mentioned. I really enjoyed Brawl, even 1 on 1, and it's the sort of thing I can really see working on Arena.
  • TomigonTomigon
    You could make cards that interact with the number of time-fuses players have.
  • TheSuturedHeartManTheSuturedHeartMan
    edited June 2019
    I don't say this often, but Hearthstone is actually a place to draw inspiration from on this front. It mostly uses its automation to make random effects (blech!) but it also has mechanics like checking the contents of a deck (say, by seeing if there are no cards that cost {2}, or checking for any duplicates) that only really work smoothly with a computer handling things. Sure, there are ways you could make a "Search your library for a card with the highest mana cost or tied for the highest mana cost in your library, tutor text blah blah" card in Magic, but it would require showing your opponent your entire deck or them knowing the contents already, and it'd be cumbersome as heck. A computer can just display your options, or if there's just one, whip the card out for you automatically. I think that type of design space could be explored in a theoretical online-only environment.
  • RanshiRanshi
    I have had this thought before. Hearthstone may or may not have been the inspiration behind Wield.
  • ArmisJoeArmisJoe
    @Tomigon that sounds cool! Although not too viable but definitely fun.

    @TheSuturedHeartMan An Unmoored Ego that doesn't reveal the entire deck would be amazing, honestly.
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