LogFAQs > #939907933

UltimaterializerX posted...

And then Magic the Gathering decided to copy the mechanic.

Spoilers, it's a complete f***ing s***show. It's almost like copying mechanics from the worst game ever made is a bad idea or something. I am in no way surprised that Magic's lowest point lines up with bringing Hearthstone ideas in as major set keywords.

I mean, the odd and even ones in MtG aren't too bad for balance level.

They just made a full cycle of 10 of them, and some of them are really mild restrictions like "if your deck has 80 starting cards instead of 60". And "if the only creatures in your deck are Cat, Elemental, Nightmare, Dinosaur, or Beast card"--which sounds kind-of restrictive until you realize magic has creatureless control decks, and control decks that only run a few creatures some of which just happen to be beasts.

Oh, also unlike Genn/Baku where drawing Genn or Baku out of your deck can be a downside, there is almost no downside to the mtg version of the mechanic (they use up a single sideboard slot in a tournament setting, as opposed to using up a slot in your deck and potentially being a bad draw).

TL;DR: MtG borrowed the mechanic, but were also like "hey, what if there were 10 of these instead of 2, and what if they had way fewer downsides?"

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