3 ms·

Generally speaking, the cheap decks people start the game with aren't very interesting to pilot. They don't have enough removal, which is one of the primary way

Generally speaking, the cheap decks people start the game with aren't very interesting to pilot. They don't have enough removal, which is one of the primary ways players interact with their opponent's board. They definitely don't have boardwipes, which means just playing the best creature in hand each turn is usually the right play. They typically don't have much card selection. And most complexity is concentrated at higher rarities, so these decks tend to have simple cards. That's not to say that all cheap decks are boring, or all tournament decks are interesting, but cards like, say, Duskwatch Recruiter, Dromoka's Command, or Despise, for example, just offer more choices than Craw Wurms or Grizzly Bears. Regarding what others have said: Damage not going on the stack was a good change IMO. Sacrificing Mogg Fanatic was always the right play; now it's less obvious. I agree with akud on detention sphere vs. O-ring. Hexproof over Shroud was a mistake; with that said, they seem to have figured that out, and we're getting cards like Pristine Skywise or Dragonlord Ojutai instead. I'm sad to see Protection be replaced by Indestructible. Morph/Manifest and DFCs show that they're not entirely shying away from complex mechanics.

rsync 10y ago
What about the spell stack ? I seem to remember a LIFO spell stack for all instants and abilities, but now it doesn't seem to work that way ... I can't really tell how instants vs. interrupts work anymore and if the spell stack actually works the way it did in the old (late 90s) way ? Or is it still the same ?
- ufo 10y ago
  The Stack was introduced in the 6th edition rules change (1999) and still works the same way today. The 6th edition rules also unified the instant and interrupt types, because the separate interrupt type was only necessary in the old "batch-based" system.
- Pinckney 10y ago
  The modern stack is so much more sane than the old batch based system. You can still do plenty of interesting things with it, like casting Blessed Alliance during the end of combat step to get rid of Giest of Saint Traft, or casting Infernal Tutor, then holding priority and cracking a Lion's Eye Diamond, or responding to an O-ring trigger with another O-ring for a permanent exile, or burning somebody out in responding to a lethal mana-barbs trigger.

rsync 10y ago

What about the spell stack ? I seem to remember a LIFO spell stack for all instants and abilities, but now it doesn't seem to work that way ... I can't really tell how instants vs. interrupts work anymore and if the spell stack actually works the way it did in the old (late 90s) way ? Or is it still the same ?

ufo 10y ago
The Stack was introduced in the 6th edition rules change (1999) and still works the same way today. The 6th edition rules also unified the instant and interrupt types, because the separate interrupt type was only necessary in the old "batch-based" system.
Pinckney 10y ago
The modern stack is so much more sane than the old batch based system. You can still do plenty of interesting things with it, like casting Blessed Alliance during the end of combat step to get rid of Giest of Saint Traft, or casting Infernal Tutor, then holding priority and cracking a Lion's Eye Diamond, or responding to an O-ring trigger with another O-ring for a permanent exile, or burning somebody out in responding to a lethal mana-barbs trigger.