[Article] Skeletons in R&D’s Closet - by Aaron Forsythe

[Hyperion]

Skeletons in R&D’s Closet - Developer's notes from Urza's Saga block


A friend of mine linked me to this article on Wizards.com. Here were some of my favorites (though they're all hilarious/pathetic, depending on how you want to look at it):

Tolarian Academy
variation: artifacts in play
WJ: Was on list. Tested. Scary. The team bought the argument that since it's a legendary land, it's inherently limited and therefore OK.

Yawgmoth's Will
Armadillo only constructed card.
Playtest with Whetstone?

Phyrexian Negator
Should this be “you may”?

[jpmeyer]

Negator was the greatest, but I'm also a big fan of "Bill (8/14): Pull. If you want Necro in the environment, we can reprint it in Archemedes. Having similar versions decreases the specialness of Necro."

[Dr. Sylvan]

Oh man I was rolling out of my chair last night when I read about YawgWin. That was just incredible. And not a single comment on Replenish. Clearly, recursion is terrible. Who would ever have enough cards in the yard to do anything with that?!

[Matt]

WHETSTOWNED!!!

[Eastman]

Their concerns about Yawgmoth's Bargain are also hilarious. How completely clueless.

[Dr. Sylvan]

Their concerns about Yawgmoth's Bargain are also hilarious. How completely clueless.

To be "fair", this was before Trix. Still...in the same set as Academy Rector their brains should've at least been thinking about different ways that "draw 15+ cards at instant speed" might not be good for the game.

[Bram]

I also liked Aaron's sarcastoc remarks on the subject. This was one hilarious article.

Memory Jar

AT END OF TURN PROBLEM

It's written in all caps so it must be a big problem. Yes, it is a bit weird that I can sacrifice my Jar at the end of your turn, then untap and play with my new hand. But what I would have liked to see in all caps was, “WHY ARE WE MAKING ANOTHER DRAW 7, ESPECIALLY IN A SET WITH TINKER?”

But the best one by far was this:

And even though the thirteen cards the block contributes to the Type 1 restricted list aren't as powerful a group as the Alpha inductees, three cards from it—Yawgmoth's Will, Tolarian Academy, and Yawgmoth's Agenda—warp and define the format even on a one-per-deck basis.

Yeah, coz Yawgmoth's Agenda is SO broken in my Tendrils build

[Smmenen]

You know what he meant.

steve

[Bram]

As a respected mt:g writer, Steve, you of all people should know that writing is not about what you mean but about what you write