Legendary Rule Change 23rd May 2013

[yugular]

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg%2Fdaily%2Ffeature%2F248f

As Matt mentioned in his article, beginning with Magic 2014 Core Set, we are changing how the game handles several things, including legendary and Planeswalker uniqueness. The new rule separates the field of play into your battlefield and your opponent's battlefield, and only checks those to make sure that there are not multiple copies of one legend with the same name or Planeswalker with the same type. When multiple copies are on the battlefield under one player's control, that player chooses one to put into the graveyard as a state-based effect until only one remains.

Im new to the format but to my understanding playing Jace TMS to kill other player's Jace TMS has been a common strategy before. Well that is no longer possible.

How this change will impact Vintage? or Legacy?

No it's not April 1st!

[Phele]

This is not only about Jace. Destroying oponnent Karns or Tolarian Acadamies by playing your own is a pretty common play. And it weakens Workshop players a bit, as they now cant destroy Emrakuls for example by metamrohing him. This will have quite an impact.

[marilyn_manson]

I think it won't change that much in vintage tho. Jace is played as what? 2-of. Jace to kill another guy Jace is more for legacy I guess. But now you cant metamorph the griselbrand anymore. I guess the return of duplicant?

[Protoaddict]

It is a huge damn change, and I am not sure how I want to react to it. A few things do get changed pretty drastically

• Jace is actually more powerful now. By a lot. Other walkers are also much better. Both Tezzes are great now, as is any self sacrifice walker - Affects Blue decks mostly
• Mox opal is a +1 mana ritual and storm count now - Good for Shops, Great for Storm combos, Misc other decks that use it
• Jitte in creature decks is harder to remove, but that feels less pronounced as I think more often than not its removed with artifact hate - Creature decks get a bump
• Phyrexian Metamorph drops in power as it can no longer copy grizzlebrand or emrakul. Workshops take a hit on that
• Tolarian academy gets better as it cant be cloned out - Shops and blue get a bump
• Gaea's cradle is better in elves, I would imagine a mandatory 4 of now. You can chain cradles which is nuts, but in legacy this is actually almost degenerate.
• Giest of St Traft becomes so good. Maybe playable now as it was on the fringe before
• Show and tell becomes stronger

The list goes on. I rather hate that they did this if only because it is very obviously to boost the next set which will be heavy legends. I feel like some already strong cards get even more of a boost without a good reason. I'm willing to bet that Geist of St Traft becomes bannable in legacy and modern because turn one mana dork, turn 2 cavern of souls geist, turn 3 hand full of enchantments is probably too much.

For all the potential new strategies it opens up I worry that it takes away a very important balance.

[StanleyAugust]

It is a huge damn change, and I am not sure how I want to react to it. A few things do get changed pretty drastically

• Jace is actually more powerful now. By a lot. Other walkers are also much better. Both Tezzes are great now, as is any self sacrifice walker - Affects Blue decks mostly
• Mox opal is a +1 mana ritual and storm count now - Good for Shops, Great for Storm combos, Misc other decks that use it
• Jitte in creature decks is harder to remove, but that feels less pronounced as I think more often than not its removed with artifact hate - Creature decks get a bump
• Phyrexian Metamorph drops in power as it can no longer copy grizzlebrand or emrakul. Workshops take a hit on that
• Tolarian academy gets better as it cant be cloned out - Shops and blue get a bump
• Gaea's cradle is better in elves, I would imagine a mandatory 4 of now. You can chain cradles which is nuts, but in legacy this is actually almost degenerate.
• Giest of St Traft becomes so good. Maybe playable now as it was on the fringe before
• Show and tell becomes stronger

The list goes on. I rather hate that they did this if only because it is very obviously to boost the next set which will be heavy legends. I feel like some already strong cards get even more of a boost without a good reason. I'm willing to bet that Geist of St Traft becomes bannable in legacy and modern because turn one mana dork, turn 2 cavern of souls geist, turn 3 hand full of enchantments is probably too much.

For all the potential new strategies it opens up I worry that it takes away a very important balance.

How does Geist get any better?

[Protoaddict]

Well he is already immune to most of the commonly played removal cards
Now he is immune to other copies of himself and clone effects

It makes it a very safe proposition in Legacy to just load him the hell up with game winning enchantments
In Vintage it is less pronounced, but he cannot be legended out VS Metamorph now, so he does get that much stronger.

[StanleyAugust]

Well he is already immune to most of the commonly played removal cards
Now he is immune to other copies of himself and clone effects

It makes it a very safe proposition in Legacy to just load him the hell up with game winning enchantments
In Vintage it is less pronounced, but he cannot be legended out VS Metamorph now, so he does get that much stronger.

Alright, yeah sure, just thought I missed something

[MaximumCDawg]

Well, crap.  I didn't get Cradles when they were 30, and now they will be totally absurd in price forever.

[bactgudz]

I have little doubt mox opal will be restricted.

And now you can drop a second jace for value...that is absurd

[psyburat]

Mox Opal is above and beyond the most interesting change.  Every other change feels like how there are less Vindicates in the format, while Opal feels like a gained tool for any number of Storm or Belcher-style decks.

[credmond]

Metamorph changes but it still seems pretty good, unless I am missing something. When you metamorph a Griselbrand you get your own copy. For MUD this can be good if you have spheres on board.

The show and tell game changes. Metamorph on Emrakul means you get to have your own copy. For Emrakul, if the show and tell player only has 6 permanents on his side then when you attack you win (assuming he can't show and tell and cast timewalk and annihilate your board). Metamorph for the MUD player against show and tell Griselbrand is also still pretty good assuming you have some spheres on your side so that the show and tell player can't just go off and has to pass the turn. When its your turn your Grisel can draw you a lot of cards and perms and likely some tangles to make the Grisel war one sided.

[Smmenen]

First impression: I really like these changes.

The worst thing about Jace TMS in Vintage is that if your opponent has one, and used it, the only thing you can do is play yours to destroy theirs, while they already got a use out of it.  This is MUCH healthier for Vintage play.  It means your opponent's Jace doesn't stop you from keeping up.

That makes Jace alot fairer in Vintage, I believe.

Also, Mox Opal is not actually necessarily going to need to be restricted.  You still can't have two Mox Opals in play for metalcraft purposes.  The primarly limitation on Mox Opal still exists - metalcraft.   The more Mox Opals you run, the harder it will also be to get Metalcraft in the first place.  Let's not overreact to these changes. 

I like all of the other implications.  Metamorph is weakened, but its still a great Vintage tactic.  I like the fact that both players can have Academy.  This is a good thing!

I love it!

[arj]

Wow this is huge. Not as much for vintage, but for legacy. Damn!

[PETER FLUGZEUG]

why do people say metamorph is weakened?

To my belief, you can now play your own metamorphrakul, keep it and have your extra turn because you cast it? Is that true?

Did you see there is also a change in sideboarding rules? You are now allowed to board in cards without taking any out of your mainboard.

[Sloth]

why do people say metamorph is weakened?

To my belief, you can now play your own metamorphrakul, keep it and have your extra turn because you cast it? Is that true?

No, Phyrexian Metamorph has a replacement effect that replaces the zone change to the battlefield. You don't cast it as Emrakul.

[credmond]

Well metamorph can't kill kataki and that is very relevant for MUD since spot removal is otherwise now required for that little bugger. Being able to legend rule other dorks like thalia, teeg, clique, talrand can randomly come up.

Now in the mirror you can grab Karn for your own army of machines and let the sledgehammer fest begin.

But yeah metamorphing emrakul either throw a show and tell or just from plain old casting from the hand seems just brutal since you get the first swing.

[PETER FLUGZEUG]

thanks for the clarification regarding metamoprhrakul. I should have looked it up before.

Regarding the other rules change, being able to board in cards without boarding out anything (or board in 2 cards, taking out 1), do you think it will matter?

[Saya]

MUD can't crack my academy by his academy!Happy news.

[gkraigher]

The Legendary rules changes are great.  The sideboarding rules changes are even better. 

Wizards made this game better by doing both of these. 

[gkraigher]

Regarding the other rules change, being able to board in cards without boarding out anything (or board in 2 cards, taking out 1), do you think it will matter?

YES.  It's a screaming, resounding YES.

[Pokey]

I feel like Metamorph is still pretty darn good against Griselbrand.  Drawing 7-14 and cluttering up the board with lock pieces, seems ok.

I think the card everyone is forgetting about is Vendilion Clique though.  This card is much better.

[Guli]

Interesting changes.

I think Karakas will get better, you could copy the Clique, Emrakul or Griselbrand and bounce it. Kataki gets a little boost in powerlevel against Workshop, though not a big issue (Triskeleon).

Clone effects are more interesting now I think. They don't act as removal, but this can be both a good thing or a bad thing depending on the boars state and/or cards you use to support your clone tactic.

Thalia is also more interesting now. In the mirror she can live on both sides. And if you have a second in hand, you can attack with one and cast the other and still block.

The rule also enables mechanics like Mordbid. (tragic slip anybody?)


I could probably think of more stuff if I think about it, but we will just play and see I guess. I do am thrilled when big changes like this happen, you always have new synergies and new ways to deal with problems. And also new problems rise up. Great stuff!!

[KrauserKrauser]

So much for finding Gaea's Cradle at a reasonable price ever again.

This is a great change for Elves! and I am still digesting how the changes effect Jace and friends.  It's not all bad, though it makes the ultimates more inevitable since you can't just suicide a Jace to reset their counter.

It definitely changes the game a bit, but not as much as damage not working on the stack anymore.

[LotusHead]

These changes are a breath of fresh air. No, I didn't ever consider them as "things that might happen", but then again, I thought Mana Burn would always be a thing.

Magic is reborn again, new, and new developements will happen.

Also, glad I didn't cash out of my x4 Geists, since they are the only T2 cards of importance I own.

Shops now have to reconsider how to deal with Griselmrakul and so forth. but now we all get to play Tolarian Academy! Luckily, shops play lots of waste effects.

[zimagic]

Interesting changes.

I think Karakas will get better, you could copy the Clique, Emrakul or Griselbrand and bounce it.

What are you using to copy the original? A clone won't work as you can't respond to the SBE with Karakas.

[DubDub]

Interesting changes.

I think Karakas will get better, you could copy the Clique, Emrakul or Griselbrand and bounce it.

What are you using to copy the original? A clone won't work as you can't respond to the SBE with Karakas.

He means copy an opponent's Legend, then use your Karakas to bounce their Legend.  With the new change, there's no SBE because the two Legends are controlled by different players.

Well, flavor-wise this is terrible.  I summon my ally Jace, and the wizard I'm dueling with... summons his ally Jace.  What?

As far as game-play goes, I'm looking forward to seeing Mox Opal more (though I wish I already owned some!), but Jace+Liliana vs. Jace+Liliana is going to be outright dumb in Legacy.  What they're saying about wanting games to be decided by how you use Planeswalkers instead of who could play theirs first would make sense, if they hadn't already printed JTMS, an absurdly broken Planeswalker.  We're also probably going to see more Superfriends style decks in Legacy, because people are going to want Elspeth to take down Jace, and then Elspeth to take down Elspeth, and then Gideon to protect Jace, and then Ajani Vengeant to burn out Gideon, etc.

Also, this is pretty dang huge for EDH.  Clones are the go-to way to kill opposing Commanders in blue.  Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots and built-in Hexproof or Shroud are top-tier strategies when going Voltron on your Commander.  In general I think this is likely to make some Commander games less fun, because an early Greaves'd Rafiq or Ruhan is less answerable.  At least they'll be shorter games too, so you can go on to the next one.

[Greg]

The worst thing about Jace TMS in Vintage is that if your opponent has one, and used it, the only thing you can do is play yours to destroy theirs, while they already got a use out of it.  This is MUCH healthier for Vintage play.  It means your opponent's Jace doesn't stop you from keeping up.

This pretty much sums up my exact feelings on the planeswalker situation. I think it's also somewhat interesting that you can potentially chain effects at the cost of losing the former planeswalker. I think this is going to be a change for the positive, albeit a very strange one at first. As far as I can remember, there's never been an instance where two of the same legendary permanents could be on the battlefield simultaneously. A small part of me is going to miss the "Vindicate joke." You know, when somebody plays a legendary permanent that's already on the field and simply says "Vindicate." Ah, nostalgia.

It seems that I can now enjoy Phryexian Metamorph no longer eating my Griselbrand, but instead letting him hang around until the two of them inevitably engage in combat and kill each other. While I do like the sound of my Griselbrand not being snap-killed, the thought of a Shops pilot drawing 7 cards at any time other than at the beginning of the game makes me want to claw my eyes out. Yay!

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

Metamorph changes but it still seems pretty good, unless I am missing something. When you metamorph a Griselbrand you get your own copy. For MUD this can be good if you have spheres on board.

The show and tell game changes. Metamorph on Emrakul means you get to have your own copy. For Emrakul, if the show and tell player only has 6 permanents on his side then when you attack you win (assuming he can't show and tell and cast timewalk and annihilate your board). Metamorph for the MUD player against show and tell Griselbrand is also still pretty good assuming you have some spheres on your side so that the show and tell player can't just go off and has to pass the turn. When its your turn your Grisel can draw you a lot of cards and perms and likely some tangles to make the Grisel war one sided.

I'm pretty sure you can't copy something show and telled in with something show and telled in. Some weird timing issue.

[evouga]

That's correct. Metamorph copies creatures as a replacement effect as it enters play, not as a triggered ability, so you have to choose a creature already in play.

[serracollector]

Turning mox opals into BETTER  lotus petals seems a lil ridic. If were not gonna restrict opal then lets unrestrict petal and just make a hayday of it. Lol.

With this new rule, a deck with 4 gaeas cradle and 4 garruk that draws could be interesting.

How does this work with jin-gitaxis, is there a way to cast 2 and draw 14 cards?

This update makes Venser a descent counter, bounce card.

Does this now lead to an infinite loop with 2 sharuums??

I also like how it helps the dragons from kamigawa. Imagine oath with 4 of the white dragons, I think thats a pretty big tangle wire for ur opponent every turn lol.