Last week, Wizards of the Coast revealed our first look at the upcoming Magic: The Gathering set, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, the first of the two Innistrad sets coming this year, and new cards have been revealed, including a blue card called Consider, which is similar to Opt, but instead of Scrying that one card, you have the choice to put it into your graveyard or leave it on top of your library before you draw it. If you think that ability sounds familiar, that’s because there’s a keyword that does the same thing: Surveil. However, Wizards ultimately decided not to use that keyword in Consider’s design.
Why Consider Doesn’t Have Surveil
In a new Good Morning Magic! video, Magic senior designer Gavin Verhey has explained why Consider doesn’t use the keyword Surveil, which was first introduced in the 2018 set Guilds of Ravnica. Verhey says that Surveil is not evergreen (mechanic that can be used anywhere such as Flying or First Strike). He explains that using a non-evergreen keyword could take up more text space than without it since the keyword has to be explained in the text of the card. Teaching those keywords can be extra jargon to players who are not familiar with what they do.
Another reason is that Scry and Surveil can easily be confused if they’re in the same set. In Guilds of Ravnica, there are no cards with the Scry keyword, so since the design team is already using Scry in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt as shown in the Play with Fire card. Verhey also talked about the cards from Guilds of Ravnica that have synergy with Surveil, and brings up the point that players who want Surveil would rather use it with cards that care about that mechanic.
Check out the regular and promo versions of Consider with art illustrated by Zezhou Chen here:
Related: Everything We Know About MTG’s Innistrad: Crimson Vow – Release Date, Previews & More
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is scheduled to release for tabletop on September 24, and Innistrad: Crimson Vow will be released on November 19. Expect them to be released a week earlier digitally on MTG Arena and Magic Online. You can check all the information about the upcoming set here.
