Over the last year, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in power level of individual cards. This is especially true with the release of straight-to-Modern sets like Modern Horizons 3 and Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. Despite the fact that Lord of the Rings was one of the most successful sets in MTG’s history, many players have not been shy on voicing their frustration with broken designs.
Well, it appears some of these specific criticisms have made it to the top. In a recent article by Mark Rosewater discussing the state of design in 2024, the head designer highlighted two specific cards each from MH3 and Lord of the Rings as being too good. The four cards listed received heavy criticism since their release, so let’s take a closer look at them.
The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters
- Mana Value: 4
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Text: Indestructible. When The One Ring enters the battlefield, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn. At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring. Tap: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
According to Mark Rosewater, the “biggest complaint” he received with regards to Lord of the Rings was the sheer power level of The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters. He acknowledges that many players want them banned for their role in warping Constructed formats like Modern. He did also alleviate any concerns about the ability for these cards to get reprinted, stating that even crafting in-universe variants is on the table.
At this point, it seems almost unanimous that people feel these cards were too pushed. In the case of Orcish Bowmasters, the fact that it pings something when it enters the battlefield has proven extremely detrimental to the existence of low-toughness threats. With regards to The One Ring, it being legendary proved to be an enormous upside, since you could always get rid of the copy with more burden counters on it via “legend rule” to minimize the life loss.
Some felt that these cards being intentionally pushed to the point that they were was bad for the game overall. However, others defended The One Ring’s right to be a pushed design given its thematic importance to the Lord of the Rings franchise. After all, having such an iconic card be little more than draft chaff would be a bit awkward. Nonetheless, the play patterns associated with these two cards have left a sour taste in the mouths of Constructed aficionados at large.
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Nadu, Winged Wisdom and Writhing Chrysalis
- Mana Value: 1GU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/4
- Text: Flying. Creatures you control have “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only once each turn.”
The other two cards that Mark Rosewater discussed as being too strong are Nadu, Winged Wisdom and Writhing Chrysalis. As expected, Nadu is in the context of Constructed, while Writhing Chrysalis is problematic for Limited.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of how Mark Rosewater addressed these two cards lies with the mention of “play balance issues.” Mark Rosewater stated that a lot of players wish the cards never made it to print as written. This suggests that the feedback he received goes beyond just the fact that the cards are too pushed.
This checks out, as a lot of players have questioned how Nadu managed to make it out of internal checks in the first place. Most cards that present a limit on the number of times an ability can trigger do so with the limit being once each turn. Why does Nadu of all cards break this strategy? Then, it gives the ability to all creatures you control, making it trivial to get a ton of triggers in one turn regardless of the limit presented.
Writhing Chrysalis gave rise to a lot of similar questions about the card’s design. Why does it have Reach? How did it make it through testing as a common? Frankly, these cards are two of the most egregious mistakes of the last decade, so it’s good to see Mark Rosewater acknowledge them as such.
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Other Interesting Criticisms
- Mana Value: WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Text: Ward- Pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it’s a land card. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
Beyond just critiques of individual cards, one of the biggest negatives associated with this year’s set designs is the lack of execution in worldbuilding. In both Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction, it seems that players mostly agreed the plots and settings weren’t balanced well.
On the flip side, players mostly felt very strongly of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan in this regard. Yet even this set that garnered mostly positive reviews wasn’t immune to criticism. For instance, it’s clear that The Lost Caverns of Ixalan brought some problematic mechanics and cards to Constructed. Most notably, Discover, which was meant to be a “fixed” version of Cascade, resulted in broken gameplay and the ultimate banning of Geological Appraiser.
Between the Discover mechanic and the printing of Amalia Benavides Aguirre, even The Lost Caverns of Ixalan had its flaws. For the most part, Mark Rosewater addressed the downsides of each set. Though, there was noticeable disappointment that these problems with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan weren’t discussed more thoroughly.
With another yearly state of design article in the books, it’ll be interesting to see how Wizards of the Coast deals with these complaints moving forward. Not every set can be perfect, but many were far from it. Duskmourn is our next stop, and one can only hope things look up from here.
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