When evaluating MTG cards and their chances of showing up in Constructed formats, one of the most important things to look at is how much the card costs mana-wise. After all, in modern Magic, efficiency is king. There’s a reason why cards like Fatal Push and Thoughtseize have solidified themselves as multi-format staples.
Over the years, some of the absolute best cards printed have been “free” spells that offer an alternate casting cost. From Force of Will to Fury, there are tons of cards that fit the bill. Many of these cards come with a restriction or downside, such as having to pitch a card to cast for free, but they still see tons of play because of how cheap they are.
While some free spells are cool and offer interesting play patterns, many of them are prone to creating unfun experiences. Yet, Wizards of the Coast has clearly made it a priority to keep printing more and more of them. I believe this style of cards is too often detrimental to the game. The risk is usually not worth the reward. On top of that, the constant influx of free spells has become problematic. For the good of the game, it’s in Wizards’ best interest to slow down in this department.
High Risk
- Mana Value: 2BB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons 2, Special Guests
- Card Text: Menace. When Grief enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. Evoke- Exile a black card from your hand.
Free spells have been a part of our beloved game for quite some time. However, prior to Modern Horizons 1, many of the strongest free spells were not Modern legal. We already mentioned Force of Will as a Legacy staple, but there were plenty of others to speak of. Invigorate was an elite tool for Infect strategies, while Unmask helped pave the way for Reanimator decks to have success.
While cards like this led to very fast starts from inherently unfair strategies, Legacy was a powerful enough environment to keep these decks in check. After all, there were plenty of cheap, reactive cards to help balance things out.
Modern was in a different boat. Tons of free spells got banned over time, including Blazing Shoal and Gitaxian Probe, because the format wasn’t equipped to handle their game-warping presence. Unfortunately, more and more free spells have been banned in recent years, signaling that card design is pushing the boundaries too far.
Obviously, the introduction of Modern Horizons sets played a big role in this. Modern Horizons 1 brought the Force cycle to Modern, and Force of Negation and Force of Vigor became format all-stars. The good news was that neither of these cards was overly oppressive, and the rest of the cycle wasn’t overwhelming. However, this narrative completely turned on its head when MH2 came with the Evoke Elementals.
From Grief to Solitude, these cards transformed the Modern landscape in a largely negative way. Sure, Grief and Fury make you pitch cards to cast them for free but being able to pair them with Not Dead After All effects and present a huge threat on turn one was truly egregious.
Still, the issue with free spells goes beyond these straight-to-Modern sets. Once Upon a Time was an outrageous design from a premier set that required bans in both Modern and Pioneer. The frequency with which free spells end up being broken is alarming, and it isn’t the only concern.
Read More: Reversing the MTG EDH Bans Would be a Massive Mistake
Poor Gameplay
- Mana Value: 1UU
- Rarity: Rare
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons 3
- Card Text: You may sacrifice a nontoken blue creature rather than pay this spell’s mana cost. Counter target spell.
For many players, part of what makes Magic such a cool game is that every game is different. You often have to make many decisions throughout the game without having perfect information that can collectively determine the outcome. Interactive games that involve some back-and-forth can create suspense, which adds to the excitement.
Free spells have a tendency to create some real “feels bad” moments that detract from the overall gameplay experience. The biggest reason for this is that, due to their efficiency, they can lead to incredible nut draws that can feel unbeatable.
Let’s use Modern Living End as an example. This deck existed for a long time but never felt oppressive prior to the release of Modern Horizons sets. This is because there were a lot of strong hate pieces players could make use of. Graveyard hate like Relic of Progenitus as well as Counterspells were quite effective.
Once the deck adopted Force of Negation and Grief, though, these sideboard options became less reliable. In some games, you’d keep a strong hand versus Living End, only to have your opponent strip you of your graveyard hate with Grief. Then, they’d cast Violent Outburst on your turn, use Force of Negation to stop your Counterspell, and you’d be done for. This would leave you feeling like you did all you could but never had a chance.
Now, Flare of Denial can create similar experiences in Modern out of mono-blue Belcher. This isn’t to say that Flare of Denial is inherently busted or banworthy. Instead, this simply showcases that free spells can have a frustrating impact on Magic without being broken.
This same issue arises with some of the new Leylines that have been printed in the last couple of years. Leyline of the Guildpact and Leyline of Resonance aren’t exactly free spells in the traditional sense, but they do cost zero mana when in your opening hand.
In Pioneer and Standard, neither of these cards is too strong in an average game. Regardless, when you’re on the receiving end of a turn-two kill from Gruul Prowess or your mono-green Devotion opponent casts Storm the Festival on turn-two off Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, it’s reasonable to be frustrated.
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Moving Forward
- Mana Value: 1UU
- Rarity: Rare
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons, Double Masters
- Card Text: If it’s not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost. Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard.
At the end of the day, I’d love to see free spells become less of a focal point in MTG design. That being said, there are some ways to print free spells without taking on quite the same level of risk. One of the methods is to add a timing restriction, much like how the Force cycle is templated.
Part of the reason free spells like Grief were so problematic was because they could be used proactively. Letting combo decks further push their advantage is far from ideal. Unlike with Force of Will, Force of Negation doesn’t let you slam a win condition on your turn and back it up with a free Counterspell. You do run into issues with cards like Violent Outburst that let you gain a huge advantage at instant speed, but that’s less of a problem since it has been banned.
Similarly, Endurance is one of the few Evoke Elementals that plays relatively well because its enters-the-battlefield trigger doesn’t gain you a significant advantage in most matchups. Endurance is a great sideboard card and is a solid three-drop blocker and beater, but playing it for zero mana in most matchups isn’t that impressive.
In this sense, there are avenues for Wizards to add some free spells to Magic here and there without causing harm to various formats. Of course, it’s not always easy to know ahead of time if a design is too pushed, but being bombarded with free spells is not the solution. Sometimes, taking things slower is better.
Read More: Modern Horizons Sets Have Taken Their Toll on a Once Fantastic Format
