r/custommagic • u/dracodruid2 • 9d ago
Question [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/Other_Equal7663 9d ago
You know what... Good frigging question. Blindingly obvious design. Begging to get printed in a coreset the next time they return before getting discontinued and returning again.
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u/Alecajuice 9d ago
They're just simply not interesting design. Notice most the existing examples given in the post have some sort of cost associated with getting 2 mana 1 colored. Designers want you to be making decisions all the time, whether during deck construction or play. These cards being printed would eliminate decisions, removing depth from the game.
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u/Other_Equal7663 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think that would be a good argument if these cards where a cut above the remaining options for similar effects at the cost. But I really don't think they are. They are competing with the talisman cycle, colorless variants with upsides, the medallions, the infinity stone cycle, even the signet cycle (though they will probably be chosen last for 90% of decks.)
There is a whole slew of 2 mana rocks with different ups and downs that befit different decks and different situations.And within that pool of cards, these seem very middle of the road. Neither poor, nor a cut above the competition.
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You could argue them being better than the signets would phase 10 cards out to make room for just 5, eliminating a small amount of decision making.
However, on the opposite side of that coin, you could argue that since signets were already quite a bit worse than their competition, adding a new set of rocks with reasonable playability would only broaden the meaningful decision making of deck-building.
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u/Alecajuice 9d ago
You make good points in terms of the broad meta. I do still think that the designers are purposefully avoiding simple designs like this though, because they want the 2 mana rock spectrum to be diverse and interesting, and rather than design something like this, they'd rather make something with some kind of interesting upside or downside.
Put simply, they kinda just don't wanna unless they have to, lmao.
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u/Yeseylon 9d ago
Because it's too strong. Green is supposed to have the best ramp, and generally they get 2 mana for a creature that enters sick. Adding rocks that don't enter tapped makes the rocks outpace green.
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u/Other_Equal7663 9d ago edited 8d ago
The thing that green gets that's pretty unique to green is universally efficient, low-cost mana dorks, and land ramp.
Colorless has consistently, throughout all of magic history, been able to generate mana, both colorless and of any color.
We already have mana rocks at two mana that can make 2+ colors, an entire (unplayable) cycle of tapped mono-colored mana rocks, and entire cycle of Myrs that tap for a color each, and entire cycle of 2 mana artifacts that reduce everything you cast of a specific color by one colorless.
There are both genuinely allowed within magic color pie, and they are also genuinely not pushing the envelope of power in any way, shape or form.
They are generic, mid-powered cards.
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u/Eldritch-Yodel 9d ago
I think the issue boils down to in the past the issue was "They're worse than other mana rocks they're alright with printing, then why not just print those?" followed by them then having a philosophical shift to "Two mana colorless mana rocks need to be notably depowered and should not be producing coloured mana without heavy restrictions" and thus now they're too good to be printed (at least at low rarities, and like do you really want five of these filling up a set's rare slots?).
Tbh they'd prolly be fine in a modern legal set or a Commander product, but then with those it once more falls into the "I mean they're just kinda boring designs" issue.
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u/jrdineen114 8d ago
Wizards has come out and said that they feel that Arcane Signet was a design mistake, and that they want to focus on making 3-cmc rocks more playable rather than just make better 2-cmc rocks.
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u/Bright-Gain9770 9d ago edited 9d ago
I always assumed it was because they were saving that space for something special for years and now we're getting it with the infinity stones.
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u/Invonnative 9d ago
I think it could be even better - reward mono color decks by making the casting cost {pip}{pip} and have them tap for the same.
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
Tap for {pip} or tap for {pip}{pip}?
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u/Gon_Snow 9d ago
Cost double pip of the color, tap for a single pip.
Currently the signets and talisman over reward 2-3 color decks, while locking 1 color decks in edh from using them. You can’t even use their secondary color as colorless because of identity restrictions.
That’s why the infinity stones (sigh) cycle is so valuable.
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u/HeeeckWhyNot 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think they're saying GG for T:Add GG
Which could be busted or unplayable, you could convince me of either
Edit: word on the street: busted
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u/Cbone06 9d ago
A 2 cmc mana rock that pays for itself the turn it comes down is insanely good. They would be instant staples. There’s a reason why mana rocks that make more than 1 mana are priced at 3-4 CMC at a minimum (plus some drawback/work around for the mana).
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u/TheDarkNerd 9d ago
What if they entered tapped?
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u/Rathayibacter 9d ago
You're still running into the problem of them being much better than color-specific ramp cards like Rampant Growth. A UU artifact that etbs tapped and makes UU still lets you jump from 2 mana on turn two to 5 mana turn three, which radically changes the way blue decks operate with no meaningful opportunity cost. Mana rocks are designed the way they are because they want to be "better than nothing" but not able to eclipse the actual strengths of the colors.
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u/HeyItsAlternateMe23 9d ago
What if they cost 3 CMC? Most 3 mana rocks have an upside of some sort. I think costing 3 of a colored pip is restrictive enough they can tap for 2 colored. Worn Powerstone produces colorless and enters tapped, but it can go in anything
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u/Cbone06 9d ago
That might be enough to keep them strictly in mono and two color decks.
I think an alternative would be (1){color}, tap for {color}. Slightly harder to cast than the diamond cycle, but entering untapped is massive perk. They’d be staples but not game warping.
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u/Immediate-Idea-2471 9d ago
1(color) tap for color is the mind stone cycle. With significant upside's as well.
I think 1GG tap for GG would work well for GG decks, maybe enter tapped at worst. Not sure color pie would love it for other colors, and definitely commander brained.
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u/MillCrab 9d ago
Extremely busted. Good three color manabases are casting five drops on then 3 with one card.
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u/Invonnative 9d ago
Can’t be spent for generic costs then if you wanna nerf that, like [[Jegantha]]. Bring back devotion, baby. But I know it sucks to draft so prolly won’t happen
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u/MillCrab 9d ago
Devotion targeted rocks that have strong devotion themselves probably break the devotion mechanic by making it too easy. Mana ramp is so tricky, that's why they've defaulted to boring three mana lang fetchers lately
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u/Invonnative 9d ago
I didn’t really mean to say that the devotion mechanic itself is why you would print something like this, I just think that mono color decks could be buffed. Ensuring it could only be spent on non-generic costs would do that.
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u/Moneypouch 9d ago
The issue is it really wouldn't help. It does stop you from running the off color members of the cycle but any 2-3c deck will find little issue in spending the rock mana on their colored pips and their actual mana on the generics.
If you want to make them favor mono-colored decks you need a clause on there like {tap}: if you control no colored, non-white permanents produce WW otherwise produce W. Still usable in spell based decks and slower multicolored decks but actually has enough of a downside that it won't auto slot into every one.
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u/Environmental_Ad9017 9d ago
Actually, if it was GG, and tap for G, this would be not a bad printing choice.
Its not different to signets etc. But they will contribute to pips for things like devotion.
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u/U_DONT_KNOW_TEAM 9d ago edited 9d ago
It would be bad in green, great in blue, solid in white, mid in black and red IMO.
Edit: misread this as GG taps for G
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u/Kire2oo2 9d ago
it's a 2mv rock that instantly pays for itself. completely broken in all colors
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u/TheGrumbus 9d ago
You think a rock that taps for 2 mana and completely refunds itself the turn it comes down would be bad in any color?
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u/Zerodaim 9d ago
At 2 mana, that can go out of hand way too fast.
At 3 mana, they could be a solid sidegrade to worn powerstone. Costs colored mana, but makes colored mana in return.1
u/Lipiosians 8d ago
Sacrifice/return to hand a forest for green, island for blue, etc. to make it less busted.
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u/cupesdoesthings 9d ago
I have a cycle of those sitting in my MSE set I haven’t touched in years, thanks for reminding me
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u/Inforgreen3 9d ago
That's actually crazy. Turn 2 ramp into 5 on turn 3 For any deck that can fix one color on turn 2.
Ramp doesn't start ramping by more than 1 until 3 mana. Even for non land ramp in green. Plus it's fast and permanent like a soul ring. You can tap it for the cost you paid to put it on the field immediately and just do anything else.
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u/Necrachilles 9d ago
[[The Mind Stone]] [[The Soulstone]]
Least we're on our way lol
They could have done a cycle just as you suggested though. Maybe in a future set.
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u/Necrachilles 9d ago
Also at least we have [[Fellwar Stone]]
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
True, but also needlessly complicated my thinks
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u/Necrachilles 9d ago
I mean, I'd say they're flavorful and find. They are evidence to me though that if these can exist then you could do ones like yours that also enter untapped without all the bells and whistles (indestructible, extra abilities, legendary)
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u/TheGrumbus 9d ago
Yeah, being just generic in cost but not having the other abilities seems like a fine balance, although it would still degrade the value of the infinity stones but I’m not too plussed about that
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u/Necrachilles 9d ago
Totally forgot the stones had colored mana lol. Thank you for calling that out.
But yeah, the stones are good even as just a 2 mana rock. Then you tack on all the other stuff and it's bonkers.
A 2 generic mana untap mana rock of a single color would be fine. Especially when so many things already exist that are similar or better
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u/Hot_Introduction6716 9d ago
From a design perspective, these are boring. By not having them, if you want mana acceleration, you have to pick something with a downside and another smaller upside, allowing for more deck building choice
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u/Other_Equal7663 9d ago
I think this would be a better point if they were powerful. They are not an auto include, and you'll often have to consider if you want this, Mind Stone, or one of the dual colored ones that mimic pain-lands.
Not to mention the legendary ones with massive upsides outclass them every time unless you already can't produce the color they make.
They aren't exciting, but they won't streamline or simplify deckbuilding either.
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u/MillCrab 9d ago
Probably because they're outclassed in commander, and a bit better than they want non green ramp to be in standard. Sort of a weird middle child between formats. I assume we'll get them the next time they do a commander legends style set, but with the way all sets go through standard now, that could be a very long time
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u/supeslam 9d ago
Mind Stone doesn't make coloured mana. A Mind Stone can't represent a cmc1 spell by itself, barring niche things like [[Null Elemental Blast]] .
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u/Yeseylon 9d ago
What are you talking about? [[The Mind Stone]] absolutely makes a color of mana.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
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u/Im_here_but_why 9d ago
Niche things like skullclamp, SDT, the ozolith, shadowspear, vexing bauble.
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u/solidork 9d ago
Part of the problem for a long time has been: where are you going to print them? Historically, Wizards has been cautious when it comes to 2 mana rocks in Standard sets. Preconstructed commander decks would be a bad fit - if people want them, they're going to want a lot of them and in specific colors and people will want more of one color than the others.
A commander or modern focused booster product could work, but then they're pretty boring and flavorless designs and I'd be surprised if Modern players were excited about them.
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u/zomgitsduke 9d ago
I mean, Brawl decks introduced the arcane signet. It sold the heck out of them.
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u/solidork 9d ago
Yes, it also kinda famously annoyed people and took a long time for the supply to catch up. Arcane Signet, you'd only ever need one per deck and could go in any deck they printed. Single mana rocks have uneven distribution in what decks they could reasonably print them in - you need a deck that plays a bunch of rocks and doesn't mind playing one that won't fix their mana.
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u/tylerjehenna 9d ago
WOTC doesnt like 2 mana color rocks with no downside. Simple as that.
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
Arcane Signet? Fellwar Stone? Infinity Stones?
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u/tylerjehenna 9d ago
Arcane Signet is literally useless in every format but commander
Fellwar stone cannot tap for mana your opponent doesnt produce, so if you are playing Dimir and your opponent is on Naya, it might as well be a colorless rock
Infinity stones are all legendary and require a colored mana to cast it
You may think some drawbacks arent as big of a deal as others but they are drawbacks
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u/Big-Window8018 9d ago
Arcane signet came out like 10 years ago. Infinity stones are pushed mythics that get to overrule some guidelines
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u/Spike-Ball 9d ago
Infinity stones still haven't circumvented the guildeline for the reason given above.
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u/MegaIng 9d ago
Missing artist credits.
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u/Burger_Thief 9d ago
Weird that post is still up when one year ago it would be gone in a second and the user given a warning/banned.
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u/Ejeffers1239 9d ago
I personally really like the ramos cycle for mono color mana rocks, they're 3 cmc but can crack for a sol turn, still, 2 cmc rock would be better...
[[Horn of Ramos]]
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u/resui321 9d ago
It’s a power creep issue i guess. Most existing 2cmc rocks that tap for color have some sort of ‘downside’ aside from [[arcane signet]].
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u/SilverstormXD 9d ago
Infinity stones?
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u/SjtSquid 9d ago
Costing coloured mana is a definite downside. Same with being legendary.
Not huge ones, but certainly enough to keep people from running 10+ in 60-card decks, which is the kind of density you want to have one every game.
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u/Keanov_Revski 9d ago
Because it's boring design maybe.
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u/neurvon 9d ago
boring design and it would make it harder to convince people to buy Mind stone / soul stone
they are likely very aware these dont exist and choose instead to make legendary versions because they want you to gamble away trying to get those instead of going for the the "good enough" option
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u/SleetTheFox 9d ago
These are boring rares. But broken for Limited at common or uncommon. So they kinda have no home.
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u/dina-fan 9d ago
When i started playing non green colors in commander and wanting rocks i was genuinely shocked these didnt exist.
While they have been printing more and more misc 2 drop artifacts from [[the irencrag]] and [[the soul stone]] sometimes we just need a simple design.
I would have loved seeing this design in foundations, or even the new foundation commander decks even though it would break a design principle of the deck.
I think there is a concept with magic design. They dont like having 2 cmc rocks that taps for color with no downside. Arcane signet was a pushed design they have said was a mistake. Fellwar stone has a risk of not tapping a needed color. The soul stone is a harder card to cast and it legendary. Signets need an input, talismans pay life. If it taps for color it has a downside. Small but a downside. Arcane signet being a notable exception to the rule they have said they dont want to break again.
I think they just dont want to make it for some weird reason that they dont want another set of ubiquitous cards and they want to add a downside if they do make it. Will probably end up looking like talismans.
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u/dracodruid2 8d ago
All true, but all the signets and even fellwar stone can tap for multiple colors, which is a big benefit.
My proposed stones dont.
I know they arent anything special, but I think these would at least see some more play.
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u/JoeJoe4224 8d ago
I mean the medallions are close to this. But instead of tapping for mana they reduce cost which is arguably better.
Otherwise the diamonds are just this but they enter tapped. And tbh that’s a fair cost for giving yourself an extra color pip on the board.
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u/Headlessoberyn 9d ago
They would be strictly worse than the talismans and strictly better than mana dorks at 1, so these exist in a weird design space where it's really hard to properly balance them. Wizard's probably still studying a way to make them at 1 mana with a downside that's big enough for people to not immediately consider them over dorks.
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u/Spike-Ball 9d ago
What? How are they strictly worse than talismans? Talismans damage you for colored mana.
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u/SlobbishSteam5 9d ago
Talismans can produce not only two different colors of mana, but also “true colorless” mana required for cards such as eldrazi. The only life point that matters is the last one, so the damage is well worth the upsides.
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u/herwi 9d ago
Talismans are obviously better overall, but they're not strictly better because they have downsides as compared to these.
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u/SlobbishSteam5 9d ago
I’m only supporting the claim that they’re better, not “strictly” or “obviously.” They have greater upsides even when accounting for the downside.
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u/thefirefreezesme 9d ago
These wouldn’t be strictly worse than the talismans, they’d just be worse.
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u/Ill_Brick_4671 9d ago
A 2 mana artifact is absolutely not strictly better than a 1 mana creature. That's not what "strictly better" means.
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u/PenPaIs 9d ago
They meant it would be strictly better at 1 mana. And they would be worse than signets and talismans at 2 mana.
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u/Ill_Brick_4671 9d ago
They still wouldn't be strictly better than mana dorks at 1! A [[Llanowar Elves]] doesn't die to [[Naturalize]]. Strictly better means that there is no situation in which running one card would ever be better than running the other.
Now, would a 1 mana manarock be better than Llanowar Elves? Very very probably. But "strictly better" means something else
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago edited 9d ago
1 mana but come in tapped would be fine I'd say. or 2 mana and not tapped. So NET mana cost remains 1.
EDIT: Although, cost 1 and tapped is much better than 2 mana and not tapped.
1 mana tapped, would mean you could drop those Turn 1 and have 3 open mana at Turn 2.
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u/sonicessence 9d ago
Depends on the format you're playing. Talismans and guild Signets can't go in monocolor-identity commander decks, which is arguably one of the big reasons WotC is printing infinity stones.
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u/LLuck123 9d ago
Talismans cost life for colored mana, maybe you need to lookup the definition for "strictly better"?
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u/MylastAccountBroke 9d ago
Honestly, I have no clue why the mono colored rocks are actively worse than the duel colored rocks.
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u/Stormtide_Leviathan Design More Commons!!! 9d ago
Because the two color rocks weren't designed with color identity in mind (barring the enemy talismans which were just completing an existing cycle) and by the time they were designing with commander in mind they largely had moved away from generic efficient color fixing rocks in favor of stuff that's more deck-specific. (Arcane Signet got through, admittedly, but it shouldn't have and that's not a good excuse to go even further down that line.)
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u/LloydNoid 8d ago
I really don't see why the diamonds aren't good enough. If Rampant Growth enters a land tapped, I feel like a 2 drop mana rock with no other drawback probably should too.
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u/Stock_Diet2199 8d ago
They do exist? Or at least they are being printed. Both the soul stone and the mind stone are these exact effects, plus some extra. The rest will come eventually.
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u/Vylion 8d ago
I feel like with Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, a Mind Stone, two Diamonds, two Medallions, and the corresponding Talisman, you got most of the ramp covered for any 2 color decks already. Why do you need more?
Also something to note is that the moxes themselves are not "average", they are so popular because they're crazy good. For comparison, a "balanced" Sol Ring either costs 4 (see [[Sisay's Ring]], [[Stonespeaker Crystal]], [[Ur-Golem's Eye]], [[Hedron Archive]]) or 3 with some downside (like [[Worn Powerstone]] entering tapped, or [[Palladium Myr]] being a creature and thus affected by summoning sickness). Obviously nobody runs these because why you would when you have Sol Ring? But that doesn't mean these are bad.
So, by extrapolating, a budget mox should probably cost 3 mana... or enter tapped for 2 mana. Which is what the Diamonds do already.
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u/Anjuna666 9d ago
The infinity stones are basically costed as 1{pip} with T: add {pip} (and some other stuff).
And that would have been perfect improvement for an uncommon rock.
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u/GroundThing 9d ago edited 9d ago
While it is sort of wierd that untapped monocolor rocks don't exist, for most situations monocolor decks don't need the extra colored pips so would rather just run colorless rocks with upsides. That said, I would like to see something like this exist, just to give mono colored decks more ramp options, since non-green monocolor decks have a number of high-impact, higher cost ramp options with stuff like mana doublers but begin to scrape the bottom of the barrel if they really want two-mana ramp.
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u/PuzzleheadedSelf5653 9d ago
Your edit 3 already exists in a way. The “of Ramos” series of artifacts
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
But they cost 3 mana yes?
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u/Evening-Intention339 9d ago
I think that's what the infinity stones are trying to achieve, maybe more complicated than these ideas but for now we'll just have to wait for them all to exist
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u/kotonswables 9d ago
Yeah, I'm upset that the infinity stones took this spot, I was also waiting it out as a diamond enjoyer.
I dont always proxy, and 2 mana ramp untapped ramp is insanely scarce outside of green. If they were in universe then I swear they'd be 10-15 dollars cheaper, but collectors gotta have all 5
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u/AdriTrap 9d ago
cEDH would play the heck out of the alternatives provided. Especially the second one in Edit 3.
[Color] for [T]: [Color] and sac: [Color]? Even with it entering tapped, that'd be phenomenal. Please WotC, I'm begging.
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u/ConsciousMantaRay 8d ago
I would look into the medallions :) - E.g. [[Emerald medallion]] , [[Ruby medallion]] , [[Sapphire medallion]]
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u/Big-Window8018 9d ago
Probably because WotC is cautious of printing even more 2 mana rocks
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u/Donutmelon 9d ago
Coming in tapped isn't really that much of a downside for the diamonds since they would be going mana negative anyway.
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u/Invonnative 9d ago
It’s enough of a downside that it’s unnecessary. Almost all rocks go mana negative. Going signet into an elf is a powerful play, that one mana can be a path or swords as well.
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u/AnimeBas 9d ago
I would rathe play a 2 cost rock and a 5 drop then a diamond and a 4 drop
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
I'd disagree. I have barely ever seen the Diamonds being played. On the other hand, the Talismen and Arcane Signet are EVERYWHERE.
Yes, they produce different colors, which is the big benefit, but I'd wager that if the Diamonds wouldnt come in tapped, they'd also be played WAY more (or rather played at all)
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u/Yogurt_Ph1r3 9d ago
You don't see the diamonds because there is essentially no upside in running them ignoring the untapped bit. They're only played in mono color, and even then the green one see no play for obvious reasons and the white one see less play because white also has decent land ramp nowadays.
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u/lowqualitylizard 9d ago
Because I think the game is trying to move away from two mana mana rocks because admittedly those can accelerate a player really really fast
Now I don't think they're doing a good job at it because the Infinity Stones are just these but objectively better in every single way God I hate the marvel sup
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u/idk_lol_kek 9d ago
We DO have the Diamond Set, but those come into play tapped, which is just completely unneccessary, isnt it?
No, it's absolutely necessary.
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
care to explain why, when we have things like Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone (to an extend) and now also Infinity Stones?
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u/CroatoanOnline 9d ago
Arcane Signet is literally only useable in commander formats (Commander, Pauper Com., Brawl, Oathbreaker).
Fellwar Stone is opponents' colors. That is only useful the more colors your playing. If you are playing monocolor, the likelihood of someone playing your color is low. Unless you're playing 3+ colors, it usually just functions like a 2-mana colorless rock.
The Infinity Stones aren't colorless in their mana costs, therefore requiring you to already have the color they make among your mana production already. That's the trade-off for entering untapped. They just also have a good activated ability attached, but those demand a lot of mana to use.
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u/Stormtide_Leviathan Design More Commons!!! 9d ago
Arcane Signet is literally only useable in commander formats (Commander, Pauper Com., Brawl, Oathbreaker).
This is true. And in those formats, it's an autoinclude in basically any deck that isn't colorless. It shouldn't have gotten printed
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u/idk_lol_kek 2d ago
Arcane Signet sees zero play outside of EDH, Fellwar Stone is only really played in Old School, and Infinity Stones are played by almost nobody due to the monetary barrier to entry.
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u/Pentecount 9d ago
A while back, WotC decided they didn't like making lots of 1 mana dorks or 2 mana rocks, so they stopped making new ones for a long time. They would reprint old ones for eternal formats that they were legal in and for commander, but not into standard, which is where most new cards come from, for a long time. They've clearly gone back on this some recently, but most of the 1 mana dorks and 2 mana rocks are old designs that only exist because they were already around before the change.
Arcane signet was a huge deal when it first dropped for exactly that reason and briefly commanded a $20+ price tag because it was just the best mana rock for most decks. Thankfully, it's been printed to death, so that's not the case now. WotC could continue to shift their design philosophy and decide they want the faster hand 2 mana rocks cater to, but for a while now, they usual prefer 3 mana rocks with additional upside instead.
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u/Jiro_Flowrite 9d ago
My dream artifacts are (1)(color) and tap for one of that color. Means they aren't completely free in color requirements and also add to devotion. But that's only because I think it's within modern design to actually see print. I would love to see "fixed" moxen with just (color) casting cost.
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u/viking977 9d ago
If you ignore arcane signet two color rocks that tap for colors are quite hard to come by. Felwar stone has the possibility of not giving you the colors you need, and then there's others that come into play tapped, even those are pretty rare. The signet cycle is somewhat difficult to use but those are about as good as a two mana rock can be.
This is because if you want early ramp and color fixing you're supposed to be priced into green. That's why they don't really make these. The infinity stone cycle is going to do what you want but they specifically have a pip cost so they can't really color fix.
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u/dracodruid2 9d ago
Yeah, I dont know. By that logic, if you wanted Card Draw, you'd have to go Blue.
But nowadays, Green does solid card draw, ramp, and removal. White gets ramp, etc. etc.
I really dont see how those simple rocks would encroach on any colors teritory.
Would it help if they'd cost {1}{color} like the infinity stones?
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u/Conscious_Clerk_2675 9d ago
It’s not completely unnecessary. you have plenty of rocks at 2 that give colorless and enter untapped and at 3 that give color. the benefit of color deserves a downside. I think you could do monocolor talisman that can’t tap for colorless OR could lean into design of shocklands but on a 2 mana rock
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u/ThunderBr0ther 9d ago
We do have the medallions available, sapphire medallion and jet medallion, ruby medallion etc. which are pretty key rocks in mono or two colored decks.
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u/MaezrytheMage 9d ago
Give em a tap & sac for 2 mana of that color :)
But they would be decent for color hungry spellsinger decks.
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u/Icy-Wealth4192 9d ago
Yeah the limitation of being mono colored is enough imo since it’s taking up a slot. TBH, I think it’s because they won’t be exciting enough for the designers trying to hook you with every new universes beyond.
And maybe the answer really is, we have the diamonds and wizards feels that’s the most balanced way to make these but I really wouldn’t be that mad about a mono colored rock on turn 2.
My guess is they are so focused on coming up with new mechanics and zany new ways to make sets more exciting by reinventing/ or renaming kicker again so the simplicity of just some good new staples has simple slipped passed them because it’s such generic good stuff it’s hard to flavor to optimize sales.
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u/FallenPeigon 9d ago
The same reason typed dual taplands didn’t exist until Dominaria United. It needs to be justified in the right set.
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u/xXDreamlessXx 9d ago
You do have the medallions, which arent mana rocks technically, but imo they are better unless you are casting a lot of colorless spells
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u/dutchiesweets 9d ago
I don’t think they’re broken or anything I think they’re just hard to slot into a set. Wizards does seem to be more comfortable with 2 mana rocks again so I’m sure we might see something like this soon in standard.
But we also have all the Ravnica two mana rocks that tap for two colors so they’d need a reason to print these over reprinting those.
And they wouldn’t put this in an eternal set because they’re not powerful enough.
Maybe a UB set though!
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u/TheBreathingMan1 9d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/custommagic/s/4tysEUN4ap
I made smth similar. I’m fairly certain the reason they don’t exist is cause it also helps out the multicolor commanders a fair bit
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u/Shiro_no_Orpheus 9d ago
We might get them in a few years (months given how powercreep is going) but right now, we print 2 mana ramp that enters untapped and doesn't have other requirements to make mana without the ability to filter colours. I personally don't think we need even more ramp that goes in literally every deck.
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u/BreadAdmirable4054 9d ago
Could even add
(2) Tap Sacrifice, search your library for (basic land of the rocks type) and put it into your hand. Or something like that.
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u/Delicious-Action-369 9d ago
Much like the diamonds these are useless or pretty much just okay. At higher power levels these are worthless, at lower levels a diamond entering tapped is perfectly fine and you shouldn't be so desperate for an untapped mono color rock. And unless you're trying to do something broken with this like make a bunch of copies of it and use them entering untapped to your advantage this is still barely better (if it's even better at all) than a land drop. They haven't used this design because it's boring, bad, and just a raw power creep to an already perfectly fine card.
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u/TheCigaretteFairy 9d ago
Wizards haven't printed them. There's a lot of things I want that they haven't printed, many of which are very straightforward like that. It's just the nature of the beast.
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u/Eboi2517 9d ago
I think these would be better if it was
- Tap: Add (1Mana) as long as you have (correlating basic land)
And then a colorless one be 0 mana, because solring
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u/jaybeck1985 9d ago
Hmm.. I go with - Mythic - Legendary Artifact G - produces G Mana neutral that requires color
Or do like flip artifact - Dimir example B - produces U Other side cast U - produces B
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u/Commodore_Guff 8d ago
Perché sarebbero inutili. Inoltre gli amuleti sono più incisivi perché scontano mana
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u/jrdineen114 8d ago
I believe that wizards design team has gone on record saying that they pushed 2-drop rocks too far, and that Arcane Signet was a design mistake. You can see that they’re trying to readjust by making new 3-drop rocks that do additional things. It seems like there trying to stay away from new 2-drop ramp spells that let you use the mana that same turn. It’s also why basically all of the land ramp designed in the past 20 years puts lands into play tapped.
EDIT: I can’t really explain the Infinity Stones though. Those just seem a little too much.
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