Here we go again, again...

[Mr_Pestilence]

The latest insult to non-blue-playing mages:

Overwheming Intellect - 4UU
Instant
Counter target creature spell.
Draw cards equal to that spell's converted mana cost.
"My brain hurts."
Illus. Alex Horley-Ordandelli
5/165
Uncommon

Yes, it costs 6 mana, but who cares? There's card advantage, and then there's ridiculous. You get one guess which one this is...

 

[Nightstalkers]

That is so overcosted... But cute.

 

[orgg]

:yawn:

Too expensive for a very limited spell-- Time Stop is two hundred times better due to its versatility.

 

[Oversoul]

If the blue player hasn't gained control by the time this spell is used, it's unlikely that it will help much. It is dependent on an opponent playing a creature--and a creature with a sizeable mana cost.

Non-blue players have nothing to fear from this inflexible, overcosted, situational card-drawer.

 

[Spiderman]

Nah, the blue player could be playing another control deck, blue or not... each deck could be vying for control when one's able to cast this spell...

 

[jorael]

This card is nasty in casual. Paying 6 mana to draw some cards isn't that hard and countering some random fatty isn't too shabby.

I can already see a 3 blue players biding their time while dragon boy has no idea what's going to happen. LOL

 

[Oversoul]

Nah, the blue player could be playing another control deck, blue or not... each deck could be vying for control when one's able to cast this spell...

If the other deck taps out to play a big creature while both decks are vying for control, it's just asking for the blue player to seize control. A Boomerang or Counterspell could do it. This thing does it better, but it's much more situational.

While I can certainly see its applications in multiplayer or just against bad decks, this card is too expensive and too situational to be used in more competitive environments...

Against aggro, you might die before you can cast it, and it might never see a suitable target.

It's almost bound to be completely useless against combo.

Some decks are creatureless. Many of the decks that do use creatures won't be using expensive ones. If they don't use any creatures that cost four or more mana, you'll have to make due with one that costs two or three mana, which isn't all that great.

Overwhelming Intellect is like tons of other cards, it has inherent power, but is too dependent on the actions of an opponent to be effective.

 

[Spiderman]

Of course we all know that cards are usually geared towards one type of environment in terms of tourney Constructed, casual Constructed, Sealed, and what else... and the best cards manage to span a couple. So part of the fun is figuring out which card goes where...

 

[Oversoul]

Of course we all know that cards are usually geared towards one type of environment in terms of tourney Constructed, casual Constructed, Sealed, and what else...

If they are, I don't think that they should be...

 

[Spiderman]

Mark Rosewater pretty much said it was impossible to design sets so that every single card is viable in all environments... I mean, they might be able to once, and then every set after that wouldn't be able to compete.

 

[Oversoul]

Even if it is completely impossible, it's still what should be striven for.

 

[Spiderman]

If it's known to be impossible, then why attempt the futile?

 

[Oversoul]

I don't think it's known to be impossible at all. I said "even if it is."

Most players I know (myself included) hate cards that seem to be specifically designed for one format and are pretty much useless outside of that format. I don't think cards are designed now with only one format in mind. If they are, that is a problem, but it doesn't explain the cards that are viable in three or more formats (without being incredibly overpowered).

 

[Spiderman]

Generally speaking... (since I can't remember Rosewater's explanation in entirety)

I think you're right that cards aren't specifically designed for a certain environment, so I take that back. What I means is that the nature of Magic and its rarity system implicitly means that some cards are going to be more favorable in certain environments than others.

For instance, in draft, commons are going to be seen a lot more than uncommons and rares. You may only see a couple rares and while they might make your deck stronger, it's probably the commons that are going to power your deck. You're not going to be able to build around rares like you can in Constructed; either in Sealed or draft, you're "stuck" with the cards you get. Thus, you may look at certain cards differently than when you're in a Constructed environment. So certain cards that may be powerful in this Limited format may not be seen in Constructed.

Vice versa, some cards are designed that a deck HAS to be built around them to make them useful and limit their disadvantages. One example is Donate. You're probably not going to see/grab it in Limited but we all know how successful it became in Constructed.

And then there's the cards that cross the boundaries... they're just good in whatever format they're in. Those are usually the most sought after cards.

So THAT's what I mean.

 

[Oversoul]

I see. Then I concur.

I think that since I've played so much more constructed Magic than limited, I am personally biased against cards that are viable in limited, but useless in constructed, while not minding cards that suck in limited, like Donate. But that's just me. Ideally a card is viable everwhere and broken nowhere, but that's one tough ideal to live up to...

 

[Spiderman]

Ideally a card is viable everwhere and broken nowhere, but that's one tough ideal to live up to...

It sure is.

 

[Oversoul]

Although, Swamp is pretty well-balanced in all formats that I can think of...

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

Continuing in the same theme -

New Ancestral Recall (unofficial name, I assume)
UU
Instant
Draw 3 cards. At end of turn, discard 3 cards.
Rare

This seems like a really good card (you heard it here first). Since control players usually play a ton of lands, you can just toss the extras away. This also seems excellent for Reanimator (like Careful Study, only better).

Plus, combo players can use it to keep their turns going, helping them win the game before being forced to discard.

 

[orgg]

Wow. It's an instant card drawer... that the blue mage wants to play during its own turn...

...and only in an aggro or combo deck. In a control deck, this card is a very efficient quality advantage generator akin to Frantic Search more than Ancestral Recal.

 

[Oversoul]

That thing will probably be eaten up by players somewhere. Orgg compared it to Frantic Search, and it will probably see much the same use (albeit without the fun untapping tricks).