Is First Strike Going Away? | Magic: The Gathering Phyrexia All Will Be One MTG Design
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
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First strike has been in Magic since the beginning - but what does its future have in store? Let me fill you in!
Have a question? Post a comment! You can also catch me, Gavin Verhey, on the rest of the internet at:
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Thumbnail background art is Duelist of Deep Faith from Phyrexia: All Will Be One by Marcela Bolívar.
#magicthegathering #gamedesign #mtgphyrexia
Flying, Trample, Protection, First Strike. Long ago, the four Keywords lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the First Strike Nation didn't attack.
I cracked a huge smile at this
"Don't forget about me." -Banding
The fact that the Protection Nation _also_ suddenly disappeared makes this joke even better.
Nice :)
@@Ritokure No, make it "Phased out" instead for the extra reference
You can call the mechanic something like "First strike on your turn" to save space in the text box.
That seems the way to do it, ye. Similar to specific protection.
Or first strike while attacking.
Edit: saw the arguments in the video.
This seems like best option. It is elegant, easy to understand, and best of all short.
I would call it "Crap Strike" ;)
@@grimtrix "worst strike" maybe?
I think you literally said the right solution during the video: "First Strike on your turn."
This should work like other modified abilities like "Equip Legendary Creature 3" or "Hexproof from black cards".
It's short, simple, memorable, you retain the affordances already created through the 30 years the game has existed and you don't need to go back and change any oracle text.
this
ALso then you could have First Strike while equipped; first strike on Opponent turn;
I think this is the most elegant solution, at least in English (and probably a couple of other languages). I wouldn't like a new keyword that is just another keyword but modified in some way (shroud and hexproof are the only example I can think of; even if it is justified, hexproof is just "shroud from your opponent"). New keywords should be reserved for new mechanics or unique but unnamed mechanics.
Hmm, The "Legendary" tag in your example gave me an idea, what if they short-handed "[Cardname] has [Keyword] on your turn into a Super-Keyword of sorts? Like "Attackers First Strike" or "Defenders Hexproof" (For "[Cardname] has [Keyword] on your opponents turn.)
@@jernmon It's "shroud from opponents", technically. Which is even shorter.
Edit: However, it's not practical to use. We've seen effects like 'hexproof from black'. Turning this into 'shroud from opponents from black' is unnecessarily confusing.
I don't really see a problem with first strike, the defensive elements of it are one of the main reasons it works so well-- white and red typically have lower powered creatures and first strike is a very nice way to leverage that limitation and still be able to form a reasonable defense against the bigger threats other colors can leverage. The flavor of a group of smaller but more combat savvy creatures being able to defend and win against a big threat is spot on.
I personally would opt to making a new keyword that essentially reads "Has first strike during your turn" and flavored appropriately.
totally agree with you
This completely! Green and Blue get to have big creatures, black gets deathtouchers, red and white get first strike!
I love how you put this, hell yeah
The implication to make first strike only work on your turn also means it becomes defensively worse, pushing especially white and red, which are already aggressive colors to be even more aggressive and less capable to defend.
It makes the problem worse and the options for the player go down, as you really only can attack profitable, as defending is horrendously bad deal for you (it already is, as you rather want to win by attacking, the game doesnt really favor you being defensive to begin with).
they could call it charge and call it a day lol
Don't touch legacy keywords, just add new ones. Make the new version you describe that only works on your turn called swift strike or something. Its okay for keywords to be strictly worse (like Infect vs Toxic), to preserve the integrity, power and legacy of the original.
Swift Assault?
Well toxic technically predates infect since toxic is literally just the poisonous keyword. Except it adds the counter without putting the ability on the stack.
Also, fwiw, toxic is a worse mechanic, but it's not strictly worse, since it still deals the damage to life totals as well as the poison counter. It's obviously worse than infect, because of the lack of -1/-1 counters, but it's not "strictly" worse in the sense that most people use that phrase for tcgs
agree with this 100%
Technically, toxic isn't inherently worse, depending on how it is worded. Let's say you have a 2/2 creature, that you've given Toxic 2, Trample and Double Strike to. You attack in, and your opponent chumps a 1/1. They take 4 poison counters. Now, same creature, 2/2, Trample, Double Strike but Infect instead of toxic, with that same 1/1 chump, they now only take 3 counters.
As a die hard Boros player, first strike did nothing wrong 😂
I agree! How are white weenies and red aggro bois supposed to keep up?!
@@jordantaylor4390 We clearly need more 1 CMC white creatures with double strike especially in the common slot to deal with the loss of real first strike
I dont play white often, but one of the things that blew my mind discovering was how the first combat phase of first strike interacting with a deathtouch creature does not kill it and then comboing with something like a shock or lighting bolt before the second combat to prevent your creature from dying was one of the things that made me respect and use more first strike creatures myself and how white has a paladin way to fend off the underhanded dirtiness of deathtouch
That reminds me of a time where someone swung a lethal board state at me in a commander game. I had a first strike blocker and stated, "after blocking and killing your creature with first strike damage, I will cast Holy Day." This allowed me to strategically eliminate a key creature from their board, while also preventing myself from losing the game. I won that game on the following turn because of that.
@@SackofDooDoo big brain plays and capitalizing from mistakes can turn the entire game around
Confirmed Thalia at common in March of the machine.
Compleated Thalia with "this creature can't block"
@@_Ve_98 I think it's Shadow
rip to half of the pauper meta
Either just make "on your turn" a variable so you can write "First Strike on Your Turn", or make a keyword for your turn, like iniative or offensive(Offensive Flying would be flying as long as its your turn, etc.). Very interesting to see how well first strike blocks affecting the mechanic!
Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. My thought was "Attackers" and "Defenders" [Keyword].
I like the idea of "offensive" and "defensive" being normalized keywords meaning "on your turn" and "on an opponent's turn" respectively. There's a lot of interesting stuff one could do with those from simple power and toughness changes to adding and removing keywords.
@@t.estable3856 The issue here is that there is already a Defender keyword. "Offensive X" and "Defensive X" would circumvent this problem.
You'd just have to make clear somewhere that "Offensive First Strike" isn't it's own Keyword, but that "Offensive" grants the keyword behind it on its turn. Otherwise you'd get into headaches like "Reach can block flying, but I have *offensive* flying, that's different!"
I'd throw my vote (if I had one) behind "Offensive/Defensive X".
They already have the Initiative by the way from Baldur's Gate.
@Blackbot Yeah, I can see how "Defenders First Strike" might be easily confused for "Defender, First Strike" I think it'd still work Mechanically, given that they are different words, but from an Accesibility standpoint, "Defensive" would make more sense.
Aw, first strike on defense was one of the reasons I got into the game. Seeing my buddy's black red first strike vampire deck was the coolest.
Gavin, one of the advantages to having an unconditional keyword is that you can interact with it. Cards like soulflayer can't parse first strike only on your turn.
Would a keyword modifier work in the rules? Think something like hexproof from multicolored, but for first strike? That's an ability that cards that care about hexproof can see. So instead of hexproof for multicolored, first strike on your turn *as* the keyword?
I think First Strike is more fun when it works defensively 😁
First strike lets white and red’s small creatures keep up with blue and green’s big creatures and green and black’s deathtouch creatures!
Well but this effect also hold first strike creatures back in design. The fact that they are so powerful on defense and with this lead to generally unfun boardstalls, means that they have to be balanced around this interaction - if they only have first strike on offense but not for defense, it allows the stats and costs to be more pushed with lower risk.
At the same time, first strike is an ability that makes a creature Better in combat. Deathtouchers are really good at defence too! A 1/1 deathtouch can hold back a 10/10 attacker! Although thinking about it, the deathtoucher dies, but they still lead to board stalls. I always thought triumphant adventurer had the "on your turn" clause because they saw fit to ALSO give him deathtouch
I have always loved first strike and loved how it can be defensive & allow you to build a board and control a board. No problem. I think you’re all doing it perfectly.
Don't see it as a problem, love first strike and creatures with first strike are the coolest blockers. A Archer with First Strike is very flavorful :)
Ah, my Kwende will be happy with more first strike cards too =p
yeah board stalls aren't an issue, peak magic is turn 20 boardstalls trying to think if you have lethal or not
I love First Strike as it is, it makes it so much better to attack (and block) when an opponent has death touch (the real board-stall in most games I play). If there is a creature with an activated ability to get first strike for 3 mana it just means I'm not going to play it because most times its more useful to just play another 3 mana creature if the first one dies. (And if you only print creatures with first strike on your turn they won't survive outside standard)
This video coming out a week after they released First Strike + Deathtouch ( + destroy enchantment / draw card / kill plainswalker) Glissa is pretty ironic.
@@majordude83 gavin talked about it in the video
Fun fact: First Strike in Brazil is translated to Iniciativa, which is equivalent as Initiative. Maybe a new Keyword is great for the first strike during your turn, like a battle mastery, finesse, trickery, cunning, ruse, guile...
Yeah in French it's "Initiative"
Yeah same thing in French, there's a good chance it's the same thing in Spanish and Italian but I have to check before speaking nonsense, and I find it pretty telling like a "I'm choosing the odds and ends in this fight", very D&D flavor if you ask me. Cheers!
That's really cool. I've always disliked First Strike being 2 words
@@XannMagus How does the french version handle "gain the initiative"? Genuinely curious
@@antivalidisme5669 in Spanish it just Hits First.
I play a lot of limited, I certainly agree with the assessment of first strike and how it is better defensively. However, I do think there is a dial that can go too far in the other direction. If first strike is only granted during your turn, creatures with that text are at their best when attacking. If there is enough incentives for attacking and not enough good blockers, you can quickly end up in a “two ships passing” in limited environment. Something that ONE is pretty close to, and brothers war was similar.
Blocking is great! Some of the best limited gameplay is figuring out how to play around opponents open mana when assigning blocks.
I’d love to see another design philosophy video on the dangers of defensive speed and board stalls, while trying to avoid the ships passing aggressive creatures.
Great comment. If I had to choose between the two, I would take board stalls over passing ships 100% of the time. I get that Wizards is pushing for shorter games, but I prefer games to be decided by skill rather than luck.
I think there should be a new keyword specifically for "When it's your turn, this creature has X".
Say it's called "Advantage", then the card text would read: "Advantage: First Strike". Then for the cards where you put in the full mechanics text, it would be: "Advantage: First Strike (as long as it's your turn, [this creature] has First Strike)".
And then it's easily applicable to any number of abilities. Blood Burglar would have "Advantage: Lifelink". Embereth Skyblazer would have "Advantage: Flying".
It's straightforward, easy to understand quickly, and doesn't need to be tied intrinsically to First Strike (like Fear was to Black, leading to the need for Intimidate).
Eternal TCG has a mechanic that's first strike while attacking called quickdraw, and I think that tracks pretty well
They call it quick attack in Runeterra. MtG could call it quick strike
I think first strike is fine how it has been treated in the last several years, since most first strikers are prone to low to the ground removal like shocks or -1/-1 effects, or high toughness creatures
Very nice video. To me, first strike while blocking makes a lot of sense while picturing spear walls from ancient times.
First strike is great the way it is.
I think last strike and triple strike should be added to legal sets. A Massive 10/10 for 5, but it has last strike would be really interesting.
I'm looking forward to the addition of last strike to cards.
Extremely Slow Zombie says "aieeeeeee"
I really like first strike as something defensive. In many limited environments something like first strike, death touch or a high toughness creature is all that makes a controlling deck work.
I love that it’s remaining unchanged, it definitely seems to make the most sense to me that it remains the same and the way it’s implemented in the future shifts. Perhaps a new keyword for “first strike on your turn” is the easiest way around the convoluted wording. I’m sure something could be created!
Go with “aggressive / defensive” as two new keywords.
Leech Fanatic could say “Aggressive lifelink” and people would know it only has it during your turn, when you have the option to be aggressive. Oak Street Innkeeper could say “Tapped creatures you control have defensive hexproof.”
I like the idea of making a new keyword. Maybe like, quick attack or something that implies it's only on your turn.
quick attack sounds like a pokemon moves no magic
@@L8RSTORM it's what Legends of Runeterra calls this exact mechanic
Quick Attack = First Strike and Haste on your turn
Originally first strike was to invoke the idea of a soldier with a lance , pike or spear. EG: the card Lance. It’s sill to restrict it to offensive only use.
@@PostprandialTorpor Ironically, lances have almost no defensive use (unlike pikes).
I like normal first strike, but understand the problem of board stalls. A neat design space would be having the card punish you for not using it to attack, taking 1 damage at the end of your turn if untapped for instance.
That also reminds me, I noticed that “partial protection” seems to be a thing on a couple of cards in ONE (like Skrelv) and I feel it’s rather wordy as well. If it’s going to be more common going forward, I think it could do with a keyword too. Not that I have any clue as to what that keyword could even be.
First strike on your turn could be "Lunge" or "Thrust" maybe? I personally love how first strike operates and would be sad.
Love first strike on defense. I don’t actually think slowing down the board is a bad thing at all.
It's more interesting than deathtouch IMHO.
It's weird they want to take tempo control away from white when blue *exists* and that's kind of white's thing.
@Z Kane blue is the original tempo color.
The issue really came to light in Oath where Zadas commando really slowed things down and held off a ton by there just being two on the board and the additional cohort ability. It wasn't a good limited environment to start with but then they made that deck have a long game as well. Other white cards also had issues in inherently formats where they took aggro and basically gave it a long game so those decks dominated limited formats.
@@showingthelinks8441 not trying to dismiss you, because I appreciate your response, but why would we care about limited to such a degree that we would forever alter all other formats? Sacrifice relevant formats for limited, a format that's typically only affordable while the specific set is active in standard. I don't mind "draft chaff" either, as a surprising number of those cards are actually decent with certain strategies. Giving white card draw and taking away control seems like a neutering of that color, where in the past WOTC neutered a color by offering its specialties to other colors. Just saying I disagree with this move, and have since Q4 last year when Gavin told us they weren't going to print first strike anymore... right before they printed new first strike in Crimson Vow. It feels like there are at least two factions within wizards, the people in charge of the youtube channel are trying to push the folks who make the cards (I understand these two groups overlap, but maybe (? You tell me) not 100%) into doing something they don't want to do based on public perception, but then a majority of the public seem to disagree with the move. Someone gets the banks on the phone XD
"Ability Word" - First Strike. (Reminder text)
An ability word for "as long its your turn" and for "as long its not your turn" could simplify the readability of cards with similar effects (not just first strike).
For commons without much other text the reminder text can explain the card completely while for more complex rares there is more space so the card isnt overloaded with text and easier to understand
Started playing in 1998. One thing I found disappointing as I got better in skill is that I used to look at a bunch of creatures that would be absolutely devastating if my opponents blocked them, and get really excited, and then just eventually realized "Oh right they'll just never block this"
And when all these abilities can be approximated as lesser forms of "unblockable", I think they lose a lot of shine.
They can block, if they can maneuver into the extra cost. a 2/1 First Striker dies to two creatures that add up to 3+ toughness total. Which is different from Menace, as the math and results change.
Could we maybe get a good morning magic video about named characters in the lower that were previously represented by non legendary cards? Given that ONE gave two of them legendary cards
I am a big fan of the design philosophy of making first strike an activated ability. That's smart. The threat of activation is strong! Overall, first strike feels like it should be used offensively as basically a form of evasion, so I'm a fan of anything that incentivizes attacks rather than keeping those creatures back to defend. But it would be nice to keep first strike (without adding a new mechanic) because even though it may take more words, it's nice to have the mechanic be flexible by giving it conditions such as only being active on your turn.
They complained about threat of activation on this turn already
I remember using wall of razors to great effect as a kid when stronghold first came out. Good times :)
It took 30 years, but WotC finally admitted Wall of Spears is too powerful.
To be fair, I once beat a board wipe in limited with a top-decked Voldaren Stinger (First Strike when attacking, pumps +2/+0 for 2R) attacking and forcing chump blocks from a bunch of big fat creatures my opponent had held in their hand to play after they they wrathed. For like 5 turns in a row, they dropped a fatty, and I just attacked into it with my Stinger and pumped (they had to block at 6 life). Eventually I drew a Lunar Frenzy and won. So, "first strike on your turn" can still be pretty powerful.
Still if you're playing white and red (the only colors that get First Strike at common) in limited and you're doing a lot of blocking, you're probably losing anyway.
Vanguard is the name of the ability for first strike on your turn. It makes sense. Creatures with vanguard are literally at the head of the attack formation and delivering the first blows. Conversely you might use rearguard for the opposite effect.
Don't change anything as far as First Strike goes. I'd like to see more cards granted this ability, from Common to Mythic. Much appreciated.
Least game design aware person
This feels like a good direction for limited gameplay all around without compromising the game as a whole in any way. Big fan.
Honestly, all the "First strike on your turn/attacking" creatures I see as just being bad. Like anywhere outside of limited they are 100% unplayable. In paper they add more triggers you have to remember and thats not really good for new or casual players.
This video is the only one where commenting “first” would be appropriate
Hahahaha YES I was waiting for it
You said it yourself, First Strike is such a great self-explanatory name, so I really never felt like that "on your turn" specification overcomplicated things. This is particularily true, since the affected cards are typically limited cards and therefore simple in design anyways.
Also the card in MOM is [[Redcap Heelslasher]], 3R 2/3 First Strike Backup 1. It's easy to overlook because it doesn't do much in limited, being a very defensive and high cost Red 4 drop.
I would use regular first strike on rares and uncommons and use first strike on your turn on commons only for the sake of limited.
4:25 MY goodness that Blood Petal Celebrant art is gorgeous!!
I would not change the evergreen mechanic. Simply take the approach you mentioned, more text is ok. There could also be a modified keyword like “first strike on controller’s turn” etc.
I think i like the idea of just keywording 'as long as it's your turn' to perhaps something like 'Tactical' so a creature like pouncing lynx would have 'Tactical First Strike'. Daggersail Aeronaut would have 'Tactical Flying' and Leech Fanatic would have 'Tactical Lifelink' and so on. I can see there being issues whether it can apply to things like sporeback wolf's +0/+2 or if it can only apply to other keywords. But i think this keeps the clarity that creature with first strike on your turn has exact same rules as 'old' first strike more so than a new keyword might but keeps the verboseness down compared to the current solution. Tactical might not be the best word to use but for me it's best fit i can think of to cover the idea that a creature has an advantage while the player(planeswalker) has more control, other options might be 'supported', 'strategic', 'empowered', 'guided'. If the initiative mechanic didn't already exist something akin to 'First Strike with initiative' may have been a good wording too.
If we introduce timing keywords, it could help in a lot of places.
How about 'aggressive' or 'proactive' for 'As long as it's your turn' and 'defensive' or 'reactive' for 'as long as it's not your turn' (potentially also the '-ly' adverb style, for more elegant English)
@@retnuhytnuob4068 I do really like 'Proactive/Reactive' for this. it's very self-explanatory
Love this
Initially, I was thinking a new keyword would make sense. Something like "Attack Stance". But the more I thought about it, the more silly it felt to create a new keyword for this. Similar to why it was silly to have both Fading and Vanishing.
Ngl I thought you were about to do my boi Wall of Razors dirty. My sweet summer child should never be changed.
An evergreen ability word like similar to corrupted, landfall, or spellcraft would work perfectly. "Ablity name - firststrike"(When it is your turn card has first strike). Best part is cards can get other effects beside first strike and it could be used on things besides creatures.
I love First Strike as it is. In all the games I've ever played, if I want to attack and there's a First Strike in the way, I have answers ready before I get into combat. Mechs like FS encourage flexibility in tactics and strategy. Most decks are going to have a way to remove creatures or buff attackers and there are way more instances of those than FS mobs.
I think that first strike is balanced at common pretty well due to the low toughness. low toughness rewards other play styles like interactive decks and big green stompy. the high power first strike also pressures control decks, which is also important, kinda filling its roll. I think its fine as is and should be printed more regularly at common.
First Strike was fine as a static ability. Double Strike needs this templating at uncommon. The keyword that NEEDS this is Deathtouch, that is the mechanic that causes mass board stalls on blockers!
So I have two thoughts on this and I'm not sure if either are better. A key word called alpha strike, which literally just gives first strike on your turn. Simple, two words, easy to communicate.
The second isn't specifically first strike but to cut down on placing them card name, why not just use the word "this". Would also mean that whenever the term this pops up, it's referring the the card an effect is originating from. Could maybe be relevant for like og sakashima.
I'd come up with new keyword, because of the hassel you talked about. Attacking first strike / first strike attack, also same could be done for defending. But probably my favourite Swift strike.
Also something like split attack could be double strike while attacking. Just something that came to mind fast after watching this video. Cheers!
Don't change it, most keywords are associated with a color in the wheel: Green>Trample, Blue>Flying, Red> Haste, Black>Deathtouch, First Strike>White.
Just "First strike on your turn" sounds great, unless specific rules prohibit that. I wouldn't change the functionality of the keyword, nor create a new one to differentiate from actual First Strike. I actually like how conditional/triggered/activated FS is a balance knob of a card, and would love yo see more of it going forward, with FS being used for more powerful designs, or where it makes sense thematically.
I find first strike more fun on defensive duty than on offensive duty.
As explained in the video: A creature that attacks and could have first strike is usually never going to be blocked by a creature that it would kill without a trade. (Unless it would be lethal e.g.)
And that same creature would never attack if it would die, even with first strike.
So in these scenarios it would marginalize whether First Strike needs to be activated, is only on your turn or is permanent. It plays like a weird Skulk, reading something like "This creature can only be blocked by creatures with toughness higher than its power".
The defending aspect mentioned in the Video such as with Baneslayer (or generally First Strike in combination with Life Link) make for interesting defense scenarios and combat maths. They make way for bluffing and attacking into your opponents First Strikers and reward the usage of combat tricks as "kill spells" that work when you are attacking.
I think First Strike is fine as a mechanic as it is, and the usage as limited availability (activated or turn dependent) is a good way of balancing the mechanic.
Considering blocking is generally considered to be rarely worth it in most formats and situations, I don't think mechanics that encourage blocking need nerfs.
I’ve always preferred first strike to many of the other abilities, but it became primarily a defensive ability to me once double strike was introduced. I think situational first strike is fine for common and uncommon, but I think we should still have it for rares and mythics.
I think it's cool how Legends Of Runeterra saw this issue, especially in it's "creature" heavy environment and added "Quick Attack" which just means "First strike as long as it's attacking" - ever since i got into that game I've been noticing the first strike during your turn pop in mtg with a similar philosophy
First strike vigilance creatures: *sweating nervously*
I like the idea of changing the mechanic all together to mean on your turn
I just want to see triple strike in commander/pioneer someday please
I always enjoyed games with friends where we would be at a stalemate because of first strike creatures and things.
Back, when vigilance wasn't a keyword, a friend and I had many stalled matches due to my Royal Assassins. Fun times.
is this sarcasm?
@@FartRainbows nope lol
@@powerworddab huh, thanks for answering!
@@FartRainbows Nope. It was fun when both us waited for the card, which could break the stalemate and win us the game.
Early on in Arena, First Strike Mentor was one of my favored decks. Sunhome Stalwart (name? a 2/2 White Soldier with First Strike and Mentor) helped push early, and could stall out bigger threats with their combined might. Throw on a shortsword and now they can upgrade each other. Or the Shield of the Realm to nullify multiblocking. Finish with that 4/3 that deals damage to a player for all the damage it takes, especially with Gideon's Sacrifice.
As such I like the defensive nature of First Strike. It gives credence to the combined might of an army, by their powers combined, and other card games have simply opted to do what you propose and make it only for attackers.
You also get the benefit of First Strike taking care of Deathtouch, or better, its synergy with it.
I think "First Strike On Your Turn" is short enough to work templating wise, and has some precedence from things like Thrasta's "Trample Over Planeswalkers" or Knight of Grace's "Hexproof From Black" as a modification to an already existing keyword.
Coming from other TCGs I remember initially being surprised and confused that First Strike worked with blocking. There's an intuitive part to it that doesn't quite work in that scenario.
Don't touch this. I've never ever heard anybody being dissapointed with first strike
"Offensive First strike" with reminder text that it's only active on your turn for 10 sets or so and afterwards one can phase out the reminder text and just have it be 3 words instead of 7, also a single line of text allowing for more flavour text
Seems like a simple solution would be to make a game term that means "during your turn", such as something like "Active", so you could have Active First Strike, or just First Strike. This would then also carry over to other cards, like say you wanted a creature to only have Flying during your turn, it could have Active Flying. I don't think Active is the best term specifically, but this seems like a pretty simple solution that also opens up additional design space, with the only downside being players understanding what the new term means.
I would be fine having a new key word. It could either be a another word with strike but making it more clear that it’s only during your turn. Or maybe create a new word for having only be your turn. That way you can have a “first” or “double” version of that.
Throat Wolf really was ahead of its time.
"First Strike on your turn" keeps it nice and short.
I love a good limited board stall. Not the 7th edition kind where my only out is a Sea Eagle getting there, but the kind that lets your draft synergies come together instead of never being drawn because creatures are constantly freely running sideways.
Frost Strike: After this creature deals damage to another creature, that creature doesn't untap during it's controller's next untap step.
Keyword Quick Attack or something like that, it says when this creature is blocked it deals damage first. Wording may need to be slightly different but you get the idea
Give it a variant keyword, like "Hexproof from X" and "Trample over Planeswalkers". Either something mechanical like "First Strike on your turn" or lean into flavor with something like "Charging First Strike"
This is a perfect example of an analysis that doesn’t need to happen. There is no real problem with first strike preventing people from attacking; magic isn’t a game about only attacking anyway. It’s also kinda annoying that this is something that is even given any breath at wizards; really, there are more problems in balancing the game elsewhere than attacking or blocking
I like the idea of changing first strike on your turn to a single keyword. Maybe pounce or subtle strike.
i like how legends of runeterra does it. they have a mechanic called "quick attack" which just makes so much sense to only work on attack
You mentioned that you would change First Strike if you rebuild Magic from the ground up and im interested to hear what else would you change, I remember MaRo answering he probably wouldnt allow Green to produce mana of other colors.
MaRo recently said they are moving away from Upkeep triggers... maybe he would get rid of upkeep phase
I like the new keyword approach. And i would use "Charge" for first strike on your turn and keep the old "First Strike" keyword(s) as they are.
Charge sounds great! Simple, creates a fitting image, feels right.
You could write:
- Active First Strike: for when you are in your turn.
- Passive First Strike: for when it's your opponents turns.
I've played a number of other Magic-adjacent CCGs, and pretty much every one that has a First Strike-adjacent mechanic has it only trigger on attacking, and it honestly feels a lot better. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it doesn't work that way when I go back to Magic.
Coming to MtG from Runeterra, it feels *so* obvious that first strike is an old old mechanic, from the fact it's on block, to the fact that it opens up an entire separate damage step rather than just being before the blocker. It definitely feels like something that has been dramatically overdue for an overhaul, on the level of regeneration but not as nightmarish for rules. The fact that not only is an evergreen but an original alpha keyword capable of doing something like opening up new game phases screams "this came out during the game's infancy before we established what things should and shouldn't be possible". Especially since we already have on attack only effects.
In a game where first strike is intrinsically only on your attack like LoR, you can freely put first strike on almost anything and it's tolerable. Granted, it's also a game where all things intrinsically have haste and vigilance. Of course, runeterra might not be an amazing point of comparison, given that the equivalent of provoke is evergreen there.
@@tinfoilslacks3750 Have you ever played Eternal? That game is much more similar to Magic than Runeterra is, and its first strike analogue (called Quickdraw) is also Attack only. It's strong, to be sure, but doesn't cause as many board stalls as in Magic, and almost exclusively shows up in the local equivalents of red and black.
@@GGCrono i haven't played Eternal sadly. I really really like Runeterra it's probably my favourite TCG even moreso than MtG, but I still play MtG as well mostly because it has the biggest scene and highest level of mechanical complexity. I should definitely try Eternal, but the shared round initiative pass system really clicked with me in LoR and it's super hard to go back to conventional turns after playing it. For all of its faults, its got some of the best QoL stuff that truly feels like it's directly iterating on MtG.
I think it's absolute best development on top of MtG is the creation of the Strike action, which cleans up so much of the damage step.
30 years Sonny boy and don't you forget . Had me worried there for a second .
I like the way first strike works. The simplicity of it, while also creating complex board states is a lot of fun. Thalia Guardian of Thraben for example would be much worse without first strike.
This is why flanking and prowess were invented. You could word it down to "attacks with first strike" or
"Offensive first strike"
I can see the frustration of a board full of First Strike being used to stall for time, but I think there is generally enough interaction with creatures that it's not overbearing. There are multiple ways to interact with not only your creature but also theirs to remove the advantage of First Strike, one of the first being to have a bigger creature in terms of toughness. You can also remove the creature, remove its keyword, lower its attack, give your creature indestructible, use protection, etc. The design space is open enough not to make first-strike totally overbearing, but it's still a considerable threat. I don't think first-strike should go away, but I do approve of the Phyrexia design philosophy. This would help mitigate some frustration and would give first-strike a lot less versatility, but a more clear purpose.
> first strike is OP on defense, we are planning to debuff it by giving it "on your turn" modifer from now on
> btw, here's a new card with deathtouch+first strike. it's totally fine and fits our vision
Glissa has really good abilities. That incentivise attacking.
First Strike Tribal is a thing and it would be unfortunate for it to go away. And yes partly for the defense.
Jordan Taylor
0 seconds ago
Yup! I made a first strike tribal deck in zendikar/scars block and used a buncha deathtouch equipment and instants… I’m a big fan of B/G Glissa’s!
I have literally never heard someone say, “Wow first strike is so powerful on defense!”
It certainly is in some situations, like Odric, Lunarch Marshal Commander decks. If you have Odric out and both the flying and first strike (or, even better, double strike) keywords, your creatures with summoning sickness are a strong deterrent against being attacked. If you also have the vigilance keyword, all your creatures form a great wall.
Because in formats where it would be powerful on defense (limited) R&D takes a lot of care to balance it.
Because First Strike on defense isn't flashy, many players might just ignore the advantage that can be had with a first striker on defense. You might not notice the life it saves you, and shoot even attacking into one you hesitate but not nearly as much as you would hesitate if the creature had death touch.
In limited it's a huge deal, and the first strike on your turn cards are not as great as just plain first strike.
Seriously! I would say it is better on defense... but no where near too powerful. Also, why shouldnt there be mechanics that work better on defense? It is just a check on aggro decks... There are a bazillion decks that dont care about a FS defender. Maybe the people complaining about it should try something other than green red stompy.
@@grimtrix the only reason you say that is because they limit how common it is. Trust me, if there were like 4-5 commons in a set with first strike all the time, it would make attacking IMPOSSIBLE.
First Strike Attack to save text space for First Strike on your turn. Which could also lead to some cards with First Strike Block.
"First Strike on/during your turn" is a good way to do it imo.
New keyword is the most simplistic implementation (IMO). Naming it something akin to first strike as an homage (swift strike?) would be neat, but would have to be careful to not confuse it with first strike, especially for new players. I'm sure the team will come up with an appropriate name. I'm all for reducing the text on cards 🤣
Here’s my pitch: new keyword/modifier, “Active,” which gives the ability only on your turn.
Ex. An “Active Flying” creature only has flying on your turn.
This would solve the first strike text issue, plus open up design space with tons of other keywords!
French vanilla creatures have a certain elegance to them but uncommons and commons should usually have the text box space for "First Strike on your turn".
I could see a redesign where first strike is on your turn and on someone else's turn, creatures with defender gain the same mechanic. It's effectively a wall that deters your opponents from attacking.
My buddies and I nicknamed turn-based First Strike to Fervent Strike, mostly because Fervent Champion is almost always smashing through the red zone. Not as catchy, but who knows? "Strike" is a valuable term here, and "First" has a lot of different alternatives!