Tyrant-Thanatos Overlord

Kogarashi: Small correction on Lich's Mastery, you still lose life while it's out, but you generally won't care much, as you won't lose the game for running out of it.

Yes. As long as at least one white creature is used, you can cast Venerated Loxodon using entirely creatures. Said White creature doesn't even need to be mono-white. Progenitus would work just the same as an Eager Cadet would.

Three.

If Marwyn was worded as "Whenever one or more..." then it would only be one.

cdkime: Yeah, I can kinda see that. I think it becomes more intuitive if players just knew why. I mean the removal from combat is almost specifically so that First Strike effects aren't wasted on regenerators (something the new indestructible until end of turn mechanic will lack). And to me, it's always kind of made sense lore-wise. Your creature has to quite literally pull itself back together, that takes effort (tapping), and takes time, keeping them occupied (removal from combat).

Either way, it's not like there's much we can do now. I still think WotC needs to put more focus on teaching players the game though. The Comprehensive Rules need to be in players hands, and they should have their own in-depth tutorials on how to play. I don't see why they can't have written and/or video tutorials, step by step, on their website, that are advertised on the inserts you find in almost every product. Sure, it would take effort, but if you want to bring in new players, you need to teach them the damn game.

Haha! In fairness Kogarashi, Naturalize and Wrath of God are pretty iconic cards. I bet that for most players, especially long-time players, the first things that would come to mind for "card that destroys and enchantment" and "boardwipe" would be the same. :)

cdkime: Honestly I've never seen a new player struggle with Regenerate. The people that struggle with mechanics like this are the new-ish players, that have been taught the entire game through a series of he-said-she-saids by their playgroup, with zero rules reference at all. And this is something WotC cannot, and should not try, to fix. This is the same thing that leads to crazy beliefs that Vigilance prevents your creature from ever being tapped under any circumstances at all.

If a new player is taught the game properly, then Regenerate is not confusing, the stack is not confusing. IMO what WotC needs to do isn't simplify the game, it's make learning the game more accessible. Stop relying on your existing players to teach new players the game. They've taken a few steps in the right direction for this imo, but not enough.

Grappling Sundew disagrees. /shrug

DragonKing90: The part about it costing more.

Also Drudge Skeletons and Drudge Reavers, which Drudge Sentinel was clearly a throwback to, were also commons. You can't tell me that isn't more than .

DragonKing90: The worst part imo is that they know it's objectively more powerful, and if you look at the cards that have it, it shows. Drudge Sentinel costs to do this, and still taps. It's essentially terrible regenerate, because the effect is stronger so it has to cost more. I called this way back when they said they were phasing out Regenerate in favor of "indestructible until end of turn". It was actually pretty cathartic to wave Drudge Sentinel in my playgroup's collective faces after I spent so much time ranting about exactly this thing back when WotC made that announcement. They didn't believe me, HAH!

I'm still pissed that I was right though.

oliveoilonyaasscureshemorrhoid: That ruling is referring to this:

702.102e If an Aura with bestow is attached to an illegal object or player, it becomes unattached. This is an exception to rule 704.5m.

Ordinarily, when an aura is attached to an illegal object, say because it has protection from the aura or no longer exists on the battlefield, then it is put into the graveyard. Bestow cards instead "revert" to their creature forms. If an Eidolon of Countless Battles were enchanting a creature, and was targeted by a Naturalize, it would be destroyed as normal. When Planar Cleansing resolves, it destroys both cards simultaneously. For comparison, a Wrath of God would not destroy the Eidolon of Countless Battles in this instance, because it would simply become unattached and revert to a creature when the creature it was enchanting is destroyed.

I've heard these exact same points a thousand times before though, and it just doesn't make sense to me. As a new player, I never found it confusing. On top of that, they continue to use things like Morph, to the extent of creating alternate, more complicated versions of it via Manifest and Megamorph. Morph's use of special actions whatnot creates far more rules confusion than Regenerate ever did. Much less Manifest, which starts throwing non-creature cards facedown. Back when Manifest was new, I think I heard more confusion about what happens when you Cloudshift a manifested Instant than I have about Regenerate for the entire 15 years I've been playing this game.

I'd be fine with Regenerate staying out of Standard sets and being printed in nonstandard sets, that fits more in line with their claims about it anyhow. What they say and what they do just doesn't seem consistent to me.

berryjon

"Magic, as a game, needs to bring in new players. And complicated rules are a wall, a barrier to that. So simplification is a good idea to help bring in new players"

On one hand, I understand this logic, on the other though, I fundamentally disagree. Not with the idea that MTG needs to bring in new players, but with the idea that that requires simplification. I know my experience doesn't speak for everyone, but the entire reason I got into this game was because of its depth and intricacy. I moved from Yugioh to MTG specifically for the depth of combat, for effects EXACTLY like what's discussed in this article. Depth and complexity was exactly what drew me in as a new player. If I had found MTG now, or even within the last few years, I probably wouldn't have picked it up.

"I suspect that the Regenerate->Indestructible happened in part of the development of Magic Arena. One is far easier to code than the other."

I seriously hope not. I write code myself and tbh this sounds like nonsense. They're both essentially If WouldDie: Don't. Just one is until end of turn, one is one time only. I don't see how it would be any more challenging to code than literally every other delayed triggered ability in the game.

It does. Doubling Cube simply adds mana to your mana pool equal to what's already there. Mana Reflection would double this amount, effectively turning your Doubling Cube into a "Tripling Cube", so to speak.

MindAblaze: Unfortunately neither of those things are combat damage, which is needed to trigger Saskia, which I assume is what OP is essentially going for here, ways to get combat damage in easy, in order to capitalize on Saskia as much as possible.

There's not much of this effect in the game, and even less that grant it to other creatures. Outmaneuver is the only one I can find that hasn't already been listed. Otherwise we just have creatures that inherently do this, such as Thorn Elemental, Tornado Elemental, Rhox, and a few others that are markedly less good that these three.

Another option to push damage through is just to get deathtouch and trample on your attackers. Bow of Nylea with something like Primal Rage or Brawn generally makes your creatures not even worth blocking.

TypicalTimmy: There are tons of ways to perform such combos though, many dating further back than the likes of Nighthawk and even Thornbite. Viridian Longbow completely outclasses Wolfhunter's Quiver, for one. Deathbringer Thoctar + anything that gives it deathtouch can do the same without even having to tap, though it is 6cmc and 2 colors. Additionally, Thornbite Staff can be used for much more... degenerate combos than that. Anything that taps to make a token + Thornbite Staff + Any Sac Engine makes for infinite of whatever the sac engine nets you. Bonus points to Kazandu Tuskcaller for being a Shaman.

Regardless, the whole subject seems a bit of a far cry from the topic of "Ranged Strike", as pingers are a whole different animal tbh. You wouldn't use Crossbow Infantry in a combo like this.

berryjon: I miss Volvers too. And that brings up probably my biggest frustration with their design choices in recent years. There are actually so many ways for them to make cards interesting and decision oriented, and they've explored design space in doing so, they just never carry it forward. I want to see more things like hybrid mana costs, kickers that cost a different color, things of that nature.

Standard currently has Zero (0) hybrid mana symbols in it total (this will change with the upcoming set release), not just in mana costs, but in rules text as well. And it has a whopping three cards that have mana of a different color in their ability costs, Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood, Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Pride Sovereign. All at rare.

Honestly, the way they've been handling design as of late feels genuinely insulting. I still haven't gotten over their bullshit "Regeneration is too confusing" claim. Magic was better than other TCGs specifically for its depth and complexity, and now WotC is telling us that we can't handle depth.

Thanks Neotrup. I knew that rule existed somewhere, but I didn't have the time to find it and put it into my original post at the time. :)

The reminder text on Mystic Speculation is poorly written. Buyback returns the card to its owner's hand.

Now this is an interesting article, and it perfectly encapsulates why I don't like the direction WotC is taking this game.

"They don't like it when people spend more time thinking about math than actually playing the game."

So far as I'm concerned, this is a direct contradiction, and utter nonsense on their part. Thinking about the math is playing the game. In fact, it's just about the only playing there is in the game. Turning cards sideways and taking the obvious predetermined path laid before you can hardly be called "playing the game". Yet that seems to be the direction they're constantly pushing the game as of late.

I seriously miss effects like this. Once upon a time I had to actually think before swinging in. Once upon a time, the result of a game would often be determined by a single stack!

sigh, I'm ranting though. It's not even as if old-school magic was flawless, far from it. But I don't like this direction. I feel like I'm making less and less choices as time goes on, and those choices are becoming more and more obvious, to the point that it often feels like I'm not even playing. I'm just a machine playing out the singular obvious choice the deck can make this turn.