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| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
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| Legacy | Legal |
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| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
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| Planechase | Legal |
| Pre-release | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Standard | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Stormclaw Rager
Creature — Ogre Warrior
, Sacrifice another creature or artifact: Put a +1/+1 counter on Stormclaw Rager and draw a card. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.
Shorketh on
$20 Sack of Elementals
4 months ago
Stormclaw Rager Is just a three mana version of hobblefiend without trample that also draws you cards
wallisface on Why Are So Many Recent …
5 months ago
DemonDragonJ there’s a few things to consider here:
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Dockside Chef, Soulreaper of Mogis, and Thallid Soothsayer all cost 2-3 mana to use their ability, while Stormclaw Rager only costs 1. That makes it significantly easier to hold-up mana to trigger instantly, and abuse. The difference between 1 mana and 2 is HUGE.
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Dockside Chef, Soulreaper of Mogis, and Thallid Soothsayer all only draw a card from their effect, while Stormclaw Rager also pumps itself, which at instant speed could easily be abused for combat tricks.
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the set that Stormclaw Rager was printed in was one where sealed/draft events were very-centric on players dropping massive “bomb” threats and just winning the game with them. In such a format interaction needs to be strong and usable to ensure its not entirely a race to see who can drop their bomb first. Stormclaw Rager’s ability being instant-speed would slightly undermine the power of those interactive spells, and potentially allow players already-ahead to snowball - this is something Wotc might have wanted to avoid.
Crow_Umbra on Why Are So Many Recent …
5 months ago
I think it's the push and pull of design and balance. Stormclaw Rager's ability is 1 colorless mana, and can use a creature or artifact as part of the activation. We have all kinds of utility token artifacts that have been introduced in recent years: Blood, Clue, Treasure, Map, Food, and Powerstones.
Dockside Chef costs 2 to activate, has Black as part of the activation cost, and although it can also sac a creature or artifact, is more vulnerable to removal as an enchantment creature. That adds some potential drawback/vulnerability, despite the ability to activate an instant speed without a per-turn limitation.
Soulreaper of Mogis is also a bit more restrictive for its activation cost at 3, needing Black for the activation, and is also more vulnerable to removal as an enchantment creature.
Soulreaper and Thallid Soothsayer are from 2020 and 2018 respectively. Given that WotC designs about 2-3 years before a set actually debuts, it's likely that this type of instant speed activation was still seen as acceptable during that time frame of design (likely designed in 2015-2017), and something they decided to scale back in the 3-5 years since then those sets released.
Kind of like how mechanics are now considered "deciduous" or "Evergreen", I think it could make sense that other elements of design might see phases of waxing and waning. Maybe they're doing less instant speed ability activation for now, but that could change and come back a couple of years from now.
wallisface on Why Are So Many Recent …
5 months ago
DemonDragonJ In regards to the card Stormclaw Rager specifically, the card-draw element of this effect would make it pretty miserable to play against at instant-speed in a bunch of formats, because it can effectively invalidate the opponents interaction by too wide a margin. I can assume in the context of the set, and during playtesting, it was deemed a bit too obnoxious to run this at instant speed.
DemonDragonJ on Why Are So Many Recent …
5 months ago
Crow_Umbra, you make excellent points, and I, also, am very glad to see that Bartolome del Presidio has no restrictions on his ability, which makes Stormclaw Rager all the more puzzling for having that restriction.
DemonDragonJ on Why Are So Many Recent …
5 months ago
Gidgetimer, can you name any specific examples of activated abilities that were too powerful?
plakjekaas, I have no problem with that ability being restricted, because of how powerful it is, but I see no reason to restrict the abilities of Stormclaw Rager, Rowan, Scion of War, Will, Scion of Peace, or Xavier Sal, infested captain.
