Mark Rosewater's Comments About Defensive Creatures
General forum
Posted on July 6, 2025, 2:34 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
In this post, Mark Rosewater commented that WotC has emphasizing offensive cards over defensive cards, because games need to end, and I understand that perspective, but I still dislike and disagree with Rosewater's words, because waiting out one's opponent is a legitimate strategy in real warfare, so I dearly wish that WotC would again emphasize defensive strategies in addition to offensive ones.
What does everyone else say, about this? Do you wish that WotC would emphasize defensive strategies, in addition to offensive strategies? I certainly am interested to hear your thoughts, on this matter.
As legendofa already touched on, there are a number of defensive cards getting printed. The fact that they are not the priority does not mean this aspect of the game is forgotten - just that it does not appear in significant volume in any given set.
One more point to add to the above - Limited. Defensive decks do not work well in Limited - the round timers in limited are too short and you are not as likely to draft something to close the game. Short times, slow gameplay, and lack of way to close out the game are problems.
Paradoxically, the problem can get worse the more you try to fix those things - increasing the power and frequency of defensive strategies can mean two people decide to draft that strategy or build it from their sealed pool. What does that mean? Mirror matches, where both players lock down the other. I’ve played defense in that environment - I’ve seen games where a player won because the other drew from an empty deck and I’ve played in games where the end of the round was a single tied game, since the first we played went to turns and no one won. It is not fun for anyone.
One final thought, I feel for a number of the threads you make asking why something is, the answer is often “this is important for creating an enjoyable Limited environment.” I am guessing Limited is not a format you play very much (that isn’t meant as a slight - people are welcome to enjoy whatever format they want). Still, I think it would be helpful to ask yourself “is there a Limited reason for this design choice?” when evaluating MaRo’s blog posts.
July 7, 2025 9:25 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
Caerwyn, you are correct that I do not play limited format, but I perfectly understand your point, as it makes sense.
legendofa, I definitely do not wish for a game to be in stasis, I simply wish to protect myself and my permanents while I amass my armies to defeat my opponents, which I imagine is something that all plays wish to do.
July 8, 2025 8:42 p.m.
DemonDragonJ That's more of a midrangey-controlly strategy. Combo decks also appreciate good defenses. Aggro decks really don't care about defending themselves; their goal is to make the opponent(s) lose as fast as possible. More moderate and aggressive midrange decks care about protecting themselves only until they can start pushing for a win, and they tend to rely on removal rather than denial. Tempo decks tend to use steady pressure and incremental advantage rather than develop strong defenses.
So while plenty of strategies and their players do care about protecting themselves and their permanents, it's not universal.
legendofa says... #2
Crystal Barricade, Myrel, Shield of Argive, High Noon, and Final Showdown are all pretty new, and and have prominent Standard control decks. and would have an identity crisis if defensive strategies were reduced too much.
I don't think it's as much de-emphasizing defensive strategies as reducing stalemates. Between tournament time restrictions and the subjective "fun" factor, there's several reasons to avoid a board state where nothing happens. Going off High Noon, they're also including ways to break a deadlock within the cards that set the deadlock--Rule of Law that breaks its own parity. It should be possible to at least outline a dynamic prison deck at this point, something that keeps the board state advancing while still playing like a traditional hard control deck.
The game's not really here to model real-world military tactics. It's an entertainment product, so entertainment comes first. And as someone who likes control and prison effects, it's kind of a hard sell when the gameplay goes into stasis for more than a turn.
July 6, 2025 5:29 p.m.