Players vs. Planeswalkers
General forum
Posted on July 14, 2023, 1:35 p.m. by FormOverFunction
Would it be good, or maybe bad, if the cards (or rules?) were changed to have “target player” include planeswalkers? Or maybe this has already happened... sort of? An example of what I’m talking about would be to have Earthquake hit planeswalkers because they’re included under “players.” They’re not creatures,so you can’t Terror them, but you can Lightning Bolt them with an “any target” spell. Changing earthquake would then make Magmaquake less useful, but I feel like fixing this blind spot might make PWs more manageable. Please help me understand PWs better and work through the logic of whether a change like that might be bad. Thanks all!
I'm pretty sure earthquake was made before planeswalkers where a thing so magmaquake is just the modernized version
July 14, 2023 3:14 p.m.
This change would not be good for the game for two reasons:
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It would be confusing to lots of players. Before spells like Lightning Bolt read “Any target” there was a special rule for redirecting certain spell damage from a player onto a planeswalker they controlled. It was messy, often forgotten, and created a whole bunch of unnecessary problems.
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Having more categories gives Wizards more flexibility in card design - after all, then they can choose to mix and match Player, Planeswalker, Creature, and Battle, providing a significant increase in the number of options for card design.
July 14, 2023 3:29 p.m.
Game_of_Cones says... #5
Aren’t planeswalkers analogous to NPCs in dungeons & dragons??
July 14, 2023 5:09 p.m.
Noire_Samhain says... #6
Forcing someone to have to choose between different spells they think they'll need in a game is just smart restrictions in game design, and makes players (namely in limited/standard environments) have to think about what form of removal they run. Do they take nothing but player+creature damage spells and hope you don't deal with Planeswalkers? What if you want to use that neat looking Battle and burn it to get it to trigger sooner? What if an opponent has a horde of creatures and you have nothing but player+planeswalker spells? Its good to have to make these decisions.
I really don't feel it would improve the game. Just make things more homogenous.
July 14, 2023 5:48 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #7
I agree with your second point, Caerwyn, but regarding your first I feel like that whole mess with redirecting from the player to the PW was because we were all sort of looking at them like they were creatures. I feel like there was something of a missed opportunity running with the idea that players -are- planeswalkers and therefore if it hits a player it works on a PW. Your second point answers my question/request about as thoroughly and an answer can, though; having that extra space to work with really is valuable. In part, I’m realizing now, I was just wishing it was easier to kill planeswalkers ;p
July 14, 2023 7:25 p.m.
Game_of_Cones says... #8
I still consider myself a “Duelist” when sitting down to play a game of Magic ; )
July 14, 2023 9:12 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #9
hey guys i found the yu-gi-oh player
Joking, of course. Did MTG really have their players called "duelists" at one point?
I started playing MTG in 2015 with Magic: Origins as my first set.
July 16, 2023 3:44 a.m.
jethstriker says... #10
"Did MTG really have their players called "duelists" at one point?"
Yes. If I remember correctly old rulebooks refer to players as duelists. I think it is also why The Duelist magazine and Duelists' Convocation International (DCI) are named as they were.
July 16, 2023 4:43 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #11
But, just to make sure my memory isn’t.... evolving?... we were dueling -planeswalkers-... right? I’m starting to question my sanity...
July 16, 2023 6:09 p.m.
Game_of_Cones says... #12
That’s basically my job here on TappedOut - to compel others to question their sanity (Mwahaha)! After all, my colors beside my user name are almost all blue & black
FormOverFunction says... #2
Another aspect to this is the problems of “whenever target player draws a card” that would need to be dealt with. PWs don’t draw cards, so that would be sort of easy, but that sort of thing could be problematic.
July 14, 2023 1:37 p.m.