Why Has WotC Brought Back Phasing?
General forum
Posted on Sept. 6, 2021, 7:58 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Phasing was a mechanic from the older years of MtG that WotC had stopped using for a long time, but has recently revived, and I am wondering why they have done that.
I am not fond of phasing, as I much prefer "flicker" effects (i.e., Turn to Mist or Momentary Blink), since flicker effects allow for much great combo potential, especially abusing "enters-the-battlefield" abilities or sending a general back to the command zone in EDH games, whereas phasing has no synergy with either of those.
I really hope that WotC keeps phasing as only an occasional ability, and instead keeps "flicker" effects as the primary method for protecting creatures or temporarily removing threats.
What does everyone else say about this? Why has WotC brought back phasing, and will they still continue to print "flicker" effects?
Your preferred use of blink is for that. Blink is a mechanic that offers many angles, many of them abusable. If you intention is to save your creatures then Phasing is almost a strict upgrade. The reason WotC has moved away from this style of card is to avoid that abusable element. I’d argue the “point” of flicker effects is much more focused on ETB abilities. Otherwise things would have shroud/hexproof/protection/ward/etc.
Flicker effects trigger ETB abilities which means the power level of ETB abilities needs to be reigned in for the health of the marquee formats. Would you rather have more blink spells and worse ETB abilities or less blinks and more powerful creatures? WotC made a deliberate choice and I believe it to be the right one. The sky is not falling, you aren’t being abandoned, the game is shifting towards open design space instead of reiterating the same tired design again and again.
September 14, 2021 11:03 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Grubbernaut, yes, that does make sense.
Beware, I actually like "flicker" effects specifically because they can be used to trigger "enters-the-battlefield" abilities repeatedly; using them to protect creatures from destruction is merely a nice bonus. Between those two options, I am not certain which I prefer, because I would like to have the best of both worlds.
If WotC is reluctant to print more cards that exile and immediately return a creature to the battlefield, such as Momentary Blink or Ephemerate, could they at least compromise with cards that have a delayed return, such as Turn to Mist or Mistmeadow Witch? Those cards still allow for repeated triggering of "enters-the-battlefield" abilities, but are not as broken as the previous cards that I mentioned.
September 14, 2021 8:47 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #4
I think I'm sufficiently fed up with Yorion, Sky Nomad in Standard, and hope flicker- and blink-effects can be replaced with phasing for a while there, just to get a breather from value blinking strategies.
September 14, 2021 8:57 p.m.
wallisface says... #5
DemonDragonJ Turn to Mist and Mistmeadow Witch still run into having the same problems as every other instant-speed flicker effect that WotC is worried about - in that they are effects that still offer a huge amount of both aggressive AND defensive versatility. that's something WotC appears to want to get away from, because it puts too much power into one ability, and limits overall creative space. I think going forwards we're just going to mainly see sorcery-speed flicker effects, and instant-speed phasing. Which to-be-honest, is fine - eternal formats already have a massive assortment of options for flickering, and I don't see us particularly needing any more of this effect.
September 14, 2021 9:18 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
wallisface, that is very disappointing, because I like those strategies.
September 14, 2021 10:27 p.m.
Grubbernaut says... #7
You can still play them in pretty much any nonrotatibg format
September 14, 2021 10:35 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
Grubbernaut, yes, that is what I was saying; if WotC wishes to avoid "breaking" standard, that is very good, but there is no reason to not support such strategies in every other format.
September 14, 2021 10:38 p.m.
wallisface says... #9
DemonDragonJ I could see them printing more flicker effects in other non-standard sets (like an MH3, for example), because at least in Moderns case, no flicker-spell will be seeing play anyway while Ephemerate is still legal (I assume the same is the case for other eternal formats excluding commander)
September 14, 2021 11:09 p.m.
Every strategy can not be front and center every set. You just asked if there could be a compromise immediately after saying the newest piece isn’t “good enough.” If the same strategies are present in every set the game would get stale very quickly. Change is literally what keeps MtG alive.
September 15, 2021 8:09 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #11
Beware, yes, that is true, but I also like to have some level of consistency, since too much change will make it uncertain if the game is still the same game.
To clarify, I am not asking WotC to constantly print cards as good as are Ephemerate or Momentary Blink; I simply wish for them to recognize that some players enjoy the strategy of "flickering" creatures to repeatedly trigger ETB abilities, and perhaps provide those players with an occasion treat.
September 15, 2021 8:09 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #12
We've had Flicker of Fate and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling in Standard for the past two years, Strixhaven grave us Semester's End and in AFR, Teleportation Circle was added to satisfy ETB abuse strategies for a year to come.
So your abandoment issues seem slightly misplaced, DemonDragonJ, phasing will not replace flickering, and the tools exist in every format to enjoy ETBs, even in Standard, even post rotation.
September 15, 2021 8:20 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #13
plakjekaas, yes, that is very true, so I suppose that I do not need to be upset about this matter.
September 15, 2021 9:52 p.m.
Planjekkas’ point is my point as well. The sky is not falling, there’s still blink support but now it’s just 1x tool WotC has available. In fact, now WotC can focus on what makes flicker effects truly good (ETB effects) while relegating Phasing to effects that save your critters. This is a good thing for basically everybody considering the strength of already existing cards. If you want consistency then play a non rotating format, standard is all about its shifting meta game.
September 16, 2021 8:20 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #15
Beware, I never play rotating formats, because I dislike needing to constantly make new decks.
September 16, 2021 8:49 p.m.
GrimlockVIII says... #16
For the record, in response to another topic brought up in this thread, it seems like Hexproof as a mechanic isn't gone entirely from Standard, as we just recently got Saryth, the Viper's Fang. It's probably just being implemented more carefully with different conditions and stipulations, like how Saryth gives hexproof to other creatures only so long as they're untapped.
September 18, 2021 7:24 a.m.
wallisface says... #17
GrimlockVIII it's been repeatedly said by various members from the WotC community that Hexproof isn't going away just because Ward is being implemented. From the sounds of things, I wouldn't even necessarily expect it to drop in it's current average occurrence-rate.
September 18, 2021 7:35 a.m.
If you don’t play rotating formats then I would say your perspective is deeply skewed. You want new spells but ephemerate is nearly the best of these spells ever printed. The ceiling has basically been reached. They have to move on eventually.
September 20, 2021 12:09 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #21
Hope I'm not annoying anyone by indulging in thread necromancy, but a couple of points about phasing that I feel have been missed:
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While flickering effectively kills tokens, phasing protects them. Compare Eerie Interlude to Teferi's Protection. More effects like that would make EDH go-wide decks more resilient, which I think they deserve considering the format commonly contains board wipes (Teferi's Protection is pretty much the only way for tokens to survive a resolved Cyclonic Rift or Merciless Eviction), and would also help mitigate the inherente disadvantage combat damage faces in the format.
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Banisher Priest-style temporary removal risks giving free value when used on an opponent's ETB creature, and and opposing commander can simply "escape" to the command zone. Oubliette allows neither of those things.
The above points, plus the mentioned bonus voltron decks get by also being able to survive removal that hexproof can't protect again, would help white in EDH: Wide protection, mass tokens, temporary removal, and Equipment/Aura friendlieness are all in its primary piece of the color pie.
December 5, 2021 6:27 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #22
If I did not already say this, I am not terribly upset about WotC bringing back phasing, but I hope that they keep flickering in the game, since flickering is far better for combos than is phasing.
December 5, 2021 9:23 p.m.
Grubbernaut says... #23
I wouldn't expect to see much in the way of EDH-worthy flicker cards in standard legal sets in the near future.
December 6, 2021 10:24 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #24
Grubbernaut, I care little about the format, as long as such cards still exist.
December 6, 2021 6 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #26
Grubbernaut, yes, that is what I meant; I hope that WotC continues to print new cards that "flicker" creatures (ideally instants, so that they can be use defensively).
December 7, 2021 6:06 p.m.
wallisface says... #28
As has already been repeated/explained a whole lot in this thread, WotC have voiced their concern with defensively-used flickering, and are likely to be printing it at sorcery speed more-often going forwards. This is also a big reason Phasing made a return, as a defensive alternate.
I feel though, that this thread is now also going around in circles (and has been for a while). None of us are gaining (or learning) anything repeating the same discussions ad-infinitum
plakjekaas says... #1
The fact that Hallowed Respite can be used to tap down blockers improves its utility, in a way Ephemerate could never do.
September 13, 2021 8:03 p.m.