Why is WotC Changing How Copying Spells Works?
General forum
Posted on Sept. 2, 2021, 8:28 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
In the past, cards that copied instants or sorceries would read "copy target instant or sorcery spell" (i.e., Twincast or Reverberate), but, recently, WotC has been printing cards that instead read "when you cast your next instant or sorcery spell this turn, copy that spell" (i.e., Teach by Example, Repeated Reverberation, or the new galvanic iteration), which may not seem to be a major difference, but it is, because, with the first method, a player could cast a spell and then cast the copier, but, with the second method, a player must first cast the copier and then cast the spell to be copied, and I do not like that, as it seems to be a pointless change.
What does everyone else say about this? Why is WotC changing how copying spells works?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
wallisface, that makes sense, so I thank you for clarifying that, for me.
September 2, 2021 8:38 p.m.
wallisface says... #4
^ i realise i may have worded my math poorly so will explain through example here (just for anyone else that reads this and doesn’t get what i’m saying):
Old approach
Player 1: has Bolt and an old-copy spell
Player 2: has Counterspell
Scenario: P1 casts Bolt, then casts Old-Copy on it. P2 casts Counterspell on Bolt, removing it from the stack, and also meaning Old-Copy has no valid target to copy. Sad times ensue.
New approach
Player 1: has Bolt and an new-copy spell
Player 2: has Counterspell
Scenario1: P1 casts New-Copy, then after resolution casts Bolt, which gets copied. P2 casts Counterspell on either Bolt, or its copy, but in either case an instance of Bolt gets-through.
Scenario2, P1 casts New-Copy, which P2 uses Counterspell on. P1 now still has Bolt in hand, which they can hold onto or cast as they choose.
September 2, 2021 8:40 p.m. Edited.
Also, the old way allows you to copy an opponent's spell, where the new way does not. That is probably the main reason for the change.
September 2, 2021 8:55 p.m.
Building on what Gattison said, the old version of the spells were often used not just to copy spells, but as protection against enemy counterspells, even if you were not in Blue. After all, they hit you with a counterspell, you can just copy the counter, redirect it at the counter, and protect whatever combo or critical game piece you are trying to resolve.
September 2, 2021 9:27 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
Gattison, Caerwyn, that seems like a clever strategy, in my mind, so I do not understand why WotC would wish to prevent players from executing such a tactic.
September 2, 2021 10:09 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #8
The new way makes it a lot harder to copy a second copy of your copy spell, making you unable to copy the copy spell, copying the copy spell, copying the copy spell, copying... etc.
Especially with Magecraft being a main mechanic in a Standard set for at least the upcoming year, I assume Wizard wants to make looping them a bit harder.
September 3, 2021 4:29 a.m.
The new wording where you have to cast the copy effect first tend me more mana efficient. Twincast and Reverberate are both double of the same color. Teach by Example is blue or red mana.
September 3, 2021 4:38 p.m.
With the previous card text's the copied spells were much easier to stop and far more punishing to stop. Cast a spell, hold prio, cast the copy spell to copy the first spell, opponent casts a counterspell on the original, you lose 2 cards when both spells fizzle, all the mana investment, and probably lose on tempo alone the second this happens.
The new phrasing is a bit more forgiving as it forces opponents to make tougher choices with less information as soon as the copy spell is cast. Do you stop the copy spell? is it a bait? Is it worth the risk to try to wait for the real spell to try and shoot down both? The key difference in the phrasing is that the updated phrasing allows for more flexible game play patterns by the spell copier and more difficult choices to make for opponents. It's a minor difference, but can be a nice quality of life update to the functionality of spell copying.
September 4, 2021 10:43 a.m.
Some more thoughts on this topic: It seems WotC wants to increase the amount of options a "magecraft" (spell-copying) deck has, but they also want to guide these decks towards copying their own spells, rather than opponents' spells. I get the impression that older, more powerful spell-copiers, like Reverberate, are the "skeleton" of a magecraft deck, and now WotC is finally printing some meat to go on those bones. They're fleshing out the archetype, while trying to keep it from becoming too powerful, and also while trying to avoid printing new "must-have," format-warping cards.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see some old-school Reverberate effects again in the future, but at a higher CMC, and very infrequently compared to the new style of magecraft cards.
I'm not sure if this really adds anything to the conversation, but it is interesting to me, and has been on my mind since this thread started.
September 5, 2021 4:54 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
Everyone's explanations make perfect sense, to me, so I admit that the new style does make sense.
wallisface says... #2
The first option leads to worse scenarios if your opponent is holding up a counterspell (i.e they counter a spell in response to you trying to copy it, losing you 2 spells for one).
With the new approach, you can get the copier spell countered, and still get through the intended spell once, or they counter the intended spell, but its already been copied on the stack, so the copy will still resolve
September 2, 2021 8:33 p.m.