Why Was this Formatting Changed?

General forum

Posted on May 21, 2019, 8:39 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

In recent sets, the formatting for creatures that have variable power and toughness is having them as a 0/0 by default with “this creature gets +1/+1 for [condition],” instead of the older formatting of having the creature be a X/X (for some reason, this site will not display asterisks) with “this creature’s power and toughness are equal to [condition].”

Why was that formatting changed? It seemed perfectly fine to me as it was, before, so I see no reason to have made that change. What does everyone else say about this?

Gidgetimer says... #2

The two types of abilities are functionally different since CDAs (the "old" style with */*) operate in all zones and the 0/0s with static abilities only operate on the battlefield. Having said that, over the past 2 years new cards with either break down to:

CDA

Static ability

So, unless I missed a large number of cards the last 2 years of cards don't agree with your assessment.

May 21, 2019 9:23 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #3

As the above poster stated, they are functionally different. To give an example I personally run into...

I can Imperial Recruiter to search for a 0/0 like Stunt Double at any time but searching a * like Tishana, Voice of Thunder requires me to be at 2 cards or less in hand because the * applies to all zones.

May 21, 2019 9:46 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #4

Gidgetimer, first, how did you display asterisks on this site? Second, what does "CDA" stand for ("characteristic defining ability," I presume)? Third, thank you very much for the information, but what is the point of having the static ability that functions only on the battlefield?

May 21, 2019 9:50 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #5

Last_Laugh, now I understand the difference, but what about tokens? Why would the tokens that Karn, Scion of Urza generates use the static ability rather than the CDA?

May 21, 2019 9:52 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #6

Not sure lol. In most instances they play the same until shit gets technical so maybe it's just a matter of space on a card like Karn whose text box is pretty filled (just a guess). I played for YEARS without it affecting anything and got corrected in-game with the above example in my Animar deck.

May 21, 2019 10:09 p.m.

Gidgetimer says... #7

The asterisk is used in some markup languages (like the one used on tappedout) to denote italics. Thus when you type */* you get "/". I looked up the html code for an asterisk which happens to be "*". Then I typed */* into the text entry field. Since ampersand has a special purpose, I had to do the same thing for it to show you what I typed in and also did the pound sign just to be sure.

The only functional difference I can see between Karn, Scion of Urza 's tokens and Voice of Resurgence 's tokens is if something were to set base P/T. Voice's tokens would be whatever the new effect set the P/T to and Karn's would be new base plus the buff from the static ability. The minutiae of the rules makes lot of things that appear the same at first glance slightly functionally different. I'm not sure why design chooses one over another, I am just familiar enough with subtle interactions to know what the difference means. Also, you are correct about what CDA means.

May 21, 2019 10:57 p.m.

enpc says... #8

As Gidgetimer touched on, it might have just been done because Ensoul Artifact is a card.

May 22, 2019 10:26 a.m.

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