Would City of Solitude Be White if it Was Printed, Today?
General forum
Posted on Oct. 29, 2021, 10:16 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
City of Solitude is a very interesting card in that it is a restriction effect in green, a choice that was likely made because green is an enemy of blue, a very controlling color. However, green does not have many restriction effects, any more, so I wonder if the city would be white if it was printed, today, using Grand Abolisher as a guideline.
What does everyone else say about this? Would City of Solitude be white if it was printed, today?
In short, yes.
Upon the matter of restrictions, Green has more than one would expect. Hall of Gemstone, Manglehorn, and Root Maze. Green has more effects that slow the game than one would anticipate.
October 29, 2021 11 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #4
- With that flavor text it would have to keep green in the cost, but since that’s not super-relevant...
- I thought of this as a tool to guarantee a one-sided combat-tricks scenario, which is very green.
October 30, 2021 12:16 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #5
Dosan the Falling Leaf is another example of this effect in green.
October 30, 2021 1:23 a.m.
griffstick says... #6
I think it would remain green. You see green does this to all players. When green has these rule changing effect that look like this it effects all players. When white does it (Grand Abolisher) it is only for you.
October 30, 2021 8:11 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
griffstick, is not white the color of balance and "fairness," ostensibly?
October 30, 2021 9:31 a.m.
TL;DR: It would not be mono-green.
It might have been a green effect in the past, but it's not anymore. The aforementioned Dosan the Falling Leaf is already more than fifteen years old. Manglehorn and Root Maze affect artifacts, and the latter also affects lands. Root Maze also was originally printed in Tempest and hasn't seen any reprint in almost fifteen years.
Mono- control, at this point, seems to be largely limited to:
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fight/bite effects
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Fog effects
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occasional land destruction (but never by itself--see Reclaiming Vines or the Kaladesh print of Creeping Mold
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anything covered by Broken Wings
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some anti-graveyard stuff
Every card that forces discard in Pioneer is also , and two of those three are split/aftermath. Every counterspell in Pioneer also includes . Even specifically stuff like Plow Under is long gone.
Cards like Dragonlord Dromoka and Marisi, Breaker of the Coil say that maybe there's space for casting restrictions, but the confuses the issue. I believe that if City of Solitude were printed today, it would require somewhere in its casting cost, and any would provide an additional effect.
October 30, 2021 1:01 p.m.
griffstick says... #9
You guys will find this article interesting the new mechanical color pie 2021
October 30, 2021 4:02 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
griffstick, I actually posted a link to that article several days ago.
October 31, 2021 9:11 a.m.
griffstick says... #11
Oh nice haha. I saw it Tuesday oct 19th when a friend texted the link to me. I just found that article so cool and I thought that here was a good place to share it. I didn't see your post though. Where was it posted?
October 31, 2021 11:04 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
griffstick, here is the thread that I made about the article.
October 31, 2021 11:47 a.m.
"Preventing actions (Your opponents can't cast spells this turn.)" is only in white according to the Mechanical Color Pie 2021 article. It's unclear whether this is just about cards like Silence or also applies to these sorts of effects.
TriusMalarky says... #2
Yes. Not even a conversation, 5th edition was weird and City is a decidedly White effect(maybe blue or artifact).
In fact IIRC City is the only nonwhite card that says anything like that.
October 29, 2021 10:51 p.m.