WOTC PLZ - Walking Ballista was a MISTAKE - A Cautionary Tale - A Magic the Gathering Rant

[@timbusbee1483]

The Once Upon a Time FB skit had me rolling. ITS MY END STEP LEAVE IT ALONE.

[@PleasantKenobi]

I got temporarily banned from Magic the Gathering Rocks My World for posting that.

[@timbusbee1483]

@@PleasantKenobi you truly are a matyr for our opinions and entertainment.

[@TraucerDaUrbania]

I saw that post, didn't even realise it was you. Damn

[@Personvids]

PleasantKenobi that part was a pretty spot on impression of Desolator Magic.

[@tablekun8690]

STOP HOLDING PRIORITY

[@cdanggg]

Reminds me of when Karn, Scion of Urza was in almost every standard deck a few rotations back as like a universal card advantage engine

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

Then it turned out Scion was actually kind of suboptimal, so most people at best had it as a sideboard option.

[@cdanggg]

Mattman324 Thats true. In the same way though I think cards like ballista, while being a staple in combo decks, has at least settled down into the niche of mana producing combo decks. I think Vince’s complaint about colorless cards that fit into all decks limiting design space is slightly undermined by cards like leovold that despite being three colors just warped legacy into a pile of four color good stuff

[@yvngdashdance656]

Vince: "it's almost the 10th card in the Power 9" Me: Damn yeah Library of Alexandria is insane huh

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

Library’s from Arabian Nights, not Alpha, and while it’s quite good it’s lost a bit of its luster over the years - it’s still a great T1 play though.

[@Scrungusss]

@@TheShinyFeraligatr And even in terms of Arabian Nights, would it be too much to say that Bazaar of Baghdad is a better card from that set? (Tcg player prices suggest this as well, however I wouldn't use price as judgement alone).

[@ManaDrain315]

@@Scrungusss You do know that Library of Alexandria is both restricted in vintage, and had a higher print run than Bazaar of Baghdad, right? Library is a U3, Bazaar is a U2.

[@terryfeynman]

@@Scrungusss Yea thats more because library is restricted and bazaar is not, and it is a big difference if you need 4 copies or just the one, and library has a higher printrun (there is 3 libraries for each 2 bazaars). Though there are a few other contenders for 10th piece of power, like time vault, demonic tutor (especially in combo decks), forcefield, wheel of fortune

[@jacfac9969]

Yvng DashDance I swear we’re on like power 27 by now.

[@Coolguyarcanine]

Man, PK got real tilted by john kicking his ass on food chain.

[@briancrook9055]

I really like Teferi. I know a lot of people are annoyed about him because he happened o be on two of the stronger recent cards in an annoying archetype (u/w control) but as a character he an easy going goofball who is also now a responsible adult with interesting tricky powers. Doesnt hurt that I can cosplay him pretty easily but thats more of a personal thing. Hes a fun guy with some of the best flavor text i the game.

[@ah-lc4lf]

i dislike the hidden text of my the rest of the stuff I play this turn is un-counterable, but it is an ok card, just a bit too pushed for standard imho

[@DarkKnight179]

My issue, personally, is how they brought Teferi back. They retconned one of the fundamental aspects of Planeswalkers and their sparks, and just randomly had Jhoira have his spark all of a sudden. To make matters worse, they completely ignored his character arc, and even his character. Which is to say nothing of his story arc being finished. He was someone who has learned the hard way, repeatedly, that not all well-intentioned action goes well. His attempts to save people by pulling them from the timestream or messing with the timelines led to both the phyrexian invasion being harder to fight off, as well as losing the lands of Zhalfir forever. He became someone who advocates perhaps one of blues least shown aspects, that being action through inaction. Instead of a wise old non-walker philosopher showcasing a side of blue that is as important as it is underrepresented, he is just another quippy planeswalker thats part of the gatewatch. Honestly if they wanted to bring him back to the story, just dont do any retcons. Have him be a character the gatewatch interact as a human philosopher and someone who knows Dominaria well. And have him stay behind on Dominaria once all is done. The fact that Jaya, who was still a powerful planeswalker was *completely* cast aside to feature Teferi who needed a retcon to be brought back was embarassing. Doesnt help that Jayas card was bad.

[@jjohansen86]

I'm with you, but it's so hard to remember that when you want to play something different in Standard, you come up with some unique, fun idea, and then you think, "Oh, yeah, Teferi is in the format, so I can't do any of this at Instant speed, which was the interesting part of it." I know, I know, it's not Teferi's fault that Wizards keeps printing him as the fun police of the format rather than as a cool, fun card.

[@PixelBush]

I feel exactly the same. I really really love the character of Teferi and I was so happy they were serious about bringing him back. Yes, his cards are powerful and people often dislike playing against them. Does that mean We ShOuLd NeVeR hAvE aNoThEr TeFeRi? Or that M21 is doomed from the outset? Absolutely not. I'm overjoyed that one of the few planeswalker characters I legitimately really like is powerful in-game (him, Kaya and Sorin are my special favourites) and it pains me to see people ragging on the Teferi core set a full year in advance.

[@patricksinger357]

@@DarkKnight179 Yeah, Dominaria was a great set but the plot was really poorly written overall. Slimefoot is still adorable though.

[@SuavePanda]

I think Wizards “hate” towards 1-toughness creatures is to make them feel much more vulnerable than the signature 3-toughness bolt-range creature. For the most part, there usually wasn’t too much of a difference between 1-3 toughness outside of combat, but now 1 feels way more vulnerable, which it should imo.

[@Nytequiller]

RIP Dark Confidant

[@topkapi9351]

"Modern should be slowed down." Preach.🙏

[@johnsmodularjams2123]

Modern should be sped up to the point where next year's tournaments already have winners.

[@topkapi9351]

@@johnsmodularjams2123 isn't that where we are already? Pretty sure it is. 🤣

[@Finngrinder]

Nope. This would mean another three years of AbzJund and NO FUCKING THANKS. The UW/SFM era is basically like that and that's more than enough.

[@terryfeynman]

Oh hell yea, even standard is too fast. When I started to play magic it was practically unheard of that a game ended after 5 turns. Today it is often way too often depending on who got lucky by finding his good stuff first. I also miss the time´s when net decking was not a thing and everybody build his own unique decks, instead of having a meta of 5 -8 decks in small variations

[@thunderbug8640]

@@Finngrinder Well even that was better than the 30 second games we have now. Being able to tell with a fairly high degree of accuracy whos going to win simply by looking at the opening hands is not a good place to be.

[@andreamartin9129]

Watching PK's paper legacy content yesterday: Man he seems to really hate Ballista, this almost sounds like one of his rant videos. Watching this today: Ah.

[@dracon5700]

"That's a bingo." -C Waltz

[@gabrielgarcia1641]

Rant videos are my favorite videos

[@quincybriley4113]

I feel like he's doing this because of Stonecoil Serpent

[@kaseybennett7415]

This may be controversial, but I'm not in favor of a strictly better endless one that isn't just strictly better, but miles better. If it had the eldrazi creature type there'd be a lot more talk of course (damn that temple) but I still think it's a crazy example of power creep, which the game has been decent at avoiding compared to say, Pokemon, but has never escaped completely. Here's the proof.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

The thing is, Endless One was always awful unless you were cheating seriously on mana, and preferably playing them for free. Will this be bad? Probably not, but I doubt it’ll be amazing either.

[@kaseybennett7415]

@@TheShinyFeraligatr I just think it sets a bad precedence, possibly not the best example I could've cited but still

[@jameswilson4328]

A few cards I might like you to comment on. Blood Moon Leylines Chalice of the void Thoughtseize One-mana removal (generally)

[@quincybriley4113]

@@jameswilson4328 yup those are all cards. Is there a point somewhere in your comment?

[@girugamesh9001]

love love love this kind of content. Learning from mistakes in game design is such a fascinating topic! On the whole wotc is usually pretty good at not repeating a lot of their mistakes and as such standard is generally better for it, but eternal formats certainly aren't so lucky and they are heavily centralized around a giant blunders wotc wouldn't dream of printing into standard again; the 10 fetch lands, sol lands (and fast mana in general), cheap fatty cheat spells, storm, delve, phyrexian mana, etc etc etc. Would love to see this continue as an of ongoing series going deeper into design mistakes in magic and how they've impacted eternal formats. Keep up the great work Vince!

[@stephenklien]

I appreciate WOTC's return to artifacts with colored mana as a recognition of the need to put some reins on artifacts. Can you imagine if Embercleave was colorless and could be played in Simic Flash in Standard?

[@SpawnofHastur]

Arcum's Astrolabe is another example of a homogenizing colourless card. Some talk about it would be interesting.

[@cutecommie]

I would say that snow mana is about half as restrictive as a specific color. You can get it from any snow basic, but almost no dual land can cast Astrolabe, only the crappy Coldsnap taplands.

[@PalPlays]

@@cutecommie Outside of Pauper, you have to fetch a basic instead of a dual land in order to get a mana fixer. In this case, you are giving up mana fixing to GET mana fixing. I'm not arguing one way or another, only quantifying the line of play.

[@thoughtloop1737]

Walking balista should have been (green) (x)(x)

[@Nytequiller]

As strong as it is it still forces you to play around it or it's just taking up precious slots in your deck. It's probably a notch below a card like manamorphose or gitaxian probe but those two don't require you to give anything up in exchange.

[@countOfHenneberg]

So is this why now in standard we're getting coloured artifacts?

[@fellxwarren8918]

Yea though people are complaining that steps on enchantments turf.

[@vinosmanuel]

​@@fellxwarren8918 Who is people and why doesn't he or she know that enchantments can't tap for activated abilities.

[@SuperSecretTechMTG]

Yeah.. being someone who hasn’t played since Khans of Tarkir. Lol.... I’m like. Wait 3 CMC Walkers? Wait what? And Teferi should of stayed in Timespiral block. Lol

[@TheAweDude1]

"now"

[@cutecommie]

And then they totally went back on that and made Shadowspear.

[@virtuallycrazy8709]

“Facebook might just be one of the nine circles of hell” Truer words may never have been spoken

[@multeyemeteor]

I don't think Ballista was too good for standard. It was good, but not too good. Also, I think Ballista being really good in eternal formats is a symptom of there being way too many synergies that can take advantage of it, when you surround it with ridiculous and powerful cards or abilities like the tron lands, efficient counter multipliers, or modular. Shooting +1/+1 counters at instant speed for no extra cost is certainly powerful, but it's far from every deck that can take advantage of this ability especially in the early game. And having to spend four mana to add counters is hardly overpowered. Instead - and again - it's cards like the tron lands and Hardened Scales that makes it much stronger, and they are interestingly enough also the key pieces to making other cards feel broken e.g. big Karn, Ravager etc. Whenever we complain about singular cards, it's usually the symptoms, not the syndroms that we demand to have cleansed from a format, and this is no different. We've gotten to a point, where Modern has too many (or at least a smorgasbord of) synergistic pieces that enable and supercharges great cards and turns them into ridiculous cards, and they fit into a variety of decks. Maybe we shouldn't consistently have access to 7 mana on turn two or three, or have an enchantment that turns all your +1/+1 counter producers into monster makers for just one mana. I would say that cards like those (much like Faithless Looting was before the banning) are the Sol Rings of modern, not Walking Ballista. Even though not every deck plays the tron lands or Hardened Scales, they are on their own a natural part of any template of their individual deck archetypes, and they do make the Tron archetype a very linear experience, even though many different Tron decks exist. Also, I think the only reason that you truly hate Walking Ballista is that it keeps gunning down your Thalia. She is your Rachel Marron, and you're Kevin Costner's Frank Farmer. However, you get my thumbs up, because 10 out of 10 times, I'll pick watching your rants over watching that piece of trash movie, Bodyguard.

[@JD-gk7eh]

Ballista is great if you have a way to either make it bigger for cheap or have a ton of mana to sink into it. Or if the format is slow-ish and there's X/1 creatures you want to pick off. In its day in Standard, having an opponent play two Glint-Sleeve Siphoners is a problem until you shoot both down with Walking Ballista. But if you don't have a way to ramp, it's a slightly better version of Triskelion. Three pings for 6 mana. Hardly broken. For the other things you can get for 6 mana (ahem, Primeval Titan), that's hardly broken.

[@PalPlays]

@@JD-gk7eh However, a card that is good in the early and the late-game, generates value if answered, is a removal spell, and an infinite mana sink is certainly in the realm of poor design. Poor design and overpowered design are related, but they aren't twins.

[@tomjackal5708]

three pings for six mana, indeed. it's also two pings for four mana. and one ping for two mana. and the only card worth finishing with in half of all combo decks

[@eavyeavy2864]

Bodyguard isnt that bad fite me m8

[@petersmythe6484]

The two colorless (non-land) cards that "warp the format" that immediately come to mind for me are Mox Opal and Aether Vial [Edit, this didn't come to mind, also] and Chalice of the Void (and now Karn, The Great Creator). Walking Ballista is similar to them in that way.

[@TVVOSTEP]

I dont see any vial decks topping tournaments.

[@SilverAlex92]

"nobody likes teferi" -Me: "Hey I love teferi.... wait a second I play esper stax on standard not because its a good deck, just because its esper stax. Maybe my vote doesn't counts here" Pd: I DID like the video at the revoker part... because I too know his day won't come, his day already went by. *CRIES EVRY TYM*

[@uiop60]

At least combat damage doesn’t still go on the stack. Imagine Ballista in that environment

[@PalPlays]

Artifacts have always been broken. When will my enchantments be broken? I just want to play Majora's Mask Estrid and Bogles in peace.

[@THEUGLYSPAGHETTI]

It seems like recent Planeswalkers usually end up seeming like very pushed modal enchantments, while actual enchantments cost too much and don’t do much. One day our day will come to play enchantments, but not yet

[@PalPlays]

@@THEUGLYSPAGHETTI If Theros doesn't push enchantments I'll riot in the streets.

[@kaseybennett7415]

@@PalPlays My Jeskai enchantment prison solemnity unlife combo control deck in modern *better* get some new toys, or I'll join you

[@PalPlays]

@@kaseybennett7415 Ooh! Can I see a list for that?

[@kaseybennett7415]

@@PalPlays I'd love to show it off, list is kinda long for a KZbin comment. Pretty janky and hard loses to jund but fun as hell. Eldraine gave it some real goodies. I'll get the list, just for you.

[@megacherv]

Just salty cos John beat him in the paper video ;) (clarification: I'm very much joking here, I also think the card is way too good at what it does,

[@mikeshaver-miller745]

Honestly I kinda feel like the new Eldrazi designs with Colourless matters Mechanics were a mistake. In the past, a common way to balance powerful lands with abilities was to make them tap for colourless mana, but now when you print those lands eldrazi decks suddenly get better for no downside. In fact, it’s all upside. That means lands are about to get a lot more broken for coloured decks, and when power creep makes these coloured creatures oppressive, it’s gonna go bad.

[@cutecommie]

Walking Ballista was clearly referencing Hangarback Walker, but is very different in ability. Hangarback Walker was very ubiquitous in its time because it was powerful and colorless, but it can't actually win games on the spot. It can only win in the combat step, either with the big body or with the Thopters. Very importantly you need to tap it to put counters on it. Walking Ballista is broken because you can use both of its abilities multiple times each turn.

[@slyguy183]

Wish we could turn back time To the good old days When Triskelion pinged us for 3 But now we're Ballista'd out

[@saltefan5925]

They made Triskelion 2.0 I'm just waiting to see how on earth they'll make a 3.0 in a few years

[@omegagaming609]

bump

[@themr_dr_metroid831]

One of your most articulate videos! Great work, I agree with you it's not truly ban worthy.

[@gormold4163]

The silliest combo I can think of is in a mikaeus the unhallowed deck with heartless summoning. The ballista comes in as a 1/1, you shoot, it dies, it comes in as a 1/1, you shoot, it dies, it comes in as a 1/1. No infinite mana, just you shooting a gun with a bottomless clip at literally everything.

[@lukerediger8431]

mother of god

[@Starfury117]

If walking ballista's removal ability is sorcery speed only, would it be more fair? Since you cant remove the counters in response to a removal? And you cant kill their x/1 before its your turn?

[@emjackson81989]

Imagine if Walking Ballista was legal in Standard now with the new Nissa. Now, that would be scary.

[@wakedownstride9676]

Haven't LOL'd this hard at a video in a very long time. Keep up the great content!

[@NickOnFire1490]

Also gets played in Amulet, as both utility and a secondary wincon if your Prime Times get surgicalled or something like. also fetchable by karn in those variants.

[@mastermike890]

Id love to hear you talk about planeswalker static abilities in terms of game design

[@danbarto8876]

I don't know if you want do something about this, but maybe talk about how the power creep makes once fair cards absolutely nuts. Like Faithless Looting, and free spells like Git Probe and Surgical. (Could you imagine Phoenix decks with Git Probe in them?)

[@adavidavis2762]

Six words: teferi, time raveler is a wanker. Edit: Great video btw, appreciate the content.

[@kylereichard1180]

This video has turned into "Reasons why I, Kyle, love Walking Ballista". - That being said, your points are valid and I completely agree. Walking Ballista is busted

[@quantumstuntmonkey7293]

The best thing that came from AER is the play test group because of the banning. Great vid!

[@ThunderBirdJack]

I'd personally love to see an Aether Vial video like this. I love the card to death in Spirits and would love to hear your takes on it as a D&T player

[@SventFulgur]

That Yugioh jab at the end was great! XD lol

[@kenpachiyugioh1804]

I think you should do a video on the variety of (viable) formats available and why most people tend to stick to one more than any other. You seem to do a variety now given your sponsor but you will probably always have a soft spot for bees in Modern and 2/1 First Strike in Legacy

[@stormichigura]

saw this card in commander yesterday. infinite mana combos are so much fun. wouldnt ban it, but i hate to see it.

[@laith17lalith56]

Axtra favorite play toy ^

[@haydnthurber2595]

Love the Rant format you had here.

[@ApoEdvarg]

I have difficulties understanding the sentence on Fatal Push (subtitles suck). Could someone write it down?

[@kenjohnson3683]

Can we get a video on the likelyhood of ever seeing Teferi's Protection ever again?

[@christina.morris]

I'd actually be interested in a look at the design issues with War of the Spark, or perhaps Planeswalker trends in general. They're one of my favorite card types but they're sometimes so powerful (as with current Terferis) that they can make playing feel like a drag.

[@gaseday1]

That’s the point tho, they should be powerful

[@BaffledOrange]

Coloured X mana seems like an easy design fix and could lead to other neat cards

[@samholden5758]

They used that back in alpha... Drain Life. - well they didn't say X then, but they've oracled it since. Crypt rats used to be a key card in pauper MBC, though I haven't played pauper for many years...

[@allnet20]

I sae that facebook post this morning and was like wtf vinc you ok. Who hurt you

[@s.a.hellenbrand8450]

Love Me! LOVE ME! - Bruce Nolan Good perspective and always entertaining

[@brandondrake4609]

Love these types videos of yours keep doing more of these types of videos please😁

[@kaseybennett7415]

Agree

[@lancejburns]

Without looking at the numbers, I'm not sure if Kaladesh block has the most bans of any block post-mirrodin, but you can fudge the numbers since several other standard bans at the time were soft Kaladesh bans, as it was a case of wizards banning something else from the deck to avoid banning cards from the most recent set in standard.

[@dimak134]

Well, and which removal/finisher card i should get for my Vorel Tinyleaders deck instead?!11 >_

[@TheForbiddenDance]

ballistas last ability should have been sorcery speed to give people a chance to remove it.

[@martinsch7509]

had 2 dislike cuz walking ballista is love, walking ballista is life

[@danw.1250]

Can we just do busted pwalkers in general? 3feri, Karn GC, W&6--any of those.

[@khub5660]

Dan W. W&6 isn’t really busted, it gives fair decks such as Jund a way to keep resources, act as removal, and provide inevitability

[@simonefrein]

@@khub5660 lol, W6 is insanely good, beyond value for two mana. Tell me ANY OTHER two mana card that can get that kind of lasting value in a modern game. Did you know you can play it T1 with a simian spirit guide making the red? I mean even what you just wrote: "Keep resources, acts as removal, and provides inevitability". All that on a two mana walker that is immediately out of bolt range? Get outta here.

[@khub5660]

Simon Efrein fair decks needed a card like that in order to keep up with the unfair decks. Sorry that WoTC printed a card that keeps Jund in contention, but it was a necessary evil

[@Fyrwulf]

It blows my mind that they didn't do a functional reprint of Disk in Kaladesh or even an improved version as a 3 drop that ETBs untapped. It would have drastically balanced both the Standard of the time and Modern.

[@PalPlays]

Of Nev Disk? I don't see how that would have solved anything.

[@Fyrwulf]

@@PalPlays Then you've never played with it. Cards like Siege Rhino, Wurmcoil Engine, and Walking Ballista become one or two ofs, if not unplayable.

[@MK_Ultra.]

I really like videos like this. Keep it up Vince xoxo

[@bietkwiet3338]

Hardened scales doesn't use balista the same way as combo decks

[@tbone0303]

Can we just agree kaladesh was a mistake? At least for standard

[@alexisrodriguez7127]

Tanner Moore no

[@MagicPrepper]

If I have to deal with another Walking Ballista and Makheus deck I'll freak out.

[@heartbeat4atinman]

Kaladesh in general was a mistake tbh

[@PalPlays]

@@jeffersonderrickson5371 So, you know how energy was a parasitic mechanic? I realized the other day that Food is Energy done correctly. It's an alternate resource that _can_ be useful in other formats through artifact synergies.

[@eliasneirynck3722]

> rants about walking ballista > plays food chain with wb as its wincon in the LPL

[@eliasneirynck3722]

​@@PleasantKenobi I get what you're saying, and I'm obviously joking. Though in an era of pushed planeswalkers creatures probably will have to follow suit. So I'm sceptical about future creature design. Good luck in the LPL!

[@piratejones2687]

I feel like a particularly goofy hairless ape asking, but what's the name of the background track used at the start of the video? I very much enjoy it, but there was no name given in the description, so I'm curious.

[@PleasantKenobi]

I will update this in the morning for you. Sorry for not putting it in earlier.

[@XTr3m3b4sh]

I think both Plague Engineer and Teferi, Time Raveler were mistakes on the designers part. Plague Engineer makes tribal decks worse (and those werent even good to begin with), he doesnt hit your own creatures, you can stack multiple Engineers and sometimes lock your opponent out from playing creatures entirely. Teferi just shuts down all forms of interaction your opponent could do during your turn, simply by existing. He can do unfair stuff like draw step discard spells, and he is a massive tempo swing if he can bounce your only creature, even if you kill him afterwards.

[@TehSeksyManz]

Also, instant speed Thought Erasure on draw is absurd.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

I've been saying for a while.... but I'm not sure that Sol Ring needs to be the auto include in ever commander deck that it is touted as (since you mentioned it in the video) I find that the later in the game I draw the card, the less valuable the card feels to my strategy, with a few exceptions. If I'm running a deck that's not green and needs a lot of mana, I want to run it. If I'm running a deck that is green, espeically mono green, I don't want to run it since I'd rather pull the lands out of my deck, preventing me from drawing them, than use a mana rock. If I'm running a deck where artifacts matter, I absolutely do want to run it. I've started pulling it from decks where it doesn't add to my strategy, like Krenko Mob Boss, in favor of adding another card that does play into my strategy, and have found that the decks actually play better in the long run than if Sol Ring was included, or at the least feel no different what so ever. Just my two cents/rant about the card. Still believe it's a very good card, just like all good cards, not something that belongs in every deck without question.

[@ruaridhusher4373]

I don't run Sol Ring in my Nephilim deck bc I'm too colour heavy :)

[@EdBurke37]

I don't run Sol Ring in my Angry Omnath deck because land ramp is better for that deck. But that's the exception that proves the rule.

[@lordgherkinface]

Should balista have been green, red or both?

[@stephenklien]

Black, maybe? It pings itself to ping its targets...

[@lordgherkinface]

@@stephenklien but it's a hydra (+1/+1 counters = to X) that pings (a very red thing)

[@Eric_The_Cleric]

Please please please take a look at Liliana of the Veil. I know why she's so good, but I'd like to know more of her history lol.

[@HeroGuy3]

I don't play sol ring in my omnath, locus of rage deck. It doesn't have enough draw to support it, so a land is usually better

[@JoeyyTube]

Don’t play sol ring in 2 of my 5 color EDH decks because it dosnt help me get my commander out any faster along with many other multicolor spells that don’t require colorless mana.

[@mx.woofers]

Wouldn't a counterpoint for cards like Ballista (recent examples of pushed colorless cards) be that yes, it could go in any color, but they only go in specific archetypes? Ballista for example really only seems to be played in combo and as a sideboard option in x-1/2 matchups as far as I've seen.

[@p4r6g6777]

Walking Balista has a strong pull towards any deck that makes infinite mana, a lot of mana, or has synergies with counters. The +1/+1 counter thing is relatively specific, but making a lot of mana isn't really a narrow thing. Lots of decks in Magic's history like to win by generating a lot of mana. Before Walking Balista, the decision what to do with that many was a little more difficult. I think Walking Balista fails to be "narrow" or "specific" for that reason. Balista is even up for consideration in more midrange or "fair" decks, like how PK mentioned he runs it in Death and Taxes. It is just generally a good and valuable card, which again makes it less specific. In general, I agree that the idea a colorless card can be powerful without being too damaging to the game as a whole if it has a more narrow scope or focus... But from a design philosophy that is also kind of strange because of one of the main elements of being a colorless card from a gameplay perspective is that you can use it every deck. WoTC make cards that have the ability to go in every deck... but if they actually do end up in too many decks it's a bad thing... The philosophies kind of clash and contradict one another, and I don't envy the team that has to try and balance them.

[@henlohenlo689]

walking ballista seems strong any deck. but even more so in decks with stuff that combos with it. unbound flourishing. mana flare. fire servant. fiery emancipation. gauntlet of might. heartbeat of spring. etc. and other stuff that combos with tokens or axtivated abilities. etc. it can still fit very well it other deck that have nothing to do with it. its a permanent in play that needs to be dealt with by opponent and scales very well as the game goes on. mana rockets go well with it. something can use all th3 mana etc. fits well in blue gives it more creature removal and in green which lacks creature removal etc.

[@srkinllow8719]

What the music in the video?

[@dcmag2020]

On this topic I think Aether Vial deserves a lot of the same problems. If you’re playing an aggressive creature deck (DnT, goblins, spirits, merfolk) you play aether vial because it just generates so much extra value and ALSO lets you play normally sorcery speed cards at instant speed.

[@PalPlays]

I don't run Sol Ring in my Estrid Enchantress deck because I'm running Energy Flux and Stony Silence.

[@jakx2ob]

You should still run. It's that good.

[@PalPlays]

@@jakx2ob It's...clunky, in my experience. Maybe I should, but I've been bitten by it too many times in this list.

[@cymbaline4384]

Sol ring is great with green. It lets you ramp even faster!

[@SpencerBelanger]

I really like half of teferi. Allowing your spells to be cast at instant speed. However, the static effect that turns the game into hearthstone makes me want to strangle someone.

[@RecklessFables]

Kalidesh was an epic set that gave us many gifts in EDH and other formats. If only they hadn't printed Urza, breaker of Paradox Engine

[@nickraupp6104]

Aetherworks Marvel was also just a stupid colorless card that broke color boundaries

[@alaricpaley6865]

I think War of the Spark Karn was as big of a mistake as Ballista honestly. Lets print a 4 mana Walker that's a two card lock and can tutor for the second card. I: As an aside, my Legacy foodchain list still runs Emrakul as the finish because i tend to get got by Force of Will.

[@LegoLynden]

Bruh, thats the game lol. But oh well XD great video though, awesome discussion on what wizards can hopefully do to continue to not ruin the design space on colorless cards. Playing a lot of cEDH I had a huge problem with the whole paradox/walking ballista package going in every deck, but now it feels so much more tame. I'd love to hear you do a video on t3feri and hero of dom, my most hated cards in recent memory. thanks vince have a gr8 day

[@PalPlays]

Paradox was ruining my LGS tbh. Every deck there was running Paradox Engine.

[@Demortixx]

The first 3 minutes is why I signed up to patreon

[@pokenutter]

I play Animar in Commander. Not much use for Sol Ring there.

[@magnusberge]

My friend played walking balista in hes Ezuri, Claw of Progress commander deck... (imagine walking balista with 50+ counters on it by turn 7) Ive finaly convinced him to change it out as it was just a giant "anti fun" card for the hole board

[@Mr_Boss_Smile]

what about triskelion?

[@GollyGoshSensation]

3 mana planeswalkers. Nearly every single 3 mana walker (everyone before WAR) has been standard playable or more in some point of their lifespan. WotC needs to stop pushing walkers to be so universally good. 3 mana walkers just always seem to be a little too good. With the printing of Royal Scions and Oko and their insane loyalty they just totally warp the game around them because they are so hard to kill. I think 3 mana walkers more than any other kind win the game in a turn or 2 if you don’t have a board state to deal with them. However they get dropped on T3 so the majority of times you don’t have a good board state to deal with them and they run away with the game. I love planeswalkers, I even love 3 mana walkers but they are just too good at what they do.

[@joecooper8527]

What about hangerback walker ?

[@Tetrall]

As an Arcum EDH player, I can understand this opinion. I love artifacts, and I use them a lot. I also play mainly EDH and don’t always optimize my decks.

[@Sunny_Punkin]

They need to print some good old fashion land destruction in white for modern.

[@tiagodagostini]

Well the card lacked a limit for x... and a only once per turn clause on the add counter

[@ErroneousClique]

The only mistaken aspect I feel about the card is allowing it to ping at instant speed. If its ping ability were only usable whenever you could cast a sorcery it would bring the power level of the card down to where it should be IMO. Dont think it should be banned, it isnt that broken...its more the big mana combos/decks that enable it - which is why you see it in Tron and other decks like devoted druid/vizier combo. It is a big mana sink that can ping down threats/opponents. If there were no big mana, it would be a non-issue. Its threat level is merely a side-effect of infinite/big mana decks in Modern.

[@zacharybecker8228]

is that overcooked background music?

[@SirNarax]

4:58 so like white cards am I right? What do they do now a days? Life gain? Black does that to doesn't it. Hm...

[@Squidxx-fg7ih]

Your point about colorless stuff breaking the color pie is exactly why I hate eldrazi. They took away the thing that green was the best at big stompy creatures and just gave it to every deck and color combo.

[@fidly4]

Rosewater has said on his blog they've decided colorless artifacts that have use in every deck are dangerous, which is why they're making so many colored artifacts now. Artifacts will now only be colorless if they're narrow in use so that Not every deck wants them anyway.

[@cutecommie]

And then they totally walked back on that and made Shadowspear.

[@henlohenlo689]

i miss how color hosers back in the day was powerful and made any deck have a weakness or counters. the counter play was another level back then colors mattered etc.

[@marxmeesterlijk]

I'm still mad about Triskellion! What were they thinking!

[@SaiyanInTraining]

Is that the Gravity Rush soundtrack in the background?

[@antaresmaelstrom5365]

Ah Sol Ring, always a good time on turn one. Best turn 1 I ever had with it was with my mono-black reanimator commander deck. Swamp Solring Jet Medaillon.

[@bradlewis261]

In my Mizzix deck, a game of which I won, Island-Sol Ring-Sapphire Medallion (trust me though, my Mizzix deck isn't as broken as it can be, and I'm keeping that way).

[@NathanJenkinsonAnalytics]

I agree. I would love to see cards with interesting, even unique, color centric text. Walking ballista and it's kin are to boring and to effective at the same time, which is highly irritating. Also, things that are hard to interact with don't make sense. I play magic because I like to have a chance to interact and therefore to win, but when you aren't given a chance to interact then you aren't really playing the game at you, your just watching someone else play it. Ballista should have said that it can only be activated at sorcery speed and required red Mana to put counters in it. Perhaps even another interesting restriction could have been implemented, like that you can only activate it while you have red Mana in your Mana pool. Something interesting, unique, and color centric. Still very powerful, even broken, but manageable. Also. Teferi can go tuck himself. -the prof

[@saintmillay1213]

Don’t forget, that it almost always generates your card advantage. If you cast it for four and someone kills it you just take the counters off and it becomes a shock that makes your opponent discard a card.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

I find it amusing that WOTC Designers of Kaladesh mentioned that they wanted to attempt to design the limit of vehicles and they came up with Smugglers Copter:P

[@soulresuscitate]

Part of the problem (perhaps the biggest part of the problem really) is that Magic design goals are numerous. They're designing for multiple formats. They're designing for multiple player types. They're trying to innovate without alienating their audience, overpowering their tournaments, underwhelming their players, and disappointing their peers. They're constantly celebrating the past while trying to identify and correct its mistakes. Frankly, they've got the hardest job in game design. It's a testament to them that we haven't gotten another Homelands-esque lackluster-quality product in decades. To return to Kenobi's review, we might just be at a point where colorless cards aren't as useful to magic's makeup as we've always held them to be. But that is a hard learned lesson.

[@StumpyLongNeck]

Can we talk about partner commanders and how if you're doing infinite mana the best way to utilise it is just with thrasios and X as your commanders so you just win? Bit more niche than the walking ballista but it pisses me off