Over the last year, we’ve seen a significant increase in the power of individual cards. This is especially true with the release of direct Modern sets like Modern Horizons 3 and Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. Although Lord of the Rings was one of the most successful sets in MTG history, many players have openly expressed their frustration with flawed designs.
Well, it seems that some of those specific criticisms have made it to the top. In a recent article by Mark Rosewater discussing the state of design in 2024, the lead designer highlighted two specific maps each from MH3 and Lord of the Rings as being too good. The four maps listed have been heavily criticized since their release, so let’s take a closer look at them.
The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters
- Mana value: 4
- Rarity: Mythically Rare
- Text: Indestructible. When One Ring enters the battlefield and you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn. At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on One Ring. Tap: Put a burden counter on One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on One Ring.
According to Mark Rosewater, the “biggest complaint” he received regarding Lord of the Rings was the sheer power of the One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters. He acknowledges that many players would like to banish them because of their role in distorting Constructed formats like Modern. He also allayed any concerns about the possibility of reprinting these cards, stating that even making variants within the universe is possible.
At this point, there seems to be a near-unanimous opinion that these cards have been pushed too much. In the case of Orcish Bowmasters, the fact that they ping something when they enter the battlefield has proven to be extremely detrimental to the existence of low-toughness threats. In terms of the One Ring, its legendary nature proved to be a huge advantage, as you could always get rid of the copy with more burden counters on it via the “legend rule” to minimize life loss.
Some felt that it was detrimental to the game overall that these cards were deliberately pushed so far. However, others defended the One Ring’s right to be a pushed design, given its thematic importance to the Lord of the Rings series. After all, it would be a bit odd to have such an iconic card be little more than draft chaff. Nonetheless, the play patterns associated with these two cards have left a bad taste in the mouths of most Constructed fans.
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Nadu, winged wisdom and writhing doll
- Mana value: 1GU
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 3/4
- Text: Flying. Creatures you control have “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only once per turn.”
The other two cards that Mark Rosewater called too strong are Nadu, Winged Wisdom, and Writhing Chrysalis. As expected, Nadu is problematic in the context of Constructed, while Writhing Chrysalis is problematic for Limited.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Mark Rosewater’s handling of these two cards is the mention of “game balance issues.” Mark Rosewater stated that many players wished the cards had never been printed in their current form. This suggests that the feedback he has received goes beyond the mere fact that the cards are too demanding.
This is plausible, as many players have wondered how Nadu managed to get out of internal checks in the first place. Most cards that impose a limit on the number of times an ability can trigger do so by imposing the limit once per turn. Why does Nadu break this strategy? Then it gives the ability to all creatures you control, making it trivial to get a lot of triggers in a turn, regardless of the limit imposed.
Writhing Chrysalis raised a lot of similar questions about the card’s design. Why does it have reach? How did it make it through testing as a common card? Honestly, these cards are two of the worst failures of the last decade, so it’s good to see Mark Rosewater acknowledge them as such.
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Other interesting criticisms
- Mana value: WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 2/2
- Text: Ward – Pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it’s a land card. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then return that card or put it into your graveyard.)
Aside from criticism of individual maps, one of the biggest criticisms of this year’s sets is the poor implementation of world building. In both Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction, players largely agreed that the story and settings were not well balanced.
On the other hand, players were mostly very impressed with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan in this regard. However, even this set, which received mostly positive reviews, was not immune to criticism. For example, it is clear that The Lost Caverns of Ixalan introduced some problematic mechanics and cards into Constructed. In particular, Discover, which was intended to be a “corrected” version of Cascade, led to buggy gameplay and the ultimate ban of Geological Appraiser.
Between the Discover mechanic and the printing of Amalia Benavides Aguirre, even The Lost Caverns of Ixalan had its weaknesses. Mark Rosewater largely addressed the drawbacks of each set. However, it was noticeably disappointing that these issues weren’t discussed in more detail with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
With another annual State of Design article in the books, it will be interesting to see how Wizards of the Coast addresses these complaints in the future. Not every set can be perfect, but many have been far from it. Duskmourn is our next stop, and one can only hope that things improve from here.
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