Blasphemous Act

Chandra's Ignition Analysis

Is Chandra's Ignition a break? If you control a creature with 7+ power, it's usually a board wipe (except you keep your creature), which feels like we're hitting Blasphemous Act territory.

It’s not. Red can do higher amounts of damage when it jumps through a hoop, such as paying X or having a large creature.

Bend / Break Blasphemous Act Chandra's Ignition Creatures Red

Red Direct Damage versus Removal

You said recently that Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction are now considered out of pie for Red. Do you believe the same should be said of new Fallout card Megaton’s Fate, which deals 8 damage to each creature?

We want to separate red direct damage from black creature removal, so I’m a big believer in the 6 damage line.

Black Blasphemous Act Chain Reaction Creatures Megaton's Fate Red

Card Bendiness Rules

RE: Reckless Endeavor and Star of Extinction and bendiness. How about Blasphemous Act?

I believe that’s the card that created the new 6 point cap rule.

Blasphemous Act Extinction Reckless Endeavor Rules Star of Extinction

Blizzard Brawl's Power Boost

Would Blizzard Brawl be a bend/break if it gave +7/+0 instead of +1/+0? Kind of like how Blasphemous Act is doing an in color effect at a magnitude that makes it simulate an out of color effect.

Yes, too big of a power boost would undercut the need to have a big creature.

Bend / Break Blasphemous Act Blizzard Brawl Brawl Brawl Colors Creatures

Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction

You said recently that blasphemous act and chain reaction are now considered out of pie for red. What colors would they most make sense in now?

Probably black/red.

Blasphemous Act Chain Reaction Colors Rakdos (B/R) Red

Red's Difficulty with High-Toughness

Since red is supposed to be bad at dealing with high-toughness creatures, does that mean things like blasphemous act and chain reaction are out of pie?

Yes.

Blasphemous Act Chain Reaction Creatures Red

Red, Damage and Boardwipes

I remember, at one point, you said that high damage boardwipes were not something that belonged in red's color pool, after seeing how blasphemous act worked out. Is that still the case, and if so, is there a color that is allowed to just deal a large amount of damage to all creatures?

We might let red do it at a very high mana cost.

Blasphemous Act Colors Creatures Mana Red

Blasphemous Act Status

Does this mean that blasphemous act is to be considered a break now or just a severe bend?

It’s a bend, not a break.

Bend / Break Blasphemous Act

Bend vs. Break

In your article today you talked about Star of Extinction being more of a bend than a break. Does this mean your stance has changed on Blasphemous Act? I seem to remember you disliking it for being such a high amount of damage.

It’s not something I regularly want us to do. Is it okay as a very infrequent thing on a flavorful card? Yes, as it’s not undercutting red’s core weaknesses.

Bend / Break Blasphemous Act Flavor Making Magic Red Star of Extinction

Red's Removal Power

You have previously said that you felt that red doing so much damage that it amounted to hard removal was a mistake, and cited Blasphemous Act as an example of what red should not be doing. Does Star of Extinction represent a change in your mind on this, or just something that slipped past? Thanks.

It’s a bend we did because the flavor was so darling. It’s not something we plan to do often.

Bend / Break Blasphemous Act Flavor Red Star of Extinction

Blue's Removal Limits

You also mention repeatedly that one of Blue's main purported weaknesses is that it can't destroy things, but Mirror Match pushes two of Blue's abilities until the card basically says "Destroy all attacking creatures." This is no different than Blasphemous Act, which you claim is a bend (so much damage that Red basically gets "Destroy all creatures"). They are cards that are problematic because they are pushed too far.

Blue doesn’t get “destroy target creature”. It does get put a blocking creature token in to play at instant speed. It can reactively interact with an attacking creature. That’s not the same as universal removal.

Attacking Bend / Break Blasphemous Act Blocking Blue Creatures Destroy Instants Mirror Match Red Tokens

Red Color Pie

Do "Into the Maw of Hell" and "Blasphemous Act" bend or break red's color pie, since technically they do damage, but they're effectively hard removal?

We’ve decided to be more careful about how much damage Red can do. “Deal 13″ and “Destroy target creature” are pretty similar.

Bend / Break Bend or Break Blasphemous Act Color Pie Colors Creatures Destroy Into the Maw of Hell Red

Design Space for 13

I really adore cards that deal with the number 13 (Tragic Slip, Archive Trap, Blasphemous Act, Shivan Meteor, etc). Is there still design space for them, or has it been dried up?

There’s a little but not tons. Note that it was a theme we did because of the horror theme of Innistrad.

Archive Trap Blasphemous Act Design Space Horror Innistrad Shivan Meteor Tragic Slip

Red Damage Concerns

You're objection to Blasphemous Act and other high damage dealing spells is that it is effectively the same as "Destroy Target Creature", correct? Does that mean you wouldn't have an issue with a red spell that dealt 13 damage to a player, from a color pie perspective?

That’s more of a development issue than a color pie one.

Blasphemous Act Color Pie Colors Creatures Destroy Red Spells

Reevaluating Blasphemous Act

Did you understanding of Blasphemous Act ...dare I say... transform over time? I seem to remember when you were dropping hints, you generated curiosity and anticipation by mentioning the card that would do 13 damage to all creatures for 1 red... (Or, is it a case where you always didn't like it but knew it was a strong note in the set)

It’s a mistake I didn’t realize was a mistake until much later. I was stopping someone from making “destroy target creature” in Red and they asked, “Why is that so different from dealing 13?” And I realized it wasn’t and that I had made a mistake in Innistrad.

Blasphemous Act Creatures Destroy Innistrad Red Transform

Damage vs. Flying

Sorry - my last question comparing Blasphemous Act to Delver wasn't meant to be snarky. Delver was just the go to example because it's been discussed so much lately. I really don't understand the difference between Red doing 13 damage with conditional cost reduction (given that Red can do 13 damage at full cost) and Blue getting a good flier with conditional aspects (given that Blue can get good fliers generally).

The red direct damage thing is a perceptual thing to keep Black and Red more separated. Delver’s issues are very different.

Black Blasphemous Act Blue Red

Blasphemous Act Discussion

I don't see the issue around blasphemous act at all. Yes 13 is high but creatures can get bigger than this in any play setting so to say that it confuses red with a black kill spell seems wrong to me. Blasphemous act doesn't kill a monterous for 9 polukranos but a doom blade or heroes downfall will

Because a few creatures in the history of Magic exist with a toughness of 14 or more dies not negate the issue.

Black Blasphemous Act Creatures Doom Blade Gates Negate Red

Red Damage in Innistrad

I don't remember if this was Blasphemous Act or Into the Maw of Hell, but someone said it was originally 7 damage, but since 7 and 13 damage play the same and 13 was a theme of Innistrad, they switched it. (This might've even been from DTW.)

13 was definitely done to tie it to Innistrad’s 13 theme. I’m saying now, I believe dong so on a Red direct damage spell was a mistake.

Blasphemous Act Drive to Work Innistrad Into the Maw of Hell Red

Design vs. Development

Re: Blasphemous Act, you've always punted such questions as "development issues." Isn't Blasphemous Act a development issue that might have been too aggressively costed, like Delver or Rapid Hybridization, rather than a design flaw?

“Deal 13 damage” is a design mistake.

Blasphemous Act Rapid Hybridization

Red Control Strategy

When you say that Blasphemous Act isn't okay in red, because red is supposed to have issues with (read: not be able to beat) creatures with high toughness, what you're really saying is that red has to be an aggro color. I completely disagree with that. Red control is one of my favorite things to play in constructed, and that's a legitimate way to play the game. You can argue that Blasphemous Act is too efficient (which is debatable), but not that it's inherently wrong.

I’m arguing the game is better served if Red has direct damage and not “destroy target creature” which is what “deal 13” essentially is. Once again, Red can do large amounts of damage. It just has to pay appropriately for it with things like X spells.

Blasphemous Act Colors Constructed Creatures Destroy Red Spells