Claustrophobia

Claustrophobia Mechanic Fit

How does claustrophobia fit into "blue can't deal with threats permantently?"

Three things:1) It isn’t removing it from the battlefield. If, for example, it has a non-tap activation or a static/triggered ability, it still gets to use it. 2) It’s an aura. It can be destroyed and now the creature untaps again. 3) If other things care about it being in the battlefield, it’s still there.

Auras Blue Claustrophobia Creatures Tap / Untap Triggered Abilities

Flavorful Reprints

Any reason you printed Didn’t Say Please rather than reprinting Thought Collapse?

Because Didn’t Say Please is capturing the flavor of Throne of Eldraine in a way Thought Collapse doesn’t. It’s the same reason we have Charmed Sleep instead of Claustrophobia.

Card Printing Charmed Sleep Claustrophobia Flavor Reprints Thought Collapse Throne of Eldraine

WAR Set Mechanics

I notice that WAR has no Pacism or Claustrophobia variants. Is this because of how poorly they work with the Amass mechanic or just because of Planeswalkers taking up the slots for those sorts of effects in the set?

More the former.

Amass Claustrophobia Mechanics Planeswalkers

Blue Removal Critique

Why don't you like Imprisoned in the Moon? While it is a very powerful removal spell blue has tons of Aura based removal that remove a creature as a threat. Ice Cage, Claustrophobia, and are the weaker end Ice Over and Illusory Wrappings. It just seems strange that Blue, the color of transformation, can't get a Darksteel Mutation type effect.

If it just turned a creature into the moon, it wouldn’t even be a bend. It’s the other card types that push it into bend territory.

Auras Bend / Break Blue Card Types Card Types Claustrophobia Colors Creatures Darksteel Darksteel Mutation Ice Cage Ice Over Illusory Wrappings Imprisoned in the Moon

Spirit Mirror Function

What is the deal with the destroy ability on Spirit Mirror? Also, airline peanuts?

It allowed you to get rid of a Mirror token if something locked it down like Pacifism or Claustrophobia.

Claustrophobia Destroy Pacifism Spirit Spirit Mirror Tokens

Blue Control Tactics

Is there a specific reason that dehydration and other, claustrophobia styled 'does not untap' enchantments have seen so much printing lately? I like them a lot but I'm really curious if it's just easily balanced design space with room for variants or if maybe R&D just doesnt drink enough water?

It’s the main common creature control for Blue.

Blue Card Printing Claustrophobia Creatures Design Space Enchantments Game Design Tap / Untap

Blue vs. White Mechanics

Not trying to beat on the "blue is overpowered" thing that people get so worked up about, but I do have a color pit question. Effects like Claustrophobia are proactive blue solutions to creatures, and seem to be stepping on white's "solutions with solutions" toes. How do such effects fall in the color pie?

White and Blue both have answers with answers, White just has more. We don’t want aura answers being limited to White.

Auras Blue Claustrophobia Color Pie Colors Creatures Limited White

Eldrazi Threat Management

In any other format than an eldrazi format, I'd agree that a 10 mana spell should be that impactful, but in a format full of eldrazi, he's much less significant, and with no claustrophobia effects to keep it tapped after it exiles 2 permanents, it seems disproportionately powerful when so much of the non eldrazi removal either cant touch him or actually make things worse by giving them another cast trigger.

Our main antagonist (at 10 mana!) is a bit hard to deal with. That’s kind of the point.

Cast Claustrophobia Eldrazi Mana Permanents

Claustrophobia Flavor Analysis

Why is Claustrophobia (the flavor of the card, not the mechanic) Blue? Burying someone alive feels like something Black would do, not Blue.

I think the card makes the person feel trapped not actually be trapped.

Black Blue Claustrophobia Flavor Mechanics

Claustrophobia Color Fit

So why is Claustrophobia Blue instead of Red? It seems like it would fit as an emotional response to stripped freedom.

I believe you are correct. It’s a fear of entrapment.

Blue Claustrophobia Fear Red

Blue and White Tactics

Concerning your answer about what white can blue that blue can't, do you not draw lines of similarity between say, pacifying and perma-tapping? (claustrophobia) Blue's effect does what white does AND more, so doesn't white's ability fall within blue's pie in that particular instance?

Pacifism and Lock down have some similarities but are different neither one being strictly better than the other (for instance, white can stop non-tap activations where blue’s lockdown cannot). I compare them to black’s “can’t block” and red’s “must attack” - similar space but slightly different. We like doing that to give colors a different flavor.

Black Blue Claustrophobia Colors Flavor Pacifism Power Level Red Tap / Untap White

Blue Enchantment Concerns

Hi Maro, as the supreme Color Pie overlord, I wanted to know your feelings about a pet peeve of mine, Blue enchantment based removals, the auras that don't let creatures untap. I feel that the ones that always tap the creature are violating the color pie by giving Blue a permanent answer to creatures: Narcolepsy, Runner's Bane, Claustrophobia... What do you think?

Blue needs some creature answer in limited and this is a way to help answer a creature without destroying it. So, color piewise, we’re good.

Auras Blue Claustrophobia Color Pie Colors Creatures Enchantments Limited Mark Rosewater Narcolepsy Runner's Bane Tap / Untap

Theros Limited Concerns

I'm going to be honest, I am not a fan of Theros limited. Bestow is too powerful, and heroic cards with auras are also too powerful. Build your own monsters is not interactive Magic. Except it would be if there were real removal answers. Why didn't Theros have cards like Pacifism and Claustrophobia to deal with bestow and auras?

Because they were too punishing. Theros does have answers but they are adapted to the Theros environment. I’m curious why do you find a limited environment built around attacking and blocking non-interactive?

Attacking Auras Bestow Blocking Claustrophobia Heroic Limited Pacifism Theros

Undying Mechanic Insight

I think there's a key difference between how undying plays and what it represents flavorwise. In a story, you kill the monster, and you're surprised because it came back stronger. In the game, you read the reminder text, conclude that it's best to fight a 2/2 than lose a blocker AND fight a 3/3, and wait to draw Claustrophobia. A smart player will never experience the surprise. Isn't it problematic when a mechanic plays differently than what the designers expected? Did you thought about this?

You’re getting a little too meta in the breakdown. Yes, all game flavor falls apart if you bring into it a self awareness that it’s a game you’re playing. It’s not actually a werewolf but a double-sided card that changes not based on the moon but on cards you are casting. Flavor works because players want to enjoy the flavor. That means creating a suspension of disbelief and find reasons to make connection rather than to break them.

Claustrophobia Fight / Bite Flavor Mechanics Story / Lore Undying Werewolf