Cyber Conversion

Cyber Conversion Mechanics

Is Cyber Conversion a break, a bend, or in pie? Flickering the creature removes the effect, as does turning it face-up if it has morph or disguise, but it's otherwise a much more permanent effect than an aura.

It’s a bend, but I could see is doing it in a set with morph/disguise.

Auras Bend / Break Creatures Disguise Mechanics Morph Cyber Conversion

Fallout Card Design Approach

I think it’s a very good thing that fallout has more card names, types, and abilities that are not quote unquote “plane bound”. That is to say, cards with names, types, and abilities that could easily be reprinted elsewhere in magic without needing to do the universes within treatment. Obviously this can’t be done with legendary cards, and some UB cards are naturally going to have names and types tied to their IP (like gallifrey falls or tyrannids), or they’ll have names that aren’t inherently tied to their IP but certainly don’t fit in regular magic (like nuclear fallout or cyber conversion) but it’s nice that a lot of these cards that will likely be staples in various formats won’t have their chances of being reprinted bogged down. It seems to me like this is happening more in fallout than it did in previous UB sets. Is this intentional? Or is it just coincidence? It seems like a difficult line to tread, being evocative in flavor while simultaneously generic in name, but I think (based on the spoilers so far) fallout has been mostly good on this.

It depends a lot on the property.

Card Names Card Printing Colorless Cyber Conversion Flavor Nuclear Fallout Reprints Spoilers Universes Within

Rules for Face Down Cards

Springboarding off the cyber conversion and facedown talks. Is a facedown card hard coded as a 2/2? Or since you would assumidly print the token cover for it, could it have a different stat line?

The rules allow face down cards to be other stats, but as players have learned 2/2 as the default, we’re careful how often we move away from that.

Card Printing Cyber Conversion Rules Tokens

Black Removal Power

In recent years (especially now with the printing of Cyber Conversion) I've been thinking black has really been falling behind in its creature removal powers. I keep finding myself rather running things like Resculpt or Reality Shift than Doomblade, Go for the Throat, Infernal Grasp and other black removal. Do you think black needs to to experience a similar power creep in removal or do you think it should stay about at this level?

Are black decks splashing other colors for creature removal?

Black Card Printing Colors Creatures Cyber Conversion Go for the Throat Infernal Grasp Power Level Reality Shift Resculpt

Cyber Conversion Logic

My understanding was that blue could get “pongify” effects as long as they’re temporary or reversible. Is cyber conversion considered an exception to this?

There are effects, such as flicker, that can reverse Cyber Conversion.

Blue Cyber Conversion Pongify

Cyber Conversion Break?

Hi Mark,I happened to read Cyber Conversion, from the doctor who commander decks.Isn't that a break in blue? I thought pongify and similar were considered breaks, and that blue shouldn't have new ways to directly remove creatures (except through auras).Also, doesn't this mean that the stronger conmander removal is in blue now? You can get the creature back only by blinking or bouncing it, arguably much more difficult than just recasting it with tax.

The thing we removed from blue was it destroying/exiling a card and then giving the controller of the card a token as replacement. While Cyber Conversion might feel similar, it’s not exactly what it does. The card is changed into something else. Blue can do that. Also, blue is primary in turning cards face down.

Auras Bend / Break Blue Commander Decks Creatures Cyber Conversion Doctor Pongify Primary Tokens

Cyber Conversion Nature

Is cyber conversion a bend or a break? I though blue didn’t do cards like pongify any more?

It’s in weird space. It’s not technically destroy and replace with a token which is what we stopped doing in blue. Blue is the color with the history of turning cards face down. And Cybermen were flavored as face down cards, making turning things into a Cyberman pretty blue.If this was space we were doing much design in, maybe we’d have a larger discussion, but it wasn’t, so we let the one card be.

Bend / Break Blue Colors Cyber Conversion Cyberman Cyberman Destroy Pongify Tokens