Dreadbore

Hero's Downfall & Dreadbore

Hero's Downfall and Dreadbore have the same text box, but one is monoblack and the other is gold. Why is Dreadbore even red?

Because at the time we hadn’t yet shifted planeswalker destruction into monoblack. At the time, it was a black/red ability.

Black Dreadbore Hero's Downfall Planeswalkers Rakdos (B/R) Red

Destroying Planeswalkers

Hello Mark, Did you ever consider wording cards like Dreadbore or Hero's Downfall where they would do something like removing all loyalty counters from a planeswalker instead of destroying it? It seems like it is better and worse flavor wise depending on how you look at it and I was curious as to your thoughts?

Some players want to destroy Jace. We’re letting them. : )

Destroy Dreadbore Flavor Hero's Downfall Planeswalkers

Dreadbore's Color Assignment

Why is Dreadbore RB? It destroys creatures and planeswalkers, neither of which Red can do on its own.

At the time, we thought that we’d make “destroy target planeswalker” a black/red thing but we later realized monoblack needed it so we moved it. Ah, fickle color pie.

Black Color Pie Colors Creatures Destroy Dreadbore Planeswalkers Rakdos (B/R) Red

Dreadbore's Color Shift

If Hero's Downfall can be only black, what's the red part of Dreadbore?

At the time the ability was black/red but we decided to shift the ability into monoblack. Erik talks about it in his feature article posted yesterday: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/264

Black Dreadbore Hero's Downfall Rakdos (B/R) Red

Destroying Planeswalkers

What color(s), in your opinion, could have "Destroy target planeswalker"? Dreadbore seems to imply Red.

While red blows up artifacts and lands, it doesn’t destroy creatures which flavorwise is a lot closer to what destroying a planeswalker is.

Artifacts Colors Creatures Destroy Dreadbore Lands Planeswalkers Red

Dreadbore Reception

What's the General consensus of Dreadbore? How did people react to Planeswalker being mentioned in a card?

Most players had no problem with it.

Dreadbore Planeswalkers The General

Dreadbore's Power Level

Does development consider dreadbore a mistake given that it's so overpowered in flavordraft

Flavordraft is not a format that drives most of our design or development decisions. For those that have never heard of flavor draft, it’s a format where the rules are made based on flavor. Can a wurm wear boots? No, wurms have no feet.

Dreadbore Flavor Limited Rules Wurm

Burn Spells vs Planeswalkers

What's your feeling about the current interaction between burn spells and Planeswalkers? Cards like Lightning Bolt are given special rules to interact with them indirectly, while Dreadbore can target a planeswalker. Do you reckon we'll ever see a day when the rules change & planeswalkers must explicitly be a legal target on the card? IOW burn spells would need to say "target creature, planeswalker or player" to hit Jace et al. IMHO the current way it works feels like a kludge.

If planeswalkers had started as part of the game, the spells that wanted to target them would just name them as an option.

Creatures Dreadbore Lightning Bolt Planeswalkers Rules Spells

Rapid Hybridization Critique

I understand that Polymorphing is in Blue's share of the pie, but I strongly disagree that Rapid Hybridization qualifies as polymorphing. This spell destroys, then creates something new; a polymorph changes the original. I could understand if it was an enchantment that turned a creature into a vanilla beast. Dreadbore is at sorcery speed and requires 2 colors of mana, but mono blue can kill Council or Lazav at instant speed for U? Mono black in RTR can't even target leaders with Ultimate Price

There is no way in current Magic rules to actually change one creature into another (well, unless the are on opposite sides of a double-faced card, then they get to transform). The language used is what has to get the job done within the rules, but the flavor is not of destruction and creation but of changing from one into the other.

Beast Black Blue Colors Creatures Dreadbore Enchantments Flavor Instants Mana Polymorph Rapid Hybridization Rules Sorceries Transform Ultimate Price Vanilla

Planeswalker Fate

If the flavour for planeswalkers running out of loyalty counters is them leaving, then what's Dreadbore? Is it merely injuring them to the point where they retreat?

I assume so.

Dreadbore Flavor Planeswalkers

Planeswalker Destruction Color

What color is "destroy target planeswalker"? Dreadbore seems to suggest that it is Red.

Currently it appears to be black/red.

Black Colors Destroy Dreadbore Planeswalkers Rakdos (B/R) Red

Rarity and Budget

I always hear rarity discussions about complexity, or limited environments, or in connection with other cards, as in your Dreadbore comments. Is budget accessibility for players to Magic ever a factor?

We put cards in the rarity they belong. We then try to make sure that there’s a deck in each set that can be made (mostly) with the cards appropriately put into common and uncommon.

Dreadbore Limited Rarity Uncommons

Dreadbore's Text

Why not have the text of Dreadbore say "Target non player planeswalker"? I just think you left some wiggle room in here....

Even though the player is thematically a planewalker, the game has always referred to them as “player”. The second we say “non player planeswalker"one place it now means that we always have to say it otherwise people then start to assume that it does mean a player when we don’t say that.

Dreadbore Planeswalkers

Removal Rarity Justification

Is there a particular reason for having removal like Dreadbore and Abrupt Decay to be rare? I might have expected these to be at uncommon (well maybe not dreadbore simply because of the planeswalker part, and it being the first time).

Abrupt Decay is rare because it’s part of a rare multicolor cycle.

Abrupt Decay Dreadbore Planeswalkers Rares Uncommons

Vindicate vs Dreadbore

what makes vindicate white but dreadbore red?

Vinidcate has a white mana symbol in its mana cost and Dreadbore has a red one. : )

Dreadbore Mana Red Vindicate White

Dreadbore Design Thoughts

The newly spoiled card from RTR, Dreadbore, got me thinking. It's the first card that DESTROYS a Planeswalker. Previously, I thought that destroying or killing a Planeswalker was almost taboo. Is it just fitting for the Rakdos flavor to be able to do that? I find it almost puzzling. What kind of thought went in to designing this card?

I’ll talk a bit about this in my column. Short answer: Magic is all about setting up rules that we later strategically break.

Dreadbore Flavor Planeswalkers Rakdos (B/R) Rules

Dreadbore Rarity Concerns

Making Dreadbore a rare... that's going to cause problems, right?

Destroying a planeswalkwer is not something all that common. Also, while we dedcided to try breaking this rule (mentioning “planeswalker” in rules text), it wasn’t something we wanted happening very often.

Dreadbore Planeswalkers Rares Rules