Gut Shot

Gardening Advice Requested

Hi Mark. I need some gardening advice if that's okay. I have dwarves in my rutabagas. I've tried everything to get rid of them. One day I tried a crackling club, the next day I tried some engulfing flames. Neither worked. The next day I had some javelineers throw a javelin at them, and that didn't work either. I even tried a gut shot, which was quite painful for me, and that didn't even work. Please, Mark, I'm running out of options! Any advice is very welcome!

Talk with Paka. She can fetch the pestridder.

Crackling Club Dwarf Engulfing Flames Gut Shot

Zero-Cost Red Spell Duplicate

A zero-cost 1 damage red spell? Don't we already have Gut Shot?

A fine point.

Gut Shot Red

Color Pie Break Differences

Is hornet sting a bigger colour pie break than gut shot even though the latter can be played in mono green as well (and also mono blue)?

Being a color pie break requires you being in the color, not whether or not a deck can play the card. Cards playable in any deck have restrictions to not upset the color pie, but are a separate issue. Just because artifacts, for example, can deal damage to creatures without restriction doesn’t mean green gets to.

Artifacts Blue Color Pie Colors Creatures Deal Damage Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting

Green's Access Limitations

But Hornet Sting is basically the same as Gut Shot. They both give access to Green to things it shouldn't get?

Gut Shot is a Red card. There is a distinct difference color pie wise between what a Green card can do and what can be played in a deck with just Forests. Note as an independent issue is a power level issue. Colorless effects need to not be so good as to undermine the weaknesses in a color. And I have some issue with a few Phyrexian mana cards on that account.

Color Pie Colorless Colors Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Mana Phyrexian Power Level Red

Artifact Removal Logic

If a phyrexian mana artifact/enchantment destruction card was a concern, why wasn't Dismember and Gut Shot concerns with them giving removal to all colors?

The rule was to stick to things that artifacts can do. Artifacts do creature removal all the time.

Artifacts Colors Creatures Dismember Enchantments Gut Shot Mana Phyrexian Rules

Color Ability Nuances

If you don't like Hornet Sting giving direct damage to green, how do you feel about Gut Shot? What about Dismember giving green or blue the ability to kill a creature?

There is a difference between a color doing something it can’t do and a color (or artifact) doing something it can do but being usable by other colors.

Artifacts Blue Colors Creatures Dismember Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting

Phyrexian Burn Spells

Why werent there any burn spells with phyrexian mana

You made Gut Shot cry. I hope you’re happy with yourself.

Gut Shot Mana Phyrexian Spells

Phyrexian Mana Concerns

I know you hate cards like Hornet Sting for ignoring the color pie, so how do you feel about Gut Shot and similar phyrexian mana cards? Doesn't this violate the color pie in the same way?

The philosophy I held when design worked on them is we needed to mess with effects that we were comfortable being on artifacts. Development added a few that didn’t follow this rule and led to a few cards that I believe did bleed the color pie more than I was happy with.

Artifacts Color Pie Colors Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Mana Phyrexian Rules

Phyrexian Mana Debate

Speaking of Phyrexian mana, you will never convince me that Gut Shot was a less egregious colour pie violation than Hornet Sting!

Artifacts can do direct damage to creatures. Green decks can go outside of green mana to do it. I didn’t like them not having to go outside of green mana to do it.

Artifacts Colors Creatures Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Mana Phyrexian

Gut Shot Color Pie

What are your thoughts on Gut Shot? Giving all decks the ability to do one damage to a creature or player didn't seem to warp the color pie or meta game too much. It also takes the sting out of Hornet Sting a little bit, right?

Artifacts allow players to deal one damage. A green deck can use those (and they are costed accordingly). My issue with Hornet Sting is the green mana in its mana cost.

Artifacts Color Pie Colors Creatures Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Mana

Opinion on Free Spells

In the past you've said that you dislike spells you can cast for free. How do you feel about Surgical Extraction? Gut Shot?

I don’t dislike free spells, I just feel they cause two problems: 1) They can have power issues. 2) They can break the color pie. If you’re careful about the first two, I’m all for it. I do believe both of the above can be stretched a little but not to the point where it harms things.

Cast Color Pie Colors Free Spells Gut Shot Spells Surgical Extraction

Hornet Sting Logic

Ok, something that annoys me: the flavor for Hornet Sting DOSEN'T make sense. What that card is saying is that a 1/1 soldier, armored and trained for war, can be killed by a bee sting. Are all tokens allergic to hornets? Also, said bee sting is equivalent to A. getting stabbed through the stomach (Gut Shot) or hit with a fireball (Geistflame). This would make sense if it were a GIANT hornet, but the art makes it quite clear it's normal size, and it looks pretty much like a normal hornet.

I think the flavor is not one but many hornet stings.

Art Bee Sting Flavor Geistflame Giant Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Soldier Tokens

Comparing Spell Colors

Gut shot and hornet sting seem VERY similar to me. Could you elaborate on how phyrexian spells work "in pie" for you?

There are artifacts that can deal damage to creatures. Hornet Sting is off color because it is a green card doing something the color green is not supposed to do. Gut Shot is a red card doing something red is supposed to do. Yes, the access to colorless allows it to go into a green deck but that is very similar to using a creature killing artifact in a green deck.

Artifacts Colorless Colors Creatures Deal Damage Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Phyrexian Red Spells

Color Pie Adherence

Is Hornet Sting worse than Gut Shot in terms of respecting the colour pie?

Yes. Gut Shot is still a red card while Hornet Sting is a green one. Note that I get that players can find ways to get the effects in their monocolor deck by going to things like artifacts, but at least they have to get out of their color to do it. I have much less an issue of artifacts doing something green can’t than green doing something green can’t.

Artifacts Colors Green Gut Shot Hornet Hornet Sting Monocolor Red

Life Loss Mechanics

Hello. Is life loss only a black thing, and mostly for cards? Could red, for example, pay life to cause damage (probably at an unffair rate, like Gut Shot), or is it tied to creatures like Sparksmith?

Life loss is primarily black. It gets bled to other colors every once in a while for flavor.

Black Colors Creatures Flavor Gut Shot Red Sparksmith

Designing Zero-Cost Cards

Do you find it difficult/troubling to make cards that cost no mana? Like the pact cycle, or exiling another card instead, or gut shot, etc. I know for newer players that it can be frustrating to have to accept that their opponents may still be able to do things while all their "resources" are tapped.

Mana cost is the most important safety valve for power so we have to be very careful when we allow players to avoid mana costs. It’s exciting for players so we do stick our toe in from time to time but every time we do it, we know we are playing with fire. (Ooh, I managed to compare the zero cost cards to both water and fire in one answer.)

Gut Shot Mana