High Tide

High Tide's Design Status

Is High Tide a break in blue?

Yes.

Bend / Break Blue High Tide

High Tide Effect in Red

Is High Tide an effect that could be done in Red?

The effect is in red’s color pie. The effect might have play design concerns though.

Color Pie High Tide Play Design Red

Red Mana Boost

Can red get a one shot mana flare? Like a red high tide or something?

Yes.

High Tide Mana Mana Flare Red

Mana Flare Mechanic

You said Mana Flare was no longer in red's color. But doesn't red still get rituals. Could red get a High Tide effect?

Red can get one shot mana boosts, just not permanent ones. That’s green.

Colors Green High Tide Mana Mana Flare Red

High Tide Reprint Odds

What are the chances of high tide being reprinted and why?

Being that is both broken and off color-pie, low.

Card Printing Colors High Tide Reprints

Alt-Win vs Synergies

Also, I respectfully think you've missed the point in the question about "alt win conditions." The issue as I see it is not one of alt-wins (Battle of Wits) but one of card designs that suggest or demand specific synergies or deck construction. Recent examples include Delver of Secrets and Birthing Pod. Older examples include everything from High Tide to Burning Wish. In recent years, more and more Constructed cards promote "multicolor goodstuff" building over synergistic, distinct archetypes.

Aren’t devotion decks major players in Standard right now?

Battle of Wits Battles Birthing Pod Burning Wish Constructed High Tide Standard

Artwork Variants Query

Have you ever considered printing cards with different artwork like you used to do in the earlier sets? If not, i'm sure you have a great reason why...but I can't think of a single type of player who wouldn't love that. What I mean, is having a few different artworks for a single card released in booster packs, kind of like High Tide, which had 3 different artworks in Fallen Empires. If not, could you explain why just for peace of mind?

The problem is art is the number one way players recognize cards. Having different arts actually makes the game harder to play.

Art Boosters Card Printing Fallen Empires High Tide Peace of Mind

Storm Playstyle

Hi again! Back to the you try and design cards for everyone. As someone who just wants to play storm or high tide style decks, what has been designed for my demographic lately?

There are some things that cause far more unhappiness than happiness. Usually these are mechanics that don’t let the opponent have a chance to play either by being too fast or by destroying resources to quickly and efficiently. These types of things we don’t make at high power levels (and sometimes not at all) even though there are players that enjoy them.

High Tide Keyword Abilities Mechanics

Color Pie Evolution

Early Magic had cards such as Drop of Honey and High Tide that didn't pay much attention to the color pie. What was the first set that used a fully formed color pie?

Early Magic was more more focused on card by card design rather than a holistic overview. This wasn’t just true with flavor but other areas as well. For instance, cards that worked the same would have different templates. I think around the time of Mirage (when what I call the second wave of R&D started - myself, Bill Rose, Mike Elliott, William Jockush, Henry Stern) we started taking a more holistic approach.

Bill Rose Color Pie Colors Drop of Honey Flavor High Tide Mirage Templating

Red High Tide

High Tide is clearly breaking the colour pie, however when Bubbling Muck was printed in Urza's Destiny fast mana was in black (such as Dark Ritual). These days fast mana is in red, does that mean a Red High Tide could possibly be printed?

Red is the color that would currently would do a High Tide-like effect.

Black Bubbling Muck Card Printing Colors Dark Ritual High Tide Mana Red Urza Urza's Destiny

High Tide Pie Discussion

How do you feel about the card High Tide. I suppose that the name flavorfully works, but it also seems very out of the color pie for blue. Thoughts?

High Tide is from long ago. Mechanically it is not in blue’s color pie. Having a really blue sounding name doesn’t change that fact.

Blue Color Pie Colors High Tide

TCG Market Competition

Do you enjoy the competition of other TCG's on the market?

I think the healthier the TCG market, the healthier it is for Magic. A high tide rises all boats.

High Tide