Lingering Souls

Flashback Mechanics Clarified

Re: Richard Garfield and Graveyard spells: for example, could I flash back my Lingering Souls as an Eldrazi Displacer?

You have it backwards. You can flashback an Eldrazi Displacer as a Lingering Souls.

Eldrazi Eldrazi Displacer Flash Lingering Souls Richard Garfield Spells The Graveyard

TFTP Posting Error

Why did you post today's TFTP twice?

I messed up calling it a “Zendikari Tip” when Lingering Souls are from Innistrad.

Innistrad Lingering Souls Tales from the Pit

Lingering Souls Comic

Did you intentionally post the Lingering Souls comic twice? Because if it was an accident, it works out pretty well actually.

I knew it was from Dark Ascension and just wrote down the wrong plane. I often post my comic while getting my kids up for school so my attention isn’t always focused on the task at hand.

Dark Ascension Lingering Souls Pop Culture Your Hand

Lingering Souls Discussion

TODAY is my birthday. I have waited for TOO LONG. I now have a trivia question. Or an explanation question? Lingering Souls, my favorite card; how did it get pushed so hard to end up becoming banned in its own Block-Constructed Format? Recent power shifts tell me it should have been printed as a rare maybe? I DON'T KNOW. But I want to.

Whenever we make a small set, we like to find an archetype or two that wasn’t pushed in the large set but had components that along with the second set could make the archetype tournament viable. For Dark Ascension, one of those archetypes was White/Black. That’s why that card was pushed, to help make sure the deck could have a real constructed shot. Yes, it was pushed too hard in retrospect. Happy Birthday!

Bannings Birthday Black Card Printing Constructed Dark Ascension Format Legality Format Legality Lingering Souls Orzhov (W/B) Rares White

Opinion on Lingering Souls

What is your opinion on the card Lingering Souls?

I like it. Not a developer, but it’s a little too aggressively costed.

Lingering Souls Not a developer

Carnival of Souls

I saw you say Carnival of Souls was a failure of design. If it makes you feel better it's a card in my 5c casual deck alongside Young Pyromancer, Lingering Souls, Skullclamp, Cabal Therapy, Blood Artist, Thoughtseize, Dismember, Gush, Fastbond, and others like Ponder and Brainstorm.

A lot of people spoke up professing their fondness for Carnival of Souls. Mudhole, not so much.

Art Blood Blood Artist Brainstorm Cabal Therapy Carnival of Souls Casual Play Dismember Fastbond Lingering Souls Mudhole Skullclamp Thoughtseize Young Pyromancer

Tokens as Creatures

You mentioned in the design skeleton podcast that token making spells count as creatures. How many creatures does a card like Lingering Souls actually count for?

Just one.

Creatures Drive to Work Lingering Souls Skeleton Spells Tokens

Color Pie Mechanics

How does color pie work for cards with different color flashbacks? Does the initial casting cost have to be the color that the ability is seen more commonly, while the flashback color is the runner-up with that ability? Lingering Souls is white because white has a lot of token creation, but how does black fit into it, color pie-wise?

Usually the effect is primary in the main spell and primary or secondary in the flashback cost. If a color does not have that ability in its slice of the color pie then it cannot get it even through a flashback.

Black Casting Cost Color Pie Colors Flashback Lingering Souls Primary Secondary Tokens White

Token Cards Contribution

(This has probably been asked a billion times, but whatever) Were you directly involved with some of the token cards from Innistrad? Sorin LoI, Intangible Virtue, Lingering Souls, Midnight Haunting and the like? Also, Is there a limit on how many cards I can send you to sign? ^w^ I want to Marofy my standard decks~

I’m always involved in making some of the token cards because I love tokens. Send me as many cards as you like. Just: a) Include a self-adressed stamped envelope that has enough postage to get all of them back. b) Allow me some time to sign them if there’s a bunch.

Innistrad Intangible Virtue Lingering Souls Midnight Haunting Standard Tokens

Creatureless Deck Desire

I don't think that Hayne's deck is either creatureless or "winning the game on a whole different axis." Playing against decks in Standard means that every single game has been decided by small, medium, or large creatures. Planeswalkers are always support cards to decks that win with creatures or tokens. Cards like Entreat, White Sun's, Lingering Souls, etc. don't count because they do nothing besides make creatures, as you said yourself. I wish there was one viable noncreature wincon. Thoughts?

I think the dream of a creatureless deck draws more focus than it should. R&D strives to make sure there is diversity with decks winning in a variety of ways. I believe the quality of “no creatures” is more an affectation of people remembering a different time in the game (one, by the way, where decks with creatures were the stark minority).

Creatures Keyword Actions Lingering Souls Planeswalkers Standard Tokens White

Hand Size Benefits

I think there are definitely more positives to a maximum hand size than negatives. In a recent game, on the draw, I kept a hand with two land and 3cmc+ spells. You guessed it: I didn't draw a 3rd. At the end of my 3rd turn I was forced to discard my 8th card, Lingering Souls, which flashed back next turn was enough to stall and let me get back into the game. (Which ended up being a close one). Forced discard: a fantastic catch up mechanism, and story creator. Two of your buzz-phrases, right? :)

I’m not sure being forced to discard cards because you haven’t drawn land is normally considered a catch-up feature. Yes, it’s lovely with a few cards that are active in the graveyard but those are the exception not the rule.

Discard Lands Lingering Souls Rules Spells Story / Lore The Graveyard Your Hand

Token Dynamics

After lingering souls showed off what the power of cheep cast tokens will we be seeing less of the cast-a-tokens? Or d you think that the flash back cost is what made it so useful?

Everything ebbs and flows. Things that are plentiful one day will be so the next. Am I going to tell you when this particular aspect is going to swing the other way? No.

Cast Flash Lingering Souls Tokens

Intent Behind Card Design

Does R&D design cards with the intent of making a new deck archetype? W/B tokens would not exist without Lingering Souls and Sorin 2.0 for example. Is it a case of "Let's design these cards, oh hey here's a neat deck that we can make with these interactions" or "Here's a deck that we want to push, so we'll make cards to buff this archetype"?

Development was very aware that Dark Ascension helped promote a new white/black token deck.

Black Dark Ascension Game Design Lingering Souls Orzhov (W/B) Tokens White

Midnight vs Lingering

Why print Midnight Haunting and Lingering Souls in the same block? The latter is simply a strictly better version of the former.

We make “better than” cards constantly. It’s just something trading card games do.

Card Printing Lingering Souls Midnight Haunting Power Level

Rarity in Tournament Play

Do you believe that R&D should strive to make all rarities come up about as frequently in tournament play? Do you think it was bad for the game when some top Standard decks were made almost entirely of rares and mythics (e.g. 'Mythic Conscription')?

I think people put a lot of focus on rares and mythic rares because they’re harder to acquire but R&D makes sure that there are plenty of good common and uncommon cards as well. For example, one of the MVP’s of Innistrad is Delver of Secrets and one of the MVP’s of Dark Ascension is Lingering Souls, a common and uncommon respectively.

Dark Ascension Game Design Innistrad Lingering Souls Rares Standard Strive Uncommons

Innistrad Commons Praise

I would just like to say that it feels like you really hit a sweet spot for commons and uncommons in the Innistrad block. Many of the most powerful cards are at lower rarities (like Lingering Souls). As someone without a huge Magic budget, thank you!

It’s always one of our goals to make sure that there are good cards at every rarity. People tend to focus on mythic rare, but remember that the most powerful Innistrad card turned out to be common. (Delver of Secrets)

Appreciation Commons Innistrad Lingering Souls Mythic Rares Rarity