Path to Exile

Standard's Iconic Removal Odds

What are the odds of Printing swords to plowshares/ path to exile into standard white needs the removal without the giving card advantage to opponents. The trade off for other colors splashing for it is fine it’s iconic and a decent removal spell.

The odds are very low.

Card Printing Colors Path to Exile Standard Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone White

Color-Pie Icons

I understand your frustration with longtime players' obsession with eternal formats, because it means that color-pie mistakes are magnified and turned into icons; they're sought-after for their uniqueness and power. Cards like Path to Exile. Where you can say that "white isn't as good at killing creatures as black or red are", but then the players are constantly thinking of Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares... And you know that if I build a mono-red deck I'm reaching for Anarchy!

Truth.

Anarchy Black Creatures Eternal Path to Exile Red Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone White

Consideration of Mass Errata

Exile used to be “remove from the game”, meaning wish effects could get cards that were hit by something like path to exile or crumbling sanctuary. Could we ever see a mass errata that lets wishes made before M10 pull from exile, allowing them to work as they originally did? The introduction of exile effectively acted as functional errata for these cards, so letting them pull from exile would make them go back to how they functioned originally before M10

That was not their original intent, and I was part of the design team who made the wishes. It was something added later, I think after the cards had been out for a little while.

Crumbling Sanctuary Errata Functional Errata Magic 2010 Path to Exile The Exile Zone

Color Pie Imbalance in Older Formats

Hey Mark! I have a question about the color pie and how it relates to non-rotating constructed formats. As I understand it black is supposed to be he best at spot removing creatures and planeswalkers but in formats like modern and older it’s options have to compete against the likes of Unholy Heat, Prismatic Ending, Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, etc all of which do this thing in more powerful ways than black’s options like Fatal Push. Does the council of colors have any interest in balancing out this aspect of the color pie for those formats or does the color pie simply matter less in these places than it does for limited and standard?

There’s not much we can do to color correct older formats; they’re very much formed by the mistakes of the past. If you prefer playing with a more pure version of the color pie, limited and Standard are better formats for you.

Black Color Pie Colors Constructed Council of colors Creatures Fatal Push Lightning Bolt Limited Modern Path to Exile Planeswalkers Prismatic Ending Standard The Exile Zone Unholy Heat

White's Place in Removal

I remember seeing the other day that white specialized in mass removal. I would like to offer a counter argument leading to what I believe the color pie is saying. So part of whites color pie is having massive amounts of creatures and generally not focusing on one single creature. Well because white doesn't like individualism then single targeted removal with a slight downside would work right? Flavor wise anyway. Which is why path to exile, swords to plow share and generous gift all actually fit white. White likes tokens so the elephant token is more fitting. White does life gain so that is fitting. White also does catch up stuff so path to exile works.
I guess my question is, with these points how is white not the single best single creature removal?

Cause black really, really enjoys killing things. Gamewise, you don’t want the same color to be best at both spot removal and mass removal.

Black Color Pie Colors Creatures Elephant Flavor Generous Gift Lifegain Path to Exile The Exile Zone Tokens White

Likelihood of Specific MTG Cards

What's more likely: 1 mana planeswalker / another creature land (like dryad arbor) / path to exile in standard ?

None are likely in Standard, but if I had to order them: 1) Path to Exile 2) 1 Mana Planeswalker3) Another Creature Land Like Dryad Arbor

Creatures Dryad Dryad Arbor Lands Mana Path to Exile Planeswalkers Standard The Exile Zone

Impact of Powerful Color Breaks

I agree you shouldn't ban a card simply because it is a color pie break, but I feel that if a card (even a bend) undermines its color's weakness or another color's strength so significantly that it becomes a key game piece, then it needs to be banned. Path to Exile comes close in Modern, undermining black's status as the best creature killer; Veil of Summer is nearly a green Dismiss for 1-mana, and Reality Acid in Pauper grants blue access to repeatable permanent removal. Powerful bends/breaks.

Most larger formats are based on key cards that are color pie breaks. You’re not asking for a tiny thing.

Bannings Bend / Break Blue Color Pie Colors Creatures Format Legality Green Modern Path to Exile Pauper Reality Acid The Exile Zone Veil of Summer

Possibility of Powerful Black Removal

Could we ever get a black removal spell that's strictly better than Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile?

We don’t tend to make cards of that power level in current sets.

Black Path to Exile Power Level Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone

White's Color Pie Boundaries

Excluding power level, are cards like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile still within white's color pie? Mainly the exile X and give them Y.

Basically, but there are limits.

Color Pie Path to Exile Power Level Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone

Exile Zone Origin

Was the exile zone named as such because of Path to Exile?

Not that I’m aware of. They both are named after a similar concept.

Path to Exile The Exile Zone

Color Pie vs Power Level

"As a rule of thumb, if you can change numbers and make a color playable, it’s not a color pie issue, but a power level one." But white appears to be the only color where numbers dictate the color pie. Lightning Bolt, Mana Leak, Thoughtseize, and Path to Exile are four cards that are generally too good for Standard despite having in-color effects, but only Path is considered to be out of pie because of its efficiency.

Removal is treated a little differently as you don’t want colors overall being better than colors that are supposed to have stronger removal of a certain subset.

Color Pie Colors Lightning Bolt Mana Mana Leak Path to Exile Power Level Rules Standard The Exile Zone Thoughtseize White

White Exile Flexibility

Is it in whites color pie to get an permanent (Instant or Sorcery) exile target nonland permanent? Or would that be a bend or break? What about a drawback like Path to Exile or Declaration in Stone?

White can destroy every permanent save a specific land, so yes, it’s something white could do. It wouldn’t be particularly cheap though as flexibility within one card isn’t a white strength.

Bend / Break Bend or Break Color Pie Colors Declaration in Stone Destroy Instants Lands Path to Exile Sorceries The Exile Zone White

White Removal Requests

Can we please get reprints of Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares? White having "all the answers" has felt like a really weak excuse when its answers are weaker than other answers, as the "answers" it has gotten lately are all temporary removal (i.e. O-Ring effects), or mass boardwipes. It feels like it's been a long time since white got permanent targeted removal that wasn't splashing another color. White having all the answers feels weak when other colors have better specific answers.

Other colors are supposed to have better specific answers. White’s not the best at most removal, but it’s the color that has the answer to (almost) every kind of threat.

Card Printing Colors Path to Exile Reprints Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone White

Planeswalker Exile Possibility

Can white permanently exile Planeswalkers? Maybe with giving the opponent something in exchange like Path to Exile?

Possibly.

Exchange Path to Exile Planeswalkers The Exile Zone White

Path to Exile Standard

Could we ever see path to Exile in standard again?

Not a play designer, but my best guess is it’s unlikely.

Path to Exile Standard The Exile Zone

Adventure Memory Issues

In a recent Blogatog answer you clarified that the creature part can only be cast from exile IF you specifically cast the Adventure "spell" half first which makes sense from a grokkable perspective. From a design standpoint, was there any concerns about memory issues for these cards in situations where they may have been exiled by other means, such as if a player casts Path To Exile on one of them and later you just see it in exile and can't remember if you cast it as an Adventure spell or not?

I think remembering whether or not you cast the instant/sorcery is not the highest of bars as memory goes.

Cast Creatures Instants Path to Exile Sorceries The Exile Zone

White Removal Rates

Is path to exile an acceptable rate for white creature removal?

It’s a little aggressive for white. In general White’s permanent creature removal is supposed to be worse than black’s.

Black Creatures Path to Exile The Exile Zone White

White's Removal Power

White has all the answers but isn't path to exile and swords to plowshares out of color pie for white?

White can get rid of creatures but not at the rate of Swords yo Plowshares.

Color Pie Colors Creatures Path to Exile Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone White

White's Exile Mechanics

Can white get exile target permanent? Most likely with sn exchange like Path to Exile or something like that?

White can’t exile individual lands. Very few lands are multicolored.

Dual Lands Dual Lands Exchange Lands Path to Exile The Exile Zone White

Permanent Removal Mechanics

Afterlife is a removal spell. Giving the opponent something as part of its resolution doesn't change the fact that the target is GONE (see Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile/Beast Within/Chaos Warp/Assasin's Trophy). Polymorph/Pongify/Reality Shift et al are breaks for Blue. They are permanent removal in the color supposedly designated the worst at doing so and your willfull support for them makes this game we all love worse.

Blue is allowed to remove a creature if it replaces it with another creature. That’s not a break. Blue is allowed to do that. If you like, you can think of the rule as “Blue can’t remove creatures unless it then replaces them with another creature”.

Afterlife Beast Beast Within Bend / Break Blue Chaos Warp Colors Creatures Keyword Actions Path to Exile Polymorph Pongify Reality Shift Rules Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone