Simic (G/U)

Simic Cards' Copy Mechanism

I've noticed a lot of simic cards that copy enemy permanents recently, but I was curious about how that works pie-wise, since blue copies permanents all on its own while green rarely has that effect for even their own stuff, but it seems to be a pretty big thing for green+blue recently

Green is allowed to copy its own permanents, but it doesn’t do it a lot.

Blue Green Permanents Simic (G/U)

Balance Issue in 1GU Cards

I know you're not on play design, but maybe you have some insight on a pattern I'm sure I'm not the first to notice. Why is it that cards costing 1GU seem to have so many balance issues? Oko, Uro, Nadu are the recent ones everyone knows, but Shardless Agent and Risen Reef were also power outliers though at a lesser scale. Is this a bigger problem with Simic color identity as a whole?

I don’t think it’s a problem endemic to the color combination.

Color Identity Colors Play Design Simic (G/U) Risen Reef Shardless Agent

Outlaws of Thunder Junction Drafting

When you were creating Outlaws of Thunder Junction, where you ever concerned that when people talked about drafting OTJ that some older players might be worried about seeing UG madness?

: )For those non-old timers out there. Blocks were often nicknamed with the first letter of each set in the block. So Odyssey/Torment/Judgment draft was often called OTJ. One its major draft archetype was green/blue madness.

Blue Draft Formats Humor Judgment Madness Odyssey Outlaws of Thunder Junction Simic (G/U) Torment

Determining Limited Archetypes Numbers

I don't know if this is fit for a regular article, a podcast or a Nuts and Bolts, but I'm very curious to know about how you determine numbers/as-fan for Limited archetypes, especially A+B stuff. Like, why did WOE's WU have many tap triggers while OTJ's GU only had one explicit plot-matters card? Why did the tap triggers were all at uncommon but other themes usually have at least one common trigger? I understand it's a feel and testing thing mostly, but any effort to put it into words would be appreciated. :)

The short version is every theme is different and we endlessly playtest to get a sense of the appropriate as-fan. Maybe I can turn that into a whole column or podcast. Not sure.

As-fan Azorius (W/U) Drive to Work Limited Playtesting Simic (G/U) Tap / Untap Triggered Abilities Uncommons

Absence of Turtlefolks in Bloomburrow

Despite being Archelos' home plane, I noticed a distinct lack of Turtlefolks on Bloomburrow- even including the commander set they did not even get a one-off card. Additionally, not a single art in the set depict one, and the closest we got was a Frogfolk wearing a turtle shell (in my opinion looks a little morbid to be honest). Which leads me to ask, did something happen to them?

Frogs and Turtles were the two front runners for green/blue and Frogs won out. Bloomburrow does have one Turtle.

Art Blogatog / Tumblr Bloomburrow Blue Commander Frogs Morbid Simic (G/U) Turtles

Maths on Imbalanced Factions

Does the math on imbalanced factions change if it's just five two color factions with two of them being the same typal/theme. Something like Izzet Weirds, Simic Elementals, Golgari Squrrels, and Mardu (Boros and Orzhov) Vampires?

Five two-color factions isn’t “imbalanced”.

Boros (R/W) Colors Elementals Factions Golgari (B/G) Izzet (U/R) Kindred / Typal Mardu (R/W/B) Orzhov (W/B) Simic (G/U) Two Color Vampires

Simic archetype inspiration

Omg mark I just realized that the reason the simic archetype for bloomburrow is bounce is because it’s FROGS AND THEY JUMP!!! THATS SO SICK!!! As much as I love turtles, they probably would have been focused on +1/+1 counters, and I’d much rather have this archetype that’s radically different from the “standard issue” simic theme. Plus frogs are also cool as heck. High fives all around!

High fives to be delivered.

Bloomburrow Frogs High Fives Simic (G/U) Standard Turtles

Example of a Simic Hero

Can you give me an example of a Simic hero?

Ant-Man (the comics version aka Hank Pym).

Pop Culture Simic (G/U)

Moana's Color Transition

Is it fair to say Moana starts out mono-blue, faces a green conflict, and then becomes simic by the end of the film? Her primary motivation initially is to satisfy her curiosity about the world outside her island, and she's frustrated by how content and focused on tradition her people are. Eventually she resolves the film's conflict by realizing who she really is, connecting with her ancestors, and restoring a natural order that Maui had previously disturbed.

That sounds like an accurate description.

Colors Green Pop Culture Primary Simic (G/U) Natural Order

Cut Animals in Bloomburrow

When you do articles/DTWs on Bloomburrow: Can you list some more animals that you guys considered for the set but got cut and if you had any planned colors/mechanics for them? We know about Badgers and such, but would love to hear if there were more :)

The two that existed as two-color archetypes was Weasels in black/red and Badgers in red/green. In early vision design, for a short moment, we had fifteen animals as we gave one to each monocolor. It became clear quickly it was just too many animals. There were many ones we talked about that never made the cut. Turtles and Frogs, for example, were fighting for the green/blue slot.

Badgers Bloomburrow Blue Colors Frogs Green Gruul (R/G) Mechanics Monocolor Rakdos (B/R) Red Simic (G/U) Turtles Vision Design

Frog Card Design Choices

The Frogs bouncing is a big flavor win! But my friends were wondering if you made frogs and then decided they should bounce or if you decided on bounce and then made the bouncers frogs?

We chose green/blue to be Frogs before we made the jumping theme.

Blue Flavor Frogs Simic (G/U)

Simic Guild Symbol Story

the simic guild symbol sticker from the Return to Ravnica prerelease guild kit has been on my family's sliding glass door for over a decade now, serving as a way to make it obvious whether it is open or closed to birds and humans alikei just though maybe you'd get a kick out of hearing that : )

I do.

Birds Humans Humor Prerelease Return to Ravnica Sealed Format Simic (G/U) Stickers Story / Lore Two Color

Turtle Considered for Green/Blue

I would rather have seen turtle over frog and the dynamic between turtles and rabbits is funny.

We did seriously consider Turtle for green/blue.

Blue Frog Humor Rabbit Simic (G/U) Turtle

Evolve Mechanic's Independent Origin

"The first set was prehistoric. Then we jump thousand of years to the second set that was medieval. Then we jumped thousands more years to the third set which was futuristic. The block was all the same world, but seen through three distinct time periods." That was based on the same idea Ethan Fleischer had for which he first designed the Evolve mechanic (the Simic mechanic from Gatecrash), correct?

No, we actually came up with it independently. We were quite humored when Ethan later pitched the same idea.

Ethan Fleischer Evolve Gatecrash Mechanics Simic (G/U)

Personal Perspectives on Strixhaven Conflicts

"Since strixhaven is founded on the contradictions between subjects which side do you fall on in each of the 5 conflicts?
White/black -> whiteBlue/red -> redBlack/green -> blackRed/white -> whiteGreen/Blue -> blue"I'm curious if you answered this specifically as regards the strixhaven school conflicts (e.g., "is art emotional or intellectual", "is math natural/discovered or created") or more broadly?

More broadly.

Art Black Blue Boros (R/W) Golgari (B/G) Green Izzet (U/R) Orzhov (W/B) Red Simic (G/U) White

Strixhaven Foundational Conflict Choices

Since strixhaven is founded on the contradictions between subjects which side do you fall on in each of the 5 conflicts?

White/black -> whiteBlue/red -> redBlack/green -> blackRed/white -> whiteGreen/Blue -> blue

Black Blue Boros (R/W) Golgari (B/G) Green Izzet (U/R) Orzhov (W/B) Red Simic (G/U) White

Compliments for Modern Horizons 3

I would like some compliments/high fives sent to everyone who worked on the mdfc lands in Modern Horizons 3. I love the flavor text showing little bits of lore across the planes. ALSO THEY LOOK SO PRETTY.Two of my favorites are the izzet and simic taplands. The cards look so good!

High fives shall be applied.

Flavor Text High Fives Izzet (U/R) Lands Modal Dual Faced Cards Modern Horizons 3 Planes Simic (G/U) Story / Lore

Card Color Query

What colors would a card that said destroy target permanent or counter target spell be?

White/blue/black or black/green/blue.

Black Blue Colors Destroy Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Simic (G/U) Sultai (B/G/U)

Open Adapt to Colors

Now that it’s on more colors, I can see how in retrospect adapt feels really open to any color and not just simic.Does the ability to pay to put counters on something once have any color restrictions at all?

No, all colors can do it.

Adapt Colors Simic (G/U)

Possibility of Krosan Variants

Could we ever see variants of Krosan verge in simic, gruul, and golgari?

It’s possible.

Golgari (B/G) Gruul (R/G) Krosan Verge Simic (G/U)