Swords to Plowshares

Color Pie and Rate Philosophy

"The rate is probably too good, but that’s not a color pie issue" Is this a change from your prior philosophy about the colour pie? You used to consider Swords to Plowshares a break simply due to its rate.

Extreme rate can cause color pie breaks, but only in areas where multiple colors do the same thing and one color is supposed to be weaker at it.

Bend / Break Color Pie Colors Swords to Plowshares

Reprinting Strategy

Hey Mark, my understanding is that you don't reprint cards like Swords to Plowshares in Standard-legal sets because white isn't supposed to get such powerful removal. So why reprint them at all? Every time you reprint a card like that, doesn't it give players, and especially newer players, a distorted view of the color pie, and a distorted understanding of what each color is allowed to do?

It’s because there’s a popular format where it’s legal and there are a lot of players that want access to it. Note we only reprint cards in products where they aren’t added to a format they’re not legal in.

Card Printing Color Pie Colors Format Legality Reprints Swords to Plowshares White

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

Status of Certain White Cards

Hey Mark, I've been dying to know this for a while because I'm not sure if the opinion RnD has on these cards have changed. Are cards like STP, PTE, and Mentor of the Meek still considered breaks?

Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile’s issues are more about power level. White can remove things and give something in return. It isn’t supposed to be as good at creature destruction as black. Mentor of the Meek is still a break, but we’re exploring ways to give white card draw that fits the identity of the color.

Bend / Break Black Card Draw Colors Creatures Mentor Mentor of the Meek Power Level Swords to Plowshares White

Green Color Overpowered

I think that most people really want to say about Toski is: Green is already too pushed and many of us would like to take a really long break from seeing do-everything Green cards. Recent designs seem to just stick every value-generating ability in a card and call it Green. It feels like you don't have a reason not to splash for Green in every single deck and that's bad. That's the same reason why cards like Swords to Plowshares are now considered off-limits, right?

Two things:1) Toski does things squarely in green’s pie that green has access to and gets to have cards with.2) While Comnander is popular, a lot of players play non-eternal formats and they get to have powerful new cards of every color.

Colors Green Swords to Plowshares

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

Green, White and Mind Magic

"why doesnt green or white have much magic that affects the mind? Blue and black called dibs first" What about Swords to Plowshares/Pacifism. That seems like a pretty clear case of white altering the mind.

The flavor is you’ve convinced someone of the value of pacifism, not that you’ve brain washed them.

Black Blue Flavor Green Pacifism Swords to Plowshares 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

Bouncing Permanents Flavor

You've said the flavor of swords to plowshares is that the creature loses the will to fight. Is there a similarly known/accepted flavor to bouncing a permanent?

Yes, you are unsummoning the creature.

Creatures Fight / Bite Flavor Swords to Plowshares

Black Card Mechanics

Could Swords to Plowshares be printed as a Black card (mechanically not power)?

Black doesn’t tend to give others life.

Black Card Printing Swords to Plowshares

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

Color Pie Philosophy

It seems to me Swords to plowshares would be at least partly a blue ability... forcing someone (mind control) to give up evil for a life of humble farming. Why isnt this a break in the color pie..? If it isnt a break, perhaps I am not understanding the flavor. Does it have to do more with speaking directly to their soul than their mind? Could you explain the flavor of Swords to Plowshares?

You are making someone give up the desire to fight. You are literally making them embrace peace, White’s end goal.

Bend / Break Blue Color Pie Colors Fight / Bite Flavor Mind Control Swords to Plowshares White

Modern Horizons Color Compliance

I've seen someone wonder about Sylvan Library in Horizons on Twitter, and although the consensus is "it would never happen", it led me to the question: does Modern Horizons follow the current iteration of the Color Pie? Despite power level, Color Pie alone would keep out, say, Swords to Plowshares.

Modern Horizons had to go through the Council of Colors.

Color Pie Colors Council of colors Modern Modern Horizons Power Level Swords to Plowshares Sylvan Library The Library

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

Swords to Plowshares Flavor

You keep saying that Swords to Plowshares is out of flavour for white, but I strongly disagree. It's one of the most flavourful white removal spells out there. It's also insanely overpowered, but if it were to cost 4W (e.g. Blessed Light in DOM) or some other cost higher than W, no one would even be talking about the card.

Part of the flavor issue *is* the undercosting. White having the best removal spell is wrong.

Blessed Light Dominaria Flavor Spells Swords to Plowshares White

Modern Set Inclusions

Would it be possible for Swords to Plowshares to be printed in a modern legal set? Path to Exile would still be far more "premium" for modern due to its land fetch, but Swords, due to its nature of being reprinted so much would be a great budget removal option for white, especially since reprints of Path to Exile being pretty much "rare to never going to happen"

Swords of Plowshares is possibly the most powerful one drop removal ever printed. Not only is it overpowered, but it’s out of flavor for white. So, I highly doubt Swords is making it to Modern.

Card Printing Flavor Lands Modern Path to Exile Rares Reprints Swords to Plowshares The Exile Zone White

Creature Disabling Spells

Mark, as Swords to Plowshares is flavored as removing a creature's violence, and as modern color pie avoids White removing creatures so efficiently from the game, could White get Instant or Sorcery spells that makes a creature become unable from attacking, blocking or using it's activated abilities permanently?

If until end of turn, that’s detain. Longer than a turn, we use an enchantment to track it.

Attacking Blocking Color Pie Colors Creatures Detain Enchantments Instants Modern Sorceries Spells Swords to Plowshares White

Standard Suitability

If Swords to Plowshares is too good for Standard (and you have no argument from me there!) how did the -2 on Ajani Unyielding get printed? Was there much discussion about it?

The biggest issue with Swords to Plowshares is its efficiency. If it cost a bunch more, it wouldn’t be a color pie issue.

Ajani Unyielding Card Printing Color Pie Colors Standard Swords to Plowshares