Whispers of the Muse

Misjudging Buyback Costing

Can you give an example of when you were really off on costing a card? Possibly one that shocked you?

When I originally costed buyback I thought of it like a cantrip in that you get a card. I didn’t understand the value of getting the se card back rather than a random card. As such, all buyback costs were 2. You could cast Whispers of the Muse and buy it back for 2U. Yeah, it only took one playtest to see we were off - by a lot!

Buyback Card Backs Cast Playtesting Whispers of the Muse

Buyback Mechanic Issues

What is the problem with buyback? It is 1) beloved by all psychographics, and 2) generally looks better than it is, which sounds perfect for a mechanic... Whispers of the Muse and Capsize were mistakes, but Reiterate, Fanning the Flames, Verdant Touch, Clockspinning, Corpse Dance, etc were all perfectly fun and balanced cards.

The problem is that it isn’t worse than it looks. Journey Into Nyx tried to bring it back and it was too good.

Buyback Capsize Clockspinning Corpse Dance Fanning the Flames Journey into Nyx Mechanics Nyx Psychographic Reiterate Verdant Touch Whispers of the Muse

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