Blue Elemental Blast

Disliked Color-Pie Break

Is there any color-pie break you dislike the most? One that haunts your dreams?

For today, I’ll say Blue Elemental Blast and Red Elemental Blast.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Elemental Red Red Elemental Blast

Blue Elemental Blast

Could the effect of Blue Elemental Blast be printed on a WU card by current design sensibilities?

Not at a cost that would make anyone happy. In theory, white could get “destroy target red permanent”, but not cheaply, making it a poor counterspell for blue’s “counter target red spell” half.

Azorius (W/U) Blue Blue Elemental Blast Card Printing Counterspell Destroy Elemental Red White

Enemy Mirrors Possibility

Lifeforce / Deathgrip, White Knight / Black Knight, Blue Elemental Blast / Red Elemental Blast. These mirror images were nice ways of showing the colours in opposition without it being mistaken for a cycle. Would you do such things again (without colour pie violation or as severe hosing) as a way to show enemy colours?

We do enemy mirrors from time to time.

Black Black Knight Blue Blue Elemental Blast Colors Cycles Deathgrip Elemental Knight Lifeforce Red Red Elemental Blast White White Knight

Color Hate Frequency

Can hate cards toward specific colors (like blue elemental blast) still be made or has it been decided no more should be made?

We still do color hate, but far less frequently.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Colors Elemental

Spellbook Selection Rationale

Where can we give feedback on Signature Spellbook: Jace? I personally loved the product, but I felt choosing Blue Elemental Blast instead of Ponder was a mistake, for a product intended to be about Jace magic. The lack of a Telepathy with Jace art was also curious. Otherwise, I loved getting Jace themed spells. Just could have been more accurate on the card selections.

A lot of the decisions were based on which cards saw more play in certain formats. Telepathy, for instance, isn’t played in any constructed format.

Art Blue Blue Elemental Blast Constructed Elemental Spellbook Spells

Color Pie Council Role

I am sincerely wondering: aren't reprints / supplemental product not run by the Council of Colors? Because Signature Spellbook: Jace is the second reprint of the Color-Pie-annihilating Blue Elemental Blast in a *very* short time. I love me some pie.

The Color Pie Council focuses on the printing and reprinting of cards that add cards to formats. Reprinting Blue Elemental Blast In Spellbook doesn’t add it to any format that doesn’t already have it.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Card Printing Color Pie Colors Council of colors Elemental Reprints Spellbook

Blue Elemental Blast

Is Blue Elemental Blast’s “Destroy target Red permanent” a bend or a break? Blue having outright destructions feels weird to me.

It’s a break. Blue is not supposed to destroy permanents (unless it’s done flavored as transforming them into something else).

Bend / Break Blue Blue Elemental Blast Destroy Elemental Permanents Red

Color Pie Weapons

What are examples of "that thing where you allowed colors to use mechanics from their opponents' part of the color pie as weapons when fighting against them" ?

Blue Elemental Blast and Red Elemental Blast are two of the most famous. Blue cannot destroy permanents and Red cannot counter spells.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Color Pie Colors Destroy Elemental Mechanics Permanents Red Red Elemental Blast Spells

Color Pie Balance

But red elemental blast gives red access to permanent destruction and counter spells while blue elemental blast only breaks the colour pie with one mode, doesn't that make red worse?

Once you do one thing you’re not supposed to, you’re already in the worst category.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Colors Elemental Red Red Elemental Blast Spells

Color Pie Offenses

Is Blue Elemental Blast less offensive to the color pie than Red Elemental Blast?

No, Blue shouldn’t be destroying permanents.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Color Pie Colors Elemental Permanents Red Red Elemental Blast

Color Pie Anomalies

Which card, by modern standards, is further outside its color pie: Red Elemental Blast, or Blue Elemental Blast?

Each has a component which is totally out of color pie so it’s a tie.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Color Pie Colors Elemental Modern Red Red Elemental Blast

EDH Hybrid Mana Rules

The squeaky wheels are always the loudest, but I've never noticed anyone who didn't intuit that hybrid mana spells weren't ok in monocolored EDH decks. The spell clearly has qualities of both, it is not either/or as you've put it. If it were, the rules would reflect that, but as the game works now I can successfully Red OR Blue Elemental Blast that Dominus of Fealty, so the card IS Blue as much as it IS Red. The rules of the game disagree with your stance. Besides you don't even like EDH :D

I’m merely pointing out that it’s inconsistent with the rest of Magic. Yes, it can be rationalized away and obviously the format is doing just fine so I have no need to try and change it. This is a blog were I talk about design topics and that choice is, in my opinion, poor design. That doesn’t make it the wrong decision, by the way. Sometimes you trade intuition for game balance.

Blue Blue Elemental Blast Commander Dominus of Fealty Elemental Game Balance Hybrid Mana Monocolor Red Rules Spells