Counsel of the Soratami

Missed Divination Reprint Opportunity

On the note of the word Soratami not showing up, one of my biggest disappointments (on a card level) is the missed opportunity to reprint Counsel of the Soratami as the common blue draw card. Divination has become an iconic baseline card and it would have been great to bring back the actual original version.

That card named confused players for years. It sounds like a creature and not a spell.

Blue Counsel of the Soratami Creatures Divination Reprints

Naming Considerations

Counsel means advice, which isn't a creature. That it sounds similar to council or consul may suggest it's best avoided in a card name, that's not an issue that has anything to do with Kamigawa. As for the echantnent/sorcery issue, Aether Revolt alone has a sorcery and an enchantment both with the name 'Revolution'. Also nothing to do with Kamigawa naming conventions.

Instants and sorcerers often use verbs to convey action. Counsel, while technically also a verb, in the phrase is a noun and thus sounds more like an enchantment with duration than a spell. The fact that Council and Counsel sound alike does not help the name any. Remember that many people interact aurally with card names (“I cast Counsel of the Soratami.”)

Aether Revolt Card Names Cast Conventions Counsel of the Soratami Creatures Enchantments Instants Kamigawa Revolt Sorceries

Kamigawa Naming Issues

What exactly IS wrong with the naming conventions of Kamigawa?

A name basically does three things: 1) It creates flavor2) It conveys mechanical information (usually letting you know what card type it is)3) It allows players to have a shared language to talk about the card.The naming conventions of Kamigawa get in the way of all three goals.1) The names were trying to have a unique feel and thus are parsed to have a lyrical quality. The problem was while they feel different from normal names, they feel too similar from one another. The names feel like Kamigawa names, but often lack a clear sense of how one stands apart from the others.2) This leads into a functional problem. Normally when you hear a name you have clues as to what kind of a card it is. Counsel of the Soratami. Is that a creature? An enchantment? An instant or sorcery? Who knows? They all sound so similar.3) This construction then creates another big problem. Because the names are different and don’t have an internal system to differentiate them, the brain has a hard time locking onto them. This makes them “unsticky” meaning players have a hard time recalling names. This criticism came up again and again. It’s hard to have a shared language when people can’t remember it.That is what’s wrong with the naming conventions of Kamigawa.

Card Types Conventions Counsel of the Soratami Creatures Enchantments Flavor Instants Kamigawa Sorceries

Card Naming Strategy

In regards to names for cards, you said "It’s one of our most limited resources. Note we are careful about when we use a simple name." Then why do you keep wasting names on functional reprints? Why not reprint Searing Spear instead of wasting the name Lightning Strike? Why not reprint Inspiration instead of making Weave Fate? I can understand for something like Counsel of the Soratami becoming Divination due to it being plane-specific, but why do these re-names if names are so valuable?

Usually when we use a good name on a card that’s similar, one of two this is going on. One, we slightly changed the card mechanically and that’s what we want to be reprinting in the future (example: Weave Fate) or two, it’s a general enough effect that we know we’ll use often, so we make a slightly different creative take to allow us some choice to adapt to the world it in future reprints (example: Lightning Strike).

Adapt Card Printing Counsel of the Soratami Divination Lightning Strike Limited Reprints Searing Spear Weave Fate

Divination Name Change

Divination was made because Counsel of the Soratami was out of place in a core-set; but now M13 has elements from other planes, so isn't that a bit contradictory?

Divination was changed because Counsel of the Soratami wasn’t a good name for a card drawing spell not because it referenced another plane.

Card Draw Counsel of the Soratami Divination Planes

Kamigawa Names Critique

If you're going to talk trash about the names in Kamigawa, I don't think we can be friends. Kamigawa had some of the sweetest card names of all time. Only the mythic Eldrazi are close.

Here’s the biggest problem with the names in Kamigawa block. Normally if I tell you the name of a card in a vacuum, you can tell me what card type it is. Kamigawa block? No clue. Counsel of the Soratami, for example. It could be a creature or an enchantment or a sorcery or an instant. You have no idea.

Card Names Card Types Counsel of the Soratami Creatures Eldrazi Enchantments Instants Kamigawa Sorceries