Renton, WA — A spoiler list for the next standalone set of the popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering, code-named “Control” in design and development, was recently released by an anonymous source. The spoiler list, which contains only playtest card names, was leaked unusually early, considering the release date of “Control” in Fall 2004. In a bit of extreme irony, the set will feature shoddy countermagic, underpowered card drawing, and slow creature removal.

The crux of any reasonable control deck is its countermagic. Costwise, the cheapest pure counterspell in the set, nicknamed “Lethargic Counterspell,” is a 2UU instant that counters target spell. Other countermagic includes “Memory Relapse,” a 2U recosting of the Homelands and Mirage favorite Memory Lapse, and “Borrow Soul,” a 2U instant that counters target nonartifact creature spell.

Card drawing cards continue to take steps down from the glory days of Invasion, with Fact or Fiction, and Torment, with Deep Analysis. “Stroke of Above-Average Intelligence,” the latest incarnation of Braingeyser, is a 2UUXX Instant that allows a player to draw X cards. The only other card-drawing card in the entire set, “Teetiess Tome,” continues with the naming convention used by Jayemdae, Jalum, and Emmessi Tomes. In those cards, their name is really a spelled-out anagram of a person’s name. For the “Control” Tome, TTS is an anagram for Three-Toed Sloth, as the card costs 6 to play and 5 to activate.

The last element of a successful control deck, pinpoint creature removal, is also present in the set in disappointing strength. The long awaited heir to the white creature elimination throne held by Swords to Plowshares and its popular recent sibling Gnomes to Plowshares, “Swords to…More Swords” is a 3W Sorcery that destroys target untapped creature unless its controller pays 2 or discards 2 cards from hand. Mass Removal was not exempt from the emasculation of control cards, as “Generic Wrath” a 3WW Sorcery that destroys all creatures in play, managed to find its way into the set for a record tenth straight standalone.

Reaction from players has ranged from passionate to disinterested. An anonymous message board user known simply as “That Guy from the PTQs Who Thinks He’s a Lot Better Than He Is and Always Plays Control” made several impassioned pleas for Wizards to raise the power level of the set at the last minute. “What fun will Magic be without the ability to ruin people’s well-built combos and synergistic effects with undercosted counterspells and removal?” he asked. Meanwhile, more casual players treated the announcement with disdain or altogether indifference. “TreeFrogGuy” posted, “counterspelz don’t matta bc you cant counter green cretures NEWayz.”

Although the policy of Wizards of the Coast is to ignore all leaks about new sets, the early release of this spoiler prompted the issuance of a short statement from the design and development team. “Design names for sets are in no way indicative of a set’s general qualities, mechanics, or content. As an example, take Mirrodin, codenamed ‘Bacon’ in design, which contained no pork-related cards whatsoever.”

Responded Pro Tour Player and former World Champion Carlos Romao, “Yeah, I was pretty pissed off about that.”

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Green Will Have a Fog Effect in "Ctrl"
• Complete Darksteel Spoiler - Part 1
• Complete Darksteel Spoiler - Part 2
• Codenames Revealed at Wizards

Renton, WA — A spoiler list for the next standalone set of the popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering, code-named “Control” in design and development, was recently released by an anonymous source. The spoiler list, which contains only playtest card names, was leaked unusually early, considering the release date of “Control” in Fall 2004. In a bit of extreme irony, the set will feature shoddy countermagic, underpowered card drawing, and slow creature removal.

The crux of any reasonable control deck is its countermagic. Costwise, the cheapest pure counterspell in the set, nicknamed “Lethargic Counterspell,” is a 2UU instant that counters target spell. Other countermagic includes “Memory Relapse,” a 2U recosting of the Homelands and Mirage favorite Memory Lapse, and “Borrow Soul,” a 2U instant that counters target nonartifact creature spell.

Card drawing cards continue to take steps down from the glory days of Invasion, with Fact or Fiction, and Torment, with Deep Analysis. “Stroke of Above-Average Intelligence,” the latest incarnation of Braingeyser, is a 2UUXX Instant that allows a player to draw X cards. The only other card-drawing card in the entire set, “Teetiess Tome,” continues with the naming convention used by Jayemdae, Jalum, and Emmessi Tomes. In those cards, their name is really a spelled-out anagram of a person’s name. For the “Control” Tome, TTS is an anagram for Three-Toed Sloth, as the card costs 6 to play and 5 to activate.

The last element of a successful control deck, pinpoint creature removal, is also present in the set in disappointing strength. The long awaited heir to the white creature elimination throne held by Swords to Plowshares and its popular recent sibling Gnomes to Plowshares, “Swords to…More Swords” is a 3W Sorcery that destroys target untapped creature unless its controller pays 2 or discards 2 cards from hand. Mass Removal was not exempt from the emasculation of control cards, as “Generic Wrath” a 3WW Sorcery that destroys all creatures in play, managed to find its way into the set for a record tenth straight standalone.

Reaction from players has ranged from passionate to disinterested. An anonymous message board user known simply as “That Guy from the PTQs Who Thinks He’s a Lot Better Than He Is and Always Plays Control” made several impassioned pleas for Wizards to raise the power level of the set at the last minute. “What fun will Magic be without the ability to ruin people’s well-built combos and synergistic effects with undercosted counterspells and removal?” he asked. Meanwhile, more casual players treated the announcement with disdain or altogether indifference. “TreeFrogGuy” posted, “counterspelz don’t matta bc you cant counter green cretures NEWayz.”

Although the policy of Wizards of the Coast is to ignore all leaks about new sets, the early release of this spoiler prompted the issuance of a short statement from the design and development team. “Design names for sets are in no way indicative of a set’s general qualities, mechanics, or content. As an example, take Mirrodin, codenamed ‘Bacon’ in design, which contained no pork-related cards whatsoever.”

Responded Pro Tour Player and former World Champion Carlos Romao, “Yeah, I was pretty pissed off about that.”

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Green Will Have a Fog Effect in "Ctrl"
• Complete Darksteel Spoiler - Part 1
• Complete Darksteel Spoiler - Part 2
• Codenames Revealed at Wizards