charlequin
Banned
I feel pretty confident that if this exact template leads to that happening now that it's because they'll have a rules change to prevent it in the future. It seems like it would be possible to write a rule that causes the delayed-action part of such an ability not to take effect if it's caused by the first part, and it'd make it easier for them to write these cards without idiotic templating.
Humorously, based on what it looks like the ultimate is on that card, it seems like it probably also makes it easier for them to design around the limitation.
I get that it's very abstract but it is in fact very real. There are two sets that were leaked 6+ weeks in advance of release: Judgment and New Phyrexia. Both were considered above-average by general fan opinion, but both saw significantly depressed sales and tournament attendance relative to surrounding sets, pretty much entirely because people weren't as excited about them any more by the time they actually came out.
This is different from something like the Kozilek leak, which blew a big surprise but did it in a way that still got the desired effect (rampant speculation and excitement.)
Now, I agree it's not generally our responsibility to watch out for WotC's profitability or to make decisions based on their bottom line; the thing about major leaks is that they don't actually have an upside, since nobody benefits materially from them and they reduce the enjoyment of a lot of players.
Yeah. There's some drama on Twitter where people are yelling at websites like "don't share them!!" and it's like... this can accomplish exactly nothing. In the era of reddit, once a leak is public it's going to be disseminated everywhere and even a concerted effort by multiple content sources isn't going to affect it.
This is actually another problem and the biggest part of why they've switched from previewing a few sets out to keeping a strict lockdown on only previewing cards from the next set. (It's also a not-insignificant factor in the switch to all large sets -- if it was Kaldheim or something in that slot people wouldn't have the itch to get past it the same way.)
I think the bigger issue here is that it isn't pictures of some cards, it's photos of parts of a whole rare sheet. That means there's more info out there that could show up (like, the first leak already seemed significant and we now already have way more info than that one included) and the full amount would be pretty severe.
I agree, exactly what we have now is not such a big deal.
The true silver lining to all of this.
(Seriously I felt inspired realizing I could revisit Raid to convey pirates, so I definitely feel vindicated that R&D made the exact same call.)
R Bolas separates the Gatewatch in HOU and Jace ends up stranded on Ixalan with all his new memories wiped and all his old ones back, and his card is called Jace, Planar Castaway. There is a timeskip, and Jace lives as a pirate until he meets Vraska who is looking for the treasure so she can save Ravnica. The story sets up Dominaria by having the treasure tied with it, and Jace reawakens his planeswalking and reaches a new level of power (explaining his Double typeline) and goes to Vryn. We also get ties in with planes like Mirrodin and the rebuilding of the rest of the Gatewatch who are also scattered across the multiverse. This allows WotC to focus on the GW while also minimizing their role, and leaving the future up with endless possibilities.
