Anti-Power Creep in MTG?!?!

To be clear, I'm not arguing that there is ani-power creep. I'm joking that I somehow found a card that is anti-power creep in a game that is absolutely plagued by power creep to the point that its actively driving away its players due to oversaturation of meta mechanics and complete lack of creativity as the same decks and cards dominate formats left and right.

I compared Powerblade to Fire and Ice for the express purpose of pointing out that they cost the same and yet could not be more different, demonstrating just how terrible Powerblade ultimately is. If you want it compared to other commons for this express purpose (demonstrating that 3-drop equipments with equip 2 are better), compare it to Pirate's Cutlass, which has actual tribal synergy and comes with an additional +0/+1 kicker.

As for the need to design new cards angle, they've got a nearly unlimited ability to either tweak existing card ideas or come up with new ones based on the new mechanics they now seem to pop out every other set. I don't see this as an excuse for making 'bonesplitter but triple worse' the way there are a whole slew of 'Ancestral Recall but worse because of X' cards, as one is an unimportant equipment and the other is THE game of magic compressed into a single (silly) card.

I essentially covered the draft pack angle when I talked about making bad cards for lower formats. I personally find this a repulsive business model, as this exact thing is what tore down yugioh, but even in the idea of drafting straight up soldier decks, Powerblade isn't anything better than mediocre, as you're paying 4 mana for a vanilla +2/+0.

But that's me. I'm more than unwilling to cut WOTC any slack these days, as they've dug their own graves.

That's fair. I should also probably stop posting late, after work and drinks.

As for WotC as a company, f*ck 'em. Sending the PINKERTONS because of a seller selling the wrong products was more of a mistake than printing Nadu, Winged Wisdom. But there are talented individuals who are actually trying to make a good product. I've got the same thing with Games Workshop and Warhammer.

I would also argue that a combination of an archetypal focus as well as general power creep destroyed Yugioh. Pure power creep did destroy the Force of Will TCG in my area though, which is a shame because as a card game system, it was very solid!

I just can't justify Powerblade in my head. If you play it turn 3, you can't activate it till turn 4, so you burn a whole very important turn that ultimately only nets you a vanilla +2/+0. There aren't even that many soldiers that get bonuses for being equipped. So, assuming you're extremely lucky and have a turn 1 and 2 soldier drop, in this scenario, on turn 4 you're swinging for about 5 damage and have fielded 3 cards. IF opponent doesn't have removal and you wasted turn 4's equip, IF you have a critter that won't just die to blocks cause Powerblade doesn't give a toughness boost, etc. I can't justify the creation of this card in my head whatsoever.

Comparing it to Pirate's Cutlass is like being kicked in the mental balls. Cutlass hits the board turn 3 and gets equipped for free, speeding you up a turn and turning a 2/1 or 1/2 pirate into a 4/3 or 3/4 that's got no problem going over the top of whatever opponent has fielded and will almost certainly survive anything but spot removal, creating a (relatively) fast and reliable damage clock. Pair it with something like Kitesail Freebooter and you got rid of that spot removal that's going to screw up your plan or any of the many 2-drops that have little bonuses that help them score damage or buff things, and you've got a solid win mechanic constructed from a common equipment used in a way that takes advantage of the synergy of its own design and the design of its architype.

Not only is Powerblade terrible (both by comparison and on its own), it's boring and has basically no synergy at all. I've been randomly brainstorming how I would fix this card (I make custom cards, it's quite fun) and I can think of lots of fun ways to keep it a common-strength tribal equip that's still fun and not completely useless.

I don't know, maybe I'm thinking about this too much. There's obviously no logic in the game anymore, we're in a post-apocalyptic game world where shit just blows up and the only thing that makes sense is the need for money.

xDD I doubt you're the first person to lose sleep due to being haunted by a draft common. But again, I think most examples like this are either cards that were intentionally powered down to balance a limited format, or essentially intentional jokes like Razor Boomerang. At least that's my (and Occam's) 2 cents.

Those monsters, I've never seen the Boomerang before. That's just cruel.