Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Darkpact Problem



When I started working on the idea of Ante Commander, I first looked at all the Ante cards that had been printed.  Most are too weak to include in the set, but some are the most powerful cards ever printed in Magic.  Specifically Contract from Below and Darkpact


Having actually cast Darkpact in a game and often reading the card, Darkpact as printed "swaps" the top card of your deck with a card from the ante, with the "swap" being permanent, i.e. exchanges ownership.  However, the oracle text for Darkpact reads: "You own target card in the ante. Exchange that card with the top card of your library."  Now at first glance this may seem to function just fine, but an issue arises from cards like Jeweled Bird (and other I have created for this set), as the oracle wording does not exchange ownership. 


Now, I tried to convince Matt Tabak (@TabakRules), the keeper of Magic's rules, that this needed an update but was told on Twitter: "Changes to ante rules or the Oracle texts of ante cards are highly unlikely. You might be on your own here. :)"  So thus, I took a crack at updating Darkpact myself. 


Please note I have tried to word it so there is no risk of players losing/gaining number of cards in their decks.  I am not sure this is the right rout, but would love to hear any comments or ideas about this problem and it's solutions.

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