Keyword: Bounce

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starfall
starfall Posts: 1,727 Chairperson of the Boards
edited April 2019 in MtGPQ General Discussion
Fixing "summon" and "cast" as keywords was a great idea, and they have been implemented successfully, I think (apart from a few kinks which are being ironed out).

Keywords preform a number of different useful functions: they allow players to quickly and easily understand complex new cards which may include old abilities; to perfectly understand new cards which look like old ones (a more common problem than you'd think!): they set in stone the functionality of older cards which sometimes have a habit of flipflopping as a result of ongong development; and they even allow some small measure of code re-use, which, god knows, we need right now as the game slows to glacial speeds.

The 'bounce' effect is something which I feel could use a keyword. I've recently noticed that (at some point) Teferi's first ability has been changed so that it won't work if an opponent has 6 cards in hand. This brings it in line with older bounce effects like Harbinger of the Tides and Disperse, although, the 5 card limit is specified on these cards, and not on Teferi. In addition, some newer bounce effects (like Exclusion Mage) still hold to the way the mechanic has worked up until recently, where a creature will be destroyed if it cannot be returned to hand.

Of course, we don't want the game to drown under new keywords, so they need to be implemented liberally, but the 'bounce' effect is a common one in MTG and MTGPQ so I think it merits a keyword.

Additionally: 'bounce', whilst it is a frequently used informal term in paper MTG, isn't particularly 'magical' sounding, so if anyone has a better idea for what to name the keyword, I'm all ears :)

Comments

  • Stormcrow
    Stormcrow Posts: 462 Mover and Shaker
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    starfall said:

    Additionally: 'bounce', whilst it is a frequently used informal term in paper MTG, isn't particularly 'magical' sounding, so if anyone has a better idea for what to name the keyword, I'm all ears :)
    I'd go with 'Unsummon'. Gets the same idea across but sounds more magical and has obvious paper-Magic roots.

    Totally agree with everything else in your post.
  • TheDude1
    TheDude1 Posts: 194 Tile Toppler
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    Stormcrow said:
    I'd go with 'Unsummon'. Gets the same idea across but sounds more magical and has obvious paper-Magic roots.

    Totally agree with everything else in your post.
    Totally agree that this should be a thing as the mechanic is plenty common enough to keep reappearing.  Even if it's not an official mechanic there should be a clearly-defined term that is consistently used.  As a keyword you could even make variants like "Bounce creature unless hand is full, then destroy creature" or "Bounce 2 creatures" a lot easier to understand.

    Unfortunately Unsummon is already the name of a card, which could cause some confusion.  I checked a bunch of others that came to mind (Dismiss, Disperse, Repel, Return...) and they all had paper cards, if not PQ cards.  I don't think there are many single-word variants that haven't already been card names, so "Bounce" may end up being the best option after all...  Maybe "Reject"?
  • Gilesclone
    Gilesclone Posts: 735 Critical Contributor
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    TheDude1 said:
    Stormcrow said:
    I'd go with 'Unsummon'. Gets the same idea across but sounds more magical and has obvious paper-Magic roots.

    Totally agree with everything else in your post.
    Totally agree that this should be a thing as the mechanic is plenty common enough to keep reappearing.  Even if it's not an official mechanic there should be a clearly-defined term that is consistently used.  As a keyword you could even make variants like "Bounce creature unless hand is full, then destroy creature" or "Bounce 2 creatures" a lot easier to understand.

    Unfortunately Unsummon is already the name of a card, which could cause some confusion.  I checked a bunch of others that came to mind (Dismiss, Disperse, Repel, Return...) and they all had paper cards, if not PQ cards.  I don't think there are many single-word variants that haven't already been card names, so "Bounce" may end up being the best option after all...  Maybe "Reject"?
    Flash is the name of a card.  Just saying...
  • TheDude1
    TheDude1 Posts: 194 Tile Toppler
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    Gilesclone said:
    Flash is the name of a card.  Just saying...
    Touche :)
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Just Dropped In
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    I was pretty sure exclusion mage didnt kill if the opponent had a full hand.. did that change? Academy journeymage did kill but not exclusion mage. 
  • Stormcrow
    Stormcrow Posts: 462 Mover and Shaker
    edited April 2019
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    Regeneration and Vigilance are also the names of cards. Also there's Flight and Indestructibility. Having the name of a card also be the name of a keyword is completely fine in Magic, as long as what the card does is also what the keyword does. Since Unsummon is the name of a card that Unsummons, it would be fine.

    edit: I forgot there's also Lifelink and Provoke which are cards that match the keyword. There's also Dredge, Unearth and Rally, none of which match their keyword though I'm pretty sure they all pre-date their keyword and probably haven't been reprinted since.
  • ElfNeedsFood
    ElfNeedsFood Posts: 944 Critical Contributor
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    "Return" could actually be the keyword too, as it's the word that is already ambiguously used on these cards...
  • andrewvanmarle
    andrewvanmarle Posts: 971 Critical Contributor
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    Just make a clear distinction between return to hand, to deck and return to hand with option to destroy
  • Brakkis
    Brakkis Posts: 777 Critical Contributor
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    andrewvanmarle said:
    return to hand with option to destroy

    Blue should never, ever, have this capability. It shouldn't have ever gotten it.
  • Furks
    Furks Posts: 149 Tile Toppler
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    Return to top of deck is essentially the same as destroy 

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