The theme of dealing "psychic damage" has since been rolled into mill for blue. Which is a fair and flavorful take on the effect - and it's cool that blue burn didn't exactly "disappear" entirely.
One of my very first decks was a blue deck that contained nothing but Prodigal Sorcerers, Suq'Ata Firewalkers, Islands & a buttload of counterspells. I figured that each pinger I put down effectively reduces the number of creatures I need to counter so I can devote the rest against non-permanents. It didn't win many games but it felt like I broke MtG as a teenager.
blue seems to be the "colour that developers play", at least in early magic. Smh most early insane cards such as Timewalk were blue. "Used to have a lot burn spells" despite it being (nominally) a red thing is another fact contributing to that hypothesis.
The really early insane cards, like the power 9, were because collectible card games didn't exist, and no one expected players to trade and buy enough to get several copies of the best cards. They were thinking players would buy a handful of packs and just play with what they got. Also, keep in mind, every color had burn back then. White and green had effects that dealt direct damage as well. I'm confident that there were developers that liked blue, but there were also developers that liked black and red and green and white as well. It's because of those developers exploring what they felt made their color special that the color pie came to be a thing. There have been times throughout the games history where each color was decidedly the best. Mono-black has been dominant lately, with green and blue both having recent turns at the lead. There've been several times that mono-red has dominated, enough that RDW is a thing, and in this very video, they mentioned the mono-white dominance that was the Rebels deck. Each color seems to be unduly favored at times, but, they're still all played every day, 30 years after the first cards were released, even in eternal formats like commander and legacy. I think there's a pretty great balance, overall.
@@quint3ssent1a White has some of the most disgusting cards from then, Balance peaks at being a mind twist + armageddon + wrath of god for 2 1W, the best creature was Serra Angel, the best creature removal was Swords to plowshares, best artifact and enchantment removal disenchant, best aggro one drop is savannah lions, the aformentioned armageddon and the one that is shorthand for boardwipe wrath of god, the circles of protection...
Actually, the top two cards on the list were breaks when they printed them. Wizards knew that Blue shouldn't get a bunch of incidental lifeloss, but one of the gimmicks of New Phyrexia was that every color got to dip a bit into Black's share of the pie, while Black got to basically ignore everything about old Phyrexian card design.
I was expecting Illusions of grandeur to have way more than 8 points ... 🤔. As Trix (the Illusions of grandeur + Donate deck) was the Deck to beat for a long time in Extended, and many card were banned (in different announcements) to stop Trix (like Dark Ritual, Mana Vault and Necropotence)
Good old "Reveka, Wizard Savant" from Homelands.. 2UU for 0/1 that deals on tap 2dmg but doesnt untap on next upkeep.. love this card. Combined it with repeatable untap effects and sometimes 8dmg/turn is fun. Still nice in EDH!
My favorite is Psychic Venom. I built an entire deck around it, like 20 years ago. I would load up my opponent's lands with Psychic Venoms and then tax them like crazy. With Soul Barriers and Creature Bonds chipping in as well, I eventually got to the point where if my opponent wanted to do anything, they would kill themselves. It never was super competitive, but it was a lot of fun. I wonder if a mana denial deck with the new Harbinger of the Seas could be enough to bring back Psychic Venom and make it actually good...but probably not.
ok Hermetic Study, but ... no mention to its functional reprint, "Psionic Gift"? Anyway, love your content! What about red life gain? Just to be the kinda opposite. Or Green card draw, or non-Orzhov reanimation spell/effects
One of the first cards I ever spent more than a quarter for as a young magic player in the mid 90s was Psionic Blast. I bought and used a playset to build what we now would call an Izzet burn deck. It felt weird back then to play red and blue, the most enemy of the enemy colors, together in a deck. The two had custom counterspells for each other and everything. The deck worked then and still works today, though.
I used to rock a Blue-Red deck with the a small number of these cards (Pre-original Ravnica); my friends hated it. It was Burn spells and counterspells.
while i can see why illusions of grandur made the list, its inclusion, doesnt sit quit right with me. this is after all top 10 blue burn, not top 10 cards used as blue burn. i think something like an honorable mentions might be a better place for illusions of grandur, its not a burn spell, but was often/nearly always used as a delayed combo wincon, that mimics a burn spell. parasitic strix could also fit into that honorable mentions segment. a great list otherwise, but im not sure illusions should be there as a burn spell, as its not a direct burns spell, its not a pinger, nor is it a insidental life loss effect. it is a combo wincon, granted its a 2 card combo, but it only works as a burn spell, within that combo.
Sorry I'm really late guys, Tim hit me quite bad in the head. Blue burn, one of my favourite genres of cards up there with green flyers. Easily. The way it worked was so insanely cool too. It's one of my favourite things about MTG, blue burn. Up there with "Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)" even!
I think it's possible they make another set like Planar Chaos. And of course they will print a blue card that deals damage that is so pushed due to power creep, it will easily top this list.
You could technically play the Strix with hybrid cards, but I agree that because it was released past the time when blue got burn with regularity, it shouldn't really be included, especially because it also gains you life, sth which blue did on, like, Delusions of Grandeur and 1 other card I think.
Back when I played modern I liked to pack a psionic blast or two into my blue tempo decks. Nobody expects Mono U to be packing a shitty lightning bolt.
Makes me wanna make mono blue burn edh deck XD The it'll be bad but it isn't going to durtle its gonna either slowly kill the board or get killed real fast cause it's annoying
I’m not sure I’ve seen Stinging Barrier or Mawcor in play in my area. I’ve seen all the others one’s in play though except for a couple of the newer cards.
If a Tim tims a Tim, can the timmed Tim tim the timming Tim before the timmed Tim gets timmed? I love that riddle when it really has no clear answer and has fun with the concept of the tapping effect being the same name as the nickname given to the creature. (Bonus points to anyone who can give the correct answer in a reply)
No. Even if the timmed Tim tims the timming Tim in response, the timming Tim's tim is already launched and doesn't get cancelled even if said Tim gets timmed to death later.
Yes, the timmed Tim can Tim the timming Tim, but both Tims still get timmed. The Tim that did the original timming gets timmed first, but once that Tim dies, its tim is still on the stack, timming the other Tim.
This reminds me of the "errata" InQuest put on Word of Command in their classic article about WotC's errata process: "Anyway, target target may now target the target of target target's target."
imagine if they printed a colorless 3 mana artifact creature pinger and then immediately in the next set reprinted Prodigal Sorcerer, I think that would be pretty funny.
Yeah, IoG shouldn't be on this list. It'd be like including Artaka's Command on a mono-red list because it's only ever really seen success in otherwise-mono-red Goblins decks, or Distant Melody in a creature list because it's only played in Elves tribal as its only noncreature. Even if a card is only used in a specific deck, the card ITSELF is what should matter here.
you keep saying target creature or players as the same as anytarget it s no t since plan wakers and and battles are also targets for any target and those 2 the amage doesn't recoverthough plains walkers can reverse the loss. Its lie saying vindia cate is the same as disenchant or natiuralize
Char isn't color shifted, it's just a reprint in a new color. Color shifting was specifically when a card was NOT the color it was supposed to be. Damnation isn't a black effect, it's a white effect on a black card.
I came to 'regular TH-cam' to check comments, but I see this, so f********** here I am. Psi Blast! I miss 1996 MtG, thanks for giving me a taste Nizzahon 🥲 (yes I let the ads run while I typed this)
The theme of dealing "psychic damage" has since been rolled into mill for blue.
Which is a fair and flavorful take on the effect - and it's cool that blue burn didn't exactly "disappear" entirely.
Me, before watching, hoping Tim's on the list
EDIT: #8?? Don't worry Tim, you'll always be #1 in my heart.
Tim! I remember my brother's friend would play him back in the day when I started playing Magic back in early 2000s
Tim is the best
One of my very first decks was a blue deck that contained nothing but Prodigal Sorcerers, Suq'Ata Firewalkers, Islands & a buttload of counterspells. I figured that each pinger I put down effectively reduces the number of creatures I need to counter so I can devote the rest against non-permanents. It didn't win many games but it felt like I broke MtG as a teenager.
I still have a pinger deck. It's super janky, but a lot of fun, even now.
I love Top 10s with color bends (at least in comparison to today)
Colour bends/breaks are my absolute favourite genre of cards. It's just so great to see the rules turned on their head.
No mention of Horseshoe Crab, which was printed alongside Hermetic Study in Urza's Saga? Shame ... crabgun was fun.
I used to attach Quicksilver Dagger to the Crab!
It was almost decent, but fell short to the horrors of the Combo Winter.
ol school mtg when blue had a bunch of creatures that tapped to do damage
blue seems to be the "colour that developers play", at least in early magic. Smh most early insane cards such as Timewalk were blue. "Used to have a lot burn spells" despite it being (nominally) a red thing is another fact contributing to that hypothesis.
The really early insane cards, like the power 9, were because collectible card games didn't exist, and no one expected players to trade and buy enough to get several copies of the best cards. They were thinking players would buy a handful of packs and just play with what they got. Also, keep in mind, every color had burn back then. White and green had effects that dealt direct damage as well.
I'm confident that there were developers that liked blue, but there were also developers that liked black and red and green and white as well. It's because of those developers exploring what they felt made their color special that the color pie came to be a thing.
There have been times throughout the games history where each color was decidedly the best. Mono-black has been dominant lately, with green and blue both having recent turns at the lead. There've been several times that mono-red has dominated, enough that RDW is a thing, and in this very video, they mentioned the mono-white dominance that was the Rebels deck.
Each color seems to be unduly favored at times, but, they're still all played every day, 30 years after the first cards were released, even in eternal formats like commander and legacy. I think there's a pretty great balance, overall.
@@jaredwonnacott9732 imo in early magic devs who loved white were a minority.
@@quint3ssent1a White has some of the most disgusting cards from then, Balance peaks at being a mind twist + armageddon + wrath of god for 2 1W, the best creature was Serra Angel, the best creature removal was Swords to plowshares, best artifact and enchantment removal disenchant, best aggro one drop is savannah lions, the aformentioned armageddon and the one that is shorthand for boardwipe wrath of god, the circles of protection...
Now I want to build a blue burn deck just to call it 'Bluern'
"*I* was saying blue-urns"
Hermetic study is money on a horseshoe crab, or even better on Morphling if you wanna be extra spicy lol.
its reprint does mention to "weaponize horshoe crabs" :D I love that flavor text!
Quicksilver Dagger is lovely on him
The first card I thought of was Pili-Pala.
Actually, the top two cards on the list were breaks when they printed them. Wizards knew that Blue shouldn't get a bunch of incidental lifeloss, but one of the gimmicks of New Phyrexia was that every color got to dip a bit into Black's share of the pie, while Black got to basically ignore everything about old Phyrexian card design.
Oh an easy one, Vapor Snag, turns out a one mana bounce and damage is really good.
Edit:
See, easy.
Hearing about all these pingers is making me nostalgic for old YTPs
I was expecting Illusions of grandeur to have way more than 8 points ... 🤔. As Trix (the Illusions of grandeur + Donate deck) was the Deck to beat for a long time in Extended, and many card were banned (in different announcements) to stop Trix (like Dark Ritual, Mana Vault and Necropotence)
Thought Mind Bomb would be there for sure.
Good old "Reveka, Wizard Savant" from Homelands.. 2UU for 0/1 that deals on tap 2dmg but doesnt untap on next upkeep.. love this card. Combined it with repeatable untap effects and sometimes 8dmg/turn is fun. Still nice in EDH!
Would love to see a blue commander that doesn't do direct damage itself, but enables it. Think Ojer Axonil.
I love Illusions of Grandeur. It's so much fun in Zedru EDH decks.
i lie tha e name of similiarly names card delusions of mediocrity
My favorite is Psychic Venom. I built an entire deck around it, like 20 years ago. I would load up my opponent's lands with Psychic Venoms and then tax them like crazy. With Soul Barriers and Creature Bonds chipping in as well, I eventually got to the point where if my opponent wanted to do anything, they would kill themselves. It never was super competitive, but it was a lot of fun. I wonder if a mana denial deck with the new Harbinger of the Seas could be enough to bring back Psychic Venom and make it actually good...but probably not.
ok Hermetic Study, but ... no mention to its functional reprint, "Psionic Gift"?
Anyway, love your content! What about red life gain? Just to be the kinda opposite. Or Green card draw, or non-Orzhov reanimation spell/effects
Green is the second best color at card draw!
One of the first cards I ever spent more than a quarter for as a young magic player in the mid 90s was Psionic Blast. I bought and used a playset to build what we now would call an Izzet burn deck. It felt weird back then to play red and blue, the most enemy of the enemy colors, together in a deck. The two had custom counterspells for each other and everything. The deck worked then and still works today, though.
Hermetic Study, was a favorite of mine.
Yes! Also, nice Artwork
I used to rock a Blue-Red deck with the a small number of these cards (Pre-original Ravnica); my friends hated it. It was Burn spells and counterspells.
while i can see why illusions of grandur made the list, its inclusion, doesnt sit quit right with me. this is after all top 10 blue burn, not top 10 cards used as blue burn. i think something like an honorable mentions might be a better place for illusions of grandur, its not a burn spell, but was often/nearly always used as a delayed combo wincon, that mimics a burn spell. parasitic strix could also fit into that honorable mentions segment.
a great list otherwise, but im not sure illusions should be there as a burn spell, as its not a direct burns spell, its not a pinger, nor is it a insidental life loss effect. it is a combo wincon, granted its a 2 card combo, but it only works as a burn spell, within that combo.
Sorry I'm really late guys, Tim hit me quite bad in the head.
Blue burn, one of my favourite genres of cards up there with green flyers. Easily. The way it worked was so insanely cool too. It's one of my favourite things about MTG, blue burn. Up there with "Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)" even!
@@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor Someone _PLEASE_ give this man Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)
I think it's possible they make another set like Planar Chaos.
And of course they will print a blue card that deals damage that is so pushed due to power creep, it will easily top this list.
You could technically play the Strix with hybrid cards, but I agree that because it was released past the time when blue got burn with regularity, it shouldn't really be included, especially because it also gains you life, sth which blue did on, like, Delusions of Grandeur and 1 other card I think.
Ah, Tim. Fond memories.
was hoping to see more blue non-creatures on the list, colorshift is my favourite
Grixis Burn could be a fun archetype for cube xD
Psionic Blast is legitimately one of my favorite cards. No one is ever prepared for it.
Back when I played modern I liked to pack a psionic blast or two into my blue tempo decks. Nobody expects Mono U to be packing a shitty lightning bolt.
Psionic Blast is a pre-timeshifted Char
I do miss blue plinkers.
How about a Top 10 cards with Landfall update? Have there been any change since your video in 2020?
Makes me wanna make mono blue burn edh deck XD
The it'll be bad but it isn't going to durtle its gonna either slowly kill the board or get killed real fast cause it's annoying
Psionic Blast! An Old School all-star!
ambush viper sounds dope
I’m not sure I’ve seen Stinging Barrier or Mawcor in play in my area. I’ve seen all the others one’s in play though except for a couple of the newer cards.
I once did a blue/white direct damage deck for the lolz. It was very bad.
next list: Top [x] GREEN burn spells!
Oh boy, an excuse to mention Unyaro Bee Sting!
Some people call me... Tim
Seeing Suq’Ata firewalker and Psyonic Blast back to back gave me a bit of a nerdchub 😂
Vapor snag? Psionic blast?
If a Tim tims a Tim, can the timmed Tim tim the timming Tim before the timmed Tim gets timmed? I love that riddle when it really has no clear answer and has fun with the concept of the tapping effect being the same name as the nickname given to the creature.
(Bonus points to anyone who can give the correct answer in a reply)
Yes. Provided the Timmed don't have summoning sickness.
No. Even if the timmed Tim tims the timming Tim in response, the timming Tim's tim is already launched and doesn't get cancelled even if said Tim gets timmed to death later.
Yes, the timmed Tim can Tim the timming Tim, but both Tims still get timmed. The Tim that did the original timming gets timmed first, but once that Tim dies, its tim is still on the stack, timming the other Tim.
This reminds me of the "errata" InQuest put on Word of Command in their classic article about WotC's errata process: "Anyway, target target may now target the target of target target's target."
There are some who call me…Tim!
No Mind Bomb? Sad
imagine if they printed a colorless 3 mana artifact creature pinger and then immediately in the next set reprinted Prodigal Sorcerer, I think that would be pretty funny.
hope everyone got their free slurpee today!
I forgot about that to be honest
Not that I particularly care but thanks for reminding people
Nice list. Will you be participating in the upcoming arena MH3 sealed event? It's a costly 5K gem buy in but can net a booster box. 2 losses to 6 wins
Its up
Ugh I lost so many god damn games to vapor snag in standard!
When you said Mawcor, I thought you said Mogg Whore. And I was like, whoa, R&D, way too intense for this game!
So i dont think that illsions if grandure should be on the liat cause it diesnt actually do damage
#6 illusions of grandeur, #2 psychic barrier, #1 vapor snag don't do damage...
Technically Mawcor can’t deal damage to any target (planeswalker)
I'm doing my part to please Algo
Yeah, IoG shouldn't be on this list. It'd be like including Artaka's Command on a mono-red list because it's only ever really seen success in otherwise-mono-red Goblins decks, or Distant Melody in a creature list because it's only played in Elves tribal as its only noncreature. Even if a card is only used in a specific deck, the card ITSELF is what should matter here.
Life loss was permissible for inclusion in the video. The theme was damaged that didn't require attacking.
There are some who call me………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………Tim..?
Hashtag Make Blue Burn Again?
What even is a mawcor
you keep saying target creature or players as the same as anytarget it s no t since plan wakers and and battles are also targets for any target and those 2 the amage doesn't recoverthough plains walkers can reverse the loss. Its lie saying vindia cate is the same as disenchant or natiuralize
Char isn't color shifted, it's just a reprint in a new color. Color shifting was specifically when a card was NOT the color it was supposed to be. Damnation isn't a black effect, it's a white effect on a black card.
Damnation is a black effect, and a bunch of the Planar Chaos shifts were to colors that were legitimately in pie at the time.
Hermetic Study cannot target planeswalkers, so your "damage any target" is technically wrong. Minor thing, but still.
Yep, it can hit any target. Errata did that for every card that said "creature or player."
@@NizzahonMagic Cool, didnt know that.
Eh. This video was alright but the manalogs is better.
Well, we're all entitled to an opinion.
Fwiw, I've been making these for 9 years, so this isn't me trying to be manalogs.
I came to 'regular TH-cam' to check comments, but I see this, so f********** here I am.
Psi Blast! I miss 1996 MtG, thanks for giving me a taste Nizzahon 🥲
(yes I let the ads run while I typed this)