Why Have Creatures in Recent Years Become So Mana-Efficient?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 28, 2023, 8:58 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
I recent years, creatures have become very mana-efficient, meaning that their power and toughness is higher than their mana cost, but I was under the impression that a creature's power/toughness could not be higher than its mana cost without a drawback of some form, so when did WotC change their mind about that philosophy? What does everyone else say about this?
In my best MTGRemmy impersonation
"Elite Vanguard ATTACK!!!"
December 28, 2023 11:57 p.m.
sergiodelrio says... #4
My impression is somewhat similar.
While you DID have one or two pushed creatures here and there, I feel the average efficiency of creatures has gone up - and that is a good thing imho, so long as the peak efficiency remains unchanged (but I`m somewhat concerned it won't).
Less draft chaff, more relevant creatures for constructed formats.
December 29, 2023 4:40 a.m.
sergiodelrio Is it really less draft chaff though? The vast majority of commons and uncommons are still unplayable outside of draft/sealed even if they would have been rares 10 years ago based on power level. The power level at the top-end mythics is just insane compared to a few years ago.
I get that power creep is inevitable to some degree, but the rate we've been going at doesn't seem sustainable to me.
December 29, 2023 3:05 p.m.
Abaques My take on that is that creature abilities have been power creeping hard, but the actual stats-mana ratio is pretty stable. The ability ceiling for rares and mythics is much higher than it was, for sure, and complexity creep is a real thing, but that's harder to directly quantify and compare. That's the direction the game is developing in.
December 29, 2023 7:29 p.m.
legendofa I think I am in agreement with you, but I think that power/toughness is part of the equation that determines the overall mana efficiency for a creature, but certainly a less important component than when compared to abilities. I think in general the trend has been for the power/toughness to matter less and less over time as the amount and number of abilities increases. I mean, Orcish Bowmasters is a 1/1 for 2 technically...
I think in terms of complexity creep, there will eventually be limits on what Wizards can do from a design perspective. There are both only so many words that can fit on a card, but also only so much that players can keep in their heads during a game. At a certain point it just isn't going to be fun to play the game because the interrelationships between the cards on the table will be too much effort to deal with. We're starting to see that now. Personally I hope Wizards takes that risk seriously and tries to work out some ways to lessen the cognitive load of playing the game, and that way can't just be making keywords of of every paragraph.
December 29, 2023 11:28 p.m.
Abaques I personally think vanilla and French vanilla creatures are an important part of the game, and I'm a little disappointed that they're in decline. Even if they only get used once, a 4/4 flier or vanilla 7/5 or whatever can make the difference in set draft games (which do still exist, one way or another). And complexity creep makes the game less attractive and accessible for new players, which is a problem for maintaining a customer base.
I'm not a new player at this point, and I haven't helped anyone learn the game for a while, but it feels like the amount of of time and energy it takes to stay invested keeps going up, even for long-term players (and I use the term "players" on purpose--this is a hobby and game for most people, not a lifestyle or career). This is a whole other rant, but More products than ever + More complexity than ever = Heavier brain load than ever.
December 30, 2023 12:29 a.m.
legendofa You nailed it. I agree with everything you just said. Personally, as someone who primarily plays EDH and pre-releases (with the occasional draft or cube thrown in there), I find it exhausting to keep up with every release. I used to look at every card in set during spoiler season, but I just don't have the time, energy or desire to do that anymore. I personally don't care for Dr. Who so I tried to ignore that release but now I keep getting confronted with cards from that set that are quite complicated and very wordy. I just sort of have to accept what my opponent is saying about their cards because taking the time to read and understand everything on the battlefield just takes too much time now. Luckily my LGS is very chill with a good group of people so misunderstandings don't lead towards any hard feelings.
legendofa says... #2
This rule has never been more than a guideline. Savannah Lions breaks it in Alpha, as a 2/1 for .
Still, creatures have been getting better. In the first few years of the game, creatures were generally pretty weak and inefficient. Mold Demon is a 6/6 for that requires a two-land sacrifice, and that's one of the more cost-efficient creature cards from Legends.
Since is the most creature-centric color, it's seen more "creature power creep" than other colors. It also tends to have much heavier color weight and more expensive creatures. Craw Wurm and Scaled Wurm fall below the stats = mana value curve. In fact, it isn't until 1999 when green Trained Jackal got a creature above this curve with no drawbacks or restrictions, and that's it until 2002's Elvish Warrior. Those are the only two green creatures from the pre-Modern era to be that efficient. So even vanilla creatures in the color of big efficient creatures were generally below the curve.
Current creatures tend to be more efficient, but still stay close to the rule. Out of almost 600 creatures across all colors, Brokers Initiate, Cabaretti Initiate, Cavern Stomper, Civil Servant, Cogwork Wrestler, Goblin Blast-Runner, and Goblin Tomb Raider are the only common creatures in Standard that have a stats-mana ratio above 1, so the spirit is still very much present.
Mythic rare cards are explicitly made to be powerful and have a "wow" factor, so they're going to see a higher ceiling. Even so, very few mythic rare creatures break this ratio, and those that do generally stay close to 1. The exceptions are pretty much exclusively expensive green creatures that either are multicolor or have a heavy color weight. So the efficiency of large, expensive creatures is amplified in green, the focus color for large, expensive creatures.
December 28, 2023 1:48 p.m.