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the problem is, what if you have a legendary creature with flash? Then you'd have to fit Instant Legendary Creature - into the type line, and that would create formatting migraines.

I would strongly encourage R&D to consider the instant supertype. As a seventeen-plus-year player, it makes perfect sense to me, does not offend my sense of tradition and adds a very nice symmetry to the game that I suspect would be helpful for new players when learning.

I feel like I've faced more resistance and confusion trying to explain the, for new players, extremely subtle distinction between otherwise identical sorceries and instants than I do with most other card types. Many of the beginners I've taught don't quite get why they aren't the same type of card or why there need to be two completely different types for spells that otherwise operate exactly the same way in the game.

This is why I think that the elegant symmetry of the instant supertype would help far more than it might hinder. All regular spells could just be introduced as things you can cast on your turn and sorceries would just be "the only cards that automatically go to the graveyard." You could then more easily introduce the exception of instant spells, on all spell types. After they've become comfortable with all the regular types of spells, then they could grasp the symmetry of the instant exception to those types.

For the extremely limited circumstances in which R&D would ever have to deal with "Instant Legendary Creatures" on the type line, well, that's why we have smaller fonts. Also, R&D has faced much more daunting restrictions in the past. Making this another creative restriction might even inspire Maro and the designers to come up with some awesome brainstorm for a creature implementation that they would have never otherwise thought of.

Additionally, it would help with an aspect of flavor which has always gotten under my skin. Every other spell type is very rich and flavorful: enchantments, creature summons, artifacts, sorceries... but then we get to instants which just don't make any sense outside of a purely mechanical context. Making instant just a description of a special kind of sorcery or enchantment or creature would help make the game more flavorful for everyone as well as more easily understood by beginners.

Plus, there's historical precedent. We all collectively exiled interrupts long ago and no one so much as blinked. I think the switch from Instants to Instant Sorceries would be just as simple a historical blip.

Please think about this reform Wizards. I suspect that there would be much more support for it among the community than you think. (Please don't prove me wrong community.)

Apr 16, 2012 -- 11:45PM, PirateAmmo wrote:

Removing a card type from the game would be a much bigger change then any of the M10 changes. It would be a huge undertaking to change the rules and hundreds of cards that depend on Instant and Sorceries being different types. It would be more comparable to the Sixth Edition rules changes.

Wait, did you MISS the changes to deathtouch and lifelink? The removal of a staple effect in the game, mana burn? The application and the actual existence and persistence of the rules are two different things, but not only did the 6e ruleset change Magic in several fundamental ways (along with some other changes around this time, including the introduction of the Stack, which "fundamentally" alters the game), the M10 changes also played around with established combat rules that it last changed in 6e at that degree (enter the Conga Line of Doom).

I do not see any advantages in gameplay and new card designs. I cannot think of any card that could be made with the new system that could not be made with the old. With the new system, you would have to refer to noninstant sorceries, so it would only save some space.

There are actually a lot of ways you can substantially clean up cards today by typifying rather than rules-texting being Instant, including phrasing cards like Aluren (Creature cards in players hands costing X or less are Instant), anything with Flash, and Mystical Teachings (Search your library for an Instant card). It adds the oddity of sillyfying a few others (e.g., Mystical Tutor = search your library for an Instant Sorcery card...). But that's not part of MaRo's argument.

He claims it's an upheaval (it's not), that it would drive players form the game (if player retention was an issue, M10 would not have happened, as this DID drive away players, but it's purpose was NEW PLAYER acquisition ... not retention), and he uses a false analogy that he fails to even reason through (city street repair is CONSTANT).

As an analogy, take WoW: Every single patch, changes are made that are considered to "kill WoW forever," and the introduction of various tweaks to "drive players away," but they seem to be going strong. Like WoW, the only thing that will kill Magic is itself, and it will find the time to self-destruct. If it doesn't see this and learn this, and certainly MaRo is aware -- as are the shareholders of WotC and Hasbro -- and they do much to work on both retention and change. But change must be constant, and the game to develop and evolve. And they handle this with new cards, new mechanics, new archetypes, and new realms of flavor and concept to play in. Sometimes, they've had to change fundamental elements of the game and its flow to do this. It hasn't killed Magic yet, and it won't if they introduced this change, or reverted the M10 rules patch, or actually said that the Grand Creature Type Update made sense ... which they now refuse to own, as per Forsythe's comments on Twitter attest.

I agree with the Instant Creature (and Instant Sorcery) change. I've played the WoW-trading card game for a short while and this was one of the things they fixed, and it made the game better.

Another thing that they fixed was the ability to play spells as lands. This prevents manascrews and makes for a better play experience.

On the whole I'd say the game itself was better designed (they learned frommagic of course). Too bad it isn't as much fun. Apart from the things they fixed I don't particularly enjoy the game.

But what I'm trying to say is: these things would help Magic a lot and I think it would be a real good change.