Some people don't like Splice, and other people don't like Rekindle. So in this round, we're going to vote on the spell mechanic once and for all.


This is the criterion, except with the added rider that the card must use a keyword. You may design your own or use one of Wizards'.

Whichever card wins will replace Crystallized Breath in the spoiler.

Written in Steel –
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Engrave (, Exile this card from your hand: Put a 2/2 Golem artifact creature token onto the battlefield. When it dies, you may cast this spell from exile without paying its mana cost. Engrave only as a sorcery.)

I had literally that idea, down to the name. Nice.

Should it be a more generic token? Red cards making flying elementals feels a bit odd. Maybe a vanilla 2/2?

I suggest Archmage to be paired against Mastery.

Archmage-when you cast this spell, if you cast another instant or sorcery this turn, instead this card has greater effect.

In all of magic's history, the only limited format to support an all spells deck was Kamigawa, with its splice mechanic. We can either go down that road and use splice as a mechanic, or we could encourage less all-in decks. In m14, for example, you could be playing a blue black control deck that was mostly spells, but you still played Undead Minotaurs to hold the ground while you durdled around with Divinations, and played Air Servant so that you could actually win the game.

Perhaps, we should take a page out of Morph's book and just cast them face-down as 2/2s?

I dunno, if it gets played face-down we have to use the cost, and then they're all color-agnostic so you'd probably need to add a colored cost to playing the spell. It'd basically just be spellmorph at that point.

Ancient Knowledge
Sorcery
Draw a card for every artifact relic token you control.
Buyback - sacrifice an artifact relic token.

Frog's Breakfast
Instant (C)
Multikicker—Exile an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. (You may pay an additional and exile an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Put a 1/1 blue Elemental creature token with flying onto the battlefield, then put another of those tokens onto the battlefield for each time ~ was kicked.

Name subject to change, and also to staying the same

Numbing Frost
Instant (C)
Epiphany (When you cast this spell, reveal the top card of your library. If it's an instant or sorcery card, you may pay to put it into your hand.)
Choose one - Remove target creature from combat; or tap target creature.

The biting chill freezes even the hottest of tempers.

Isn't that just replicate, though?

I can't believe no one thought of replicate.

Yeah, I guess it is replicate. Although it doesn't have to be, on other cards.

Most alternate-cost mechanics are some version of kicker.

Replicate is cool though.

Fazoo's Preparations -
Instant
Gem (, Exile this card from your hand: Put a colorless Gem Artifact token with "Sacrifice this artifact: Cast a card named Fazoo's Preparations from your exile zone without paying its mana cost." onto the battlefield. Gem only as a sorcery.)
Draw a card

Frozen Breath
Sorcery (C)
Put a 1/1 blue Elemental creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Crystallize (When you cast this spell, you may exile it. If you do, put a colorless artifact token onto the battlefield with ", : Add Frozen Breath's effects to target instant or sorcery spell.")

There are like three or four colors that can deal with artifacts.

MaRo articles on Evoke indicate there are rules issues with spells becoming permanent.

You're probably right. I replaced it with a less absurd version of the same mechanic.

Quite likely broken as hell mechanic coming through.

Cerebral Culmination
Sorcery
Draw a card.
Feedback (Add this card's other effects to the next instant or sorcery card you play.)

It's rebound, but with even more memory issues? It should fine if it's costed to be cast twice.

Well, it also grows way out of control if you keep casting cards with Feedback.

Buyback was bonkers because of card advantage... what about a reduced form of buyback that offers a means of recursion but not card advantage - either puts the card in question of top of your library as it resolves, or else has a mandatory discard to get the spell back (We've already seen this three times as a specific buyback cost, but I'm suggesting a buyback-ish ability where the discard is implied by the keyword - also thinking of making it specifically nonland for the flavor that one spell is taking the place of another)?

We've had

Elvish Fury
Instant
Buyback (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

My two non-CA pseudo-buyback versions above could be something like:

Elvish Augmentation
Instant
Rebook (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card on top of your library as it resolves.)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

Elvish Amplification
Instant
Spellproxy (You may pay an additional and discard a nonland card as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.