There will be a much more formal points list update coming soon but for those wondering here is the new points list along with some justifications for the changes from the council. The purpose of the change to this 10 point system was to increase the council’s ability to fine tune the points list which was proving challenging in a 7 point system. It will be effective January 1st.
Ancestral Recall 3 -> 5 We decided to bump Ancestral up rather than down due to it’s overall power level and almost ubiquitious presence in blue decks.
Balance 1->1 Balance has gone between 0 and 1 frequently and although still deserving of a point isn’t deserving of 2.
Birthing Pod 2->3 Pod fit in well on the 7 point list and just changes with the conversion to the base 10 list.
Black Lotus 4->6 Lotus just gets converted to the new list.
Demonic Tutor 3->4 DT is in a better place on this list always feeling somewhere in between 2 and 3 on the 7 point list.
Doomsday 2->3 Just gets converted.
Enlightened Tutor 1->2 A strong tutor that feels too strong to keep at 1 point.
Fabricate 1->1 We wanted to raise either Fabricate or Transmute Artifact and felt Transmute was the stronger card.
Fastbond 1->1 The fact that fastbond requires you to build around it makes it very difficult to abuse it fully so it stays at 1.
Flash 4->6 Flash just gets converted to the new list ensuring that Flash + Hulk still adds to 10.
Gifts Ungiven 1->1 Gifts has floated in between 0 and 1 consistently so keeping at 1 on the new list makes the most sense to start with.
Hermit Druid 4->5 With the new list many of the tutors saw a raise in value which is the reason Hermit Druid isn’t bumped up to 6.
Imperial Seal 1->2 Still worse than Vamp but certainly on par with Enlightened and Mystical, fits in at 2.
Library of Alexandria 1->1 A card that doesn’t see much play but certainly deserves it’s point based on power level.
Lim Dul’s Vault 1->1 A card that can find you anything however potentially costs a significant amount of life not on the same level as the 2 point tutors.
Mana Crypt 1->2 Certainly the more abusable of Crypt/Vault which is why we elected to raise it to 2.
Mana Vault 1->1 Currently sees very little play in comparison with Crypt which is why we left it at 1.
Merchant Scroll 1->1 Only played in High Tide, still deserving of it’s point but raising it was never a strong consideration.
Mox Emerald 2->3 All Moxen just got converted.
Mox Jet 2->3 All Moxen just got converted.
Mox Pearl 2->3 All Moxen just got converted.
Mox Ruby 2->3 All Moxen just got converted.
Mox Sapphire 2->3 All Moxen just got converted.
Mystical Tutor 1->2 A strong tutor on par with Enlightened Tutor
Natural Order 3->5 An incredibly strong card that typically ensures the win for it’s caster on either of the next 2 turns. Either via Craterhoof or Primeval Titan for Depths/Stage
Oath of Druids 1->1 With the raise in points in tutors we decided to leave Oath at 1.
Personal Tutor 1->1 Certainly worse than Mystical/Enlightened this is what a 1 point tutor should be.
Protean Hulk 3->4 Simply converted over.
Skullclamp 1->2 A card that has bounced between 1 and 2 for some time fits in at 2 nicely on the new list.
Sol Ring 3->4 The reason for the “decrease” on sol ring is because at it’s current value it is nearly irrelevant because of moxen/mana crypt. In addition when looking at current decks and how they transitioned over to the new list almost all of the Sol ring decks came out at a higher number than was intended. For these reasons we decided to place sol ring at 4 on the new list.
Stoneforge Mystic 1->1 Stoneforge was always between 0 and 1, it makes sense to keep it at 1.
Strip Mine 2->3 Converted over.
Summoner’s Pact 2->2 We recently discussed lowering Summoner’s Pact from 2 to 1 on the 7 point list so we’ve decided to start it at 2 on the new list.
Survival of the Fittest 2->3 Converted over.
Tainted Pact 1->1 Another situationally good tutor that you have to jump through hoops for.
Time Vault 5->7 With the raise in points in tutors we have decided not to further raise Time Vault and just convert it.
Time Walk 3->4 Sees little to no play due to the prevalence about Ancestral Recall, now blue players finally have a real choice to make.
Tinker 3->5 Very similar to Natural Order, usually wins the game for it’s caster in short order.
Tolarian Academy 1->1 A powerful mana accelerant however it is also a build around card, for this reason we decided to keep Academy at 1.
Transmute Artifact 1->2 We didn’t want to let Academy decks get out of hand after the change to the new list so we decided to add a point to the stronger of the two artifact tutors.
Treasure Cruise 1->1 Just recently went to 1 and we believe that is where it should be.
True Name Nemesis 1->1 Just recently went to 1 and we believe that is where it should be.
Umezawa’s Jitte 1->1 We believe that Jitte is less abusable than Skullclamp which is why we decided to leave it at 1.
Vampiric Tutor 2->3 Simply converted over.
Mind Twist 0->1 This has been a point of contention for some time now, with the change to base 10 we agreed Mind Twist at 1 is correct.
Intuition 0->1 Another card that has varied between 0 and 1 for some time. We Believe that Intuition belongs at 1 so decks don’t get to play it for “free”.
-Liam Coughlan