Is mana burn real?

[izik99]

Is it?

[cltrn81]

It was.....now it is not.  You could say yes if someone is playing casual house rules.

[izik99]

yeah, when I started again after not playing for 10 years I couldn't believe it was gone. It was such an integral part of the game especially for combo decks and card design...

There was cards back in the day that added like 3 mana ({worn powerstone}) and that you needed to have cards like {voltiac key} to dump your excess mana into. It was incredibly annoying. I'm glad its gone. Anyone that still plays with it is dumb and deserves a round house kick to the temple and a knee to the other side of the head from a secondary person as they are falling to the floor.

I was just wondering cuz i played a channel+soul conduit combo, and my friend said that it wouldnt work to swing for 19 cuz i only needed 12 mana.

[Mikefrompluto]

I was glad to see it gone after I started back playing after seven years.

[ChrisRodriguez]

yeah, when I started again after not playing for 10 years I couldn't believe it was gone. It was such an integral part of the game especially for combo decks and card design...

There was cards back in the day that added more than 1 mana  ({sol ring} {worn powerstone} etc) and that you needed to have cards like {voltiac key} to dump your excess mana into. It was incredibly annoying. I'm glad its gone.

I saw a special on ChannelFireball and apparently it was an exceptionally difficult concept for new players to grasp, complicating expansion. They seem to have a problem differentiating between land and mana.

Anyone that still plays with it is dumb and deserves a round house kick to the temple and a rising jumping knee to the other side of the head from a secondary person as they are falling to the floor.

My favorite combo is {grim monolith} and {voltaic key}. I use it in EDH.

[BlackJester]

My group still uses mana burn, much to my sorrow. 😔

[Rass]

I think it's a good idea still. People would ramp all sort of mana from artifacts and would have to decide if they want to take those few points of damage from the mana burn to summon that low cost creature. It made peoples choices a little harder.

[tsul25]

I think it's a good idea still. People would ramp all sort of mana from artifacts and would have to decide if they want to take those few points of damage from the mana burn to summon that low cost creature. It made peoples choices a little harder.

It's not a matter of making the game harder, it's about making it more enjoyable. I have never played with mana burn, but I can't really see how it makes the game more fun.

[RevanJJ]

I think it's a good idea still. People would ramp all sort of mana from artifacts and would have to decide if they want to take those few points of damage from the mana burn to summon that low cost creature. It made peoples choices a little harder.

It's not a matter of making the game harder, it's about making it more enjoyable. I have never played with mana burn, but I can't really see how it makes the game more fun.

Adds another level of strategy. Annoying strategy, but strategy.

[Rass]

It's one of those things. I played that way and was used to it. IMO its as if they dumbed it down.

It's just like the debate about the DH in baseball

[Dudecore]

No mana burn contributes to more fun games. I understand the "strategy" around playing around mana burn, but it's too difficult as is for newer players.

WotC has been trying to make the game reach a wider audience, while not dumbing it down. Even when mana burn was legal, it rarely (not never) contributed to a game negatively. How often do you have too much mana? And if you do, it's easier then not to either adjust or take the damage.

[BlackJester]

Who's ready for a rant?

[smokin terry]

Who's ready for a rant?

Why not. Sounds fun.

[BlackJester]

Why mana burn sux - by BlackJester

1) it's non-intuitive to new players.
Me: So, mana is like money. Its what you use to pay for everything.

Newb: Okay. So what's mana burn?

Me: You remember that time you got arrested for having too much money in your wallet?  It's exactly like that.

Newb: 

Mana burn punishes players for having too much of a good thing.

Later...
Me:  Aha! You tapped your {Sol Ring} and only used {1}. Take damage.

Newb: Huh? What did you do?

Me: Nothing, but you remember that one rule I told you about and we never have to use?  That's hurting you.

2) it adds more complexity for no gain.

Many times, there is no calculating how best to spend your mana so that none is left. Very few sources give you more than one mana. Usually if you don't need to figure out how to cast your stuff, you're often just takin' the burn because you don't have a choice. That's unfun.

3) it's a net negative effect.

Me: Well, I guess I'll tap my {Thran Dynamo} for {3} to cast a {Basilisk Collar} and take two damage.

Not a single player at the table dealt the damage, no one gets the positive feeling of having hurt the opponent, it's just the game rule hitting him. That's sadballz to me.

I could probably come up with more, but it's my turn right now, and I have to tap my {Priests of Titania} cast all my elves and burn for two.

/rant.

[smokin terry]

Very nice.