Pre-Release! Or: a discussion on complex cards

[Brawler_1337]

I got crappy pulls, as usual. My promo was the black 3 mana sorcery with converge. Sooo bad.

3 mana draw 3 lose 3 is bad?

Better than the promo and 2 regular {Prism Array} (aka potentially the worst card in magic)

No way in hell Prism Array is worse than {Search the City}, {Great Wall}, or {Sorrow's Path}.

[Codester1991]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

[Brawler_1337]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

You think that's complex? Look at {Ice Cauldron}. I could tell you what it does in summary, but can you figure it out by reading the card?

[Kaylesh]

{sorrow's path} portal edition:
{T}: Switch two blocking creatures your opponent controls. The resulting block must still be legal.

Whenever Sorrow's path becomes tapped, it deals 2 damage to you and each creature you control.

(Well, portal used intercept as word for blocking, but you get the idea).

[Codester1991]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

You think that's complex? Look at {Ice Cauldron}. I could tell you what it does in summary, but can you figure it out by reading the card?

No sir, brain is fried for the day lol too much college work prior lol

[Kaylesh]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

You think that's complex? Look at {Ice Cauldron}. I could tell you what it does in summary, but can you figure it out by reading the card?

No sir, brain is fried for the day lol too much college work prior lol

LOL.

{ice cauldron}
{T}: you may cast a spell onto Ice Cauldron. This spell cannot be countered by effects that counter spells.
As this spell is cast, exile it.
Use  this ability only if no spell is currently exiled by Ice Cauldron.

{T}: put the mana used to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron into your mana pool. Use this mana only to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron.

You put the spell on ice...
(Yeah, clunky wording, I know)

[Kaylesh]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

You think that's complex? Look at {Ice Cauldron}. I could tell you what it does in summary, but can you figure it out by reading the card?

No sir, brain is fried for the day lol too much college work prior lol

LOL.

{ice cauldron}
{T}: you may cast a spell onto Ice Cauldron. This spell cannot be countered by effects that counter spells.
As this spell is cast, exile it.
Use  this ability only if no spell is currently exiled by Ice Cauldron.

{T}: put the mana used to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron into your mana pool. Use this mana only to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron.

You put the spell on ice...
(Yeah, clunky wording, I know)

Not quite right. You could pay 0, or a lot more than needed into it, you'd just have to actually pay for the spell when you activate the 2nd ability

Oops. I reread the card after your comment you are totally right. X does not have to be equal to the casting cost. Not sure where I got that.

[Brawler_1337]

Dude, sorrows path needs a professor and scribe to just decipher what the hell is going on there lol

You think that's complex? Look at {Ice Cauldron}. I could tell you what it does in summary, but can you figure it out by reading the card?

No sir, brain is fried for the day lol too much college work prior lol

LOL.

{ice cauldron}
{T}: you may cast a spell onto Ice Cauldron. This spell cannot be countered by effects that counter spells.
As this spell is cast, exile it.
Use  this ability only if no spell is currently exiled by Ice Cauldron.

{T}: put the mana used to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron into your mana pool. Use this mana only to cast the spell exiled with Ice Cauldron.

You put the spell on ice...
(Yeah, clunky wording, I know)

Not quite right. You could pay 0, or a lot more than needed into it, you'd just have to actually pay for the spell when you activate the 2nd ability

Not even. You could float the mana off the Cauldron and then have it fizzle.

But, yes. Ice Cauldron is a down payment. You put a spell and some mana to cast it into the cauldron, and then later you can take the spell and the mana out of the cauldron to finish paying for it.

Some other interesting things about Ice Cauldron:

1) If Cauldron gets blown up, you can still cast the spell you put on ice. You'll just have to pay all of the mana up front because the mana you put into the cauldron is now gone.

2) You can put X spells into the cauldron to decent effect. A friend of mine who loves playing with Ice Cauldron has used it to cast {Genesis Wave} for 30ish.

[Remillo]

Ice Cauldron also does weird things with {Mana reflection}...  Or {Rings of Brightheartb} if you have a way to untap Cauldron.

[Kaylesh]

Ice Cauldron also does weird things with {Mana reflection}...  Or {Rings of Brightheartb} if you have a way to untap Cauldron.

I don't really get the rings combo. Exile two, pay once. But whenever you use the second ability, you have to choose either. Since it's a mana-ability, you can't copy it. And you cannot use the second ability without counter.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. You put a counter on it as effect. So you end up putting two...

[Remillo]

Ice Cauldron also does weird things with {Mana reflection}...  Or {Rings of Brightheartb} if you have a way to untap Cauldron.

I don't really get the rings combo. Exile two, pay once. But whenever you use the second ability, you have to choose either. Since it's a mana-ability, you can't copy it. And you cannot use the second ability without counter.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. You put a counter on it as effect. So you end up putting two...

And after you add a second counter, you could basically tap it for double if you have a way to untap it.
Ah, yeah. Float the mana, untap.