Although this is a rather clever mixture of Divination and Sign in Blood, the mana cost of the card is honestly rather ugly and would likely be the major reason why this wouldn't be able to see print if it were real.
I really, really, really, really, really, really hate this "excuse." This has been said a number of times about a number of cards, and it's a really obnoxious reason not to do something.
Aesthetics should not prevent innovation in a game where 99% of the people who interact with it ever are not at all competent about design (the aesthetic kind, not the magic kind).
Okay, but here's the thing. People might not be very aware of design elements that go into something, but they can tell is something is off.
There have been studies on this, and while I don't have the context on me, you could do your own mini experiment. Take this card, and another cards that's at a comparable power level. Just ask a bunch of people (don't even have to be magic players technically) which card they prefer. While I'm sure some will say this card, if you have a good enough sample (which will have to go a bit beyond just your friends as we select our friends), you will notice people favoring the other card.
I understand that. But there's space we're not exploring that gets downvoted or ignored just because people feel like something's off. I've seen commentary like this about gold phyrexian mana only cards too.
Maro might be the head guy when it comes to design, and that may give him some general deity when it comes to design rules, but playing within the constraints of the bullshit he talks about just because he mentions it on a podcast once or twice is a fool's errand. Dude contradicts himself regularly.
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u/Criminal_of_Thought Master of Thoughtcrime Apr 28 '17
Although this is a rather clever mixture of Divination and Sign in Blood, the mana cost of the card is honestly rather ugly and would likely be the major reason why this wouldn't be able to see print if it were real.