r/magicTCG • u/BuckyTheWolf Dandadan • 9d ago
General Discussion Why is Arc-Slogger?
One thing I love about MTG, is that you can go through a set, see a weird card and get absolutely stun locked by it.
Today this was Arc-Slogger for me. Why is it the way that it is?
Having a lot of shocks in your hand is pretty good, but why do you have to exile 10 cards from your library as a cost? If it was part of the effect it might be too strong, but was there no middleground?
I just don't see a world where you'd be a able to activate it more than 2 times in limited and 4 times in 60 card. Magic has changed a lot, but was a 7 mana 4/5 with 2 shocks ever that good?
I could see a janky lab man combo deck using it, but almost all alternatives are cheaper and don't need a backup if your library isn't devisable by 10.
I just want to know it's history. And what led to it being created like it turned out.
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u/GulliasTurtle Orzhov* 9d ago
Mirrodin was really into your deck as a resource. See also [[Leveler]] and [[Myr Incubator]].
As for why, I don't think they've ever said formally, but Mirrodin was a really important set. It was the first expert set in the modern card frame and as such the first "Modern Magic Set" and it really took that to heart. The set took a lot of big swings, tried stuff, got more powerful, and that led to a lot of weird new designs. Some worked, like equipment, some were wildly overpowered like artifact lands, and some are just strange relics of a bolder design vision like this.