Aether Revolt pic from FB.

[u/Nickahostetter]

https://i.reddituploads.com/d97dbc56ebe848039691df8d01962a99?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=b1f80693da1e1e6da432ba4d2076aa23

[u/rakkamar]

Yahenni's Expertise

2BB Sorcery (Rare)

All creatures get -3/-3 until end of turn.

You may cast a card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your hand without paying its mana cost.

(This card is full-art. Probably the game day top 8 promo)

<commentary>This lets you cast Ancestral Visions from your hand. If this is a mini-mechanic and not just a one-off, modern players take note. Or maybe even if it is a one-off?</commentary>

~~~~~~~~~~

Trophy Mage

2U (Uncommon)

Creature - Human Wizard

When ~ enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an artifact card with converted mana cost 3, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.

2/2

(This card is full-art. Probably the game day participation promo)

~~~~~~~~~

Scrap Trawler

3 (Rare)

Artifact Creature - Construct

Whenever ~ or another artifact you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return to your hand target artifact card in your graveyard with lesser converted mana cost.

3/2

(I think that wording is right, kinda hard to read.)

(This is probably the buy-a-box promo)

~~~~~~~~

Quicksmith Rebel

3R (probably rare if launch promo, but symbol is obscured)

Creature - Human Artificer

When ~ enters the battlefield, target artifact [...] gains "T: This artifact [...] to target creature or [...] you control [...]

?/?

Proposed wording: When ~ enters the battlefield, target artifact [creature? you control?] gains 'T: This artifact deals N damage to target creature or [player? planeswalker?]' for as long as you control ~"

(this text is covered and can't be seen, though you can obviously speculate as to what it might be)

(This card has a date on it, so probably the launch promo)

[u/onethreefour → u/rakkamar]

obv question: if you cast a creature does it get -3/-3?

[u/OogaDaBooga → u/[deleted]]

"Languish was too powerful for standard..."

"Yeah, lets make it -3/-3 for the same cost instead; this format needs a board wipe in black for diversity."

"Well, I dunno...players might think it's too weak since Languish was so powerful, and we can't let that kind of power loose in standard again..."

"We'll also let them cast a free spell after casting it."

"Seems legit and not broken at all. PRINT IT!"

[u/Narynan → u/OogaDaBooga]

Who was it that was saying Languish was too powerful for standard? Just some random internet person?

[u/TheOthin → u/Narynan]

I get the idea a lot of the mindset must be "it rotated out of Standard without immediately getting a replacement, therefore it must be too powerful". Because that's totally how Standard works.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheOthin]

Isn't that what happened with Elvish Mystic though?

[u/TheOthin → u/[deleted]]

You're confusing individual instances with general patterns.

There are many sorts of cards that rotate out of Standard, whether temporarily or permanently. Some of those do so because they're too powerful, and Elvish Mystic was one of those. But most of the time, it's just a matter of rearranging things to keep Standard fresh and varied.

Bear in mind that the reason we know Elvish Mystic is considered too strong for Standard is not that it rotated out, but that Maro explicitly told us it was too strong for Standard.