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Recent updates to Soradyne Laboratories: (Generated at 2024-05-02 23:33:08)
Minor overhaul.
It's hard to evaluate by face-value, and I'm going to assume by Bombshell's comment that this hasn't seen significant playtesting time. As a clock, it's about comparable to Blighted Agent, except the Agent was provided with the developmental out of being in the third set, thus preventing a limited format where it was easy to get a bundle. In triple New Phyrexia, Agent.dek was an actual thing and an abominable thing at that.
Of course, Agents also exist in a format with tons of cheap equipment.
You forgot Mizzium Transreliquat. Nyah.
I kid!
And I kid because I'm convinced; while I do think that the randomness of U/R has been played up lately (along with their ability to copy spells) in a way for the colors to show distinction, if Fez+Dy are Izzet, then from a flavor perspective the abilities should be less random. Not that there shouldn't be any random ability but that 2/3 random abilities is too many for the guild.
The flavor of the Guild certainly did play up the goofiness and I still like the characters as less serious and I think there's room to have them still be Izzet and goofy but you're right; the abilities should be predominantly straightforward.
Just not that storm thing.
Since this is unblockable, maybe the power should be reduced to 2. If this comes down turn 2, by turn 5 an opponent would have gone through half their deck in Sealed. In multiples-and at common there WILL be multiples-this may produce a clock that's extremely difficult for any color that can't interact with a creature except in combat (see green.)
Regarding the first point, I always imagine hybrid cards in their potential forms. That is to say, this can be cast for
or 
, and neither of those costs feel especially appropriate to the design as is.
But again, I acknowledge that most hybrid designs are terrible about this.
RE: The Izzet -
There are zero Izzet cards that deal with random effects. There is one coin flip (Stitch in Time). They're almost entirely dedicated to duplication, sometimes even duplication within duplication (Mimeofacture).
The art may paint a picture of goofiness, but the cards are significantly more about creative intuition and intellectual expression.
To step back a bit, it's very important to recognize that PWs are thee marketing tool. They're the cover to every booster, they're the cards little kids dream of cracking, and they happen to be a dominant force in constructed play. In a post-JTMS world, PWs are definitely getting dialed back a bit, becoming narrow B-types like Koth or flavor extravaganzas like Karn, but there's still little room for hypercasual experiments like "a PW dedicated to randomness and coin flips". Sarkhan the Mad and Gideon Jura] are the most recent weirdo PWs, and they were premiered in a set that featured Eldrazi and their colorless card frames.
For reference, every Izzet Card:
Cerebral Vortex
Djinn Illuminatus
Electrolyze
Gelectrode
Gigadrowse
Goblin Flectomancer
Hypervolt Grasp
Invoke the Firemind
Izzet Chronarch
Izzet Guildmage
Leap of Flame
Mimeofacture
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Ogre Savant
Petrahydrox
Pyromatics
Schismotivate
Shattering Spree
Siege of Towers
Steamcore Weird
Stitch in Time
Thunderheads
Tibor and Lumia
Torch Drake
Train of Thought
Vacuumelt
Wee Dragonauts
I'm not sure about your first point. Fez+Dy aren't mono-U so isn't the card correct?
Even with that, there are blue cards (very few) that do involve randomness the draw/discard element has been used with red before on Noggle Ransacker.
In addition, researching info on the Izzet guild (so I could understand your objection better) it seems like the randomness really suits this card. If it wasn't Izzet guild, I'd probably get behind you more though. As a flavor note, if the Izzet guild symbol could be watermarked onto this card, that would be SWEET.
I'm actually a little more behind the Vorthian critique that if you've got 2 random abilities, then the final ability should be 'You get an emblem that says, “whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, copy that spell and choose a random target for it.'
Or
"You get an emblem that says, “whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, copy a random instant or sorcery in your graveyard."
This is also a bit more in line with how I envision these characters; they are there to monkey around, see cool stuff, and they don't really have anything vested in this plane one way or another; they just dig spellcasting--and are easily distracted.
However, you may be right then, that the audience for this card is...not the card for this audience.
The fact that they don't relate to artifacts in any manner might be of greater concern, as Izzets do tend to play with the things however one can only do so much on a single card. Since this leaves space open to design a Fezzit or Dyble PW seperately, that focuses on the more blue or red side of things I'm less worried about it.
Moving on.
I do like the breakdown of the PW and that feels right-but I can't say I've dedicated enough mindspace to the subject. I see where you're moving towards a B but because these are Izzet visitors, a C type is more apropos. They don't mesh with the other themes of Soradyne Labs, they're aliens.
Removing the random element of the ability takes away from the Izzet-ness of it.
That isn't to say Houlding's vision of the card is bad, it just isn't one that I think captures the guild.
Also, that -8 ability is TERRIFYING to me. Storm is one of those mechanics that has led to more masturbation decks than any other kind since Brainstorm/Sensei's Divining Top. Anything that comes near it should just read 'Warning: Very Hazardous to Fun.'
I think there's already a problem with not enough cards interacting with the PW type; something like that with an EIB loyalty of 4, coupled with Proliferate, I could see becoming active far to quickly and making everyone miserable because there's just no defense against it and emblems never go away.
These proposed abilities do not suck. The storm one is scary as hell, so I'll avoid that, but the others are quite reasonable.
Well, more issues:
This isn't mono-blue due to all the randomness. I realize the majority of hybrids are terrible at achieving what they're supposed to (an either/or identity), but random discard and random selection just aren't blue things. If it's going to be hybrid, don't fudge the color pie.
There are four archetypes of PW design:
Type A expresses a progression of functions, where the abilities intertwine in some manner, pushing the player to use each ability rather than focus on one. (Chandra Ablaze, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas)
Type B demonstrates an almost single-minded conceptual focus, where each ability revolves around a common idea, though they don't necessarily benefit each other. (Koth of the Hammer, Jace, Memory Adept)
Type C uses flavor as a defense for an ability hodgepodge. (Venser, the Sojourner, Sorin Markov)
Type D is a meat & potatoes construction that's kinda every type, but not quite. (Liliana Vess, Sarkhan Vol)
One type isn't better than the other really, but they typically avoid Type D outside of core set, and they all try to suggest some form of strongly resonant flavor. Chandra Ablaze is the acknowledged worst design, forcing players to do things they don't really like to do (discard a lot) for not much gain. It's too Spike, but costed like a Timmy card.
If, as Visitor stated, Izzet is "about instants and sorceries", that would suggest to me that the design should be concepted as a Type B. Ditching the randomness and the discard because those things just aren't fun:
Fezzit & Dyble
less to cast.
Planeswalker - Fezzit & Dyble (M)
Loyalty - 4
+1 - Until your next turn, instant and sorcery spells you cast cost
-2 - Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
-7 - You get an emblem that says, “whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for it.”
An alternative to the proposed ultimate, for extra spice:
-8 - You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, copy it for each other spell cast this turn. You may choose new targets for each copy."
Because, you know, Storm + Replicate are like bros.
Let's just accept that I made them incongruous by choice, and that set 2 may very well have an element of color/multicolor mattering...
FWIW, I like the idea of Planeswalkers who're passing through having something in their flavour or mechanics that marks them as not of the world they're in.
They're tourists, but they're still Izzet. Izzet was about instants and sorceries, and duplicating them. Again, I think their alien nature is part of their identity. They may not "belong" here, but there's certainly no reason that they don't function here.
Well, considering all that, perhaps you could explore a more concrete relationship to Ravniva/Izzet to better define that quality?
Or going in a different direction, accentuate the alien quality of the character through its design. Explore alternative means of loyalty accumulation and whathaveyou.
At the moment, there's no real story or progression to the card's behavior. I can draw two cards but then discard one randomly because I'm impetuous and/or absentminded. Then, when I go to retrieve one of the cards I've discarded, it turns out I'm really clumsy and I end up picking up this other stupid thing I don't care about. Finally, after behaving like a nincompoop, I've developed a formula to duplicate all my spells!
Maybe that's overly Vorthosian criticism, but if these two have come to investigate Soradyne Laboratories and the technological development of this plane, why not emphasize their relationship with technology? I'm not quite sure how to express that in a way that doesn't come out looking like Tezzeret, but still, it is something to think about.
The Hybrid here was for two reasons, and neither was mechanical.
The original nature of Planeswalkers — go back to Lorwyn — was that they were completely alien to the world they appeared in. I took this concept to heart when deciding to put Fezzit and Dyble here. They are not of Debronia, they have no formal tie to the Soradyne Corporation. They're Ravnican Izzet to the core. Their connection to this set is one that happens in spirit only: the Izzet are the ultimate "mad scientists", and Soradyne Laboratories is the mad science gadget-producing division of a huge corporate entity. Fezzit and Dyble's hybrid nature makes them stick out like sore thumbs here, but it does it in a way that makes complete logical sense from a flavor angle.
And it makes them really unique and flashy and cool. Speaking as a guy who makes a living as a visual designer, when a total sore-thumb outlier is done right, it's a good thing. I really do feel that in this case, it's done for the right reasons, and it's done right.
You've partially identified the second reason I went for a single hybrid card: It's symbolic of where my heart is at in this project. Shadowmoor was "my" set (and a dozen other people's as well, but you've got to admit I have a unique connection to it). Hybrid started in Ravnica, which was my all-time favorite block for drafting. Soradyne Laboratories's set structure is very much based on that of Ravnica. So there's an almost genealogical logic to including the single odd hybrid card in the set; it's a tribute to the things that inspired the set as a whole.
As far as their abilities go, yeah, there's a parallel to Chandra the Firebrand. It's an unfortunate side effect of working on a "delay". The same thing happened to me when I made Frontier seven years ago; I designed mechanics called "Desperation" and "Riftborne Mana". Within six months of posting the set online, both mechanics turned out to be "real" — they showed up as Hellbent and Snow Mana. There had been no communication in either direction that prompted the coincidence, it just happened that way, as things are prone to do.
I see the parallel between F&D and Chandra as another one of those coincidences. They did it without an emblem (they hate having to resort to emblems), I did it with one. Which is the better execution? Probably theirs, but I have to go to the excuse that they have a lot more people working to tweak and test the card.
Your experiences on Shadowmoor may offer greater insight into the matter, but I'm under the impression that hybrid is more a mechanic than it is a common design device. That is to say, an isolated hybrid card (even at Mythic) strikes me as extremely odd.
Some other thoughts:
While I recognize that the first and second ability are each advantageous in their own way, I fear that the subset of players that appreciates random effects isn't the appropriate audience to cater to in the design of a Planeswalker.
The permanent twincast effect, while not bad by any means, loses a bit of luster now that Chandra, the Firebrand has been printed.