I'm not sure that argument holds. Wizards is fine with lots of common deathtouch creatures, and common fight cards like Prey Upon, and granting trample at common (eg Deviant Glee, Mosstodon) to creatures that could potentially be commons with deathtouch. Pingers don't come up at common any more, though.
Ah. Pingers and trample. Also fight. Our Theros prerelease featured a 5-0 player who had been playing tournament Magic since Alara, but who also insisted that 'deathtouch doesn't work that way' when someone asked him why he didn't use his deathtoucher to fight a 10/10 flying creature. If the pros have problems, then what chance do new players have?
@MOON-E, @Cireus that's what I was thinking, not that there's anything inherently wrong with it, but it's confusing to have common trample creatures and deathtouch auras, or uncommon pingers but common deathtouch auras.
I'll go ut on a limb to say maybe R&D doesn't think the Peddler+Staticaster combo should be too frequent a thing, which I think goes to explain why there are no general pingers in M13, Innistrad block, M14 or Theros, and also probably why staticaster and Goblin Test Pilot are both multicolor.
I think the "no deathtouch on auras" is more due to the fact that it combines in very confusing ways with first strike and trample, which are both common abilities. WotC is ok with these interactions existing, just not at common where they become complexity issues.
I must admit, I'm not sure why wizards would be leery on deathtouch on an aura. It doesn't seem more broken than, say, Giant Scorpion. I assume their problem is that it causes ground stall when attached to a 2/6 creature. But so doesn't +4/+0.
At the very least, you'd think deathtouch would be fine as long as the aura wans't a tier one limited staple. This card at four, for example, wouldn't feel like it would break anything.
That said, this could be an uncommon, it's true. It's a perfect card for a lot of utility/value decks.
Fixed wording error
derp, yes
Should this be "if enchanted creature doesn't have a shield counter on it"?
@jmgariepy: to be fair, I wouldn't call someone who doesn't understand deathtouch a pro, even if they're a long active player
Perhaps this could just cost more instead of being an uncommon, it is a design I'm fond of (both flavor and mechanically)
I'm not sure that argument holds. Wizards is fine with lots of common deathtouch creatures, and common fight cards like Prey Upon, and granting trample at common (eg Deviant Glee, Mosstodon) to creatures that could potentially be commons with deathtouch. Pingers don't come up at common any more, though.
Ah. Pingers and trample. Also fight. Our Theros prerelease featured a 5-0 player who had been playing tournament Magic since Alara, but who also insisted that 'deathtouch doesn't work that way' when someone asked him why he didn't use his deathtoucher to fight a 10/10 flying creature. If the pros have problems, then what chance do new players have?
@MOON-E, @Cireus that's what I was thinking, not that there's anything inherently wrong with it, but it's confusing to have common trample creatures and deathtouch auras, or uncommon pingers but common deathtouch auras.
I'll go ut on a limb to say maybe R&D doesn't think the Peddler+Staticaster combo should be too frequent a thing, which I think goes to explain why there are no general pingers in M13, Innistrad block, M14 or Theros, and also probably why staticaster and Goblin Test Pilot are both multicolor.
I think the "no deathtouch on auras" is more due to the fact that it combines in very confusing ways with first strike and trample, which are both common abilities. WotC is ok with these interactions existing, just not at common where they become complexity issues.
I must admit, I'm not sure why wizards would be leery on deathtouch on an aura. It doesn't seem more broken than, say, Giant Scorpion. I assume their problem is that it causes ground stall when attached to a 2/6 creature. But so doesn't +4/+0.
At the very least, you'd think deathtouch would be fine as long as the aura wans't a tier one limited staple. This card at four, for example, wouldn't feel like it would break anything.
That said, this could be an uncommon, it's true. It's a perfect card for a lot of utility/value decks.