Magic: The Gathering Head Designer Explains Why No Anti-Energy Cards Were Printed in Kaladesh

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast; Illustrated by Wesley Burt

Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater has explained why Wizards of the Coast never printed anti-energy cards in Kaladesh set.

On his Blogatog, Rosewater answered this question from a fan.

"We were concerned that energy wasn't going to be played if it was too easily disrupted," Rosewater explained. "Yeah, hindsight is 20/20."

Ever since it was introduced in the Kaladesh set, the Energy mechanic has been a prominent part of players' strategy in Magic: The Gathering's Standard format. Whether building up energy to power-up the now-banned Aetherworks Marvel or protect a Bristling Hydra, the mechanic is proven to be powerful and versatile enough to beat other strategies even after three non-Kaladesh sets have already been released. Now, Energy decks (Temur, Sultai or Four-Color) continue to dominate the Standard format, and many players have expressed how tired they are seeing the same strategy being used over and over again for more than a year now. Standard is stuck in an "energy rut", discouraging other potential archetypes like Dinosaur tribal or Pirates tribal to rise to competitive levels. Even the Pro Tour Ixalan had mostly Energy decks in the Top 8, which is sad because it seemed more like a Kaladesh block format than a Standard format that utilized various mechanics from different legal sets. Sure, Energy decks have gained a few cards from other sets but most of the builds still use the same set of cards (Attune with Aether, Whirler Virtuoso, Servant of the Conduit, Rogue Refiner, Longtusk Cub, and Bristling Hydra) Many players are demanding to ban Attune With Aether (an essential card in Energy decks) to weaken Energy strategies.

Even if they printed anti-energy cards in Kaladesh, they would probably just be as weak as Solemnity (printed in Hour of Devastation). Energy was a fun mechanic, and you can say that it's still fun nowadays, but it's making Standard feel redundant right now and less innovative. Hopefully, Wizards of the Coast will do something to get Standard out of its energy rut.

What do you think about the dominance of Energy decks in Standard right now? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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