Magic: The Gathering Head Designer on Reprinting Lotus Cobra in Zendikar Rising

The release of the latest Magic: The Gathering set Zendikar Rising changed the Standard meta significantly due to the format's rotation and the new cards, but just a week after it was released digitally on MTG Arena and Magic Online, players are already complaining about how powerful Zendikar Rising cards like Lotus Cobra and Omnath, Locus of Creation are already making a certain archetype too dominant, leaving no room for diversity in the Standard meta. Fans are now questioning if it was the right decision to reprint Lotus Cobra, a reprinted card originally printed in the Zendikar set back in 2009. The two-drop 2/1 creature can easily ramp a four-drop card by turn-4 with its Landfall ability if not killed thanks to enablers like Fabled Passage.

In a recent blog published on Wizards of the Coast, Magic head designer Mark Rosewater recently talked about how they ended up with the decision to reprint Lotus Cobra and its rarity change.

"So, flash forward again, this time many years, and we're designing Zendikar Rising. We'd brought back landfall during our first return in Battle for Zendikar, but we were much more conservative about how powerful we were making it, so Lotus Cobra was off the table as a reprint. In Zendikar Rising, Erik (Lauer—the lead set designer) felt we could be a bit more aggressive than we'd been in Battle for Zendikar, and that meant that Lotus Cobra was possibly on the table again as a reprint. I'm not only happy to see it back, I'm also happy to see it at the rarity which I'd originally wanted it. I hope that I get a lot less mail."

While some players think Lotus Cobra is the main enabler of broken strategies that are hard to deal with in Standard, other players believe that it's not the problem. Cards from other Magic sets like Uro, Nature of Titan's Wrath and Fabled Passage also enable these powerful ramp strategies. Wizards of the Coast recently said that they intend to provide an update for Standard early next week, so we might see the banning of one of those cards or more, but I hope it's not Lotus Cobra.

Zendikar Rising is now available in stores worldwide, and digitally on Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Online.

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