Sorcery versus Instant

I like to infuse my blog with some great Magic articles that you may have missed. Why are some cards sorceries while others are instants? Well there are two very good articles about that.

Slow and Steady

Instant Winners

Obviously some mechanics are too powerful if they were instant such as discard, card drawing, and land destruction. A card like Wrath of God could never be costed at 2WW if it were an instant, such a card would probably cost 5WW. Sometimes I think of sorceries as weak instants, which is true sometimes. But non-instants force player interaction because someone has to play a spell first in order for something to happen. And finally sorceries are needed just to add variety to the game. Just think about it, if every card was an instant, end-of-turn would become the next Main Phase.

And finally, this is a funny conversation taken from the above articles between card designer Mark Rosewater and the previous rules manager Paul Barclay.

Mark: So Paul, what do you think of my new instant?
Paul: What instant?

Mark: The card I just showed you.
Paul: You mean the sorcery?

Mark: No, it's an instant.
Paul: Do you want it to have the card power currently written on the card?

Mark: Yes.
Paul: Then it's a sorcery.

And in case you missed it, check out the Morningtide Card Preview Archive