Doubts Arise

I may've mentioned it before but: I have concerns about where WotC is taking Magic, insofar as it is a game you can just pull out a deck and play. 

Let me expand, because it's never been entirely true that one could just play Magic. Even in the pre-internet era, you wanted dice or counters of some sort. Plus there were references to rulebooks to help guide people through tough situations, but that era was (mercifully) short. Once the online presences were established, having a way to check what a card says and how it works became just part of the experience. 

A small one, though. One that wasn't always necessary but one that was nice to have as a backup. 

With the first D&D expansion, this changed: now we needed reference cards to keep track of something, in this case the Undercity, then the Initiative, and now the Ringbearer. These things differ from a mechanic like the Monarch, because only one person is the Monarch at a time, and only one thing happens when you're the Monarch: You draw a card at the end of turn. This kind of mechanic can easily be noted with any kind of token. 

I firmly believe the rise of what I'll call 'tracker' mechanics is due to the success of Magic: Arena. Arena has been a fantastic resource for people to learn how to play, which means a massive influx of new players (yay!)- but it also keeps track of things for you, generating items that you would otherwise have to manage physically. And as convenient as that is, it doesn't always translate well to the real world. 

The case in point: Wilds of Eldraine. Specifically, I'm looking at the card Conceited Witch, in contrast to Living Lectern, Besotted Knight, or Cursed Courier. (Ed. note, much of this was written before all the roles were revealed, or the set is fully on display, however I believe that it still applies).

From a flavor perspective, the opportunity to show a transformation like this is an interesting idea. But the execution of it is not something I'm digging on. 

First: there isn't a consistency as to what a role does: three of the four provide +1/+1, but one turns the creature into a 1/1.  

Second: there isn't a consistency within each color what role they will create: that is, there are too many roles for each color to just produce one. 

Third: there isn't text on Conceited Witch to tell you what Wicked Role does. I had to look at another card entirely (Lord Skitter's Blessing) to get that information. 

So what we have here is a mechanic that a) doesn't work the same way each time and b) occasionally doesn't tell you what it does. That's just bad. 

Which leads me to assume that there will be token auras in packs of WoE to provide the necessary information. (Guess what, there are!) Tokens that will be randomized, so maybe you get one that you need, but maybe you don't. 

Just what Magic needs: more bookkeeping!

This definitely puts a damper on my enthusiasm for this idea. 

As a very small grievance, I wish the spells with the Bargain mechanic used language like "If you accepted the Bargain" or better yet "If you've come to Bargain" instead of "If this spell was bargained" mostly because that sounds cooler. (I get that it possibly can't work like that, and makes for awkward language but still...)