I like Balance, but I find it much easier to tailor a deck to Cataclysm, as that only requires you to be prepared for low-mana spells, while your opponent will almost always be left blinking because he/she only has, at most, one of each of only four different types of permanents. Cataclysm takes care of planeswalkers too, people!
Also, it isn't restricted, so yeah.
Posted By:
nammertime
(12/23/2009 1:42:38 AM)
I had a buddy who ran white with this card back in the days of Revised, and it was brutal. This is a mana-fetch deck's worst nightmare in card form.
Posted By:
Gaussgoat
(12/29/2009 6:29:34 AM)
Of course, what makes this card ridiculous is its two mana cost. With that, you can play it basically whenever it would benefit you. It definitely deserves a 4.5/5.
I would almost want to splash white into a Madness / Hellbent deck just so that I could combo this with One With Nothing.
Also, a Barren Glory-based deck could benefit from this, since it won't have many permanents out anyway.
Posted By:
Weretarrasque
(10/23/2009 6:48:16 AM)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I hope I never have to play against this...
Especially in a Penumbra deck!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted By:
land_comment
(3/26/2011 2:20:55 PM)
I am very sad about this card. It should have been a perfect concept, but the ease with which it can be broken utterly ruins it. I want the name "Balance" back to use on a card that is just this strong but never in an unfair way, one that cannot be cheated to give its caster an advantage but which does counteract even the greatest advantage of his opponent. The fact that it could be broken with Moxes is hardly proof of anything, but I'd rather lose Moxes and keep this (which is what the Revised and 4th Edition designers did). However, cards like Rukh Egg and Diamond Valley are fun, so they demonstrate why this execution of the effect couldn't work. If you replaced "sacrifice" with "exile" and made a few similar tweaks, you could bring this card back as a two-mana stop sign against rush decks, and I'd be very happy.
Posted By:
willpell
(6/5/2011 2:08:55 AM)
@ Aaron:
I love Balance as this card proves that R&D doesn't understand the meaning of balance or the (un)balancing nature of Wrath of God.
Destruction is never fair, especially when it includes lands as well, since usually you pay to play a creature. Therefore, you've earned it and there is nothing inbalanced about it. Likewise, if a weenie deck with a few lands plays against a fattie deck with many lands, it's fair that the weenie deck will have less lands and hand cards, but more (weaker) creatures.
Therefore, if someone plays a Balance or Wrath of God, the only thing he wants to achieve is an inbalance in his favor. First of all, because you decide when to play a creature and when to cast a Wrath of God (f.e. to gain card advantage when you have casted fewer creature spells). Second, you plan your deck by "wasting" a card slot for a Balance. So you hope that this card would acieve a goal.
So neither a Wrath of God, nor a Balance is an a... (see all)
Posted By:
Cheza
(8/1/2011 7:34:53 AM)
I'm slightly surprised that Revised is the highest rated print of Balance ever. I would have expected Beta or Alpha to get that, or From the Vault maybe.
All that said, little can be said about Balance not in Aaron_Forsythe's comment or the mini-article in From the Vault: Exiled.
If you value cards as a collector AND player, then I'd say there are a good number of $20 cards I'd trade for a Balance, even the reprinted versions that actually go for much less.
I don't totally like how expensive the Beta and Alpha cards just hard-SPIKE with regard to economics, but even so, if I could get an Alpha or Beta Balance for $50, I would have to assume I was at one of those AMAZING garage sales you hear about that you never find. :P
If you like playing with historical decks (using different banned lists from different eras), then investing in 4 Balances and 4 Necropotences is an AWESOME start to a Weissman Deck. I think that would be a great way to run Archenemy Games: Let the Archenemy use d... (see all)
Posted By:
DarthParallax
(10/6/2012 11:29:30 AM)
Empty your hand, sac all of your creatures to the diamond valley, sac all of your lands to zuran orb, and then hit the great equalizer... Balance. 5/5
Posted By:
gasimakos1
(8/10/2012 11:41:07 AM)
Boldly balance your belligerent buddies.
Posted By:
Goatllama
(10/22/2012 6:02:49 PM)
@ Cheza
I like blue being the color of bounce, the reason being is bounce is noted as dimensional travel and the color of bending time and space is blue. The reason why wrath of God is white is because it is the closest color to divinity and the name fits flavorfully. Now while you argue that white has synergy with bounce answer me this, doesn't every color have good synergy with bounce? Here's just to name a few.
Blue - Augury Owl
Black - Skinrender
Red - Siege-Gang Commander
Green - Elvish Visionary
I've also read your previous posts and I do wish their was a blue version of fog because then it would be called "Mist".
Posted By:
Blitz_Hammer
(12/25/2012 11:43:42 PM)