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White and blue have always been the best control colors for spells. And the ultimate permission card is not Force of Will, but Mother of Runes. This card sits well next to both Force Spike and Mana Tithe.

At WU, this spell holds its own against Dovin’s Veto and Hindering Light. At 2U or 2W, we see a slightly improved Convolute. And at 4, we allow a player in any color to stop a card unless the caster checks their raise of four additional mana.

This one was easy from start to finish. Blue almost got this ability for 2U with Long-Term Plans. Black has danced around this ability for years from Cruel Tutor to Diabolical Tutor. And securing a draw for 4 in any color seems fair to me.

Even the artwork for this card was easy. Sometimes I spend hours looking for the image I want. This was the first one that came up when I typed in “fantasy art scheme”.

We’ll never see the like of Sinkhole again, and that’s probably for the best. This card comes close, though, and is a fitting successor to Fulminator Mage. Unlike Stone Rain and Choking Sands, this card misses all basic lands, allowing a shrewd player to play around it.

Anyone thinking that 4 mana is too cheap for any color to destroy a land should remember that Wasteland is no longer restricted.

I actually thought of this card when designing a cycle of colorless Mercenaries that brought keywords to any color. And true to that pedigree, this card brings a 3/3 trampler to any color for four mana (which was the going rate back in my day).

With creatures getting more powerful (which I wholeheartedly support), I could see a 3/3 trampler printed at 2R or 2G without batting an eye. Is it too good at RG… maybe.

This has always been my favorite “archer” ability, one that I think fits much better than reach. It’s long been in white from archers and engineers, but the ability to deal damage equal to power has has been green since Tracker, and continues to be seen with cards like Ambuscade.

At 4, this card is clearly weaker than Heavy Ballista, so much so, that I’m beginning to think that this one might not be strong enough.

While this ability has become ubiquitous in white with cards like Journey to Nowhere, it originated in black with Oubliette back in Arabian Nights (which also gets rid of those pesky Auras and Equipment).

I toyed with the idea of this being a sorcery that just said “Exile target creature”, but felt that was a little too good for 4 in any colors. At sorcery speed in white-black, this is a fair comparison to Unmake, which I think is an excellent card.

The BG version of this card already exists as Treasure Find, while this ability has been a staple of green since the beginning with Regrowth. With this, any color can get back a critical card for 4, which I think is a fair price to pay for undoing a removal spell.

The DICs have been inching closer and closer to two cards for two mana for as long as can remember. This card finally does it be requiring you to be in the right colors.

As a mono-blue card, this has been printed twice with Counsel of the Soratami and Divination. Green also gets good card draw, with cards like Harmonize and Sixth Sense. For 4, I would play this from any limited pool I opened.

Fun Fact: WOTC has used the card names Deflection, Divert, Misdirection, Shunt, and Swerve. I chose to use the name Deflect, since Deflection is the worst and should be replaced.

This card is a good fit alongside other cards of its ilk. I added the benefit of retargeting abilities as well as spells and the wording allows this one to affect multi-target spells, but only allowing you to change one of those targets.

Finishing my mini-cycle of mercenaries is the lowly pikeman. This card is the epitome of RW, a cheap, effective creature that can generate its own advantage while applying serious pressure. It’s a little better than Wojek Halberdiers, but right around the power level of White Knight or Blood Knight.

For 4 in any color, this guy does the job of keeping an enemy at bay as a tuned-up Wall of Spears.