CCDD 030620 - Ticking Bomb

"Red can't destroy creatures" is a well-accepted part of the color pie, but cards like Haphazard Bombardment and Shifting Shadow show that certain kinds of designs can get around that. By playing up red's random, unreliable, risky nature they turn what would otherwise be a color pie break into an acceptable color pie bend. Today's design is another attempt to play around in that space.

Ticking Bomb started life as a more complicated card-- a kind of mini-game that encouraged the opponent to try to save the enchanted creature by somehow removing counters. I like the simpler implementation better, though. It's a better flavor match and lets the card exist at uncommon. Besides, the play patterns this creates are still plenty interesting. The target's controller will use it more aggressively since it's doomed anyway, while Ticking Bomb's controller has to survive three more turns of the opponent's best target before it gets any value.

One concern I have is that the simplified design might not fit red's color pie anymore. "Delayed destroy" of a creature arguably belongs in black or even white. On the other hand, the closest real card to this is a red design: Consuming Ferocity. (See what I mean about needlessly complicated implementations?)