We appear to have confirmation as to much of what the Foretell mechanic does. The rules text for all Foretell cards will read as follows:
Foretell [Cost] (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
A couple things that aren't immediately clear.
1) Will we see non-creature foretell spells? I think we can expect to see this based on the rules text.
2) When it says "cast it on a later turn" there's no indication that it has to be on your turn. Does this mechanic grant pseudo-flash? I expect that the answer here will be either that it has to be on one of your later turns or at any time the spell could normally be cast (meaning creatures with flash or instants could be cast on an opponents turn).
This is a morph-style mechanic with some drawbacks and some upsides. + Foretell being on multiple card types will make guessing the face-down card more difficult assuming we get enough viable Foretell cards. + Generally more cost effective 2 + Foretell cost is less cost-intensive than 3 + Morph cost. + Creature value appears to be less tied to whether this was cast using foretell as opposed to most morph/megamorph creatures that are often lackluster without being able to take advantage of the morph trigger. + Amazing game play with wraths. Foretell your threats, wrath the board, and cast your cheaper threats afterwards. - No board presence is created by using foretell with a creature. Morph at least created a 2/2. - Counters hurt a lot more. You've invested mana twice just to have the spell countered. At least getting a morph spell countered would usually only be parity in terms of mana spent or a minor difference of 1 mana. - Similar to morph this is a mechanic where the volume of cards with the mechanic in your cube matters. With only a couple foretell cards it becomes very easy for your opponent to know what is coming and to plan accordingly (as able).
Overall, I think the mechanic has a ton of potential for cube. The answers to the questions above and the strength/diversity of the cards they print with this mechanic will determine if these make the cut. What are your thoughts?
"Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost." is really strange wording. So like, if someone draw step Vendilion Cliques you, you can Foretell in response to protect the Fortell card, but then you can't cast it on your main phase, you need to pass the turn first. It's an interesting mechanic, though. I'm excited to see what is printed with it.
I think your guess on the Foretell mechanic is correct. I wouldn't be surprised if this is pseudo flash. I've seen Wizards print a lot of green haste creatures to counter balance the number of early walkers we've seen.
Green lacked answers to planeswalker and needed to rely on ramp to be competitive in standard. Wizards had a serious problem with all this fast mana where Gilded Goose/ Growth Spiral were seen as too strong or the 4-5 mana cards like Wilderness reclamation/ Fires of Invention. I wouldn't be surprised if they will avoid all this fast mana in standard for the next foreseeable future. Early planeswakers has become seriously problematic - pseudo haste creatures seems like a nice counter balance.
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Unless it gives everything flash, I am extremely meh on it as it seems like an incredibly boring mechanic. The only way it will be a mechanic that sees cube play is if there is some insanely pushed card, and considering the green mythic we saw (where you'd expect to see the most pushed mana reduction) saved you only 1 mana for foretelling, I doubt we're gonna get really pushed cards (which is fine TBQH - as I said this mechanic is incredibly boring).
While foretell in response to targeted discard or before your own wheel/windfall effect might be something that has constructed implications, in cube those situations are rare enough that they will only ever be gravy so the card will have to be playable on its own merits, not cause of foretell being such a strong mechanic.
Edit - I should clarify, I also don't think foretell will give flash, but that's what it would take for me to find the mechanic interesting. As it is, the only way we will play foretell cards in cube is if the post-foretell cost is 2 mana or more below the rate for a playable card (which seems unlikely given the mammoth that was spoiled) or on a card that's playable on its own merits and just happens to have foretell, and to me that's a boring mechanic.
Edit edit - if they make a playable foretell counterspell, I will be excited. Like, give me a 1UU hard counter with a foretell cost of 1U (or, can you even imagine, just U) and I will be interested because that lets you not get as punished for leaving a counter up and not casting it, cause you can just fortell it to have it available later, but given how snake bit they are from mana reduction mechanics and counterspells I don't think we'll see it.
Edit edit edit - oh foretell is sorcery. ******* boo. I was just starting to get interested in it too.
This might be a nice way to make a new Baneslayer variant. Foretell works well with both Wraths and effects like Balance to really take advantage of not being in your hand or on the battlefield. In control, it can be nice to pay for your finishers in multiple smaller installments, making it easier to cast and protect with countermagic.
I think this mechanic looks cool, but not particularly exciting.
Pretty sure foretell isn't going to give your spells flash. It's not like Shelldock Isle where the resolution of the ability allows you to play X card. I'll be very surprised if there's instant cards with foretell, I'd imagine they wouldn't want people to get juked by cards from exile out of nowhere.
As far as the mechanic itself, the cost reduction is nice. The comparison to morph is pretty solid. Morph creatures being Grey Ogres is both a blessing and a curse: while it allows you to make use of a card earlier than usual, it also makes your card more vulnerable to removal before you turn it face up.
Pretty sure foretell isn't going to give your spells flash. It's not like Shelldock Isle where the resolution of the ability allows you to play X card. I'll be very surprised if there's instant cards with foretell, I'd imagine they wouldn't want people to get juked by cards from exile out of nowhere.
On the interactive instants they might be, but all the other cards will have very different play patterns than traps did.
"I've activated my trap card!...that I telegraphed last turn."
You've activated my trap! By being my opponent and me wanting to play this card one turn early. Take that!
That being said, IF we get a good enough instants that we want to include them, I hope there's like, 5, concentrated in a couple colors, otherwise it's the same issue morph creatures have - when we ran willbender, when the blue decks played a morph with 2 mana up and passed, you basically always knew what they were doing cause there wasn't critical mass of morph creatures where you could actually bluff a willbender or have your opponent chance it not being a willbender.
Edit edit - if they make a playable foretell counterspell, I will be excited. Like, give me a 1UU hard counter with a foretell cost of 1U (or, can you even imagine, just U) and I will be interested.
Well, they gave us this, and 1UU counter foretell 1U. So with this, ravenform, the scry 2 draw 2 instant, maybe there's something there. We'll see what we can get, but maybe if there's 2 foretell cards I'm really interested in and like 3 that are close enough, I might try the package.
Edit - I just assumed you could foretell at instant speed. I didn't RTFC and realize it was sorcery* (essentially, as instant-only-on-your-turn is fairly meaningless on this mechanic). Ugh. Just as I was getting interested.
Foretell [Cost] (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
A couple things that aren't immediately clear.
1) Will we see non-creature foretell spells? I think we can expect to see this based on the rules text.
2) When it says "cast it on a later turn" there's no indication that it has to be on your turn. Does this mechanic grant pseudo-flash? I expect that the answer here will be either that it has to be on one of your later turns or at any time the spell could normally be cast (meaning creatures with flash or instants could be cast on an opponents turn).
This is a morph-style mechanic with some drawbacks and some upsides.
+ Foretell being on multiple card types will make guessing the face-down card more difficult assuming we get enough viable Foretell cards.
+ Generally more cost effective 2 + Foretell cost is less cost-intensive than 3 + Morph cost.
+ Creature value appears to be less tied to whether this was cast using foretell as opposed to most morph/megamorph creatures that are often lackluster without being able to take advantage of the morph trigger.
+ Amazing game play with wraths. Foretell your threats, wrath the board, and cast your cheaper threats afterwards.
- No board presence is created by using foretell with a creature. Morph at least created a 2/2.
- Counters hurt a lot more. You've invested mana twice just to have the spell countered. At least getting a morph spell countered would usually only be parity in terms of mana spent or a minor difference of 1 mana.
- Similar to morph this is a mechanic where the volume of cards with the mechanic in your cube matters. With only a couple foretell cards it becomes very easy for your opponent to know what is coming and to plan accordingly (as able).
Overall, I think the mechanic has a ton of potential for cube. The answers to the questions above and the strength/diversity of the cards they print with this mechanic will determine if these make the cut. What are your thoughts?
This is how I read it.
[180 classic cube]
Green lacked answers to planeswalker and needed to rely on ramp to be competitive in standard. Wizards had a serious problem with all this fast mana where Gilded Goose/ Growth Spiral were seen as too strong or the 4-5 mana cards like Wilderness reclamation/ Fires of Invention. I wouldn't be surprised if they will avoid all this fast mana in standard for the next foreseeable future. Early planeswakers has become seriously problematic - pseudo haste creatures seems like a nice counter balance.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
While foretell in response to targeted discard or before your own wheel/windfall effect might be something that has constructed implications, in cube those situations are rare enough that they will only ever be gravy so the card will have to be playable on its own merits, not cause of foretell being such a strong mechanic.
Edit - I should clarify, I also don't think foretell will give flash, but that's what it would take for me to find the mechanic interesting. As it is, the only way we will play foretell cards in cube is if the post-foretell cost is 2 mana or more below the rate for a playable card (which seems unlikely given the mammoth that was spoiled) or on a card that's playable on its own merits and just happens to have foretell, and to me that's a boring mechanic.
Edit edit - if they make a playable foretell counterspell, I will be excited. Like, give me a 1UU hard counter with a foretell cost of 1U (or, can you even imagine, just U) and I will be interested because that lets you not get as punished for leaving a counter up and not casting it, cause you can just fortell it to have it available later, but given how snake bit they are from mana reduction mechanics and counterspells I don't think we'll see it.
Edit edit edit - oh foretell is sorcery. ******* boo. I was just starting to get interested in it too.
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I think this mechanic looks cool, but not particularly exciting.
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As far as the mechanic itself, the cost reduction is nice. The comparison to morph is pretty solid. Morph creatures being Grey Ogres is both a blessing and a curse: while it allows you to make use of a card earlier than usual, it also makes your card more vulnerable to removal before you turn it face up.
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https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/the-rumor-mill/819944-khm-rise-of-the-dread-marn-leak
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
You've activated my trap! By being my opponent and me wanting to play this card one turn early. Take that!
That being said, IF we get a good enough instants that we want to include them, I hope there's like, 5, concentrated in a couple colors, otherwise it's the same issue morph creatures have - when we ran willbender, when the blue decks played a morph with 2 mana up and passed, you basically always knew what they were doing cause there wasn't critical mass of morph creatures where you could actually bluff a willbender or have your opponent chance it not being a willbender.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Well, they gave us this, and 1UU counter foretell 1U. So with this, ravenform, the scry 2 draw 2 instant, maybe there's something there. We'll see what we can get, but maybe if there's 2 foretell cards I'm really interested in and like 3 that are close enough, I might try the package.
Edit - I just assumed you could foretell at instant speed. I didn't RTFC and realize it was sorcery* (essentially, as instant-only-on-your-turn is fairly meaningless on this mechanic). Ugh. Just as I was getting interested.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588