Storm Scale

For those who don't know, the Storm Scale is Mark Rosewater's personal scale on how likely a mechanic is to be reused in Magic. It rates these mechanics on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most likely, and 10 being almost never. While this may not completely translate to MSE's Standard and other environments, it's still a good thing to consider when deciding on what mechanics to slip into your next custom set; after all, if it's rated low on the Storm Scale, there's probably a good reason for it.(Playabiltiy issues, general dislike, bah-roken-ness, etc.) However, even MaRo admits that the Scale isn't perfect, and low-ranked mechanics can still be reprinted. It is just something to keep in mind.

The Storm Scale

1. Inevitable/Always: Evergreen mechanics, Cycling, Flashback, Landfall
   
2. Almost Certainly/Deciduous Mechanics: Convoke, Curse, Proliferate, Protection, Hybrid mana, Unearth, DFC
   
3. Strong Chance: Battle cry, Bloodthirst, Cascade, Convoke, Dash, Detain, Evoke, Exalted, Landfall, two-brid, Persist, Raid, Rebound
   
4. Most Likely/Needs a Place: Awaken, Battalion, Changeling, Domain, Entwine, Fuse, Grandeur, Heroic, Imprint, Investigate, Kicker, Morph, Miracle, Scavenge, Surge, Undying, Unleash, Renamed Bushido
5. More Likely/Flavor and Mechanic Need to Fit/I'm Optimistic: Bolster, Constellation, Devoid, Devotion, Evolve, Hellbent, Monstrous, Morbid, Multikicker, Populate, Replicate, Soulbond, Totem armor, Wither, Quest enchantments,
   
6. Maybe/Not Surprised if No: Bloodrush, Buyback, Champion, Converge, Colorless mana as a cost (Colorless mana symbol), Exploit, Extort, Living Weapon, Manifest, Overload, Affinity(for not artifacts), Ninjutsu(probably renamed), Rally, Support, Trap spells,
7. Unlikely/Needs Reworking: Ally mechanics, Bestow, Devour, Fateful hour, Ferocious, Infect, Kinship, Metalcraft, Outlast, Provoke, Rampage, Recover, Retrace, Shadow, Snow, Split Second, Vanishing, Flanking(that works against flankers)
8. Stars Will Need to Align: Absorb, Aura swap, Bushido, Cohort, Delve, Echo, Epic, Fading, Fateseal, Flanking, Flip Cards, Forecast, Frenzy, Graft, Gravestorm, Level up, Madness, Ripple, Suspend, Threshold
   
9. I Never Say Never, but This Needs a Small Miracle: Annihilator, Cipher, Clash, Flanking, Formidable, Haunt, Horsemanship, Ingest, Inspired, Megamorph, Radiance, Phasing, Poisonous, Processors, Transfigure, Transmute, Tribal, Untap(An untap symbol.), World, Landwalk, Shroud, Fear, Intimidate
10. Bah-roken/I Never Say Never, but This Needs a Major Miracle: Storm, Dredge, Banding, Chroma, the plane Rabiah
11. I Never Say Never, but This Is A Never/Not In Living Memory: Bands with others

When looking at the Scale, remember that all mechanics have a chance of being reprinted, some larger than others. When looking for a mechanic to put into your own set, there are 5 qualities to consider: Space, Popularity, Development, Playability, and Versatility.

• Space: How much space is required to make the mechanic actually work? The larger the mechanic, the less likely it'll rank high on the scale.
• Popularity: Did players actually enjoy playing with the mechanic? If not, it's almost guaranteed to be placed below rank 5. (It means 5 an up on the scale)
• Development: How many problems does the mechanic cause while trying to develop around it? The less, the better.
• Playability: Does the mechanic affect the player ability to play with it? Be careful with any mechanics that do this!
• Versatility: Does this mechanic play well with current Magic, and how much support does it require? The better it plays, and the less support required, the better.

I'm almost positive I missed keywords and mechanics, and I'd love help weeding out those that I did miss, or miss-wrote. Also, as a question, do we want to attempt a MSE Storm Scale, reflecting the ranking of custom mechanics in the five qualities above? If not, that's fine, and I'll try to keep this updated with current mechanics.