Topic: PROBLEM: Monocolored MDFCs Are Not Displaying When Searching By Color

Topics similar to this one have been brought up before in the forum, but I have not seen this specific complaint:  Modal Double-Faced Cards (MDFCs) that are one color and one color only, the same color on both sides, do not show up when searching for cards of their color.  Example: Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty https://deckbox.org/mtg/Birgi%2C%20God% … mp;lang=us.  The front/top side of the card, Birgi, God of Storytelling has the cost 2R, and the back/bottom side of the card, Harnfel, Horn of Bounty has the cost 4R.  Yet when I search for red cards under any of the color parameters (is one of, is all of, exclusively one of, exclusively all of) it will not show up.  In fact, this, and every other MDFC card I own that is monocolored only shows up when I include the "colorless" option in the color search.  Of course, selecting "colorless" results in lands and all my colorless artifacts also being listed, diluting the number of monocolored MDFCs listed significantly.  So much so that I may as well not use this method to weed them out at all.  Here's an example of what I'm dealing with.

Task: Generate a list of every red card I own that is >$8.

Search parameters that should work
1. Select ">=" in the Price drop-down selector.
2. Input "8" in the Price text box.
3. Add "Color" search parameter.
4. Select "exclusively one of" in the first Color drop-down selector.
5. Select "red" in the second Color drop-down selector.

Results: 30 cards

Perfect, exactly what I want, except, Uh-oh! No Birgi, God of Storytelling?  WTF?  So, then, I'll have to add "colorless" to the second Color drop-down selector?  OK, I've done that, so now I should get a list of at least 31 cards, right? Plus or minus whatever other mono-red MDFCs I own?

Results: 199 cards

What?  WTF?!?  I for sure don't own 168 other mono-red MDFCs, no one does.  There are not that many mono-red MDFCs in existence.  I don't even think there are that many MDFCs in existence, period!  Oh, of course, my selection of "colorless" is causing all my lands and colorless artifacts >$8 to be listed as well.  Perfect.  I just want all my red cards over $8 to show up!

At this point I'm coming to the realization that I'll either have to settle for not having MDFCs included in the results I'm trying to generate, or I'll have to sift through nearly 200 additional cards one by one to pluck out the MDFCs that should have been displayed to me under my original parameters.

This is surely a quick fix, right? This is driving me crazy, a lot of the MDFCs I own I am trying to separated from the proverbial chaff, in one way or another (>$8 by color, rares by color, chase commons and uncommons by color, etc), and because of this issue I have to make an exception every time I make a list of cards that a MDFC should properly be included in and remind myself to deal with MDFCs separately.

And while I'm on the subject of MDFCs, why do cards like Turntimber Symbiosis // Turntimber, Serpentine Wood https://deckbox.org/mtg/Turntimber%20Sy … mp;lang=us  have no color associations?  One side of the card, the front/top side, does, in fact, have a casting cost that only has green-colored mana.  Its a green colored card.  The other side is a land that produces green mana, but even if that's properly considered a "colorless" card, the entire card is really half-green / half-colorless.  And not to belabor the point, but since the front/top, or "primary" side (i.e. the side that you name first when speaking about the card as a whole) has a green color-identity, then, if anything, the tie should go to "green" as the cards overall color-identity, not "colorless." 

Every MDFC that has a land one one of its sides suffers from this problem, they're all considered "colorless" here on deckbox.  This is despite the fact that, for example, I would not be able to play any of them in a commander deck if the color-identity of the "primary side" and/or the color of the mana produced by the secondary side are not / were not colors shared by my commander.  In other words, half-"something"/ half-land MDFCs are really not "colorless" at all.  Otherwise I'd be able to use them no matter what commander I had, right?  If they were colorless, I'd be able to play a Commander deck with Karn, Scion of Urza as my commander and have any of those MDFCs in my deck.  Its clearly apparent that I could not, and the fact that I could not proves that "colorless" is an improper descriptor for these MDFCs color-identity.

Sorry for the rant. Please consider making these changes, I use deckbox extensively to manage my collection and it would make a huge difference if these changes could be implemented.  MDFCs are presenting huge challenges to what are, or should be, very simple tasks on deckbox (when the those tasks do not include listing MDFCs).

EDIT: Words changed, added, to aid in comprehension and clarify muddled points and explanations.

Last edited by Malocoran (2021-03-28 22:02:23)

Re: PROBLEM: Monocolored MDFCs Are Not Displaying When Searching By Color

I suppose the reason for this "bug" relates to why colored cards with 0 cost, for instance Pact of Negation, won't show up when filtering for that color.
If the search engine derives card color from symbols in the casting cost, my guess is that it chokes on unorthodox CMCs as well. Perhaps the only solution for these issues is the inclusion of an additional, specific "Color" DB field that overrides the CMC value in specific cases like MDFCs and zero cost cards.

Re: PROBLEM: Monocolored MDFCs Are Not Displaying When Searching By Color

Aklo wrote:

I suppose the reason for this "bug" relates to why colored cards with 0 cost, for instance Pact of Negation, won't show up when filtering for that color.
If the search engine derives card color from symbols in the casting cost, my guess is that it chokes on unorthodox CMCs as well. Perhaps the only solution for these issues is the inclusion of an additional, specific "Color" DB field that overrides the CMC value in specific cases like MDFCs and zero cost cards.

I've encountered this problem in the past as I sort by color first when logging my tradeable rares. It was very frustrating to separately search for those cards when they should show up in their game-correct color.

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