mtg cards like not dead after all Similar to Why is Not Dead After

Cards like Counterspell, Wear / Tear, and other cheap interaction help keep your opponents in check and stop potential one-shot combos from firing up

The victims die by initially mysterious causes, which later turn out to be a tormented spirit that emerges from a TV screen to essentially scare its victims to death

The card is neither destroyed nor sacrificed

Yes, this has fairly poor scaling, most people will be happy to pay 3 to smack you with a Titan

Popular franchises arent always a good match for Magic , either

Circling back to TAUC costs, you could argue its actually even closer to free than other alternate costs: life points and cards in hand are expendable resources, and (at least for drawing cards) somewhat expensive to replenish