Awaken summon elemental mana costs

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest MtGPQ General Discussion
1

I was trying Lilian’s reanimator while I wait for better version once I open my pcks(hopefully).

One card ended up being so much better than I thought: ruinous path.
I thought it was very efficient but sometimes could end being slow because of half charge.
On average good.

I was wrong

The awaken effect comes into play so many times Ina a control deck like this one.
In the end it really fits the deck and performs greatly.

So I figured: maybe other awaken are this good, I underestimated the whole thing.
But… No. Other awaken effects are so much more expensive and for less benefit.

So the question is: why?
How comes a card that is already extremely efficient in itself(5 mana non conditional removal? Sign me up) has the best summon elemental awaken attached to it?(11 mana awaken: summon 6 tokens)

Or I should say… Why other awaken effects have so much higher mana cost?

Some examples:

Boiling Earth16 mana, 4 tokens
Clutch of Currents 12 mana, 3 tokens
Coastal Discovery 12 mana, 4 tokens
Earthen Arms 16 mana, 4 tokens

There are many others…
I can understand some being a little better caus of color/base effect(even if still: ruinous path base effect is great), card rarity or design choice…
But here the difference is between good and “no way anyone will ever use this”.

2

Things like this make me feel like the game is rushed, poorly tested and seemingly in alpha phase still. If it’s just JC testing these things then I can understand, I guess. If not, then they need to get this stuff wrapped up better.

3

JC has mentioned this in the forums before. Awaken elemental costs are based on rarity:
Common - 4 mana/elemental
Uncommon - 3 mana/elemental
Rare - 2 mana/elemental

The only thing that changes is the number of elementals for each Awaken spell.

4

The rarity differential makes sense - the question is more a matter of cost versus benefit. I understand wanting to separate the value of certain cards with the mechanic, but at such a wide margin…

Also an extremely useful Awaken spell in a control deck? Rush of Ice.