Modernity in Magic

Magic is feeling less like Magic. 

In the 'days of yore,' Magic releases were set in Magic's unique (and enduring) multiverse. There was an overarching storyline, and even though sets would be set on vastly different planes, each had an Ancient or Medieval fantasy focus. Some were influenced by ancient cultures—like Amonkhet (Egypt), Kamigawa (Japan), or Theros (Greece). Some were influenced by literature—like Innistrad (Gothic horror), Lorwyn (light fairy tales), or Throne of Eldraine (Grimm's Brothers and Arthurian lore). But even though real-world linkages were obvious, the sets were always focused on a [fictional] time long past. Not so anymore.

I first noticed it back in 2021, with the release of Strixhaven. That set was basically "Magic does Harry Potter," but Wizards didn't have the license to do Harry Potter (like they did for Lord of the Rings), so they did a knock-off. Obviously fantasy, but in a modern context. That year was also the first Universes Beyond (UB) set, where Wizards started taking licensed IP from others and using it in the Magic universe. The initial release, Adventures in Forgotten Realms (based on D&D), fit the Magic theme well, but I'll come back to UB sets later. 

In 2022, Magic released Streets of New Capenna. That theme was 1920's gangster America. Yes, there were fantasy elements, but it had that modern flavor. Then a slew of sets felt like Magic again in 2022-23. The next UB set, Lord of the Rings, was a big hit and fit in nicely, but the second, Doctor Who, struck an obviously different/modern tone. Then came 2024.

In 2024, most Magic sets didn't feel right to me (the red arrows in the pictures above point to sets were off-flavor; note the prevalence that). Murders at Karlov Manor was set on a familiar plane (Ravnica), but an ode to the modern detective genre and the board game Clue (they even released a variant called "Clue Edition"). Then another UB set, Fallout, was modern. Outlaws of Thunder Junction was Magic set in the nineteenth century American West. Assassin's Creed was okayish, and Bloomburrow fit the mold of Magic well, but then it was back to a modern setting with Duskmourn, a homage to eighties horror films.

In 2025, things are oscillating. Foundations is just that—a core set that focuses on Magic mainstays. But the Aetherdrift (Magic does Mariokart, sorta) and the forthcoming Edge of Eternities (Magic in space) are again breaking the mold and focused more on modern themes. And the next UB set (Marvel) will, too.

The below four examples give you a taste for how the flavor and theme of Magic have changed.

While not inherently bad, I can't help but feel the game has shifted in tone from its 'Medieval fantasy' vibe to something much more modern. The game mechanics can support pretty much any theme, so there is no clash there, but it still feels off to me. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Remembering Eventide

I'll conclude this month's theme (see this post) by looking at Eventide.

Eventide (EVE) was released in July 2008. It had 180 cards and was the smaller (and final) release in the  the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor four-set block. Eventide continued Shadowmoor's focus on the darker side of fairy tales.

As with the other sets in this block, Eventide focused on creatures (117 cards) and tribal themes. As its equivalent (Morningtide), this set focused more on 'class' than 'race.' Like Shadowmoor, it had more multicolored cards, but Eventide covered the 'missing' color combinations.

Classes:

Wizard (11)

Rogue (7)

Warrior (10)

Shaman (10)

Spirit (12)

Color combinations:

White/black (17)

Blue/red (17)

Black/green (17)

Red/white (17)

Green/blue (17)

Eventide had a lot of cycles, meaning five cards (one in each color or featured combination) that had related names (and likely abilities). It also introduced Noggle creatures; there were only four in the set, and none have been made since.

Eventide continued mechanics from Shadowmoor (things like -1/-1 counters) and introduced two keyword abilities: chroma and retrace, shown on example cards below.

The below cards are representative and/or personal favorites.

I enjoyed the Lorwyn-Morningtide-Shadowmoor-Eventide "mega-block" and hope it (or its design principles) return.

Remembering Shadowmoor

Continuing this month's theme (see this post), today I look at Shadowmoor.

Shadowmoor (SHM) was released in May 2008. It had 302 cards and was the larger release in the second half of the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor four-set block. Whereas Lorwyn/Morningtide was 'light', Shadowmoor (and the next set, Eventide) was the 'dark' equivalent: still focused on fairy tales and tribal mechanics, but in a world gone bad. 

Shadowmoor added 157 creatures, focusing on many of the same creature types as Lorwyn (and adding Scarecrows), but in different color combinations:

Kithkin (white/blue), 17 cards
Merfolk (blue/black), 15 cards
Faerie (white/blue/black), 11 cards
Goblin (red/green), 18 cards
Elf (white/green), 17 cards
Elemental (black/red, then the other three colors), 24 cards
Giant (red/green, one white), 10 cards
Scarecrow (mostly artifacts), 17 cards

Shadowmoor introduced the untap symbol, enabling some interesting iterative combos (if you could figure out how to tap creatures more than once per turn).

It also had a 60 multicolor cards, and brought back the hybrid mana symbol introduced in Ravnica. The card above, for example, could be paid for with two white, two blue, or one white and one blue mana.

Like Lorwyn, Shadowmoor holds fond memories for me as the time I got back into Magic while we lived overseas. The example cards below are a combination of personal favorites and representative of cards in the set (like the Liege cycle and powerful lands).

Remembering Morningtide

Continuing this month's theme (see previous post), today I look at Morningtide.

Morningtide (MOR) was released in February 2008. It had 150 cards and was the second (and smaller) release in the Lorwyn block, continuing its theme of light fairy tales and tribal mechanics (creature types matter). It added 93 creatures to the block, focusing on the same creature types as found in Lorwyn, though it focused more on 'class' (wizard, rogue, etc.) than 'race' (elf, treefolk, etc.).

Morningtide introduced three ability words:

- Prowl: for two creature types only, this offered an alternate casting cost (and sometimes an additional effect) if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Faerie or Rogue.

- Reinforce: pay a cost and discard this card to put one or more +1/+1 counters on target creature.

- Kinship: this enabled you to look at the top card of your library, and if it shared a creature type with the card with kinship ability, an effect triggered.

Morningtide had a cycle (one in each color) of 'Banneret' cards, which reduced cost for creatures of certain types (two types per card, interestingly). These are nice additions to a Commander focusing on those types:

This set featured a number of other cycles of cards as described here.

I enjoyed Morningtide for continuing and expanding upon the Lorwyn themes. A decent number of its cards remain in my collection, primarily for my Treefolk casual deck or tribal commander decks.

Remembering Lorwyn

This month, I will reflect back on Magic sets over the years. Today, Lorwyn.

Lorwyn (LRW) was released in October 2007. It had 301 cards, art evocative of fairy tales, and a tribal theme (meaning creature types matter). It focused on creatures (169 cards in the set were this type). It was also the set that got me back into Magic after a several-year hiatus (I lived in Germany then, and remember picking up a few packs in my local game store). 

Lorwyn introduced a new card type: planeswalker. It had five mono-colored planeswalkers (I pulled Liliana Vess in a pack, not knowing about the new card type, and was very confused); I describe them more here.

My main memories of this set:

- the art. I'd describe it as soft and whimsical, even playful. I liked it.

- the tribes. I enjoy tribal* decks, and it was fun to see that be the focus of a set. And Lorwyn took this to a new level by introducing tribal enchantments, sorceries, and instants. 

- exploring new colors for tribes. Related to the last point, this set saw not just tribes but tribes in new color territory (like white merfolk or black goblins). Examples, with primary/secondary colors and number of cards following:

Kithkin (white/green), 22 cards

Merfolk (blue/white), 22 cards

Faerie (blue/black), 19 cards

Goblin (black/red), 27 cards

Elf (green/black), 24 cards

Treefolk (green, then white/black), 16 cards

Elemental (red, then the other four colors), 35 cards

Giant (red/white), 16 cards

Many creatures had multiple types (e.g. "Kithkin Soldier"), enabling various synergistic permutations:

Wizard (white/blue, black), 24 cards

Warrior (all colors except blue), 36 cards

Shaman (black/red, green), 28 cards

Rogue (black, white/blue/red), 17 cards

Soldier (white/blue, green), 13 cards

And one creature type was considered all creature types (with its "Changeling" ability), enabling it to synergize with everything:

Shapeshifter (all colors), 19 cards

Lorwyn was a beloved set, and I've heard a rumor that a Lorwyn Remastered experience may be coming soon. We'll see.

*Now called typal or kindred decks. I use the term here because it was the description during Lorwyn's era.

Mechanic: Forage

I conclude "mechanic March" by looking at forage. Like other mechanics examined this month, it involves the graveyard.

From the official rules,

701.59. Forage 

- 701.59a To forage means “Exile three cards from your graveyard or sacrifice a Food.”

Aside: forage refers to "Food." This is an artifact token:

111.10b A Food token is a colorless Food artifact token with “{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”

Forage is a new mechanic, featured only in Bloomburrow (2024) on seven cards (all green and/or black). It is always presented as an optional ability, and sometimes only a possibility when a creature enters.

Forage is effectively an additional cost/benefit mechanism. To take advantage of forage's benefit, you need to pay the cost: either 1) have enough cards in your graveyard to exile or 2) have food tokens to sacrifice. Plenty of cards (in Bloomburrow and other sets) synergize well to get cards into your graveyard or create food tokens.

Being new, the forage card pool is small. That said, I like the mechanic and having two options to trigger it; that kind of flexibility can be huge.

Mechanic: Surveil

Continuing 'mechanics March,' today I look at surveil.

From the official rules,

701.42. Surveil 

- 701.42a To “surveil N” means to look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.

Surveil is handy for two reasons:

1) getting through your deck faster to obtain desired cards (a deck sculpting mechanism)

2) getting cards into your graveyard faster to enable strategies that profit from that (delve pairs well)

The concept of surveil first appeared in Odyssey (2001), but it got its ability word starting in the Guilds of Ravnica (2018). It has appeared on 155 cards so far; the majority are blue and/or black.

Surveil is a powerful and popular mechanic, now featured to some degree in at least a few cards in sets each year.