Card Talk 23

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Knight of the White Orchid—a rare creature from Commander 21.

"Ramp"—increasing your access to mana—is important. This card is nice because it has a conditional ramp ability; if an opponent controls more lands than you, you may search your library for a plains and put it on the battlefield. Note two nuances here:

1) not tapped! That is really nice

2) a plains card can be a non-basic lands with plains as one of its types. Like Idyllic Beachfront or Radian Grove below. Note both are a plains (among other things). That is powerful indeed.

Ramp ability aside, Knight of the White Orchid is a 2/2 first strike for two mana. Not bad. That, combined with its ability, is why it is a rare.

This version of the card appeared in Commander 21, which was not a proper expansion but five preconstructed Commander decks in enemy color pairs (W/B, U/R, B/G, R/W, G/U). It was released (appropriately) in 2021, and followed an annual pattern of precons that began eight years prior (with this naming nomenclature) with Commander 13. Commander 21 was the last of that line; though Wizards continues to regularly release preconstructed Commander decks, they now tend to appear as part of larger expansions.

Finally, Knight of the White Orchid has been reprinted 10 times in paper. Its first printing was in Shards of Alara (2008), and 5 of the subsequent printings were for precon Commander decks. Commander is such a fun way to play Magic. I've done a number of posts related to this format this year. It is increasingly my preferred way to play, as its singleton concept (only one copy of a given card is allowed in a deck) is a fun way to explore the game.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.