Card Talk 31

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 . . .

Elspeth, Knight-Errant—a mythic rare planeswalker from Secret Lair Drop.

Elspeth has seven unique printings. The first was in Shards of Alara (2008), where she was one of four planeswalkers. The printing shown above was from a Secret Lair Drop in 2022. These drops are small sets of known cards sold directly by Wizards for a limited time/run.

This Elspeth screams 'include me in a soldier-based Commander deck' based on her first ability to create a soldier creature token. But her other abilities are more flexible and suited to a wider range of strategies; looking at her card on EDHrec suggests that she is used more widely than I imagined. (EDHrec is a great resource for checking out card synergies and suggestions for Commander decks.)

Planeswalkers were a card type introduced in the Lorwyn block (2007). They are threats that demand you deal with them before they accumulate enough loyalty to trigger their big ability (the last one listed on the card). In this case, Elspeth could give every permanent you own indestructible for the rest of the game . . . powerful indeed. We've actually seen fewer planeswalkers recently as Wizards increasingly focuses on Universes Beyond sets . . . but they have gotten a resurgence in the most recent release, Reality Fracture, which features eight of them.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 30

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 . . .

Insurrection—a rare sorcery from Onslaught.

I am entranced by this art (like the subjects in the picture). Mark Zug, the artist, has illustrated 207 cards for Magic to date (well, 199 cards if you remove tokens).

Onslaught was released in 2002 and was the headliner set of the last block in the old frame. I miss the old frames . . . and the block format (where three consecutive sets would have similar themes and mechanics). Wizards went away from blocks in 2018, though some consecutive releases since have had overlap (like Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow). Today, Standard is thematically inconsistent . . . it doesn't have the same feel anymore.

Back to the card itself. This is a late-game bomb that relies on your opponents having good creatures out (and you still being alive). Gaining control of all creatures? Wow; that can swing things quite a bit. I don't know if this was a competitive card in Standard back in the day, but this is perfect for the Commander format now, which is why it commands a good price ($12 or more). You'd better finish off your opponents with this, though, as their creatures all return to them at the end of your turn . . . and anyone left alive won't go easy on you (and you probably won't have any blockers).

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 29

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 . . .

Liliana's Triumph—an uncommon instant from War of the Spark.

The first thing that jumps out to me is how variable this spell can be. Having each opponent sacrifice a creature can be amazing (if they have only powerful creatures in play) or terrible (if they have no or many creatures, and can lose one without detriment).

Controlling a Liliana planeswalker adds to the spell, though again it is variable—your opponents may not have a card in hand (or enough that they can choose to discard one of little consequence).

Released in 2019, War of the Spark was a set focused on planeswalkers, with a shocking 39 in the expansion. But only one Liliana . . . but there have been 12 versions of her produced across all sets to date.

With its focus on each opponent and need for a Liliana planeswalker for full value, this card screams 'commander' format, with three opponents (typically) and the ability to have multiple Liliana planeswalkers from across all Magic releases.

Finally, I like this art and had never before seen it. This is a promo version released for an event (I think) but don't know which. This special version goes for ~$4.33 today.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.