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.