Card Talk 8

Arni Metalbrow card art

Today is the eigth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk 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 . . .

Toymaker

Hmmmm . . . Toymaker. A colorless uncommon artifact from Mercadian Masques.

Card Talk 6 also featured an artifact, so I won't repeat observations about that card type here.

Spellshapers are a creature type that first appeared in this set. In fact, this set contains a full third (19/57) of all spellshapers printed, with 13 more coming in the rest of the block. This tribe shows up across all colors and have a common ability format: {mana cost}, tap, Discard a card from your hand: [ability]. Toymaker's ability enables you to make your noncreature artifacts into artifact creatures for a turn. Mercadian Masques had 27 noncreature artifact cards, seven of which had mana value of five or greater, providing some interesting targets for this ability.

The spellshapers' "discard" mechanic would pair well with madness, which enables you to cast a card for a reduced cost if you are discarding it.

Mercadian Masques was released in October 1999 and was the first set of the block of the same name. Blocks typically had 3 sets: the first (and largest) release followed by two smaller ones, all centered on a common theme, plane, and so on. Blocks stopped in 2018, though some subsequent expansions (like Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, and War of the Spark) had a block-like feel to them due to their common themes/etc.

This set followed the overpowered Urza's Saga block, and tried to compensate by being overly weak. The most expensive card in it, Rishadan Port ($33), is followed by just seven other cards valued at $10 or more. Compare that to Urza's Saga, where its most expensive card (Gaea's Cradle, $826) is followed by 20 cards valued at $10 or more.

Card Talk 7

Arni Metalbrow card art

Today is the seventh post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk 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 . . .

Arctic Wolves

Hmmmm . . . Arctic Wolves. A green creature from Weatherlight.

Green! Finally. Green is my favorite color in this game. I was drawn to this the first time I played Magic (in 1995) for its large creatures.

The wording in this printing (Weatherlight came out in 1997) is dated: now, it would read "When Arctic Wolves enters the battlefield, draw a card."

Cumulative upkeep is an obsolete mechanic that appeared for only a short time (1995-97, in Ice Age, Alliances, Mirage, Visions, and Weatherlight). Only 88 cards have it. Cumulative upkeep's ability isn't always explained on the cards. It is: "at the beginning of your upkeep. put an age counter on this card. Then sacrifice it unless you play its upkeep cost for each age counter on it." Since the turn order in Magic starts "untap, upkeep, draw," that means you have to pay upkeep before you have a chance to draw or play lands or spells. Arctic Wolves' upkeep is pretty steep: an extra 2 mana each turn. It won't stay in play long.

Arctic Wolves' "Enter The Battlefield" ability, draw a card, means it 'replaces itself' (in other words, you'll have the same amount of cards in your hand before and after you play it). For that reason alone, it bears consideration in casual deck builds. It can be especially potent if you combine it with green enchantments/artifacts like Up the Beanstalk or The Great Henge; in these cases, playing Arctic Wolves would net you two cards. Nice.

Arctic Wolves has been printed only once, presumably due to the upkeep aspect:

- Weatherlight (1997)

Other card observations

• Though I didn't play Magic at this time, I appreciate the artwork and general flavor of the cards of this era. I miss it.

Card Talk 6

Arni Metalbrow card art

Today is the sixth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk 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 . . .

Erratic Portal

Hmmmm . . . Erratic Portal. A colorless artifact from Exodus.

It is fun to get an artifact on here. Since most (this one included) are colorless and have generic mana costs, many artifacts can slot into any deck with ease. Artifacts, I recall, started out as uncommons or rares only, but shortly after, they made common ones.

Artifacts can be "just" artifacts or artifact creatures. Many (2918) artifact cards have been made over the years; 980 of them are artifact creatures. Subtle rules point: artifacts can tap the turn they come into play, but artifact creatures are subject to creature rules, too, so they cannot (unless they have haste).

Erratic Portal has been printed twice in paper:

- Exodus (1998)

- The List (2020)

The List was a concept introduced in 2020. A card from this 'set' is included in 25% of set booster packs. It is a way to get cards long out of print (but they remain legal only in the format(s) of the original cards). They have a Magic symbol in the bottom left corner so you know they are not the original printing:

From the official site, "The cards can be pulled from anywhere in Magic's 27-year history. The plan is for The List to change subtly from set to set, bringing in cards that might make sense with the set we're in, but it will mostly stay intact from set to set, meaning you will all get to learn what cards are in The List." I was surprised to find that cards from The List can sell for prices nearing the original versions.

Other card observations

• Erratic Portal's ability doesn't seem that amazing, since it can be negated by just one generic mana, but the card's cost ($3.50) indicates that the ability may be better than I think. That is one way to gauge a card's power in the game: how much does it cost to buy?
• The lore (italicized text in the text box) mentions legendary creatures or planeswalkers that appeared throughout Magic's history. There is an underlying story in this game. You don't need to know it or follow it to enjoy the game itself, but it does add some depth to the experience.

Card Talk 5

Arni Metalbrow card art

Today is the fifth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk 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 . . .

Standing Troops

Hmmmm . . . Standing Troops. A white human soldier. This version is from the Welcome Deck 2017.

I love tribal decks, and I discussed white soldiers specifically in January. They are the most prevalent tribe in white. Standing Troops doesn't feature in any of my constructed decks, though. It is certainly a nice defender, with 4 defense keeping it out of reach from most red damage spells. And vigilance is nice. But with only 1 attack, and a mana value = 3, there are better options out there if you are playing soldiers.

Standing Troops has been printed six times in paper:

- Exodus (1998)

- Classic Sixth Edition (1999)

- Seventh Edition (2001)

- Eighth Edition (2003)

- Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora (2015)

- Welcome Deck 2017 (2017)

After the initial printing in an expansion, it featured in three consecutive core sets, then dropped out of sight for 12 years until coming back for two special releases. This is a good reminder that many cards (not on the reserved list) may get reprints even after years of being ignored.

Other card observations:

• Welcome Deck 2017 was a set of 30 reprinted cards that showed up in several products (booster battle packs and deckbuilder's toolkits) from the Amonkhet and Ixalan block sets. You can read more about that here.
• Vigilance didn't become a keyword until 2004, so the first four printings of this card spelled out the ability: "Attacking doesn't cause Standing Troops to tap."
• The vigilance keyword shows up on 744 cards as of this writing. Not surprisingly, 350 of them are mono-white and 500 of them have white in the casting cost. Different keywords feature in different colors; it is clear that vigilance is largely in white in Magic.

The Puns of Eldraine

Wilds of Eldraine is the latest Magic release, and it returns to the popular plane introduced in 2019: Eldraine, the land of fairy tales and Arthurian lore (or their Magic equivalents, anyway). The first Eldraine set, Throne of Eldraine, had powerful cards but maintained a whimsical tone; this latest release has followed suit. One thing I enjoy the most about it? Puns.

From Oxford, puns are "a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings." I remember seeing them for the first time in the original Eldraine set:

These three cards show both kinds of puns:

- Belle of the Brawl and Mad Ratter are the second type, where they play on "Belle of the Ball" and "Mad Hatter," respectively.

- Giant Opportunity is the first type, where that is an expression meaning "a great circumstance that one could leverage for success," but here conveys the meaning "create a literal giant creature."

Wilds of Eldraine ups the ante; below are the cards with puns that I observed:

In most cases, which type of pun each is should be obvious, and I leave it to the reader. But I will mention one: Hearth Elemental puns on an older Magic card, Earth Elemental:

This type of pun applies to what Magic players call "callback" cards, which I discuss here. If you know the game well, you will pick up on (and hopefully appreciate) it. Otherwise, it will mean nothing to you.

Wordplay is fun and, I believe, important. Language is beautiful and powerful, and I appreciate that Magic leverages puns here. Magic cards can also be a way to teach vocabulary . . . but more on that another time.

Farewell, Commander

Inspiring Commander card art

I hadn't intended to do another farewell post this month, but a tragic event made me pivot: Shedon Menery passed away. He was well-known in Magic circles, but even if you don't know the name, you'll recognize his contribution to the Magic community: he came up with the Commander format, which some consider the most popular format in the game. RIP, Shedon.

As I briefly mention on my formats page, Commander's singleton rule (decks can contain only 1 copy of any unique card, except for basic lands) transformed the game. It didn't diminish the original Magic format/experience—it gave the game a fun new area to explore, using the entire Magic card base (vs. the rotating sets of Standard) and keeping things casual. One of the things I love about this game is just how flexible it is; Menery's creation was seminal in proving that.

I also enjoy how Commander came to be. Its original name was "Elder Dragon Highlander," or EDH, and it began as a grassroots effort in local game stores. This was not a Wizards employee pitching an idea to the company; it was players exploring the game's possibilities and developing something that became so popular the company recognized it and made it official (in 2011). In the ensuing years, Wizards has released preconstructed Commander decks, sets geared towards Commander drafts, and other products centered around this format. Impressive.

A final note: even the Commander format has spawned an 'internal' variant. The original Commander format is designed to be casual: players can strive to build synergistic decks, but there is a greater focus on social interaction and enjoying the odd or unexpected situations that come with playing singleton across a huge card pool. It is a chance to play those 'janky' cards that wouldn't see play in competitive environments. Competitive EDH (cEDH) is a spinoff. It has all the same rules, but the goal is to win as quickly as possible. To make a powerhouse deck that can win in just a few turns. TCGPlayer and TheGamer have good introductions to that concept; the former points out that it "is regular Commander with a different social contract," while the latter states that "the decks are built to be as powerful as they can be." I'll look more at those concepts—social contracts and power levels—another time. For today, we mourn Mr. Menery's passing but celebrate his contributions.

Farewell, . . . nothing?!

Aquatic Alchemist card art

Each year that I have maintained this blog, September is dedicated to the four sets rotating out of Standard. I look at the cards I liked, the ones I didn't, and the sets as a whole. (Here is my first post on the subject, and another which explains the Standard format and set rotation.) So, first up this month is: 

nothing.

That's right, no sets are rotating out of Standard this year. Wizards announced in May that they were changing Standard rotation to every three years. Why? They explain in the article; I present the highlights below.

- tabletop Standard is key to local game stores

- this format (again, on tabletop—in person vs. online) hasn't kept pace with other Magic formats

- shifting to a 3-year rotation cycle does the following (italics is quoted from the article):

• This will give current Standard cards more longevity. 
• It will allow mechanics and archetypes to be more effectively built on over time. As we moved away from the block model, we gained a lot of flexibility, but we also lost some ability to build on mechanics and themes within a set. With a longer window, we can find more opportunities to build up or revitalize archetypes. 
• It also gives us stronger tools to create an environment where decks are more "color(s) and mechanic" (like Green-White Toxic or Blue-White Soldiers) and less midrange. 

In the end, "we believe this will give Standard more stability, more vitality, and strengthen it for local game stores." Time will tell if this is the case.

I have no strong feelings one way or the other about this change. On the one hand, I get it. Based on release dates, some sets enjoyed only 15 months in Standard, which seemed too short (and unfair compared to the sets that were in for all 24). On the other hand, a card pool of such large size (and duration) might overwhelm players and/or dissuade new ones from jumping in. 

One comment intrigues me: Wizards wants "more 'color(s) and mechanic' (like Green-White Toxic or Blue-White Soldiers) and less midrange." From my decks page, midrange is a deck type that uses efficient spells. It can potentially take on both aggro, control, and combo decks. I am guessing that Wizards is saying "we want decks with a theme, not just a collection of efficient cards that can win games without synergy." I'd love to learn more about that.

Whatever you think about this change, it will be fun to enjoy the cards for longer.