You’re at Gen Con at a Magic: The Gathering prerelease. The head judge of the event is dressed in a chicken suit. You might think this is some kind of joke. You’re exactly right. It’s… 1998 — Unglued For the first time, Magic cards are printed with a silver border. Each card with this silver lining tells you, “I don’t …
Designing Theros with Ethan Fleischer
Returning to a world Magic has visited before always brings back fond memories and creates new ones. We see our hero rise and face new monsters, including ones disguised as gods. But what about the aspects of Theros’s return we don’t see? Beyond the Underworld and the cards themselves? To answer this question, I reached out to Theros expert Ethan …
Best MTG Mechanics of the 2010’s
As the decade comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the last ten years of Magic history. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about all the new game mechanics that have been introduced. Did you know that Wizards has produced over a hundred new mechanics since 2010? (I counted!) But what mechanics stand above the rest? The ones that created the …
Best Magic Card Designs of 2019
The clock will soon strike 2020! As we approach the new year, let’s take a moment to reflect on the Magic cards released in 2019. Plenty of these cards are excellently designed, but I wonder — which are the best of the best? Whether common or mythic rare, the following ten cards are groundbreaking in at least one of these …
Cracking Mystery Boosters with Gavin Verhey
Drafting a new Magic set is an opportunity to explore the unknown. Chaos Draft offers an even more refreshing mish-mash of cards and mechanics between packs. Mystery Booster takes it to an even more exciting level by offering a mix of themes within the same pack! While Mystery Booster was fully unveiled at MagicFest Richmond, there’s still a deeper mystery …
Knights in Magic: Then and Now
*Boom, boom, clap**Boom, boom, clap* It’s 2001, and Queen’s “We Will Rock You” echoes throughout a theater a beaming twelve-year-old me is in. The opening credits of A Knight’s Tale set the tone of a medieval times movie with modern storytelling. Its story demonstrated what it took to become a knight. It’s 2019, and a menacing version of Frankie Valli’s …
Upgrading Commander 2019: Mystic Intellect
And now you’ve reached the end of the article. Hah! Thanks for reading! What’s that? You didn’t see an article? Oh, geez. Let me check the chronospheres. Hold on… Okay! Ready to flashback the article in… 3…2…1…GO! So, you have the “Mystic Intellect” Commander 2019 deck and are ready to flash back as many spells as you can. But you’re …
Commander 2019: Upgrading Merciless Rage
It’s 2007, and college me is looking at one of my Torment cards from high school. The movie 300 has been released recently, and I smile at a silly idea for a card alter. I draw a “no” symbol over the card’s keyword and write beside it: “THIS. IS. SPARTA!” The keyword on that card? Madness. Flash forward to now, …
An Intro to Oathbreaker
“My Squirrels get +10/+10, trample, and haste.” I said this to an opponent while playing one of many Oathbreaker games at MagicFest Seattle. Before that weekend, I had never played this command-zone-oriented format. But by the time the Fest was over, I had played eight Oathbreaker matches and was completely sold on it. Not sure what Oathbreaker is? Interested in …
Unmasking “The Jester”
With War of the Spark’s impending release, the Magic community is full of speculation. Will Bolas triumph? Is Mowu actually a Planeswalker? Not all questions are answered so quickly, though. Some mysteries prevail to this day, such as “Who is the Raven Man?” Another such long-standing burning inquiry – which feels especially appropriate on April Fool’s Day – is “Who …