Do you think games of Magic might be getting too fast these days? It’s an odd thing to worry about in regard to a turn-based strategy game, even if chess clocks and Arena ropes force us into hasty decisions from time to time. But in its own best measure of speed — how many turns it takes to crush opponents …
The long voyage to Kaldheim, having taken most of December and January, is nearly over. Today, myself and many other streamers will be trying out the set for the first time on Magic Arena. Shortly thereafter, the whole Magic Arena population will be logging in to test the cards and combinations they’ve been hyping themselves up for. And boy, has …
If WotC set up Kaldheim spoiler season like a metal concert, then this week feels like the showstopping guitar solo. We’re seeing more and more powerful cards drop, many of which feature the set’s new cost-reduction mechanic: foretell. Appearing across all five colors and a wide variety of different cards, foretell has the potential to challenge players with sequencing choices …
Kaldheim spoiler season sure has given us an exciting start to 2021! New legends, new Gods, new modal double-faced cards, bearing all manner of powerful and unique effects. If anything, this candy-shop effect has left the actual mechanics of Kaldheim a bit lost in the shuffle! Boast and foretell are the latest in a string of very cool keywords WotC …
Happy New Year, my fellow magicians! We all made it through 2020 — now let’s celebrate with a hearty headbanging session. Maybe throw in a bit of haircopter, if you’re well-coiffured. Yes, we’re continuing to wind ourselves up for the release of Kaldheim, the first Magic set to overtly claim inspiration from the heavy metal subculture. Personally, I think this …
It’s a fun little moment I write to you from this time. We’re in that peculiar week of calm where Christmas is (un)wrapped, 2020 is finally all but through, and the bold among us can begin to peek ahead at what’s round the corner in 2021. That dynamic is also at play in the Magic world, where the staggered release …
I’ve found myself being critical of Wizards and Magic more often than not this year. Obviously, that all comes from a positive, hopeful place; I love Magic. I believe it can be a great experience for millions worldwide, and I want to see it reaching that potential well into the future. But it’s important not to get sucked into a negative mindset and …
However you look at it, 2020 has been one hell of a ride. I’m glad that the Magic release schedule slowed down a little over this month — we needed time to reflect. No single facet of Magic illustrates the 2020 approach to Magic releases quite like promo cards. The number and range of alternate-art and alternate-frame printings exploded compared …
Toward the end of 2019 (so roughly 20 years ago by common reckoning), I published an article here counting down the new cards that had defined the year in Magic. It was a somewhat rare chance to highlight not only the cards and decks that won the most, but the way the year had changed the broader Magic community. I …
I’ve been writing quite a lot about Commander here of late. One reason why is that discussion tends to prompt more discussion; my initial articles led to a lot of interesting chats online and with friends in my Magic groups who wanted to know more, or share their own take on what I’d written. And after writing a couple of …
