I have to be honest with you, folks. Lorwyn block is one of my largest knowledge gaps when it comes to familiarity with Magic sets. I’ve always loved the aesthetic, but I’ve never really sat down and engaged with everything the block has to...
Read moreManipulating the top card of an opponent’s library is very powerful. Fateseal was created as a mechanic that lets you “negative scry”, that is, scry your opponent’s library instead of your own.
Read moreBetween 2003-2010, MTG had an era of design where sets had to fit into a pre-chosen mechanical theme, with a world and cards that were shaped to satisfy that idea. In this way, Shadowmoor, the color-matters set was created, and one of the set’s...
Read moreReady for some Sleight of Hand to keep your opponents on their toes? For a bit of “aura-justu”, if you will, since aura swap was inspired by the ninjas from Kamigawa?
Read moreHello Planeswalkers! There are a few definitions for the word graft that could make sense as a mechanic in MTG. Graft can mean a way to get sap from a tree, gain a business advantage through nefarious ways, or transplant living tissue surgically...
Read moreIn the midst of the Masques block was Nemesis, a 143-card set that introduced the fading keyword to Magic. Step through the veil with me back to the turn of the century and welcome the ephemeral permanents of Nemesis.
Read moreKilled, destroyed, buried, sacrificed. Almost all of these terms in MTG relate to a creature ending its lifespan, so to say, and thus going to the graveyard. Bury is a flavorful match since MTG’s already have the graveyard as a game zone, so it...
Read moreMagic consistently tries out new keyword mechanics. Some of these are successful and go on to become evergreen mechanics, while others prove too difficult to understand or sometimes even too powerful to continue getting printed. Then there are...
Read moreThere’s almost no one who plays Magic and isn’t somewhat aware of Ravnica’s guilds. 10 factions represent each color pair through specific mechanics and flavors. Most players, especially those on the Vorthos side of things, identify with a guild...
Read moreFuture Sight dropped a ton of new mechanics that R&D were interested in testing out but couldn’t commit to designing an entire set around. Frenzy was one of these short-lived, one-off mechanics that would never again see the light of day.
Read moreOptions in a game are always good, and entwine is one of those mechanics where the more options you have, the merrier. Cards that are flexible in their mana cost and their use are always good in my book.
Read moreWhile haunt is a keyword ability that’s often seen on creatures, it can be placed on any type of card. When a permanent or a resolved spell with haunt goes to the graveyard, you exile it, targeting a creature. When this creature dies, the ability...
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