|
|
|
Ashnod's Transmogrant
What creepy, creepy art. Would have been right at home in Innistrad.
Modern analogue: Shuko is usually better than this. It doesn't have the +1/+1 counter combos, it's true, but is spending one mana for a single counter really that great a combo with anything?
Verdict: Light power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Candelabra of Tawnos
How do some candles let you reuse lands? (Reads the flavor text.) That's really vague, Urza!!!
Modern analogue: Magus of the Candelabra, of course. But he is a little worse. And it's not because he's harder to cast.
The magus is frail and slow. He is not the fittest; he will not survive.
Verdict: Medium nerfing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Feldon's Cane
At the time this came out, it was good against Millstone and stalemates. That's really it.
Modern analogue: Elixir of Immortality takes more mana but gains some life. I probably didn't need to write that entire sentence.
If you want a one-mana replacement, Quest for Ancient Secrets is about it, and it comes with some hoops. The only other one-mana shuffle effects put only part of your graveyard back, such as the nauseating Dwell on the Past, Piper's Melody, and Serene Remembrance.
Verdict: Light nerfing (but why?).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ivory Tower
Sculpting an entire elephant's head out of ivory seems like a sick joke.
Modern analogue: Lifekeeping as a whole has gotten a lot stronger over the years.
Except for this one card!
While 1 mana used to be able to gain (up to) 3 life a turn, it now gets you one a turn. All at once, at the end, when sacrificed. I'm referring to Golden Urn.
Verdict: Severe nerfing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obelisk of Undoing
There are plenty of weird things about this card. Perhaps the weirdest is that it somehow ended up in Master's Edition IV what???
Modern analogue: Instead of 1 to cast and 6 to tap, how about Vedalken Mastermind's 2 to cast and 1 to tap? Or if you don't want to switch to blue, this is still a ways worse than Erratic Portal or Crystal Shard. Get this overcosted joke out of here.
They could have used this slot to fit Sorceress Queen into ME4!
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tablet of Epityr
This tablet was created by forgers seeking to imitate Urza's masterpieces. ...And they failed.
Modern analogue: Viridian Harvest is like this card except your first six are free. And you can't get a seventh, but still. Were you really planning on getting a seventh?
Take a step back and think about your plan. It was crazy.
Verdict: Medium power creep (off-color).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rack
Read the flavor text. This shoulda been called "Mishra's Rack."
Modern analogue: First its cost went up, on Wheel of Torture. Then it went to red, as Lavaborn Muse. Now its home is black, as Shrieking Affliction!
Will it be colorless again? And if so, will it be any better than Rackling?
Verdict: Zero power creep (off-color).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urza's Chalice
They were greatly amazed at how much better he looked each time he took a sip of water. It was as if he had changed from 16 life to 17 life.
Modern analogue: White's Leonin Elder is a huge step up. So's the colorless Golem's Heart.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amulet of Kroog
I know "the brothers' war" sounds all epic, but just think about the dorky stuff they were fighting it with. Probably very uneventful as a whole.
Modern analogue: Squee's Toy was cheaper on both ends for the same effect.
And when did anybody consider Squee's Toy a good card?
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ashnod's Battle Gear
I do like these proto-equipment cards. Well not to use in my deck. I mean conceptually.
Modern analogue: Instead of +2/-2, how about +2/+2? I mean to say Vulshok Morningstar.
Or even more than that, with Empyrial Plate.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Millstone
How do they use it if it's floating in outer space?
Modern analogue: Magic 2014 had Millstone exactly.
I can understand that Mesmeric Orb was way too powerful, but maybe they could find a middle ground? This still seems quite weak.
Verdict: Zero-power creep (but it could use some).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tawnos's Weaponry
NICE.
HAIRCUT.
Modern analogue: Hey. You want +1/+1?
I'll give you double that.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ashnod's Altar
Once again: Innistrad concept art. Or perhaps the original playtest name was "Frankenstein's laboratory."
Modern analogue: Wizards doesn't really like these infinite combo enablers too much anymore. Phyrexian Altar was printed thirteen years ago.
When you think about it, Blood Funnel is a very similar card, except it's mandatory. And its uses are limited. And so is the timing.
Verdict: Severe nerfing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coral Helm
"Memo: all card art must now contain backgrounds. No more of that Word of Command stuff."
"Yeah yeah I'll paint a background. Here are some bubbles. It's underwater."
Modern analogue: Narcissism was a big upgrade in 2002. Nothing else is really that close.
I could just point to Vulshok Morningstar again. I know it's not repeatable, but... at 3 mana and a discard per use, Coral Helm is barely repeatable itself.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jalum Tome
What's now called looting was perhaps once called Toming.
Or Jaluming.
Modern analogue: Hey I discussed all of this in my Arabian Nights article, when I was making fun of Jandor's Ring.
The basic idea was that this is the best looter artifacts have ever had. But red and especially blue get way better ones all the time.
Verdict: Severe power creep (off-color).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urza's Miter
Why does Urza have a miter in the first place? I didn't even know he was religious, let alone a religious leader!
Modern analogue: Serum Tank is mighty similar. A few key differences that are too obvious to bother commenting on, but I don't think we're going to get any closer.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cursed Rack
Just how many of these dolls did Ashnod make? I know it's a different one, because the tears are in a different place.
Modern analogue: You might be looking at this card and thinking it looks really bad. You'd be right. But you wouldn't be in agreement with WotC, whose only replacement is the generally-worse Locust Miser.
It's stronger in duplicates, sure, and it can attack, but... come on. Just imagine how bad one of them is by itself. And how fragile they are. And how marginal effect it is even if you do have two out. That late in the game, what decks even care about lowering their hand size that much? Only one kind: a defensive deck that could easily deal with a vanilla 2/2.
Verdict: Light nerfing! The nerve!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Golgothian Sylex
So the ultimate form of destruction for all things in this universe takes the form of a lousy punch bowl. Wonderful. At least City In A Bottle made some flavor sense.
Modern analogue: Pssshhh.
Ummm.
Bbbbbbbb (runs finger up and down lips).
I guess Lux Cannon? (I'd say Nevinyrral's Disk but that was 16 years ago.
Verdict: Hung jury.
|
|
|
???
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mightstone
The flavor text mentions the cave of Koilos, which would eventually be printed in Apocalypse. We are still waiting on the Hall of Tagsin.
Modern analogue: Signal Pest is all of this for a fourth of the mana—a good deal, even if it is more vulnerable. The kind of aggro deck that could use this bonus can't be bothered with four drops anyway.
Contested War Zone is also similar (and similarly risky).
If you do want to get up to 4 mana, look at how much more Crescendo of War does!
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rocket Launcher
So there IS gunpowder on Dominaria.
Modern analogue: Goblin Cannon.
Verdict: Zero power creep (but could use some).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Staff of Zegon
The flavor text says Mishra was impressed by these.
Mishra is easily impressed.
Modern analogue: Belbe's Armor is a strict upgrade in a few ways.
Serrated Arrows and to a lesser extent Gnarled Effigy are usually better than Staff of Zegon.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tawnos's Coffin
This has always been one of my pet cards for reasons I can't quite explain.
Modern analogue: I don't believe there's any other card that Journeys to Nowhere different creatures one at a time. Helvault does it in multiples for way more mana.
Ajani Vengeant and Frost Titan can keep one creature at a time tapped out, which isn't too different from exiled.
Verdict: Severe power creep (off-color, and as a planeswalker)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tawnos's Wand
Yes, this picture is certainly somebody's wand. Nobody can argue against that. This could be a diagram in a textbook.
Modern analogue: Unblockability has gotten much cheaper since the mid '90s. Whispersilk Cloak has a double upgrade, and it still rarely sees play. Prowler's Helm does (almost) the same thing for even less mana.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weakstone
4, Artifact
Attacking creatures get -1/-0.
|
|
|
Weakstone
There is a picture for this card. The problem is that I refuse to reproduce it, on ethical grounds. It is one of the ugliest images in existence and I cannot in good conscience expose my readers to it unnecessarily.
This picture is so hideous that it's worth learning how to edit your MtGO art files just to avoid seeing it when you play. That's what I did. For this and Wit's End too. These are the visual equivalent of nails on a chalkboard!
Fortunately, the card itself isn't good, so you won't encounter its image too often.
Modern analogue: Juuuust compare this to Thunderstaff.
That's my whole commentary. Just look at one and then look at the other.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Armageddon Clock
Where did Magic's abstract art go! We need more of these.
Modern analogue: To save you the trouble of reading a ton of words, you spend 6 mana and deal accumulating damage to all players.
Jinxed Choker is the nearest thing, costing only 3 to cast instead of 6. And it has one important upgrade which might not be apparent at first: it gets one counter during every upkeep, not just every upkeep of yours. So it's half the mana and works twice as fast. And unlike Armageddon Clock, it can have counters added to it, not just taken away.
If you have never seen this thing in play, try it. It is alarming how quickly it builds up. It's way more effective than a Sulfuric Vortex.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bronze Tablet
Gotta interview Tom Wänerstrand. Are those symbols gibberish or do they mean something? Readers—do any of you know?
Modern analogue: Cutting through the stuff about ante, exchanging ownership, and the 10 life escape clause, this card is basically a ten-mana colorless Desert Twister.
That in mind, we can compare it to Maelstrom Pulse off-color or Spine of Ish Sah on-color.
Verdict: Severe power creep (if the ante half of the card is ignored).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rakalite
Hahahahahaha this card.
Modern analogue: Is there a way to prevent damage at a rate lower than XX6 for each use?
Well, yes. There is. I am not even going to waste everyone's time attempting to prove this fact.
Rakalite may be the only card to challenge Aladdin's Lamp's title of the most overcosted card ever printed.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
|
|
|
|
34 Comments
I apologize in advance If I come across as being mean here, but I feel I need to get this off my chest.
I just really don't understand the purpose of these articles.
Are you trying to show how things have changed now that Wizards actually understands card/set design?
Are you trying to make people aware of older cards that they might not know about?
Are you trying to be funny? (I don't find them to be overly funny.)
Whichever of those (or whatever goal) you might be aiming for can easily be achieved wihout having to go through every card in the set.
Every time one of these articles has been posted, all I can see is that it's pure masturbation - it's done for you're own pleasure. I really don't see what kind of information is being presented in this article outside of listing the cards from older sets. I have made this comment in the past and I feel that I have to say it again. This just seems like it belongs on the forums at MTGSalvation and not as an article here.
I am in no way intending this as an attack on Cotton, I know he spends a lot of time on these and there definitely is value in looking back at old forgotten cards. It just seems to me that this is not the right place for this type of thing to be presented.
"It just seems to me that this is not the right place for this type of thing to be presented."
That's precisely how I feel about most draft/sealed deck reports. My point being every article is not for everyone. There are some of us who enjoy these articles by Cotton. Taste is diverse if nothing else.
I think his aim here is a combination of being humourous, being informative and also poking fun at WOTC's R&D who sometimes seem like they really get it and sometimes seem like they haven't learned a thing. Plus he may also be trying to get people to think about why cards exist, even if they don't fit the average Spike's dream of perfect cards.
If it were written as a forum post believe me Cotton would not have had this published.
There is value in piece, I see them as a humor piece, and I think they are very well written. Yes it's out of place, it's not a strategy piece or a draft recap, but I like to offer different things.
We have a wide audience, that's why Pauper gets it's own day, and Modern is starting to get it's own day.
Not everything we publish is going to go over like gangbusters, but Cotton has written here long enough that I trust what he writes, if they were not successful pieces we would not be up to Antiquities now.
I stand behind my writers, and you're more than welcome to write as well, I know that I get plenty of feedback on the site from my emails and reddit, and this series goes over pretty well. It's nice to be ridiculous every so often!
Thank you for your feedback, it was much appreciated.
PureMTGO has never been purely a strategy site. Heck, every day there are probably another 20 strategy articles that go up across a variety of sites. I think these types of articles are especially good at what they do: Entertain while looking at a different side of Magic. As an older player I especially enjoy these types of articles just because I haven't thought about a ton of these cards, that I used to play with, in a very long time. I appreciate seeing this kind of stuff especially because it's outside the normal box.
And you might not find them funny, but I do.
To add to the comments others have already made,
You're right that my articles aren't useful. As a Magic player, I have little to no interest in competitive playing, or in anything spikey. Readers who are looking for that type of content will find nothing of substance in anything I write. This includes my "then vs. now" series, my "fun with __" series, all the other series, AND all the random one-offs. Like that one where I spent an entire article illustrating how to make a creature (like BFM's flavor text) literally wear a Polar Kraken and Phyrexian Dreadnought as jewelry. One of my favorites by the way. But in no way useful.
Most of my articles begin with a disclaimer about their irrelevance to tournament players. This particular one was the (I think) seventh in its series, so I didn't bother, but perhaps I should have.
As for why I did write it, there's really only one main purpose, and it's none of the ones you mentioned. That purpose is that I found it interesting. I've been playing Magic since Ice Age (about 16 of its 20 years), and I've watched the game grow over time. Not a lot of people have stuck with it that long, and don't have the perspective on it that I have, and they might find it interesting too. Other people have been playing as long (or longer) than I, and they might enjoy it for nostalgic reasons. Other people still don't really care about the history, and I guess I can't do much for them, but at least I'll have hit two different demographics already. This is arguably enough to justify publishing it.
The issue remains, should they be published HERE? This is a very good question. The name of the site is "Pure MtGO," and if we allow this series on this site, then we have allowed an impurity; they are not about MtGO. I admit to having been very worried myself about breaching this boundary, and I've lost many nights of sleep over it. But it seems the owner of the site is okay with it, and who am I to argue policy with my boss?
In closing, I don't like sports, but every newspaper still has a sports section.
"In closing, I don't like sports, but every newspaper still has a sports section."
Yeah, I've been thinking since a while to write a letter to the newspaper I read, saying, "Please explain to me what's the purpose of your sports section. I keep reading it, and it does nothing for me, because I don't like sports. In fact, I don't even understand most of what's written on it. So why is it even there? I feel like it should be on some other newspaper that I don't read."
These are cards you can play with on MTGO, I think you met the criteria. Heath has not mentioned anything to me about it, and you have the full backing of your content manager. Keep them coming please!
I am glad to hear that people do like these articles. I'd rather know that it's just my different taste that opposes these articles rather some actual percentage of the readership here having the same point of view as me.
After the second or third of the Alpha articles, I realized that it was really pointless for me to voice my opinion about these articles. I know that this site has a wide range of readers and not everything is going to appeal to everyone.
When the first Arabian Nights article came out, the comparison using Jeweled Bird just really rubbed me the wrong way. If you've never played for ante, then you have no idea how powerful that card actually is - it was the deciding card in winning the 2001 Magic Invitational. There really is no way to compare non-ante cards to it. Once I saw that card analogy, I just started looking at how many other cards I felt were misrepresented in the article. I chose not to say anything because it seemed like I was just nitpicking and looking for something to complain about. I was reading the article in hopes that there might be some historical references to the older cards to show how some of them had a place in the past even if they seem rather useless now. Nothing like that was included, so I felt I was just reacting to the article falling short of my own expectations. Singing Tree jumped out at me in the second AN article. This is a creature that can block one attacker and use it's ability on another - a fact that was completely overlooked in the card analogy. Anyone that drafted Master Edition 1 knows how this card can completely stall a game. So again I went to see how many mistakes I could find in the analogies. And again, I kept my silence with my views on the article.
Then this one came out - and the very first card analogy has a HUGE error in it. Ashnod's Transmogrant turns a creature into an artifact creatue at instant speed (or as a "fast effect" for anyone who remembers what that is). When this card was printed, Terror was one of the most powerful removal spells around. Among it's other uses, Ashnod's Transmogrant was insurance against Terror. Immediately, I thought 2 things to myself - (1) "Try doing that with Shuko" and (2) "If you're going to write these meaningless articles, at least try to do them correctly." That second one is pretty harsh - definitely more harsh than how I prefer to word my criticisms, but it is basically how I feel towards the articles and is exactly what went through my mind.
At that point, I just couldn't hold back anymore and felt I had to say something. So I made my comment. I decided to focus on my issues with the purpose of the article rather than the mistakes I saw in the content. It is pretty obvious to me that my reaction to them led me to scour them for whatever mistakes were there to find. I didn't really want my criticism to just be "You got this card wrong, and this card, and this card..."
All I'm doing here is writing out what went through my mind when I read these articles and made my criticism. I have no idea if you or anyone is actually interested in my thought process, but it may shed some light on my feelings and reaction to the articles.
I really don't like to be the person that takes the negative viewpoint of what should be a positive situation. And again, I am glad to hear that plenty of people do enjoy the articles. I'm just one person, and just as much as the website should cater its content to any one person I hope you don't feel that the opinions/criticisms of one person hold anymore importance than those of any other one person.
Fair points, and I admit freely that my comparisons are sometimes imperfect. Of course I welcome discussions in the comments section.
Those are all great points. I'll defend Cotton's articles as fun, but now I want you to comment more on them to bring in the history of these cards from a tournament perspective that he may not know about.
I enjoy these articles for a number of reasons, they are interesting to a huge swath of magic psychographs and while the humor may range from subtle to slapstick its a bit much to outright dismiss it. These are light hearted design articles that manage to bridge the gap of older players and newer players.
i feel like maybe your being overly harsh just cause you can't find any enjoyment from the series.
Off subject, but when you have the time whiffy, I'd like to see you start writing again
I like 'em cuz they're fun.
These are my favorite articles on the site. Perhaps because I actually played with those cards. (Collosus of Sardia, how I hate thee!)
So by all means, keep them coming.
I love the articles because you know the varied audience, and because this are cards that I have memories of.
"A creature of yours". Immediately starts pointing at the opponent's creatures and shouting, "Mine, mine, mine, mine!"
It's always fascinating to look back at the glorious era before the templating. I can't believe that they needed Rosewater (a comedy writer!) to point out that, I don't know, maybe they should start using unambiguous expressions and recurring terms, like board games used to do since about 50 years. What's weird is that Garfield, a mathematician, was behind this. You would think it would all be extra rigorous. Maybe he was actively trying to be more casual. So that the comedy writer had to come and tell the mathematician to be more accurate.
That was just a miter that belonged to Urza. He inherited it from a bishop uncle. He would only wear it for masquerade balls.
I can't tell who's who in Primal Clay, but why the girl is so happy and the guy seems upset at her? And why do they even exist simultaneously, if they are different forms of the same creature?
I hear you about Weakstone, that art is the stuff nightmares are made of. But losing the actual card made you overlook the flavor text, which is the exact same one from Mightstone, except that while Urza found the Mightstone, Mishra found the Weakstone. Mishra should have seen it coming.
As lax as the templating was, it's not to say they didn't at least catch a few problems before print. My favorite story is how Time Walk's wording used to be "Target player loses next turn." Hmmmm pretty strong for just 1U!
Good point about the miter. Or maybe it was a true "artifact" and just something he dug up and brushed the dirt off of.
I always enjoy these. The mightstone and weakstone 'appeared' in New Phyrexia by dint of being the reason their current owner is its current card type.
Yeah, it turns out that if you combine +1/+0 and -1/-0, the result is "Exile target permanent".
Wit's End: I guess you meant to link the Dissension one? (The existence of another version makes the solution of that problem easier, anyway.)
The reprint of wits end is much easier on the eyes. But didn't the m13 have a printing error in the flavor text.
It does! They fixed it on MTGO, of course. Yay digital cards!
I read a article under the same title some time ago, but this articles quality is much, much better. How you do this.. Zonnepanelen installatie
Glad to chat your blog, I seem to be forward to more reliable articles and I think we all wish to thank so many good articles, blog to share with us. Airco installatie
I would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post. Zonnepanelen
I was taking a gander at some of your posts on this site and I consider this site is truly informational! Keep setting up.. Laserontharing
I just found this blog and have high hopes for it to continue. Keep up the great work, its hard to find good ones. I have added to my favorites. Thank You. REC zonnepanelen
I am overwhelmed by your post with such a nice topic. Usually I visit your blogs and get updated through the information you include but today’s blog would be the most appreciable. Well done! Zonnepanelen systemen
I was taking a gander at some of your posts on this site and I consider this site is truly informational! Keep setting up.. Thuisbatterij
Writing with style and getting good compliments on the article is quite hard, to be honest.But you've done it so calmly and with so cool feeling and you've nailed the job. This article is possessed with style and I am giving good compliment. Best! Zonnepanelen
Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! Laserontharing
It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commentators here! Thuisbatterij kopen
Glad to chat your blog, I seem to be forward to more reliable articles and I think we all wish to thank so many good articles, blog to share with us. Premies zonnepanelen
I really enjoyed reading this post, big fan. Keep up the good work andplease tell me when can you publish more articles or where can I read more on the subject? Qcells zonnepanelen