Retrospectives, part 4 - Legions
June 10th 2009 05:53
Correction: This article stated that two cards from Legions were reprinted in Time Spiral's timeshifted subset. In fact, there were four: Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Essence Sliver, Krosan Cloudscraper, and Withered Wretch. Even better than I thought.
2002 was a year of change and new experiences – but what year isn’t in Magic? 2001 and 2002, though, arguably had more than their share. Somebody in the creative department read A Canticle for Leibowitz, or some such, and gave us a couple of blocks based on a post-apocalyptic landscape ruled by warring gangs and punctuated by the shattered remnants of greater technology (or, since we’re talking Magic, spellcraft). Most sets from the previous four years followed a formula involving reprinting a few staple cards, adding some variants thereon that used the block mechanic, and giving them all paintings depicting Gerrard Capashen or one of his crew members. Not that those sets weren’t good, but you can imagine that playing what seemed to be havoc with the print run – as Legions did by being 100% creatures, or Torment did by having more black cards than any other color – would cause some consternation, at least at first.
Legions was actually very cleverly constructed. Creatures may be the most important part of Magic, but a lot of essential functions are performed by spells as well. What, then, is a set like Legions to do? The designers found ways to replicate the effect of many staple spells but still attach them to creature cards. At the time, and now, I thought they should have been applauded.
Not everyone agreed. Despite the fact that nearly every deck of the era played at least a couple of creatures, some of Magic’s followers decided that Legions had nothing to offer. Creatures, apparently, were for the unintelligent or unsophisticated; they would not buy the set (or at most, a couple of cards they needed for their Tier One netdeck), and they assured us the rest of the fans would follow their lead.
Then the sales figures came in.
Legions was, and remains, the best-selling Magic set of all time! It moved more boosters than Ravnica. It had two representatives in Time Spiral’s timeshifted subset, and ten in the Tenth Edition.
So why all the online hate? Unfortunately, much of the internet’s discussion and debate about Magic is weighed down by faulty logic and fallacies. In the case of Legions, it involves but is by no means limited to the problem of sampling: naysayers often assume that they or their playgroup are typical of the entire fanbase, when in reality they are only typical of themselves.
(Because this bias is also common on many Wikipedia-style projects, Encyclopedia Dramatica has parodied it extensively and humorously – see their articles ”At least 100” and ”Some argue,” among others.)
Additionally, a large part of it comes down to the fact that Legions was simply different from what people were expecting and what they were used to. This kind of reaction may be human nature, but we’ll all do better in this game if we can get a handle on it.
2002 was a year of change and new experiences – but what year isn’t in Magic? 2001 and 2002, though, arguably had more than their share. Somebody in the creative department read A Canticle for Leibowitz, or some such, and gave us a couple of blocks based on a post-apocalyptic landscape ruled by warring gangs and punctuated by the shattered remnants of greater technology (or, since we’re talking Magic, spellcraft). Most sets from the previous four years followed a formula involving reprinting a few staple cards, adding some variants thereon that used the block mechanic, and giving them all paintings depicting Gerrard Capashen or one of his crew members. Not that those sets weren’t good, but you can imagine that playing what seemed to be havoc with the print run – as Legions did by being 100% creatures, or Torment did by having more black cards than any other color – would cause some consternation, at least at first.
I always thought Orim was cooler than Gerrard. (As for Torment, that’s a story for another Retrospectives article.)
Legions was actually very cleverly constructed. Creatures may be the most important part of Magic, but a lot of essential functions are performed by spells as well. What, then, is a set like Legions to do? The designers found ways to replicate the effect of many staple spells but still attach them to creature cards. At the time, and now, I thought they should have been applauded.
Not everyone agreed. Despite the fact that nearly every deck of the era played at least a couple of creatures, some of Magic’s followers decided that Legions had nothing to offer. Creatures, apparently, were for the unintelligent or unsophisticated; they would not buy the set (or at most, a couple of cards they needed for their Tier One netdeck), and they assured us the rest of the fans would follow their lead.
Then the sales figures came in.
Legions was, and remains, the best-selling Magic set of all time! It moved more boosters than Ravnica. It had two representatives in Time Spiral’s timeshifted subset, and ten in the Tenth Edition.
I wish I may, I wish I might . . .
So why all the online hate? Unfortunately, much of the internet’s discussion and debate about Magic is weighed down by faulty logic and fallacies. In the case of Legions, it involves but is by no means limited to the problem of sampling: naysayers often assume that they or their playgroup are typical of the entire fanbase, when in reality they are only typical of themselves.
(Because this bias is also common on many Wikipedia-style projects, Encyclopedia Dramatica has parodied it extensively and humorously – see their articles ”At least 100” and ”Some argue,” among others.)
Additionally, a large part of it comes down to the fact that Legions was simply different from what people were expecting and what they were used to. This kind of reaction may be human nature, but we’ll all do better in this game if we can get a handle on it.
If, as Stewie did, you stare out the hole in the wall and proclaim “I don’t like change!”, don’t go to MagicTheGathering.com today.
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