The path of metal
September 8th 2010 06:03
“Ain’t nothin’ like the old school.”
-- Tupac Shakur
Miracle of miracles. The number of people actively claiming the Ravnica era as Magic’s best years has actually dropped off recently. Whatever the cause, it had a surprisingly long lifespan in the collective imagination.
Its heir apparent is one I would have found very unlikely had I not been around to read the forum posts and the retrospectives: Time Spiral. Evidently, there was something about the way Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, and Future Sight revisited older mechanics, presented clever in-jokes about older cards, and artistically evoked the mood of a bygone era that appealed to fans.
And, apparently, appealed to Wizards of the Coast as well.
Scars of Mirrodin has a number of new versions of cards from the original Mirrodin block. It has art that directly references cards that were in the original Mirrodin block but are not being reissued. It uses the Imprint mechanic, a signature of the original Mirrodin block. Its flavor and lore feature famous names from Mirrodin, both people like Memnarch and places like the Quicksilver Sea. Its art has the same retro-style biomech vibe as we saw back in 2003.
As such, it is less the third “artifact set” than the second “nostalgia set.” Scars of Mirrodin may be a relatively safe option, giving people more of what they liked about the original expansion, but it is also a laudable attempt to tell new stories in an old setting and thus deepen and expand that world beyond what could be told in only three card sets.
Lore that is bigger than the game is not just fun for the fans. It is a characteristic of some of the most successful franchises in gaming history – Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Resident Evil, Killzone. By the numbers, Magic is already in that pantheon of legends. By this characteristic, Magic will be there very, very soon.
-- Tupac Shakur
Miracle of miracles. The number of people actively claiming the Ravnica era as Magic’s best years has actually dropped off recently. Whatever the cause, it had a surprisingly long lifespan in the collective imagination.
I give the block a lot of grief, but it had things I like in it – every set does.
Its heir apparent is one I would have found very unlikely had I not been around to read the forum posts and the retrospectives: Time Spiral. Evidently, there was something about the way Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, and Future Sight revisited older mechanics, presented clever in-jokes about older cards, and artistically evoked the mood of a bygone era that appealed to fans.
And, apparently, appealed to Wizards of the Coast as well.
Scars of Mirrodin has a number of new versions of cards from the original Mirrodin block. It has art that directly references cards that were in the original Mirrodin block but are not being reissued. It uses the Imprint mechanic, a signature of the original Mirrodin block. Its flavor and lore feature famous names from Mirrodin, both people like Memnarch and places like the Quicksilver Sea. Its art has the same retro-style biomech vibe as we saw back in 2003.
As such, it is less the third “artifact set” than the second “nostalgia set.” Scars of Mirrodin may be a relatively safe option, giving people more of what they liked about the original expansion, but it is also a laudable attempt to tell new stories in an old setting and thus deepen and expand that world beyond what could be told in only three card sets.
Lore that is bigger than the game is not just fun for the fans. It is a characteristic of some of the most successful franchises in gaming history – Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Resident Evil, Killzone. By the numbers, Magic is already in that pantheon of legends. By this characteristic, Magic will be there very, very soon.
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