The planeswalker and the crescent
November 24th 2010 00:33
The disproportionate emphasis placed on competitive Magic formats that use recent cards has not affected quite everyone. There was a brief discussion on a certain forum about how cool Arabian Nights was, and whether there would ever be another Arabic/Persian expansion. Unfortunately, it didn’t last as long as the thread about “The Secret Cabal of Sue-Happy Collectors,” but that’s a topic for another time.
I reject the notion that an expansion based on a non-Western culture, or specifically an Islamic culture, is impossible in the modern era. If nothing else, Zendikar, Worldwake, and Rise of the Eldrazi drew on popular conceptions of ancient Persia in much the same way that Robert E. Howard adapted real-world cultures for his Conan novels. Still, it’s interesting to note that Wizards of the Coast recently devoted four entire sets (the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks) to creatures and concepts lifted directly from British folklore, but chose a more indirect approach for Zendikar (names that could exist in Persian but were made-up). Personally, I wouldn’t have minded seeing variations on Black Knight and White Knight named Champion of Ahriman and Champion of Ahura Mazda, but it wasn’t to be.
There’s no way to know whether or not they actually feared a backlash, but they shouldn’t. First of all, while the rivalry and mistrust between the modern-day Western and Islamic worlds is very real, this would not necessarily translate into a lack of interest in Arabian or Persian history, or in aspects of those mythologies and cultures that are not directly related to that rivalry. Second of all, there is ample proof, from Conan to Assassin’s Creed, that fictional worlds that incorporate real elements from our own world can be just as compelling and filled with interesting stories as ones that don’t.
I reject the notion that an expansion based on a non-Western culture, or specifically an Islamic culture, is impossible in the modern era. If nothing else, Zendikar, Worldwake, and Rise of the Eldrazi drew on popular conceptions of ancient Persia in much the same way that Robert E. Howard adapted real-world cultures for his Conan novels. Still, it’s interesting to note that Wizards of the Coast recently devoted four entire sets (the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks) to creatures and concepts lifted directly from British folklore, but chose a more indirect approach for Zendikar (names that could exist in Persian but were made-up). Personally, I wouldn’t have minded seeing variations on Black Knight and White Knight named Champion of Ahriman and Champion of Ahura Mazda, but it wasn’t to be.
There’s no way to know whether or not they actually feared a backlash, but they shouldn’t. First of all, while the rivalry and mistrust between the modern-day Western and Islamic worlds is very real, this would not necessarily translate into a lack of interest in Arabian or Persian history, or in aspects of those mythologies and cultures that are not directly related to that rivalry. Second of all, there is ample proof, from Conan to Assassin’s Creed, that fictional worlds that incorporate real elements from our own world can be just as compelling and filled with interesting stories as ones that don’t.
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