Author: MtGColorPie

After MaRo – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

I love the fact that R&D is pushing the Race/Class model.

Quick aside: If you don’t know what the Race/Class model is, pick up a creature card, let’s say um, Coiling Oracle. Let’s take a look at it (Hint: it’s to the right). For the card type line we see: Creature – Snake Elf Druid. That creature is all of those types (A snake, an elf, and a druid) for every card that cares about creature types. Elvish Harbinger can search him up, can trigger Sosuke’s Summons, and can tap to Seton, Kroasn Protector. Its race (what the creature actually is) is a snake and an elf, and its class (what’s its role in its society is) is a druid. While not every creature has a class, every creature has a race (except Nameless Race, which was updated with the first creature type clean up). But remember, everything on the card type line is the creature type. Remember to check Gatherer for updates to old cards (Creature type update 1, update 2).

Why is this a good thing? Why do we need the Race/Class model in Magic? In the beginning there was “Summon X” and all was good. But over the past 15 years, Wizards have changed it, and some people think that it loses some flavor when it looks a little more structured. Sure, it’s much cleaner for rules, but it lost it’s fantasy flavor. But this is where it can make up with the fantasy fans. I’m not into D&D or WoW (don’t shoot me, I’ve got my one addiction), but I know that those fantasy games have the same race/class markup. Wizards pushed this so they could fit more with those fantasy games, something that Magic didn’t have at the beginning of the game. It added the flavor back into the game, which I love, as long as it doesn’t ruin mechanics (sorry, I’m more of a game interaction than flavor fan). Continue reading “After MaRo – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?”

After MaRo – Rejected Lorwyn Promos

A funny thing happened yesterday: it snowed in the Seattle area. Drivers who aren’t used to the snow (you know the kind, the ones with the four wheel drive SUVs that think they can handle everything and goes 90 down the unplowed highway) seem to have it out for people who drive carefully. The smart people who didn’t have to be anywhere yesterday, telecommuted from home.

Why do bring this up? When I called Wizards yesterday to talk to MaRo about his Warriors column, they told me he stayed home because of the weather. I said yeah right, there’s no snow, it never snows in Seattle. That’s when I looked outside. Sigh, fine. And, of course they wouldn’t give me his home phone number; something about privacy and harassment, whatever, I wasn’t paying attention. But I wasn’t going to let some frozen water get in my way.

As I was sitting on my couch last night watching TV when I saw one of those Morningtide Promos on Adult Swim for the release event happening this weekend. If you haven’t seen them, here’s one they had for Chanrda Nalaar (I can’t find any Morningtide ones on YouTube yet).

This made me sad, as I had produced those type of ads for Wizards before. Yes, I did ads in that very same style for the Lorywn release dates. Wizards asked me to make some “Adult Swim” type promos, and after the snafo they had with the Time Spiral ones (Scroll down to the Akroma picture to get that story), they wanted something more edgy. After showing them mine, they rejected them as they thought it was too “Pop-culturey” and “Made Wizards look bad” and “We’re a family company.” Whatever. You guys decide for yourselves. My last one is my personal favorite.

This first one is the card Hurly-Burly:

Continue reading “After MaRo – Rejected Lorwyn Promos”

Tom Sawyer Visted these Cards – “White” Planar Chaos Timeshifted Cards

Welcome to the last(?) Planar Chaos review article. Sigh. It brings a tear to my eye. If you read the title and don’t know what I’m talking about, Read a Book (This is a link to the CNN story, not the video. You can find the video from there, but it’s NSFW. This is not the time nor the place for social commentary, but if you want to talk about it with me, e-mail me: mtgcolorpie@gmail).

In this final(?) look at timeshifted cards, we finally get 2 cards that I’ve been waiting for years in White. Not because I love White cards, it’s the fact that they should get those cards. What we see is the other Core Set plant (The first being Prodigal Pyromancer), and an area that I wish White would venture into, but I don’t really see it happening, and that makes me a Sad Panda.

Calciderm – Blastoderm
 Continue reading “Tom Sawyer Visted these Cards – “White” Planar Chaos Timeshifted Cards”

Design Class – What Happens when Wizards “Steals” your Keyword

Surprise! There’s no After MaRo today. Ask me why? Because, it actually deals with what he was talking about with a new keyword ability: Evoke.

Here is what MaRo first came up with when he (so he claims) came with up with the idea of Evoke (called animate). After rules problems, it was changed to what it looks like today.

When we (as non-Wizards employees) create sets, we like to come up with keywords, because as research shows, players love keywords. About 5 years ago, I was working on cards when I was sitting bored in class and at work, like I always do. I came across a cool idea for a keyword that would mostly be used on creatures, but it could be seen on artifacts, enchantments and lands. It plays out like this:

Aggression [cost] (As an additional cost to play this, you may pay the aggression cost. If you don’t, sacrifice ~this~ at the end of the turn.)

After I saw Evoke, I knew that there was similarities, but it wasn’t until yesterday when I saw how close Evoke was/is to Aggression. There are differences (as mine were still creatures, but acted like spells) but it begs the question: can I still develop Aggression as a keyword since Wizards (Offically) put out Evoke?

Editor’s Note: Yes, I know that Wizards didn’t steal my idea. It’s just how a person feels after they see something like what they’ve been working on gets made for real. Plus, it makes for an interesting title.

Continue reading “Design Class – What Happens when Wizards “Steals” your Keyword”

The Color Pie Identity Project – White

Editor’s Note: Yes, the prerelease set me back some time. Don’t worry, the posts will be shorter for the first day of the week, so they will be on time.

Welcome to the final color in my grand Color Pie Identity Project. By no means, is White the weakest color. In fact, over all, it can be the most powerful. The problem is the past is that even though White has had great cards, they have just been over matched at by other cards at that time.

Today, we look at the color as a whole and try and decide what White means, since it’s constantly viewed as the “lost child” where Wizards try to throw things to make them stick.
Continue reading “The Color Pie Identity Project – White”