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The Multi-Mini-Article

And in a vein very close to Anthony’s, Daniel also goes nuts with random topics! Yet he has only two.

Recently, I’ve been gathering several ideas that I’ve wanted to put forth into article form, but none of them are so vast that I can write an entire article about them. So, I’ve decided to take all of those ideas and put them together in a semi-coherent way. It’s not exactly a randomness article, but this is no essay!

My first order of business is to share with you a bit of trivia that might actually make itself into Magic Lingo. While taking a trip to the dictionary this week, I happened upon the word "slough." Way down at the bottom of the second form of the word was this:

"10. In cards: to discard (a card from hand)"

Now, tell me that that isn’t the coolest way to say discard! "I’ll cast Stupor. Slough two." "I’ll play Ravenous Rats; you slough a card from your hand." This opens up a whole new field for nicknames. Favorites such as our four discarding specters can now be called: Hypnotic Slougher, Abyssal Slougher, Blazing Slougher, and Doomsday Slougher. We’ve also got Slough Rats. And, although we can’t change Recoil’s name very well, we can say something like, "What? You’ve got no cards in your hand? Well then, I’ll Recoil that Two-Headed Dragon to your hand. Now, slough that sucker!" I love it. {wipes tear from eye}

Speaking of tournaments … *blink* … I took my BlastoGeddon deck to a Type Two tournament recently. It was just a local thing, but I hadn’t played the deck in a tournament environment in a long time, so I was hoping that it could still stand up to the challenge. Well, to make a long story short, Birds of Paradise stops Blinding Angel just long enough for my deck to smash U/W control, and Light of Day just quite isn’t good enough to stop double-Chimeric Idol beats when all I have out is a Charging Troll. In other words, I took second place. But, how did I get there? Armageddon! Armageddon is the hugest stick white has to offer these days; it’s even bigger than Wrath of God sometimes. However, the term "these days" is pretty relevant in the previous sentence… Because some joker up in Wizards thought it would be funny not to reprint Armageddon in Seventh Edition! I think he must have smoked one too many foil Juzams, because Armageddon is a staple of Magic that’s been around since the very beginning. I almost take it personally that Armageddon got the sack, whereas Wrath of God gets to live large and in charge for another two years. I just hope that the guys in 2003 know what they’re doing and bring my baby back to Standard!

So, speaking of Seventh Edition … (this one was a bit easier to understand, eh?) … I think it’s all right. I’ll publicly say that I was dead wrong about Serra Angel. I thought they’d never bring it back, and I didn’t believe it until I saw a real one in a binder. (Of course, if they can take away Armageddon, I guess they can do anything they darn well please…) Mahamoti Djinn is also an interesting addition. It’s also interesting to note that Worship, Might of Oaks, Arcane Laboratory, Shivan Dragon, DURESS*, and Coat of Arms made it in, while we say good-bye to Crusade, Chill, River Boa, Hammer of Bogarden, and PERISH*. Times are definitely a-changing! And, speaking of changing, we’ve got foil Birds of Paradise now! And, the foils of Seventh Edition are all black bordered, even the basic lands. The foils look awesome, and it’s now possible to truly have an all-foil deck. I’m rather excited about this little turn of events as well. Also different in Seventh Edition is the artwork and flavor text of every card. They’ve completely redone the art of and given new flavor text to each card in the set. They cards are no longer personal (i.e., Opposition no longer has anything to do with Urza) but made generic in picture and quote. Although the flavor texts aren’t story-related, they’re not bad, so I won’t complain.

And, while I’m on the subject of change, I thought I’d bring up something new I’ve been introduced to: Mage Knight. I’m sure that most of you have heard of it. It’s basically a miniatures game where the figures are pre-constructed and pre-painted. You simply have to open a pack and get playing. I’ve played a game and have a slight grasp of the rules, though I’m not nearly proficient enough to know anything about strategy. What I do know is that the figure combat system makes things a little bit more personal, and the dudes look totally awesome. There’s a big luck factor in die rolls, and a guy with an army full of uniques will smash some kid with a bunch of yellows. Sounds like Magic. 🙂

But, Magic players seem to be neatly divided into three groups concerning Mage Knight. There are the players who embrace Mage Knight as a "cooler" form of Magic and who have been clutched by the entrancing look of 3-D figures; then there are those that scoff at the textured upstarts and mock those that play. Of course, there’s also the group of those who sit right in between not caring one way or another – people like me. I might buy a pack and play a game every once in a while, but I definitely won’t get into it as much as Magic. It’ll be interesting to see how Mage Knight evolves over time, especially in the upcoming future.

Well, that’ll just about do it for this week. I’ll close with a hint about next week’s article. I’m going to be taking a look at what famous literary characters might look as Magic cards. For instance, Sydney Carton from "A Tale of Two Cities" might sacrifice himself to save two other legends, or Hamlet might sacrifice himself to destroy six target legends. (Actually, to be technical, you’d sacrifice Hamlet to destroy TWO target legends, you would sacrifice Laertes to destroy Hamlet, and your opponents could pay mana to force you to use King Claudius to destroy target Queen – The Ferrett) I have in mind a set with the only creatures as legends based on classic characters in literature. So, if you have any ideas of creatures, spells, or lands that might be in the set, let me know, and I might put your ideas on the Big ‘Net next week.

Until then!

Daniel Crane

* – Can you name the reference?