Card of the Day - December, 2005


Thursday, December 01, 2005
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Card of the Day - Friday, December 30, 2005

Mistform Ultimus

Legions rare. The smallest font on any Magic card is the legal text on Who/What/When/Where/Why, which is 2 point. To show all the creature types currently on Mistform Ultimus would take around .40 point... click here to see which you like better!
Card of the Day - Thursday, December 29, 2005

Mistform Ultimus

Legions rare. Being every creature type ever printed leads to some pretty whacky scenarios. For example, Mistform Ultimus is the only goblin that forces you to sacrifice your Goblins of the Flarg. It's also infamous around the office for constantly monkeying around with trivia questions like "how many non-flying dragons are there?"
Card of the Day - Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Mistform Ultimus

Legions rare. During the design of Legions there was one mistform creature that became all creature types for 1 Mana. The result turned out to be so interesting that the ability was instead set to be always active, with no cost.
Card of the Day - Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Mistform Ultimus

Legions rare. One of the many quirks of Mistform Ultimus is that he's the only flagbearer that doesn't actually have the flagbearer ability. And yet, as long as there's at least one other flagbearer in play, he basically gets the ability anyway!
Card of the Day - Monday, December 26, 2005

Mistform Ultimus

Legions rare. With the addition of Betrayers, Mistform Ultimus is now a Mutant Ninja Turtle. Magic doesn't have any cards with creature type "Teenage" but thanks to Boris Devilboon, Mistform Ultimus is a Minor.
Card of the Day - Friday, December 23, 2005

Crimson Manticore

Legends rare. Legends was the first expansion to feature this type of ability, which R&D calls "Range-Strike." Early on this ability appeared in red and white, but later the ability would be seen much more strongly as strictly white. One reason for this is that the threat of range-strike discourages hand-to-hand combat, which is the opposite of red's philosophy.
Card of the Day - Thursday, December 22, 2005

Razormane Masticore

Fifth Dawn rare. Though "Manticore" is a well-established type of fantasy creature, "Masticores" are unique to Magic. When the first Masticore was named, the idea was to play on the word "masticate", which means to grind or crush with one's teeth. Note that the art for both Masticores features prominent toothy goodness.
Card of the Day - Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Coretapper

Darksteel uncommon. During Mirrodin's design process it was decided that the set had too much going on thematically, and a fairly major theme was removed so that it could be used in a later set more centrally. This card is a holdover from that early theme.
Card of the Day - Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Mirrodin's Core

Darksteel uncommon. One of the secrets of Mirrodin that Glissa Sunseeker learns is that the world is hollow. Contained within that mysterious center is an inner sun of pure mana, depicted in the art for this card. Note that this card's art also features part of the great Mycosynth Lattice.
Card of the Day - Monday, December 19, 2005

Masticore

Urza's Destiny rare. Masticore was so good it was later featured in the art of Deep Analysis being dissected. The flavor text explained it all: “The specimen seems to be broken.”
Card of the Day - Friday, December 16, 2005

Carven Caryatid

Ravnica uncommon. From a design perspective, the difference between Wall of Blossoms and Carven Caryatid lies in the critical question: "How much is drawing a card off of a creature coming into play worth?" Wall of Blossoms was only two mana, and easily splashable, and as a result R&D generally feels that the card was a bit too good because players were more likely to use it primarily for the card, and only secondarily for the wall. With Carven Caryatid the cost was upped by one and an extra colored mana was added, but in return the wall was given enough power to punish attacking weenies, significantly increasing the card's defensive potency and making the extra card a bit more of a secondary feature.
 
Card of the Day - Thursday, December 15, 2005

Flame Fusillade

Ravnica rare. As formats include more cards, quirky interactions become more likely. Flame Fusillade has been making a splash in the Legacy format because it creates a repeating combo with Time Vault. (As a side note, Time Vault is remarkable because activating its ability involves paying something you don't have yet! Because you "pay" with turns from the future, Time Vault is one of very few Magic cards to have a cost that basically gets paid on credit!)
Card of the Day - Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Surveilling Sprite

Ravnica common. There are many ways a creature's effects can be adjusted for power level. Creatures that draw cards only when they go to the graveyard are somewhat less powerful than creatures that draw a card when they come into play. Having the choice between both gives designers options when coming up with new ways to combine creatures and abilities. The ability to draw a card when creatures perish is one R&D has been experimenting more with lately.
Card of the Day - Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Followed Footsteps

Ravnica rare. This card was created during the final stages of Ravnica design. Several holes remained to be filled at the rare slot, so a cycle of auras with unusual and powerful effects was created to complement the set's aura sub-theme. The cycle originally included one aura for each color, but only Followed Footsteps made it into Ravnica. (The green one, however, will make its appearance in Dissension.)
Card of the Day - Monday, December 12, 2005

Scatter the Seeds

Ravnica common. The most important reason for dividing up design and development is to allow set designers maximum creative opportunity. It’s a good system, but sometimes leads to amusing changes as cards move from the design file to development playtesting. The first version of Scatter the Seeds actually cost three mana in an attempt to see just how good convoke was. That version of the card was insanely good, particularly when drawn in multiples!
Card of the Day - Friday, December 09, 2005

1996 World Champion

Special promotional card. The rarest card in Magic, only one of these was ever produced. Embedded in the 1996 World Champion's trophy and won by Tom Chanpheng of Australia, he reportedly was able to sell the trophy for $10,000+!
Card of the Day - Thursday, December 08, 2005

Thrull Champion

Fallen Empires rare. This was the first champion to share a creature type with those it improved, as compared to cards like Goblin King and Zombie Master.
Card of the Day - Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Opal Champion

Urza's Legacy common. Opal Champion is the only enchantment with “Champion” in its name. There is also just one artifact (Tower of Champions) and one sorcery (Champion's Victory).
Card of the Day - Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Elvish Champion

Invasion rare. No rare card has had a shorter transition from an expansion to the core set.
Card of the Day - Monday, December 05, 2005

Talruum Champion

Visions common. R&D liked the art for this card so much that they retroactively decided that it was depicting Tahngarth.
Card of the Day - Friday, December 02, 2005

Mind Twist

Alpha rare. Alexander Blumke of Switzerland won the World Championships in ’95 with Mind Twist in his deck. It was the last Worlds to allow this card in constructed play.
Card of the Day - Thursday, December 01, 2005

Psychatog

Odyssey uncommon. A central card in ’02 World Champion Carlos Romao’s deck, some consider Psychatog to be the most powerful creature ever printed.
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