There has been a lot of Magic: The Gathering talk during our recent streams.
It first started around a year ago when my stepson started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with his school friends. He began making more regular requests for visits to our local geek shop on weekends, and we noticed that his pocket-money was frequently being spent on card packs.
Opening these always caused a great deal of excitement in Ethan. It reminded Pete of the days when he was a kid with various card collections and he realised that he wanted to get back in on the action. Yu-Gi-Oh! felt a bit too anime for his tastes though so he gave Magic a try instead, after seeing Tim from Timlah’s Techs and friend-of-the-blog Jake play several times in the past.
He’s now addicted. It’s rare that a week goes by without at least one new card arriving through our letterbox and we’ve become regulars at our local board game shop. Although Pete hasn’t yet worked up enough courage to take part in one of their weekly gaming nights, he’s beginning to play Magic: The Gathering Arena more regularly and there have been a few late nights on Untapped.gg with Tim and Jake.
I can’t say I’m that interested in the game though. As explained in post back in November, a personality test for work made me realise why I prefer cooperative over competitive titles so Magic just isn’t for me. What I do like though is hanging out with Pete and our friends while they play and looking at the beautiful artwork of their cards. Today’s post is all about those I’ve come to like the most – even though I have absolutely no idea what they do in game and whether they’re actually any good.
Bubble Smuggler
I think I came across this card when it appeared during a bundle opening that Pete streamed to our Twitch channel in February. There are two reasons why it’s included in my list. First, I love its whimsical, underwater nature and those gorgeous eyes drawn by Leesha Hannigan give this mischievous creature plenty of personality. Second, it has an excellent name that encourages some very curious questions. What exactly are those bubbles that it’s smuggling, where did it steal them from, and what is it hoping to achieve with them?
Cheeky House-Mouse
This one appeared in a pack that Pete randomly bought one weekend from a collection he wasn’t particularly interested in. How can anyone not be charmed by a cheeky white mouse though? There’s nothing vile about the rodent depicted by Uriah Voth despite what the flavour text would lead you to believe, and I like his little whiskers. Perhaps this tiny creature is in fact a great hero, brave enough to break into an evil villain’s lair and steal the cursed ring that was going to enslave us all.
Forum Familiar
It was obvious that a card which looks like our cat Zelda was going to appear at some point. This lovely creature from Ilse Gort is the splitting image of her, right down to the absence of a white tail tip and the black paw pads. Zelda attacks the treats we give her with as must enjoyment as this Forum Familiar is attacking that hunk of meat. The only thing that could make this card better is a slight change to its wording – what you should be returning is ‘another target purrmanent you control’.
Ian, Convalescent Charmer
The first card on my list today that isn’t a cute creature. Pete sadly doesn’t own it, but Ellen from Strength in Sarcasm was lucky enough to get it from a pack after he’d passed his collecting obsession onto her. It’s included here because Bartek Fedyczak did such a good job of capturing just how damn smooth Ian is. I do find all these Magic crossovers to be a bit strange because they’re so expensive and it feels like money-grabbing, but even I can’t resist those dark, brooding eyes.
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
I know I said that I wasn’t keen on the Magic crossovers above. But if Ian is going to be included in today’s post, then it’s only fair that Lara gets to make an appearance too. I remember Pete being every excited when this card arrived and he made me stop what I was doing because he wanted me to take a look. Greg Staples has captured the Tom Raider’s determination and independence perfectly, and it’s great that she gets a treasure token when she attacks (although I have no idea what that actually means).
Ominous Parcel
A couple of years ago, we joined Tim, Jake and friend-of-the-blog Phil for a weekend getaway in a cottage not long before Christmas. We’d all made up gifts for each other and Magic cards featured in a lot of them. Even though I’m not particularly interested in the game itself, this card by Joe Slucher came in a pack from Tim and Jake and I’ve kept it in my mobile phone case since. The flavour text’s dark humour tickled me when I saw it, so it’s a little token from my friends that I keep with me.
Sophia, Dogged Detective
Pete went big into the Murders at Karlov Manor set due to its detective nature. There’s apparently a Cluedo-style game that goes along with it called The Case of the Three Blade Knife but sadly, we haven’t managed to track down a copy here yet (perhaps at next month’s UK Games Expo?). In the meantime, I’ll have to amuse myself with this card by Campbell White. As if being a detective wasn’t awesome enough, Sophia comes along with Tiny – a Dog Detective creature who will surely crack the case.
Poison Dart Frog
This is another card that appeared in one of Pete’s bundle openings streamed to our Twitch channel. The little frog may look attractive, but the fact he’s sitting among a human skull shows you his hidden deadly nature. Julia Metzger has depicted the creature as such a happy little chap that it caught my attention immediately when Pete pulled it from a pack. I think it’s one of the prettiest, understated cards I’ve seen so far; who needs dinosaurs and vampires when you can have a cute amphibian instead?
Tunnel Tipster
I’m not usually interested by anthropomorphic animals in any kind of artwork, but there’s something about Leesha Hannigan’s creature that makes it worth including in my list. Maybe it’s because it reminds me a little of the Banda tribe from The Longest Journey. This mole looks like he should be gentle and kind but, when you compare the image to the flavour text, there’s a lovely contradiction. I can imagine him telling us that he’ll be able to find our perp in a gruff, east London accent.
Zelda, the Card Companion
Forum Familiar may be a card that resembles Zelda, but this card truly is Zelda. Ellen kindly had it made and sent over to Pete as a surprise for Christmas last year. Our cat always seems to magically appear when he’s trying to sort out his decks and I’ve lost count of the number of times she has knocked a pile over. It might not be legal to play with but it has been stored in the folder-that-nobody-touches which is home to rare and expensive cards, so it clearly has a special place in Pete’s heart.
Each time Pete opens a new pack, there’s a good chance of another new card being added to my favourites list. I might not be interested in playing the game but I can appreciate some good artwork when I see it. With the Outlaws of Thunder Junction coming on Friday, there’ll likely be another opening stream coming to the Later Levels’ Twitch channel very soon.