As you might expect from a game that’s been around for over 33 years, Magic: The Gathering has a lot of selling points. Variety, complexity, competition, and deck-building creativity are all up there, but the world-building is also top-notch. Across the art and story chapters that each set gets, Wizards consistently creates incredibly rich and detailed worlds.
While these planes have been a pillar of MTG since its foundation, the exact storytelling methods haven’t been entirely consistent. Books, for instance, have come and gone, only to return briefly. Flavor text, meanwhile, has been in decline for quite some time, largely thanks to the game’s ever-increasing complexity.
Recently, MTG players seem to have been pushing back against this. In a new poll from MTG’s Head Designer, players seem to want more flavor text on lands going forward.
A Clear Victory
Mark Rosewater: Do you like flavor text on basic lands?
Via: Blogatog
- Yes | 64.8%
- No | 20.9%
- No comment | 14.3%
Looking at the results on Blogatog, it’s blindingly obvious what MTG players want. Winning the poll with a clear 64% lead, the voters on Blogatog clearly like flavor text on basic lands. Notably, this poll only reached around 1,100 voters, and the Blogatog reader base doesn’t speak for the entire MTG community.
Even with that in mind, a win of this magnitude is undeniably impressive and notable. There’s a real chance, in fact, that it could have an impact on the design philosophy of MTG going forward. This isn’t guaranteed, of course, but Rosewater has been known to take input from Blogatog before in polls like this.
While it hasn’t been that common in Magic’s past, it’s easy to see why having flavor text on lands is a good thing. Right now, the text box on basic lands only has the mana symbol, so it’s essentially empty space. By filling this with flavor text, MTG players are getting more information about a world while losing basically nothing.
Beyond the easy net gain, the past times that Wizards has put flavor text on basics have largely gone over smoothly. The Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Baldur’s Gate basics, for instance, are rather beloved by the community. In fact, this isn’t the first time that MTG players have requested the flavor text on these lands to return.
Less Is More
Notably, while the poll had a rather one-sided victory, those who weren’t a fan were keen to make their voices heard, too. In the comments on Blogatog, players like Assgoblinmaniac noted that filling the empty space isn’t always positive. But adding flavor text to a basic can often distract and take away from the art’s impact.
Beyond this, other MTG players noted that they simply enjoy the mana symbol that’s currently in the text boxes. While this doesn’t disappear when flavor text is included, they are visually harder to perceive. This can also detract from Magic’s iconic style, as basic lands are always identifiable at a glance.
Realistically, as Dame-jigglebones notes on Blogatog, there’s “a lot of nuance” about using flavor text. For some text, it can really fit the vibe, as we saw with the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired sets and lands before. For others, however, they can fall a bit flat and make similar lands feel less special.
Unfortunately, it seems the upcoming basics with flavor text in Marvel: Darkhold Destiny may fall into that category. As much as the quotes on these lands add flavor and insight into the world, they can feel too on the nose. Admittedly, that is my personal opinion about them, but it nonetheless shows there’s a variety of potential flavor text styles.
Chasing the Charm
Ultimately, given this is just one poll on Blogatog, it’s hard to say the future of MTG is set in stone. That said, this poll may be just the start, as Wizards may look to collect more customer feedback. Should this also trend positively, we may end up seeing more flavor text on basic lands in the future.
Notably, given Wizards works three to four years in advance, this additional flavor text may take a long time to materialize. Equally, given The Hobbit and Marvel: Darkhold Destinies both have basics with flavor text, Wizards may already be rolling this out. Even if they’re not, the player reaction to the upcoming Darkhold Destinies basics could sway future flavor text developments.
Ultimately, we can only really wait and see what happens as more sets and basic lands get revealed in 2027. Thankfully, with MTG Star Trek spoilers ongoing and 2027 being packed with sets, we definitely won’t be bored waiting.
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