Mark Rosewater confirmed WOTC discussed “flavor chaos” MTG product concept.
Ever wished to see a Magic: The Gathering product where creature types and subtypes are flipped into colors where they aren’t usually found while still maintaining their gameplay mechanical color pie values? This “flavor chaos” may seem like a weird concept compared to what players are used to, but it turns out that the designers at Wizards of the Coast have discussed this idea, according to Magic head designer Mark Rosewater.
On Rosewater’s Blogatog, he responded to an intriguing inquiry about that “flavor chaos” product concept. Here’s the conversation:
kidcincinnati asked: You’ve said flavor is really flexible across colors. Could we ever see a “Flavor Chaos” world where characteristic creature types and subtypes are flipped into colors where they aren’t usually found, even if the mechanics themselves are correctly in pie? Some sort of bizarro world where (random examples) Dragons are mainly blue, Angels are mainly red, Demons are mainly white, Hydras are mainly black, and Sphinxes are mainly green?
Rosewater’s answer: It is hypothetically possible. We’ve even discussed it.
Although we haven’t seen an MTG set focused on this theme, we’ve seen this sort of “flavor chaos” multiple times before, but it almost always happens in black. In Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks, we’ve seen black Elves, Treefolk, Merfolk, and Goblins.
Angels have also dabbled in black since as far back as Fallen Angel and Selenia, Dark Angel.
Inversely, we’ve seen mono-black Vampires and Zombies branch into red/white and blue/white, respectively.
Of course, there are other chaotic possibilities MTG hasn’t explored yet, but the fact that WOTC has discussed it suggests that we might get a “Flavor Chaos” set in the near future. It would be refreshing to see green dragons, white demons, black hydras, blue goblins, and red sphinxes, but so long as they flavorfully justify each one in those colors.
Would you like to see this idea come to life? What are some class and creature types you would like to be color-shifted from a flavor perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
