Recently, there has been an awful lot of talk about batches in MTG. This followed the creation of Outlaws, a new batch for the aptly named Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Following on from this, players seemingly couldn’t get enough of this mechanic, pitching myriad intriguing suggestions.
While many future batches may well be in the works, there was a lot of expectation going into Bloomburrow. As a plane full of many adorable animal critters, this set had the potential to contain multiple distinct batches. Despite this potential, Bloomburrow doesn’t feature a single named batch.
Given all the recent hubbub about this, this may be rather disappointing to some MTG players. If these players weren’t disappointed enough, the recently revealed vision design handoff document rubs salt in the wound. Apparently, Bloomburrow could have contained the first-ever MTG mega batch, although this didn’t make it to production.
Considering all the problems with this, admittedly incredibly interesting, idea this is probably for the better.
The Mega Batch
For starters, as Mark Rosewater laid out in the vision design handoff document, the proposed mega batch was Animals. This massive batch would have contained a staggering 76 different animals. Somewhat remarkably, seven of these animals could only be found in Un-sets and couldn’t be played outside of casual games.
Here’s the full list of every creature type in MTG that is an animal, according to Wizards.
Antelope, Ape, Aurochs, Badger, Bat, Bear, Beaver, Bird, Boar, Camel, Caribou, Cat, Chameleon, Cow, Crab, Crocodile, Deer, Dinosaur, Dog, Donkey, Elephant, Elk, Ferret, Fish, Fox, Frog, Goat, Hamster, Hippo, Horse, Hyena, Insect, Jackal, Jellyfish, Kangaroo, Leech, Lizard, Lobster, Mole, Mongoose, Monkey, Mouse, Nautilus, Octopus, Otter, Ox, Oyster, Pangolin, Penguin, Pig, Rabbit, Raccoon, Rat, Rhino, Sable, Salamander, Scorpion, Serpent, Shark, Sheep, Skunk, Slug, Snake, Spider, Sponge, Squid, Squirrel, Starfish, Trilobite, Turtle, Weasel, Whale, Wolf, Wolverine, Wombat, Worm
As you can imagine, the main goal of this batch was to make more animals backward-compatible. While you’re able to build a Bird or Lizard Typal with ease, Otters haven’t had the same support over the years. This can make Bloomburrow feel unintentionally disappointing, as the prominent creature types don’t have enough support.
Ideally, the Animal batch could fix this, as rather than playing a dedicated Otter deck, you could play an Otter-focused Animal Typal deck. Cards like the proposed Animal Resilience was designed to support exactly this by giving +1/+1 to Animals. In both constructed and Commander, this batch had an awful lot of potential.
Despite all this potential, the Animal batch is obviously nowhere to be found. Due to this, you may rightfully be wondering what on earth happened to it. Thankfully, in their recent article, Mark Rosewater explains exactly why the Animals mega batch didn’t see the light of day.
What Went Wrong
To put it bluntly, there were a lot of problems with the Animals mega-batch. For starters, the mega batch, while fun, is too big to feasibly go anywhere. Unlike normal batches like Outlaws, WotC can’t exactly list all 76 animals on every relevant Bloomburrow card. The alternative of telling players to visit a website for a list is very dangerous ground indeed.
Despite this being a grey area for MTG’s future, it nonetheless seemed like the solution in Wizards’ eyes. During their article, Rosewater stated Wizards could need to create, and maintain, a list containing every Animal to reference. This, in turn, opened up another problem, as this list would require upkeep.
Since MTG doesn’t contain every animal in existence, it’s only a matter of time before a new-to-MTG animal is printed. When this happened, they would presumably have to be included in the existing Animal batch. This continual upkeep would be a new frontier for Wizards and players alike, as keeping track of animals that are Animals would be a nightmare.
That said, surely you can tell by looking at an MTG card what animal is an Animal, right..? Wrong. Contrary to first impressions Tolarian Terror, Gnarlid Pack, and Emiel the Blessed all aren’t Animals. This is thanks to sea creatures, Beasts, and Unicorns not being Animals in Wizards’ eyes.
According to Rosewater, “There were a lot of arguments about what should and shouldn’t be on the list.” While Wizards word is law when it comes to MTG’s rules, players are sure to have the same argument. As much as these arguments may not end friendships, they nonetheless increase the confusion surrounding this new mechanic.
The Right Choice
For all the reasons above, it’s probably for the better that the Animal mega batch didn’t end up being made. In fact, it’s probably a good idea that Wizards of the Coast never creates a mega batch in MTG. Wizards should hold off on jumping that shark until after the phones being mandatory shark is jumped first.
With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that, across social media, MTG players were pretty pleased the mega batch wasn’t officially created. As Copernicus1981 notes, it would have been “A level of complexity creep that goes a bit too far.”
Thankfully, while the Animals mega batch may have been a bust, Wizards isn’t swearing off batching entirely. Sure. there might not have been any batches in Bloomburrow, but they were still there in spirit. Cards like Valley Mightcaller, for example, supported multiple different creature types without giving them a rigidly defined batch.
Much like the not-yet-ratified Sea Creatures batch, this still lets players explore a homogeneous collection of creatures. Until it makes sense to actually batch relevant creatures together, this is probably the best interim solution. It certainly doesn’t have the same baggage that the mega batch would do, at least.
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