We can’t help but feel like Magic: The Gathering is getting away from us a little bit as we get older. The feeling probably isn’t helped at all by the lack of paper MTG at the moment either, which just makes us all feel a little more disconnected than before.
Now, we appreciate that it’s still a game, but it’s hard to let go of things you love, especially when they can bring as much joy as using an OG Lightning Bolt to finish off an opponent.
It’s gotten even harder recently with every card having three textbooks worth of writing on it, new mechanics that all feel a little bit familiar but aren’t quite the same, the changes to Cascade rulings, and now new names for everything as well.
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Everything’s changing
It’s the new names in particular that are hard to remember, so we’ve decided that, mostly for our own benefit, we’d make a quick note of all of the changes that have happened recently. Here’s your quick reference chart for ease of use and translation, and we’ll update it as more things change:
- Goglari – Witherbloom
- Boros – Lorhold
- Izzet – Prismari
- Simic – Quandrix
- Orzhov – Silverquill
- Converted Mana Cost – Mana Value
- Shuffle your library – Shuffle
- Put cards from your library into your graveyard – Mill
Now, these are just the changes made around leading up to Strixhaven so far, and we’re not sure if they’re all going to stick, or at least not the names of the color combinations, but it seems to be that we’re entering a new age of MTG where new names will be required. To be fair, some of these are just making our own terms for things canonical, which is nice.
It’s not just words and terms though, MTGO seems to be a little less relevant as MTG Arena is being pushed, and now we even have sideboards for Best of One games, which is incredibly odd to think about. We’re not even going to go into the changes to competitive Magic, because that’s a whole other article on its own.
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And I don’t feel the same
Now, we know change is scary, but ultimately, a lot of these terms were introduced a very long time ago, and if we all stand on how things have always been, maybe the game will get stuck?
It feels a lot like that with the game too, not just with the naming conventions, but the additional complexity to a lot of the cards, the residual power creep, and older formats becoming harder to play as card stocks dwindle or become obnoxiously expensive.
It’s odd, and honestly, we feel a little out of sorts with it, but maybe some of it’s for the best? We’ll just have to wait and see, but at least Commander is still fun.
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