The History of Magic the Gathering Told Via a Card From Every Set 5: Mirrodin-Saviours of Kamigawa

Here's another new video on Magic the Gathering's history to check out.  This one covers Mirrodin and Kamigawa blocks.

Also, this Halloween is the 1 year anniversary of this blog. So I am planning a fun Unusual Tribes article to celebrate.

The History of Magic the Gathering: Let's Talk About Formats

Here's my latest video where I talk a bit about Magic the Gathering's various formats and provide a brief history of several of them.  I hope you enjoy.

-Macready

Magic the Gathering: Set Release Timeline

Hello everyone.  So my next video should be coming out either later this week or early next week.  It was mentioned in the comments on one of my previous videos that a timeline charting the release date of different Magic the Gathering sets would be useful so I have created one...

You can find it linked here (you'll probably need to zoom in to get a good view)

Along with a key linked here

I hope you're all doing well, the next video will be along soon. It will be about the history of Magic the Gathering's Formats.

Until then best wishes,

-Macready

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Via a Card From Every Set 5: Odyssey-Scourge

Here is the fifth part of my series exploring the history of Magic the Gathering. This time we'll be looking at Odyssey Block the game's first real graveyard block and Onslaught Block the game's first tribal block. With the end of this video, we have finished looking at all of the classic border cards. We'll be moving onto Mirrodin and Kamigawa next, the first two blocks in the game's Modern format.

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Via a Card From Every Set 4: Mercadian Masques-Apocalypse

Here's part four of my series where I look at the history of Magic the Gathering using a card from every set. In this part we'll be looking at Masques Block and Invasion Block.  That means that we've finally made it both into the 20th century and to the end of the Weatherlight Saga.  I hope you enjoy.

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Via a Card From Every Set 3: Tempest-Urza's Destiny

Here is the third part in my series exploring the history of Magic the Gathering using a card from every set.  This time we're looking at Tempest Block and Urza's Block. Urza's Block is famously one of the most powerful sets in the history of the game, so this should be fun.

Unusual Tribes 14: Dogs

Intro

Core Set 2021 looks set to shake up the game. Another powerful Teferi is on the way to terrorise the meta again, powerful cards from the past like Ugin, the Sprit Dragon and Baneslayer Angel are being reprinted and the Phasing mechanic is set to return after a 23 year long absence. Amongst all of these big alterations one small, but important, change is also occurring. Every single Hound in the game is being errated (a fancy card game term meaning ‘changed retroactively’) into a Dog. This is a small alteration, but one which Magic the Gathering’s chief designer Mark Rosewater has been campaigning for, for years. The flavour text of the card B-I-N-G-O  references this debate in its flavour text, quoting the children’s song about a Dog named Bingo but swapping the word ‘Dog’ out for the word ‘Hound’.

This shows that the great Hound/Dog debate has haunted Magic the Gathering since, at least, as far back as 2004. Now this change is finally coming to pass, and to commemorate the ‘great doggening of 2020’ this edition of Unusual Tribes will look at Dogs. We will be analysing the viability of Dogs as a create type and discussing whether it is possible to build a deck of perfect puppers, or if they are just too floofy to fight fiercely.

A History of Hounds

There are currently 89 Dogs in the game, and they are spread across all 5 colours, although they appear most frequently in white, red and green. The game even features two artifact dogs: Immolating Souleater and Leashling, with the Souleater serving as a reminder that even the Multiverse’s most malevolent terror, the Phyrexians, have a soft spot for dogs. The first dog printed in the game was Snow Hound who was released in Ice Age in 1995. Snow Hound features flavour text which is somehow simultaneously heart-warming and morbid, stating ‘If you’re starving, eat your horses, your dead, or yourself—but never eat your dog’. 

Unfortunately, many of the dogs of the Multiverse are rather forgettable. Hollow Dogs is but one of the many Dog cards in the game with bark worse than their bite, as an overcosted piece of draft chaff. Wild Dogs is another weak card and one which proves that not all Dogs are loyal by changing sides during each of your upkeeps if another player has more life than you.  The non-viability of Dogs is made all the more apparent when they are compared to their ancient rivals, Cats.

Cats have been a viable tribe in Magic the Gathering for years. Savannah Lions, was one of the game’s premier aggro cards for many years. Amonkhet block featured Cat tribal as a prominent theme, as demonstrated by cards like Pride Sovereign and Regal Caracal. Finally, Feline Ferocity a preconstructed Commander deck based around Cats, was released in 2017. Dogs, however, have not been so lucky.  This even applies to their humanoid counterparts.  The catlike Leonin are a regular presence across many planes, from Mirrodin to Theros.  The doglike, Ainok, meanwhile, have so far appeared exclusively on Tarkir.

Until very recently, neither ‘Dog’ or ‘Hound’ tribal have ever been attempted as a theme and no real synergies have ever existed to encourage you to run multiple dogs together. Core Set 2021 and Jump Start are set to shake things up though, by printing a plethora new Dogs. 

Rin, Seri, the Pack leader and Others

Upon being revealed, the card Rin and Seri, Inseparable captured  the hearts of the Magic the Gathering community. The card is widely regarded as an adorable and evocative piece of design, as evidenced by the dozens of memes which affectionately parodied it that accompanied its reveal. The card depicts a heart-warming friendship between a dog named Rin and cat named Seri. Whenever you play a Dog, you create a 1/1 Cat token and whenever you play a Cat you create a 1/1 Dog token. The card also has an activated ability which deals damage to any target equal to the number of Dogs you have in play and the heals you equal to the number of Cats you control. Rin and Seri were clearly designed to be a commander which enables you to weld both Cat and Dog tribal themes together into a single deck. The card enables you to run the feline/canine strategy of your dreams. Time will tell just how powerful this will turn out to be, and whether cat/dog decks may even see some fringe play in standard. At the very least, the card is an interesting experiment.

Pack Leader is the next innovation brough about by Core Set 2021, it’s a lord for Dogs and a powerful one at that. Pack Leader grants all of your Dogs +1/+1 and invulnerability to combat damage whilst they are attacking for a mere two mana, this is a fantastic deal and any Dog deck should run as many copies of it as they can get their hands on. The card is more powerful than most lords, which typically cost more mana and don’t grant abilities as useful as imperviousness to combat damage. This may be balanced out slightly by the relative weakness of Dogs as a tribe prior to this point.

Core Set 2021 is not the only newly released product to contain new treats for Dog decks. Jump Start contains a collection of canine cards. Trusty Retriever is a 2/3 for 4 that can either gain a +1/+1 counter or return an artifact or enchantment from your graveyard to your hand as it enters play. You can also let the dogs out by casting Release the Dogs a 4 mana spell which creates 4 1/1 white dog tokens, although unless you have some way to buff these dogs their arrival may be slightly anticlimactic.

Finally Jump Start contains a thematically appropriate plains cards featuring some Dog-based artwork, which you can use to bling out your deck, possibly alongside a Cat-based forest if you’re running a Rin and Seri deck.

A Side Note on Cerberus

Before we get to the grades, I would just like to take a quick moment to discuss how Magic the Gathering has portrayed one of the most famous dogs of Greek Mythology. Cerberus, the pet of Hades and the guard dog of the Underworld has been represented on several Magic the Gathering cards.

There are also two widely different, but equally flavourful, portrayals of Cerberus, which I feel deserve attention here. Underworld Cerberus from the original Theros can’t be blocked except by three or more creatures, demonstrating the fact that it has three heads. Underworld Cerberus also prevents cards in graveyards from being targeted by spells or abilities, showing that whilst Cerberus is guarding the gates, access to the underworld is sealed off. But when Underworld Cerberus dies, every creature in each players’ graveyard returns to play in a chaotic burst, as the souls of the dead flood back into the mortal world. Kunoros, Hound of Athreos, released in Theros Beyond Death, has an arbitrary collection of Keywords, as many modern legendary creatures often do. In addition, Kunoros prevents creatures and spells from the graveyard from being cast. An effect which was incredibly relevant in the Limited environment of Theros Beyond Death, which was based around the Escape mechanic, causing spells and creatures from the Graveyard to thematically escape from the Underworld and return to play.  A feat that can no longer be accomplished whilst Kunoros is on the battlefield.

 

Arbitrary Grades

Flavour: B

So what comes to mind when we think of dogs? A few words that come to mind are loyalty, companionship, optimism and energy. How well does Magic the Gathering convey these ideas?

The loyalty of Dogs to their owners is demonstrated in an often tragic way. Many dogs, such as Selfless Saviour and Resolute Watchdog  can sacrifice themselves in order to grant another creature indestructible, thematically these doggos are leaping in and taking a lethal blow for their master.  Companionship is demonstrated very literally through Dogs which possess the Companion mechanic such as Chakram Retriever and Pako, Arcane Retriever. Both of these Dogs can also play fetch with their companions. This is represented by Chakram Retriever untapping Chakram Slinger each time you cast a spell and Pako placing fetch counters on cards from each player’s library which you can then cast through the effect of Haldan Avid Arcanist.

Finally the optimism and energy of dogs is reflected by giving some of them a handful of abilities like First Strike and Haste, showing how they will bound towards opponents, just as real dogs bound towards their owners when they return home.

All in all, I think the Dogs of Magic are authentically portrayed. Perhaps a few more of them could have keyword abilities like Haste and First Strike as only a small amount have these flavourful energetic abilities. Furthermore, maybe loyalty could be demonstrated in new, non-lethal, ways. For example, some Dogs could be printed which cannot change controller. This would mean that they no longer to sacrifice themselves in order to prove their loyalty, as I don’t know how many more dogs forced into martyrdom my poor heart can take.

Viability: D

Awarding a grade here is slightly difficult.  It can only really be speculative, as the support which Core Set 2021 and Jump Start will provide have yet to arrive. It seems as though Rin and Seri decks will work in Commander, and possibly even in Standard, but those decks aren’t really ‘Dog Tribal decks’ as you’ll need to make use of several cats as well.

So running an independent Dog deck currently seems difficult. Core Set 2021 does represent a massive increase in support for Dog-decks and it is possible that they will become increasingly viable as time goes on. For now, however, a D seems appropriate.

Best and worst cards:    

The best Dog is difficult to determine. There have only been a few powerful and impactful Dogs in Magic’s history. Wild Mongrel is a powerful enabler of the Madness mechanic, as it enable you to discard as many cards as you need to at any given moment. Isamaru, Hound of Konda is another powerful Dog who is notable for being the only 1 mana 2/2 creature in the game with no downside, aside from being Legendary. Though the card is, as yet, unreleased  (at least outside of arena) Pack Leader is probably a contender here. None of these cards are terribly game breaking, however, and there’s definitely room for more powerful Dogs in the future.

The worst Dog, however, is a clear choice.  Filthy Cur is a 2 mana 2/2, but any damage it takes is dealt to you.  Although its stats are far from awful, it is often a massive liability, especially when you are playing against a Red deck, as their removal suite is based on effect which deal damage. A Shock or a Lightning Bolt is twice as painful if it zaps both you and your pet.

I mentioned above that Wild Dogs changes sides during each of your upkeep phases. As a 2/1, for 1 mana it definitely doesn’t have the stats to justify this deeply negative ability, it didn’t when it was printed and it certainly doesn’t now. The fact that the card can simply be cycled away, however, prevents it from being as bad as Filthy Cur, as you can just pay a bit of mana and swap it for the top card in your deck if an opponent has significantly more life than you.

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Through a Card From Every Set - 2: Fallen Empires-Weatherlight

Here's the second in my video series exploring the history of Magic the Gathering  using a card from each set as a reference point.  Next week I aim to bring out another Unusual Tribes article before carrying on with this series further.

The History of Magic the Gathering Told Through a Card From Every Set - Part 1: Alpha-The Dark

This video marks the beginning of a long running project which I have wanted to start for a while now. I am going to attempt to analyse the history of Magic: the Gathering by using a card from every set as a reference point. This will allow me to analyse how the game has changed overtime, but also what aspects have remained consistent. I hope you enjoy this video, and the rest of the series which I'll be releasing along with my usual Unusual Tribes articles.

The Companions of Ikoria: An Entirely Serious Analysis

Here's my biggest and most ambitious project yet. Sitting at half an hour in length with 11 pages of script, I am proud to present 'The Companions of Ikoria: An Entirely Serious Analysis'. Writing and editing this has been quite taxing, but I'm quite pleased with the final product. I suspect I'l take a break from making video content for a while, which means more Unusual Tribes columns will be coming up in the near future.

I Hope you're all coping well in these stressful and uncertain times,
-Macready

Battle For Zendikar vs Shadows Over Innistrad: Lovecraftian Horror In Magic: the Gathering

Hello everyone.  You'll have to pardon my long absence. My laptop broke down and, with the world in it's current situation, getting a replacement was tricky.

Here's a new video essay for all of you regarding how the writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft have influenced Magic: the Gathering.

Approach of the Second Sun: Conveying a Story and Tone Through Gameplay

Here's video essay number 4. A dive into the plot of Amonkhet block, and how the card Approach of the Second Sun conveys the themes of the block through it's gameplay.

Next week, we'll be back to business as usual with a new Unusual Tribes article.

Re-evaluating Ixalan

Here's my third video essay.  This one focuses on Ixalan block and attempts to offer a new perspective on it.

'Ixalan was a peculiar Magic: the Gathering set. It told the story of a war between Vampires, Pirates, Merfolk and Dinosaurs whilst taking creative inspiration from the age of exploration. Generally Ixalan is not well regarded by the community. Its limited gameplay was considered shallow and stale and its tribes failed to impact Standard. This video will re-evaluate Ixalan's legacy and argue that there is more to it than its current reputation would suggest.'

War of the Spark: Dissecting one of Magic’s Most Contentious Limited Formats

Hey everyone, sorry about the later than usual upload.  I've been moving house over the past few weeks and these video essays are a bit trickier to put together than my usual blog posts.  In any case, enjoy my 2nd Macready Musings video essay, in which I analyse War of the Spark and why it is such a contentious limited format.  Next week it will be back to business as usual with another Unusual Tribes article coming out.

The Importance of Cycles: A Macready Musings Video Essay

As I mentioned in my Christmas update, I've been planning on experimenting with the types of content I provide. As such, I'm very excited to present 'The Importance of Cycles' my debut as a Youtuber. I hope you enjoy it.

A Christmas Update & The Future of Macready Musings

Merry Christmas everyone.  Just a quick update today to share two pieces of news...

1. I am taking Christmas off, so there will be no Unusual Tribes column this week. I hope you all have a happy holiday season and that you have a good time, whatever you are getting up to.  Maybe try a Christmas Chaos Draft?

2. I felt it was best to say something here regarding my plans for the future of this blog.  I have been pleasantly surprised, and quite humbled, by the attention my articles have received.  Thank you all, sincerely, for your views and your support.

Whilst writing this column is a tremendous amount of fun, and I intend to continue writing new Unusual Tribes articles into the foreseeable future, I am also hoping to expand the sort of content I upload here in several ways.

Primarily, I would like to supplement my written articles with videos. I have something in the works already which I am hoping to be able to share early in 2020.

Additionally, I am considering expanding the sort of content I discuss here.  This blog's tagline has always been, 'A blog where I ramble about gaming, history and how history has influenced gaming'.  Currently I have only discussed Magic the Gathering which, whilst a significant interest of mine, is far from my only hobby.  I am planning on creating new content discussing more forms of games, whether they are played digitally or on a tabletop.  I would also be keen to try and bring some historical analysis into the mix. I want to discuss the inspiration which top-down sets like Theros, Amonkhet and Kamigawa take from real world cultures.

As always feel free to message me with any feedback, comments or questions at macreadymusings@gmail.com

Thanks and best wishes,

-Macready