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Picking at Scars of Mirrodin
In August we reported on the new trio of trademarks filed by Wizards of the Coast, ‘Scars of Mirrodin,’ ‘Mirrodin Pure’ and ‘New Phyrexia.’ We theorized that these were the names for the block codenamed ‘Lights’ ‘Camera’ and ‘Action.’
Well, we were right.
Let’s look at the teams of the set.
Design team for Scars of Mirrodin.
Mark Rosewater needs no introduction. He’s been on the most teams of anyone in R&D and is the ‘face’ of Wizards.
Mark Gottlieb, Rosewater’s nemesis and star of a very popular XMTG comic strip. Since joining R&D he has worked on at least one set in every block, getting the most work during the Alara block where he was involved with every set. His rules knowledge is a must as Magic expands and grows and continues opening new pathways.
Alexis Janson was the winner of the Great Designer Search. She’s worked on sets like Shadowmoor, Eventide, Shards and now Scars of Mirrodin.
Erik Lauer is one of the quieter members of R&D from the outside. We’re learning his wit thanks to a twitter account devoted to his quotable lines, but he is also a major powerhouse and brilliant deck designer. He has worked on a number of sets, side products and more. His name is one that always gives me comfort seeing as he has an excellent track record (though he joined R&D only around the time Alexis did.)
Matt Place is among my favorite members of R&D. He’s a great guy, has an excellent mind and love for the game. If he wasn’t in R&D he would be among the top tables of the Pro Tour slinging spells with the rest of them. He’s worked on all sorts of sets, his first credited set was Champions of Kamigawa.
Mark Globus is another name I’ve discussed before, having been part of the Great Designer Search, he has risen in the ranks at Wizards and been part of a number of set teams, his first being Shards of Alara.
Nate Heiss is the only person on this team who I didn’t know off the top of my head, I had to dig into my notes to discover that he has worked on sets back to Lorwyn and was a regular columnist for Wizards from 2003 to 2004, with a few articles since then.
Development team
Mike Turian, we interviewed Mike on our 100th episode! He’s a great guy, has an intense love for the game, and is just plain awesome. He joined R&D and was first credited working on Guildpact, having then headed a number of other sets and been a part of even more!
Aaron Forsythe, currently the Director of Magic R&D, he came into the company working on the website and now he runs the game. I have the utmost respect for him and his love of Magic. He was a driving force behind the spectacularly successful Magic 2010 and I believe is a core force to help guide Magic forward.
Erik Lauer, as above, an excellent team member on any phase of a set’s design. He’s only one of two people to bridge both teams in this set.
Mark Purvis, not based in R&D, he is actually one of Magic’s Brand Managers, working under Elaine Chase to help guide the products and marketing of Magic. He has worked mainly on the side products such as the From the Vault series, as well as Planechase. Scars of Mirrodin is his first credited set for Magic.
And then rounding out the Development team is Matt Place, the second person to be on both of these teams.
I did notice an interesting fact when comparing Mirrodin and Scars of Mirrodin. The only person from Mirrodin who is working on Scars is Mark Rosewater, no one else from Design or Development has worked on both.
Another notable fact of the set is that it is nearly 60 cards less than Mirrodin, holding true to Wizards’ desire to keep fewer cards in circulation. This will play into the overall feel of the set, keeping it smaller and making it less overwhelming for new players to process and explore.
So let’s get to the nuts of what can we look for in the set?
Affinity – Will we see affinity? It seems to be highly unlikely given the overpowering nature of the ability and what lengths it took to get the deck down from 100% dominating. I doubt we will see it in the set for this single reason: Affinity will just have left Extended (this set knocks out Mirrodin from Extended) and though that would mean that they didn’t have to worry about this one combining with the original Mirrodin, players will be ready for a break from it for a while (until the next Artifact block perhaps…)
Tezzeret – It seems that we are turning back to this story arc, and they are likely to prove to be our villains in this Plane as it devolves into Phyrexia before being restored. This belief is aided by an upcoming novel, ‘Test of Metal’ that will focus on Tez and his amazing arm. He must turn to Nicol Bolas, his former enemy, for help. What will happen!?
Karn – The recent announcement of the Reserved list policy changes has quashed any hope of having Karn back in standard, unless we see him in a new form, such as a true Planeswalker. It would only seem fitting that Karn make this return to the myths of Magic.
Colored Artifacts – It seems unlikely to play a sizable part of the set, though I am sure it will be part of it now that they exist. However I expect a largely colorless block again.
Contraptions – An Artifact subtype from Future Sight as featured on the near useless card ‘Steamflogger Boss.’ The idea of an artifact set seems like the perfect place for a new artifact subtype, but Aaron Forsythe tweeted that there were no Contraptions in Scars. Now this does not mean that they won’t appear later in the block (though I doubt it) but they are definitely not in Scars of Mirrodin.
And now the wait begins? We have Rise of the Eldrazi and Magic 2011, as well as From the Vault: Relics and Archenemy to keep us busy until it’s time to turn to Scars of Mirrodin, so somehow I think we’ll all manage okay.
Editor of ManaNation.com, Patrick "Trick" Jarrett loves Magic. He's played it since 1995, he's written about it since 2003, and he's run ManaNation.com since 2007. He writes about and covers Magic: The Gathering for a living.
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I think Karn Planeswalker would be a great idea. The idea of a colorless and therefore accesible to all decks planeswalker appeals to me.
Did you see that art? Platinum angel is definitely back in some form or other
SPOILER ALERT–
I highly doubt that we’ll see contraptions. I recall in a Wizards article not too long ago that the author mentioned steamflogger boss as a prime example of a mistake, and one they suspect they will not carry through into the future of magic.
It would make sense that Tez would be part of the story, but judging from the art of rise of eldrazi, i suspect he will make an appearance there – and it would be odd at this stage in the game to see him pop-up in card form a third time in the very set that follows eldrazi.
I very much suspect we’ll see a lot of colourless stuff. I have every suspicion that a second look at mirrodin and eldrazi ‘colourless is awesome’ theme is no coincidence. eldrazi stuff will benefit the standard of mirrodin im sure.
I second the view that I REALLY hope Karn is made into planeswalker card form. Not only this the idea of a colourless planeswalker in very neat. But then – im biased – im a vorthos through and through, and i love planeswalkers as they each highly develop magic the gathering’s flavourful back story. I cant wait for comp games developers to understand the potential behind a game made from the magic backstory.
Vorthos away! pacheow!
Although Contraptions won’t be in Scars, I highly suspect the other Artfact subtype, Fortifications, will probably make their debut in this block, considering it’s following a land-themed block.
I agree with Thwacker. Do you guys remember the name of the first fortification card? DARKSTEEL Garrison!