In case recent creations like Colossal Dreadmask and Nulldrifter didn’t already make it clear, Magic: The Gathering’s designers are proving they can meme it up as much as the online community, with loads of strange cards coming out of Mystery Booster 2.
This product was revealed at Gen Con, where players were almost immediately handed the cards to play an MTG draft with. As a result, we’re now seeing pictures of the strange hand drawn playtest cards doing the rounds on social media.
While there are some genuinely interesting designs among these test cards, our favorites are the stupid ones, like Indicate here. It’s a zero mana spell – sweet – but literally all it does is target a permanent. Nothing else. Maybe you play it with Season of Growth or to pop a Phantasmal Image? More likely, you let it wheel.
This dumb card is an idea that’s been played with plenty of times in fan-made creations – heck, this one even has the same name – but it’s still fun, and we like the detail that it’s stuck over a copy of Vindicate.
Or how about this reprint of Whiteout, where they intentionally left the art box blank? It’s such a weak joke that even spending a sentence discussing it kills it stone dead, but we love it. This one isn’t even a playtest card; it’s a legitimate reprint. Daft!
Wizards is not afraid to poke fun at itself (at least over its less controversial slip-ups) with these cards, either. Take the card Avacyn’s Color, the Symbol of her Church – a reference to an infamously bad bit of Magic flavor text. We also enjoy the cards that (gently) take the mick out of other TCGs too.
Sadly, while fans have enjoyed seeing these Mystery Booster cards, our pleasure is matched by our disappointment that the set won’t be for sale in regular stores or LGSs. It’s a convention-only product, so you’ll have to go to Magic Con or buy a pricey Festival in a Box to enjoy it. This wasn’t immediately clear when the set was announced, so it was a bit of a blow.
For the remaining MTG sets that actually are coming to a general audience, take a look at our MTG release schedule guide.
Source: Wargamer
