#D. J. Cleland-Hura

[mtgfantokens]

MtG Token: 2/2 blue Bird 1-4

Magic: the Gathering has been around for 30 years. There are 27,000 unique cards and growing. And a lot of them create tokens. While the official tokens are great, I have a need to celebrate the artwork of our (mtg) ancestors. Let's celebrate older artwork with a new coat of paint.

Token: 2/2 blue Bird creature token with flying

Swan Song is the key card that makes 2/2 birds

The key blue bird is Storm Crow from Portal by Una Fricker

Zephyr Falcon from Legends by Heather Hudson

Dream Thrush from Invasion by D. J. Cleland-Hura

and we break the color by using Birds of Paradise from Alpha by Mark Poole

The literal and graphical information presented on this site about Magic: The Gathering, including card images and mana symbols, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

[askkrenko]

Krenko’s Guide to Creature Types: Bear

Grizzly Bears by  D. J. Cleland-Hura

What is a Bear (flavorfully)?

A fuzzy wuzzy fluffy wuffy huggable lovable cuddly snuggly godless marauding killing machine.

What is a Bear (mechanically)?

Bears are mid-sized green creatures, usually 2/2 or 3/3, though some reach 4 power naturally and a few have abilities to increase their power and toughness. There are two non-green bears, but the other seventeen, plus all six cards that make bear tokens, are green, though one of the token creators is green/red/blue. Bears are not tricky, and with the exception of the one white bear, all their abilities are either rather basic (Flash, Regeneration, card draw) or improve their power and toughness. The purpose of bears is to maul your opponent’s face off. In magic slang, a “Bear” is any creature with the same converted mana cost and size as Grizzly Bears,  Ashcoat Bear, Balduvian Bears, Bear Cub, Forest Bear, and Runeclaw Bear: Two power and two toughness for two mana.

Can I make a bear deck?

GrizzlyBears.Dec (forty bears; twenty forests) is a tried and true practice opponent, and having a copy of that deck is beneficial, but we’re talking about a real deck here. For casual play, bears are decent enough that you can just do that. Even without tribal rewards, if you just cast bears, attack, and include pump spells, fight spells, etc, you’ve got a deck that’s going to hurt your opponent’s face.

Commander is somehow missing a Legendary Bear, and as a format it’s far less kinder to Grizzly Bears than 60 card formats are. There’s also just not enough bears to fill out a tribal deck, even with the help of token generation. Bears in Commander just isn’t happening.

Is Bear a good creature type?

Bear is a well known creature type, primarily due to the iconic nature of Grizzly Bears, but as a creature type it’s not actually doing anything. If the 2/2 bear tokens appeared on more cards, that alone could justify the existence of bears as a type, but we haven’t actually seen one since before Modern. In more recent years, green’s 2/2 token has been a wolf. The Bear creature type isn’t really doing anything right now, and hasn’t in a long time.

If we were to suggest combining Bear with another creature type, there’s actually a close neighbor that could use it. While we don’t want to raise Bear all the way to Carnivore (which would include far too many mammals) or even Caniform (it’s too important for Wolves to be their own type,) one step up on the taxonomical ladder from Bear is Arctoidea, which includes Bears and Mustelids (see my guide to Badgers.) Still, here I think we’re starting to get weird. We can’t write Bear on Weasel cards and have that make even the littlest bit of sense. Bears have to be Bears unless we want to combine Cats and Wolves, and we definitely don’t want to do that at this point. Cats and Wolves both getting actual support really makes collapsing Carnivora difficult. Maybe label all of them as “Carnivore” and include additional subtypes for canines and felines. “Wolf Carnivore” and “Cat Carnivore.”

And yes, there’s two definitions of Carnivore: a strict meat eater, and the animal order of Carnivora, which is basically any mammal with sharp teeth.

It’s also noteworthy that Carnivora is then split into Cat-like and Dog-like categories, with Bears and Mustelids being Dog-Like, but I don’t think people would be very comfortable with Bears having creature type Hound. Sadly, Bears might be one of the creature types that can’t be put into a better circumstance because it’s just too late now.

I suggest they solve this issue by making a bear-themed set where instead of humans the normal race is a bear.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Dream Thrush

Whether for good or ill, their arrival always means change.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-art-daily]

Plains

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura

[mtgfantokens]

MtG Token: Bear 1 & 2

Magic: the Gathering has been around for 30 years. There are 27,000 unique cards and growing. And a lot of them create tokens. While the official tokens are great, I have a need to celebrate the artwork of our (mtg) ancestors. Let's celebrate older artwork with a new coat of paint.

Token: 2/2 green Bear

These are highly generic tokens as seen from Bearscape or Mother Bear.

What is more bear like than the original Grizzly Bears. While not the Alpha artwork, we grabbed the one from 7th Ed by D. J. Cleland-Hura.

Ramping up the intimidation factor, we have Dragon-Scarred Bear. This bear from Dragon's of Tarkir is by Lars Grant-West

The literal and graphical information presented on this site about Magic: The Gathering, including card images and mana symbols, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Plains

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Grizzly Bears

Don't try to outrun one of Dominaria's grizzlies; it'll catch you, knock you down, and eat you. Of course, you could run up a tree. In that case you'll get a nice view before it knocks the tree down and eats you.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Storm Shaman

She speaks with the voice of the winds, and the earth trembles.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Grizzly Bears

Don't try to outrun one of Dominaria's grizzlies; it'll catch you, knock you down, and eat you. Of course, you could run up a tree. In that case you'll get a nice view before it knocks the tree down and eats you.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Grizzly Bears

They've got claws as long as your arm. And they're grouchy. Really, really grouchy.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Plains

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Samite Pilgrim

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Samite Pilgrim

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Nomadic Elf

"I've journeyed across Dominaria. Phyrexians are everywhere. Plague is everywhere. There's no place left to hide."

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Storm Shaman

She speaks with the voice of the winds, and the earth trembles.

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Nomadic Elf

"I've journeyed across Dominaria. Phyrexians are everywhere. Plague is everywhere. There's no place left to hide."

Artist: D. J. Cleland-Hura TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link