#magic:the gathering

[harpagornis]

By tomrash.

A gift card inspired by my musings:

[dude1818]

[wizardsmagic]

We want to know what you think of March of the Machine in our latest survey!

[gay-little-izzet]

Have you ever thought about doing magic: the gathering fanart?

No not really, seems kinda niche lol

[patmax17]

I can't overstate how much I love the color wheel (or color pie) from Magic:The Gathering

I started playing magic back in 2001 when I was 14, Odyssey had just come out. I knew a bit of English, and I soon started reading Magic's website for news and spoilers. That's when I discovered @markrosewater 's column Making Magic. MaRo is both a great game designer and an impressive writer, his column was entertaining, witty, fun and informative. I consider Magic and especially his column to be the main reason I learned to read English so fast.

Now, 2001 was a period of transformation in Magic. The main saga in the story had just ended (consider Avengers:Endgame), and the people at WotC were reconsidering and rebalancing the color wheel. I remember there being weeks dedicated to the single colors, and MaRo's comulumn being deeeep dives into those colors.

Now, what's the color wheel? You see, in the universe of Magic: The Gathering the primordial energy and building block is mana, which comes in one of five colors: white, blue, black, red and green. Mechanically, each card is associated to one (or more) colors, and each color has mechanics that are typical for it, like green being the color of growth and big creatures, blue being the color of spells and flying, and black being the color of death and zombies. But the people at WotC put a lot of effort to also distinguish each color thematically, defining *why* each color has certain mechanics, what it says about the color's philosophy and values. Green is the color of nature and community, where the small ones help the big ones grow and foster. Blue is the color of knowledge and artificiality, black is the color.

It's pretty intuitive most of the time, but here's where it gets even better: the placing of the colors on the wheel has a meaning. Colors that are close to each other are "allied" colors and have something in common, while colors that are opposite of each other represent the two opposites on an axis:

I don't have the time (or skill) to go into detail here, but this system is so damn elegant. It has five basix building blocks but allows to represent an incredibly vast array of concepts, characters and behaviors.

The color wheel is still my favourite system to define/describe fictional characters, it's miles better than the alignment chart of D&D (or, like, hogwarts houses).

I find it incredibly fun to discuss what color(s) certain character fall into: is superman white, green? Is batman white, black, blue? A combination of those? Ryuko Matoi is red, Satsuki Kiryuin is white. Do you disagree? Perfect, tell me why, it's always super interesting to see which aspects of a character people consider the most prominent!

My favourite Magic blocks and sets were those playing with the color wheel and its concepts, mainly Planar Chaos but ESPECIALLY Ravnica. Man, I really need to play some rpg campaign set on Ravnica sooner or later.

I played magic for 5-6 years (until I finished high school), but the color wheel is ingrained in my mind. It was the main chitchat topic when I first started going out with my SO more than 15 years ago xD

So yeah, not sure who this is for, it's mainly me rambling and fanboying about one of my favourite game design and character creation concepts. If you don't know the color wheel, I suggest you try to read a bit about it. And if you do know it, what do you think? Is there anyone out there who used it as a basis for an rpg or foe writing?

[asheepdraws]

sometimes you must simply commit the ultimate indulgence: drawing you and your friends' ttrpg characters (+a canon one) in the universe of your favorite childhood show 💖🧚

leftmost- Felyn (mine)

center top- Eleni ( @spookytsukki )

rightmost- Motiva ( @doppleghosts )

center bottom- Rowan from magic:the gathering

[vlepkaaday]

A lineart for an elf token I am working on

The first thing I ever sold from my fantasy/scifi art were Magic:the Gathering tokens. Those were quite popular but by this point they got a bit outdated :D so I thought I might revitalise them a bit and redraw the ones I liked best. Here’s a lineart and lightwork for the first one that started it all: a 1/1 elf warrior I needed for my disgusting elf overrun modern deck:)

[donatoarts]

ast year I was contacted by Jacob Covey, an Art Director with Wizards of the Coast, to work on a special Magic:The Gathering card project to honor Sheldon Menery, a player and judge credited as the 'Godfather of Commander” format for the game.

Sheldon was in a fight against throat cancer and Wizards' wanted to get this commission (a portrait of Sheldon casting one of his favorite instants Inkshield) out as quickly as possible. It was an honor to be considered by Sheldon for this project, as unknowingly he had chosen another person affected by cancer.

I was a cancer survivor myself (testicular cancer, 33 years ago as a young man) and embraced this portrayal of Sheldon as a way to pour my love of painting and appreciation of the game into this image, and to celebrate our mutual fight against cancer.

Unfortunately Sheldon lost his battle back in September, 2023 as I was working on this card.

I was saddened to now be creating a memorial portrait, a tribute to someone who has helped give great pleasure to millions through his dedication to Magic.

In Sheldon's honor and in his spirit of helping others, I will be auctioning off this portrait with all proceeds going to benefit the American Cancer Society (Sheldon's preferred charity) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (my preferred choice).

May we see the day when cancer is defeated.

Details on the auction will follow in approximately another week.

Sheldon Menery - Inkshield

20" x 16" Oil on Panel

[kunosoura]

brandon sanderson keeps writing mid fantasy books but it's so clear to me that his heart's calling is in designing new magic:the gathering cards with obscure synergies

[harpagornis]

MTG's Color Pie: Odysseus from Epic

So despite my reservations about Greek mythology and its oversaturation I felt hook, line and sink for Epic: The Musical. It is genuinely one of the best musicals I've experienced, and I could gush for hours about its themes, about how it is a sing-through and thus a homage to classical poetry, but we're here for MTG related reasons.

Namely, Odysseus himself, of course.

In The Iliad and The Odyssey, Odysseus is a classical Blue-aligned character. He is well known for being clever, for being a strategist, for guessing puzzles and generally prioritizing the mind. Sure he has done acts of violence - the Romans don't call him "cruel Ulysses" for nothing - but he is pretty restrained by Greek hero standards.

Epic still retains some of his clever moments, but rather downplays them in favor of his emotional turmoil. Make no mistake, Odyssey Odysseus is essentially a shell shocked veteran who just wants to reuinite with his family, but Epic Odysseus is emotionally tormented and really, REALLY wants to get back, no matter the cost. He is also more openly violent, killing the sirens and torturing Poseidon and taking glee in slaughtering the suitors.

All in all, he's considerably more Red-aligned in this version, particularly given his love for his family is given a ton of poetic and heartwrentching songs. You can argue there's a bit of Black given how he's openly willing to sacrifice his crew and is pretty murder happy, but he's not particularly ambitious and mono-Red bad dudes are always welcome.

Yet despiste these differences the character remains true to the source material, which really shows how a slight priority can fully change a character's alignment.

Still, I'd class him as Blue/Red, still cunning but more passionate.

[gammarailgun]

missing an arm cat ears

so was anybody going to tell me that Winota (magic:the gathering) is literally just Bumbleby (rwby; yang + blake ship) but merged into a single blorbo

or did i have to figure that out myself

[technofinch]

nearly every fox in magic:the gathering is white, except the nine-tail white fox, which is blue.

[flawed-nymph]

okay, I just wanna answer a few of them bc theyre really sweet. Let's call it journaling

lantern - how did you meet your best friend? first impressions?

the first distinct memory i have of her is standing in a hall on first days of new school and she had those weird patches on her backpack, five of them, arranged in a circle and I asked about them, and they were the five elements from magic:the gathering game. Game which i began to love next summer when we went together to this nerdy camp. Btw i asked her about them like 50 times bc i never could remember the answer.

maple - hobby or skill you never tried but would like to?

weaving fabric, definitely, ive grown flax this summer to make this folk material called pasiak. But it does seem very complicated.

fireside - dream wardrobe?

those amazing wrap tops and dresses, both puffy, flowy and silky. And lots of linen pants and shirts

cider - food you disliked as a child but now enjoy?

That would be hard cheeses. Now i eat grana padano or parmezan on everything, be that pasta, scrambled eggs or pierogi

fog - how well you would do in a zombie apocalypse?

With my extensive knowledge ive acquired while watching every zombie movie and series in existence, I'd say pretty good.

orchard - what one thing you would like to happen this autumn?

well, I've just applied for this very pleasant job, and it's autumn already, so I'd like to get it maybe?

bonfire - describe your dream house

So, a flat in some old townhouse, with big windows and high ceiling. Maybe a little rusty and not-so-freshly-renovated. With wooden floors and furniture. And lots of plants. Cold lighting. And a floor-to-ceiling mirror somewhere.

maize - weirdest encounter you had with a stranger in a street?

so i was like 14yo, walking near my home (which is a very save neighbourhood), middle of the day. And then those two men start calling me from further in front of me. I kinda ignored them and steered a little to the side. But they approached. And one of them started asking if i wanted 100zl (which I'd say would be like 50$ kinda vibes). And I'm thinking " they're probably a little mental. I'll just ignore them and turn more ". But then they stepped directly in front of me and been like "come on, I've just earned all that money, and would like to share with the world. Just smile and it's yours". And ig i must have smiled through al that confusion bc that man literally gave me that money and said good day and went away?? And that was a lot of money for me then.

quilt - how do you like your coffee and tea?

At home i usually drink very strong coffee from express, with half a teaspoon of honey and a lot of cold milk. And at coffeehouse i usually order latte or mocha. And I like tea in a lot of forms. Black, green, jasmine. Also cold tea, after all day of standing in a kettle. I've even drank those weird english tea with milk, but like, nothing spectacular, and then the tea needs to be super strong.

pumpkin - do you think that humans are inherently good or bad?

Objectively, cosmologicaly, i think that we are entirely egotistical. But irl we act inherently good. Bc like evolutionary the best we are with other people.

moonlit - are you messy or neat person?

definitely messy. Altho i like cleaning some stuff. Like kitchen counters, and when there's this thin layer of stone on bathroom things. And until recently i though it was common experience, but apparently my friend has it exactly opposite and she hates those but instead likes vaccuming, which i hate the most??

flannel - have you ever gone on a bad date?

yes, it was with my friend's friend. So no ideally. And we weren't doing anything particularly, i remember only eating kebab at his favourite kebab place. And it was mid. And he was from entirely different world, we had literally no common topics. And I remember that we were in busses for a weirdly long time? especially that we didn't go anywhere interesting?

ghost - is there someone that you miss having in your life?

my friend that we still try to connect sometimes but it's usually random and every half a year. Especially that for 9 years we went together to school and then we were together going to painting lessons together, and then were regularly meeting for drawing sessions. And I miss her and i miss doing art with her. Especially that now she's a graphic, after art school and i almost stopped doing art.

autumnal asks

lantern - how did you meet your best friend? What were your first impressions of each other?

frost - if you could give some advice to your younger self, what would you say?

maple - is there a hobby / skill that you’ve always wanted to try but never did?

harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why?

fireside - if you had your dream wardrobe, what would it look like?

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy?

amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have.

fog - how well do you think you’d do in a zombie apocalypse scenario?

jack-o-lantern - if you could look like any celebrity, who would you choose?

spice - have you ever encountered a house that you believed to be haunted?

orchard - share one thing that you’d like to happen this autumn.

crow - which school subject do you wish you had an aptitude for?

bonfire - describe your dream house.

cinnamon - if you had to live in a time period different than the present, which would you choose and where?

cobweb - (if you’ve graduated) do you miss high school?

cranberry - what’s one physical feature that you get complimented on?

maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street.

quilt - how do you take your tea (or coffee)?

pumpkin - do you think that humans are inherently good or bad?

moonlit - are you a neat or messy person? Is your room / house orderly?

flannel - have you ever gone on a bad date? 

cocoa - if you could have any type of hair, what colour and cut would you have?

ghost - is there someone that you miss having in your life?

[donatoarts]

I pulled out my favorite magical-tree frog Familiar, but it wasn't cool enough to win the Regional Award at the Brooklyn Wizard's Convention. Back to more studying in the laboratory and spell book...

Show and Tell

Magic:The Gathering - Murders at Karlov Manor set

20" x 16" Oil on Panel 2023

private collection

[brookcards]

faggots don't play magic:the gathering