Magic: The Gathering
Magical Thinking: Zendikar
Welcome back to Magical Thinking, a look back at the cards and art of Magic: the Gathering, set by set, from the beginning, all through the eyes of a casual fan. This week we start a brand new block, the Zendikar block, with the titular expansion of the block, October 2009’s Zendikar.
Zendikar is a wild plane. Known for its unstable land masses and floating land masses, it’s a plane of treacherous dungeons and hidden treasures (The kind of place you’d want to hold a DnD game in if they ever made a full rule book for it, hint hint), and a land filled with goblins, elves, vampires, kor and others. What secrets does this world hold, and what are the nature of the omnipresent hedrons that can be found floating everywhere? Let’s find out.
We’re starting off strong with a new card type. Traps are instant spells where if your opponent does something to set them off, it causes the trap to trigger, meaning you can cast it for cheaper. I like the flavor of these traps because they simulate what would happen if you go blundering recklessly in to a dungeon; you get shot up with arrows.
Hey, it’s the kor. We haven’t seen them since Rath I don’t think. As it turns out, Zendikar is the home plane of the kor, with the Rath kor having been taken from this plane. Kor are basically to White what the vedalken are to Blue; a unique race made to represent that color (although I don’t think kor are as omnipresent in the multiverse as vedalken are).
Here’s another good mechanic from this set: Landfall. Whenever you play a land, a landfall creature does something. We recently had a new Zendikar set come out, so I got to play with some landfall cards. They are indeed pretty powerful. So yeah, landfall. Try some, won’t you?
BRB: going to nip out and cease existing for a minute. You guys need anything while I’m busy not existing?
I love that it leads to a hole in reality where the person was, which apparently leads to the Shire if I’m not mistaken.
Hey, more Wayne Reynolds art! I’m not sure for how much longer we’re going to get this art because Pathfinder is right around the corner. It’s interesting because I can almost see a little of what will become the Pathfinder iconics here. This could be an ancestor of Amiri, the iconic barbarian.
Hey, kicker is back. But enough about that, lets talk art.
It seems like the kor have similar gender dimorphism to the draneai in WOW; where the males have face tentacles the females lack. Or maybe I’m just reaching.
Here’s another Zendikar mechanic: Quests. If you do something right you get a quest counter. Get enough and you can do something cool with the card, like cheap angels all day. They come in three flavors: expeditions, quests, and ascensions, which this is an example of.
And another mechanic! Allies do stuff when more allies come in, often based on how many allies you have. It’s always great to do stuff with friends.
Urge to make Monty Python and the Holy Grail jokes intensifies… No, I am better than that.
Well maybe just one.
It’s only a model. Heh.
Hey, Nissa, sometimes you have to fight the world because it’s the only way things will ever get better. Never be complacent, always fight for a better world.
See? She gets it.
Also, merfolk in Zendikar have legs I guess. Go figure.
Zendikar Rising has the ruin crab, which is an effective reprint of this card only with three health instead of two. I have to say as a mill player these little guys are a fan favorite (and also a pain to play against, because mill is terrible, take it from someone who plays mill).
Krakens; great destroyers of the ocean, and also great for the grill. Calamari for days. Just be sure you are somewhere else when mama shows up.
Probably don’t want to be around when daddy makes the scene either. I’m sorry, Lorthos, but I have this air fryer and I wanted to make some use out of it and OHGODNO.
Here is another trap, but this one is a bit confusing. I think how it works is that it undoes all the spells your opponent cast this turn. Does that apply to instants and sorceries as well?
The roil is the name for the phenomenon in Zendikar that makes the land so unstable, causing it to shift and pitch and constantly change. So of course a personification of it would be suitably powerful, capable of enslaving all your opponent’s creatures.
Sphinx have a very strict no-spoilers policy. You have to admire them really.
I like this one. I think we need more “messed up the summoning” cards in Magic, maybe with more dire consequences than a 2/2 illusion.
You know it occurs to me, the whole trap mechanic means that, at long last, Magic players can know the joy of saying “What a pity, you have triggered my trap card!” I know it’s a joy I will never know again because NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ME TALK ABOUT YUGIOH YES I’M STILL BITTER THANK YOU.
And now we have vampires. I think Zendikar vampires are different from other planes’ in that they aren’t unstoppable badasses here. They’re just normal folks who hate sunlight and drink blood. I think the Zendikar mini DnD book even gives stats to make them a PC race.
Of course that doesn’t mean a vampire still can’t mess you up. Six Mana and one vampire is all it takes to drain your opponent dry.
This card was in standard when I started playing again, so I know firsthand how annoying it is. Very useful for killing off those early game minions.
Been a while since we’ve had a good old fashioned specter. I really like the art on this one, and once again obsessed with discard. I wonder, has there ever been a legendary specter?
Don’t get the wrong idea. What his name means is that he’s really into playing Halo. He pwns noobs daily with his constant spawn camping and griefing.
I think that quote is the Zendikar equivalent of “Hold my beer”.
Also, as far as hideous ends go, I’ve seen worse.
a simulation of what watching too much Fox News does to your soul.
Ob’s story is he used to be a planeswalker, but he lost his spark and became a demon. He’s kind of invested in getting it back, and killing loads of people in the process.
Speaking of Planeswalkers, here we have Sorin Markov. Don’t let his creepy look fool you, Sorin is actually a good guy…well, he’s an anti hero…well, he’s not THAT bad.
I don’t know what a surrakar is, but I know I wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of one.
Here we see Chandra channeling her inner Karen. Chandra Nalaar WILL speak to your manager.
For 4 Mana you get a slightly stronger ball lightning, but for 9 Mana you get a 14/1 ball lightning? Sign me up! Mow down your opponents with impunity.
Goblin Guide is doing his best. Leave him alone, you guys!
Zendikar is basically the YOLO plane, isn’t it?
Indiana Jones had it easy. Sure he got chased by a giant boulder, but not one made of lava. Also, I love the look on the kor’s face in the foreground. She knows they are doomed and she’s like “Aw shit.”
Of course it wouldn’t be Red without a threaten effect. I always love these treason spells. They can so easily turn a losing game into a winning one.
Kind of looks more like a snake than an insect, but what do I know?
His horn game is on point. Look at those bad boys! They could do some serious damage, and not just to your land cards.
If it hasn’t come across from the cards in this set, Zendikar is the “land matters” setting. Land: it’s more than just a Mana source. Try some land today, won’t you?
Of course Green would have a trap that involves summoning a big ol beastie. Play to your strengths, right?
So is this Beastmaster or Beastmaster 2 through the portal of time? I want to know in case Rip Torn tries to insert brain eating worms in my ear.
Oh Greenweaver, I believe you can get me through the night, or at the very least you can get me through these first few turns till I draw some more land.
Lotus Cobra is in standard right now. I’ve played with this card on MTG Arena, and it’s pretty good. Also, in Zendikar Rising it’s a rare instead of a mythic.
And here we have who would go on to become the iconic Green Planeswalker. Nissa is an elf native to Zendikar, future potential love interest for Chandra (until Wizards messed that up), and apparently was originally a xenophobic jerk until she met the super racist Lorwyn elves and they made her realize how bad she had been and how she didn’t want to be like them.
It’s a pine cone spider. Also, once again Green does what it does best and puts your opponent on the no-fly list.
Well it doesn’t belong in a museum anymore. I think the bull in a china shop school of archeology might need some work done.
You think this is bad? Scutes get much worse by the time we get to Zendikar Rising.
Because sometimes you just want to forget strategy and stomp some stuff. We’ve all had that kind of feeling.
Looks like big mouth strikes again. That is a critter that says “I’m cute, feed me.”
Naturally, the DnD adventure plane also has a big emphasis on equipment. Never leave home without your pack filled with rations, rope, and a 10 foot pole.
Well that’s highly ominous. And what is an Eldrazi? You’ll find out soon enough.
I’m kind of crap at making maps, so when I DM I generally go theater-of-the-mind with it. That’s just how I roll. That being said I do appreciate a good map.
Speaking as someone who walks a lot for their day job, a good pair of shoes cannot be underestimated. You always want to take care of your feet. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.
Here we have one of the most sought after land types in Magic: The famous fetch lands. Everyone I know who plays Magic loves these things. And I get why, especially in a “land matters” set like this.
We also get lands that restore you life when they come in. Those are always good.
Here we have a card where you can just skip a turn to get an extra turn later. That always seemed a bit iffy to me, like a cost not worth the price.
What’s better than a land that heals you? One that takes a bite out of an opponent. We need more land like this one.
You know what they say: everyone can fly, but most people only fly once, and they only go in one direction.
Normally I would wrap this up, but since this is the “land matters” set, I think I will show you some of the gorgeous full card land arts that came out of this set. No commentary, just enjoy the beauty.
Absolutely gorgeous stuff. Well, that concludes our visit to Zendikar for this week. Come back next week when things start to get shaken up a bit. Yep, we’re gonna have ourselves a Worldwake. But until then, Stay Magical.
…Oh, and in two weeks, the Eldrazi are coming…
