Recoculous.com: Magic the Gathering Articles

Arabian Nights 2 Previews Part 4 June 18, 2010

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There are three things I loved about Arabian Nights in particular. One, it has by far the best flavor. “Arabian Nights” is stylish, recognizable, and we can relate to it. Two, it has real world references. Three, it has fun wacky abilities. I think that all three of these characteristics can be found in the three Arabian Nights 2 land cards I will show today. (more…)

Predicting the Future Part 1: Magic 2011 to 2019 June 16, 2010

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The power creep continues to make Magic cards more powerful. I will be suggesting what cards I think we could be seeing any time now due to the fact that cards are getting more powerful and will continue to do so. These cards could appear in Magic 2011, and I expect to see them before Magic 2020. (more…)

Magic Core Set Predictions (Magic 2011 and Beyond) June 9, 2010

Posted by James in : all, fake cards, speculation , 7comments

9th Edition gave us pain lands. 10th Edition gave us legendary creatures. Magic 2010 (M10) gave us new dual lands, planeswalkers, and half the set was new. We expect all core sets in the future to be like 2010 in that half the set will be “new,” and we also expect to see some gimmick that will help sell the set. We usually won’t see too many gimmicks at once because one gimmick is enough to boost sales. Too many would be overkill. I expect to see the following gimmicks in the following future core sets: (more…)

Arabian Nights 2 Previews Part 2 May 19, 2010

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One card has already been previewed from Arabian Nights 2, and I will continue to give you updates on more preview cards. Arabian Nights 2 will maintain and expand upon the look, flavor, and theme of Arabian Nights. Here are three cards to illustrate what you should expect: (more…)

Gold From Rise of Eldrazi Part 2 April 2, 2010

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I already showed how gold will be used for artifacts and lands, but what about creatures? I will show my predictions for three creatures here. (more…)

Gold from Rise of Eldrazi Part 1 March 31, 2010

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Rise of the Eldrazi has shown that Wizards of the Coast likes Dungeons & Dragons. Levels will make Magic the Gathering a little more like Dungeons & Dragons, but a key component is still missing: Money. Gold counters are the perfect solution to the lack of money in the Magic universe. Gold counters are basically gold pieces or gold coins. You use them to buy things. (more…)

Rise of the Eldrazi: Leveling Up Inspired by a Fan? March 26, 2010

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In November 2007 a member of the Magic Set Editor community, moxydotorg, developed a Magic template for what he called the “hero’s format,” which is loosely based on Elder Dragon Highlander. （Pichoro improved upon the template.) The main idea was to have a main character that could “level up” similar to RPG games. (more…)

“Nix”: A Landless Magic Set February 17, 2010

Posted by James in : all, fake cards, previews, speculation , 7comments

We already know what Magic will look like in 2060 and 2070. Now I know what Magic will look like in 2063. This is the year that Magic will develop the all 0 casting cost set. They tried an all gold set in 2009. They tried an all land set in 2017. The time will come for a 0 casting cost set. No lands will be required to play Magic. (more…)

Wizards of the Coast Tried October 30, 2009

Posted by James in : all, random, fake cards, game rules, theory, design, speculation , 3comments

Zendikar has proven to have inadequate mana fixing. The inevitable advice for us is, “Play 18 or 19 lands in a 40 card deck!” Yes, that helps, but then you often end up drawing all lands the whole game. However, Wizards did try. They designed cards that would help with mana fixing, but those cards were rejected… and apparently they were never replaced with appropriate mana fixing. (more…)

Zendikar Review Part 3: Extended September 30, 2009

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Zendikar’s rares are among the most powerful we have seen in a while. Some of them might even be good enough for extended tournaments. Although I’m not really sure which of these cards will be best in extended, here are my top 5 favorites: (more…)

Why Magic Cards Are Worth So Much September 5, 2009

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There at least seven main reasons that Magic cards are worth so much money: (more…)

Infinity: A Future Magic Set Part 4 July 9, 2009

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Before reading this, you should take a look at Part 1.

Welcome to the final installment of my Infinity articles. In today’s article I will preview three noncreature spells. Some of these are a little more powerful for the cost. (more…)

Infinity: A Future Magic Set Part 3 July 3, 2009

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Before reading this, you should take a look at Part 1.

In today’s installment of my Infinity articles, I will present three more creatures. Each will have a different casting cost to help you get a feel for the power level you can expect for different amounts of mana. (more…)

Infinity: A Future Magic Set June 19, 2009

Posted by James in : all, random, fake cards, theory, reviews, previews, design, speculation , 6comments

In October 2008 I decided to make a satirical article series, The Power Creep, about what Magic will be like 50 years in to the future.

Then around February 2009 I started making an entire Magic set based on the Power Creep articles. I was very curious and perhaps a bit power hungry. What would Magic be like 50 years from now if my predictions were correct? What if moxes and Black Lotus were no longer over-powered? I wanted to know. (more…)

Magic 2070 Card Previews June 9, 2009

Posted by James in : all, random, fake cards, previews, speculation , 4comments

Here are all the latest Core Set previews:

electrocute m60 fake magic card I posted about a couple of these preview articles earlier, but I decided I could show them all in a single place.

The power creep continues. Although the power level of cards can sometimes decrease, they tend to become more powerful as time goes on.

The power creep has been apparent starting with Kird Ape, and now continues with cards such as Wild Nacatl and Bloodbraid Elf. (more…)

Will Beta Dual Lands Come Back? April 17, 2009

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Yes. This may sound absurd because of the reprint policy. No problem, they will be printed again but slightly differently. Without land types, for example. Why will this happen? For at least two reasons. One, because it will guarantee that lots of sales will be made. It will do exactly what Magic exists to do: Make money. Two, some day Revised dual lands will be too hard to get and players will demand that they get a chance to play with them. (more…)

Predicting 11th Edition Part 3 April 14, 2009

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What will the dual lands of 11th Edition (Magic 2010) look like? I already explained what other people suspect the new dual lands might be like. The time has come for me to introduce my new ideas about what the dual lands might look like: (more…)

Predicting 11th Edition Part 2 April 10, 2009

Posted by James in : all, fake cards, speculation , 10comments

I already wrote an article about what the dual lands of 11th Edition (Magic 2010) might look like here, but there are many other interesting ideas for dual lands. In this article I will present some of the more interesting ideas that other people have thought of. I will write another article that presents my own ideas. (more…)

Predicting Alara Reborn Part 5 April 3, 2009

Posted by James in : all, fake cards, speculation , 11comments

Updated 4-15-2009

The art and card names of 5 Obelisk-like cards have been spoiled here. Like Obelisks, cards like these are expected to be used for mana fixing. However, Alara Reborn is all multicolored, so it isn’t as easy to provide us with mana fixing. Here are two ideas about what these cards might do that were thought of by other people: (more…)

Predicting Zendikar Part 4 April 2, 2009