Magic Trivia Design

Legend
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Post by Legend » 2 years ago

Are you an aspiring amateur Magic card designer having a hard time coming up with original mechanics? That's okay! Many named mechanics debuted long ago as unnamed effects. I've divided the list into mechanics that were derived from a card or two that eventually became a mechanic of note or an archetype, and a list of mechanics that were derived from other mechanics. Oh, I also started a "namesake" mechanic list as a sidebar. Many from each list go back to the Magic's Golden Age. Those guys were creative!

What do you think? Can you think of any others that aren't on this list? I'm very interested. And I wonder what other future mechanical gems are hidden in the text of old Magic cards!

EDIT: Note that some of the links show more recent printings of cards that show the actual mechanic on them instead of the original versions, which didn't.
ORIGINAL MECHANICS
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DERIVATIVE MECHANICS
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NAMESAKE MECHANICS
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“Comboing in Commander is like dunking on a seven foot hoop.” – Dana Roach

“Making a deck that other people want to play against – that’s Commander.” – Gavin Duggan

"I want my brain to win games, not my cards." – Sheldon Menery

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