2020 Arcanum AMA – Part 2!

Nicole and I closed out 2020 by asking our fans to submit their questions on just about anything, commonly called an AMA (which stands for ask me anything!)

We answered as many questions as we could in a video, but with over 230 submissions, we weren’t able to address them all, so I picked out some that I could address with an article here on our website. Let’s get to it!

What do you think would happen if a plane became widely aware of planeswalkers? As in, would they attempt to be able to planeswalk themselves, such as with the weatherlight, or something more hostile, or nothing at all?

As of War of the Spark, the citizens of Ravnica have become largely aware of planeswalkers, though we haven’t had enough time to really see if that leads us anywhere. Flavor text on cards like Lazotep Behemoth suggest that everyone was more concerned with staying alive and defending the plane, rather than grappling with the notion that they are part of a larger multiverse.

Now that the dust has settled, might some people try to ignite their own spark by engaging in risky behavior? Maybe. Could the Izzet scientists put their minds toward creating an interplanar vessel like The Weatherlight? It’s possible. Will any of this change daily life for the average member of Ravnican society? I doubt it.

Ok, so Alexi Zephyr Mage is a spellshaper, but so was Jaya Ballard. What would her abilities be if she had the planeswalker spark instead of Jaya?

Alexi appears in the title of two cards – her legendary creature, which lets you return creatures to their owner’s hand, and her cloak, which can instantly enchant a creature and grant them hexproof.

She’s also quoted in the flavor text of half a dozen other cards, most of which also paint her as a character that specializes in disruption, bouncing and/or ‘unmaking’ things, and the general forms of deception blue is known for.

So, her planeswalker card would likely end up somewhere between Jace and Venser, maybe with a plus ability that grants one of your creatures hexproof until the start of your next turn, a minus that returns a nonland permanent to its owner’s hand, and an ultimate that taps all your opponent’s creatures and then draws you a card for each creature tapped this way.

How would you fix werewolves in Magic, in keeping with L.O.R.E.?

To me, the defining aspect of a werewolf is that the people around them don’t know that they’re a werewolf. The danger comes from the unknown. Werewolf characters are often conflicted by this, desperately trying to keep their secret and maintain a sense of “normalcy” even as they succumb to their affliction full moon after full moon.

The Innistrad werewolves captured the transformation well, but there was no surprise in “who” was a werewolf, and they were also never a threat to your own side of the board. Introducing a werewolf to your army should carry some risk, but also be a big surprise when unleashed upon your opponent.

As for how to design a card that Reflects this, I would probably stop making werewolves as double-faced cards. Instead, create Instants that allow you to shuffle a creature you control into your deck and replace it with a werewolf card from your deck – this way, you can’t know who is a werewolf until they transform.

But, the werewolf cards themselves would probably have a bigger downside once they are on the battlefield. Maybe you have to sacrifice one of your own creatures to them at the end of your turn, maybe they can’t attack without exerting (so they’re only useful every other turn, etc.)

This would give them a more wild and unpredictable feeling, and make you weigh the right mix in regular creatures and werewolves, along with the necessary transformation cards.

About what other universes do you know as much as about MTG?

Very few people have seen it, but I actually have a tattoo that combines my love of Magic with my other favorite universe – Star Wars!

It’s five small icons, arranged in the same way as the color orbs on the back of a Magic card. Up top, in the white slot, is the outline of the Millennium Falcon. Blue and green are on either side of it and are represented by lightsabers of the same color, and then the Rebel and Imperial sigils are my red and black.

While I haven’t read all the expanded universe stuff, I grew up with the movies, video games, card games, and everything else I could get my hands on as a kid, so it was a real treat when my brother suggested we get tattoos to celebrate his 30th birthday a few years ago. I knew exactly what I wanted!

Who came up with the name Magic Arcanum, and what does it mean?

I pitched several title ideas to my boss at TCGplayer, but Magic Arcanum won (and I’m glad it did, being my favorite by far.)

Arcanum is pluralized as “arcana,” and it means “mysterious or specialized knowledge, language, or information accessible or possessed only by the initiate.”

I thought that was a perfect representation of a show that talks about the stories behind the cards – which were often mysterious or specialized bits of knowledge!

Y’all really asked for it, here it comes: Why did Vraska and Jace’s relationship fail?

Their relationship was formed in a stressful situation, and that’s usually not a great foundation, and it was made worse by the demands each of them had placed on them by outside forces.

Vraska is a pragmatic person – as an assassin, you have to constantly weigh risk and reward. Even though she had graduated up to Queen of the Golgari and wasn’t really doing the dirty work herself anymore, it was always going to be difficult for her to put Jace ahead of her entire guild.

And Jace, meanwhile, feels the weight of the entire multiverse. He’s a committed member of the Gatewatch, and now carries the burden of Gideon’s death, and the terrible secret of Bolas’s imprisonment. Jace has never been great at processing emotions, and rather than open up to Vraska, he’s going to pour himself into his work and try to make the multiverse a safer place.

On Ixalan, they had each other, and very few other distractions. While they surely still enjoy each other’s company and companionship, they failed as a couple for the same reason so many other “power couples” often do – work got in the way.

Alright, this was fun, and I’ve still got a ton of questions I want to answer, so I’ll write those up and get them posted here as soon as I can. Until then!

-Ryan