CardName: Grove of the Magi
Cost: GW
Type: Enchantment
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Players may not attack, block, or activate the abilities of
creatures they do not own.
{G}{W}: End all effects that last "Until end of turn".
Flavour Text:
Set/Rarity: Multiverse Design Challenge Rare
Grove of the Magi
R
Enchantment
Players may not attack, block, or activate the abilities of creatures they do not own.
: End all effects that last "Until end of turn".
For Challenge # 049. 'Grove of the Magi' is a very vague term... it feels like it can be applied to almost any green enchantment or land. So, I cracked open Wikipedia. Turns out that the word 'Magi' was originally used to designate a follower of Zoroaster. It's where we get terms like 'Magic' and 'Magician' from... and makes an interesting supposition about The Three Wisemen featured in The Book of Matthew.
Zoroaster's big contribution to philosophy was the idea of 'free will'. So, that's what the first ability is supposed to represent: You can control me, but that doesn't mean you get to use me. The second ability is a representation of how all Zoroastrianists are supposed to seek truth in a world where there are clear lines between truth and lies. If you cast Giant Growth on a squirrel, I use the Magi's grove and say, "No. That's a lie. This creature is a squirrel."
Wow. That's one fascinating card.
I love the flavour. I'm not sure the first bit is especially worth printing, as it's a very narrow hoser. Maybe in a block where blue (or black) has a significant gain-control theme.
The second bit on the other hand has a ton of interactions and I've no idea quite what it would do. And yet I think the rules handle it fine, although I suspect there are a number of pretty unexpected interactions.
Nice one!
And your comment about the Three Wise Men reminded me of a Christmas cafe that our church put on. They got church members to do the readings, and I got Matthew chapter 2, the Visit of the Magi (aka the Three Wise Men), and because it was a fairly informal thing they invited us to say something about what we thought about the passage. I mentioned how it's a really interesting passage because while Matthew is very clear that Jesus is the one and only Messiah, sent to God's chosen people the Jews, it also shows that God was revealing elements of supernatural truth to the Magi, who were most definitely not Jews and most Jews would have thought of as heathen pagans. Several other Christians sitting there said to me afterwards that they hadn't thought of the passage that way before, which was quite pleasing ^.^
For Challenge # 049. 'Grove of the Magi' is a very vague term... it feels like it can be applied to almost any green enchantment or land. So, I cracked open Wikipedia. Turns out that the word 'Magi' was originally used to designate a follower of Zoroaster. It's where we get terms like 'Magic' and 'Magician' from... and makes an interesting supposition about The Three Wisemen featured in The Book of Matthew.
Zoroaster's big contribution to philosophy was the idea of 'free will'. So, that's what the first ability is supposed to represent: You can control me, but that doesn't mean you get to use me. The second ability is a representation of how all Zoroastrianists are supposed to seek truth in a world where there are clear lines between truth and lies. If you cast Giant Growth on a squirrel, I use the Magi's grove and say, "No. That's a lie. This creature is a squirrel."
Wow. That's one fascinating card. I love the flavour. I'm not sure the first bit is especially worth printing, as it's a very narrow hoser. Maybe in a block where blue (or black) has a significant gain-control theme.
The second bit on the other hand has a ton of interactions and I've no idea quite what it would do. And yet I think the rules handle it fine, although I suspect there are a number of pretty unexpected interactions.
Nice one!
And your comment about the Three Wise Men reminded me of a Christmas cafe that our church put on. They got church members to do the readings, and I got Matthew chapter 2, the Visit of the Magi (aka the Three Wise Men), and because it was a fairly informal thing they invited us to say something about what we thought about the passage. I mentioned how it's a really interesting passage because while Matthew is very clear that Jesus is the one and only Messiah, sent to God's chosen people the Jews, it also shows that God was revealing elements of supernatural truth to the Magi, who were most definitely not Jews and most Jews would have thought of as heathen pagans. Several other Christians sitting there said to me afterwards that they hadn't thought of the passage that way before, which was quite pleasing ^.^