Ikoria Thoughts

The latest set has been fully spoiled! Let's talk about it.

Mechanical overview:

Cycling is an old mechanic that has never been explored in depth. Ikoria looks to be remedying this, after some probes in Amonkhet block, and I couldn't be happier to see both a solid mechanic return and WotC try and make it more interesting.

I do find it a little disappointing that they've removed the 'or discard' clause that they were using in Amonkhet, but I understand the need to keep the power level reasonable.

Companion is...very weird. A twist of the Commander mechanic, it's hard to say how powerful this is. Having consistent access to a card is very rare for Magic, I don't know that it's ever been done, honestly. But the deckbuilding restrictions are such that I don't know if these can be broken. On top of that, I'm not sure that the consistent access to a companion is even worth it: some people are sure the sky is falling, others not worried at all.

What I do know is that they are weird enough that someone is going to try to break them. That's exactly the kind of risk I think Magic should be taking.

Keyword counters are weird in the opposite way. They take something very familiar and allow players to staple them on to whatever creature they want-even manipulate them in ways we haven't ever seen. Yet, because they're so familiar, it doesn't look like any new ground has been broken.

On the other hand; traditionally, Auras, then later Equipment, were the tools that were used to put new keywords on to creatures. Making keyword counters eats at one of the few things those cards have an identity for, and honestly keyword counters seem like an upgrade. Auras, especially creature auras, are already a very weak permanent type, and this new mechanic doesn't do that any favors, though Equipment really isn't impacted, since it can be easily put on a new creature.

So I wonder what will come of this, and how Auras especially will be impacted down the line. Finally: I can see this mechanic laying a little groundwork for a 'counters matter/manipulation' theme in a set down the road. 

Last but definitely not least, we have Mutate and I think this is a humdinger. A hybrid of Bestow and creatures, I can now see why WotC didn't use Bestow as a mechanic in Theros: Beyond Death. The similarity is bad for making each set stand out, and the potential for confusion as to which creature is an aura and which one isn't, too easy to make.

That doesn't take away from how cool it is, though! It feels like it opens up some doors for combinations that players could mine for ideas for years. Talking to other people, Mutate seems to be deceptively simple, with some rules interactions that could make for very interesting game states. Definitely something to keep your eyes on.

As for the cards themselves:

The mythos cards all stand out because they're meant to. The contrast is something Magic isn't able to get away with too often but when they can, boy isn't it cool?

But for once, I don't have comments on much: there are some fun moments, like the "nightmare squirrel" type (I am particularly fond of Hippo Dinosaur), the set seems...pretty standard.

Now, that might be considered a negative from some, but I don't mean it that way for Ikoria: there are some challenging mechanics and giving players an opportunity to deal with them is in the game's best interest. Providing a lot of familiar touches is important, so we can stand on that familiarity and then work on the new things.

Speaking of familiar, I do like how WotC has made little nods towards famous cultural monsters. I don't just mean the Godzilla series (though that is fun too), because there are less overt allusions as well; sharks, apes, the film Aliens-it's all a lot of fun!

Which seems to be a thread tying it together; there's a joyousness to the whole set that I'm really appreciating: it's big and colorful in ways that I haven't seen in awhile.

It's also got humans which...did we really need humans? I mean; fine, but this would've been a cool opportunity for a different humanoid species.

Also, I don't get the sense that humans are really the bottom of the food chain here. There are plenty of small creatures that aren't humans; are we expected to believe that those creatures don't get eaten?

That might be because of the overall fun vibe of the set, and if that's the case, I'm ok with it. It might also be because mechanically, you really can't get Mutate to be any fun unless there are small non-human creatures and if that's the case, then again, I'm ok with it.

Still; it's a niggling thing that I have.

Overall though; well done, and I am really looking forward to what Ikoria brings to Magic!