On the Stack 4: Innovative Magic Mechanics

A recent article on the Wizards of the Coast website described the newly-revealed Saga mechanic as “the most innovative mechanic in Magic.” That’s a strong claim to make, and I’m not sure I buy it, but it’s got me thinking: What has Magic done recently that’s innovative—that's new and has gotten players excited about how creative it is?

To avoid this post being a mile long and going all the way back to the invention of the color pie, I'm going to limit my list to mechanics introduced in sets that are in Standard or un-Standard at the time of posting.

The most recent one is probably Contraptions, which were, for a long time, the farthest-out concept in Magic. Steamflogger Boss was created for Future Sight with no intention of ever turning Riggers and Contraptions into something real, but players liked the idea so much that Mark Rosewater set out to make it work, if only so players would stop asking him about it. Contraptions finally appeared last year in Unstable as an artifact subtype that lives in its own deck, has a different back from other card types, and can be brought into play by Rigger creatures.

All card images in this post are from Gatherer.

Except for this one, which is from the MTG Salvation Wiki.

Aftermath, introduced in Amonkhet, combines older graveyard mechanics and the split cards from way back in Invasion to create a card that can be cast for two different effects, one from the hand and one from the graveyard. The coolest thing about Aftermath was the unique layout that accompanied it, to remind players that the second half could only be cast from the graveyard. While players' enthusiasm eventually faded into concerns about the cards being hard to read, I remain excited about the idea of turning a card sideways in your graveyard to remind yourself that it's there.

Aftermath also created opportunities for some fantastic new art layouts.

Vehicles were introduced in Kaladesh, and they're probably the card type on this list that I was most excited about at launch. They're an artifact subtype with a Crew cost, which means you can tap down your creatures to turn a Vehicle into a creature for a turn. Your creatures can drive now, and run over other creatures with their cars. Or boats, or trains, or airships. It's awesome. And it got even more awesome in Aether Revolt with the release of Heart of Kiran, a Vehicle that can be crewed by Planeswalkers—and as the main characters of Magic's story, it's especially satisfying to see them taking part in the flavor of the set.

Aetherborn also first appeared in Kaladesh, and while they aren't associated with a specific mechanic, they are a first for Magic lore. Traditionally, black mana is associated with necromancy and other kinds of evil; the most extreme example of this is the Phyrexians, who are among Magic's oldest villains. Aetherborn are the first black-aligned species in Magic to be mostly sympathetic: they are created as a byproduct of aether refinement on Kaladesh, and are known for becoming hedonists (black is the color of self-centeredness) as they try to make the most of their extremely short lives. While some get their kicks from organized crime, others are pillars of Kaladesh's party scene; and the most famous of these is Yahenni, the best host in Ghirapur, who is genuinely a good person.

So that's what looks innovative to me in Standard (and un-Standard) right now. I look forward to finding out how Sagas fit in.