Find the Perfect Reprint

Often in Magic, reprints can be reinvented and reimagined to fit the setting that they're in. But sometimes one of these reprints is so perfect it feels like it was born for that set. For example, Blazing Torch was a reprint in Innistrad, but it fits the worldbuilding and mechanical set so much that it could have been created for Innistrad and no one would have blinked an eye.

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So, for this challenge, your job is to find a real Magic card and reimagine it to be in either
-a custom set you've created, or
-a different real Magic set, preferably a recent one.

It would also be helpful for you to write a sentence or two describing how this card is a fit, though I won't require that.

There is a limit of one card per user, and the soft deadline is Monday, July 22. Go!

Comments

  • Aerial Maneuver from Gatecrash was used in Forgotten Dragons
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  • Oh boy! A proxy contest!
  • edited July 2019
    The infamous Collected Company from Dragons of Tarkir:
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    This was made for the Ixalan Block and it represents a group of humans deciding to band together and go after the City of Gold alongside the other tribes. I thought this would be a cool side story and think it fits Collected Company well.
  • A reprint of a card known for having some of the worst art in MtG:
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    A Discussion and The Set.

    For more on Lithorians and Tony Yin's awesome art project, check out His Page for art and a sweet video.
  • edited July 2019
    Using a less controversial art for this particular card.

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  • @sanjaya666 I was wondering about the controversy, but then I realized… oh yeah right, hooded dudes that don't like other colors. Nice blunder, WOTC art direction. (Was it intentional ?)
  • edited July 2019
    @ASubtleGhost No idea boss. Also, the artist of that card is also probably a racist too, according to the rumors and his galleries. Have never met him personally though. Can't really say about it, boss.
  • So far, these are some interesting cards, but I want to see what else y'all can come up with.
  • @KorandAngels You can't reprint Pteramander in Kaladesh because it was originally in Ravnica Allegiance, a set that came after Kaladesh. So that's not a legitimate entry unless I'm misunderstanding.
  • @Je_Suis_Oluwa Sorry, I disn't know the set I reprinted into mattered. I don't really like using existing sets anyway, so you are misunderstanding (It isn't actually for Kaladesh)
  • @KorandAngels I'm sorry I misunderstood. Could you please clarify what set you are reprinting this card into, and why is it a good fit?
  • I don't typically do reprints (except functionally very similar), but I was working on a card and had the name for a card, and when I checked to see if the name was used before I discovered an old card that I'd never seen before. It only had one printing and I thought it fit well.

    Specifically, I think my choice in reprint is fitting because it fits one of the themes of my custom set I'm building, which is a contention between traditions and nature versus technology and adaptation.
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  • edited July 2019
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    Seems to make even more sense in Dominaria than in Theros, and it works flavorfully too, because all of the heroes of Dominaria teaming up against Belzenlok.
  • edited July 2019
    It was the most frustrating thing to me that they would bring us to a plane with coatls and not reprint one single Coatl.
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    original
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    proof that Coatls exist in Ixalan
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  • edited July 2019
    These are all very cool so far.
  • What, even mine?
    (Since you wanted to know, I am not reprinting it into a particular set, just reprinting it into cardsmith)
  • @KorandAngels Just fyi:
    "So, for this challenge, your job is to find a real Magic card and reimagine it to be in either
    -a custom set you've created, or
    -a different real Magic set, preferably a recent one."
  • One more day everyone!
  • So at the moment we have:

    @sanjaya666: Invoke Prejudice into what set? I'll give you a few days to clarify; I should have brought this up earlier.
    @KorandAngels Pteramander into what set?

    Corwinnn: Aerial Manuever into Forgotten Dragons, a set featuring dragons
    AlexWright: Collected Company into Rivals of Ixalan
    Faiths_Guide: Dream Chisel into Lithorians, a set featuring morph
    Red_Tower: One with Nature into a set with a conflict between nature and technology
    SteampunkDragon: Heroes' Podium into Dominaria
    Pepperoni: Winged Coatl into Ixalan
  • @Je_Suis_Oluwa I don't have the premium so I guess it goes into Ravnica I suppose?

    Fine. Gotta change the card then.
  • @sanjaya666 Ravnica: City of Guilds?
    You don't need to change the expansion symbol, but it would be nice.
  • If you insist, I reprint it into Cardsmith core set 2020, Ignore the fact that I use the kaladesh symbol
  • edited July 2019
    So I'm judging this, finally. Among my challenges, this had unusually high card quality, and so thanks for entering my challenge and giving me the opportunity to see what you've created!

    Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

    HM. @KorandAngels: Pteramander into M20
    Pteramander is a card with a lot of spice in Standard right now. It's a great component to the blue tempo deck and one that's fun to play and play against. However, it's not a great fit for M20, due to its use of adapt and the fact that it does not particularly play into the themes of M20, so it fails on the metric of feeling like it was born for that set. For these reasons, I couldn't choose this card.

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    HM. @Corwinnn: Aerial Manuever into Forgotten Dragons
    This is a nice combat trick for sure, and it has stronger flavor in Forgotten Dragons than Gatecrash! However, you misspelled the card name on your reprint. Therefore, while it does feel like a decent fit, that ultimately dethroned your card in a challenge with such high card quality.

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    HM. @sanjaya666: Invoke Prejudice into Ravnica: City of Guilds
    Invoke Prejudice is an interesting card from a long time ago in Magic, and would be interesting to reprint. However, it has a few features that doesn't make it seem born for Ravnica, such as the quadruple-blue mana cost. I think this effect might be white as well. Also, in the future, I suggest you don't have quotes attributed to unknown; instead create the name of a character or just make it not a quote. Anyway, that's why it didn't win, though everything I said is minor, that's what this contest ultimately came down to.

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    Onto the top 5. Normally for these sorts of contests I would only do a top 3, but numbers 4 and 5 were still great submissions. I found myself constantly rearranging the top 5 during the judging process, so I decided to do a top 5 instead. Without further ado:

    5. @Pepperoni: Winged Coatl into Ixalan
    This would have fit well into Ixalan. I am a fan of coatls (particularly Lorescale Coatl) and snakes in general, so I was predisposed to like this card. I also think the art is an improvement. As far as why it isn't higher, there are a few technical details, such as the fact that Captain Brandis Thorn didn't canonically die, or the fact that flying and deathtouch should be lowercase, slightly decreased the card's value in my view. Those are minor things, and the former subjective. So good job.

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    4. @AlexWright: Collected Company into Rivals of Ixalan
    Collected Company is what I consider to be the most fun card in top-tier Modern. I love playing with it and cards like it, such as Vivien's Arkbow, and CoCo would be a great addition to many Standard environments. I guess if I had to provide constructive criticism, it would be that it doesn't feel like Rivals is its home; i.e. it's not the kind of card that makes you say, "Oh, that's a reprint?" which the top three all did. That said, this fits on a mechanical and flavorful level in Rivals of Ixalan.

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    3. @Faiths_Guide: Dream Chisel into Lithorians
    This is a fantastic submission all around. The art is beautiful. The card is simple. It fits well with a theme of your set. The flavor text provides a perspective into the setting. If it's not too powerful, I'd move it to uncommon though so more people can play with it, especially in Limited. Then again, me wanting more people can play with it probably isn't the worst problem to have. Amazing choice.

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    2. @Red_Tower: One with Nature into Estra
    I'd never heard of One with Nature before this contest, so thanks for exposing me to a sweet card from many years ago. If this was reprinted, it would do the same to many other players. This feels like the type of card that is fun in Limited and casual formats, but doesn't cut the mustard in "real" formats, so people play it for a few years and then forget. That's a great choice to reprint. It also fits well on a base theme of your set in a flavorful manner. I really like this reprint choice.

    (Sidenote: As I was adding the image for this card, I found that a shocking number of people on Cardsmith didn't realize that there was already a card named One with Nature. So PSA, don't name your cards that.)

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    1. @SteampunkDragon: Heroes' Podium into Dominaria
    More than any other card in this challenge, I never would have guessed this was a reprint (if it wasn't in this challenge), and that was ultimately the deciding factor. This fits onto the history plane of Dominaria in a perfect way, joining the themes of legendary and artifacts (both part of historic, technically), and I totally agree that it fits on Dominaria better than Theros. (It would have been a perfect fit for Kamigawa too, by the way. So three perfect fits for one card. Can anyone beat that?) Flavor text is nice too. Great job all around on this card.

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    Thanks everyone for participating! I hope you enjoyed, and that my feedback was useful.
  • Congrats to the other winners and honorable mentions and thanks to @Je_Suis_Oluwa for hosting this interesting contest.
    I think a lot of people on here hesitate to create reprints, especially when you have a limited number of card slots. But as someone who has been working for a month or two on a custom set, it's very easy to overlook how important reprints are for a set, especially for filling up the card pool. Functional reprints are also a thing to consider!
This discussion has been closed.