Magic: The Gathering/Gameplay Tropes: Difference between revisions

Rescuing 3 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2
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(Rescuing 3 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2)
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* [[Interface Screw]]: The preview of the [http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/396 Rise of the Eldrazi] set did this to your browser!
* [[Joke Character]]: Variation: each block typically contains at least one entirely awful card, deliberately put there just for the people who love to try and make it work. The game is such that they usually can.
* [[Junk Rare]]: There are a lot of these, usually [[They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste|on purpose]]. Mark Rosewater, the head designer, wrote a lengthy [[Justified Trope|justification]] of the practice titled [https://web.archive.org/web/20090602111149/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9%2Fdaily%2Fmr9 "Rare, but Well Done"], in which he discusses in great detail why this trope exists.
* [[A Kind of One]]: It was common in the game's early days for creatures to have unique creature types based on their names, leading to types like "Aladdin" or "Uncle Istvan". Most of them are now defunct, but a couple of these odd one-of types had the honor of later being upgraded into their own races: notably, Atog and Lhurgoyf. Some just stayed as one-ofs, like the solitary Brushwagg.
* [[Kingmaker Scenario]]: Frequently crops up in multiplayer games when [[Alice and Bob|Bob]]'s position is too weak to win the game, but strong enough to pick a side and swing the game in favor of either [[Alice and Bob|Alice]] or [[Alice and Bob|Carl]] at his whim.
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* [[Metagame]]: Probably the best-known instance; decks that dominate one tournament can get curbstomped in the next due to metagame changes.
* [[Mook Maker]]: A staple effect. Examples included but are ''definitely'' not limited to: [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Breeding%20Pit Breeding Pit], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kjeldoran%20Outpost Kjeldoran Outpost], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thallid Thallid], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Hive The Hive], [http://magiccards.info/on/en/309.html Riptide Replicator], ''[http://magiccards.info/ts/en/263.html Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII]'', [http://magiccards.info/mbs/en/117.html Myr Turbine], and many, many more.
* [[Multiple Demographic Appeal]]: The minds behind Magic R&D have actually created three psychographic profiles -- "Johnny", "Timmy", and "Spike" -- representing three different demographics for the game. See [https://web.archive.org/web/20080925103817/http://www.wizards.com/Magicmagic/Magazinemagazine/Articlearticle.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr220%2Fdaily%2Fmr220 Timmy, Johnny and Spike Revisited]. Simply put: Timmies love to play cool cards, Johnnies love to design cool decks, and Spikes love to win. Since then, the flavor gurus created two more profiles -- "Vorthos", who likes the flavor aspect of a card, and "Melvin", who likes the mechanical aspect of a card.
* [[My Defense Need Not Protect Me Forever]]: It's common for slower strategies to establish defenses in the early game just to buy time to reach the later stages.
* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: If you are playing in a multiplayer game and you die, all the cards you own disappear from the game. This is primarily so that you don't have to stick around until the end of the game just to get back the enchantment you put on somebody else's creature.
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* [[Power Creep]]: Of a sort. Creatures started rather poorly and rose in power and usefulness over time (compare Alpha's [http://magiccards.info/al/en/103.html Force of Nature] to Zendikar's [http://magiccards.info/zen/en/187.html Terra Stomper], both 8/8 green creatures), while some early spells were considered too powerful and weaker versions were released to replace them ([http://magiccards.info/al/en/55.html Counterspell] vs. [http://magiccards.info/m12/en/47.html Cancel]). Cards that experience either are often considered "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140216103446/http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Strictly_better strictly better/worse]".
* [[Powers as Programs]]: Creature enchantments are this. As are equipment; yes, it's possible for a bird to carry three swords, a shield, and armor clearly designed with humans in mind. Could they be [[Morph Weapon|Morph Weapons]]? It sounds like something [[A Wizard Did It|a Planeswalker could do]], but we might never know.
* [[Power Equals Rarity]]: An interesting case. Although many rares are more powerful than their common or uncommon counterparts, powerful cards are not exclusively rare. Additionally, rarity is used to balance Limited formats (in which players build decks out of a random or semi-random pool of cards). And this is only scratching the surface--whole essays can ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090602111149/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9%2Fdaily%2Fmr9 and have]) been written on the guidelines the designers use to determine rarity.
* [[Practical Taunt]]: [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39890 Taunting Elf] causes all of the defending opponent's creatures to block it when it attacks.
* [[Quad Damage]]: