Last week, I covered how I might redesign Magic’s rules if I were starting the game from scratch. This week, I’d like to follow that up by outlining the design of the first set. Since our universe took the name Alpha, I’ll jump over from Greek to Latin and call my hypothetical first Magic set Prime.

Like last week’s, this article will be SFWRD (Safe For WotC’s Research and Development) and thus will not include any custom cards. Next week, I’ll actually go into some card designs, applying the ideas from my rules and set outline.

Notable Exclusions

Before I talk about what themes, cards, and mechanics I would include, let’s cover some of the ones I wouldn’t.

No Planeswalkers

This may surprise some people after I spent an entire article talking about how much I like them, but I don’t actually think planeswalkers should be included in Prime. While they add a lot of gameplay and flavor to Magic as an established game, they’re complex enough that I don’t think it’s worth adding a whole type and block of rules for only five cards.

No Multicolored or Legends

Similarly, these are things that absolutely belong in Magic and improve the game, but they would best be held off until after the first set. In fact, I think my first expansion would introduce both legendary creatures and multicolored cards in a Legends/Ravnica: City of Guilds mash-up.

No Mythic Rares

I don’t have a problem with the mythic rarity, but it’s designed for a world in which many players buy a box or more of each new set. With Prime, we can assume many players will spend a long time playing with only their first starter pack. We want people to see our awesome Angels and Dragons, and they’ll feel special enough as rares that I don’t think we need to reduce their numbers or mark them as unusual.

No Power 9

Surprisingly, this was actually the toughest decision to make. As broken as they are, the Power 9 add a lot of mystique and history to the game. It’s cool how there are these famously powerful cards only printed in the first few sets that are difficult and expensive to get a hold of. On the other hand, they only exist in the first place because nobody realized Magic players would ever buy more than a few dozen cards, and it seems like poor design to include cards that I already know are broken. My eventual conclusion was to include the original dual lands and some other unparalleled cards, but nothing like Black Lotus, Time Walk, or Ancestral Recall.

Other Considerations

Power Level

So, where do we put the power level of the first set? We want to establish some iconic and powerful cards that will make Prime feel special down the line, but also we want to leave room for improvement in other areas that will allow us to change balances without severe power creep. We can print some cards like Wrath of God and Lightning Bolt that are simple and impressive and that stand at the top of their power curve. But we can also print slightly more complicated types of cards such as Blaze and Cancel and a lower power level that leave room for improvement.

Tribes

I decided to include a cycle of lords for a variety of reasons. First, they are the original build-around cards. They give players reasons to evaluate cards differently and a theme to define and differentiate decks. Second, they help give the colors identity by showing what races are representative of each and what lords of those groups do for their underlings. Finally, they give an in-game reason for creature types to exist at all. Even without cards that benefit Wizards or Beasts, lords demonstrate the potential to make that card text matter.

Alpha provides us with Elves, Goblins, Merfolk, and Zombies, but there’s always been contention over what white’s tribe should be. My decision is Dwarves—while they have associations with mountains and mining, they are traditionally focused on law, order, and community. They fit well with the Soldier and Cleric classes and align with white’s affinity for Equipment and protective spells.

Iconic Monsters

On the other end of the scale, we have our iconic rare monsters—currently Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras. These are supposed to be the most awesome and powerful creatures in the set, and we really want them to shine. They will be sought after, and we want them to be worth it. I would probably make some tweaks for the specific needs of the set, but here are the designs I would start with:

Baneslayer Angel – The ultimate Angel: a 5-mana creature with no immediate advantage or resilience to removal who is good enough to play anyway.

Sphinx of Jwar Isle – My favorite blue finisher. Flying, shroud (hidden from everything), and a sweet little bit of extra icing.

Griselbrand – Lord of the Pit would be the most obvious choice, but the drawback is not conducive to a tournament-playable card. Griselbrand, on the other hand, manages to embody the flavor of a powerful but dangerous demonic pact.

Flameblast Dragon – This is a little lower on the power end of the spectrum, but it’s the best Dragon design to date, and it provides a nice internal reference by casting Blaze when it attacks.

Primordial Hydra – This is the most complicated card of the five, but it does such a good job of embodying the Hydra concept in a cool and powerful manner. Get big!

Exemplary Cards

While I’m going to save most of the individual card work for next week, I want to cover four cards of each color that exemplify what I’m trying to do with the set.

White

Pacifism – This seems to be the perfect white spot removal. It shuts a creature down in a manner that is flavorful, fair, and answerable. It’s far more elegant than something such as Oblivion Ring or Journey to Nowhere.

Blinding Mage – Tappers are a great part of white’s color pie, and I like that the classic Benalish Trapper body leaves a little room for improvement while still being a very playable card.

Squadron Hawk – This is one of my favorite designs of the last few years, and it is a great way of giving the color a bit of card advantage in a very white way. I also think that a card that explicitly encourages you to collect four of them will help new players with the trading card game concept.

Blue

Cancel – I do think that counterspells are a positive part of the game, but they need to be balanced somewhat carefully. I’m happy with counterspells such as Dismiss that are a bit better than Cancel, but I think this is another area where I’m happy starting a bit lower on the power curve.

Divination – Divination is a very solid spell, and I’d be happy in a world where it is the solid baseline instead of being shunned by players who are used to broken draw spells.

Unsummon – Bounce is a varied and interesting mechanic. I love how many things this basic spell can do: remove blockers while gaining tempo, save your own creatures from removal or troublesome enchantments, save yourself from attackers, and so on. Vapor Snag and Snapcaster Mage have taught us that Unsummon effects are not to be underestimated.

Black

Gravedigger – Raise Dead/Disentomb is a staple effect that is simply much more interesting on a 2/2 body. Besides, there’s no way I can deprive people of the joy of Gravedigging their Gravediggers.

Mind Rot – This is a solid baseline discard spell, and I like the parallel cost and effect to Divination. I’m not averse to slightly more aggressive discard, but this is the one I’d like to see at common.

Liliana's Caress – Speaking of discard, I like the idea of providing a few other build-around cards to help give decks identity and theme once people are building larger collections. This is also a great card for griefers that isn’t so powerful that it will hurt the game.

Red

Blaze – X spells are already slightly complicated, so I like the simple appeal of Blaze more than Fireball, Disintegrate, and the like. It’s an appealing card on its own but leaves us room to print more powerful versions in the future.

Demolish – This isn’t the most aggressively costed spell, but I think it does a great job at showing red’s ability to smash physical objects while struggling with more ephemeral magic.

Wild Guess – For anyone who missed it, this is a looting spell recently spoiled for Magic 2013. I really want to expand red’s role and push it as the color of inspiration and not just impulse. Passion doesn’t always live in the moment—it can drive you for a lifetime.

Green

Borderland Ranger – Land search is a cool part of green’s color pie, and I like seeing it on a creature with a reasonable cost for its body by just making it put the land into your hand. Having this at common really supports green’s strength at color fixing.

Giant Growth – Like Unsummon, Giant Growth provides and amazing amount of gameplay and depth despite having very little text. It can get in for extra damage, pump your creatures in combat, or save them from burn. Its very existence allows you to bluff attacks that would otherwise be unthinkable.

Overrun – Despite having a related effect, Overrun serves a completely different purpose than Giant Growth. Overrun is a great Timmy spell in that you have to be in the right situation, but it can win with a feeling of amazing power. It may belong at rare, but it’s a great effect.

Colorless

The ABU dual lands (Bayou, Volcanic Island, etc.) – I mentioned earlier that leaving these in was a concession to removing the Power 9. I really do believe that it’s important to introduce some cards in your first set that can remain unparalleled for the lifespan of your game. While it might seem wise to use your awesome iconic creatures in this role, you really don’t want to limit yourself that much in making future Angels and Dragons—you want to keep exciting players with new and powerful variations. But simple dual lands can go unnoticed at the time and later become an iconic part of the game’s history, and ownership of them can become a symbol of collector status.

Wasteland – This is another card that can remain powerful over the course of Magic’s lifespan, and I like that Wasteland adds a real cost to playing the original dual lands. It’s extremely powerful and much more fair and interesting than Strip Mine.

Reliquary Tower – I think a library land is a great flavor concept, and Reliquary Tower is an elegant and appealing design. I also like that it hints at future design space for lands that do more than just tap for mana.

Next Week

Tune next week when I design Dwarves, Golems, and the rest! In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments!