Whether you’re a new player (“How does the stack work?”) or an average scrub like me (“How does the stack work?”), Morph might be a little bit confusing. It’s a new/old, fancy mechanic returning in Khans of Tarkir, and has a lot of experienced players very excited, which doesn’t really bode well for people like me.
I did a bit of digging and picked out four important things you should probably know before prerelease.
1. Any Morph card can be cast for (3) as a colorless, face-down, vanilla 2/2 creature with no types, activated abilities, social security number, mana costs, or political affiliations. Like training guide dogs or college students, Morph cards require a bit of strategic input and investment to get your money’s worth but, in return, they’re surprisingly versatile. Morph cards can be cast face up for their normal mana costs, but you’re sometimes missing out on their crucial flip effects.
How I lost all of my friends in elementary school.
2. Morphing a card is more instant than Instant and doesn’t use the stack. Say you want to transform your Rattleclaw Mystic and use the mana to counter Murderous Cut with Disdainful Stroke (because you tapped your lands incorrectly and are short on blue). Your opponent isn’t allowed to react to the Mystic’s transformation with removal or bounce, regardless of the current stack, future cards on the stack, or bribery attempts (although this one’s up to you).
3. Morph is freaking weird. Well, yeah. Are you casting your cards as some generic, gelatinous blob? Why are they all 2/2? Do all Magic cards share some common, ancestral larvae stage where they chill out and pretend to be bears until they’re called to action? Does every clan distribute the same generic disguises to their warriors?
WHO COULD BE INSIDE?
HOLY SHIT MORE BEARS.
4. Morph cards have to be revealed at the end of the game. (Editor’s note: Morphs must also be revealed whenever they leave play, like being returned to their owners’ hands or going to the graveyard.) Apparently, I’m not the first person to consider the ol’ 2/2 Forest switcheroo. Consider the implications of a game where any card can be played as a colorless 2/2 creature for (3). Think about the Limited consistency! No more mana screw! Free bears for everyone!
There’s a lot more interesting Morph interactions on this site. Check it out!
Hyped for prerelease? I know I am! And this weekend I’ll also be drafting RTR block with friends, which should be an absolute blast considering I know next to nothing about the format (please tell me UR Blast of Genius is a real thing).
What’ve I been up to lately? Well, the shot below is from PennApps, the nation’s coolest hackathon. We had our tenth event (PennApps X!) last weekend. I help run marketing, press, and in-house journalism, but I’ll spare you my long-winded spiel—at heart, PennApps is a twice-yearly event where a thousand college students converge on Penn to jam code, collaborate on cool projects, hang out with sponsors, and compete for prizes. And hey, if you’re a college student and even remotely interested in programming, think about attending! Shoot me a message and I can give you some more info.
Photo taken at 2 AM. Red Bull flowed like water, but a few people are probably passed out under the tables.
Oh, and one more thing: starting October, there’s gonna be a new scrub in town. As a Hipster’s project, Scrub Report is going to be a one-year term, which is pretty sweet—the Magic scene could definitely use some fresh voices and new perspectives. I’m sure you guys are tired of my posts by now and, unfortunately, I’m no longer able to dedicate as much time to Magic as I’d like. I’ll be around, though, and still writing about Magic in one capacity or another.
About this time last year, this kid emailed Hunter about writing for Scrub Report. It’s like playing a card face down without knowing what it did.
Well, I guess I finally got around to Morphing it. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Tony is the Hipster’s resident scrub, and Scrub Report is his take on learning and exploring the beautiful, awesome, weird world of Magic.