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Sakura hummed to herself as she happily strolled through the park on her way home from school. She slowly tilted her vision upward, looking through the path’s sporadic canopy to spot a small butterfly descending upon her. While she thought it odd the creature was so calm around her, she watched silently as it touched down and came to a stop on her shoulder. Sakura smiled and watched it sit for a while, before noticing that she was now surrounded by a flurry of the butterflies. As the all began landing on her, Sakura gasped in shock, watching as the tiny insects began to chew their way through her clo… *reads memo* …Wait, you mean we’re talking about the Avatars on cards, not forum avatars? Hmm… Well now. Ignore the above narrative then, dear maggots! That’s a story for another day, in that case! Avatar Week! Finally! I’m sure you’ve all been waiting patiently for this week to come, since it was you, our readers, that asked for it. But before we begin, let’s rewind back to that poll for a second. Of all the things on that poll, you guys chose Avatars. Avatars beat out the potentially awesome ‘Morph Week’, the apparently otherwise popular ‘Land Week’, and you all already know my thoughts on an ‘Insect Week’. So why did Avatar Week get over half the votes? Am I missing something? None the less, I can’t deny the masses, so I present you Creature Feature: Avatars. Enjoy, you cheeky little wretches. Eugh… Avatars… Æther Flavor That said, Avatars are not Artifacts. Out of context the statement seems obvious, but if we think of Artifacts as a ‘sixth color’ of sorts, we can deem that the one thing that ties all Avatars together is what sets them apart from Artifacts. I’ve even already said it; ideology. Mana itself is derived from the philosophy that makes up each color, and since Artifacts lack that, they also lack the backbone of ideology. Avatars don’t fit in with Artifacts because they have conflict, it’s because the two are exact opposites. Avatars are fueled by ideas, Artifacts are solely a lack thereof. More detail of this can be found in MaRo’s “Just the Artifacts, Ma’am” article on Mtg.com. Five For One
The Onslaught batch might as well be my worst enemies. Goblins, Elves, Zombies, Clerics, Wizards. The most boring, overpopulated batch of creature types around. But something isn’t right with it. I actually really like Reckless One. Usually when a fat comes with haste, it’s only to balance some drawback where the creature won’t be attacking otherwise. Just a plain old creature that can beat face as soon as he hits the table is a real breath of fresh air. Getting a 7/7 or higher for four mana isn’t that bad either. It’s a shame that he’s powered by boring Goblins, but they do work with him nicely, I’ll admit. He’d hardly be as good if he counted your Viashino or your Dragons. The Prophecy Avatars I have much less of a problem with, mostly because only Woe sees play in my group. While there certainly is a power imbalance between her and the rest, that doesn’t mean the others should be overlooked. I’ve seen some mean decks utilizing Might or Will around, it’s just that no one plays them. Give the guys a try. They may not be Woe or Heedless, but they’re certainly not bad. Well… there is Nameless One. Monochromatic Megalomania Surprisingly enough, Avatars have cropped up quite a bit in the Media over the years. To name a few…
The End is the Beginning
So, Avatars are White, Blue, and Green on the color pie. I’m sure there are traces of Red and Black too, but for the sake of defining a definite slice, we’ll leave them out. I would have added some decks here for you to ponder and look at in awe, but fortunately everyone else has posted oodles of decks this week. Well, I guess I'll post just one. This deck is a tribal Avatar deck created by Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar over at Star City Games.
As you can see this is primarily a recursion deck with Zombify and Vigor Mortis. If those cards don't work out, just use Herald of Leshrac to steal your opponent's lands so you can hard cast the Avatars. Looks like a fun deck. Well, that's all for today. Enjoy the rest of your Avatar Week, after which you can wallow in your guilt over how you didn’t vote for something better. If you need me, I have some unfinished business at a certain recreational area in Japan, if you know what I mean. Giggidy Giggidy Gig. You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here. Articles
Spotlights from 2006 | |||||||||||||||
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The
word Avatar finds its roots in ancient Hindu theology, in which the term is
applied to a God that forms a physical body in order to directly come in contact
with their servants. Mostly the technique is used by Vishnu. In Magic, however,
Avatars assume a slightly different role. They have a broader definition, being
more akin to Kamigawa’s resident spirits than their own namesake. That is to
say, Magic’s avatars aren’t manifestations of Gods, they’re manifestations of
feelings and other intangible nonsense. Stalking Vengeance, as an easy example,
is a being of solidified… to be blunt, vengeance. The same can be said of the
other Avatars, with Excruciator as an Avatar of Pain, and so on and so forth.
This makes Avatars kind of hazy as to where they fit into the color pie, since
whatever ideology or morals they have, or in other cases lack, is solely based
on what they represent. I don’t want to take the easy way out and say they fit
into every color, though. For now, I’ll just say what they’re not, and we’ll
come back at the end of the article to see if we can piece it together a bit
better.
When
I see an Avatar on the table, usually I end up shaking a fist in anger. Either
Avatar of Woe is ripping through my army, or Heedless One is ripping through my
dome. I hate them both. Passionately. Not just because I’ve lost countless games
because of them, but because they overshadow 8 other Avatars, some of which are
really cool: The rest of their respective cycles.
Unfortunately,
we’re no closer to defining Avatars on the color pie. I may have to resign them
to belonging in all five colors. Avatars are driven by their want to protect and
spread the system that they are composed of, which is white, I guess. They can’t
change their mind without changing their very being, which sort of ties to
green. They’re also primarily ruled by mental impulse, which one could say is
blue.
Leshrac
v.1.4.