It’s quite the collection of remixed things, which somehow magically, majestically, managed to make quite the splash. This will certainly be a blueprint for the future. Ultimately, the important goal is that we don’t recreate the mess the original block indulged in.

2.1. Artifacts vs. Enchantments

How do we represent modernity versus tradition in the game of Magic? Something insane like wall of text versus vanilla? Waifus versus blobs? No, look to something simpler. How about the two card types this game has: Artifacts, representing modernity, and Enchantments, representing tradition. Outside of the obvious reason being we have tangibles versus intangible, why is this a great decision?

Let’s take a look back at Magic history, these things had more distinctions.

• Enchantment is the way for colored cards to stick around yet not attack or block. Artifact is the way for colorless cards, they can stick around and not combat or they can come in because they’re a war machine. Enchantments wished Urza’s block actually supported it, while artifacts just keep on eating for two odd decades. You know, everything from Antiquities to Mirrodin to Kaladesh.
• Enchantment was the first type to be attached to stuff, creatures, any permanent really. Back when Aura wasn’t even a word, it’s just spelt “Enchant Creature” right on the typeline. It’s only until Mirrodin that Equipment finally lets artifacts be attached onto stuff. And given how something like Fortification goes, expansions of attachable artifacts have been a tepid idea at best, meanwhile Auras can keep doubling mana of a specific land until the rest of time.
• It’s only until Theros that enchantment creatures finally exist, defining the starry frame that would go on to literally define all enchantments, then only until right after the Bolas arc that artifacts finally get the right to be colored, granted after Esper in Alara doing the proof of concept. It was the latter that made the two card types far closer to one another than ever before. Like at a certain point, someone raises the debate of: What if any creature with an engine ability could just be an enchantment?
• The last distinction between the two seems to be the fact that enchantments can’t tap (outside of attacking) while artifacts have tapped for as long as they exist (well there’s many times they don’t).

So, the way to explain this theme in Magic history terms is that we’ve established the enchantment suite earlier than the colored artifact suite, hence the reasons they chose the sides they do. It will make sense very quickly, show them some self animated swords on one side and show actual paper stories on the other and it all adds up.

The easiest way to be aware of this set theme is through the two draft signposts. Both are 2/2 for 2 with a keyword and the ability to discount everything in their type by 1. They even got the same artist as well. Also, there’s the Orzhov archetype of controlling an artifact and an enchantment because of black’s neutrality in these two card types. That got the only commander in the signpost cycle.

We’ll not be doing an exact count of either card types, or anything that explicitly synergizes off either. Just know to notice Vehicles on one side and Shrines on the other and you’re good.

2.2. Saga TDFCs

This turned out to be the traditional side’s strongest weapon: stories that can pop out to have you live with the legends within. In much of the same way the literal Saga creatures in a certain future set makes vanishing creatures feel not as terrible, these cards make delayed gratification feels more fun, because you do in fact get something during the wait. Even the DFC marks play into this, with the paper fan in closed and open orientations mirrors the artworks’ aspect ratios.

Card selections wise, it’s certainly more in line with something like original Innistrad’s use of DFCs than however much we use nowadays. It certainly gives way to the jank that is 6 commons and 8 uncommons, you would think that could fill 20 slots nicely if you double the commons, but no, it’s closer to equal than you think. Meanwhile, 6 rares and 3 mythics are literally the numbers Brothers’ War would go on to use, except the normal SFC counts of the two sets are different, BRO of the new era (60/20) and NEO of the old era (53/15). Which culminates in a very strange set of numbers.

Word density wise, the front side will always have the third chapter (yes, none of them goes to the 4th chapter) be the blink transform, which is quite wordy to say the least. This leads to quite a few cards opting to merge the first two chapters, spreading out the text box. While the others have to cram things because the reminder text wouldn’t help. Red has a particular case with this, and now I feel like I may have talked trash about this before.

The back side tends to have to work with four words, two long types and a race and a class. The left side still needs the color identity, but the right side is finally free from the set symbol, with some weird exceptions having both a shrunk typeline and some dead space where a set symbol should have been (it can’t fit this wide one however). The text box of the back side is far nicer however, with all but the 3 mythics and 3 of the rares having ample space for flavor text. Those wordy ones might find it quite sad that they can’t be commanders however, after all Sagas can be told multiple times through many generations.

2.3. Reconfigure

This is the modern side’s flashiest weapon, albeit not necessary a strong one anymore. This thing takes cues from Bestow, original Theros’ mechanic that gives creature the kicker option to staple themselves onto some other creature, which turned out to a really expensive cost because the creature will fall out to stand alone when the host dies. Making these things into Equipment certainly reduces the sticker shock, because you’ll pay the cost in multiple installments. But obviously the cost will in each side will still be higher than if the card were just a creature or an Equipment, because the choice is worth that much truly.

One dilemma facing this mechanic however is that the typeline gets crowded quickly. You need both two card types and two subtypes (one for each type), one of them is even a long word, and also having to content with this set’s wide symbol. All that culminates in the one commander here, where you also need to cram a 5th word, imagine how shrunk its text would be in languages other than English.

Another dilemma is the text box itself. You can’t just innately give the host creature the stat box and the ability like you can do with mutate or backup, you had to spell things out like how bestow did it. Which very much restricts how much can be done. Sometimes you’re lucky and the line of text can do “CARDNAME or enchanted creature …”, but other times you’ll have to repeat the keyword twice.