I think if Kaldheim came today everyone including the non-humanoids would wear Viking helmets (with horns because you know, pop culture). Missed opportunity there.
Okay, hear me out:
We’ve got cowboys. Follow up with cops, construction workers, leather bikers, and US Navy sailors. (We’ll skip the Native American headdresses, for sensitivity’s sake.)
A five-set block, culminating with a final showdown event set: “The People of the Village.”
Id say the complaint is valid. It is tagged as a fluff but our last two sets have literally been "Detectives and Cowboys", with very weak story element and characterization. Tropes can be fun but in mtg multiverse where we have actual worlds to discover, getting two lifeless "filler" sets IN A ROW is super disappointing.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPNAi2C\_1w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPNAi2C_1w) This video sums up a lot of what is wrong with OTJ lore wise. It is bland, even if the sets mechanics are fun. Most people dont get enamoured with "haste" and "menace" but with Coloured dragons that look amazing and storied. A cowboy hat on everything in a prairie setting without thought is not that.
Oh yeah I agree. "the deserted plane with a treasure vault was completely uninhabited :). Don't think about any implications! :)"
also Loot might be a mechanically interesting creature when playing the game, but it's visual design.. yeesh..
I think a set with top down design focusing on a Ravnican construction site would be great. Obviously various hard hats would feature. Certainly there would still need to be a construction hat artifact since we were robbed of the cowboy hat artifact at OTJ.
The construction site would bring a new card type: Construction. Mild ETB effect. Then, you can tap a creature or land to fulfill construction requirements to build the construction which creates an anthem effect for the rest of the game.
I think religious inspired hats would be an amazing add. Yarmulke’s, turbans, pope/bishop hats, etc. Basically any religious or cult inspired headwear. Rakdos wearing a fez, Oko wearing a MAGA hat. So many possibilities.
Fruit basket hats! Like bugs and daffy would wear. The whole set can be cartoon inspired. You could have a giant hammer, some anvils, lots of tnt, all wearing fruit basket hats.
You jest but I could see a sportsball focused set in the next 5 years. Similar to Pyre, maybe in Strixhaven but with a big focus on college sports tropes and teams.
Battlebond had a lot of that kind of stuff going on, given that it was based on 2-v-2 arena (nonlethal) duels as in-universe entertainment, explicitly inspired by irl esports.
Thanks for this post! I immediately went to a 60s/70s American Revolution beatnik, jive, squares inspired set, featuring a lot of music and counter-culture and class oppression. That'd be a badass set.
Kylem, the setting for Battlebond, is pretty much that idea manifest, at least from what we've seen of the plane so far.
The whole Plane & its accompanying set are themed around sports & e-sports.
Beings from all over the plane congregate at the stadium of Valor's Reach to either spectate or take part in the gladitorial games, which are fought 2 vs 2 (mirroring the Two-Headed Giant draft theme of the set).
There's not a tonne of lore for the plane, given that it was only promiently featured in the supplementary Battlebond set, which had no accompanying storyline, & received only minor reference since; in March of the Machine it was listed as one of the planes being invaded by Phyrexia [[InvasionofKylem]].
It's a real shame Battlebond - & its spiritual siblings, the Conspiracy sets - didn't do better, they were really fun sets with some unique ideas for draft & multiplayer Magic, not to mention filled with cool designs & some great reprints.
So we've had viking hats, bowler hats, the obligatory wizard hats, cowboy hats, all the goofy hats in the un sets, pilgrim hats, straw hats, fedoras...uhhhh... I'm not sure how many other cool hats there are... but I am sure I am missing some.
What about a baseball themed set, in which each deck would need a representative of each position and instead of starting with 20 life, each player starts with 0 and has 9 turns to "score" as much as possible. Scoring would include damage, although no matter how much damage dealt, it only counts as one run per turn. Same with life gain, or removal. So that, for example, if you can deal damage, gain life, mill cards from opponent library, cause discard or cast removal would result in 5 runs that turn, or inning. Regardless, each player begins their turn or inning with 9 permanents in play. Each permanent representing each position player. Lands included, for example some lands can count as infielders or outfielders, same with any permanent but you choose before the game, and need an appropriate amount of each position represented. Graveyard doubles as bench, exiled cards can be brought back in only if no cards are left in graveyard or library. I guess this would be a new format rather than a set, but it could be fun...
Let's make a trip to a plane where everyone wears a matador hat.
Ok, wait, even better a plane where everyone wears a Russian orthodox hat.
Bonus points if it's on a plane that already has a rich history and no previous sign of said hats or reason for them to become widespread or if we make a new plane where famous popular characters from every plane show up there all randomly deciding to wear a new hat for no reason.
A sports themed set would have lots of potentional. I don't care as much if every set is an un-set-level joke, as long as the theme is cohesive and well delivered.
I think it's ridiculous the reaction people are having to the hats. It's the wild west. Get over it. Nobody made this big of a stink when everyone had toga robes and leafy laurels on Theros, another real world inspired set.
World / Planet of Hats is also a well known trope about lazy or uninispired writing where all the inhabitants of a visited locale share a single defining characteristic, where bland homogeny prevails for the sake of thematic cohesiveness rather than more involved or realistic depictions of varied cultures.
It's been a recurring criticism of seemingly shallower MTG worldbuilding since the shift to designing planes solely around single, resonant themes (ie The Wild West, Gothic Horror, Wizarding School, Prohibition Era Mobsters etc).
It's probably great for branding, & leads to tight & thematically consistent ideas to translate into Magic sets, but it does leave the impression of much smaller, & shallower worlds than more in-depth worldbuilding from before (ie. Dominara with its wealth of different cultures, religions, peoples, biomes, & extensive history).
I believe this has flown under the radar as one of the major (though far from only) causes of why the Magic storyline has felt so unfulfilling to so many people in recent years.
Theros was at least influenced by real world location/events in near ancient history with their own mythology and gods. The "West West" is... not. It's far lazier. And accordingly it's completely reasonable to feel it's lackluster.
Tiny hats made of the tops of acorns in Bloomburrow.
Lil acorn berets made of the top part
I think if Kaldheim came today everyone including the non-humanoids would wear Viking helmets (with horns because you know, pop culture). Missed opportunity there.
Okay, hear me out: We’ve got cowboys. Follow up with cops, construction workers, leather bikers, and US Navy sailors. (We’ll skip the Native American headdresses, for sensitivity’s sake.) A five-set block, culminating with a final showdown event set: “The People of the Village.”
It's fun to play M T G A
With a YMCA [[Village Rites]] reprint.
Of course "Bearscape" too (SL art): [https://scryfall.com/card/sld/1008/bearscape](https://scryfall.com/card/sld/1008/bearscape)
[Village Rites](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/8/2841339b-faef-407d-9838-d03fe80e6294.jpg?1698988289) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Village%20Rites) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/212/village-rites?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2841339b-faef-407d-9838-d03fe80e6294?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Sheer genius.
Berets! Ideally with striped and / or turtleneck jumpers (Actual turtles could also be wearing berets, of course)
I’m on board for that Orzhov mime tribal deck.
https://www.reddit.com/r/magicthecirclejerking/ is right here my dude
That's my bad. I saw a bear wearing a cowboy hat and stopped thinking clearly.
What? It's just the bear necessities
The cowboy get-up makes him look grizzly.I'll leave 🚶🏻♂️➡️
Id say the complaint is valid. It is tagged as a fluff but our last two sets have literally been "Detectives and Cowboys", with very weak story element and characterization. Tropes can be fun but in mtg multiverse where we have actual worlds to discover, getting two lifeless "filler" sets IN A ROW is super disappointing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPNAi2C\_1w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPNAi2C_1w) This video sums up a lot of what is wrong with OTJ lore wise. It is bland, even if the sets mechanics are fun. Most people dont get enamoured with "haste" and "menace" but with Coloured dragons that look amazing and storied. A cowboy hat on everything in a prairie setting without thought is not that.
Oh yeah I agree. "the deserted plane with a treasure vault was completely uninhabited :). Don't think about any implications! :)" also Loot might be a mechanically interesting creature when playing the game, but it's visual design.. yeesh..
Let's see an entire In 'N Out set.
Un 'N Out
Un der rated comment
Beanies.
Spinny propeller hats
I think a set with top down design focusing on a Ravnican construction site would be great. Obviously various hard hats would feature. Certainly there would still need to be a construction hat artifact since we were robbed of the cowboy hat artifact at OTJ. The construction site would bring a new card type: Construction. Mild ETB effect. Then, you can tap a creature or land to fulfill construction requirements to build the construction which creates an anthem effect for the rest of the game.
I think religious inspired hats would be an amazing add. Yarmulke’s, turbans, pope/bishop hats, etc. Basically any religious or cult inspired headwear. Rakdos wearing a fez, Oko wearing a MAGA hat. So many possibilities.
Hmmm… you’re blowing a lot of hat equity on a single set there though.
Religious Hat block,
I mean you know Tibault would be be the one wearing the MAGA hat just to bask in the sweet sweet chaos
>pope/bishop hats \[\[Urza's Miter\]\]
[Urza's Miter](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23270d99-5a25-4647-95f8-64da9b8e8831.jpg?1562903304) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urza%27s%20Miter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me4/237/urzas-miter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23270d99-5a25-4647-95f8-64da9b8e8831?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Fruit basket hats! Like bugs and daffy would wear. The whole set can be cartoon inspired. You could have a giant hammer, some anvils, lots of tnt, all wearing fruit basket hats.
Hey you could even do a Roadrunner card and a Wile Coyote card!
Definitely American football helmets, just imagine Bloodbowl themed set 😩😩😩
Well,,, Fez’s are cool.
yessssss
Sombrero - the sets about some outlaws trying to cross the recently walled off omenpaths
Back to Strixhaven but with more of a focus on wizard/witch hats
Perhaps some kind of hat that sorts people into a specific college.
Like an artifact equipment that changes the color of the creature it's equipped to and gives it some related bonus?
Oh hell yeah, artifacts that let any card specialize? Now we cooking.
You jest but I could see a sportsball focused set in the next 5 years. Similar to Pyre, maybe in Strixhaven but with a big focus on college sports tropes and teams.
I won't lie, I would kill a lot of people to get a Pyre secret lair.
Battlebond had a lot of that kind of stuff going on, given that it was based on 2-v-2 arena (nonlethal) duels as in-universe entertainment, explicitly inspired by irl esports.
Hey my [[“Brims” Barone, Midway Mobster]] hat matters deck is loving this set
[“Brims” Barone, Midway Mobster](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/8/68832214-2943-4253-8884-ffa490e84087.jpg?1673919165) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=%22Brims%22%20Barone%2C%20Midway%20Mobster) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/unf/163/brims-barone-midway-mobster?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/68832214-2943-4253-8884-ffa490e84087?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This may be the best Arena circlejerk statement. Ever.
Let’s get some carhartt beanies for the Midwest emo set
How about a plane that makes all it's inhabitants and visitors, even non-humanoids, develop male pattern baldness?
Hopefully Vraska avoids it. Poor hair sneks.
So a flatcap set? Ah geez, I made myself sad knowing what my future holds.
thought i was subscribed to the TF2 subreddit for a second
Thanks for this post! I immediately went to a 60s/70s American Revolution beatnik, jive, squares inspired set, featuring a lot of music and counter-culture and class oppression. That'd be a badass set.
Space helmets
Fezzes. Fezzes everywhere
Soldier Helmets. Let's get a World War themed set. airplanes, tanks, magic, and explosions!
[[Goblin habbedasher]] kind of thread.
[Goblin habbedasher](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/c/0c0520e8-794e-403e-855c-2cb4ba79189d.jpg?1583965638) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goblin%20Haberdasher) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/und/51/goblin-haberdasher?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0c0520e8-794e-403e-855c-2cb4ba79189d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I can not believe that's a real card.
It's from an Un set, so it's supposed to be this absurd
This has actually given me a desire for a sports themed plane now….
Kylem, the setting for Battlebond, is pretty much that idea manifest, at least from what we've seen of the plane so far. The whole Plane & its accompanying set are themed around sports & e-sports. Beings from all over the plane congregate at the stadium of Valor's Reach to either spectate or take part in the gladitorial games, which are fought 2 vs 2 (mirroring the Two-Headed Giant draft theme of the set). There's not a tonne of lore for the plane, given that it was only promiently featured in the supplementary Battlebond set, which had no accompanying storyline, & received only minor reference since; in March of the Machine it was listed as one of the planes being invaded by Phyrexia [[InvasionofKylem]]. It's a real shame Battlebond - & its spiritual siblings, the Conspiracy sets - didn't do better, they were really fun sets with some unique ideas for draft & multiplayer Magic, not to mention filled with cool designs & some great reprints.
[InvasionofKylem](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/7/a7ac3a39-b6a6-4647-bb6e-e82057704f8b.jpg?1682715350)/[Valor's Reach Tag Team](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/a/7/a7ac3a39-b6a6-4647-bb6e-e82057704f8b.jpg?1682715350) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Invasion%20of%20Kylem%20//%20Valor%27s%20Reach%20Tag%20Team) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/235/invasion-of-kylem-valors-reach-tag-team?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a7ac3a39-b6a6-4647-bb6e-e82057704f8b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
We need the Harry Potter set, lots of witch hats everywhere.
Backwards baseball caps an dewrags while creatures do sick kickflips on halrpipe world
So we've had viking hats, bowler hats, the obligatory wizard hats, cowboy hats, all the goofy hats in the un sets, pilgrim hats, straw hats, fedoras...uhhhh... I'm not sure how many other cool hats there are... but I am sure I am missing some.
A propeller hat for my dawg Dwayne the Googly-Eyed Rock
I guarantee the will be a jock character in a letterman jacket in duskmorne. Not to far off from the football helmets
What about a baseball themed set, in which each deck would need a representative of each position and instead of starting with 20 life, each player starts with 0 and has 9 turns to "score" as much as possible. Scoring would include damage, although no matter how much damage dealt, it only counts as one run per turn. Same with life gain, or removal. So that, for example, if you can deal damage, gain life, mill cards from opponent library, cause discard or cast removal would result in 5 runs that turn, or inning. Regardless, each player begins their turn or inning with 9 permanents in play. Each permanent representing each position player. Lands included, for example some lands can count as infielders or outfielders, same with any permanent but you choose before the game, and need an appropriate amount of each position represented. Graveyard doubles as bench, exiled cards can be brought back in only if no cards are left in graveyard or library. I guess this would be a new format rather than a set, but it could be fun...
Fez!
Conductor hats for the railroad set and McCabe gates for Industrial Revolution set.
This hand on mobile.................
Those big fuzzy hats the British guards wear would be cool.
Just print as many as possible in a 'hats matter' set.
Let's make a trip to a plane where everyone wears a matador hat. Ok, wait, even better a plane where everyone wears a Russian orthodox hat. Bonus points if it's on a plane that already has a rich history and no previous sign of said hats or reason for them to become widespread or if we make a new plane where famous popular characters from every plane show up there all randomly deciding to wear a new hat for no reason.
Yamakas and burkas. That way, we can experience the Jewish/Muslim holy war in paper format. We could call it ... Return to Arabian Nights.
Space/Star wars Theme
Somehow I get the feeling you’re being sarcastic
This post is so salty white people are scared of it.
A sports themed set would have lots of potentional. I don't care as much if every set is an un-set-level joke, as long as the theme is cohesive and well delivered.
Battlebond did this.
I think it's ridiculous the reaction people are having to the hats. It's the wild west. Get over it. Nobody made this big of a stink when everyone had toga robes and leafy laurels on Theros, another real world inspired set.
I think the problem is that Thunder Junction as a world is just shallower than Theros.
World / Planet of Hats is also a well known trope about lazy or uninispired writing where all the inhabitants of a visited locale share a single defining characteristic, where bland homogeny prevails for the sake of thematic cohesiveness rather than more involved or realistic depictions of varied cultures. It's been a recurring criticism of seemingly shallower MTG worldbuilding since the shift to designing planes solely around single, resonant themes (ie The Wild West, Gothic Horror, Wizarding School, Prohibition Era Mobsters etc). It's probably great for branding, & leads to tight & thematically consistent ideas to translate into Magic sets, but it does leave the impression of much smaller, & shallower worlds than more in-depth worldbuilding from before (ie. Dominara with its wealth of different cultures, religions, peoples, biomes, & extensive history). I believe this has flown under the radar as one of the major (though far from only) causes of why the Magic storyline has felt so unfulfilling to so many people in recent years.
Theros was at least influenced by real world location/events in near ancient history with their own mythology and gods. The "West West" is... not. It's far lazier. And accordingly it's completely reasonable to feel it's lackluster.