way better than your sprut of a second garbage fire videos, no wonder you gotta comment on peoples stuff. haha love you you better post a video tommrow!!! or i unsub
It's wild to look back at this video now, in a world of more than one Secret Lair per week where I honestly cannot say what a Magic Card looks like any more. Would love to see an update on this one.
As a guy who def doesn't have the money for so many of the secret lairs out there, those didn't even cross my mind, but I still agree because of the showcase cards, and some mechanics, like adventure. I've been playing for a while now, so I understand both sides to the argument of "It doesn't look like a magic card anymore," but as i'm more of a collector than a player nowadays, it gets to be _soooo tiresome_ to have to choose if i'm going to want to keep and collect all of a certain card based on the frame or a mechanic that alters the frame. I used to care about unique cards waaaaay more than I should have, and had to get rid of so many of them in my collection because it just wasn't viable to keep, and I was never going to be able to have a copy of every card I wanted without proxy. I will say though, for someone who grew up playing pokemon (the gameboy games) and wasn't interested in ccg's/tcg's, I was always more interested in the art of cards first and foremost, so I do love the variety when it comes to collecting, especially with showcase variants. It's only ever been a pain when playing if my opponent has a card i've rarely seen or played with. Then it's just a matter of remembering it, and thinking of what interactions it could have; but that happens most times when playing, anyways.
Things that happened since this video: -Legendary cards have a new cool frame since Dominaria -M19 uses new technology to print exactly one double-faced card, which can be used again in the future -Masters 25 has set symbols as watermarks I guess -Ultimate Masters introduces cards with "enhanced art", which basically look like amateurish alters -Modern Horizons shows that Snow lands can be full art too -M20 marks the start of borderless tokens -Throne of Eldraine has a fancy frame for cards with the Adventure mechanic, as well as new overpriced boosters with enhanced art for regular cards and weird frames for Adventures -WotC promises to keep making those overpriced boosters with weird frames for each set's mechanic Last updated: September 2019
@@hatjousuke Collectors boosters are overpriced but they're also completely unnecessary for the game, they contain nothing that you can't get through traditional means. Nothing has changed except that now you have the option to purchase a booster pack that basically only contains alternate art cards, which I'm sure at least some people enjoy. I wouldn't buy one, but I think they'd make really cool prizes for things.
This video is a long one, so here are some timestamps to help pace you: 2:03 Alpha Sets the Scene 10:17 The Uniformity of 8th Edition 17:13 Ravnica Goes Gold 24:52 Trailblazing in Zendikar 30:26 M15 is Modern Magic 36:23 The Masterpiece Experiment 48:30 Endscreen Groove
I’d love to see a part 2 for this brilliant essay. Considering with how many new frame treatments have been created since, you could probably make something of an equal length, but then in another year or two there will be even more
You should do "History of Magic" video, because there is nothing like that on here, and I really believe you'd be the only person able to give the topic the treatment it deserves. This was an amazing video btw
When you look at the back face of most DFCs one of the indicators that you can't just play the back side of the card from your hand is the missing mana cost. You simply can't accidentally play a creature or a planeswalker with no mana cost, because that just doesn't make sense. Ixalan was the first set to print DFCs with lands on the back, and that actually constitutes a bit of a problem, because lands never have a mana cost. As a result, for those cards "not looking like a Magic card" is actually a bonus. It's a functional element because it helps ensure that the card doesn't get played incorrectly.
Peter Dierauer Agreed, but in the case of those they do have a CMC even when flipped so they can be destroyed or bounced by things that have an effect on specific CMCs.
that is a rules technicality (and only the case since SoI), Peter was, as far as I can see, talking about the printed cards. Ruleswise you are, of course, correct.
I feel like a revisit to the subject is needed. It's been 4 years and they have really pushed the boundaries to say the least and have caused a lot of controversy.
I think Lightning Bolt is further indicative of something that WOTC seems to be forgetting. Players don’t want to play as Gideon or Nissa, and they don’t want to watch Chandra throw fire out of her hands at her enemies. The players want to play as their own characters, themselves, they want to throw their own Lightning Bolts at their own opponents.
To be fair, Wizards has been pushing their characters (Jace, Ajani, etc.) a lot more in recent years. Formats like Commander mean players are a lot more attached to individual characters for their design or simply how they play. It's a bit like Yu-gi-oh in that way, where people get attached to their "ace" card they fight alongside and get excited when new cards get printed that feature their favorites.
I think this only really applies to commander to be honest. They tried doing what youre describing with Brawl and Oatbreaker but people didnt really care for it.
Amazing video; easiest like, sub and favorite of my life. I'm working on a mobile CCG and have been struggling a lot with what style I should use to frame the cards and various UI elements. This video has too many valuable insights into how form meets function its making my head spin.
I was wondering why we hadn't seen you for quite a while. I was beginning to think you didn't love us anymore. This video was worth the wait. Thanks for making it.
Dude, you are seriously so good at these videos. I mean, come on, your editing and research are just some of the best. Thank you for this, as someone who loves MTG for the artwork and flavor, this is such a treat to see the history of cards frames laid out in such a cohesive manner.
I appreciated the Invocations when they released. I didn't like the illegibility of the text, but I always appreciate cards that prioritize the aesthetic over the design, especially if it's just a reprint. I also came from a YuGiOh background so that definitely helped but, nonetheless, I hope they keep making materpieces.
I love how they look. I just wish it was only for legendary cards. It got used a little too much so it became annoying to play against instead of something special.
That was an amazing video! I was skeptical at first, if this is just a glorification of the old magic art style, but I obviously misjudged that. In my Opinion this is the Peak of Magic content on TH-cam right now, thank you for making that Video.
28:15 - As a long time DM player, I'd like to point something out about Duel Masters' two-faced cards that was not incorporated in Magic that some viewers may find interesting. Duel Masters had its first two faced cards printed in 2010 (in a set called DM-36 Psychic Shock), a year before first MtG two-faced cards in Innistrad in 2011. They featured exclusively on a supertype of Creatures called Psychic Creatures which instead of being shuffled into your deck like all regular cards would sit on the table in a special zone called Hyperspatial Zone. Rather than pay normally (with mana) for these cards, you would use a special kind of Spell (Sorcery, in MtG terminology) called Hyperspatial Holes which in addition to a normal effect (such as "draw a card" for Hyperspatial Energy Hole) would let you put a Psychic Creature from the Hyperspatial Zone onto the battlefield. Psychic Creatures had their own conditions for flipping similar to Magic two-faced cards, but they were in essence treated like tokens in Magic in that any kind of removal or bounce would return them back to the Hyperspatial Zone. In general I would suggest people who are interested in MtG design and general theory to have a look at Duel Masters and its concepts. In essence, it started off as a simplified Magic for the Japanese market and got incredibly popular. It has much simpler mechanics but due to it not being published in English anymore and the nature of Japanese script much wordier, complex and interesting game mechanics. One of its core concepts also is that you only require your deck to play and nothing else (no dice for counting life, no counters, nothing like that). This also made for a whole bunch of interesting design
That's quite interesting and having double sided cards for into a space occupied by something like Strixhaven Lessons is quite interesting. I'm not a huge fan of double sided cards mostly bc I like clear sleeves normally and the idea of double sleeving everything so I can flip them just isn't appealing
This is a great video. I’ve watched it myself like 3 times and with others a few more. With the anticipated release of Eldraine, I’d love to see a part two that catches up with Adventures, Storybook specials, etc.
There are not many youtube creators who are able to make me watch through a 49 minute video in one sitting. From a german journalist: kudos to you for this perfect piece of content.
20:29 - I feel the EXACT same way. They're still functional but very pretty and flavorful. I love the tree rings on the green cards. I never played during this time, but I'm confident I'd be happy with this change taking place.
You are definitely the best youtube content creator i've ever seen. your work is amazing. 50 minutes of videos came in as a art and history lesson I never knew I was so eager to see. thank you.
This video and your video on the Black Lotus is what jump-started my interest in MtG and got me to start playing. The attention to detail, lore, and history of the game made me realize it was richer and deeper than what I initially had thought. And for some reason, your videos made Magic seem accessible to me! Just played in my first prerelease, Allegiance, two days ago! Thanks!
I just tried watching a 1 hour mtg timeline video and switched within 5 min. I saw this video nonstop and at no point did I even think about switching. Thus proving my point that this channel is just awesome for what it does and the way it delivers content. PS: please make a mtg timeline video. Atleast that way I’d sit through the entire thing and understand every detail of story line from the last few decades
This, quote unquote, "does not look like a TH-cam video." Much more work has gone into this than what I would expect out of a TH-cam video. You deserve my highest marks.
I know you've heard it before, but your content is some of the the best quality magic content on the internet. I just watched an entire episode on card frames and enjoyed every minute. You are simply amazing at creating shows worth watching.
I find myself coming back to this video again and again and again. One of the best videos I’ve ever experienced on this website and I just want to say thank you for making this a part of my life
bob winslow I will say that for the most part, I dislike most of the changes Wizards has made to the card frame. Nearly all of them are aesthetically off-putting and could have been done much better with more subtle changes.
My mom had a two-bite rule for my sister and I growing up. If you didnt think you liked a food, take two bites just to be sure. I feel like that rule applies to the frame changes throughout the years
I quit magic because I didnt enjoy looking at the cards anymore when 8th ed. and mirrodin came out. Although I have come to accept the new frame still go out of my way to get the old framed version If available.
I knew when I started watching I'd be in for the long haul, and at no point did I look away. Amazing job Sam. I wish there were awards and recognition for content creation. If there was, this video would deserve several "Oscars." Bravo.
Phenomenal video. I’m a big fan of the 1998-2003 frames and design. I started playing in 1997, so for me, the frame from those years is the most nostalgic and the best. I’m not into how “tech-y” the modern frames look, though I respect their legibility and functionality. While I don’t buy new Magic product, I’ll be interested to see how the frame experimentation keeps evolving.
Dude, such a great deep-dive on this topic! The effort you put into each one of your videos is astounding and definitely separates your final product from so many others. Cheers!
So to keep the running total after this video has been made: Dominaria introduced the update to the title line of legendary cards, adding the extra curves and flair to make them stand out among generic spells. Guilds of Ravnica introduced the split cards with half being hybrid, and half being gold (minor change but still hasn't been seen before).
I only just discovered you, but already you are my favorite channel for Magic. High quality analysis, great visuals, mood fitting music, and your voice works absolutely wonderful for these types of videos. I cannot wait to see what you put out in the future. Stay amazing dude
And then with Dominaria, the Legendary border. And now, with Guilds of Ravnica, we have 8 full art planeswalkers.... that no one will be able to get, unless you go to the secondary market and pay $700+, since they're not in packs
Would it be possible to get an essay update on "Frames Matter"? Specifically, regarding Wizards seemingly new found annihilation of the concept and just throw darts against the wall by the bucketful to see what sticks? To me, it feels like we are witnessing MtG begin the process of implosion with how much stock they are saturating the market, at a rate that nobody could hope to keep up with.
Your videos literally make me appreciate even the bulkiest bulk in my collection and make me want to keep 1 of everything. This is a truly special thing and I love your channel!!
Honestly I really like the Amonkhet Invocations, now I wouldn't want them as the main card frame, but for some special cards in an Egyptian based set I really enjoyed them for their flavor. Except the vertical power/toughness. That always bothered me.
My main problems were that, the fact that they card type was nigh-unreadable (though the name was clear to me after just a moment's attention. Harder to read from across a table though) and the smaller art. I kinda like it on the less wordy cards, and kinda want a counterspell. Overall, though, still not a fan though, but I respect your opinion.
Jackson Mccreery And that's more than completely fine. Everyone can have their own opinion, and I completely understand the problem of the cards readability, but I'm a sucker for good flavor and these cards just ooze so much of it so I am very biased.
The thing about the readability is that they weren't supposed to be readable. They were meant to look like they were in another language, but by having the name in English it leads to the expectation that you should be able to. They would have been better off just having the it all in the hieroglyphs (except the rules text) and people likely would have been more accepting of it. Much like the Glory and Elesh Norn promos.
Llewis Budd I'm with you on the art, I'd like to have about half of them just for the art. It really makes me wish WotC would release high res images of more (most? all?) of their card art online.
Discovered your channel today and in short, amazing work. I've stopped playing magic last year and the way you go into detail about certain things makes me want to play again. Keep up the great work man. This channel along side Rudy's is probably the two best channels for magic for me now.
As a new player to magic, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This answered so many questions I had looking at some of the new cards compared to old cards. I watched the entire video and was engaged the entire time. I could tell you put a ton of work into this and it shows. Great work!
I started working in a comic store a year and a half ago, buying and selling TCG singles- I came into the job knowing not ‘virtually’ nothing, but actually nothing about MTG as a franchise. I’ve learned so, so much in between then and now, but I’m always looking for resources to expand my knowledge of the game. This video was an amazing essay not just on the progression of aesthetics in the MTG frame design, which is super interesting personally, but also holds an incredible amount of info that can help ID a card. It also showed a whole host of points to check when you’re looking to ID a fake; I’ve got this bookmarked and I’m excited to go back to watch it again. Thank you so much!!!
I know that Dominaria wasn't being spoiled when this set was made but I guarantee that at least part of what mark was talking about was the new legend frames, and who know maybe there will be more stuff
I saw this 5 days late but dear god man. You are probably like within the top 10 best youtubers for sheer video quality. This is amazing, I have some sort of experience with card design and this really helped, and even without that aspect, this was such a good video that the 50 minutes was well worth it. Keep it up friend, you're one of the people that actually got me into Magic in the first place you know!
My biggest gripe with invocations was definitely the messy text boxes. Gives me a feeling that they didn't care, text running right up against the end or touching tangent lines. Especially the stupid lines that run horizontally through the textbox, intersecting the rules text. Gross.
They departed almost entirely from standard Magic cards in an unorganized way. They could have done maybe half of the changes and they would have ended up with some cards that wouldn't have been half bad. As evidenced by the smaller space for art, they LOADED those cards with stuff and the immersion suffered. We weren't sure if the frame was more focused than the art of the thing the spell was depicting.
It was definitely the small art for me. Seeing the artwork previewed online, it was mind blowing and amazing. But when we saw it in the card frame, it was tiny, and surrounded by this ugly, messy, busy border. If it had just been your average, standard MtG art, I don't think the borders would have bothered me nearly as much. But because the art was so expansive and amazing, having it shrink was maddening.
Excellent work. It seems like every point you make is very well thought out, and it shows. This is probably your best video yet, and none of your videos are lacking in quality.
This is amazing. It’s really frustrating to me that this is considered long. It’s thorough, well crafted and well paced. 10/10. Thank you for always honing your craft. You are setting the benchmark for quality mtg content.
It depends on the Masterpiece you get. The only Masterpiece I've ever pulled was an Hour of Devastation 'Boil', and it's only worth around $18 (more than the regular Boil printing, sure, but not much for an 'ultra rare' card lol).
I recently got the omniscience one and I love the art and change of tone. But personally I've always really wanted an expedition bc they art so nice looking
Dude your content is the best I found on youtube that's about mtg. Seriously a 1 hour long about card frame i wouldn't have bet on the fact that i would look at it without losing attention. WP
Absolutely genius video, well done. As somebody invested very heavily in design this stands heads and shoulders above everything I've seen on not only this topic but on topics of design in general. Thank you, honestly.
No, and there were people who expressed their appreciation right from the beginning, or at least a lack of hate. They're just so radically different they're hard to get behind, particularly with the readability issues.
The two things that irk me most about the amonkhet invocations are the power/toughness being vertical, and how some of the text overlays onto the lines in the text box example: 44:38, but I really like the cards overall.
My opinion of the Invocations has improved GREATLY. It went from a 1 to a 5, helped in part by the fact that they look better in person than on-screen. Unfortunately, a 5 is still sub-standard. It's still not great. I love ALL of the other Masterpieces, and adored the Ixalan flip lands as soon as they were revealed though. For me, if a card doesn't have a minimum level of functionality, I am simply not interested. Possession for its own sake simply... doesn't make sense to me.
This is not just a history on Magic but also a very detailed lesson on design. I think this would be a great video to show in design classes all over. Very well done!
As someone who has more recently found this channel, I'm not sure which video to leave this comment on. Anyway, i myself don't even like to play magic that much anymore. I dabbled in college and met some frustrations with it, but i can't help but have a profound respect for the way you produce your videos. There's a deep level of respect and desire to educate in every single one of them. You're doing a great job man.
One thing worth mentioning is how the Innistrad transform cards' reverse side replicates some of the designs of the Planar Chaos Timeshifted cards: Darkened colors and white typeline text. Though they still use the standard textures. Just more visual clues that you're looking at the back side of a transform card rather than the normal face. Another thing is that the Future Sight card type symbols are still in use in both MTGO and Magic Arena to assist players sorting through their collections.
I don't play MTG anymore, and this video was one of the best and well researched videos I've ever watched beginning to end. You, sir, just earned a subscriber.
good lord, this is an amazingly polished piece of art as a youtube video...wow
Huh, I never expected to see you here.
Rudy, Stop pretending you like magic, we all know you don't
Rudy??
Holy shit it’s Rudy. Love your shit my man.
way better than your sprut of a second garbage fire videos, no wonder you gotta comment on peoples stuff. haha love you you better post a video tommrow!!! or i unsub
It's wild to look back at this video now, in a world of more than one Secret Lair per week where I honestly cannot say what a Magic Card looks like any more. Would love to see an update on this one.
As a guy who def doesn't have the money for so many of the secret lairs out there, those didn't even cross my mind, but I still agree because of the showcase cards, and some mechanics, like adventure. I've been playing for a while now, so I understand both sides to the argument of "It doesn't look like a magic card anymore," but as i'm more of a collector than a player nowadays, it gets to be _soooo tiresome_ to have to choose if i'm going to want to keep and collect all of a certain card based on the frame or a mechanic that alters the frame.
I used to care about unique cards waaaaay more than I should have, and had to get rid of so many of them in my collection because it just wasn't viable to keep, and I was never going to be able to have a copy of every card I wanted without proxy.
I will say though, for someone who grew up playing pokemon (the gameboy games) and wasn't interested in ccg's/tcg's, I was always more interested in the art of cards first and foremost, so I do love the variety when it comes to collecting, especially with showcase variants. It's only ever been a pain when playing if my opponent has a card i've rarely seen or played with. Then it's just a matter of remembering it, and thinking of what interactions it could have; but that happens most times when playing, anyways.
Came here to ask for an update video.
yeah wanted to basically comment this too
This video is a piece of art in itself, it was like a BBC planet earth video but for a card game.
haha so true
TEEN TAKES OBUNGA'S BBC
Things that happened since this video:
-Legendary cards have a new cool frame since Dominaria
-M19 uses new technology to print exactly one double-faced card, which can be used again in the future
-Masters 25 has set symbols as watermarks I guess
-Ultimate Masters introduces cards with "enhanced art", which basically look like amateurish alters
-Modern Horizons shows that Snow lands can be full art too
-M20 marks the start of borderless tokens
-Throne of Eldraine has a fancy frame for cards with the Adventure mechanic, as well as new overpriced boosters with enhanced art for regular cards and weird frames for Adventures
-WotC promises to keep making those overpriced boosters with weird frames for each set's mechanic
Last updated: September 2019
I appreciate your descriptions of the enhanced art and collectors boosters.
@@hatjousuke Collectors boosters are overpriced but they're also completely unnecessary for the game, they contain nothing that you can't get through traditional means. Nothing has changed except that now you have the option to purchase a booster pack that basically only contains alternate art cards, which I'm sure at least some people enjoy. I wouldn't buy one, but I think they'd make really cool prizes for things.
@@ianmancuso9560 They are not for you. They are for the whales.
And Theros Beyond Death brings back the enchantment border first introduced in the original Theros block.
They also said that they want to make all basic lands full art cards
This video is a long one, so here are some timestamps to help pace you:
2:03 Alpha Sets the Scene
10:17 The Uniformity of 8th Edition
17:13 Ravnica Goes Gold
24:52 Trailblazing in Zendikar
30:26 M15 is Modern Magic
36:23 The Masterpiece Experiment
48:30 Endscreen Groove
Rhystic Studies only here for 48:30
Don't you want to join the Commandzone Game knights? I'm really interested on your deck. Also I think it would be fun.
minor mistake i noticed: at 9:56 you say "one block later" referring to apocalypse after invasion but they are in the same block
loved the video it was a masterpiece ;)
No need 4 time stamps; watched it all X3 -Excellent upload.
I’d love to see a part 2 for this brilliant essay. Considering with how many new frame treatments have been created since, you could probably make something of an equal length, but then in another year or two there will be even more
Episode II: Attack of The Treatments
And a part 3 with all the frames since you writ this comment.
@@HalianTheProtogen
I love how you show off each cards' beauty. Always complementing their colors with the background and surroundings.
I've watched this video many times over, and am now only realising this thanks to you. Much appreciated
You should do "History of Magic" video, because there is nothing like that on here, and I really believe you'd be the only person able to give the topic the treatment it deserves. This was an amazing video btw
Harlan Guthrie i know right!!!!!!! I can’t wait for a video like that
@@AkshatRamanathan "Make it so"~Jean-Luc Picard
When you look at the back face of most DFCs one of the indicators that you can't just play the back side of the card from your hand is the missing mana cost. You simply can't accidentally play a creature or a planeswalker with no mana cost, because that just doesn't make sense. Ixalan was the first set to print DFCs with lands on the back, and that actually constitutes a bit of a problem, because lands never have a mana cost. As a result, for those cards "not looking like a Magic card" is actually a bonus. It's a functional element because it helps ensure that the card doesn't get played incorrectly.
I didn't consider this, but I agree in full.
Excellent point
Peter Dierauer Agreed, but in the case of those they do have a CMC even when flipped so they can be destroyed or bounced by things that have an effect on specific CMCs.
that is a rules technicality (and only the case since SoI), Peter was, as far as I can see, talking about the printed cards. Ruleswise you are, of course, correct.
It was indeed the intended result when they made them
As an old Magic player who’s slowly getting back into it, this is a fascinating look at the 15 or so years I’ve missed. Thank you.
Salvador Dolby www.youtube.com/watch?v=&google_comment_id=Ugz1f4OFku707OOdX8t4AaABAg.8m3IKYWjcIM9G52pVLSjFw
It's been 6 years and that Bonfire topdeck still hurts my soul to watch. Poor Kibbles.
The moment they both look at one another. It's like a scene from a movie that has been choreographed to perfection.
It’s the Da Vinci’s Last Supper of Magic: the Gathering.
DiabolikL LSV's flat stare is the best
I feel the pain, a disgusting mono red also knocked me out of first place with Bonfire in my first Avacyn draft.
The sheer amount of time that must have gone into research and editing alone is unreal. This is a masterpiece
Your best video yet.
This is going to be hard for him to top. I am glad to see you are making more videos these days. Keep it up! I enjoy your content as well.
I feel like a revisit to the subject is needed. It's been 4 years and they have really pushed the boundaries to say the least and have caused a lot of controversy.
Big fan of how they've brought back the Cryptic Command problem by making a borderless, textless Omnath now, lmao
Man, you really know how to make the wait worth while.
I think Lightning Bolt is further indicative of something that WOTC seems to be forgetting. Players don’t want to play as Gideon or Nissa, and they don’t want to watch Chandra throw fire out of her hands at her enemies. The players want to play as their own characters, themselves, they want to throw their own Lightning Bolts at their own opponents.
To be fair, Wizards has been pushing their characters (Jace, Ajani, etc.) a lot more in recent years. Formats like Commander mean players are a lot more attached to individual characters for their design or simply how they play. It's a bit like Yu-gi-oh in that way, where people get attached to their "ace" card they fight alongside and get excited when new cards get printed that feature their favorites.
I think this only really applies to commander to be honest. They tried doing what youre describing with Brawl and Oatbreaker but people didnt really care for it.
I cant believe I want he'd 49 minutes about card frames and at no point thought about switching videos
Simon Westwood you want to try that again? Maybe include or take away some words?
Happily chubby flygon little rude. And you could stand a wee taller with a few more word of your own.
time flyes.... it's true art and magic
watched* autocorrect sucks
Intent d' feels
Amazing video; easiest like, sub and favorite of my life. I'm working on a mobile CCG and have been struggling a lot with what style I should use to frame the cards and various UI elements. This video has too many valuable insights into how form meets function its making my head spin.
that's great to hear. thank you!
I was wondering why we hadn't seen you for quite a while. I was beginning to think you didn't love us anymore. This video was worth the wait. Thanks for making it.
I never left :)
Dude, you are seriously so good at these videos. I mean, come on, your editing and research are just some of the best. Thank you for this, as someone who loves MTG for the artwork and flavor, this is such a treat to see the history of cards frames laid out in such a cohesive manner.
oh man sam. I've been dying for an upload, but now I understand the wait! I havn't watched yet but i'm so incredibly excited
I appreciated the Invocations when they released. I didn't like the illegibility of the text, but I always appreciate cards that prioritize the aesthetic over the design, especially if it's just a reprint. I also came from a YuGiOh background so that definitely helped but, nonetheless, I hope they keep making materpieces.
Negative Legend do a what happened to Magic The Gathering please!!!!!
Akshat Ramanathan but Magic is still popular
I love how they look. I just wish it was only for legendary cards. It got used a little too much so it became annoying to play against instead of something special.
50 minutes? You spoil us!
Daniel Zilberstein wait don’t you mean you foil us!
I feel like every video you do is "your best video", all of them are so high quality, but his one truly stands out.
That was an amazing video! I was skeptical at first, if this is just a glorification of the old magic art style, but I obviously misjudged that.
In my Opinion this is the Peak of Magic content on TH-cam right now, thank you for making that Video.
JR this right here! This video was wonderful
28:15 - As a long time DM player, I'd like to point something out about Duel Masters' two-faced cards that was not incorporated in Magic that some viewers may find interesting.
Duel Masters had its first two faced cards printed in 2010 (in a set called DM-36 Psychic Shock), a year before first MtG two-faced cards in Innistrad in 2011. They featured exclusively on a supertype of Creatures called Psychic Creatures which instead of being shuffled into your deck like all regular cards would sit on the table in a special zone called Hyperspatial Zone. Rather than pay normally (with mana) for these cards, you would use a special kind of Spell (Sorcery, in MtG terminology) called Hyperspatial Holes which in addition to a normal effect (such as "draw a card" for Hyperspatial Energy Hole) would let you put a Psychic Creature from the Hyperspatial Zone onto the battlefield.
Psychic Creatures had their own conditions for flipping similar to Magic two-faced cards, but they were in essence treated like tokens in Magic in that any kind of removal or bounce would return them back to the Hyperspatial Zone.
In general I would suggest people who are interested in MtG design and general theory to have a look at Duel Masters and its concepts. In essence, it started off as a simplified Magic for the Japanese market and got incredibly popular. It has much simpler mechanics but due to it not being published in English anymore and the nature of Japanese script much wordier, complex and interesting game mechanics. One of its core concepts also is that you only require your deck to play and nothing else (no dice for counting life, no counters, nothing like that). This also made for a whole bunch of interesting design
That's quite interesting and having double sided cards for into a space occupied by something like Strixhaven Lessons is quite interesting. I'm not a huge fan of double sided cards mostly bc I like clear sleeves normally and the idea of double sleeving everything so I can flip them just isn't appealing
I don't even play magic but I love this videos so much
This is a great video. I’ve watched it myself like 3 times and with others a few more.
With the anticipated release of Eldraine, I’d love to see a part two that catches up with Adventures, Storybook specials, etc.
I saw 49 minutes and I almost lost my mind. I’m gonna our this on the tv when I get out of work. Open a soda and enjoy this.
I gotta say, this is a masterpiece in post-production. All the easy-ease after effects speed graphs are perfect. Kudos
49 minutes? I have been blessed.
There are not many youtube creators who are able to make me watch through a 49 minute video in one sitting.
From a german journalist: kudos to you for this perfect piece of content.
20:29 - I feel the EXACT same way. They're still functional but very pretty and flavorful. I love the tree rings on the green cards. I never played during this time, but I'm confident I'd be happy with this change taking place.
You are definitely the best youtube content creator i've ever seen. your work is amazing. 50 minutes of videos came in as a art and history lesson I never knew I was so eager to see. thank you.
That is not a magic card.
Your face is not a magic card.
Quote unquote.
“Quote above a quote”
"Goat"
Correct. It's a video.
This video and your video on the Black Lotus is what jump-started my interest in MtG and got me to start playing. The attention to detail, lore, and history of the game made me realize it was richer and deeper than what I initially had thought. And for some reason, your videos made Magic seem accessible to me! Just played in my first prerelease, Allegiance, two days ago! Thanks!
This video is not a TH-cam video. This is a piece of art.
To see Magic treated as reverently and as artfully as you have here made watching this video a true joy. Well done. Well done, indeed!
We need the update of this video. So many alternate arts. Alternate frames. So many.
I just tried watching a 1 hour mtg timeline video and switched within 5 min. I saw this video nonstop and at no point did I even think about switching. Thus proving my point that this channel is just awesome for what it does and the way it delivers content.
PS: please make a mtg timeline video. Atleast that way I’d sit through the entire thing and understand every detail of story line from the last few decades
I've watched this masterpiece way too many times. Much love.
This, quote unquote, "does not look like a TH-cam video."
Much more work has gone into this than what I would expect out of a TH-cam video. You deserve my highest marks.
amazing video my friend. thanks for all of this fantastic info
I know you've heard it before, but your content is some of the the best quality magic content on the internet. I just watched an entire episode on card frames and enjoyed every minute. You are simply amazing at creating shows worth watching.
Sam cast Past in Frames with Flashback-- it resolves.
I find myself coming back to this video again and again and again. One of the best videos I’ve ever experienced on this website and I just want to say thank you for making this a part of my life
TL:DW Everyone: "This isn't a magic card"
Wizards: "Just try it"
Everyone: "Hey I like this better"
bob winslow I will say that for the most part, I dislike most of the changes Wizards has made to the card frame. Nearly all of them are aesthetically off-putting and could have been done much better with more subtle changes.
My mom had a two-bite rule for my sister and I growing up. If you didnt think you liked a food, take two bites just to be sure. I feel like that rule applies to the frame changes throughout the years
I quit magic because I didnt enjoy looking at the cards anymore when 8th ed. and mirrodin came out. Although I have come to accept the new frame still go out of my way to get the old framed version If available.
I knew when I started watching I'd be in for the long haul, and at no point did I look away. Amazing job Sam. I wish there were awards and recognition for content creation. If there was, this video would deserve several "Oscars." Bravo.
Phenomenal video. I’m a big fan of the 1998-2003 frames and design. I started playing in 1997, so for me, the frame from those years is the most nostalgic and the best. I’m not into how “tech-y” the modern frames look, though I respect their legibility and functionality. While I don’t buy new Magic product, I’ll be interested to see how the frame experimentation keeps evolving.
good god I can't even imagine the hours that went into the research, scripting, and editing of this video. a damn fine piece, good job
Would you ever do a update to this video or part 2 that discusses some of the changes to borders we have seen with Secret Layer and Ikora?
Dude, such a great deep-dive on this topic! The effort you put into each one of your videos is astounding and definitely separates your final product from so many others. Cheers!
So to keep the running total after this video has been made:
Dominaria introduced the update to the title line of legendary cards, adding the extra curves and flair to make them stand out among generic spells.
Guilds of Ravnica introduced the split cards with half being hybrid, and half being gold (minor change but still hasn't been seen before).
I only just discovered you, but already you are my favorite channel for Magic. High quality analysis, great visuals, mood fitting music, and your voice works absolutely wonderful for these types of videos. I cannot wait to see what you put out in the future. Stay amazing dude
And then with Dominaria, the Legendary border. And now, with Guilds of Ravnica, we have 8 full art planeswalkers.... that no one will be able to get, unless you go to the secondary market and pay $700+, since they're not in packs
Haven't played magic in 15 years. This really takes me back seeing all these old sets. Nostalgia overload.
Would it be possible to get an essay update on "Frames Matter"? Specifically, regarding Wizards seemingly new found annihilation of the concept and just throw darts against the wall by the bucketful to see what sticks? To me, it feels like we are witnessing MtG begin the process of implosion with how much stock they are saturating the market, at a rate that nobody could hope to keep up with.
Your videos literally make me appreciate even the bulkiest bulk in my collection and make me want to keep 1 of everything. This is a truly special thing and I love your channel!!
Honestly I really like the Amonkhet Invocations, now I wouldn't want them as the main card frame, but for some special cards in an Egyptian based set I really enjoyed them for their flavor.
Except the vertical power/toughness. That always bothered me.
My main problems were that, the fact that they card type was nigh-unreadable (though the name was clear to me after just a moment's attention. Harder to read from across a table though) and the smaller art. I kinda like it on the less wordy cards, and kinda want a counterspell. Overall, though, still not a fan though, but I respect your opinion.
Jackson Mccreery And that's more than completely fine. Everyone can have their own opinion, and I completely understand the problem of the cards readability, but I'm a sucker for good flavor and these cards just ooze so much of it so I am very biased.
The thing about the readability is that they weren't supposed to be readable. They were meant to look like they were in another language, but by having the name in English it leads to the expectation that you should be able to.
They would have been better off just having the it all in the hieroglyphs (except the rules text) and people likely would have been more accepting of it. Much like the Glory and Elesh Norn promos.
Llewis Budd I'm with you on the art, I'd like to have about half of them just for the art.
It really makes me wish WotC would release high res images of more (most? all?) of their card art online.
Discovered your channel today and in short, amazing work.
I've stopped playing magic last year and the way you go into detail about certain things makes me want to play again. Keep up the great work man.
This channel along side Rudy's is probably the two best channels for magic for me now.
I’m wondering if you could answer a question for me. I would really like to know how long it takes to produce the videos on your channel.
this one took about two months, from start to finish.
As a new player to magic, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This answered so many questions I had looking at some of the new cards compared to old cards. I watched the entire video and was engaged the entire time. I could tell you put a ton of work into this and it shows. Great work!
I don't think the crazy designs for masterpieces is a problem since they are intended to be special collector's items
after researching and writing this video, that's about the same conclusion I came to as well.
I started working in a comic store a year and a half ago, buying and selling TCG singles- I came into the job knowing not ‘virtually’ nothing, but actually nothing about MTG as a franchise. I’ve learned so, so much in between then and now, but I’m always looking for resources to expand my knowledge of the game. This video was an amazing essay not just on the progression of aesthetics in the MTG frame design, which is super interesting personally, but also holds an incredible amount of info that can help ID a card. It also showed a whole host of points to check when you’re looking to ID a fake; I’ve got this bookmarked and I’m excited to go back to watch it again. Thank you so much!!!
I know that Dominaria wasn't being spoiled when this set was made but I guarantee that at least part of what mark was talking about was the new legend frames, and who know maybe there will be more stuff
I saw this 5 days late but dear god man.
You are probably like within the top 10 best youtubers for sheer video quality.
This is amazing, I have some sort of experience with card design and this really helped, and even without that aspect, this was such a good video that the 50 minutes was well worth it.
Keep it up friend, you're one of the people that actually got me into Magic in the first place you know!
this is epic.... I needed this.
I’m stunned. Why isn’t this the number one spot on TH-cam; this is real quality content-creation.
My biggest gripe with invocations was definitely the messy text boxes. Gives me a feeling that they didn't care, text running right up against the end or touching tangent lines. Especially the stupid lines that run horizontally through the textbox, intersecting the rules text. Gross.
They departed almost entirely from standard Magic cards in an unorganized way. They could have done maybe half of the changes and they would have ended up with some cards that wouldn't have been half bad.
As evidenced by the smaller space for art, they LOADED those cards with stuff and the immersion suffered. We weren't sure if the frame was more focused than the art of the thing the spell was depicting.
It was definitely the small art for me. Seeing the artwork previewed online, it was mind blowing and amazing. But when we saw it in the card frame, it was tiny, and surrounded by this ugly, messy, busy border.
If it had just been your average, standard MtG art, I don't think the borders would have bothered me nearly as much. But because the art was so expansive and amazing, having it shrink was maddening.
this is the greatest video on this thing called internet, Thank you! its been an amazing ride
i love you sam
Ha GAAAAYYYYYYYY
Should've added "no homo" at the end there, buddy. Unless you're a woman.
No offence. I'm just saying.
I love you Aro Mac
Excellent work. It seems like every point you make is very well thought out, and it shows.
This is probably your best video yet, and none of your videos are lacking in quality.
Rewatching this after the reveal of Den of the Bugbear, and it explains so well why I love that card frame
This is amazing. It’s really frustrating to me that this is considered long. It’s thorough, well crafted and well paced. 10/10.
Thank you for always honing your craft. You are setting the benchmark for quality mtg content.
I didn't realize how valuable the masterpieces were, I got an Armageddon awhile ago in a booster pack
Tuxedo Ninja you should see the zendikar ones
It depends on the Masterpiece you get. The only Masterpiece I've ever pulled was an Hour of Devastation 'Boil', and it's only worth around $18 (more than the regular Boil printing, sure, but not much for an 'ultra rare' card lol).
I recently got the omniscience one and I love the art and change of tone. But personally I've always really wanted an expedition bc they art so nice looking
Dude your content is the best I found on youtube that's about mtg. Seriously a 1 hour long about card frame i wouldn't have bet on the fact that i would look at it without losing attention. WP
this does not look like a Magic video
Quincy Archer ❤️
Am I the only one who absolutely adores the amonket masterpieces?
The Amonkhet Invocations will forever be my favorite frames in all of Magic.
you make the most interesting, most well informed and most genuine mtg videos. Thank you and i loved the ferris reference
I have 1 word: Yes
I love these videos. I literally watch them over and over again and I always learn something more when I rewatch them. Thank you for producing them.
Quote on Quote: This video doesn’t look like a Rhystic video
I've hesitated to watch this for so long, but I'm so glad I did. Will never look at a card the same again after your videos, thank you.
I remember being so confused when one of my friends pulled one of the fancy Amanket cards
Yugioh has entered the chat
Absolutely genius video, well done. As somebody invested very heavily in design this stands heads and shoulders above everything I've seen on not only this topic but on topics of design in general.
Thank you, honestly.
Am I the only one who likes the amonkhet masterpieces?
Maybe is because I got a Force of Will in prerelease
Lucas Bake Forero I've never pulled a Masterpiece before. :'[
No, and there were people who expressed their appreciation right from the beginning, or at least a lack of hate.
They're just so radically different they're hard to get behind, particularly with the readability issues.
I think they look cool but it irritates me because they are such a cash grab
That's a hell of a pull!
The two things that irk me most about the amonkhet invocations are the power/toughness being vertical, and how some of the text overlays onto the lines in the text box example: 44:38, but I really like the cards overall.
My opinion of the Invocations has improved GREATLY. It went from a 1 to a 5, helped in part by the fact that they look better in person than on-screen. Unfortunately, a 5 is still sub-standard. It's still not great. I love ALL of the other Masterpieces, and adored the Ixalan flip lands as soon as they were revealed though. For me, if a card doesn't have a minimum level of functionality, I am simply not interested. Possession for its own sake simply... doesn't make sense to me.
Jackson Mccreery funny enough I feel the opposite but I completely understand where ur coming from
This is not just a history on Magic but also a very detailed lesson on design. I think this would be a great video to show in design classes all over. Very well done!
Kind of stinks that they did ANOTHER major revision to the frame and text formatting within two months of this video's release.
Oh snap, it's Luke from Professor Layton. People remember that game?
As someone who has more recently found this channel, I'm not sure which video to leave this comment on. Anyway, i myself don't even like to play magic that much anymore. I dabbled in college and met some frustrations with it, but i can't help but have a profound respect for the way you produce your videos. There's a deep level of respect and desire to educate in every single one of them. You're doing a great job man.
Oh my God, I feel so much more inteligent after this
William Carvalho right!
Your approach to making these videos is beyond captivating, and I love your content. Keep up the good work.
One thing worth mentioning is how the Innistrad transform cards' reverse side replicates some of the designs of the Planar Chaos Timeshifted cards: Darkened colors and white typeline text. Though they still use the standard textures. Just more visual clues that you're looking at the back side of a transform card rather than the normal face.
Another thing is that the Future Sight card type symbols are still in use in both MTGO and Magic Arena to assist players sorting through their collections.
I just watched this whole video and I don’t even play Magic. This dude makes such quality videos and has a buttery smooth voice to match it. I’m a fan
Promo Omnath would like a word
I don't play MTG anymore, and this video was one of the best and well researched videos I've ever watched beginning to end. You, sir, just earned a subscriber.
Well we know there's a new frame coming with the Ezuri in the Elves vs Inventors duel decks, hopefully that's a Tesla and not a Ferrari!
Was gonna say this. It's almost certainly a new frame for Legendary permanents.
love the academic writing and layout of this video. I'm going to show this to an old english teacher of mine who would be captivated with this script.
This one needs a revisit. Frames have gotten outta fuckin hand