How Often Has this Game Had a Straightforward High Fantasy Story?
Lore forum
Posted on Aug. 12, 2019, 5:46 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
High fantasy stories inspired by Arthurian legends and/or The Lord of the Rings are extremely commonplace, but Magic: the Gathering has had relatively few such stories, which is understandably disappointing (because such stories are popular for a reason, with that reason being that they can be amazingly epic, when they are well written), but also a good thing, since it shows that the writers of this game have sufficient imagination to do more than blindly emulate Tolkien.
However, M:tG shall soon have Throne of Eldraine, a set clearly modeled after both Arthurian legends and Grimm’s Fairy Tales, making this the first set that this game has had that shall be a straightforward high fantasy setting in many years (but certainly not the first ever).
Therefore, I wish to examine the history of this game and determine how many other times this game has had direct Arthurian/Tolienian high fantasy stories, by going through each block in chronological order (in real-world time, not the game’s own timeline).
First, the saga of Urza, the Weatherlight, and Phyrexia, as epic as it was, was not a traditional high fantasy, because of its emphasis on technology/machines and interplanar travel. However, I do feel that the Ice Age block, which is a sub-story of Urza’s saga, does qualify as a straightforward high fantasy story.
The Odyssey and Onslaught blocks had a post-apocalyptic feel, and could be best described as “medieval Mad max,” so do not qualify as traditional high fantasy.
The two Mirrodin blocks are definitely the furthest from traditional high fantasy and closest to science fiction/space fantasy that this game has ever come.
The Kamigawa block was, in my mind, the first time that this game had an actual straightforward high fantasy setting (actually, the Ice Age block could qualify); typically, when audiences think of high fantasy, they think of the British isles and/or Scandinavia during the medial times, but a high fantasy story can be modeled after any real-world culture, and I think that the story of that block was great (which makes it even more unfortunate that the cards were mediocre at best, outside of several amazing cards).
The Ravnica blocks are best described, by me, as urban fantasy with a touch of political intrigue. The fact that the entire plane is a massive city means that there is no sense of grandeur or exploration, and, thus, the setting is not a standard high fantasy.
The Time Spiral block dealt with the very fabric of time and space being distorted, so it is not a typical high fantasy story.
The Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block was heavily inspired by fairy tales and Celtic folklore, so I do believe that it qualifies as traditional high fantasy.
The Alara block is almost a high fantasy setting, except for the idea of a world being divided into multiple “shards” and the technology of the Esper shard.
The first Zendikar block was a traditional high fantasy setting until the third set, after which it, and the Battle for Zendikar block, became cosmic horror stories, a genre that originated far well after traditional high fantasy (actually, that is a debatable subject, since H.P. Lovecraft, the godfather of cosmic horror, wrote the majority of his works before Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, but Arthurian legend and other medieval tales predate Lovecraft by centuries).
Both Innistrad blocks are gothic horror, a genre that is largely associated with Europe (mainly England) during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (i.e., the 1700’s and 1800’s), and, thus, are not traditional high fantasy.
The Theros block was inspired by ancient Greece rather than medieval England, but definitely is a traditional high fantasy story, in my mind.
The Tarkir block is almost standard high fantasy, apart from the time travel elements that were central to the plot of that block.
The Kaladesh block was a steampunk story, so is not traditional high fantasy.
The Amonkhet block was modeled after ancient Egypt, but is a traditional high fantasy story otherwise; the fact that it features an “end-of-the-world” scenario does not exclude it from that distinction, because, although such stories are not commonplace in straightforward high fantasy, one of the best-known (but not the first) of such stories originates from Norse mythology, one of the cornerstones of traditional high fantasy.
Finally, the Ixalan block is heavily inspired by the golden age of exploration and piracy from the 1500’s and 1600’s, so is not a traditional high fantasy story.
What does everyone else say about this? How many times has this game had a traditional high fantasy setting?
I think all the sets are pretty high fantasy... the game itself is based in fantasy with us as players being planswalkers and such.
The only difference of flavor/level if fantasy I see from set to set is originality... some sets lean a lot heavier on established themes than others.
Which by no means do I mean in a negative way each set is just different strokes for different folks... I'm sure someone out there is geeking out/excited for Eldraine in the same way I was for Theros.
August 12, 2019 6:41 p.m.
It kinda depends on what you mean by high fantasy story.
So like if you mean in terms of flavor, there have been plenty of sets with knights, elves, kings, etc. Or set in a semi medieval world. Like a lot of Dominaria is meant to be a high fantasy, since it has a focus on regular fantasy creatures (even if it has some changes from the regular Tolkien style high fantasy). The same could be said for Lorwyn, although that differs in the fact that there's no humans.
But if you mean in terms of story, thats way different. When you boil down a lot of themes and settings of high fantasy, it focuses on things like quests, heroism and moving forward in courageous battles. Which a lot of sets have. You have a lot of stories about heroes slaying evils stronger than themselves or searching for a mystical object/place to end a cataclysmic event or prevent it. These are generally key components of high fantasy.
In addition, think about the amount of high fantasy that focuses on world building and details. Magic, in a lot of ways, excels at that. Whether you see the card art or not, you get a good sense of what characters/races/world's are like without from the cards alone. In that way, almost all of magic is high fantasy.
August 12, 2019 7:15 p.m.
In terms of flavor, I'd say that Theros doesn't as much since the creature types don't really match, other than Dragons, Giants and Wizards. Zendikar is definitely closer in terms of creatures.
However, in terms of themes and world building, I'd say the reverse.
August 12, 2019 8:11 p.m.
If you never read any of the Oddessy and Onslaught block novels that would explain why you felt the set wasn't "high fantasy". The storyline was very much high fantasy modeled after the Arthurian quest for the Grail and was a very entertaining read with a less sophisticated/complicated GoT feel to it.
August 12, 2019 8:40 p.m.
TypicalTimmy I mean, we've seen that with a number of planes however. Like for example, there's a number of different terrains in Zendikar or Dominaria. In terms of story, look at Weatherlight saga.
Idoneity says... #2
Two planes worth of a mention are Rabiah and Ulgrotha. Rabiah is the setting of Arabian Nights, telling a tale of a multiplied plane and the Planeswalker Taysir. Whereas Ulgrotha is similar to Innistrad in the sense of a gloomy atmosphere, home to the Sengir bloodline.
Baron Sengir was attempting to dominate the plane by massacring the other races and populations, enslaving them for his brood and machinations in his keep. The hero roles are taken up by Serra and Feroz, who both actively work against Baron.
Neither are truly high fantasy, but Ulgrotha may come third.
August 12, 2019 6:34 p.m.