Thanksgiving has arrived and that means a few traditions have too.  Winter is almost here and it is time to see family and friends, enjoy some togetherness, and eat until you pass out.  Also, if the group you share the Holiday with is anything like just about every other, one of the elder members will inevitably have one request.  That everyone, in turn, tell the rest what they are thankful for.  This cliche had held true at every Thanksgiving I have had since I was a toddler and I still get jealous when someone else takes the "I'm thankful for all of you" answer.   Or as I call it, "not wanting to actually answer the question."  (Although I am probably just bitter because I became too old to use that answer about ten years ago.  Now people expect an honest, meaningful response.  Ugh.)  In a literary sense, it has come my turn around the Gathering Magic table and I want to share the things about MTG I am thankful for in 2009.

[caption id="attachment_5814" align="alignright" width="229" caption="well done wotc, well done"][/caption]

Everything Magic 2010 Did Right - And trust me, there was a lot to choose from.  In no particular order here are the best things about M10: the rules changes, the return of classic cards, Baneslayer Angel, and more adherence to the typical fantasy flavor.  When WotC released a 3500 word article on new changes to basic Magic rules our reaction as a fan base was mixed to put it lightly.  At the time we here at Gathering Magic actually defended these new rules as a step towards a more intuitive and cleaner game.  Not to mention more fun.  Six months later the changes have all but been forgotten.  And Magic is better for them.  Duelists received a much more obvious reward when a few absolute historic cards were announced for the core set.  Lightning Bolt alone would have been enough of a hook to grab many veteran players, but they added Duress, Ball Lightning, and Darksteel Colossus.  Cards some players thought may never return.  Lest we all think this set was purely a jab at our nostalgia Magic 2010 also gave birth to Baneslayer Angel.  A creature so flat-out good that you could argue whether it was a Timmy card or a Spike card.  And while you argue that, why not debate if it the greatest creature ever printed.  After all it might be.  Finally, the return to 'classic' fantasy for MTG was long over-due.  No offense intended to Changeling/Kithkin/Boggart lovers everywhere.

[caption id="attachment_5815" align="alignright" width="169" caption="what took so long?"][/caption]

Full Art Lands Available in a Real Expansion Set - Fantastic idea.  Full art lands are visually better in every way to the crusty old school lands with giant skulls or trees smack in the middle of the text box.  The way LB added to the appeal of M10, basic lands added to Zendikar.  Draft tables no longer had piles of unused land waiting to be recycled or thrown out.  Some of us bought fat-packs simply to make sure we had enough of each land type to fill out our decks.  Of course the more you dwell on the greatness of these lands carrying some importance, the more one questions burns to the surface.  What in the heck took so long?!?  WotC removed all text from basic lands after the release of Portal in 1997 and that was about five years late.  Even after the popularity of Unglued and Unhinged lands WotC still denied us.  And now Mark Rosewater is telling us they were a one-time deal.  A gimmick to fit with Zendikar's land theme!  Why!?  Alright, I need to calm down before somebody gets smashed with a six-pound turkey leg.

A Fresh Breath of Mono-Colored Air - Much has been written in this space about the callous lack of respect for the color-pie displayed in 2008.  Well allow a bit more.  The Shadowmoor to Eventide to Shards of Alara to Conflux run meant no sets were released in 2008 without gold cards or hybrid mana.  From the perspective of a person playing mostly casual and limited formats this was devastating.  Drafting Alara?  Good luck with that Rhox War Monk and Sprouting Thrinax combo.  That was then and this is now.  Zendikar (and of course M10) brought us back full circle with strictly mono-colored cards and it has been grand.  No worries that my newly pulled Mythic can't be played in any existing decks because none of them are Esper colors.  It may not seem like much, but it has made  a world of difference to some.  Especially in formats where a mana-base isn't quite so easy to fix.

[caption id="attachment_5816" align="alignright" width="170" caption="the essence of cool"][/caption]

Sorin Markov, Planeswalker - What separates Sorin from his 2009 peers in planeswalking Nicol Bolas, Chandra Ablaze and Nissa Revane?  A few things.  First, the art is as cool as MTG cards get.  Menacing vampires dressed in all black and looking ready to kick some serious butt are pretty much always awesome.  Right Blade?  Second, Sorin is the only walker of the four to hit every level of Magic play:  casual, competitive, limited, multiplayer, EDH, etc.  You name the format and chances are Sorin works pretty well within it.  Third, the flavor of Sorin makes him the best candidate to be included in a future core set, maybe even M11.  Unlike Nicol Bolas with his three colors or Nissa Revane with an ability that demands inclusion of another card (Nissa's Chosen).  Sorin will be bringing smiles to our faces for years.

Last but not least, I am thankful for a forum in which to discuss all these things.  Gathering Magic is another child of 2009 and it could not have begun at a more perfect time.  This was a big year for Magic.  The core set brought about some of the most significant changes to gameplay in a decade.  WotC continued to expand the Magic brand with new products like Divine vs Demonic, From the Vault: Exiled, Premium Decks: Slivers, Planechase, and Garruk vs Liliana.  Alara Reborn produced one of the most dominant tournament builds in some time with Jund aggro.  And Zendikar gave us priceless treasures to hunt along with the aforementioned lands.  Pretty impressive and it was exciting to be following it all, and a priviledge to be writing about it too.  For that I am most thankful.