Two months ago, we knew very little about Scars of Mirrodin beyond two things.  It was a return to the plane of Mirrodin (we properly assumed that from the title), and the Tezzeret and Elspeth were going to appear as Planeswalkers (which obviously turned out to be incorrect).  Everything else was a mystery, one that Gathering Magic took to unraveling with our Predictions and Conjectures: SoM article.  Here is a look back at how we faired, and what it means for the Megameta in the post-Scars world.   

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Well, Yeah…

A New Elspeth - Correct: When the original article was written, Elspeth had already been confirmed in the set by a WotC panel at San Diego’s ComicCon.  That made this prediction pretty much a beachball being lobbed towards the plate at three miles-per-hour.  An easy target.  And while the predicted Elspeth the Pure was not exactly a home run, we’re awarding ourselves a Correct on this one for two reasons.  One, we nailed the casting cost again not that WotC has been making it too difficult as of late), and basically nailed the ultimate ability.  The latter being more impressive because many MTG fans argued a sweep would never be printed on a PW.  Don't beleive us, just take a stroll through the comments on the original article. 

Karn, the Card, Won’t Show - Correct: Some of the earliest whispers surrounding Scars regarded the popular Planeswalker/Golem Karn, an erstwhile Urza.  Various spoiled art and card titles suggested a possible card or two, but nothing concrete ever developed besides our fanboy yearnings for a new Urza spell.  Instead, Karn was replaced by Koth of the Hammer (for a brief period everyone assumed KOTH was an acronym for Karn O.T.H.), who turned out to be, at launch, the most popular card in the set.  Karn was nowhere to be found on the set-list.  That being the case, we are awarding ourselves another Correct on this one. 

Return of the Sunburst Mechanic - Incorrect: Shockingly, even after the Etched Champion art was released, Sunburst never made an appearance in Scars of Mirrodin.  Perhaps it was a little pre-mature to assume Mark Rosewater thought, “every MTG player should be shoving as many different colors into their decks as possible.”  In fact, the only Mirrodin Original keyword to return in SoM was Imprint, which would have been the long-shot pick for most players.  In fact, unlike Affinity and Metalcraft, there isn’t even an homage to Sunburst within this expansion.  This prediction is surprisingly, and certainly Incorrect.

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Bold Predictions

Artifacts Won’t be as Numerous This Time Around - Correct:

The original Mirrodin was almost 50% artifacts, and it seemed obvious to us that was much too high a percentage to repeat.  We were Correct, as only about 35% of the cards in SoM are artifact card types, and rightfully so.  A set with so many colorless cards begins to blur the boundaries of the colorpie, and what defines Magic as a game.  Not to mention, it severely limits the design space within a set if half the set is one color.  Kudos to Wizards for making an artifact set without going overboard on the artifacts themselves.   

A Brother to the Sword of Body and Mind - Incorrect: There is no gray area in this prediction, there is either a fourth sword in the Sword of … and …. cycle, or there isn’t.  There isn’t.  Although there is a possibility of another mythic sword sneaking its way into Mirrodin Besieged, this still counts as 100% Incorrect. 

The Return of Colored Artifacts - Incorrect: “There is only one way to create a diverse MTG environment within a block made up of over 30% artifacts, and that is to grant them colors.”  Well, not exactly.  Instead WotC found a nice little loop-hole to keep the colorpie relevant, and the design space open: put colored activation costs on artifact cards.  No fewer than twenty of the eighty-eight artifacts in SoM have activiation costs that require a specific color, usually to produce an effect that aligns with that color on the wheel.  Cards like [ard]Trigon of Infestation[/card] help make Scars a more dynamic set, while maintaining the metallic theme.  But with no colors in any of the casting costs, the prediction is still Incorrect.  

 Hopes and Dreams

No Colored Artifacts - Correct: Talk about hedging bets, predicting the exact opposite as the previous prediction.  Again, because it was under the ‘Hopes and Dreams’ heading.  In some cases, dreams do come true, and this is one of those cases.  Instead of a third set in four that took MTG colorpie tradtion behind the woodshed, we have more evidence that the Esper shard was a one-time shot.  Much like the enchantment creatures in Future Sight.  No colored artifacts means good news for us, both in our Correct prediction, and our sacred MTG fundamentals.   

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A New Aggro Mechanic to Replace Cascade - Partially Correct: Before beginning to explain how Infect will become a Cascade-like aggro mechanic, some perspective.  Cascade was one of the most powerful mechanics ever, competing on that stage with only the likes of Affinity and Storm, two other format defining abilities.  There will not be any other ability on that level for some time, nor should we expect there to be.  However, Infect does fill the anti-control role that Cascade has perfected these past 18 months.  Infect creates a metagame where life totals do not matter (during one release event game, I scooped at 67 life), and death comes seemingly from nowhere.  A control player’s worst nightmare.  In that regard, we give ourselves partial credit.  Not Nearly as Broken as the Original - Correct at the Moment, but We Shall See: Another gimme prediction when looking at the WotC track record since Kamigawa, with basically nothing banned in Standard.  Does this make us frauds?  Not really.  The issue here is that creating a playable set of colorless cards tends to lend itself to unbalance, because a single deck can fit most every spell and effect at once.  In the case of Scars of Mirrodin, the designers made sure to not allow too many mana acceleration effects, and limited the possible impact of Imprint (a historically broken mechanic).  Another kudos to WotC for strong R&D, and another Correct answer. 

Total Score - 6.5 out of 10.