New Artifact Token Does Some Bullshit
HARVEY CEDARS, NJ – Leaks from the upcoming Magic set have hit the internet, and the hype is real amongst the player base because a new artifact token does some bullshit.
Joining the likes of Food, Clues, and Treasures, et al., in the pantheon of Magic’s artifact tokens, Bullshit tokens appear to ask Magic players to pay two generic mana and sacrifice the token to do some annoying little thing with their life total, library, lands, hand, or graveyard. While it remains unclear how they mechanically fit into the new set’s theme, there’s no doubt Bullshit fits nicely with the overall direction of Standard.
Credit for the leak goes to Reddit user u/QuinThalia5Ever, who got their hands on a booster box after it fell off the back of a truck they were stealing. Analyzing photos taken with a Nintendo DSi, savvy commenters quickly identified how well Bullshit tokens fit in Affinity, Rakdos Sac, and other similarly bullshit strategies. Likewise, limited veterans predicted that the 1-drop common that makes the token on ETB will be an all-star and lead to many bullshit games.
Commenting on the leaked design via his Instagram Close Friends, Mark Rosewater had this to say: “The design team’s main goal was to make games take longer through repetitive, slow, and agonizing gameplay decisions. We experimented with shuffling libraries thrice or finding the square root of the total mana value in each graveyard, but both seemed far too quick.” Rosewater continued, “We also knew we wanted Arena matches to hold priority in new and unexplored ways, to ensure new players love learning this game. After some iterations, we settled on the token as it stands. We’re excited to see how the players respond!”
Asked how they decided on the name, Rosewater answered, “We went around the room, and heard a lot of ideas. Somebody suggested “Junk,” and we all liked that a lot. We were ready to finalize it; luckily, a plucky janitor reminded us we already have those. So, we went back to the drawing board, stayed late, and really drilled down on what the mechanic does. At the end of the day, we decided it’s just some bullshit.”
Can players expect the tokens to become evergreen? Magic’s head designer chuckled, “Yeah, we’re always looking to add bullshit to new sets.”
