Ezra’s Story: A Tribute to Worzel

Today I am pleased to present this guest post from Dean Costakis. I am not sure what lured him to the dark side, I can only assume that after the beating his B/G deck took on “All Roads” (ATC Episode 42) he immediately sold it off and moved on to a completely different format. This is his story. -Mano

No sooner had the energy sparked from Thayden’s fingers, an immense bubble blinked into existence surrounding the battlefield. The grin which faintly appeared at the corners of Ezra’s mouth belied his subtle surprise and wonder at the spectacle. After regaining his composure, his voice pierced through the mist, “It will take more than blowing bubbles to finish this, Thayden!” Unfazed, Thayden softly extended his open hand upward into the still air. The heretofore starry night sky seemed to disappear behind a blanket of ominously dark clouds leaving both combatants awash only in the soft crimson glow of the bubble. Rolling thunder from what seemed many strides away now grew ominously closer until a blinding bolt of electricity struck down from infinity and exploded on top of Ezra bringing the mage to his knees. Through the smoke emanating from his charred flesh, he narrowed his eyes and observed his opponent surrounded by energy, arms stretched toward the heavens. Sensing he could not survive further loss of life, Ezra drew energy from the forest to absorb whatever lifeblood its rivers and streams were willing to ante. But something was wrong.

Flickers and flares sputtered from Ezra’s fingers and the spell failed – the world around him growing eerily silent as fear enveloped him like a crushing darkness. The unnatural silence was quickly replaced by thunderous booms rhythmically emanating from Thayden’s direction. Hurricane-force gales from the wings of a magnificently terrifying dragon drew Ezra aloft and rocketed him backwards, leaving him dangling precariously by his vestments which were now entangled with the limbs of an ancient Ironroot. As the creature moved toward Ezra, its feet crashed against the earth, one after another, while a thick jet of fire from its maw ravaged the battlefield in every direction. The doomed, dangling wizard began his final, desperate incantation to call upon the fog and mists of the forest to delay what appeared inevitable. As his spell again failed, a hysterical and frenzied Ezra found himself staring directly into the eyes of the great beast which was flanked by its summoner. Thayden extended his arm into the air and Ezra grew motionless as the two locked eyes. “Beta magic will not work here, mage,” Thayden flatly stated before turning around and dropping his arm. Ezra’s final thoughts turned to astonishment as it struck him how bright the night sky seemed in contrast with the blackness that now presented itself as the crushing jaws of the Shivan Dragon closed slowly around him.

Only Alpha Edition is allowed? That is a bit pretentious. A forty card minimum? Nothing is banned or restricted? What is to stop someone from shoving twenty Lightning Bolts in their deck? And why are none of these cards in sleeves?!

Each of these thoughts materialized in my mind when I first discovered the Alpha 40 format several months ago. Though the breathtaking beauty of Limited Edition Alpha cards was undeniable, what was not hard to deny was the overt elitism oozing from the fibers of the Alpha cardstock. Or, maybe, like a fine wine, the simplistic brilliance of its flavor profile was hiding between the numbers on the price tag?

Day after day, I continued to simultaneously admire and abhor beautiful imagery of ancient but vibrant round-cornered, black-bordered cards – exactly forty in each picture. What was the source of my sharp distaste for a format, admittedly, I knew next-to-nothing about? After a brief round of introspection, I had squarely settled on cost being an issue – but, why? After all, I play Old School and I know what it feels like to spend rebarbative sums of money on cards. How was this any different? Well, for starters, Islands exceed the thirty-dollar-mark.

Alpha cards are rare. No, I mean endangered species-rare. In this hyper-connected, always-on world, the Internet has, for the most part, instilled us with the power to acquire the same rare Magic cards we scantly heard of as kids and with relative ease. Do you want a full set of Unlimited Power Nine? A Candelabra of Tawnos? No problem – you are nearly assured that, at any given time, there will be plenty available on eBay and most other Magic market sites. Alpha, however, is a different matter. Sure, you will find cards from this edition for sale online, but in vastly limited quantities and, in many cases, sold out. A quick look at the numbers makes this an unsurprising occurrence: the print run for Alpha rares was 1,100 – a quantity so small you could fit all Alpha Black Lotuses ever to exist inside a shoebox [which, ironically, is where a handful undoubtedly met their demise]. Alpha uncommons were printed in a quantity of 4,500. Finally, Alpha commons were printed in a quantity of 16,000 making each rarer than any Unlimited Black Lotus – of which there were 18,500 printed. Alpha is nearly three times rarer than Beta. When you factor in how many Alpha cards have been lost to time, even their limited availability online is shocking. My sudden awareness of its fundamental scarcity is, for me, what eroded the snobbish stigma of the format, allowing me to swirl it around the bowl of the glass and enjoy its earthy aroma before drawing in the first sip.

Alpha is the genesis of collectible card games. With its 295-card collection and unrefined rule set, Alpha is also the Oldest School. This deceptively limited card pool paints a rich portrait of simplicity that underscores the format with every neigh-forgotten spell cast. Interestingly, this means many of the auto-includes of Old School such as Strip Mine and Mishra’s Factory are not allowed here which encourages one to more deeply explore the depth and breadth of spell offerings. In the bustling environment of Old School which has experienced exponential growth over the last half-decade, it can be enjoyable to escape The Deck, Counterburn, and other formulaic decks and experience the satisfying simplicity and blissful ignorance of casting Regeneration on an Ironroot Treefolk or Flight on a Frozen Shade. It can also be entertaining to watch your opponent flip their fourth Chaos Orb without the aid of Copy Artifact or Regrowth. This example of exploiting the “nothing restricted, nothing banned” rule might pose a problem to some, but this was Magic at the time of its conception – and that is the entire point.

The Chaos Orb example also underpins the important role of cost in the format. Earlier, I explained how the Internet made the bulk of the Old School card pool more accessible than it ever was when we were kids in the mid-nineties. During our years-long lamentation of how card prices have ballooned, rarely do we take time to appreciate that the objects of our nostalgic affection are accessible at all. Do you remember just how hard it was to find those rare Magic cards as a kid, let alone one that was for trade or sale? I have come to accept the cost of Alpha cards for one essential reason: cost is the mechanism which simulates scarcity in our hyper-connected world. It is what makes it difficult to include four Chaos Orbs or twenty Lightning Bolts in a deck. Sure, some players strive for – and achieve – this goal, but that is part of the format’s flavor. It is a beautiful celebration of absurdity, and an unassailable achievement when you procure that fortieth card to complete your first Alpha 40 deck.

Since joining the Alpha 40 community, I have come to discover just how accepting, encouraging, and helpful its members have been. There is much excitement and celebration surrounding this ancient format – an excitement which has driven the Alpha 40 Facebook group member count to a number high enough to lay claim to nearly half the Alpha Dingus Eggs ever printed. As interest grows, many people who are curious about how the format plays have asked about using Unlimited or Revised cards as proxies. In an Alpha 40 event, you will find yourself out of luck. However, the relaxed and casual climate of Skype offers the perfect setting to pilot a forty card non-Alpha deck and to test the waters of the Alpha 40 environment before diving in. My Army of Green would be honored to welcome you!