Magic: The Gatheringhas over thirty years of cards to go through when it comes to building decks, at least for some formats, but it’s fairly common that even some of the oldest cards get reprints of some kind. Whether it’s a full Standard-legal release likeMagic: The Gathering’s Foundation set or a small-scale reprint of cards from a given block with no changes to their legality in Standard, similar to Innistrad Remastered, cards do come back in some form in many cases. Two cards that haven’t gotten a reprint to make them viable in Standard are Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune, and the reason may be that they share a singular trait.
It does happen relatively frequently that given strategies and game plans use some cards that get a similar version in newer sets, and it can happen with mechanics, too. For example,Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternitiesadds the Lander mechanic, which is quite similar in concept to Landfall, to the point that the set includes both to promote more synergies. Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune are fundamentally different in terms of what they do, but the reaction they can cause is comparable due to how disruptive these cards are.
Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune in MTG Are in The Same Boat
Armageddon is a 4 CMC card (3 generic and 1 White) that destroys all lands, whereas Wheel of Fortune is a 3 CMC card (2 generic and 1 Red) that makes all players discard their hands and draw seven cards. As it so happens, while Armageddon is a mid-range card in terms of value, Wheel of Fortune is one ofMTG’s most expensive cards, at least outside of the Power Nine, to the point that it can go anywhere from $700 to over $1500. Interestingly, regardless of their monetary value, Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune can be equally loathed when played because they are extremely disruptive.
Why MTG’s Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune Are Controversial
Magic: The Gathering’s Commanderformat is usually where these cards see the most play, and much like other formats, Commander matches are very resource-based - be it card draw, board state, mana to spend, and so on. Armageddon can be extremely frustrating in Commander matches because these are often quite long already, and this card sets all four players back to zero lands. Likewise, Wheel of Fortune is often played in the appropriately called “wheel” decks inMTG, which are all about making opponents discard and then draw to activate various effects for either action (or both).
One of theunwritten rules inMagic: The Gathering’s Commanderformat is that mass land destruction shouldn’t be played, or at least, those at the table should be ok with it. Likewise, wheel decks tend to be something that players discuss before a match in order to make sure that everyone is aware and on the same page. Armageddon and Wheel of Fortune are the face cards of these strategies and game plans, so while they are iconic, they can be controversial when used at a table. At the same time, one might argue that if a card is legal in a format, then it can be played at all times.
Finding middle ground is hard, especially withMTG’s Commander rule shifts, such as the power tiers for ranking decks and the fact that spacecraft and vehicle cards can now be commanders. These cards are also legal in other formats, though, like Legacy, Oathbreaker, and Premodern, but the concept still stands. Most players won’t love seeing their resources destroyed or manipulated in some way by opponents, and in Commander, this usually means that one becomes the archenemy of the table.
Being “archenemy” in Commander matches means that the other players will usually put their combined efforts into taking out the archenemy first.
