But that is not what I want to delve into. (at least, yet...) I want to examine all of the mythics that was have and look at how they feel. Do I believe that they should be mythic? What changed would I make to them?
Mark Rosewater introduced mythics here and the important quote is: "We want the flavor of mythic rare to be something that feels very special and unique. Generally speaking we expect that to mean cards like Planeswalkers, most legends, and epic-feeling creatures and spells. They will not just be a list of each set's most powerful tournament-level cards."
Let's go to the very first set: Shards of Alara. (click for a page of the mythics)
Ajani Vegeant: Okay, this card is obviously a planeswalker which easily makes it a mythic. Now, this is our first look at a planeswalker revisited. This is a younger Ajani. The design behind this card is one of my favorites. It is completely red and completely white. It just is so flavorful. This is a good planeswalker because both of its first two abilities protect itself. I also love how they can be used defensively and offensively. I genuinely do not think this card could be any designed any more perfectly.
Elspeth, Knight Errant: Another planeswalker! Okay, so now we have two monocolor white planeswalkers. (Another link to the old Ajani!) For Elspeth to be good she has to play differently. And she does. She actually is the first planeswalker to have two +N abilities. Those two abilities can always be used, and she does also protect herself. Her ultimate is the first planeswalker that has a impact on the rest of the game. She feels so different from the white Ajani, but also different from any other planewalker. (Actually, every planeswalker is completely unique so far!) Elsepth also plays very well with her respective Bant cards.
Empyrial Archangel: Okay, this is part of each shard's fatty cycle. Okay, this Angel is mythic. It has a huge body at 5/8. It flies and has shroud. It changed the game it hits play. It has a game altering ability that forces your opponent to find a way to kill it. I love this card. I also like the design of this card because of how it is tricolored. A lot of my problem with Alara Block was that I feel a lot of the cards were multicolored for the sake of being multicolored. This card is green, white, and blue.
Godsire: This is another card in the fatty cycle, and I love this card too. This card is just a huge fat Naya beast. It is just gigantic. I love it eventually overcomes any amount of chump blockers while also making a very effective defense. It fits into Naya's theme really well, too.
Hellkite Overlord: Now we have the fatty of Jund. A big fat flying hastey trampling fatty dragon. Awesome. Again, this card just screams mythic. It's hard to kill, hard to deal with, and is worth the cost of admission. It comes out of nowhere, and BAM! You're opponent just lost half their starting life total. This is a mythic dragon. It's hard to make dragons seem mythic because of their commonality, but this card deserves attention.
Kresh the Bloodbraided: Now we have the first card in a cycle Shard's legendary creatures. Kresh fits well into Jund's cutthroat theme. Creatures die and he survives. He gets bigger at the sight of blood. I have no problem with this guy. He gets big and huge. He kills stuff really effectively.
Lich's Mirror: Okay, this is the first mythic I have problems with. At first I didn't like this card because it didn't fit into the set. Why was it here? Then I finally realized that is was Grixis's missing mythic. (Each Shard gets a fatty and a legendary creature. Each other Shard also got a planewalker, this was Grixis's placeholder for a planeswalker.) So, I felt a little better about it. Now, what is my problem with this card? I don't really know. As you can tell, to me, mythics do not have to be good. They have to be game altering and awesome. They have to be fun. They should do something unique and unprecedented. This card is unique and unprecedented, but I don't like that it really does nothing. I don't know. I am fine with it being mythic. I think it deserves to be mythic. I just do not like it. (I'll wait to build a deck around it though, so give it time.)
Mayael the Anima: I hate this card at first. A lot. Then I made a casual Naya deck, and my opinion of the card completely changed. Wow. It is awesome and fun and awesome. I love it. The randomness of its ability leads to intense and dramatic game states. The potential power of the ability forces you do decide to either play the fatty in your hand and try and "loot" for a fatty. This card is fun!
Prince of Thralls: A 7/7 fatty that can potentially steal anything that dies. This card is freaking fantastic. It is worth the 8 mana. It changes the gamestate. Your opponents will play different when this card is out and hell, even you will. Just like the previous Shard fatties, this card is worth it. Also, for the record, I like how the different Shard fatties have varying power and toughness -- I do not know why, but it is much more evocative for them to just act differently. I don't know what it means, but I like how they are 5/8, 8/8, 8/8, 7/7, 6/6. They just play so interestingly with each other. Sorry, I got distracted. Anyway, this card combines red's punishment mechanic with blue permanent control and black's life lose for just a very awesome one sentence card.
Rafiq of the Many: Okay, double strike has always been a special mechanic. It always makes something seem special. Rafiq's double striking potential combined with his inherent exalted ability is just freaking awesome. His combination of abilities works so well together and in the world of Bant.
Sarkhan Vol: Here we have another planeswalker. I love the flavor behind a dragon obsessed planeswalker. A lot of people have trouble with Sarkhan Vol because he isn't green enough. While I do agree that it is arguable that his abilities are very red centered, I think his green comes more from his dragon obsession. Green appreciated nature and its beauty -- which is what Sarkhan Vol does. His abilities work really well together, and is just awesome. His ultimate is kickass. He is mythic to the core. I think this is the perfect red/green card. He's Grull to the core.
Sedris, the Traitor King: This is a huge fat dude that gives everything in your graveyard unearth. Unearth is a very awesome ability, and it's ability to temporarily reanimate everything in your graveyard is sick. This card costs enough and has a big enough body to be worth it.
Sharuum the Hegemon: This sphinx works is special. It's enter the battlefield reanimation is really powerful without being too powerful -- the cost fits the ability. This Esper shard legendary creature is really fitting of blue's interaction with artifacts and black and white's graveyard shenanigans. A 5/5 flier is very effective and efficient.
Sphinx Sovereign: Okay, this is my first major problem mythic. This mainly has to do with power level concerns. It's second ability is just really underwhelming. And by really, I actually mean a little underwhelming. I really wish instead of a 3 point life swing it was more 4 or 5. I would really like for it to be four because then it could kill a single opponent in two swings. The card is fine as is, but I feel compared to not having you take any damage, permanently stealing permanents, a huge hastey flier, or making 8/8 tokens, it just does not really compare. However, I do like the card a lot. I just would have liked for it to be a little more powerful.
Tezzeret the Seeker: Now we have our first "narrow" planewalker and our second monoblue planeswalker. This card is sick. I love it. He just works really well with himself. Blue has always had an affinity for artifacts, and this card shows that. I love Tezzeret actually works in a deck with just artifacts -- the card does not necessitate a deck full of artifacts, eight or nine is really all that is needed to be effective. I just love this card a lot, and how it shows what new planeswalkers could do.
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