It’s been a while, but our third tie has come! I will be following the same process as in previous ties - most recently seen here.

Pyretic Ritual

Design

Hard to argue with the simplicity of this one - an extremely pared down and clean execution of the Dark Ritual-style effect, that shifted to red as R&D realised that was where it best belonged. It actually took a while for this simple execution to get printed - earlier effects tended to have some sort of a rider tacked on - but this is the most straightforward execution of the effect. It’s also one of the few “safe” executions - many such effects get banned, as fast mana is a dangerous thing to play with.

The power level is still sufficient that the card gets played in combo decks, but it generally isn’t played in other types of decks, which is usually a sign that the power knob is in the right place.

Flavour

This keeps the ‘ritual’ name callback present in so many mana-producing instants. “Pyretic” might sound fiery, but actually the word means “fevered or feverish”, which also works as a descriptor for the kind of desperate call for power that the card is trying to evoke.

The flavour text is great - it builds a sense of power and also drops a rare in-game reference to the Multiverse. It does have more of a controlled, ambitious, black feel to it than the more desperate, ritualised, feverish feel of the rest of the card, though.

Art

James Paick’s super-orange palette is a treat here, and the sense of warmth and power is great. The details of the landscape getting washed out by the emanations from that glowing centre is a nice touch. The figure in the foreground has little detail so as not to detract from the glowing focus point, but the arms-out pose sells ritual and power well. A great fit for the card.

Place in Magic history

This card is the current baseline effect for rituals, but that is a card type that is very rarely used. It sees some Modern play, but not a tonne, and ultimately it is a strictly-worse Desperate Ritual.





Pact of the Titan

Design

Well, here’s an interesting one. The Pact mechanic is based on Rocket-Powered Turbo Slug from Unhinged; Future Sight pushed a lot of interesting, off-the-wall, and sometimes powerful designs. The Pacts were a sort of antithesis to the Suspend mechanic - instead of paying now for an effect later, you could get your effect now for a promise of paying a cost later. Of course, the game gives you the ultimate incentive to make sure you do pay.

Moving away from the Pacts as a whole and looking at Pact of the Titan specifically, this is perhaps the most boring of the effects - it’s a Fomori Nomad - but it’s the one that’s closest to the original ‘super haste’ concept, being a creature. The card never saw a lot of play, and is generally rated as the 4th best of the cycle, beating only Intervention Pact. It hasn’t even really been used with Hive Mind for the combo kill, as that was mostly done in the Amulet Bloom shell that played the blue, green, and black Pacts.

Flavour

The Pact flavour line is pretty clear - make a pact with some force, get a temporary but sudden boost in power, and get punished if you don’t hold up your own terms. Here I guess the idea is that you’re paying homage to the Titan itself. The rules text doesn’t give much room for flavour text, although a couple of the other Pacts made room for a little. The name and rules text sell the concept pretty well, though. Although 4/4 feels a bit small for a Titan, that’s a small complaint.

Art

Raymond Swanland isn’t my favourite on the whole - his art tends to be a bit samey - but this is a much more interesting piece. The ring of floating rocks convey a good sense of a magical pact, and the hand bursting out of the ground to grab the floating axe is also cool, although the handle seems to be showing through the hand? Like a lot of Swanland art, it has a sort of yellowy tinge and a lot of spike / fire effects, but it’s a neat execution and also focuses (correctly, I think) more on the summoning of the Titan, than of the Titan itself.

Place in Magic history

The Pacts as a whole were a massive and important step in the potential of what Magic could so, but this is a pretty unsuccessful iteration of the cycle. The card hasn’t ever really seen any competitive play.

Final verdict:

DESIGN: Pact of the Titan

FLAVOUR: Pact of the Titan

ART: Pact of the Titan

PLACE IN MAGIC HISTORY: Pyretic Ritual

WINNER: Pact of the Titan