As I am Australian and today is Australia Day I thought that I would take the opportunity to show off a few pieces of Australia which actually managed to make their way into Magic: the Gathering.
POLITICS WARNING: The current January 26th date for Australia Day is a bit of a contentious issue due to it celebrating the arrival of the first fleet (a group of convict ships from England sent to settle Australia) at Sydney harbor and the start of some very harsh treatment of the indigenous people of Australia. My personal view on the matter is this -
I support the suggestion that we Change the Date (My current favorite suggestion is May 8 (aka Mate Day)) for the following reasons:
- Australia Day should be a celebration of the current federation of Australia not the colonial actions of Great Britain.
- Everyone should be able to celebrate our national day and if the historic meaning behind the date means some people can't why not change it? (it wasn't even locked in as the current date until the 1930s/40s).
- Having an extra holiday in the summertime is actually a waste, this time of the year is already full of holidays and having one of Jan 26 just interrupts returning to school/work. It'd be much better to have an extra holiday in the middle of the year when it could be the most beneficial.
That said I'm also proud to be an Australian and want to celebrate the fact (whenever the day to do so occurs) so I hope you can enjoy the rest of the article regardless of politics.
Rabid Wombat (Legends 1994)
The humble wombat is one of Australia's many unique marsupials (mammals with pouches) and this enchantment loving creature can actually be a bit of a powerhouse in the right deck.
2. Boomerang (Legends 1994)
A boomerang is a weapon/hunting device common to the Indigenous people of Australia, the returning version has become a somewhat popular sport/hobby toy and souvenir. The card Boomerang was a long time staple of blue decks until Wizards of the Coast decided that the tempo play of bouncing an opponents land early game was too powerful and stopped printing it in favor of cards like Disperse and Into the Roil.
3. Didgeridoo (Homelands 1995)
The didgeridoo is an iconic instrument of the Indigenous peoples of Australia and i've always had a massive soft spot for this card. Coming from Homelands (arguably the worst ever MTG set) it was almost forgotten about for years (barring Australiana and Minotaur fans like myself) but has recently spiked in value thanks to the ability to cheat out non-minotaurs like Emrakul by using cards that play with creature types (including Maskwood Nexus from the upcoming Kaldheim set).
4. Plains (APAC Land set 1997)
This version of a basic plains is probably the most iconically Australian card in the game, the art showcases both Uluru (a famous sandstone monolith in the center of Australia) and a Kangaroo.
5. Razor Boomerang (Worldwake 2010)
The latest main game card on the list is another use of the word boomerang, this time as a piece of equipment that more accurately represents an actual boomerang (even if the 3 bladed design shown is pretty far from authentic).
Those 5 are the only main MTG game Australiana cards I can think of (if you know of or find any others please let me know). However there are also a number of cards that are still MTG even if they aren't legal for use in most formats (including EDH) - the silver bordered Un set cards -
Hurloon Wrangler (Unglued 1998)
This card (like many cards in Un sets) is a reference to a recognizable "real" MTG card, in this case Didgeridoo (as seen in the quote and with the creature type being a Minotaur).
2. Mother || Kangaroo ( Unstable 2017)
While it's a cool card and reference as an Australian I can't help but be a bit sad that the only actual creature in MTG with the Kangaroo typing is this one - a common "Host" creature from unstable (Host creatures were able to be joined together, different but similar to the Meld creatures from Eldritch Moon).
3. Selfie Preservation (Unstable 2017)
Getting even less recognition than the Kangaroo this is the only MTG reference to one of Australia's other great animal icons - the Koala. Self Preservation references the tourist trope of selfie taking with Koalas to make the actual focus the tree instead.
4. Surgeon General Commander (Unsanctioned 2020)
The most recent card with an Australiana reference is fittingly enough a throwback to the very first - another wombat, this time a legendary mishmash of a wombat released in the special Un product Unsanctioned last year (I'm still sad it wasn't a full Un set).
There you have it 5 normal border, 4 silver border MTG cards with a relation to Australia (again if you know of or find any others please let me know). There's also a lot of other cards that fit with an Australian theme if you wanted to build a deck around it like the Opal enchantments and Mox Opal (referencing Australia as the worlds main source of Opals), Sharks, Crocodiles, Jellyfish, Wild Dogs (referencing Dingos) etc. but none of them explicitly use Australian words, creatures or imagery like the 9 i've covered.
As always the cards and images are the property of WotC, they are used here for the purpose of analysis and review. Any and all feedback is always welcome.
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