How The Cards of The Hobbit Tell Tolkien's Story

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cosmogoyf" href="#" target="_blank">Cosmogoyf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.rahnart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Rahn</a></em></p>
<p>Flavor text is one of the most quietly important parts of <em>Magic</em>. Beyond what the card <em>does</em> (which makes it a functional part of a game) and its art (which starts the worldbuilding immediately and provides a fantastic showcase for talented artists), flavor text—the italicized words at the bottom of a card after the "rules text"—helps make the <em>Magic</em> universe deeper, adds an extra dimension to the characters, or provides a moment of levity or emotion to what can be a complex, math-laden, 1s-and-0s game.</p>
<p>Flavor text has been around since <em>Alpha</em>, introducing us to characters, describing the action being taken in the context of the game's universe, and occasionally utilizing poems or other real-world flavor text to bring the fictional world of <em>Magic</em> closer to ours. (As a writer myself, I appreciate all good flavor text, but have a special affinity for the last category—wish they did that more nowadays—but that's beside the point.)</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rancor|ULG|110"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shock|ONS|227"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pendelhaven|LEG|305"></div></div>
<h2>Flavor Text in 2025</h2>
<p>So what does flavor text look like in 2025? There were well over a thousand cards with flavor text printed this year—more than I thought there would be. Given how wordy the average card has become, I expected a very small portion of new cards to have any, and I'm happy to have been mistaken. There's definitely more than I remember, but I do fear that part of the reason most flavor text is glossed over lately is that...the average passage isn't particularly memorable.</p>
<p>Kind of by default, there's enough room for one, maybe two lines of text on most cards, and while you don't need a ton of room to make good flavor, only having a few words to work with can be challenging. That's why we get a lot of bland quips or generic flavor that doesn't relate to or add much to the card it's on.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All-Fates Stalker|EOE|3"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vnwxt, Verbose Host|DFT|73"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sage of the Skies|TDM|22"></div></div>
<p>It could also be that the ever-accelerating release schedule leaves less time for focusing on flavor text during development. So it is a bit of a double-edged sword—there are more cards with flavor text than ever, but we also have the worldbuilding equivalent of draft chaff in many cases. And don't even get me started on the <em>Aetherdrift</em> "rude riders," who bear the most soul-deadening puns I've ever seen passed off as flavor text.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mindspring Merfolk|DFT|335"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Burnout Bashtronaut|DFT|340"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guardian Sunmare|DFT|334"></div></div>
<p><em>*shudder*</em></p>
<p>That said, why focus on the negative? There were still plenty of great flavor texts in <em>Magic</em> this year, full of humor, pathos, depth, and unique perspective.</p>
<p>So I present to you, in no particular order, the ten cards with my favorite flavor text of 2025! Keep in mind, this is my subjective take on the best flavor text; there's no way to objectively say one is better than the other. So sound off on any of your favorites in the comments. But in the meantime, let's all just agree my picks are right. kthx.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cosmogoyf" href="#" target="_blank">Cosmogoyf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>&gt;Alert: COSMOGOYF</em><br />
<em>&gt;Recommended Action: RUN</em><br />
<em>—PSS </em>Erix<em> shipboard computer, final transmission</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cosmogoyf|EOE|215"></div></div>
<p>Not only did they put a Lhurgoyf in space, but they made a wink toward the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lhurgoyf|ICE|252" href="#" target="_blank">original one&#039;s</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> flavor text—one of the most famous pieces of flavor in the game: "<em>“Ach! Hans, run! It’s the Lhurgoyf!” —Saffi Eriksdotter, last words.</em>" That text from <em>Ice Age</em> not only gave us a series of cards of Saffi, Hans, and more, but helped spur on the long-running "last words" gag in flavor texts—more on those later.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Saffi Eriksdotter|TSP|245"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hans Eriksson|CMR|279"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="&quot;Ach! Hans, Run!&quot;"></div></div>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sundial, Dawn Tyrant" href="#" target="_blank">Sundial, Dawn Tyrant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>“We follow as it walks at the head of the ever-breaking day. Is it leading the dawn, or does it march to some forgotten celestial order? It does not answer our questions, so faith must sustain us.” —Chakshi, Dawnchaser pilgrim</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sundial, Dawn Tyrant|DFT|31"></div></div>
<p>They created an entire backstory and mythos for this thing—a vanilla creature! Sure, it feels like we're being duped into the trope of unduly ascribing emotion to machines, but dang it these two sentences do an excellent job setting up a fascinating world—not just the Construct in question, but the quote being from a "Dawnchaser pilgrim" makes it sound like there's an entire religious sect that stems from Sundial's wanderings.</p>
<p>And this is another example of the art fitting well with the flavor text; the creature looks battered, and it's hard to tell but maybe that left arm is shorter than the other, so it has its own unknown history. The name "Sundial," given the context, is quite fitting, and what makes it a "Tyrant"; its size?</p>
<p>I get the sense from the image that this thing is walking slowly, with measured steps...for a card that is literally just a two-mana 3/3 with no abilities, there's more going on than there has any right to be.</p>
<p>I love it. <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=set%3Adft+is%3Avanilla+type%3Alegendary&amp;unique=cards&amp;as=grid&amp;order=name" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The rest of the cycle of "legendary vanilla" creatures from <em>Aetherdrift </em></a>are pretty cool, too, but Sundial here makes me want to build a deck that somehow makes it wander around the board. If anyone has ideas on how to make that happen, hit me up.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Last Agni Kai" href="#" target="_blank">The Last Agni Kai</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>Zuko’s journey began when he refused to duel his father, but it would end dueling his sister.</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Last Agni Kai|TLA|144"></div></div>
<p>I will admit that my familiarity with the <em>Avatar</em> show is not very strong (though my interest, like many, has been increased after the excellent set), this passage has a beautiful symmetry to it, a kind of full-circle aspect that piques my interest and makes me want to know more about the characters and their story.</p>
<p>The art heightens the dramatic tension as well, an epic clash of power fitting one of the more potent fight spells we've seen.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beamsaw Prospector" href="#" target="_blank">Beamsaw Prospector</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>The Kav had learned their lesson about mining too deep. Zern Miffles had not.</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beamsaw Prospector|EOE|89"></div></div>
<p>Honestly, I just think the name “Zern Miffles” is extraordinary and I want more people to know it exists. A lot of <em>Magic</em> characters existed first in a flavor text or two, and then years down the road we hear more about them, maybe even get a legendary creature in their honor.</p>
<p>I can't wait for Zern Miffles, Sheriff of the Stars in 2035's fourteenth set.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worthy Cost" href="#" target="_blank">Worthy Cost</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>“‘Victory is survival’ is the tenet that guides us. My love, know that I will always ensure your survival.” —Duvir, Mardu warrior, final letter</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worthy Cost|TDM|99"></div></div>
<p>On the most basic level, it's a touching expression of love and sacrifice that fits the card's function. But it's also a playful inversion of the "last words" trope that I mentioned when discussing the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cosmogoyf" href="#" target="_blank">Cosmogoyf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> above (<a href="https://commandersherald.com/flavor-of-the-month-last-meal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and that I built an entire deck around for Commander's Herald)</a>.</p>
<p>Traditionally, the "last words" flavor texts were ironic statements made by people about to die due to their own stupidity or poor judgment. Here, the final <em>letter</em> is from someone headed to their end for another reason entirely, willingly, due to their love for another.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sazh&#039;s Chocobo" href="#" target="_blank">Sazh&#039;s Chocobo</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>The chick has no name, as voicing the true identity of the animal might trigger ripples of destiny across Cocoon and cause a hurricane in Eden. Either that, or Sazh just hasn’t thought of one yet.</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sazh&#039;s Chocobo|FIN|200"></div></div>
<p>While I've dabbled in a few <em>Final Fantasy</em> titles, I haven't played XIII, so I have no idea if this is a direct quote from the game or if it was made up for this card (a card which has been terrorizing me along with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mossborn Hydra" href="#" target="_blank">Mossborn Hydra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tifa Lockhart" href="#" target="_blank">Tifa Lockhart</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in Standard, by the way).</p>
<p>Either way, this is classic <em>Magic</em> humor. High-stakes, high-grandeur fantasy punctured by an Occam’s razor of a punchline.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hymn of the Faller" href="#" target="_blank">Hymn of the Faller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>“Does truth lie in the void between stanzas?” </em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hymn of the Faller|EOE|107"></div></div>
<p>Maybe this one is just cheating, because as a poet, whenever I see a word like "stanza" in <em>Magic</em>, I get excited. But the flavor does fit with the card—what is left behind when the things we focus on leave or are no longer in focus (or in case of this card, are "warped" or die/are exiled).</p>
<p>And it's a nice reminder in this age of excess—especially in a game that's going through rapid expansion in both player base and product release—of the value of negative space. Like in a poem, what is not said can be just as important as what is.</p>
<p>Fun fact: did you know "stanza" is an Italian word for "room"? So in the house that a poem is, the stanzas are the rooms, and the act of reading is walking through the house and experiencing a part of the life of the person who lives there (the author who wrote the piece). Walking room to room is not being stationary, it's learning, being curious, seeking out others.</p>
<p>So someone with an artistic inclination would answer the question of this flavor text with a resounding "Yes."</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wickerfolk Indomitable" href="#" target="_blank">Wickerfolk Indomitable</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>Some horrors are created. Others are the recognition of a possibility that has always existed.</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wickerfolk Indomitable|DFT|109"></div></div>
<p>This is just a shorthand, terrifying way of saying, "You should be way more scared of everything, because the worst thing you can imagine is not as bad as the things you can't imagine but are very real and possibly very nearby to you in space or time, and the longer you don't know what they are, the closer they come."</p>
<p>Or is that just the way <em>my</em> brain works? Fellow folks with Lots of Anxiety, this one's for you.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heritage Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Heritage Reclamation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>With an echoing crash the effigy fell, the symbol of Atarka’s tyranny expunged from Temur lands.</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heritage Reclamation|TDM|145"></div></div>
<p>Statues of leaders being torn down is an act of rebellion that carries a lot of weight across not just <em>Magic</em> and other properties, but in real life. Tyrants often fall, and like in <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ozymandias</a>, the objects that serve as symbols of oppression fall with them too, either over time or all at once.</p>
<p>Not always can heritages be reclaimed as cleanly as this text suggests, but it's a worthwhile sentiment. I enjoy the weight of the word choices in this passage; "expunge" is a powerful verb, and the crash "echoing" reflects the impact such actions can have beyond their immediate area. The symbol being an "effigy" of Atarka, rather than a "statue" or "depiction," is a flavorful choice, too.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if the art came before the flavor text or vice versa, since the object coming down in the image definitely does look like a wooden effigy, but great job to the whole team on this one.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth|tdm|138" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><em>“Some days, you wish you were fighting a dragon.” —Eshki Dragonclaw</em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Craterhoof Behemoth|TDM|138"></div></div>
<p>This is intended to be funny on its face, and I guess it kind of is, but the reason I'm including this flavor text in this list is that it's a nice meta wink to the card's pedigree. The 'Hoof has a long history in <em>Magic</em>, both back during its first Standard run and serving as the default green finisher in Commander since then.</p>
<p>I find it amusing that the thing you'd least like to see across the table from you in TDM Limited or your Commander pod is not a Dragon—probably the most iconic, badass, and awe-inspiring creature across not just <em>Magic </em>but every fantasy property that includes them—but this old standby.</p>
<p>Welcome back, buddy.</p>
<h2>All the Flavor That’s Fit To Print</h2>
<p>Welp, them there're my picks for the best of the best when it comes to flavor text in this year's crop of <em>Magic</em> sets. What did I miss? I did read well over a thousand pieces of flavor text for this article and these are the ones I found scribbled on my notepad when I came out of that fugue state, so I admit that there's a <em>possibility</em><em> </em>I left off a good one.</p>
<p>I've been Brandon Amico, reminding you that if the text isn't italicized, you can feel free to ignore it until a judge intervenes.</p>
<p>Till next time.</p>


The Best MTG Flavor Text of 2025

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drought" href="#" target="_blank">Drought</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Illustrated by <strong><a href="https://www.nenethomasart.com/">NeNe Thomas</a></strong></em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>For the past few sets, <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> has had a profound lack of flavor text. Compared with expansions sets from the 2000s and 2010s, the past year or so suffered from a distinct level of <a href="https://commandersherald.com/solitaired-study-declares-magic-worlds-most-complex-tabletop-game/">rules complexity</a> and mechanical creeping. But according to <em>Magic</em> Head Designer <strong>Mark Rosewater</strong>, the end of the flavor text drought is just beyond the horizon.</p>
<h2>Mark Rosewater's Statement on Flavor Text</h2>
<p>On Wednesday, August 6th, a Tumblr user asked Rosewater about the current lack of flavor text on most cards in recent years. This was noted especially for "fancy cards" that lacked reminder text. Rosewater replied, "We are making a conscious effort to prioritize having more cards with flavor text."</p>
<div class="tumblr-post" data-href="https://embed.tumblr.com/embed/post/t:DfYWVw3OWM7GYSz0pPuL-Q/791164763967242240/v2" data-did="da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709" ><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/markrosewater/791164763967242240/is-it-possible-that-we-could-see-more-flavor">https://www.tumblr.com/markrosewater/791164763967242240/is-it-possible-that-we-could-see-more-flavor</a></div>
<p><script async src="https://assets.tumblr.com/post.js?_v=38df9a6ca7436e6ca1b851b0543b9f51"></script></p>
<p>The present reality is that yes, flavor text is on a strict decline. With the game growing more and more complex with each passing year, there's so little room for flavor text now. However, if this is to change, it will only do so slowly and gradually overall. After all, the <em>Magic</em> Design team works roughly two and a half years ahead of a set's release.</p>
<h2>Thoughts in the Notes Section</h2>
<p>Nevertheless, this statement, as brief as it is, bodes well for fans of the story of each set. One especially grateful Tumblr user left a note on this statement, saying to Mark Rosewater directly, "I don’t have all the thanks this deserves, but take all the thanks I can give. Regardless, I’ll be sending more on a daily basis."</p>
<p>Another Tumblr user added, "Please add more flavor text. It is especially annoying for me when one card out of a cycle of five doesn’t have flavor text because it is wordier than the other four. It breaks the feel of the cycle." This is a sentiment that rings true to many <em>Magic</em> players, to be sure.</p>
<p>So now, let's hear from you, dear readers. Do you want <em>Magic</em> to eschew complexity in favor of lore and flavor text? Sound off below!</p>


flavor

How The Cards of The Hobbit Tell Tolkien's Story

The Best MTG Flavor Text of 2025

Mark Rosewater: Flavor Text Drought Will Soon Lift