What's in an Anthem anyway?

So, I haven't put a lot of thought into this blog. And while trying to parse out my thoughts on a movie I thought about it, and how all the jokes I could make were largely Magic based. So I guess I am back, for a while at least. Hopefully.

Anyhow, anthems. Magic players typically call cards anthems if they pump creatures of a certain kind. Probably named after Glorious Anthem, they have been in the game since Alpha.


So like Good Charlotte sang, this is The Anthem. There can't be anymore after this one. Okay, well there are lots of other anthems, so someone with more free time would have to make an exhaustive list. I'm simply going to talk about the one's I feel like.

First things first, let's talk about [[Data Expunged]]. From all the way back in Alpha, and reprinted in a Duel Deck, [[Data Expunged]] is probably a warmly remembered card for many a player. In fact, let's look at the art:

 Oh, oh my. Well, I guess not. None of that then.


How embarrassing.
Well I guess Green Crusade couldn't possibly offend anyone, let's check that out then.


Neat, it has Scry 1, and makes big sometimes above rate creatures bigger.
I wonder if they did that on purpose.











Whatever, Green couldn't possibly have more of these things:


 



DANG. Oh, well a 4 CMC card probably should do what two 2 CMC cards could do. The only oddity about this is that the card came out in 2004 and nearly 20 years later the only reprint has been in TSR. Also, we still don't know about Muraganda anymore than we did back then.

I hope there are dinosaurs there.







Didn't you say something about a movie?



Right, so the movie was called Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story. 


The similarities are that like the characters in the movie, Innistrad is being affected by some sort of unbeknownst mind altering monster which can only be seen by a select few. Beyond that, they both made me miserable. The movie by being nonsensical, and this card by allowing players to run away with games.




Turns out  +1/+1 and Vigilance is good. Which is good, because a callback to a card so busted with Lingering Souls in Block Constructed it had to be axed would feel bad if it sucked.

Anyhow, thanks for anyone who stopped by to read this. I'm sorry for the absence, I will probably do it again.



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