Limits of a [CARDNAME] | The Story of Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar

[@megtherat1567]

It's also an anagram for "I am an arid, aromatic, scandalous card." For what it's worth.

[@QuintaFeira12]

Holy shit. IT'S Shahrazad ALL ALONG!

[@Jalais]

That might be true, but I'll never find out.

[@TheDuckOfManyThings]

@@Jalais I checked, and it's true. You're welcome. I accept payment in compliments.

[@troublewakingup]

@@TheDuckOfManyThings good job, you're handsome and awesome.

[@peacechan4500]

@@QuintaFeira12 what's shahrazad anagrams of?

[@JacobGeller]

This rules

[@RhysticStudies]

i appreciate you

[@generalbacon7476]

Aww snap

[@MurriciTerceiro]

now i'm waiting for the name of the underworld's architect

[@jaydenyamada2916]

Collaborate and it would be the ultimate video essay

[@gurukimci]

I've always found the channels of the two of you similar, even though the topics are different. The style, the way you both dive into the depths of something and what that thing means in the world and could mean for us. Great stuff. Some love.

[@iiGiacomo]

The fact that you have a binder with all the cards you’ve done videos on makes me so incredibly happy

[@jacobweisman5557]

I was going to say something similar, but I really appreciate you making this comment :). But, there might be something missing, and something that doesn’t exactly belong if you look again ;)

[@kurtilein3]

No lotus :)

[@jacobweisman5557]

@@kurtilein3 There was a lotus proxy, which I’m counting personally.

[@willohm5439]

@@jacobweisman5557 what am I missing here? I can't tell lol

[@kurtilein3]

@@jacobweisman5557 Oh, i must have missed it, i was looking for the classic ABU design. Without going back into the video looking for it, these are the proxys i like, ones that cannot be considered fake because they do not try to look like the original. But i recently purchased my first lotus, unlimited light played, and now have my eyes on a beta nearmint, and the Rhystic Studies video is incredibly helpful in explaining to friends and family what the fuck is going on. Like.... You... WHAT? 55k is five and a half of the fat bundles of 100 Euro bills with 100 per bundle. Like you can buy two new cars for that, or 5 rather nice used ones. You could go on vacation for a year.

[@hostandersson4301]

for the anagram, my latest try is: "Dracula, a romantic icon, is a sad drama"

[@dieterreiman472]

As a German, I'm just thinking: "look what they need to mimic a fraction of our Power".

[@Noob-uh4ee]

Underrated

[@jan-timolobner]

As a German I can only say; True

[@sarapocorn]

Oh, hallo zusammen!

[@jan-timolobner]

Sieht so aus als wenn eine weitere Kommentarsektion Eigentum der deutschen Bundesrepublik ist

[@sarapocorn]

Muss zugeben, dass ich mich aus der Schweiz melde. Bitte hasst mich nicht lol

[@Grombulisian]

The funny thing about the lemur- lemure confusion is that lemurs actually are named after “lemures” which are spirits in roman mythology.

[@TheBadsectorzero]

remember also the Ankh of Mishra issue on Fifth Edition? maybe i'm wrong, but story was it eas drawn as an ark, not an ankh.

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Lemur Lemures would be great in a parody set.

[@joshuanorris5860]

Hilarious.....

[@isabelreality7381]

yup! not dnd lol

[@kngdmhts9418]

17:30 One more reason 6 damage is significant: it’s the exact amount that sacrificed food SHOULD heal a player for.

[@IFGchannel931]

Nice!

[@bariltrailette]

Her with stuffy doll with 5 food win the game lop

[@impendio]

This too!

[@KingBobXVI]

@@bariltrailette ... 6, if you're including an unblocked attack with Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar...

[@bariltrailette]

@@KingBobXVI why 6 stuffy doll is direct danage 5*4 20 if opponent dont gain life no?

[@Crossark1]

“Target creature deals 6 damage to itself,” is such a huge flavor win, too. It implies that the creature was served one of Asmor’s concoctions, and for whatever reason - be it ignorance, or out of a fear of appearing rude - decided to chow down, only to be met with immediate regret. The fact that such massive success in character flavor stems from practical limitations only makes it better. Talk about creative problem solving!

[@owentucker6215]

Asmo, is a masterclass in top-down design, absolutely beautiful card.

[@psymar]

Also the fact that her demonic boss canonically has *seven* toughness -- enough to survive her cooking.

[@soleo2783]

@@psymar I see you watched the video too. Very nice

[@Lreclusa]

I now want to find a way to group hug a Phyrexian Obliterator into my opponent's field, then use asmo's effect on it.

[@bryancooper1244]

19:15 This segment is just an absolute masterpiece of video making. He is talking about whether Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar was created as anything other than an insider reference for people who have played the game, while simultaneously adding that card to a binder that has the main card from all of his videos in order, thus creating an insider reference for those who have watched his videos! Just the mixing of that shot with that sentence is absolutely brilliant and I loved it and had to come comment about it before even finishing the video!!!!!!!

[@davidolinger3948]

I loved that soooo much

[@PepinoTheGreat]

Whoa, he did a lengthy video about Black Lotus, Does he have one??

[@bryancooper1244]

@@PepinoTheGreat I believe the one in the clip is a Proxy Guy special

[@jlk3563]

Fun fact about phelddagrif: the anagram includes PHD because in early magic marketing, articles constantly mentioned Richard Garfield's PHD. The idea was that if the creator of the game is smart enough to have a PHD then it must be a good game. It got to the point that he was embarrassed that his PHD kept coming up and it became an inside joke. Mark rosewater brought it up in his podcast but I cant remember which episode sadly.

[@drpibisback7680]

Culminating, of course, in "Richard Garfield, P.H.D." in Unhinged.

[@amnongravenmur9024]

I don’t want to spoil anything, but the final explanation of old Asmor’s name has hints building up to it throughout the video (such as the way that Sengir Vampire was used as a visual example for demonstrating the length of card names).

[@RhysticStudies]

glad you caught on

[@lolface_9363]

I prefer Yu-Gi-Ohs naming scheme With cards like Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max

[@bradcallahan3546]

Gay

[@SylvainHunter]

Personally I'm a big fan of Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon

[@VVheeli]

I like “The Toughest! The Invincible! The Unbeatable!”

[@stephangg000]

I actually play a deck that utilizes it in YGO! infinitrack trains is a very fun combo and I love the card of giant railcars

[@GhostGK21]

I play "Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic"

[@johnpaulcross424]

The card scholar himself has blessed us once again

[@AnIdiotsLantern]

let us praise him with offerings of comments and likes so that he may be favored in the eyes of the Almighty Algorithm!

[@MisterMirrikuu]

When the importance of the comma and "The" in a card name came up I didn't realize how true that actually is. There's a decent amount of planeswalkers that are "X The Y" and it makes remembering them and defining them so much easier, and yet so subtle!

[@gustavowadaslopes2479]

"The, the THE", coming in an unset of an alternate university.

[@Kahadi]

Actually, you mentioned the "the" part, but its even more accurate with the commas Jace, the Mind Sculptor Jace, the Living Guildpact Jace, Unraveller of Secrets Liliana, Dreadhorde General Liliana, Defiant Necromancer Ajanai, Caller of the Pride Even the ones that don't have commas are either their proper names (Liliana Vess, Jace Beleren, Ajani Goldmane), or would still work with a comma (Chandra Ablaze vs Chandra, Ablaze), with a few exceptions (The Wanderers) Most of the ones with The in their names still have commas, and majority of the exceptions feel weird given the ones that do (Kaya the Inexorable doesn't, but Ajani, the Greathearted does), almost inconsistent. Using the Gatherer, taking away commas drops the number of total planeswalkers to 62, while just searching for those with commas gives 186. That means that almost three quarters of all planeswalkers use this tactic. This probably all seems minor but I never really noticed that and its kind of weird now

[@lava2istrue]

@@gustavowadaslopes2479 that reminds me of a pun stage name I made: “enter esquire” Sometimes, when introducing a character etc, one would say “enter; X”. And esquire is a suffix that pretty much just follows the convention of “Y, esquire” (shortened to Y, Esq.) so, the stage name becomes “X Y”. Where you cant really tell what’s what.

[@bekeleven]

This is one of the reasons people took issue with "Questing Beast."

[@emmabowen8205]

its just like with Questing Beast. I remember wondering why it wasn't THE Questing Beast.

[@bluebeartired]

The "But they were all of them deceived..." made me cackle, thank you

[@KingBobXVI]

"...for another card was made - in the land of Kent, in the files of WotC the dark lord Ethan forged in secret..."

[@princeLaharl2]

That bit made me snort

[@Gromek999]

How convenient, was literally on a binge watch of you :D

[@Ellebeeby]

Same!

[@tijnhollanders6932]

Wow! I used to watch you when i (and you) still played robocraft! Damn i kinda want to play that again, does it still exist?

[@liamsmith8518]

I thought that sale think when I binged about a month ago and the new Kaldheim video came out

[@GalileoAV]

Same, actually! Been going through all the old artist exploration videos again and got the notification for this.

[@thoop6795]

Same, except Ive watched all of his videos and was anxiously awaiting another one

[@guywithaguitar8521]

Seeing the binder with all the cards you made videos of,( or in the case of mirror gallery and such rule changes) makes me think of how much your videos affect how I view the game. I can't help but think of your boogie man video when I look a Jace and I love rewatching your pithing needle video. So thanks for being not only a great magic creator...but a thought-provoking one.

[@MateuszWArt]

For me it's a mix of twisted cool sounding words from many languages. The author's notebook was Probably full of them. Asmo -> Purpose rano -> Frog mardi -> Tuesday cadai -> Each stinacul => (Stomacul) - Stomach dacar -> ??? It also has an English pronunciation context. Daistina - destiny, Culdacar - Cauldron. I would translate it as scornful nickname, complaint given by demons: "Someone who cooks frogs in cauldron each tuesday"

[@go1988]

This is fantastic, thank you!

[@Eclipsed_Archon]

this is my headcanon now thanks

[@enersha]

decour

[@alexandrevilnet3151]

"Dacar" could be for Dakar, capital of Senegal, or for "d'accord" that means "I agree / ok" in french...

[@Hemlocker]

Wow

[@vichuang1480]

Petition to reprint Rhystic Studies with Sam on it. ✋✋✋

[@kelm102]

If I remember right, people were saying that the person in the Ultimate Masters printing of Frantic Search bears a striking resemblance to Sam.

[@Deloxo]

@@kelm102 I like to think it is Sam, considering it represents perfectly how researching these videos must feel like sometimes

[@johnnyjoestar4473]

Petition to also have Karn, Silver Golem with Nizzahon

[@EffinChat]

Tolarian Scholar representing The Prof when

[@JackOropeza]

I'm sure someone can make that alter

[@Interesting_Failure]

You'll be glad to know of the more recent "Dragon's Rage Channeler -> DRC -> Darcy" nicknaming, I'm sure. The history of iconic card nicknames ("Tim" for Prodigal Sorcerer deriving from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Prime Time" being a shortened but clearly derived form of Primeval Titan that isn't even a name but rather a phrase, and so forth) is its own fascinating thing (though perhaps not as deep) that dovetails with this subject with moderate frequency.

[@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149]

Astounding ending, detective. Knew it was an anagram.

[@NeroVingian40]

“… is pronounced just like it’s spelled” Lmao

[@PopcornBunni]

The best part is, no, it isn't. "As" as it is spelled would be pronounced as "Ass" And that's just the first syllable.

[@arnerademacker]

@@PopcornBunni There is a lot of points that could be argued, but the only time "as" is pronounced "ass" is if it is followed by a strong consonant (s, t, c, p, etc). If it starts with "asm", it is generally pronounced "as". Asmodeus. Asmachilca. Asmoneans. Asmara.

[@Hemlocker]

@@PopcornBunni Surely that's because "pronounced as it's spelled" isn't actually a statement that means anything in English, because spelling and pronunciation aren't causally linked

[@carloscaballeromoreno4853]

@@Hemlocker just fyi, the card's name is pronounced exactly as it is written in Spanish

[@deejay.zedemex]

@@PopcornBunni The Japanese localized version says ス rather than ズ, so...

[@vorgebrauchschutteln3859]

I started to play magic because of my boyfriend a few years ago. He has played it for many years and at first it was really frustrating to me because he knew everything I tried better. It didn't matter what I build or played, he always could do it better and outplay me. Watching your and other videos helped me to get into the story, art and worldbuilding of magic and that helped me to stay interested. I also found a place in our group and something to explain to others. I actually started to win games because of this. Magic is no longer frustrating, it's fun. Thank you for that.

[@beretperson]

I am now obsessed with the Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar anagram. If you use "Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, The Underworld Cookbook", you can get "choose a card at random and discard it" but also some extra stuff that I can't turn into anything useful. Also, if going the Dracula route instead (and sticking just with the name), you can get "dracula is a romanian sadist"/"sadistic Romanian" + stuff, which makes a lot of sense. The word "romantic" is obviously also hidden in there, and I believe at some point I found "insomniac" which also fits Dracula but I think it messed other more relevant words too much and so I decided it was probably not a thing. Same with Romantic.

[@jasperwagner6117]

I really love that binder, and I think it will be really fun to look back at in 10 years once it’s all filled up with cards you have made videos on! But you forgot your favorite snow covered mountain!

[@dazaran714]

I'm surprised you didn't reference the well known name of "Jugemu Jugemu Goko no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo no Suigyomatsu Unraimatsu Furaimatsu Ku Neru Tokoro ni Sumu Tokoro Yabura Koji no Bura Koji Paipo-paipo Paipo no Shuringan Shuringan no Gurindai Gurindai no Ponpokopi no Ponpokona no Chokyumei no Chosuke" especially with the announcement of the new Kamigawa set. Or at the very least a discussion of "Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm"

[@saqvobase4301]

I really like how you integrated humor into the script while still making the presentation of the information engaging enough to hold attention. Very cool

[@archmage6725]

Congrats on your PHD. I’m currently getting a doctorate myself. It always makes me smile to see a new video of yours.

[@danielbakergill]

Sonia Lyris, who wrote the MTG short story where she (Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar) comes from still writes fantasy. She’s got a discord and you can ask her questions and everything. Cool video. Edit: included subject noun Also, I believe her pronunciation is the same as given in the video, with an extra syllable after the eighth. da-ist

[@K13xK3k5]

"but they were all of them, deceived" absolutely masterful

[@zizthesin]

i'm planning on going into linguistics for school specifically because i'm interested in how the language of games and the way rules are written affects the way we interact with the game. and here you are doing exactly that. much love.

[@lopppopp9581]

I just discovered your channel and I’m blown away. Your style is pristine, I had to watch these video THREE TIMES to understand all the nuances and the metaphors you used; like a phoenix roaring through the skies, and a minute later it’s ships passing in the night, mind blowing. It’s a true masterpiece and should be considered art; the segment about Necropotence should be mandatory to watch before you are allowed to play Magic: the Gathering. I hope your voice will be heard many centuries from now, I hope a Magic content creator in the distant future will quote your masterpieces, your legacy will carry on forever. You are climbing the world tree and you will fly free like a bird. RS lives on.

[@caulifloodle]

This is such a good time, and feels especially great coming so soon after the more melancholy and academic tone of the Kaldheim video. I've loved all your videos from the past year or so but they did have me starting to miss the humor and playfulness present in some of your older card studies. Really excited all around about the more regular updates and the variety I'm sure we'll get in the coming months.

[@projectcancelled2190]

I had a guy name “that one green planeswalker” I had 2 different ones in my deck and the judge sided against me when I pointed this out.

[@l.t.c3847]

I have never played a game of magic in my life but you’re in my top 3 most anticipated channel uploads, truely just astoundingly good content.

[@hellNo116]

If you can't or don't want to pay for the game, proxy (make unofficial copies of cards) and play a casual format like a commander. I know that many ppl will have no problem playing with you. Have a nice day 🙂

[@TheTrueStyropor]

Saw your comment under Remys video and have been awaiting this ever since! Always love to see more from you, very interesting and entertaining at the same time

[@00Clank]

Same.

[@prog00017]

I just built a modern deck featuring Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, so the timing couldn't be more perfect to practice pronunciation.

[@Volkbrecht]

Don't bother. You'll just get slapped across the face after the third time you say the full name.

[@ElMoss64]

For anyone still struggling to memorise the pronunciation, it's easy to remember as similar to "dies to doom blade" Asmorano Mardica dies to Naculdacar I'm sure you could split it further but those lengths are ones that I find easy to remember as separate words

[@ArceusShaymin]

B-but Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar doesn't die to Doom Blade! She's [R/B]!

[@ElMoss64]

@@ArceusShaymin But she does die to Naculdacar!

[@hi-i-am-atan]

@@ElMoss64 eagerly awaiting nakuul dagger, which deals 3 to a creature that has exactly two colors

[@bobdiedtwice1620]

@@hi-i-am-atan maybe knuckle bone witch with any of the dagger equipment out there

[@sniperjettps4626]

Thats really helpful thank you

[@uknownada]

19:17 I LOVE that there's a binder just filled with all the previous cards you've covered!

[@DirkvanBoxtel]

Can I just say, by the time the title card rolled around, I went "fuck." That's brilliant writing. Love your work.

[@rileyratajczak4192]

It’s a small thing but I really enjoy that you have a binder exclusively for cards you’ve done video one, thanks for doing what you do

[@gtoast_99]

I wondered who else noticed that, especially with the words he was saying while flipping through that binder "a small inside joke". Underworld chef's kiss.

[@hatonyou7099]

So cool. Also chronological :handshake:

[@Mister_Clean]

I respect this pure dedication to canon Something most entertainment companies don't understand whatsoever

[@KalElelVigilant]

Cool work, as usual. Calvino was probably expanding upon Wittgenstein's "the limits of my language are the limits of my world" in the Tractatus

[@asmund8436]

Love the binder at the end referencing all of your old videos

[@nickmuller7411]

As someone who loves the nuances of language, this felt made for me. Thank you as usual, Mr. Rhystic o7

[@andrewg6598]

I have been eagerly waiting your return. Welcome back and thank you.

[@skysub1]

You just had to sneak “imposter among us” in there didn’t you.

[@pairot01]

Impostor*

[@Rassjo]

When the card name is sus.

[@KalElelVigilant]

That bit reminded me of Welles' "F for Fake".

[@AxelLonn]

Just finished a Commander deck with her. It's one of the most fun decks I've built in the recent year and I also love the flavour of the card. Seeing a Rhystic Studies video about the card almost made my brain explode! I love all of your content. Been subscribed for a long time. Thank you for making these amazing videos!

[@wizardu7440]

Ooh, now I want a binder full of cards mentioned on Rhystic study. (It's so cool that you collect mementoes for your videos!)

[@lucasenraraujo]

"Enhance the Human..." "Huh, I don't recall that card, but if Sam is mentioning it should..." "...it doesn't exist" >:C YOU LIED TO ME, SAM! hahaha. And Maria impressed me with her pronunciation of ...that thing.

[@GhostGK21]

I had the same thought process, was like “I’m pretty sure that card wasn’t from Ikoria!?”

[@themaskedmark92]

What s her Channel?

[@lucasenraraujo]

@@themaskedmark92 she co-hosts Good Luck High Five with Meghan :)

[@themaskedmark92]

@@lucasenraraujo thank u

[@Nachocheese7896]

The return of the legend himself, welcome back and thank you for this awesome video!

[@J.Applejuice]

Love these videos so much. I hope one day you'll have analyzed every aspect of a card. You've covered borders and the name, id love to see the beauty of the set symbol.

[@albertofraccaroli6795]

Love the album at 19:17 with all the cards you've dedicated a video to. In the end did you really bought a Black Lotus?

[@TheScarnak]

Noticed that too, it's a really nice to know these videos mean a lot to him, as they should! Do you know what edition his black lotus was?

[@realinitials4909]

It was a proxy lotus look at the colorations

[@BacchusGames]

That's a proxy black lotus coming from TheProxyGuy. You can see the Z set symbol, which is what he uses for all his proxies. He also posted a similar black lotus on his twitter a while ago.

[@usersaurus]

Conclusively, Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar = "A dormant Dracula is Romania's Cicada"

[@smashbuddie]

That ending caught me just right. Thank you for brightening my day!

[@Lykrast]

Awesome video! Though I think you missed she was mentionned again in flavor text for Lightning Axe in the original Time Spiral.

[@darksquirel]

One card that has always stuck out to me is "Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental" which I proudly own a copy and as soon as I saw the title of this video it popped into my head so I figured it would get a mention.

[@christopherb501]

Back in Unhinged draft, I dropped one of those with TWO Emcees in play. And I was playing during lunch at school.

[@dingdongs5208]

Im surprised you didn't bring up Valakut, THE molten pinnacle as being non legendary when you brought up the world tree!

[@Qobp]

Those being Nonlegendary for mechanical reasons. The old legend rule wouldnt let both players have the same legend on the board at once, and they didnt want to lock players out of lands.

[@dingdongs5208]

@@Qobp that's a fair explanation thanks!

[@christopherb501]

Or the rest of the cycle.

[@joekeny]

11:57 blessed spirits has to be the saddest card in magic. "Not all heroes die in armor."

[@NTSTS0]

I really enjoy the contemplative and reverent tone of your videos. Thank you for making them.

[@namename8004]

So I've been learning Japanese and I noticed that the Japanese version of Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar was on screen from about 14:05 to about 14:15. So, of course, I went about trying to read this. It comes out as アスモラノマルディカダイスティナカルダカール. In romaji(Japanese using the Latin alphabet), it's Asumoranomarudekadaisutenakarudakaaru.

[@Haze01Smash]

It is a very direct, phonetical, translation from English to Japanese. Elements added from the transcription to romaji, like the "u" from "su" and "ru", would not really affect the pronunciation as the "u" sound in these cases is minimally pronounced, as seen in the Japanese word for "like", "suki". So, I believe a Japanese speaker reading the katakana would pronounce her name identically to an English speaker. Your translation from katakana to romaji seemed to leave out the translation of the small kana (the undersized "i" characters). The Japanese language doesn't typically use the sound "ti" and in its place on the kana table you would find "chi"; when transcribing loan words that would use a "ti" sound, they use "te" followed by a small kana "i" to indicate the "ti" pronunciation. Instead of "de" and "te" in your romanization, it would be more accurate to translate those as "di" and "ti". asumoranomarudikadaisutinakarudakaaru

[@namename8004]

@@Haze01Smash yeah, I'm aware of the devoicing of vowels. You're right that I messed up some of the romaji. I don't know how I missed it. Too many letters/characters lol.

[@criticalgeek9187]

Honestly, 'enhance the human' could totally work as a more old school, jokey card, like a forgettable aura or generic combat trick, with the art depicting either a goblin or some other plane-specific denizen performing an experiment on a captured human subject.

[@blubberwasser5105]

I feel like enhance the Human would be a phantastic card name for some kind of blue/black sorcery for an Innistrad card, which makes you sacrifice something in exchange for better stats!

[@Flash_the_Scout]

Or a phyrexian equipment that gives a better boost to humans

[@snekula5353]

I was honestly thinking it would be a simic card

[@blubberwasser5105]

@@snekula5353 yeah that was my first thought too but they kinda dont focus too much on the human unlike the chaps of innistrad

[@Flash_the_Scout]

@@snekula5353 Well phyrexian's whole religion is about changing flesh to machine so a card name "enhance the human" seems to fit precisely around their theme, seeing a basic humans as weak and in need of "enhancement"

[@doktorwyvern2883]

@@Flash_the_Scout While that may be true, Phyrexians "compleat" other organisms and turn them into Phyrexians. Enhancing the human wouldn't make sense, they don't want humans (or other races, every color in Mirrodin boasted a non-human race) around in any capacity (minus Urabrask?), they want a world of only Phyrexians. and while we could take "enhance the human" to mean something more akin to "Phyrexian Compleation", the latter or a variation of it would be vastly superior in that it is both specific to the setting and more accurate to what is happening. It also isn't human specific, which would be preferable in a setting where the majority of creatures would not be humans.

[@mikeciul8599]

I loved hearing about the reference to Scheherazade in Finnegan's Wake. I think Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar's story is an interesting twist on Scheherazade's story, with food replacing stories, and demons replacing kings...!

[@reinatheomni-panda7028]

As a linguist, I feel the need to point out that this concept of "sesquipedalianism" as it applies to just having long words has a very Euro-biased slant to it, and there exist languages in the world where it is quite normal even in ordinary everyday speech to have very long words and names, often which carry the meaning of what we would in European languages say with a full sentence of multiple discreet words, such that a name like Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar wouldn't be that unusual, at least not in its length, if it were the case that that name were decomposable into a series of meaningful morphemes that weren't easily broken apart. It might still be something of a mouthful, but it's worth pointing out that in many such languages where this happens, it's actually relatively challenging to NOT generate relatively long words (compared to ones in European languages) because a bound root morpheme for a verb, for instance, might need several markers for things like person, tense, aspect, etc. to be considered morphologically complete and count as a complete word, and a name which is actually a kind of holophrase (sentence-word) would naturally follow suit in that. So, I would say the only reason why Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar seems to push the envelope on proper name length here is because she exists in a space primarily occupied by characters called things like Jace, Serra, Vincent, and Karn.

[@Volkbrecht]

It's not just the simplicity of the other names. The length of the name makes no obvious sense (not even if you are into MTG lore), so there is no incentive to actually bother with it. If I'd have some interaction with it in a paper Magic game, I'd always refer to it as "your Asmo-thingy". And I would probably interrupt anyone who tries to show off his willingness to learn the full word. Just because nope.

[@reinatheomni-panda7028]

But that's exactly my point. The length is only unusual to you because you (probably) don't speak a language where words and names of such extreme length (at least extreme to us) regularly occur (yes, languages like German can produce long words, but they're more marginal and usually decomposable into separable words compounded together), and other names in the game are also shorter, at about the length you already are used to, thus setting you up to expect names you perceive as being of "normal" length, whereas, there are languages where long words and names are common (e.g. for morphological reasons, i.e. the individual morphemes of these long words/names cannot stand on their own as individual words and have to be bound to something else; sometimes none of the constituent morphemes of such words are free-standable and thus must ALL combine together in some configuration) and could conceivably be the basis for a magic set's character names. Never mind that it seems the actual origins of the name Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar are unknown or potentially left blank on purpose - just a long name for its own sake. Of course, you are going to prefer to abbreviate a 13 syllable name (I do too), because you (and I) are used to everyday words and names not going above maybe 4 or 5 syllables. Perfectly fine way to approach it. Even if there were a lore reason for it that was totally fleshed out, I suspect most players would still choose to abbreviate. But my point is that it's not as if there's some absolute measure of "sense-making"ness in name length. I know someone whose traditional name in his language is 8 syllables long, and if he were a woman it would be 9 syllables long (because it would take an extra feminiser suffix).

[@Volkbrecht]

@@reinatheomni-panda7028 I'm not going along with that, even though I am German, and I have worked with Indians (dot, not feather ;) ) before, who are probably somewhat represantative for the southeast asian area when it comes to naming people. The length as such isn't problematic, it's the fact that it doesn't contain meaning. When I see a long name, I will usually know that it is a persons name, and just naturally invest some care into dealing with the issue to not offend anyone. With a Magic cardname, that is not so clear. They span a pretty wide range of possible items, and jokes and wordplays are known to have been used. So when I first approach a cardname, I try to understand what it means, which of course fails with the Asmo-thingy, resulting in cognitive dissonance, and, since I don't get the joke, anger. It can't be cut into meaningful bits, and unless I conciously take in the card type, there is no definite clue that this might be fiction character's name. Also, and I'm just speculating here, even though I am not naturally familiar with Indian names and have no idea how they work, it seems to me that they are the product of a certain amount of what I would call, for lack of better words, vocal evolution. They may look a little a scary at first, but they do tend to roll off the tongue, and once you have heard the people talk in their native language for a while, you even get a grasp of the rhythm of those names. That piece of help is also missing with made-up stuff. My guess is that if you have 10 people in the LGS speaking that name you probably get 5 different interpretations of it.

[@reinatheomni-panda7028]

So, honest question, do you take the same approach when confronted with the simpler names such as Jace Beleren or Nissa Revane? Do you try and understand them in the same way or do you just think of them as names with no specific meaning attached to them necessarily? I do not know if there is a referential or wordplay reason why Jace Beleren is called Jace Beleren, and to be honest, even if there were one, it would neither hinder nor enhance my ability to accept the name as merely a name. For all I and I think most Magic players know the name "Jace Beleren" might just be a sequence of meaningless syllables that sounded nice to whoever designed him; certainly the etymology of "Jace" or historical uses thereof are no help; they seem to have nothing to do with his character. As for "Beleren", there doesn't seem to be any clue as to the origin of that at all. What about a name that is entirely composed, like "Ral Zarek" or "Domri Rade"? Mind you, all of these names have appeared on magic cards with no extra titles attached to them. This is essentially how I feel about Asmor. There MIGHT be some deep reason why she's called what she is; maybe the explanation has always been there from when the name was first written on a card in flavor text or maybe it'll be entirely ad hoc. There might be an in-universe reason (hypothetical meaning of the name in some fictional language, for example) as well as an out-of-universe reason (an anagram of something, perhaps, as the end of the video alludes to). Now, I might wanna know in the abstract what those reasons are, like it would be nice to know, but I'm also fine with it being just long for no reason apart from just to have a long name. It doesn't bother me that the full length name is so long; it doesn't give me cognitive dissonance, to the extent that that concept is applicable here, and certainly not anger. Would it be different for you if the card was called "Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, the Underworld Cook" (if it were possible to fit on the card that is), since there'd be more obviously meaningful bits to dissect?

[@Volkbrecht]

@@reinatheomni-panda7028 Well, with the shorter names, I can recognize them as names, so I feel no immediate need to put any more sense into the names themselves. To be fair, with planeswalker cards it's a given that their names are names of characters. So let's look at some other legendary creatures, preferrably with longer names... checking... Well, I haven't checked all 1200 or so, but a lot of them tend to follow conventions that make them easily recognisable as names, like, separation into a first and a last name, or first name and some form of title. So even if the names as such are alien to me, I still get that they are names rather easily. With some of them admittedly the old font and the name make me furrow my brow a little, but in my incomplete check of scryfall I found nothing that came close to triggering the kind of averse reaction caused by the word salad that is Asmor... And that's really my problem with that card: when looking at it, my eyes get caught by the name, I get confused and irritated by the fact that I cannot take it in as easily as other magic card names, and then I have to actively ignore the mystery of the name while figuring out what kind of card I am actually looking at, which is not helped by the fact that it's one of the few cards that doesn't have a regular casting cost (the only creature other than dryad arbor?). Would it help if the name was followed by a title? Let's say like in that one Un-card where the name was all around the card (...the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental ;) ). Probably. The human brain is much better at pattern recognition than it is at reading, so I guess I would already have grasped the concept of what I'm looking at before conciously trying to decipher it. Now, just to not come across as some butthurt idiot, I get the joke, and I do realize that neither the card name nor the card design are accidental. This thing probably started out as a joke among game designers and then became a thing because why not. I just prefer this kind of joke to happen in the flavor text.

[@ianrennhack965]

I just now noticed the binder is a collection of the videos you have made. That’s beautiful

[@alonisatritimio7956]

Welcome back, been looking forward to this!

[@Quroe_]

I couldn't stop smiling while watching this. Thank you for this gem.

[@yeahitsyieh]

4:23 I feel like Guardian Angel was pretty aptly named. Guardian angels are a sign of protection, and plays well with the mechanic of damage prevention. Many other cultures also have a similar idea (maybe not necessarily an angel, but guardian spirit) and so it would've made translation a lot easier as well, whereas certain other card names may not have as direct translations.

[@georgegrenvillethe7thpm176]

Except that guardian angel should have been a creature

[@Aggrobuns]

That intro made me like the vid instantly. Great job

[@hesnotbad9045]

“And killed him on the spot” was a fun mental image. “I play a counterspell” “I play a counter player” *blam*

[@astuteanansi4935]

*looks like you're going to the shadow realm jimbo*

[@AutkastKain]

Man, I almost missed the last part. Loved it!

[@TheBaconMagician]

Man you are one of the best content creators i know. That intro hook into "card kingdom" was clever, funny, and fit the thesis of your video. You aren't overbearing with your message, and you let art speak for itself - something I believe in quite strongly. Absolutely love your videos; always a good day when I see a new one out :3

[@snerdbrgrSkips]

Love that you keep a binder of videos you worked on

[@Commander_Skullblade]

Rhystic Studies seeps into every part of my online experience, even the obscure memes like Liam the Weatherman. We aren't meant to escape. I don't want to. Edit: I just had to comment on that binder at the end. It brings such joy that you have a copy of each card you've done a video on.

[@CarmenCards]

I love the little binder of cards you've done videos about

[@dotmp3883]

This makes me want to construct a flavorful commander deck around her (pun intended)

[@durge12]

everyone already commenting on the folder at the end with the cards in that were the topic of your videos is neat and i hope it continues!

[@jonathanwhitt7951]

I think "enhance the human" could be done in a ravnica set, in simic colours

[@alexandercandicedad1355]

That was my first thought!

[@allypearlman5569]

Slap an exclamation mark on it and becomes way more compelling ("Enhance the Human!"), Sounds like someone is shouting it

[@ZornA.Mations]

The intro to this video is the most beautifully edited and creative out of any I've ever seen. Talking about long names and the Guy who perfectly pronounced one, ending with a super smooth transition to the main video with the name and everything It's pure elegance

[@KuroAcedia]

I know it's probably not really comparable, but we recently got another card with an unconventional name in +2 Mace.

[@EricChoiniere]

@Fifo it's still unique for Magic. They made a conscious choice of that name over something like Mace of Smiting.

[@EricChoiniere]

@Fifo I am well aware of that. We are talking about Magic card names however.

[@Niuttuc]

+2 Mace is an interesting promise Wizards couldn't deliver on. Despite being printed, the card technically doesn't exist for the rules because they couldn't implement it in Gatherer with their... Interesting naming choice.

[@dom_rocks7923]

The binder at the end is so cool. The fact that you keep a card for each video you make is so cool to me.

[@Galchoo1]

I guess Dracula has some problems. If only he could say their name.

[@uknownada]

He tried, but he kept screwing up and biting his tongue. That's where "bleh bleh bleh!!" comes from.

[@sagtaurian]

I’m so happy the credits played that song!

[@BreezyBeej]

Enhance the Human actually sounds more like a Simic Guild card that adds a creature type and ability to a human. Mutates them.

[@KalElelVigilant]

Or a Secret Lair, Doctor Who, cyberconversion blue/white card

[@probablyfacetious2895]

Enhance the Human U Enchantment - Aura Enchant target Human Creature When you cast this spell, name a creature type. Enchanted creature becomes that creature type in addition to its other types. G: Enchanted creature gains +1/+1 until end of turn. 1WG: Place a +1/+1 counter on enchanted creature.

[@jonathanharvey5732]

The segue to the Underworld Cookbook, the pithing needle segment, the binder, all gold.

[@sawderf741]

"After much disscussion we have have agreed that you are not orcs".

[@potatochop]

These videos... these videos! They're just so beautifully done, I can't say enough about how superlatively edited and indubitably magnificent they are. Once again, thank you, Rhystic Studies.

[@javaguru7141]

He outdoes some of the most well-produced channels on KZbin, like Veratasium and Wendover Productions. His closest competition is Vsauce. The quality is just astounding. If he ever chooses to branch out to mainstream topics, I guarantee he will be wildly successful.

[@potatochop]

@@javaguru7141 Totally agree, but I think it's great having such a masterful specimen as the MTG community's little secret!

[@javaguru7141]

@@potatochop Yes, absolutely!

[@probablyhuman632]

yooooo, new episode, let's go

[@LukeLavablade]

There was not a single point in this video when I was not smiling. Beautiful work as always.

[@dekappatated73]

that tradebinder containing all the cards you made videos for, nice touch.

[@MrSaverio97]

Wait why would Dracula be addicted to malignant tumors of the connective tissue

[@carpenoctom]

unlimited power

[@ronanlambert-hill2875]

Came back to this video, and loved it all the more the second time around. Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar would be proud

[@Gaming_Duck]

Anyone else drop everything for this!

[@st4pps]

Yea, those kids will be fine

[@st4pps]

@John Skelton well it was less of a drop and more of a yeet

[@yumicat1]

So glad you're back!!

[@Eleechee]

I actually think enhance the human has a cool ring to it, but it definitely doesn’t sound like a magic card in existence. High fantasy to think about “human” being something special. When using “The” in front of it, you make the human even more unique. There must be other races, and they must be so much stronger that humans need to be enhance.

[@soulfire5256]

"Enhance the Human" sounds to me like it would be named from the perspective of a non-human race unfamiliar with humans, perhaps in the context of experimenting on the human. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is extraterrestrial abduction and probing, but that concept could apply to any technologically advanced civilization.

[@sethb3090]

When you started talking about inside jokes, it reminded me of legendary/mythic cards I used to find in the late 2000s that made fun acronyms. I always wondered whether it was on purpose. Koth of the Hammer - KOTH Emrakul, Aeons Torn - EAT

[@kylefields3951]

Anytime Rhystic Studies drops a video I have to inject that shit into my veins ASAP.

[@iPhonix07]

The binder with a copy of every card you made a video of is just amazing!

[@alistairmalachai5437]

normally i don't have much criticism of your videos, but i find it a bit surprising you'd say "enhance the human" wouldn't be evocative. MTG is finally throwing off the shackles of "needing" to be fantasy, and is aware that differing planes can have differing levels of technological and arcane progress. In a cyberpunk set, "Enhance the Human" could easily be a white enchantment that enhances equipment and possibly also has a secondary function where it would reduce the cost of "augments" or however wizards would choose to impliment cybernetic augmentation into the game as a creature mechanic. Any card name can be evocative, it's just that as you're probably well aware, the setting of a card's name can help bridge the gap between something being "boring and uninspired" and it being someone's new favorite card. after all, "Enhance the Human" could mean human as a singular noun, but it could also mean human as the concept. enhancing the body of those who wish to be with mechanical components to bring them more in line with their humanity... even if they're some form of 4 armed snake person. god i'm so fucking excited for Kamigawa Neon Dynasty.

[@doktorwyvern2883]

Enhance the Human sounds very clunky to me. Even if it had the perfect flavor and art, it just seems like something you get out of google translate.