Understanding Sagas | How Magic Art Depicts In-World Histories

[@RhysticStudies]

the complete interview featuring Jay Annelli is now available on my Patreon page. thanks for watching! patreon.com/rhysticstudies

[@ThotSkate]

Hey, @Rhystic Studies, are you the guy in the Audiotree session from Delta Sleep?

[@azriel8290]

@@ThotSkate q1

[@RhysticStudies]

@@ThotSkate yep, that was me. I got to see them live again a couple weeks ago and they're better than ever. one of my all-time favorite bands.

[@CharlesGouraudgaming]

Another note on the akroan war art: the unfinished tapestry is a potential reference to Odysseus's wife unraveling the tapestry she weaved at night in order to delay her betrothal to one of the other suitors.

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

It can also be an allusion to the fact that Homer's Iliad, the "real-life" equivalent of the akroan war, does not actually tels the conclusion of the Trojan war itself.

[@U.Inferno]

@@hekonaleeinos5510 True. Our recollection of the full narrative is incomplete as the other poems of the cycle have been lost to history. We know the relative plot of the narrative as a whole but we don't have specific scenes like Achilles' death or the abduction of Helen in writing. Only the summary

[@AydenWoltei]

Might also be a reference to the twining of the thread(s) of fate...

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

​@@U.Inferno It only gets beter : there was also a tradition of "sequels" and re-telling of the poems of the Trojan cycle, going all the way to the XIIIe century AD (to my knowledge). And i won't even mention the moderns re-interpretations ; we have here, in another sense, a story that's never finished being told.

[@richheart7990]

All these comments and conjectures are themselves in the mood of the saga (or the myth): it is the result of the different interpretations that people make during the centuries, adding each time new contents, because a myth is something in development. In my opinion the unfinished tapestry is not a direct reference to the specific Odissey myth, but a stylistic choice of the illustrator that makes the artwork directly related to the card mechanics; infact, it is an enchantment that makes you progress in the story by adding a lore counter. Basically the artwork gives you the illusion that you are inweaving the story every turn.

[@ANTREU96]

Usual way to start a video about mtg: "Here are my opinions on this mtg related topic" Rhystic Studies' way: "Let me tell you about a late medieval painting about St Denis"

[@graemebloodworth8991]

this was an absolute delight Sam, thanks so much for sharing it. The history major in me is just in love with the different versions of ancient art on display with sagas

[@Eramiserasmus]

The best notifications are when Rhystic Studies uploads. Love the discussion of purely visual storytelling with Sagas and similar art in the world.

[@nathanl8622]

The funny thing is I have little interest in early Magic lore, but I absolutely love Sagas. Perfect blend of flavor and function.

[@gavcanflip]

The Bloodsky Massacre is, to this day, my favourite saga art. I love the way the card type stirred up so many interesting techniques that haven't been possible in art before, but the use of realism and the tattoo art feels like such a perfect and natural exploration of the newness

[@swansonchrismonster]

My god, every time I see another video I am always so impressed. Even though I know its going to be good! Its always better than I expect!

[@swansonchrismonster]

Also, shout out to the shout out to Scott McCloud! I love it when interests collide like that.

[@joe.5103]

Initially, I was skeptical of sagas, worried they might be un-magic-like but they’ve grown into one of my favorite newer card types. The art is some of the best in the game.

[@owenvandevelde1439]

Great video, I always love when someone reference Marshall Mcluhan's work on media and a format's potential when used to communicate information.

[@StackedEDH]

Excellent work framing Magic's new frame.

[@pinoarias8601]

Really cool idea to apply Panofsky's methods of anslysis to Magic's sagas.

[@luliby2309]

Sagas are for sure one of the best mechanics they've come up with recently. They've been so cool in every set so far. Now if only Wizards could manage the game waaaaaay better and treat the fans waaaaaay better.

[@khepri3266]

Drafting with sagas is always fun.

[@seanflanagan9675]

I almost missed this one because i didnt realize the emblem change and because I get a lot if history reccomendations. I thought this was just a history lesson in historical sagas.

[@ThotSkate]

Hey, @Rhystic Studies, are you the guy in the Audiotree session from Delta Sleep?

[@RhysticStudies]

yep, that's me

[@keatonbolin]

The “rhystic studies has uploaded” notification is the best notification

[@CUATROMORCE]

factssss

[@docauch5938]

Agreed I click so fast

[@apolinarhowell7783]

💯💯💯

[@HMK-nh4ft]

Agreed

[@phyrexian_dude4645]

I really liked Sagas when they were released. Sure at that time were a bit nostalgia bait but it was cool to see that those old MTG stories were actually acknowledged by the inhabitants of the plane as part of their history and culture even thousands of years after they happened. And now seeing them as a good example of show dont tell as an in universe art pieces its quite nice.

[@syntaxerror2409]

All will be one.

[@RodRombauer]

Though I am fully a 'function over form' guy, I'm always floored by the amount of storytelling Magic artists can cram into a single illustration and of Sams ability to unpack it all and explain it cleanly. These videos always take me from 'cool art' to 'dang, thats got serious depth.'

[@missingdev0948]

And as always, form informs function for new players

[@Fligyn]

@@missingdev0948 and experienced players tbh

[@mrd1703]

same

[@wizkida981015]

the idea of a sage being tattooed on someone's arm on a magic card is genius

[@kylarcheng1346]

saga?

[@c001357]

I always get a kick out of every art history lesson intro leading into "so in Magic: the Gathering..." sagas being a kind of meta art really makes them stand out. its a representation of a representation when most of the cards are objective

[@vmrenadi]

I didn't even realize what video was autoplaying and I thought, "weird, why does KZbin think this is for me" but I kept watching so... Maybe an analysis of Saint Dennis might be something I'm interested in? Lol

[@wavesofbabies]

Sagas are fantastic designs. Loved them since their introduction.

[@woodybutler]

"But I've noticed that the sagas maybe more than any other design in the game's history invite players to engage... in the game's lore". Totally agree! In the same way that sorceries are often the Verbs of magic, sagas themselves tend to chronicle or explain an event within the lore. A sorcery might show an izzet mage creating a magic spark-filled explosion, telling us what izzet mages do (present tense), while sagas show us what happened.

[@James11111]

"I call myself a 'continuity editor' when I want to be taken more seriously" I can guarantee with 100% certainty that I would take someone with the title of "Lore Master" way more serious.

[@michaelbutta4764]

@Rhystic Studies, You are amazing sir. Thank you so much for your efforts and insight. Your videos are thoroughly engaging, enjoyable and elucidating. Top shelf, cannot praise you highly enough.

[@kylegonewild]

The Raven's Warning remains one of my favorite sagas so far. It's just a beautiful piece of art.

[@lauravturner]

I am so glad you are talking about the Saga cards. They are underrated both in game and lore-wise.

[@O1NKery]

sagas are my favorite cards. ever since NEO came out, I started loving them even more

[@TimmytheSorcerer]

Amazing how much story is being told in Time of Ice. I know all these cards, because I played at the time, but had no idea that they were depicted in this fabulous piece of art. Thank you once again for making me enjoy magic art even more.

[@mars___sumner]

Since you said you’re on a comic book kick at the moment, allow me to make some recommendations: Daredevil: Born Again, Valerian from Cinebook, Sojourn from Crossgen Comics, Silver Surfer: Parable, All Star Superman, The Shadow: In the Coils of Leviathan from Dark Horse, and Conan: The Tower of The Elephant also from Dark Horse Edit: I should mention that if you do get The Shadow: In the Coils of Leviathan, purchase the individual issues in lieu of the graphic novel as the gn lacks a poem at the beginning of the story that adds much to the story

[@int0th3v01d]

I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this many RS videos recently but I’m gonna keep doing it

[@artemi7]

I think the design of the gameplay of Sagas themselves invites you to consider what's going on in the story. You're staring at this thing for 3+ turns, slowly watching it tick away, and you get drawn into thinking about how the effects are connected to each other. You're naturally trying to subconsciously tie it into a single coherent story that gets weaved into the gameplay itself.

[@villegassn]

I just established that one of my biggest goals is for Sam to chose to make a video about my art after I become an artist for MTG

[@JoachimSauer1]

It took me until almost the 3:00-mark to realize where the traditional initial art lesson connects to Magic, but I'm still proud of realizing it before it was spelled out ;-)

[@noobtuber10]

Art is magick, just takes a mind to see its uses

[@cerealamog]

I cant believe you cited scott mccloud. Ive never seen him mentioned anywhere so that was super cool and an awesome insight

[@timzoat]

Oh yeah! Scott McCloud! His work truly is the greatest informative literature I've ever read! In my older playing group we even tried the 24h comic challenge, one of his ideas.

[@PiquantPan]

Excellent video! Sagas are one of my favorite card types, and do a great job of providing world-building and imaginative fuel even for sets where the official narrative support from WOTC is rather thin (Kaldheim being a key example). One quick note that stood out to me: the Achaean king Menelaus' name is pronounced in English with 4 syllables, Men-uh-lay-us -- the "-au-" is not a diphthong. In Greek the name declines with the stem Μενέλα-

[@RhysticStudies]

ah, thank you for the correction. I appreciate it.

[@PiquantPan]

@@RhysticStudies of course of course, thanks for making this video, i think that all the experimentation with frames and artstyles has been a major win for how the game communicates flavor. idk if there are enough examples to make a full length video, but i'd love to hear your thoughts on the Mystical Archive, and how it reinforces the metanarrative that we, the players, are planeswalkers of our own casting spells from tomes

[@beanozsface8428]

New Rhystic Studies LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

[@MagusFlorren]

I’m really blown away at how GENUINE and AUTHENTIC your videos are. It comes from a place of passion and you’re amazing at what you do. Thank you for making videos for us to enjoy.

[@clairesmith4988]

Watching this as someone who knows nothing about Magic, and enjoying it thoroughly

[@kylarcheng1346]

It’s truly incredible that you can fully appreciate rhystic studies videos when you know nothing about Magic

[@macfryling8421]

Sagas are probably my most favorite of all the new types of cards, and the ones in kamigawa are beautiful. Not only that but the memories of the first time we went to the plane and legendary cards in that set brings back so much good memories.

[@22freedom33]

Richard Garfield inovates Magic once agin

[@Laggerslam]

I'd love to see you hired by wizzards, because you are in my opinion the single best in terms of mtg content creation. And yet i would be saddened if you loose your option to have a neutral opinion and objective viewpoint. Whish you best of luck for the future, your videos bring get me more and more attached to the game (and world) that i truly love.

[@RedRamDRA]

I LOVED sagas as a card type. I love that they returned sagas... I hate that Hasbro is ruining magic more than WotC alone was.

[@Indriman]

Shoutout to Understanding Comics. Love the thoughtfulness and research you put into these videos dude!

[@Kyrbi0]

Sagas were such a powerful addition to MtG. Huge fan; great video

[@EdwardLCheeverII]

Sagas are just the best. One of my favorite things about recent Magic.

[@paulanson5392]

My gf is working on a saga tribal edh deck

[@diSTUD013]

Heck yeah!!! I love the Amory Wars!!!!! Coheed fans unite!

[@SlowUnpacking]

Agreed, longer pauses when looking at a card is necessary. 😂

[@wavesofbabies]

God the Flintstones comic is so good.

[@DanielRiveroPadilla]

I refuse to believe this was 25 minutes! I was so into the explanations and art analysis that I'm sure only 5 minutes passed.

[@jgtmtg]

I love all your videos, but New Phyrexia is my favorite set. I would be over the moon to see your take on the art/flavor of Mirrodin/Phyrexia

[@marcdedecker3400]

This is the only KZbin channel I am a patreon supporter for and I haven’t played MTG in over 6 years. Such is the quality, thought provoking and entertainment factor of Sam’s videos

[@jzoobs]

Sagas have been a really neat addition to the game, both mechanically and flavorfully. Excited to see where the push the design jext

[@CodeProvider]

too bad all the saga cards look like shit because of the framing on the card.

[@davidgill9463]

For a deeper look at Magic’s older lore, and likely the resource that many of Magic’s ‘loremasters’ depend on for the older stories, I suggest checking out the Multiverse in Review website. It’s the best resource out there by far; a true historian of Magic history.

[@someguy4405]

will definitely check that out

[@cubencis]

Saga may be the best comic novel ever written

[@misiu5203]

"A composition like this would never have found a home in the first 25 years of magic art direction" - I disagree there are examples of this type of composition before sagas or without being a saga, for example Seb McKinnon's Grim return, Terese Nielsen's Descendants' Path, and (the very recent) Lake Hurwitz's Memory Deluge.

[@danielbetts5208]

One of the most beautifully-written, engaging, and fascinating youtube videos I've ever seen. Thank you so much for this- I will now proceed to binge all of your content

[@Bluecho4]

One thing about the Sagas from Dominaria is that, while an existing Magic player from the 90s would get more from them, they're still a means of getting new players interested in this very old setting. A person who has never heard of the Dominaria Ice Age may look at the card Age of Ice, and want to do their own research. Same with the Antiquities War or the Fall of Thran or The Eldest Reborn.

[@Weckacore]

I used to live next to the St Hyacinth Basilica and spent so long looking at its large, hewn metal doors with no idea what characters were depicted. The x axis appeared to be time as the soldiers slowly got better armor/weapons, with biblival characters out n about around them. Very cool

[@chayadol]

Man, Brother Wars storyline at the end of the video, basically sum up with, sending the problematic kids to the summer camp, end up destroyed the whole continent looool

[@AnArmyOfFish]

Magic media that is somehow also Comic media? Can I triple-like this video? Was it written by my brain, with a co-direction from my pleasure centers? Well done as always, Great Video, interesting and thoughtful research, forcing us to think more about wizard squares

[@Zaria_Dobbs]

I feel like Saga's are kind of this black swan design, where realistically they could have been introduced at almost any point in Magic's history (maybe after first 5/10 years?) but it wasn't until Richard Garfield actually came up with the designs in 2017ish that they existed.

[@sdfkjgh]

0:32 Clergymen do it in the apse.

[@spuriusbrocoli4701]

I initially really hated Sagas, not the least bc they were attached to such a weak mechanic as "historic", but this did make me reflect & regonsider the power Sagas have as a subtype. & yeah, it is cool when Sagas communicate a story & esp when they borrow from older art sources a la The Akroan War.

[@Duskstone89]

I actually never really thought about how sagas are depictions of artwork of history by various cultures in-universe, even though it's really obvious lmao. But now that I've realized it, that's so cool, and I kinda wanna analyze and study more sagas myself now

[@apjapki]

The thing about The Mirari Conjecture is that I believe the Mirari was actually left on Mirrodin/New Phyrexia. Is the person who drew the chalk diagram actually Karn?

[@markfisk7124]

I just built a saga-themed commander deck with Go-Shintai of Life's Origin as my commander. I love the art of sagas and how they function in the game. Thanks for this amazing video!

[@luny2769]

Using the Saga comic to talk about Sagas

[@MartianKyo]

The lack of art direction and consistant tone in old Magic worked for me. Because I always thought of them as in world illustrations. It allowed the art of Kaja Foglio, Richard Kane Furgoson and Rebecca Guay to live side by side in the same set and not feel dissonant to me.

[@brioners]

The Flintstones comics SLAP

[@utubeaddict29]

wow, I don't have any interest in returning to playing magic but MtG art geekery I am here for, Thanks Questing Beast.

[@t01va49]

Why is the philosophy channel buried under the stacks of drama? It's not like there isnt drama to be found here, its just disguised under your chilllll vibes

[@dguap1359]

Those decorative, interwoven designs are certainly norse in origin, but there is definitely some celtic influence in there too. Kaldheim had a lot of this. Sagas are thee best thing to happen to Magic gameplay and art design. Great video

[@lobes117]

As a proud Texan and avid Mtg player, I was super pumped to see the shoutout to the heroes of Texas independence who gave their lives for freedom at the Alamo. Rip

[@mat4039]

just wondering if you would do a follow up on the great wave, covering some of the western fetishization of block prints. I love them too but they are not with out there problems in the west .

[@voratheexplorer6442]

I love sagas because they handle so many design space issues at once. Putting suspend on the battlefield where it can be interacted with in multiple ways opens up the floodgates for gameplay

[@lucyarisato6850]

6:49 *Oh*. So that’s the reason why the funny astronauts have ruined the cerebral cortexes of an entire generation-closure. Gotcha!

[@MartianKyo]

I have time of ice, but never took the time to appreciate its art. My only 'complaint' is that size of magic cards doesn't do them justice.

[@thra-x1855]

i normally have nothing but contempt for WOTC art direction but i'm quite fond of sagas.

[@AndrewS-vu4ji]

In the lead up to Kamigawa, I saw the articles for most of the sagas and immediately spent the next week or so just switching between them all.

[@jaredmowens]

The white shield crusader is an even deeper cut, because his shield isn't fucking white on the saga.

[@hotduelist]

The Flintstones comic caught me off guard lol. Comicdrake just released a video today about it

[@charlesfarley28]

From Otomo to Sanchez, there is significant overlap between our comic collections.

[@muffincubed]

This video was great! Can we have an episode on TF2 KZbin Poops? Thank you :)

[@Jerorawr_XD]

Been loving this recent theme of art history. Reminds me of my favorite class from college. Excellent job as usual!

[@sunlocked5838]

The 2016 Flinstones comic did not need to go as hard as it did, but I am so glad it does.

[@leaffinite2001]

I dont really play magic except when my friends have no one else to play with, and as cards i think the sagas are cool.

[@javierpatag3609]

Holy guacamole, what a deep and complex analysis! THANK YOU.

[@noahpearson2190]

mtg is such a deep game, art, technical machinery within the game, a story to surround the game etc.

[@AvatarIroh]

These videos really make me appreciate the otherwise awful pull of the past.

[@gingerosity244]

I legit thought I was clicking on a video on mythological sagas, not MTG. Lol.

[@Moonmerism]

This video is my reward for Winning my store's neon dynasty pre release with five color kami war

[@Dreadnaught1985]

If I watch every video Rhystic Study puts out. Do I get an honorary art degree?

[@dariengoheen747]

It's so weird hearing my name said. Magic is the only media with my name lol

[@bigpappasmoggie]

Nice reference to secret lair artist Fiona Staples with that Saga book :)

[@andrewhendrix3475]

This is still the smartest MtG channel on KZbin. Another awesome video!

[@ricardoreis7298]

An episode about sagas and not even a glimpse at History of Benalia? Hmmmm...

[@georgelacatus1495]

Rhystic studies every video: magic art is cool Audience: amazing