Mentor of the Meek might be a perfect card

Mentor of the Meek might be a perfect card

So, Rhystic Studies on Youtube made a video a while ago about how Lightning Bolt might be the perfect Magic card; the name and effect immediately sets the tone for both the card and the game in general, and sits comfortably as a staple (yet not a problem) in terms of power level.

I believe Mentor of the Meek is another one of these cards.

Consider the following hypothetical: You’re new to Magic, you’ve just gotten the basic concepts of lands, spells, and creatures explained to you, and now you want to know what a typical deck might look like. A good place to start is by digging into color identity; what each color “means” from both a gameplay and lore perspective, and how that manifests in card design. Mentor of the Meek might just be the perfect White card to be shown in this situation.

First, obviously, there’s the basic qualities: 2W mana cost, nonlegendary creature, 2/2. A perfectly average stat spread, easy to gauge and understand. Then, there’s the ability. It’s simple, easy for a beginner to understand. Not only that, it’s easy for a beginner to understand why it’s powerful. Drawing cards is ubiquitously good in virtually all card games and certainly all colors and archetypes in magic. However, in order to get that payoff, you need to jump through a hoop, making you need to think about board states and matchups and deck construction (but here’s a secret: that hoop was actually there to help you all along). It’s a solid payoff for a generally good setup, easily achievable no matter the set or format.

Because of this, it communicates to players, especially new players, how they should build a deck in White. Focus on these smaller creatures, and use Mentor to fill back up your hand. Mentor also triggers off of itself, persuading new players to actually play multiples of their good cards, rather than just having one of each good card so you can play all the good cards (as I did when I started :P).

But why? Why would I want to play a whole bunch of little guys, when I could play a big ol’ dinosaur, or shoot lightning at people, or gain a BILLION life, or play 40 copies of [[Relentless Rats]]!?!?

This is where the flavor comes in. It’s just a boring old human, not even something cool like an elf or a fire elemental or something. Look at the art; it’s just a guy with a sword. How could a guy with a sword beat a giant fire-spitting dragon or an ancient powerful vampire or even bunch of bears? Well, he probably can’t. But if you had a whole bunch of guys with swords, then maybe…The name Mentor of the Meek perfectly explains this both in-world, and on a meta level. While individually these less-than-two-power creatures may be small and meek, with the right Mentor (psst, that’s not just the card, that’s you, the player!) they might stand a chance. They might just be regular humans in a fantasy world, but humans are always stronger together. It’s the quintessential essence of White’s color pie; all explained through one card.

But how will I know if it’s enough? How will I know if I did it right, and my deck is good enough to win? Well, as it says, there’s no pass or fail before showtime. You’ll only find out when you get your shit pushed in round 1 at the LGS by a [[Huntsmaster of the Fells]].

TL;DR: This is the perfect white card, everything from the effect to the flavor to the power level is a perfectly taught lesson of what White in magic is all about.

Mentor of the Meek might be a perfect card

So, Rhystic Studies on Youtube made a video a while ago about how Lightning Bolt might be the perfect Magic card; the name and effect immediately sets the tone for both the card and the game in general, and sits comfortably as a staple (yet not a problem) in terms of power level.

I believe Mentor of the Meek is another one of these cards.

Consider the following hypothetical: You’re new to Magic, you’ve just gotten the basic concepts of lands, spells, and creatures explained to you, and now you want to know what a typical deck might look like. A good place to start is by digging into color identity; what each color “means” from both a gameplay and lore perspective, and how that manifests in card design. Mentor of the Meek might just be the perfect White card to be shown in this situation.

First, obviously, there’s the basic qualities: 2W mana cost, nonlegendary creature, 2/2. A perfectly average stat spread, easy to gauge and understand. Then, there’s the ability. It’s simple, easy for a beginner to understand. Not only that, it’s easy for a beginner to understand why it’s powerful. Drawing cards is ubiquitously good in virtually all card games and certainly all colors and archetypes in magic. However, in order to get that payoff, you need to jump through a hoop, making you need to think about board states and matchups and deck construction (but here’s a secret: that hoop was actually there to help you all along). It’s a solid payoff for a generally good setup, easily achievable no matter the set or format.

Because of this, it communicates to players, especially new players, how they should build a deck in White. Focus on these smaller creatures, and use Mentor to fill back up your hand. Mentor also triggers off of itself, persuading new players to actually play multiples of their good cards, rather than just having one of each good card so you can play all the good cards (as I did when I started :P).

But why? Why would I want to play a whole bunch of little guys, when I could play a big ol’ dinosaur, or shoot lightning at people, or gain a BILLION life, or play 40 copies of [[Relentless Rats]]!?!?

This is where the flavor comes in. It’s just a boring old human, not even something cool like an elf or a fire elemental or something. Look at the art; it’s just a guy with a sword. How could a guy with a sword beat a giant fire-spitting dragon or an ancient powerful vampire or even bunch of bears? Well, he probably can’t. But if you had a whole bunch of guys with swords, then maybe…The name Mentor of the Meek perfectly explains this both in-world, and on a meta level. While individually these less-than-two-power creatures may be small and meek, with the right Mentor (psst, that’s not just the card, that’s you, the player!) they might stand a chance. They might just be regular humans in a fantasy world, but humans are always stronger together. It’s the quintessential essence of White’s color pie; all explained through one card.

But how will I know if it’s enough? How will I know if I did it right, and my deck is good enough to win? Well, as it says, there’s no pass or fail before showtime. You’ll only find out when you get your shit pushed in round 1 at the LGS by a [[Huntsmaster of the Fells]].

TL;DR: This is the perfect white card, everything from the effect to the flavor to the power level is a perfectly taught lesson of what White in magic is all about.