By [ad_1]
Mechtitan Core plays into Neon Dynasty’s Vehicles theme while also referencing famous combining mecha like Voltron or the Power Rangers’ Megazord.
Spoiler season is an exciting time for any Magic: The Gathering player, full of possibility and wonder. Each day brings with it the possibility of any number of new cards, whether they be knockdown Standard powerhouses or niche Commander playables. But even amid the broad range of what Magic cards can be one card from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty stands out, based on a particular niche of Japanese pop culture. Neon Dynasty as a whole is a love letter to cyberpunk and modern Japanese culture, so while this makes sense it’s still a bit hard to swallow: a Power Rangers Magic card.
This isn’t a Power Rangers Universes Beyond card (though that wouldn’t be out of the question) but instead, a card that makes clear reference to giant mecha shows like Voltron and Power Rangers. Mechtitan Core is the artifact in question, a Vehicle that casts for 2 mana of any color with a 2/4 statline. But it can’t use those stats all the time, as Vehicles enter the battlefield as artifacts and only become creatures when they’re “crewed” by tapping other creatures of the appropriate power. And of far more interest than those stats is Mechtitan Core’s activated ability.
For five mana, players can exile Mechtitan Core and four other artifact creatures or Vehicles they control. Once they do so they create Mechtitan, a 10/10 token with flying, vigilance, trample, lifelink and haste. That’s likely to immediately take away half of an opponent’s life total in Limited or 60-card formats and is also the crux of the card’s reference. The Mechtitan Core is just one of five robots that join together to form “the Mechtitan,” a much larger robot with art clearly reminiscent of the Power Rangers’ Megazord or even what many might refer to as the original combining robot — Voltron.
Which robot, in particular, the card is intended to pay homage to is ambiguous, but it stands as a quirky monument to the history of giant robots in Japanese pop culture. Power Rangers is an American show, but it’s still ultimately an adaptation of Super Sentai, its long-running Japanese predecessor. Both shows feature the giant, combining mecha that have come to be so iconic in recent decades. It’s also right at home in the cyberpunk metropolis Kamigawa’s largest city has become, easily waved away in lore as the project of some ambitious artificer.
Mechtitan isn’t the first Magic card to combine several artifacts though. The first Mirrodin block gave players the Helm, Sword and Shield of Kaldra, which could all then be equipped to a Kaldra token. Even last year’s Adventures in the Forgotten Realms crossover set included the Hand and Eye of Vecna, which when sacrificed alongside the Book of Vile Darkness would summon the legendary Vecna himself. But all of these combos required players to draw and cast multiple specific cards, limiting their usefulness (especially in singleton formats like Commander). The Mechtitan Core only requires four artifact creatures in addition to itself.
And while the Mechtitan doesn’t have any defensive keywords like hexproof, ward, indestructible or protection, it does mitigate the downside of an opponent immediately removing it from the board. When it leaves the battlefield (this includes being destroyed, exiled or sent to another zone like the hand or deck) players get back each of the artifact creatures used to construct it (except for the Mechtitan Core). This stops them from immediately reassembling it, but can be used to “blink” artifact creatures with enter the battlefield effects. It also helps if they draw another copy of the Mechtitan Core, letting them reassemble the Megazord once more.
About The Author
[ad_2]
