General Top-Down Design/Resonant Card Spotlight

[whydirt]

The elegance thread and Maro's recent podcasts on resonance and piggybacking have reignited my interest in getting more top-down design and otherwise flavorful cards in my cube. Strong flavor and resonance is what allows Akroan Horse to move from being complicated to fun and pretty easy to understand ("oh, it's a Trojan Horse!"). I figure a central repository to talk about existing ones as well as new ones as they come out could help me along the way. Cards of all power level are welcome here.

With all of this in mind, what are some of your favorite top-down designs, whether they're in your cube right now or not?

 

[japahn]

I like cards that might or might not be top-down, but the metaphor is perfect.



Some that are definitely top-down but are cool too:



Edit: forgot this, and it's too cool not to mention:

 

[Grillo_Parlante]

This is my favorite

 

[whydirt]

I'm genuinely curious - what makes Promise of Bunrei a top-down card? I get the rough flavor matchup of getting spirits because a creature died, but why four of them? Is there something from Japanese folklore I'm missing?

 

[japahn]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_superstitions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunrei

In short, 4 is considered an unlucky number and related to death. Bunrei is the process in which a Kami divides and each piece lodges somewhere else.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Man kamigawa taught me so much shit

 

[shamizy]

Yeah, Kamigawa is such a deep dive into Japanese mythos, it's a shame that most people didn't appreciate it for that but were left more confused than anything. I love the art in the block as well, I've been actively collecting the block the last few months and I'm like 40 cards away across 3 sets from completion.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Yeah, Kamigawa is such a deep dive into Japanese mythos, it's a shame that most people didn't appreciate it for that but were left more confused than anything. I love the art in the block as well, I've been actively collecting the block the last few months and I'm like 40 cards away across 3 sets from completion.

While I started playing in 1999 when Invasion was just out, Champions of Kamigawa was actually the first set I attended the prerelease for! I only missed a handful since

 

[Meltyman]

card that instantly popped into my mind

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from my main cube

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from my reject rare cube

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[Aston]

 

[Laz]

I was hunting around for a card (I am sure everyone is familiar with the experience of 'I know I have a copy of that somewhere... It was in my cube 18 months ago... Now, where would I have put it when I took it out?') and came across this beauty.

Possibly the coolest wall in the game (obligatory bad joke).