Forgotten MTG Novels Echo in City of Brass Lore

In TCG ·

City of Ass card art from Unhinged, a whimsical landscape of absurd mana dreams

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Forgotten tomes and desert skylines: how a silver-bordered oddity nods to City of Brass lore

Magic: The Gathering has always thrived on memory—on tucked-away references, easter eggs, and the quiet echo of a forgotten novel that fans debate over coffee and tabletop dice. The arc of MTG lore stretches from the sprawling epics of the multiverse to the tiny, cheeky moments in sets like Unhinged, where the rules are bent and the humor is loud. In that spirit, a playful thread connects distant lore to a tongue-in-cheek card: City of Ass, a rare land from the silver-bordered Unhinged set. 🧙‍♂️🔥 This card is a wink to the old romance of desert cities and universal access to mana, a reminder that sometimes the most memorable magic comes dressed as a joke.

City of Ass is a land that enters the battlefield tapped, a small price to pay for a big dream. Its true charm is in the text: “T: Add one and one-half mana of any one color.” The math is part of the joke—one and a half mana isn’t a real thing in standard rules, but in casual play it imagines a world where you can bend numbers as easily as you bend fate. The card’s mana production is colorless in identity but screams color in potential, offering a rainbow of options with every tap. In practice, you’re trading immediate tempo for color flexibility, a common theme in multi-color, sandbox-style decks where players chase the perfect, improbable mana curve. ⚔️

“But . . .”

In lore terms, the City of Brass—another iconic MTG location—has long stood as a symbol of exotic wealth, peril, and the tension between opportunity and danger. Arabian Nights introduced this fantastical metropolis to the multiverse, a hub where color and commerce mingle in the shadows of ancient streets. The juxtaposition with City of Ass—Unhinged’s irreverent, perfectly imperfect land—highlights a recurring MTG motif: stories that start in high drama often find their way into the smallest, most human moments on a card table. When fans remember a forgotten novel, they also remember the way a card’s flavor text or art can spark a fresh connection to a distant chapter of the MTG saga. 🎨💎

Artist John Avon’s contribution to City of Ass—an image that captures a surreal, almost postcard-like vision of a desert city—feels like an invitation to reread the old stories with new eyes. The set’s border, silver and playful, signals something different from the usual tournament-focused lines: this is a card built for conversation, a collector’s delight, and a catalyst for table talk about lore. The rarity (rare) and the presence of a foil option reinforce its status as a keepsake—an object that makes your shelf feel like a library of legendary misfits. 🧭

From a gameplay perspective, the card’s format is as much a hint as its ability. Unhinged is famous for humor that translates poorly to strict competitive formats, which is precisely why City of Ass shines most: it invites experimentation, casual chaos, and big, collaborative storytelling at the table. A land that can produce mana of any color—albeit in fractional terms—encourages players to think beyond rigid color identities and imagine color as a spectrum of possibilities rather than a fixed palette. In that sense, it mirrors the way forgotten MTG novels once explored cultures and philosophies across the color pie, later echoed in more serious storytelling. 🔥🎲

For folks who collect or simply savor the aesthetic of MTG’s long arc, City of Ass represents a rare intersection of humor, history, and heart. The card’s flavor text—deliberately understated—pairs with the irony of a desert city that literally “adds” color to your mana pool, inviting you to savor the moment when a joke card unlocks genuine strategic potential in a relaxed setting. The synergy between nostalgia and novelty is palpable here, a reminder that the best MTG memories aren’t always the clashing legends on the battlefield but the shared smiles around the table when a quirky card sparks a legend of its own. 🎨💎

As a practical tip, consider pairing this land with casual, multi-color decks built around big, splashy plays—and don’t be afraid to lean into the storytelling aspect. If you’re in a group that enjoys theme nights or lore-based deck-building, City of Ass can be the centerpiece of a night where players trade stories about forgotten novels, old city myths, and the way a single card can conjure a scene more vivid than any long-form text. The fun comes not just from the mana it can produce, but from the conversations it starts. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Speaking of conversations, a well-set desk can be the stage for these discussions. If you’re planning a long session, a sturdy, customizable surface can keep pace with the tempo of your thoughts and the tempo of the table. That’s why this post—while steeped in lore—also nods to practical, everyday MTG life. A high-quality mouse pad is a small investment for the kind of long, night-long sessions where you’ll test payoffs, discuss forgotten novels, and imagine new corners of the multiverse. For fans who want to blend nostalgia with modern desk setup, the featured Customizable Desk Mouse Pad Rectangular 0.12in Thick One-Sided is a perfect companion for your gaming nook. 🧙‍♂️🎲

If you’re curious to see how today’s content creators are blending technology, commerce, and MTG culture, you’ll find a vibrant array of perspectives in the five network links below. They cover everything from crypto-focused guides to niche market trends and even the way measurements of celestial bodies can influence fantasy worlds—proof that the MTG conversation stretches far beyond the battlefield and into the broader world of fandom. And yes—they’re all worth a click between rounds. 🔥💎

Customizable Desk Mouse Pad Rectangular 0.12in Thick One-Sided

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