Argothian Treehouse

with Andy Van Zandt

Singing Tree

It's a pretty cool card in my book... while it is an 0/3 for one green and
three colorless, it taps to reduce an attacking creatures power to zero.
It's also got the cool creature type of "Singing Tree", and not wall. I
played decks with multiples in them in the early days of magic, in big
group games where everyone had 120 card decks and we all started with 50
life, it was a very good defensive, and more importantly, political card to
use. I look at the one I have left and am filled with nostalgia. And you
know what else the singing tree is? One of the many cards on the no-reprint
policy list.

Now while I understand the idea of protecting the value of the secondary
market cards, and also the part where singing tree specifically belongs in
the arabian nights storyline (although I think there should be more sets put
out with outside-sourced basis'), that doesn't make me not wish this card
was still playable, or at least had the potential to be playable in the
future. Along with several other cards, particularly the rare creatures
from the unlimited set.

But more importantly, I look over the list of cards and see cards with very
straightforward titles and simple abilities that could easily be reprinted
in a base set. Cards like Exorcist, who's kind of like a northern paladin
in training. Leeches, which to me seems like it should be a shoo-in if
they ever decide to start making poison counter critters again (see my much
earlier article on that). Powder Keg, not quite a Nev disk but with it's
own benefits. They just cry out to me to be reprinted, maybe because of my
aforementioned nostalgia, and maybe because I don't like most of what they
tend to put in the base sets.

And what about the fact that they've already taken cards off their "we'll
never reprint it" list, when the mood suited them? While that does give me
hope, it's a thin ledge at best. And it makes me wonder what prompted
their particular selections for the list, if they're willing to un-retire
some of the golden-oldies on a whim. Now don't get me wrong, in some
cases, like the obvious Memory Jar, the old control players fav the Moat
and the Abyss, and the oft underestimated (and just now having the potential
to resurface) Sliver Queen, it's probably better that they stay out of the
potential card pool. But at the loss of such generic coolness as Elephant
Graveyard and Conch Horn (yes, conch horn, a baby brainstorm with very cool
art), I have to ask, is it really worth it?

And to collector's, and Wizards of the Coast, and probably ultimately to
me, it is. But to my sense of nostalgia and my desire to play with
Temporal Apertures, Sarcomancy, and Undiscovered Paradise, it will forever
be an unfortunate aspect of something tied into a speculator's/collector's
market. And I will forever mourn the loss of the Singing Tree.
 

You can reach Andy at: andyvanzandt@hotmail.com