In the beginning of Magic

There was one color.

It was without color.

Then, there began the knowledge of words.

 

There were hateful words.

There were cruel words.

There were pure words.

There were intelligent words.

And there were gentle words.

 

It so turned to create the five colors

Of Magic.

 

Hateful words turned into the Red Manna,

And found power in the Mountains

Because the magma boiled underneath them.

 

Cruel words turned into the Black Manna

And found power in the Swamps

Because of the dead and gross things inhabiting them.

 

Pure words found power in the White Manna,

And found power in the Plains

Because men grew their corn on them.

 

Intelligent words found power in the Blue Manna

And found power in the Islands

Because the waters were reflective.

 

Gentle words found power in the Green Manna

And found power in the Forests

Because the forests were natural.

 

It soon came to be that the creatures

Started to draw forth from place to place.

Each according to their type,

What kinds of words they were most like.

 

The angry creatures dwelt among the mountains.

The cruel creatures dwelt among the swamps.

The pure creatures dwelt among the plains.

The intelligent creatures dwelt among the islands.

The gentle creatures dwelt among the forests.

 

It soon came to be that a Wizard of the Coast

Found how to harness words

And he used it to categorize every creature.

He studied them, and found some were small,

Some were large, some could do unique things

With words. It began to draw attention from other wizards

Who started to learn how to tap into the manna sources

Of the lands, and then draw forth the monsters,

Whom the Wizard of the Coast categorized.

That Wizard was Merlin, the Librarian,

Who meticulously categorized each creature

He studied, and wove them into a page.

Each page, was chronicled

And he cataloged what was possible with the words

And cataloged them also.

 

It soon came to be that Merlin had cataloged more than 30,000

Different spells, all that was possible with words

But a Gorgon found the books

And began to sell them to other Wizards

Who were soon to be called “Planeswalkers.”

These Planeswalkers would buy Merlin’s pages

Which were copied with perfect renderings—

Merlin was a great collector

But the Planeswalkers saw the Gorgon

Gogawroth’s pages, and began to buy them in bulk.

They could, in the beginning,

Play any spell they wished.

 

But, Merlin, seeing the realms were being destroyed

And men were losing their lives for nothing,

Took his unbeatable spells and bound Gogawroth’s spells

So that they would be bound into cards.

Gogawroth saw that now there was chance,

So Gogawroth, in one last act of defiance,

Made a Horocrux with his soul

And laid it in an artifact

To give him life again.

He died, but was found by a Goblin King,

A petulant warrior, who resurrected Gogawroth

Who, the newly resurrected Gorgon

Was now Sluks h’Tar The Gorgon of Chance.

The Gorgon of Chance, then,

Having half the power over all of the Planeswalker’s library

Had power to order the libraries howsoever he pleased.

Merlin had power over the spells, and their wordings.

Sluks h’Tar had power over their ordering in a Planeswalker’s library.

 

Thus, the two were drawn into never ending combat.

Merlin was White, Blue and Black.

Luks h’Tar was Red and Black.

 

Men tried to manipulate their libraries

To make the perfect draw every time,

But Sluks h’Tar would never let them.

Merlin sought to rebind his library

And therefore take it back from chaos,

So the two set forth to fight one another

In mortal combat.

 

The Goblin King,

However, was the foe whom Sluks h’Tar

Had used to keep Merlin away.

For the Goblin King was a formidable foe

Whom no Planeswalker would want to fight in combat;

For the Goblin King had mastered chance

And had made a pure library of wrath.

He was the gatekeeper to fighting Sluks h’Tar.

 

Only one Planeswalker had challenged Sluks h’Tar

And only once was Sluks h’Tar fought in a Magic War.

It was the Beast Master, whom Sluks had beaten

Because Sluks could, as it were,

Control the very order of his cards,

And change them at will, according to any of his desires.

The Beast Master was a legendary Planeswalker

Who defeated Sluks’ second in command,

The Dark One, who commanded death at his legions.

That battle was fierce,

And the Dark One was one of few Planeswalkers who had the advantage over

The Beastmaster;

Not even the Goblin King could fight him.

 

But, Sluks was Red and Black.

The Beast Master, however,

Offered a pretty opportunity for Sluks to gain control

Of the Forests, the missing manna

In his feud with Merlin.

And the battle commenced,

Where Sluks had drawn Time Vault, Black Lotus, Mox Ruby and Mox Onyx.

He used it to win on the first turn,

For he could, as it were, make himself draw each turn

Continuously,

And even decide who goes first in a match.

For, he was the power over chance,

And the Gorgon of Chance was his title.

Merlin would not fight him,

And Luks h’Tar had power over every

Library, to give advantage or disadvantage to any Planeswalker.

Those who tried to tap into Luks h’Tar’s power

Were swiftly destroyed and given the “Cheater’s Stone”.

So, none could harness Luks h’Tar’s power.

 

Thus, the realms were ordered

That there were those with Luks,

Who wanted to fight with no order,

And win many tokens of victory.

There were those with Merlin

Who wanted the game to be pure,

And thus, let collections stay with their masters.

For, Merlin wished that no man would lose his library

In battle, nor wager cards.

But Luks wanted that every person must

Wager their libraries in each contest.

For such, the two factions warred among one another…

Luks desiring that once a planeswalker fell,

Their libraries came under the victor’s control.

Merlin had mercy, and wanted the game to be pure

And without this.

Such was the next fight,

And the one you must wage

Planeswalkers.