For Gold & Glory: Card of the Week: Mind Twist

The artwork feels isolated and claustrophobic. I can feel his anguish!

The True Depths of Evil

It is said that there are wounds that never completely heal. Indeed, legends tell of wraith-knives whose cuts plague their victims for the rest of their days and spear-thrusts whose venom can only be contained by the corruption of a dagger-wound laid on top. But not all wounds are physical, and these too can persist long after they are inflicted.

It should come as little surprise to those who have listened to me before that I find black magic distasteful. I have found it so from the very beginning, as my earliest rival threw herself willingly into its maw and never looked back. I’ve battled against black wizardry since I first became a mage, and have battled against it more often than any other. But as distasteful as I find skeletons and zombies, as corrupt as vampires and demons are, they do not hold a candle to the true evil of black magic.

I would say I remember it clearly, but I do not. What I do recall is that it was a battle like any other. I sent my summonings against my foe, defended against the same, and cast my spells of aggression and defense. Until I couldn’t. Until some fell force took hold on my mind and squeezed, squeezed until nothing was left. No spells, no summonings, scarce any idea even of who I was. I reeled, utterly lost as to where I was or what I was doing. Needless to say, my foe defeated me that day.

Days at least and probably weeks passed before my memories returned and I felt comfortable that I was who I thought I was again. Instinct must have guided me after the battle, for the strange tower I first woke up in gradually became familiar as my home. As more time passed, I recalled more and more, from childhood memories to potent spells. But even now, many years and several more Twistings of my Mind later, a fear still gnaws at my heart. How can I be sure that I have remembered everything? What memories might never have come back? And if I have irrevocably lost memories, am I a different person than I was before? Just how many wounds do I bear, not even knowing how I am wounded?

Alas, suffering such an evil spell as Mind Twist is not the only wound that does not heal completely. For I have discovered since that using such a spell wounds one’s soul as well. I am not proud of resorting to such foul sorcery—it shames my every waking thought! But desperation is ever more powerful than morality, and when the battle for life and land is at risk my will is as weak as any other mage’s. And in the heat of battle, the thought of victory at any cost does not seem unjust.

But the aftermath is different. To see a foe, no matter how hated or corrupt, gibbering and drooling without any trace as to who they once were forces you to see just how depraved and monstrous you truly are. And this, too, leaves a wound. But unlike the other, this wound is obvious and it festers. It eats away at you as you remember what you’ve done. And you realize that as bad as the realization may be, the true horror is that you feel less guilty each time you cast a spell such as Mind Twist. One day, you’ll feel no guilt at all, and then you will truly be a monster—you’ll have finally succumbed to your wounds.

A History of Forgetfulness

While the amnesia of the Mind Twist is a grave cruelty, forgetfulness is an integral part of sorcery. Once brought to mind and cast, a spell cannot be readily cast again in the same battle. Mages have devised numerous spells and artifacts to mitigate this weakness, but mitigation is the best that can be done. Though some may curse it, it is only when the forgetfulness is forced that it is evil rather than merely inconvenient.

Though this forgetfulness is well known to mages, it is a feature that predates the laws of magic set forth by the great deity Garfield. In his creation, Garfield may have taken inspiration from older gods still, Gygax and Arneson, patrons of dungeon-delving. Gygax, likewise, was inspired by a primordial god known only as Vance, whose legends speak of wizards of a Dying Earth who must force spells into their minds only to forget them after casting them.

Memorizing spells and forgetting them after they're cast is often known as "Vancian" magic, and originates in the Dying Earth books. It also fits the mechanics of removing spell cards from your hand after casting them. M:tG isn't exactly like spellcasting in Vance's novels, of course, but it's reasonably close.

Wringing Out Victory

As monstrous as it is, Mind Twist has no shortage of practitioners. It is too powerful for many to forgo, even those who otherwise eschew black magic. To reduce a rival to a helpless wretch or just to erase a spell or two from their mind is too much an advantage to pass by when victory can be attained with but one dire spell.

This'd be part of a promising opening hand.

Though many risk corruption in its use, there are truly vile wizards who make Mind Twist and similar spells the entirety of their strategy. Not content to merely strip the minds of their foes, these mages further torture their victims on The Rack. In this sadistic manner, the memory loss is not just a way to keep their opponents from casting spells, but also the direct way to defeat them.

There are a few mages, however, who have seen the disastrous effect that Twisting a rival’s Mind has and have vowed not to employ such a vile spell. While these gentlefolk may have not eschewed its use entirely, they have agreed to forgo its use when battling each other.