Card of the Week: Sol Ring

The Unlimited one does look cool, but guess which one I play when it matters?

The Persistence of Knowledge

As the ages pass, it is inevitable that the knowledge of earlier generations will be lost. This is not always a bad thing, for the later generations make discoveries of their own to replace what was lost. Sometimes, the new knowledge is superior to the old: the summonings of the modern-day mages far surpass in power the summonings of those who still adhere to the old ways. In other cases, the modern-day mages never surpass the ancients: though the binding of ley lines into gemstones was likely common knowledge in the elder days, none today remember the craft so well as to make Moxen without drawback.

But on rare occasion knowledge from the ancient days persists into modern times unchanged—neither lost nor superseded by superior technique. The Sol Ring is one such example. Though almost as powerful as any of the great forgotten artifacts, knowledge of its creation has never been lost. In fact, the techniques of its creation have been discovered again and again throughout the multiverse, albeit in different form than the work of the ancients.

Whereas we of the oldest school of Magic mimic in our artifice prominences of Dominaria’s sun as we draw upon them, our successors take a more literal interpretation of the concept and bind similar energies into wearable rings. Indeed, their lore speaks of “binding the light of distant stars” into their rings. They are closer to our techniques than most of them know: it is not widely believed, even upon the more enlightened planes, that stars are but other suns—albeit much, much farther away than the suns that they know. Perhaps the star that they draw their power from is Dominaria’s sun, so far away from their own as to appear but a speck of light in the night sky.

The new-border Sol Rings with the golden ring and laser beam art are not near as cool as the solar prominence originals. But to be fair, the original original Sol Ring, from the Gamma playtest stage, is also a jewelry-style ring.

In my own progression as a mage, the Sol Ring was one of the first truly powerful things that I learned about. Like most young mages, I was first impressed by being able to summon Craw Wurms and other huge creatures. But I soon realized that summoning them in the heat of battle was much harder to manage than it looked. I also realized that having a Sol Ring would let me summon them far earlier than I could by only drawing upon my lands. I cannot claim that this realization made me a much better mage, or that I ever developed any particular talent. But it was a small glimmer of insight that there’s more to being a mage than summoning huge monsters and casting huge Fireballs—an insight that slowly led to other, greater insights into the nuances of Magic.

I still possess my Sol Ring from all those years ago, a thin loop of fire to wrap around my finger. It is not something I can wear all the time: even at a fraction of the temperature of the prominences it links to, it cannot be worn without some amount of pain. But its utility far outweighs and discomfort. Many of my other relics from that age are long gone, traded away spell for spell or otherwise lost. The Sol Ring has served me well and continues to do so.

Solar Power

It is, perhaps, unsurprising that the Sol Ring has persisted far longer than its more powerful counterparts. The Sun has always been seen as a source of power—it is obvious to any who merely steps into its light that it warms, nourishes, and illuminates (and it also blinds, parches, and burns). It is likely the most powerful thing in the existence of most beings. It is no large leap to realize that its power can be harnessed for other uses, including magic. And while the Sol Ring is a particular manifestation of this kind of magic, tales abound of other such forms: solar deities that play fundamental parts in many mythologies, holy warriors that ultimately draw their power from the sun, foul creatures that are wounded and destroyed by the purity of its light. Nor is the Sol Ring the only example of light-empowered jewelry: witness, for instance, the greatest works of smithcraft ever, the holy jewels containing the light of the progenitors of the Sun and the Moon coveted by the greatest evil power of a world even as they burned him for his corruption.

Just a few books with solar-based magic and power. Left to right: solar fae (only usable through the faith of the masses1), the Conciliator (said to be a messiah who will re-ignite the dying Sun), and Galadriel's Phial (containing the light of the Evening Star, which is of course a Silmaril—itself containing the light of the Two Trees that predated the Sun and Moon).

Legendary Power in an Affordable Package

Though it is not as fabled as the Moxen, the Sol Ring is nearly as powerful and is thus an indispensable part of almost every mage’s arsenal. The rush of mana that it provides allows a mage to cast costlier spells more rapidly than normal. With the possible exceptions of mages who delve so deeply into a single color of magic, it is hard to imagine a strategy that a Sol Ring does not complement.

This is not a good deck. But it would be even worse without the Sol Ring. (This is my Undead Enchantress deck from the current Paladins derby. Thanks to my work's printer for the proxies...)

It is hard to overstate the importance of the Sol Ring in hastening a mage’s spellcasting. Indeed, if the techniques of its creation had died out with those of the Moxen, the few remaining Sol Rings available would likely be almost as sought-after and precious as the jewelry.

Danatoth of Alsoor


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