Burrowing

Bird Versus Mole Mechanics

Now that Bloomburrow is in preview season, feels like a great opportunity to ask a question about magic which has always bugged me. How come birds get to fly but moles and other similar creatures don't get an evasion mechanic called "burrow" (i.e. flying but underground)?

Because we have an evergreen mechanic called flying and not one called burrowing. : )The closest we have to burrowing is “target creature with power 2 or less is unblockable” first seen on Dwarven Warriors in Alpha.

Birds Bloomburrow Creatures Evasion Evergreen Flying Humor Mechanics Moles Spoilers Warriors Burrowing Dwarven Warriors

Flying Mechanics

Isn't high flying flying creatures that can only block other fliers? What would "can't be blocked by fliers" be? Borrowing?

Yes, high flying is “can only be blocked by other creatures with flying”. “Can’t be blocked by flyers” is burrowing.

Burrowing Creatures Flying Mechanics

Burrowing in Magic

It's weird that Magic has things that fly but no things that burrow.

There are things that burrow. Alpha even had an aura called Burrowing (and Dwarven Warrior that clearly dug tunnels).

Alpha Auras Burrowing Warrior

Alpha Cards Modern Potential

Following cards from alpha are not modern legal and have no reserve list, color pie, complexity or power level concerns, think you could see if any can get fit into a set?: Dwarven Warriors, Hurloon Minotaur, Copper Tablet, Conservator, Burrowing, Celestial Prism, Castle, Animate Artifact, Ironclaw Orcs, Ironroot Treefolk, Lance, Living Wall, Obsianus Golem, Orcish Oriflamme, Pearled Unicorn, Plague Rats, Phantom Monster, Phantasmal Forces, Scavenging Ghoul

Interestingly, most of those cards we’ve made better versions of them.

Alpha Animate Artifact Artifacts Burrowing Caves Celestial Prism Color Pie Colors Conservator Copper Tablet Dwarven Warriors Golem Hurloon Minotaur Ironclaw Orcs Ironroot Treefolk Living Wall Minotaur Modern Obsianus Golem Orc Orcish Oriflamme Pearled Unicorn Phantasmal Forces Phantom Monster Plague Rats Power Level Prism Rat Rat Scavenging Ghoul Treefolk Unicorn Wall Warrior

A Flying-Free Set

You mentioned that Flying is forever a 1 on your scale, but what about the opposite? How remote are the odds we'll see a set with no flying whatsoever? For example, the whole thing takes place underground in hidden lairs and the primary form of evasion is burrowing creatures?

Fallen Empires has one creature with flying (and it’s activated). Other than that, there is one card that can grant flying and it kills the creature after. So we’ve kind of done that already.

Burrowing Creatures Evasion Fallen Empires Flying Primary

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