Written by ForceofPhil

Not wasting any time: the Miracle mechanic will be in Secrets of Strixhaven!

While we don’t yet know at the time of this article’s publication if Miracle will be featured throughout the set, we know it at least makes a cameo on the elder dragon Lorehold, the Historian:

In Legacy, Lorehold, the Historian is unplayable. What’s more exciting, though, is what the spoiler suggests for the Miracle mechanic within Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and their design choices. Before diving into that, a bit of Miracle’s history:

Miracles Mayhem

Magic: The Gathering’s (MTG) Head Designer, Mark Rosewater (MaRo), named Miracle as the 13th worst mechanic of all-time. MaRo is abhorrently incorrect; Miracle is the greatest mechanic in the game’s three-plus decade history. I’m not biased at all, and am grateful to Brian Tinsman, the designer who lobbied for Miracle.

Much of MaRo and his design kin’s disdain, however, stemmed from the belief that Miracle is a narrow mechanic with little design space, since a Miracle can only occur on the first draw of a turn. This requires significant infrastructure to support it in limited.

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“The problem with Miracle is a physicality problem. We changed the way people had to draw cards; that’s terrible.”

—Mark Rosewater

Many players disliked having to change how they drew cards to accommodate Miracles in a competitive environment. Miracle triggers are rare in that they happen from hand since the card with Miracle is drawn.

One can’t put the card with Miracle into their hand, however, before attempting to reveal it for its Miracle trigger, because a card entering one’s hand and then being revealed could be construed foul play or sleight of hand — what if a Cheatyface put the card they drew into their hand by ‘accident’ and then falsely revealed a card with Miracle to gain unfair advantage?

Though the majority of Miracle’s dexterity failings are surely on players drawing a Miracle into hand before revealing it and feeling bad, rather than attempting to cheat, them’s the breaks. So, to prove one drew the Miracle, they typically reveal the card from the top of their library, even though it is technically in their hand.

Additionally, since Miracles exist, not checking to see if you drew a Miracle could give away information to the opponent that you don’t have Miracles in your library. Miracles were an ever-present consideration, even if you knew they would never happen. How flavorfully realistic.

Here’s how MTG Hall of Famer Brian Kibler speaks a heathen’s hateful words about the broadly beloved Miracle mechanic:

Gift of Giving

The Miracle mechanic was first introduced in May 2012 with the release of Avacyn Restored. Since then, a total of 19 cards, including the new Lorehold, feature the Miracle mechanic in their text box, but only 17 of them actually have Miracle abilities — Lorehold, the Historian, and Aminatou, Veil Piercer give other cards Miracle but don’t have Miracle themselves.

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Though it seems unlikely WotC would ever put Miracle on new cards outside of a unique Commander product, as they did for the Adepta Sororitas faction in the Warhammer 40K Commander decks, WotC could use Miracle more often on cards that give Miracle to other cards.

Triumph of Saint Katherine by David Astruga

Lorehold, the Historian, which is in a Standard-legal premiere set, giving others cards Miracle is an onboard reminder that the pilot should adjust how they draw cards. This addresses much of what MaRo Brian Kibler expressed concern about.

If a player includes a single Miracle card in their deck, they need to adjust how they draw every card for the entire game. However, if Miracle is only present when a card grants the ability to other cards, then Miracle is only ‘turned on’ when that card is present (e.g., Lorehold, the Historian).