So, one thing that I did two years ago (and have kept updated since) on twitter was my flavor text thread, where I went through each set in Magic history and picked the top 4 (or, for some exceptional cases, 8) best pieces of flavor text in my opinion.
Since then, I have regreted some choices and very much dislike the fact I can't edit the original tweets to reflect changes on the rules I followed for card selection... So I might as well use Tumblr as the place to correct all that.
Every day from now on, I will re-post a set from the list until I catch up to it, then eventually update it as new magic sets come out. The rules for selection can be seen after the linebreak below (as well as a full list of sets I've already gone through, with links). The first one can be found here.
1- Categorization
I will always try to select a diverse list of cards so as to fill the following 4 categories of flavor text types:
Cool - Boasts and descriptions that serve to make the subject matter of the card seem powerful and/or interesting.
Funny - Dialogue, descriptions or epigrams meant to get a laugh out of you
Worldbuilding - Flavor text whose biggest strength comes not from what it says on its own, but how it helps build upon either the world the set takes place in or the story of the set in question
Emotional - This one could conceivably be separated in two whole categories, but it encompasses cards that would fill the same niche as the "Cool" category but with a specific focus on either sadness or horror.
However, there will be situations where there might be a number of good flavor texts within a certain category while another is found lacking of any truly great options. In such scenarios, I will simply remove one (and in rare cases more) of the categories and repeat one of the remaining options. For an extreme example, the first Un-sets barely had any non-Funny options, so when picking cards from those sets most/all of the picks will be from the Funny category.
2- Card Selection
Cards will be reviewed only if they have new flavor text (using scryfall's "new:flavor" filter) and only if it's original flavor text (aka no real world references or quotes from literature) while sets will either be reviewed alone or grouped up depending on the amount of eligible cards in the set. Although I don't have a hard cut-off point for how many new flavor texts a set needs to be reviewed alone, the general range is around 150.
For sets that don't reach that number, they will either be bundled with an associated set (i.e. reviewing Commander precons with their associated Standard set) or bundled with a lot of other smaller products until a suitable number is reached (i.e. bundling all early Masters sets and Duel Decks together, since the amount of new flavor texts in those products is very low).
2.1 - Cycles
For some sets, a collection of cards (usually a cycle) will have flavor texts that work together, expand on each other or combine into a single theme. If said interaction is particularly good or if there isn't already a good flavor text that can stand up on its own, a cycle might be picked for a specific entry.
Below, I will try to set up a list of every post for this, in order:
Alpha/Beta/Unlimited
Antiquities
Legends
The Dark
Fallen Empires
Ice Age | Homelands | Alliances
Mirage | Visions | Weatherlight
Portal
Tempest | Stronghold | Exodus
Portal Second Age
Unhinged + Unglued
Urza's Saga | Urza's Legacy | Urza's Destiny
Mercadian Masques | Nemesis | Prophecy
Invasion | Planeshift | Apocalypse
Odyssey | Torment | Judgment
Onslaught | Legions | Scourge
Mirrodin | Darksteel | Fifth Dawn
Champions of Kamigawa | Betrayers of Kamigawa | Saviors of Kamigawa
Core Sets (4th Edition - 10th Edition)
Ravnica: City of Guilds | Guildpact | Dissension
Coldsnap
Time Spiral | Planar Chaos | Future Sight
Lorwyn | Morningtide | Shadowmoor | Eventide
Duel Decks
Shards of Alara | Conflux | Alara Reborn
Magic 2010
Zendikar | Worldwake | Rise of the Eldrazi
Magic 2011
Scars of Mirrodin | Mirrodin Besieged | New Phyrexia
Olivia: The disrespect! Back in the day you'd defeat a Cathar in battle and you'd get all of their blood! Even a bit of fear and horror as they bled out, as a treat. Now they send a tin can after you and you're just meant to... What? Tear it apart and find someone ELSE to drain?
If we were to add up the entire population of every plane in the multiverse that we know of, I wonder what percentage of that total would be just Ravnica
Tezzeret: With the power of Artifice I have transcended the weakness of the flesh. I now I require only the bare minimum of food and no more than ten minutes of sleep each night.
Chandra: So, when Jace is startled, he'll just instinctively try to read the minds of people around him. I think it's a mind mage thing, check for possible threats and stuff.
Kaya: Ok... that makes sense.
Chandra: But here's the thing, if you're thinking really hard about something when you do it, you're basically putting that thought directly in his mind.
Kaya:
Kaya: I see where you're going with this, but please demonstrate.
AU where Jace is a streamer and occasionally streams with Loot and he just lets Loot play Geoguessr. Of course Loot is the #1 player in the multiverse and everyone in chat is baffled
(One of) My favorite things about Sorin is the circumstances surrounding his planeswalker spark igniting.
We know from the Innistrad art book that Sorin was the first vampire to be sired after Edgar.
And we know from the MTG Visual Guide that Sorin sparked during - if not right after - his transformation into a vampire (thanks @bace-jeleren, I owe you my life)
And we also know from the C17 art of Blood Tribute that this was a public ceremony with numerous onlookers and Olivia Voldaren next in line.
WHICH MEANS
Olivia watched Sorin drink demon-cursed angel blood, explode out of existence, and still decided “yeah, I’ll have a cup of that”.
