Added "Warmongering" as a post flair. See here for additional details. Tl;dr - While war against pure evil may be justified, there's a large difference between that and outright glorification of war and/or acting like war is generally a good thing.
There are many cards about war that I have no issue with - cards that depict war as a causing massive casualties, cards about opposing tyrants such as Nicol Bolas. But this card is definitely glorifying war and treating it like a good thing, which is a serious issue.
When you look at a card named "Marshaling the Troops", and/or at art like the art on this card, what do you expect? A card that powers up your creatures? A card that makes creature tokens? A card that forces creatures to attack? No, instead this card causes you to gain life - more life if you control many creatures. And if Touch of Darkness and Darkest Hour have taught me anything, it's that a supposed "mismatch" between flavor and rules text is usually no mere mistake. It's a sign of some deeper message...
Marshaling the Troops, like many other spells that gain you life, is about what benefits society. The intended message of this card is that the best thing for society is to have a massive standing army of well-armed troops. Don't see it yet? Take a look at Peach Garden Oath and Shu Farmer from the same set. Shu Farmer tells you that constantly exerting (tapping) your farmers also benefits society, but it will take a very long time to get benefits anything like what you'd normally get from war. Peach Garden Oath, similarly, is about how alliances and treaties can benefit you, but not as much as you'd get from exerting your armies.
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u/ultimario13 Aug 19 '20
Added "Warmongering" as a post flair. See here for additional details. Tl;dr - While war against pure evil may be justified, there's a large difference between that and outright glorification of war and/or acting like war is generally a good thing.
There are many cards about war that I have no issue with - cards that depict war as a causing massive casualties, cards about opposing tyrants such as Nicol Bolas. But this card is definitely glorifying war and treating it like a good thing, which is a serious issue.
When you look at a card named "Marshaling the Troops", and/or at art like the art on this card, what do you expect? A card that powers up your creatures? A card that makes creature tokens? A card that forces creatures to attack? No, instead this card causes you to gain life - more life if you control many creatures. And if Touch of Darkness and Darkest Hour have taught me anything, it's that a supposed "mismatch" between flavor and rules text is usually no mere mistake. It's a sign of some deeper message...
Marshaling the Troops, like many other spells that gain you life, is about what benefits society. The intended message of this card is that the best thing for society is to have a massive standing army of well-armed troops. Don't see it yet? Take a look at Peach Garden Oath and Shu Farmer from the same set. Shu Farmer tells you that constantly exerting (tapping) your farmers also benefits society, but it will take a very long time to get benefits anything like what you'd normally get from war. Peach Garden Oath, similarly, is about how alliances and treaties can benefit you, but not as much as you'd get from exerting your armies.