I’ll try to keep this shorter this time. My previous card design articles sort of got out of hand lengthwise.

Anyhow, although I’m not going to put any of the gods in this set (save for our Loki-analogue who goes around causing misery in the world), I’d like the gods to have a clear presence in the world. One of the things that we could see in this set would be Huginn and Muninn, Odin’s ravens, who roamed the world spying for their master.

Huginn and Muninn are literally translated Thougth and Memory, or something close enough. I’m not sure what color Odin would really be, but I’m guessing he is going to be blue, as the wise man. Therefore, Thought and Memory (which I’ll be calling them for now) should be of the same color. That’s not strictly necessary, but feels right.

The usual way of simulating learning is drawing cards. Therefore, I think our creature should do just that. However, we have two creatures on one card, so flavorfully it would be nice to give them distinct abilities.

So, obviously, our birds can fly. I’ll also give them flash, as they are able to travel between worlds, so you never know when they appear. The other abilities are a bit harder.

So, I’m thinking our birds should have an ETB effect which lets you draw a card when it enters the battlefield, but to give it another, distinct, but flavorful ability, I’m giving it the [scryfall]Mnemonic Wall[/scryfall] ability of returning an instant or sorcery into your hand, but when it leaves play.

I also decided to make it 2/4. Pretty big for a bird, but then again, its actually two birds with divine beginnings. Casting cost? I’ll go with 2UU, which seems fine with the card advantage it gives.

However, this presents me with a problem. The newer legends have a big board presence. They are Baneslayers, not Mulldrifters. This one just doesn’t. I feel like I should find another approach, but I haven’t come up with one just yet. I’d probably play this card, especially in EDH,, although I’d wish it had smaller casting cost.

On the other hand, there is another viewpoint. Thought and Memory are actually better, because they are legendary. You can play your playset and not mind drawing redundant copies, because then you just cast one to draw a card and return a card from your graveyard to your hand. The 2UU casting cost is pretty much for this purpose, but probably often worth it. Maybe I should push it a bit? Maybe I should make it just 1UU?