Did you know that three mono-colored Magic: The Gathering cards from the Throne of Eldraine expansion were originally multi-colored? It turns out that the cards based on Lady of the Lake, Robin Hood, and Merlin were originally multicolored, and MTG head designer Mark Rosewater confirmed it on his Blogatog.
When a fan asked Rosewater which colors he was going to assign to them, he recalled:
"I don't remember. My best guess:
Robin Hood - red/green or red/white
Lady of the Lake - white/blue
Merlin - white/blue or blue/black"
Just in case you don't know which Throne of Eldraine cards he's talking about, here they are:
Emry, Lurker of the Loch (inspired by Lady of the Lake)
Robber of the Rich (inspired by Robin Hood)
Gadwick, the Wizened (inspired by Merlin)
Since "Outlaws' Merriment", the card that represents Robin Hood's team is red/white, it just makes sense that "Robber of the Rich" would also be multicolored. However, considering the Merry Men are rebel outlaws, and Robin Hood is their leader, white doesn't make sense flavor-wise.
Outlaws' Merriment
It's nice to know that they were originally multicolored, but I'm glad that their final versions were not. All three of the cards mentioned saw a decent amount of play across formats, and I love how the Magic R&D designed these cards. I just love how the whole Throne of Eldraine set was designed, and if you want to know all the fairy tale and Arthurian legend references in the set, watch this video.
Throne of Eldraine is now available for tabletop and on digtal (Magic Online and Magic Arena).
Related: MTG Arena Plans To Add "Remastered" Sets and The New Pioneer Format
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