Maro-Sorcerer

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Multani, the most well known Maro-Sorcerer. Art by Daren Bader

A Maro-Sorcerer, also known as a Force of Nature, is the elemental manifestation of the land, either brought about by strong magic or of nature's own will.

Description

In Dominaria, it's believed that every wood, from a sprawling forest or a shady grove, has a spirit or avatar that keeps the site safe: these creatures can be befriended with the right magic.[1] Dominarian forces of nature — some of which are servants of the Worldsoul, Gaea — are often called "maro." In its original art description, Maro (Mirage) was described as "the epitome of the fertility of the fresh ground."[2]

History

One Force of Nature was summoned by Dreygar and given the Dark Amulet, but was defeated by Aldon.[3] Another was summoned by Greensleeves.[4] The first Force of Nature to be called a Maro-Sorcerer was Multani.[5][6] The maro-sorcerer Sol'Kanar was corrupted into a monster by the planeswalker Geyadrone Dihada so that he might better serve her.[7]

List of Forces of Nature

Maro-Sorcerer Forest Location
Autumn Willow Great Wood Plane of Ulgrotha
Force of Nature Forests of Lat-Nam. Lat-Nam island on Dominaria
Gaea's Liege
Greensleeves[8][9]
Whispering Woods Aerona on Dominaria
Great Spirit White Woods Corondor on Dominaria
Lord Magnus The forest on Argenti. (In prerevisionist continuity Llanowar.) Madara on Dominaria
Molimo Llanowar Aerona on Dominaria
Modruni[10] An unnamed forest An unknown Plane
Muldrotha Yavimaya (Urborg) Urborg on Dominaria
Multani Yavimaya (Terisiare) Terisiare on Dominaria
Sol'Kanar Khone Corondor on Dominaria
Titania Argoth Terisiare on Dominaria
Unnamed Arboria[11] (the Pinelands) Jamuraa on Dominaria
Unnamed Uktabi Jungle[12] Jamuraa on Dominaria

Trivia

  • The Maro-sorcerers are named after Mark Rosewater, who created Multani and chose the name himself.[5][13]
  • Although they don't depict Maro-sorcerors, the -maro cycle of legendary creatures in Saviors of Kamigawa was based on the card Maro.[14][15] Searching for card designs fitting the set's wisdom theme, the set's designers created a cycle based on the Mirage card. Brandon Bozzi, who was in charge of the set's names and flavor texts, decided to incorporate "maro" into the cards' names. Fortunately, -maro (まろ) was already an archaic suffix for male names in Japanese.
  • Maro is the word for the color brown in Romanian.
  • The Territorial Maro of Dominaria United hasn't been linked to a specific territory, yet.

References

  1. Magic the Gathering: Calendar 1997.
  2. Mark Rosewater (December 2, 2002). "There's Always Two Maro". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Margaret Weis (1996), Serra Angel, Armada
  4. Clayton Emery (1995). Magic: The Gathering - Final Sacrifice. Harper Prism.
  5. a b Mark Rosewater (March 22, 2013). "Was Multani, MaRo Sorcerer based on you?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  6. Mark Rosewater (December 3, 2007). "Weather(light) Report". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Ethan Fleischer (June 10, 2021). "The Returning Legends of Modern Horizons 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer
  9. Ethan Fleischer (August 28, 2022). "THE MARO-SORCERER MEGATHREAD". Twitter.
  10. Tribute to the Wild
  11. Flavor text of Arboria (Dominaria Remastered, #149)
  12. Michael G. Ryan (October 1996). "The Horizon Shimmers: The Making of Mirage." The Duelist #13, p.58-61.
  13. Mark Rosewater (April 9, 2018). "given the "no vanity cards" rule, is the title of "Maro Sorcerer" still canon?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  14. Mark Rosewater (May 16, 2005). "The Sun'll Come Out To Maro". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017.
  15. Wizards of the Coast (August 1, 2007). "Ask Wizards - August, 2007". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021.