Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Embeddings Unlocked: Clustering Similar MTG Cards
In the world of Magic: The Gathering, every card is a data point waiting to be interpreted. When you convert card attributes into embeddings—dense numeric representations that capture semantic meaning—you unlock a powerful way to discover clusters of cards that share strategic DNA. Think of embeddings as a high-tech librarian that can group spells, creatures, and enablers not by their name, but by the vibe they project on the battlefield. 🧙♂️🔥💎 Whether you’re a data nerd, a deck-builder, or a flavor-chasing collector, the idea is the same: let the numbers reveal relationships that aren’t obvious from the card’s title alone.
Wings of Velis Vel: a perfect study case for clustering by Changeling logic
Take Wings of Velis Vel, a blue common from Modern Masters 2015 (mm2). This Kindred Instant — Shapeshifter costs {1}{U} and carries the elegant yet mischievous pagination of Changeling: “This card is every creature type.” Its Oracle Text turns a single target creature into a 4/4 flying, and more: it also grants that creature all creature types for the turn. The effect is a compact toolkit in a single spell—tempo, evasion, and tribal flexibility packed into two mana. In embedding space, Wings of Velis Vel pulls concepts together: creature types, flying, and a temporary buff. The card becomes a nexus point where “blue tempo” meets “tribal adaptability,” making it a natural bridge in cluster analyses that emphasize type synergy and utility across decks. And yes, that flavor text—“Changeling magic grants unusual wishes.”—reads like a dare for data explorers: sometimes the magic is in the unexpected connections. 🎨⚔️
Wings of Velis Vel is also a nice showcase for how card-level metadata informs clustering. Its color identity is blue, its mana cost slides into a two-mana range, and its rarity is common. It’s a reprint from mm2, which helps anchor its value and accessibility in datasets that span multiple printings. For embedders, the card embodies several axes you’d want to encode: color identity, card type (Instant — Shapeshifter), and a highly textual ability that reshapes a single combat step. All of these features can be encoded into vectors that existing language models or domain-adapted encoders can digest, producing a position in embedding space where similar spells—perhaps other Changeling or tempo-enabling blue instants—sit nearby. 🔎🧩
What exactly do embeddings capture in card-clustering?
Embeddings translate card attributes into points in a high-dimensional space where distance reflects semantic similarity. For MTG, you might combine:
- Color and mana economy—the pull of {U} or a heavier blue strategy;
- Card type and subtypes—Instant, Creature, Artifact, or the tricky Shapeshifter tag;
- Keyworded abilities—Changeling, flying, hexproof, lifelink, haste, etc.;
- Oracle text semantics—what the card does, in context of timing and decks;
- Rarity, set, and print history—to hint at power ceilings and practical accessibility.
Wings of Velis Vel sits at an interesting intersection: it is an instant with a strong tempo-play, a shapeshifter that changes how other cards can interact with it, and a bridge to tribal concepts because of its “all creature types” clause. When you feed its text into an embedding pipeline, the resulting vector tends to draw it closer to other blue, tempo-oriented spells that sculpt the battlefield or enable surprise blocks and air-based aggression. It’s not just a label; it’s a semantic fingerprint of the card’s strategic potential. 🧠🎲
Design implications for deck-building and data projects
From a practical standpoint, clustering similar cards helps players discover underrated synergies and builds that might not be obvious from card names alone. For Wings of Velis Vel, clustering might highlight nearby neighbors such as other Changeling cards, or blue Instants with flexible targets that grant evasion. The emergent patterns can inform deck designers who want to lean into tempo, or tribal players who chase cross-type leverage. It also illuminates how a single card can serve multiple archetypes: in some matchups it’s a tempo tool; in others, a pivot that enables a creature-type synergy you don’t see every day. 🔥💎
On the data side, practitioners can experiment with different embedding strategies. If you’re using a transformer model trained on MTG text, you’ll likely capture nuanced differences between a card’s explicit effect (granting a 4/4 and flying) and its broader strategic role (tempo, versatility, and type flexibility). You might combine token-based encodings with feature-based encodings (color, mana value, rarity) to balance surface syntax and deep semantics. Then run clustering algorithms—k-means, DBSCAN, or hierarchical clustering—to reveal natural groupings. The result? A map of the Modern Masters landscape where similar spells cluster near each other, inviting re-use of card ideas in new deck concepts. 🎨🧭
Looking beyond the classroom: practical lessons and cross-promo ideas
For players, Wings of Velis Vel demonstrates how a small card can unlock big strategic space. It’s a reminder that blue’s toolbox—tempo, evasion, and flexible answers—often plays well with cards that bend the definition of creature types. And for creators and marketers, there’s a neat cross-promo angle: the same mindset you apply to clustering MTG cards can be used to cluster products or experiences that fans love. If you’re building a data-driven MTG community, you can pair explorations of embeddings with curated cards like Wings of Velis Vel to anchor hands-on demonstrations, then invite fans to test their own clustering ideas with interactive decks. 🧙♂️💬
Flavor and lore aren’t left behind in the rush of numbers. The flavor text hints at the whimsical side of Changeling magic, which resonates with the sense of experimentation that embeddings bring to the table. When you think about the card art by Jim Pavelec and the mm2 printing era, you can sense a period of MTG where reprints and clever card design invited players to look for connections across sets. The knowledge is not just theoretical; it’s tactile—the kind of insight you carry to a table, a draft, or a data notebook while you trade stories and spicy plays. 🎨⚔️
And if your desk needs a little upgrade while you dive into the data, consider boosting your setup with gear that keeps pace with your MTG passions. A neon gaming mouse pad with stitched edges is the kind of thoughtful touch that makes long sessions comfortable and stylish. It’s a small but satisfying companion to long nights of card-slinging and clustering experiments alike. Pro tip: pair your workspace with a card-backed playlist and let the embeddings do the rest. 🎲🧙♂️