Jihad

Enchantment

On the Topic of Depictions of Racism in Magic.

As Jihad enters the battlefield, choose a color and an opponent.

White creatures get +2/+1.

When the chosen opponent controls no nontoken permanents of the chosen color, sacrifice Jihad.

Legality

Format	Legality
Archenemy	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal

Discussion (29)

Sproet on Legacy Banlist

1 year ago

You forgot Crusade, Jihad, Invoke Prejudice, Pradesh Gypsies, Cleanse, Stone-Throwing Devils, and Imprison

EVEN-ELITE on The Most Expensive EDH Deck Ever

2 years ago

It's banned in EDH, as are the "racist" cards Invoke Prejudice and Jihad. I still can't believe that WotC did that...

Icbrgr on Censorship

2 years ago

Times are just different now... even in the history of magic cards/art there are now forbidden Crusade, Invoke Prejudice, Jihad, Cleanse, Stone-Throwing Devils, Imprison ect ect...

This hasnt happened to me personally no....but iv'e seen wild threads in the blind eternities that went on that had less to do with magic/the game than Oof_Magic's original/copied posts.

If someone where to make a post saying that they were upset with the author of the war of the sparks decision to undo Nissa and Chandras relationship/sexual preferences that would be allowed to let the conversation develop..... I cant say the same would be allowed/tolerated if it went the other direction. If someone were to make a post/thread about Niko Aris and their opinions surrounding the planswalkers lore and creation I could also only assume the conversation would be allowed to go one way as well.

dbpunk on None

3 years ago

Ok so Im just gonna say this about the setting precedent arguments (slippery slope) and the "bit of a stretch" arguments.

A lot of you are claiming this is a slippery slope and that theres evidence theyll ban more cards for the same reason. And tbh there isnt any evidence of that. They havent said anything about other cards potentially banned for it and there is no precedent for them banning other things with this reason. Unless say, the card depicted something racist in the art.

Weve explained why these cards arent good and pointed out like realistic reasons why people will get offended. Even Cleanse, which a number of people have explained nonstop (once again, its a combination of a number of things but the fact that racial cleansing is an idea combined with the effect and flavor text). The first comment on this thread literally addressed this issue from a member of the MTG community who is a POC. None of these are the huge stretches you think they are. Literally like Ive said on here myself why Jihad and Crusade are problems as a Muslim (note: before anyone says Islam is a religion, its also one that is heavily associated with Middle Eastern people and is mostly POC in terms of people).

Also like... did any of you even use these cards? Or cards like them? Like also its a card game, it shouldnt even be depicting cards directly referencing racist ideals.

And before anyone says "Stone-Throwing Devils is a stretch" the name of that one is a literal slur used against Muslims. Like even if you havent heard it used, that shouldnt be the name of a card.

DemonDragonJ on None

3 years ago

TheRealSpecialK, in the case of Jihad, I can understand your words, and there is also the fact that a fantasy world using real world terminology does not make sense. For that reason, I shall also accept the banning of Pradesh Gypsies, since the Roma people do not exist in a fictional world.

However, I shall stand by my assertion that Cleanse should not be banned, because the word "black" refers to philosophical alignment, not ethnicity.

Also, when people today use the word "crusade," they are more often than not using it as a general term for a zealous movement to achieve a certain goal, not in reference to the specific crusades that occurred during the 1000's to the 1200's, so I shall maintain that the card Crusade is not problematic, especially when Cathars' Crusade has not been banned.

TheRealSpecialK on None

3 years ago

One more thought - through my comment, I am trying to help people put themselves into the shoes of others. Let me try to reverse it. For Magic players living in, say, Asia, who are very unfamiliar with American Culture and history, it is possible that they may be a bit confused as to why Invoke Prejudice is banned. To someone unaware of American History, there is nothing wrong with the art at all. However, we in America see depictions of the KKK - and coupled with the name, easily understand that it is a card that evokes hate. I could see someone who invested in that card in Asia, again, unaware of its symbolism, being very upset because a card that they potentially invested a lot of money in has now been banned for issues that they are totally unaware of. To them, that might seem like a great injustice - they are being punished for issues other people face that have never affected them or their lives in the slightest.

That is what some of these other cards are like for us. Consider the word Jihad. For Muslims, it is a word used religiously to symbolize a lot more than just a "Holy War." The card Jihad doesn't really take away from that. But the culture in America (and possibly around the world) post 9/11 has dramatically shifted in how certain aspects of Islam are viewed. There is a lot of misunderstanding to the word Jihad now. For Muslims, I can't imagine how frustrating and hurtful it is that a word/concept that has deeper meaning in their faith has now taken on a violent and hate-fueled light in the eyes of non-Muslims living around them. So while Jihad might not have been problematic when it was printed, Wizards is acknowledging that times have changed, that they are aware of a whole community who might be uncomfortable by how the word Jihad has kind of taken on a new meaning outside Islamic culture, and that their feelings are just as real and important as the feelings of the much larger Magic community who might not understand why the card Jihad makes them uncomfortable. And that is why the banning are good - they aren't necessarily for everyone, and not everyone will understand them, but there will be people who have been affected by hate and prejudice who will feel grateful at some of them. Those people might not be you or me, but their feelings are real, and to them this gesture will mean a lot.

sergiodelrio on None

3 years ago

derekross305 please take the time to read the thread before commenting. This is not about mechanics. Imagine someone unfamiliar with the game gets to examine card XYZ. They certainly won't care about +1/+1 or blue mana creatures, but when black creatures get cleansed and destroyed, to an outsider 'not playing our card games', that looks racist. An image move by WotC.

Also, @all:

The word Jihad, to a muslim, has religious meaning to this day. And no, I'm not refering to the extremist interpretation of holy war against non-believers. Rather, a muslim once explained to me, muslims view Jihad as a fight with one self, one's desire to sin. It is not a historic or fantasy word.

derekross305 on None

3 years ago

I can understand the Invoke Prejudice one. I guess you could make the case for it representing medieval executioners but I'm not going to get into that. If Cleanse is going to be considered racist than Virtue's Ruin should be too. Personally though, I think that's a slippery slope and kind of ridiculous to say Black/White creatures in the game are like Black/White people in real life. This game has always had the 5 colors and they are not about race. Crusade and Jihad seem more focused on religion than race and the artwork on those aren't bad at all. I don't see how Predash Gypsies is racist and I personally have never heard the word Gypsy used as a racial slur. Are gypsies even a race? Even if they were, that card says nothing bad about them. As far as Imprison and Stone-Throwing Devils go, it seems like they're just creating racism where it isn't. You'd basically have to be racist yourself to see some of these as racist. I don't see why we have to have politics/race seep into every aspect of our lives anyway. Just let us play our card games.