There is one Magic: The Gathering mechanic out there that came from a very unusual place.
Ideas in Magic tend to come from everywhere -- real life, stories of old, pop culture, even personal experiences from the creators. But one mechanic in Mirrodin came from a place that Mark Rosewater loves to mention every time it comes up.
First off, the mechanic in question is entwine. Entwine allows spells with different modes to have all of them be used at once if a higher mana cost is paid. It's not that complicated a mechanic - if you want to use all the modes there, just make sure you have the land for it. And also know how to wield it effectively.
Since Mirrodin came out in 2003, there have been 31 cards in total with the entwine mechanic. And it was seen recently too, with a few cards having the ability in Modern Horizons III in 2024. But it is also sparingly used. It's a "6" on the Storm Scale, meaning "We need to find the right place to bring it back, but I'm a little less optimistic.".
Still, under current statistics, it's about 1.4 cards with entwine as a mechanic a year. Another quirk to keep players on their toes. And annoy opponents. Like how it was used on Roar of the Kha:
It has also come into play during tournaments. As it offers literally all the abilities of a spell for an ultimately more powerful attack, spells with entwine have often been used as finishing moves. Some abilities can destroy someone's life total or knock out all their creatures, so it can be a surprisingly good mechanic to utilize. Probably what makes it so rare.
But that takes us back to how it was ultimately created. How did Rosewater manage to come up with this one again? Oh - it was all just a dream. Like the ninth season of Dallas. Or that final season of Lost. According to MaRo on his blog:
"I designed the entwine mechanic in a dream. I’d been trying to make a mechanic that fit Mirrodin and was thinking a lot about it. I went to slept and dreamed it. I then excitedly woke up and wrote it down."
And then it was reconfirmed later on his BlueSky recently too. This is the dream mechanic.
Today, entwine is still ultimately a rare mechanic. But it's still today the only one confirmed to be from a dream. So far.
