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Back in 2005, Matt Cavotta introduced us all to Taste the Magic, the very first Vorthos-centric column on the Magic mothership. When Matt was no longer able to continue writing his column, senior Creative Team member Doug Beyer continued the tradition with Savor the Flavor. For the five-year anniversary of having a Vorthos-centered column on MagictheGathering.com, Doug brought back a feature originally debuted by Matt called Okra-Twinkie-Tofu, or O-T-T as it is commonly referred to. O-T-T was one of my favorite features, and seeing as this year we will celebrate ten years of Vorthos columns, I thought, What better way to mark the milestone than by resurrecting O-T-T feature here on Gathering Magic?
For Those of Us Who Don’t Know, What Is O-T-T?
As explained by both Matt and Doug before me, Okra-Twinkie-Tofu takes a look at some of the less-well-known words found gracing the faces of Magic cards, and the series attempts to place them into one of three defined buckets:
Original image found here.
Both Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged are filled with glorious morsels of delicious Magic flavor, so it seemed only right to kick off this reforged O-T-T by taking a bite out of our newest planar setting:
Tarkir is Down with O-T-T
 | Vizier: Rakshasa Vizier (KTK)
An interesting and very real word, a vizier was the highest-ranking official in ancient Egypt, who was hand-selected by the pharaoh to supervise and run the country (much like a prime minister). |  |
 | Ainok: Ainok Guide (FRF)
As far as I can tell, the word Ainok is completely made up. The term is used to refer to Tarkir’s race of anthropomorphic hound-humanoids found living mostly in Temur and Abzan territories. |
| Haruspex: Grim Haruspex (KTK)
A strange yet very real word, haruspex is the word you would use to describe an individual trained in the art of haruspicy, a Roman form of divination involving the inspection of entrails. The term haruspex comes from a combination of the archaic word haru ("entrails, intestines") and the root spec (“to watch, observe”). How cool is that? |
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| Krushok: Battlefront Krushok (FRF)
Krushok is a made up word used to describe the rhino-like creatures found roaming Tarkir. Krushoks can be seen on the cards Feral Krushok and Great Horn Krushok, and they do not look like they should be messed with—ever. |
| Bivouac: Frontier Bivouac (KTK)
While it this one sounds completely fake, bivouac is in fact a real word. Pronounced “biv-oo-ak”, which to me sounds like “biv-wak,” it is a temporary camp that has no tents or cover, a type of camp often used by mountaineers. |
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| Lammasu: Venerable Lammasu (KTK)
The name for this creature type looks artificial, but it is actually a reference to an Assyrian protective deity. The deity would often be depicted as having a bull or lion body, eagle wings, and the head of a human. |
 | Colossodon: Tusked Colossodon (KTK)
This is definitely fake-sounding, right? It appears that the word colossodon is actually a combination of the words colossal, meaning extraordinarily great in size, and the Greek donta, meaning tooth. |
| Krumar: Krumar Bond-Kin (KTK)
This one is a completely made-up Abzan term. When an orphan is created from war, the Abzan take in these orphaned children and raise them as soldiers of the clan. The word Krumar is what the Abzan use to refer to one of these orphans of war. |
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| Rakshasa: Rakshasa's Disdain (FRF)
This one has to be completely bogus, right? Wrong. A rakshasa is a demonic being from Hindu mythology, often depicted as ugly, fierce-looking creatures with fangs, claws, and flaming-red eyes and hair. They would be shown as growling beasts, often drinking blood from the skulls of humans. It was believed that these terrible creatures possessed powerful magical powers. The rakshasa are classified in the lore as being amongst the Yatudhanas, demonic creatures who consume the flesh of humans. |
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Before I finish for today, I want to take a quick second and say that Seb McKinnon is quickly becoming one of my new favorite Magic artists. Two of the cards featured today (Grim Haruspex and Rakshasa's Disdain) were illustrated by the artist, and they are absolutely incredible pieces. Make sure you check out Seb’s portfolio online here.
Until Next Time
I hope you enjoyed this revival of Okra-Twinkie-Tofu. If you would like to see more O-T-T in the future, express your desire down in the comments! If you would like to see me go back and revisit some older sets that may have missed out on the O-T-T treatment, tell me about that as well. That’s all I have time for today; join me next week for more of that tasty Vorthos flavor.
-Ant
