Prodigal Sorcerer

For the novel, see The Prodigal Sorcerer.

Prodigal Sorcerer from Alpha.

Prodigal Sorcerer is a blue 1/1 Human Wizard creature card with the activated ability ": Prodigal Sorcerer deals 1 damage to any target". It is a very well-known card, first appearing in Alpha edition and inspiring several stories as well as the nickname Tim. However, it is no longer considered a good fit within the color pie.

History

Alpha

The card was introduced in Alpha, where its artist credit was incorrect, with Douglas Shuler misspelled as "Douglas Schuler". The card featured creature type Wizard (only) in Alpha; but, in Time Spiral, it gained the Human racial creature type to complement its class creature type.

Nickname and etymology

The card is nicknamed "Tim", after the "Tim the Enchanter", a wizard portrayed by John Cleese in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who had a talent for fire-based magic and damaging things. A 2024 Monty Python Secret Lair finally printed Tim the Enchanter as Prodigal Sorcerer.

The nickname "Tim" has inspired nicknames for other pingers, such as Rod of Ruin ("Tim on a stick"), Hermetic Study ("Tim on a whim"), Pirate Ship ("Tim on a ship"), Rootwater Hunter ("Tim who can swim", "swim Tim", or "fish Tim"), Thornwind Faeries ("flying Tim"), and Zuran Spellcaster ("Zim" or "icy Tim").

Reprints

Prodigal Sorcerer was reprinted in every Core Set up until Seventh Edition.

Time Spiral

In Time Spiral, it gained the Human racial creature type to complement its creature class.

Planar Chaos replacement

Introduced in Planar Chaos as a red timeshifted version of Prodigal Sorcerer, Prodigal Pyromancer, nicknamed "Tom" for unknown reasons, other than "Tom" was the design file name, was thought to be more appropriate given the understanding of the color pie then.

Prodigal Pyromancer was later reprinted in Tenth Edition, thus cementing R&D's position on damage-dealing creatures in red, not blue. It also featured in Magic 2010 and Magic 2011. However, the New World Order design philosophy found the ability too strong and complex, pushing pingers out of common after Vithian Stinger; in fact, the ability was removed almost outright as it pressured 1-toughness creatures inordinately and was powerful in combat. Syr Carah, the Bold was the last new card with the Prodigal Sorcerer ability in 2019.

Story appearances

Prodigal Sorcerer represents a character archetype rather than a specific character. Nonetheless, it has inspired several works about inexperienced mages:

Prodigal Sorcerer in the Homelands promo

• The Prodigal Sorcerer (1995) by Mark Sumner features Alligarius Timni of the Institute of Arcane Study, whose surname references the card's nickname and whose story matches its flavor text. A young Institute wizard named Kitrin also appears.
• The promo video for Homelands features a Prodigal Sorcerer as its main character.
• A 1998 FAQ about "Dominia", the name originally used for Dominaria, states the Prodigal Sorcerors of Tamingazin were descendants of the School of the Unseen, itself a descendant of the College of Lat-Nam.
• "The Prodigal Sorcerers" (2016) by Mark Price on Magic Story centers on Kellan Boldt, a young wizard bound for the Tolarian Academy before a life-changing crisis under the mentorship of elder Academy graduate Enthril. The art layout implies each wizard is a different iteration of the Prodigal Sorcerer archetype, and Enthril's description with a silver beard and black-and-gold tunic matches the original card art.

These stories take place on Dominaria, except for the Homelands promo video, which presumably is set on Ulgrotha.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Prodigal Sorcerer
• Prodigal Sorcerer Avatar