Dance of the Plumes

The myth

Dance and song were an essential part of Mexica ceremonies. At calendar festivals, hundreds of people danced in circles around the temples to the huéhuetl and teponaztli, wearing headdresses, fans and costumes of colored feathers made by the amanteca, the feather artisans. Birds carried strong symbolic weight: the hummingbird was tied to Huitzilopochtli, the eagle to the sun, the quetzal to all that is precious. The card imagines a dance so beautiful that the birds of the sky spin with the dancers, strengthened by them.

Why it has this power

A Common spell giving +600 ATK and DEF to all your Bird monsters. It is the winged version of the Huéhuetl War Drum: where that one strengthens warriors, this one strengthens hummingbirds, eagles, quetzals, owls and vultures. It pairs with the Templo Mayor field, which also favors Birds, and with the Quetzal-Feather Headdress.

Did you know

The amanteca, the Mexica featherworkers, were a prestigious guild with their own district and gods.

Connections

• In Tlali, Calmécac Student's deck
• In Cuauhtli, Lake Hunter's deck
• In Tepin, Veteran of the Flower War's deck
• In Yolotl, Mistress of the Mirror's deck

Where to get it

• Daily Offering: 0% per pack (Common 64% per card)
• Welcome Pack: 0.97% per pack (Common 70% per card)
• Traveler's Pack: 0.88% per pack · 5.2% in the themed pack (Common 64% per card)
• Bronze Reliquary: 0.86% per pack · 5.1% in the themed pack (Common 62% per card)
• Silver Reliquary: 0.67% per pack · 4% in the themed pack (Common 49% per card)
• Golden Reliquary: 0.46% per pack · 2.7% in the themed pack (Common 33% per card)
• Daily Showcase: Shows up on about 0.69% of days · 150 gold
• Craft with card dust: 40 dust
• Crossing of Myths: Can be offered as a reward during a crossing (the card stays in the crossing deck).

Sources

1. Los membranófonos (Arqueología Mexicana) — Luis Antonio Gómez G.
2. El quetzal (Arqueología Mexicana) — Eugenia Pallares
3. Hummingbird (Mexicolore) — Ian Mursell