Mirage is the ninth Magic expansion. It was released in October 1996 as the first set in the Mirage block.
Mirage and Visions (the second set in the block) stand apart from the rest of Magic for their tropical African-themed setting in Jamuraa and its three nations of Femeref, Zhalfir, and Suq'Ata. The storyline begins with the disappearance of the planeswalker Teferi (who would later play a crucial role in the Weatherlight Saga and the Time Spiral block) and the three powerful spellcasters — Mangara, Jolrael, and Kaervek — who come looking for him, setting off the events that would lead to the Mirage War.
Mechanics and themes
Mirage introduces the mechanics Flanking and Phasing. Flanking was frequently used to make 2/2 creatures for three mana worthwhile. Phasing was often used as a drawback in this set. Still, it is now infamous for the complex rulings it inspired, especially when combined with enters-the-battlefield abilities that started appearing on many creatures in Visions.
Mirage includes many creatures with the Knight creature type, all with flanking and an activated ability, such as Cadaverous Knight and Teferi's Honor Guard. The set also includes more multicolored cards than any set between Legends and Invasion, and the first enemy color cards for all pairs except black/green (which had Dark Heart of the Wood in The Dark expansion).
Creature types
The following creature types were introduced in this expansion: Ancestor (later changed to Cleric), Brushwagg, Cyclops, Griffin, Hyena, Mantis (later changed to Insect), Martyr (later changed to Cleric), Meerkat (later changed to Mongoose), Minion, Nature Spirit (later changed to Elemental), Pirate, Rhino, Scout, Wildcat (later changed to Cat), Viashino, Wyvern (later changed to Drake),
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Archer, Atog, Basilisk, Centaur, Cleric, Cobra (later changed to Snake), Crocodile, Dragon, Dryad, Dwarf, Efreet, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Ghost (later changed to Spirit), Goblin, Guardian (later changed to Gargoyle), Griffin, Imp, Knight, Lion (later changed to Cat), Manticore, Merfolk, Minotaur, Nightstalker, Rat, Roc (later changed to Bird), Salamander, Serpent, Shade, Soldier, Specter, Spirit, Swarm (later changed to Insect), Tiger (later changed to Cat), Troll, Unicorn, Vampire, Wall, Wizard, Wraith, Wurm, Zombie.
Cycles
Mirage has thirteen cycles:
Charms Common instants that cost M and let you choose one of three possible effects. Ivory Charm Sapphire Charm Ebony Charm Chaos Charm Seedling Charm
Diamonds Uncommon artifacts that cost {2} to cast, enter the battlefield tapped, and produce one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. This cycle was later reprinted in 6th Edition, 7th Edition, Commander 2014, and Commander Legends. Marble Diamond Sky Diamond Charcoal Diamond Fire Diamond Moss Diamond
Dragons Rare 4/4 Dragon creatures that have a mana cost of 4MM. Pearl Dragon Mist Dragon Catacomb Dragon Volcanic Dragon Canopy Dragon
Guildmages Common 1/1 Wizard creatures that cost M and have two activated abilities, each with the cost of {T} and an allied mana. Civic Guildmage Shaper Guildmage Shadow Guildmage Armorer Guildmage Granger Guildmage
Instantments Common Aura enchantments that have a converted mana cost of 2 and flash, but are sacrificed at the beginning of the next cleanup step if cast any time a sorcery couldn't have been cast. Ward of Lights Soar Grave Servitude Lightning Reflexes Armor of Thorns
Mirage Boons Each of these cards has a small mana value and an effect involving the number 3. This cycle is loosely linked to the Boons cycle in Alpha (and Ice Age), including two reprints and three new cards. Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth, and the overpowered Ancestral Recall were replaced. Healing Salve Dream Cache Dark Ritual Incinerate Afiya Grove
Enemy-color hosers Uncommon spells that hamper both enemy colors. Mangara's Equity Mind Harness Reign of Terror Reign of Chaos Roots of Life
Counter-clockwise color hosers Uncommon spells that hamper one enemy color (white > red > blue > green > black > white) Unyaro Griffin Cerulean Wyvern Soul Rend Sirocco Decomposition
.Clockwise enemy boosters Uncommon spells with a basic effect that is boosted if the target(s) has an enemy color (white > black > green > blue > red > white). Shadowbane Ether Well Kaervek's Hex Cinder Cloud Tropical Storm
Clockwise protection creatures Uncommon creatures with either Protection or an ability that protects them from one enemy color (white > black > green > blue > red > white). Melesse Spirit Suq'Ata Firewalker Barbed-Back Wurm Wildfire Emissary Karoo Meerkat
Multicolored hosers Uncommon multicolored spells that gain an advantage from their mutual enemy color. Hazerider Drake Haunting Apparition Shauku's Minion Windreaper Falcon Radiant Essence
Allied-color X-spells Uncommon nonpermanents that cost {X}MN, where MN are an allied pair of colors. Prismatic Boon Sealed Fate Kaervek's Purge Savage Twister Vitalizing Cascade
Fetch lands Uncommon lands that enter the battlefield tapped and can be tapped and sacrificed to fetch a land with one of two basic land types associated with allied colors from your library Flood Plain Bad River Rocky Tar Pit Mountain Valley Grasslands
Mega-mega cycle
Atogs Auratog (Tempest) Chronatog (Visions) Necratog (Weatherlight) Atog (Antiquities) Foratog (Mirage) Foratog is the second card of this mega-mega cycle of creatures that began in Antiquities with the eponymous Atog and continued through Tempest.
Legendary lands Kor Haven (Nemesis) Teferi's Isle (Mirage) Volrath's Stronghold (Stronghold) Keldon Necropolis (Invasion) Yavimaya Hollow (Urza's Destiny) Teferi's Isle is the first card of this mega-mega cycle of lands representing notable locations from the Weatherlight Saga storyline.
Pairs
Mirage has one matched pair and two mirrored pairs:
Matched Pair
Tranquil Domain({G}) Serene Heart ({G}) Each of these common instants costs {1}{G} . One destroys all non-Aura enchantments, and the other destroys all Auras.
Mirrored Pairs
Burning Palm Efreet ({R}) Harmattan Efreet ({U}) These uncommon 2/2 Efreet creatures, one blue and one red, both cost {2}MM and have an activated ability for {1}MM that grants or removes flying, respectively, from a target creature.
Burning Shield Askari ({R}) Zhalfirin Knight ({W}) These common 2/2 Knight creatures, one white and one red, both cost {2}M and have flanking and "MM: [This] gains first strike until end of turn".
Reprinted cards
The following cards from previous sets were reprinted in Mirage.
Boomerang Legends Chronicles
Dark Banishing Ice Age Ice Age
Dark Ritual Alpha Ice Age
Disenchant Alpha Chronicles
Divine Offering Legends Chronicles
Drain Life Alpha 4th Edition
Firebreathing Alpha 4th Edition
Flare Ice Age Ice Age
Fog Alpha 4th Edition
Healing Salve Alpha 4th Edition
Incinerate Ice Age Ice Age
Memory Lapse Homelands Homelands
Power Sink Alpha Ice Age
Ray of Command Ice Age Ice Age
Regeneration Alpha Ice Age
Sandstorm Arabian Nights 4th Edition
Stone Rain Alpha Ice Age
Functional Reprints
Bay Falcon Zephyr Falcon (4th Edition)
Dwarven Nomad Dwarven Warriors (4th Edition)
Femeref Healer Samite Healer (4th Edition)
Fetid Horror Hoar Shade (Ice Age)
Giant Mantis Giant Spider (4th Edition), save for creature type
Noble Elephant War Elephant (Arabian Nights)
Restless Dead Drudge Skeletons (4th Edition)
Walking Dead (Legends)
Wild Elephant War Mammoth (4th Edition), save for creature type
Notable cards
Cadaverous Bloom — This card allowed a player to generate large amounts of mana, frequently used in conjunction with Drain Life and famously as a part of the Prosperous Bloom combo.
Celestial Dawn — Nicknamed "bleach" by players, this enchantment made a muticolored deck into monochrome white. Counterspells, direct damage, and all the other color specialities are then available to the white player.
Grinning Totem — Taking the Jester's Cap concept one step further, the Totem not only lets you look through your opponent's library and remove a card, but then, adding injury to insult, allows you to play that card as if it were in your own hand, possibly turning your opponent's most powerful spell against them.
Hammer of Bogardan — Before the Hammer, decks based on direct damage tended to run into late-game problems of plenty of mana but no spells to spend it on. Enter the Hammer, an infinitely-reusable damage spell.
Maro — named after designer Mark Rosewater and quickly became a favorite for green creature-based decks.[15] Its concept would be revisited with Multani, Maro-Sorcerer in Urza's Legacy and Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer in Invasion. In 2005's Saviors of Kamigawa, a rare cycle of creatures based on hand size were printed with "Maro" in their names, such as Kagemaro, First to Suffer. The art was an original piece of art, depicting the so-called Green Man, which was acquired by art director Sue Ann Harkey.[16]
Political Trickery — a weapon for blue control decks against specialized lands.
Teeka's Dragon — Based on the artificial dragon made by a character named Teeka in the short story “Better Mousetrap” from the anthology Distant Planes.
Tombstone Stairwell — This enchantment makes the 1/1 creatures typical of a weenie deck more valuable in the graveyard than out. Decks built around the Stairwell are designed to swarm the opponent: first with regular creatures, and then, once the graveyard is nicely stocked, with Tombstone Zombies.
Lion's Eye Diamond — Though originally considered to be of little competitive use, this 'fixed' Mox-like mana producer became well known in the Legacy format, due partly to its interaction with Infernal Tutor, which can be cast and responded to with the activation of LED. It sees play in combo decks such as Dredge and Ad Nauseum Tendrils.
Theme decks
Night Terrors B
Burning Sky U R
Ride Like the Wind W R
Jungle Jam W R G
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