Tempest is the twelfth Magic expansion and was released in October 1997 as a standalone set, and as the first part of the Tempest block. The set continues the Weatherlight Saga on the stormy plane of Rath.
Storyline
Rath cycle
The set takes place on the stormy plane of Rath, where Gerrard and the heroes of the Skyship Weatherlight set out to find Volrath's stronghold
Mechanics and themes
The block mechanics Buyback and Shadow were introduced in this set. White, blue, and black have creatures with shadow (white Soltari, blue Thalakos, black Dauthi), while green and red have multiple methods of blocking creatures with shadow. The abilities associated with Slivers, Licids, Spikes, and flowstone were also introduced in this set. There are cycles of Slivers and Licids and one green Spike that served as a preview of sorts for the rest of the Spikes yet to appear in the block. Flowstone creatures are red.
Creature types
The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Crab, Licid, Shapeshifter, Sliver, Spike.
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Ape, Atog, Beast, Bird, Cat, Cleric, Dragon, Drake, Druid, Dryad, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Goblin, Hound, Illusion, Imp, Insect, Knight, Lizard, Merfolk, Minion, Ooze, Pegasus, Rat, Rhino, Salamander, Serpent, Skeleton, Soldier, Spider, Spirit, Treefolk, Thrull, Turtle, Vampire, Wall, Wizard, Wurm.
Cycles
Tempest has eleven cycles:
Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Circles of protection Circle of Protection: White Circle of Protection: Blue Circle of Protection: Black Circle of Protection: Red Circle of Protection: Green
Each of these common white enchantments has a mana cost of {1}{W} and the ability to prevent the all damage from a source of a given color for {1}. This cycle was reprinted from the Core Set. All Circles had similar art by Harold McNeill.[13]
Hoser double cycle Light of Day
Warmth Chill
Insight Perish
Dread of Night Havoc
Boil Choke
Reap
Each color has two uncommon cards that prey on its enemy colors.
Licids Quickening Licid Stinging Licid Leeching Licid Enraging Licid Nurturing Licid
Each of these common 1/1 Licid creatures has a mana cost of {1}M and the ability to turn itself into an aura enchantment attaching itself to a creature or back to its normal state.
Medallions Pearl Medallion Sapphire Medallion Jet Medallion Ruby Medallion Emerald Medallion
Each of these rare artifacts has a mana cost of {2} and reduce the cost of spells of a given color by {1}. Some of them have residual images from a dirty press.[14]
Common slivers Talon Sliver Winged Sliver Clot Sliver Heart Sliver Muscle Sliver
Each of these common 1/1 Sliver creatures costs {1}M and has an ability that it grants to all Slivers, including itself.
Uncommon slivers Armor Sliver Mnemonic Sliver Mindwhip Sliver Barbed Sliver Horned Sliver
Each of these uncommon 2/2 Sliver creatures costs {2}M and grants an ability which activates for {2} to all Slivers, including itself.
Cycle name {W}{U} {U}{B} {B}{R} {R}{G} {G}{W}
Gold allied-color spells Sky Spirit Lobotomy Spontaneous Combustion Segmented Wurm Ranger en-Vec
Each of these uncommon spells, one for each allied two-color combination, has a mana cost that includes both of its colors.
Nap lands Thalakos Lowlands Rootwater Depths Cinder Marsh Mogg Hollows Vec Townships
Each of these uncommon dual lands can be tapped for {C} or one mana of two allied colors; if tapped for the latter, it doesn't untap during your next untap step.
Cycle name {W}{B} {U}{R} {B}{G} {R}{W} {G}{U}
Gold enemy-colored spells Selenia, Dark Angel Dracoplasm Vhati il-Dal Soltari Guerrillas Wood Sage
Each of these rare spells, one for each enemy two-color combination, has a mana cost that includes both of its colors.
Enemy-color tap-pain lands Salt Flats Caldera Lake Pine Barrens Scabland Skyshroud Forest
Each of these rare lands comes into play tapped and can be tapped for {C} or one mana of two enemy colors; if tapped for the latter, it deals 1 damage to you.
Mega cycle
Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Retrievers Treasure Hunter (Exodus) Scrivener (Exodus) Gravedigger (Tempest) Anarchist (Exodus) Cartographer (Exodus)
Each of these 2/2 creatures returns a card of a certain type from your graveyard to your hand when it comes into play. There were four from Exodus and one from Tempest. Four out of the five were reprinted in Odyssey.
Mega-mega cycle
Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Atogs Auratog (Tempest) Chronatog (Visions) Necratog (Weatherlight) Atog (Antiquities) Foratog (Mirage)
Auratog is the final card of this mega-mega cycle of creatures that started in Antiquities with the eponymous Atog.
Pairs
Tempest has two mirrored pairs.
Matched Pair
Warmth (Tempest) ({W}) Havoc (Tempest) ({R}) Each of these uncommon enchantments costs {1}M and rewards you or punishes an opponent, respectively, when another player casts a spell of the other's color.
Scalding Tongs (Tempest) ({C}) Thumbscrews (Tempest) ({C}) Each of these rare artifacts costs {2} and deals damage to an opponent if you have a low or high number of cards in hand, respectively.
Theme decks
Tempest was the first set to be released with pre-constructed theme decks. The decks are:
Theme
deck name Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Deep Freeze W U
The Slivers U B
The Swarm W G
The Flames of Rath W R
Notable cards
Cold Storage - As written, people wondered what this card actually did with "{3}: Put target creature you control on Cold Storage". With errata, it now reads "{3}: Exile target creature you control."
Cursed Scroll - This is a powerful artifact, especially when you have 1 card in hand. This card is worth even more in the Japanese language version as its activation cost was misprinted as {2} instead of {3}.
Earthcraft - This rare green enchantment pairs with Squirrel Nest from the Odyssey Expansion for a quick way to make an arbitrarily large number of creatures.
Humility - A seemingly simple enchantment with complicated timing implications (what was played before it / after it), especially when paired with Opalescence.
Lotus Petal - This common artifact proved to be too powerful and was eventually banned from the Legacy and Extended Formats, and restricted in the Vintage format.
Tradewind Rider - This blue creature was a staple in block constructed and extended bounce decks.
Wasteland - Though strictly worse than Strip Mine, it is a staple in eternal formats where it is not restricted or banned.
Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted in Tempest from previous sets.
Armored Pegasus — was last seen in Portal.
Charging Rhino — was last seen in Portal.
Circle of Protection: Black — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Circle of Protection: Blue — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Circle of Protection: Green — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Circle of Protection: Red — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Circle of Protection: White — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Coercion — was last seen in Visions.
Counterspell — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Dark Banishing — was last seen in Mirage.
Dark Ritual — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Disenchant — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Dream Cache — was last seen in Mirage.
Enfeeblement — was last seen in Mirage.
Gaseous Form — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Giant Strength — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Gravedigger — was last seen in Portal.
Horned Turtle — was last seen in Portal.
Natural Spring — was last seen in Portal.
Needle Storm — was last seen in Portal.
Pacifism — was last seen in Mirage.
Power Sink — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Rain of Tears — was last seen in Portal.
Rampant Growth — was last seen in Mirage.
Shatter — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Spell Blast — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Stone Rain — was last seen in Portal.
Time Ebb — was last seen in Portal.
Tranquility — was last seen in 5th Edition.
Wind Drake — was last seen in Portal.
Winter's Grasp — was last seen in Portal.
Functional reprints
Tempest has five functional reprints:
Clergy En-vec is a functional reprint of Samite Healer from 5th Edition.
Pit Imp is a functional reprint of Vampire Bats from 5th Edition, save for creature type.
Rootwater Hunter is a functional reprint of Prodigal Sorcerer from 5th Edition and Zuran Spellcaster from Ice Age, save for creature type.
Skyshroud Troll is a functional reprint of Gorilla Chieftain from Alliances, save for creature type.
Staunch Defenders is a functional reprint of Spiritual Guardian from Portal, save for creature type.
Colorshifted
Tempest has one colorshifted card:
Sudden Impact is a colorshifted version of Storm Seeker from Legends (green to red).
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