Dig Through Time — Saviors of Kamigawa

Today on Dig Through Time we finish up Kamigawa block with a review of—Saviors of Kamigawa. This set gave us mechanics like sweep,epic, and channel which varied from good to bad. Sweep was bad; epic, an early attempt at a legendary sorcery, was only good on two cards; channel was okay, and probably paved the way for bloodrush. One technological development in […]

#azami lady of scrolls, #descendant of soramaro, #DTT, #endrek sahr master breeder, #footsteps of the goryo, #gonti lord of luxury, #heartless hidetsugu, #hidetsugus second rite, #ideas unbound, #jace vryns prodigy, #kuon ogre ascendant, #pains reward, #queen marchesa, #reverence, #sedris the traitor king, #seizan perverter of truth, #shifting borders, #thoughts of ruin, #zedruu the greathearted, #zo-zu the punisher Read More »

Dig Through Time — Betrayers of Kamigawa

Hoooleeeee crap, it has been awhile. But! Dig Through Time is back today with a review of the second set of the infamous Kamigawa block—Betrayers of Kamigawa. This set came out 13 years ago in 2005 (can you believe that 2005 was 13 years ago?) and introduced one of the most popular, most requested aspects […]

#DTT, #enshrined memories, #heros demise, #iname as one, #kitsune palliator, #korlash heir to blackblade, #kumanos blessing, #mannichi the fevered dream, #ornate kanzashi, #patron of the kitsune, #reduce to dreams, #rosheen meanderer, #sen triplets, #sickening shoal, #skyfire kirin, #talrand sky summoner, #toshiro umezawa, #uril the miststalker Read More »

Dig Through Time — Urza's Block

Welcome back to another Dig Through Time, and I apologize for the delay between our last column and today's. Just an FYI, this series is going to become slightly more intermittent, dropping down to once a month or so for the time being, as my family welcomed my second baby on November 21st (fingers crossed […]

#anax and cymede, #arcades sabboth, #curfew, #defensive formation, #DTT, #freyalise llanowars fury, #grenzo dungeon warden, #harmonic convergence, #mark of fury, #outmaneuver, #phenax god of deception, #planar void, #purify, #radiants judgment, #saskia the unyielding, #sliver overlord, #somnophore, #sun quan lord of wu, #talrand sky summoner, #thran turbine, #wake of destruction, #zo-zu the punisher, #zur the enchanter Read More »

Dig Through Time — Onslaught

Welcome back to another Dig Through Time—I apologize for the lateness of this article. I had some computer troubles, and some issues with work and getting ready for a second child. This week we're going to check out 2002's Onslaught set. Onslaught brought back the cycling mechanic which was first introduced during Urza's Saga, and which we saw […]

#bloodline shaman, #butcher orgg, #chain of acid, #chain of smog, #death match, #derevi empyrial tactician, #DTT, #ezuri renegade leader, #glarecaster, #head games, #jhoira of the ghitu, #kaboom, #kangee aerie keeper, #nath of the gilt-leaf, #onslaught, #phelddagrif, #queen marchesa, #sen triplets, #underplayed, #walking desecration, #words of wind, #xenagos god of revels Read More »

Dig Through Time — Weatherlight

Weatherlight came out in 1997 and kicked off the famous Weatherlight Saga—which has been compared to the more recent, more infamous Gatewatch, um...not-Saga? The set had three mechanics—flanking, phasing, and cumulative upkeep; while the Saga featured such famous characters as Squee, Gerrard, Captain Sisay, Hana, Mirri, and others. Flanking saw print again with last year's Sidar Kondo […]

#abjure, #aether flash, #brion stoutarm, #call of the wild, #debt of loyalty, #DTT, #edric spymaster of trest, #gishath sun's avatar, #hurloon shaman, #infernal tribute, #inner sanctum, #mayael the anima, #mogis god of slaughter, #neheb the worthy, #sasaya orochi ascendant, #sedris the traitor king, #seshiro the anointed, #shirei shizos caretaker, #teferis veil, #tranquil grove, #urborg justice, #well of knowledge, #zur the enchanter Read More »

Dig Through Time — Nemesis

We already covered Mercadian Masques back in February. Today we're going to dig back in time to cover the second set in the Mercadian Masques block—Nemesis. Nemesis came out in 2000, and brought back Spellshapers, alternative casting costs, Mercenaries and Rebels from the previous set. Mercenaries and Rebels are still too parasitic to be very interesting, but the […]

#aether barrier, #alesha who smiles at death, #avenger en-dal, #damia sage of stone, #DTT, #flowstone slide, #fog patch, #grand arbiter augustin iv, #kill switch, #mind swords, #mogis god of slaughter, #rootwater thief, #rosheen meanderer, #selvala explorer returned, #spiritual asylum, #stronghold biologist, #stronghold machinist, #sygg river guide, #talrand sky summoner, #zedruu the greathearted Read More »

Dig Through Time — Visions

Did you know that Magic is 25 years old? You probably did. But are you familiar with very many cards more than a decade old? Maybe you aren't. Today I'm going to reacquaint you with a set 20 years in Magic's past: Visions! Visions is a small set from Mirage block that used the mechanics phasing, flanking, and cumulative upkeep. But […]

#army ants, #dark privilege, #desolation, #dream tides, #DTT, #elephant grass, #equipoise, #heat wave, #jhoira of the ghitu, #jolrael empress of beasts, #karona false god, #merieke ri berit, #mundungu, #narset enlightened master, #peace talks, #phelddagrif, #phenax god of deception, #quirion druid, #shirei shizos caretaker, #teferis realm, #The Girtrog Monster, #undo Read More »

Dig Through Time — Time Spiral

Maybe you've noticed a theme in my last two columns. First we did Future Sight. Then we visited Planar Chaos. Hm, is this a pattern? Yes, we've been doing Time Spiral block in reverse, and that means that today we're going to the past to visit the set that kicked off this crazy block. In addition to bringing […]

#ashling the pilgrim, #children of korlis, #DTT, #eight-and-a-half-tails, #foriysian totem, #fortune thief, #gaze of justice, #greenseeker, #heartless hidetsugu, #kemba kha regent, #Lunarch Marshal, #odric master tactician, #pentarch paladin, #sapling of colfenor, #selenia dark angel, #sudden death, #talrand sky summoner, #The Girtrog Monster, #thunder totem, #time spiral, #toshiro umezawa, #underplayed, #weatherseed totem, #wipe away Read More »

Dig Through Time — Planar Chaos

This week on Dig Through Time we're going to visit the alternate present of 2007 with Planar Chaos. Like the rest of Time Spiral block, this set explored the "crust" of the color pie, mining for effects that bordered on allowable in each color at the time. They weren't just pushing boundaries, though. Some of the experimentation was […]

#azami lady of scrolls, #damia sage of stone, #detritivore, #dismal failure, #dralnu lich lord, #DTT, #dust elemental, #ephara god of the polis, #frozen aether, #grand arbiter augustin iv, #isperia the inscrutable, #jhoira of the ghitu, #kor dirge, #lazav dimir mastermind, #magus of the library, #null profusion, #planar chaos, #sasaya orochi ascendant, #serendib sorcerer, #shrouded lore, #sidisi undead vizier, #toshiro umezawa, #treacherous urge, #underplayed, #voidstone gargoyle Read More »

Dig Through Time — Future Sight

Up until today's article Dig Through Time has only examined sets from Magic's past. Today I want to go to the future. That's right, I could no longer stop myself. It's finally time to talk about Future Sight! I remember cracking packs of this set back in 2007 when I was in college. I was super duper […]

#adamaro first to desire, #angus mackenzie, #bonded fetch, #brago king eternal, #bruna light of alabaster, #centaur omenreader, #chronomantic escape, #cryptic annelid, #DTT, #ertai the corrupted, #future sight, #grenzo dungeon warden, #llanowar mentor, #marrow-gnawer, #minions murmurs, #phenax god of deception, #prossh skyraider of kher, #rhys the redeemed, #sachi daughter of seshiro, #scouts warning, #shah of naar isle, #shimian specter, #shu yun the silent tempest, #stronghold rats, #underplayed, #veilstone amulet, #yixlid jailer Read More »