Visions (Magic: The Gathering)

Visions was the sixteenth The Gathering set and ninth expansion set, released in February 1997. This expansion continued the Mirage block by using the same setting and mechanics introduced in The Gathering). The expansion symbol for Visions is a V-shaped symbol, which is the "triangle of war" used by the Zhalfir in the story.

Storyline

The story continues the struggle between the nations of Jamuraa against the evil Kaervek, only now Femeref has been destroyed and Suq'Ata and Zhalfir begin to have internal problems as well. There is hope, however, when Kaervek's ally Jolrael betrays him at the urging of the planeswalker Teferi. Jamuraa's leaders, led by Jolrael's visions, free Mangara from the amber prison and begin to fight against Kaervek.

Set history

The Visions expansion originated as a split from "Menagerie" (the original name for Mirage), which had grown too large for a single set. For a brief time during its development, Visions was known by the codename "Mirage Jr." It received its final name shortly later."Codename of the Game" by Mark Rosewater, August 12, 2002

Visions was the first set to have the same name as a Magic card printed earlier: Visions, the card, was first printed in The Gathering) (1994). The card and the set are otherwise unrelated.

Visions was the first set to have a wide dispersal of pre-releases.

At the time of its release, Visions was a "first" in the release of quality cards at the common level; examples include Uktabi Orangutan and River Boa. River Boa (at that time) was considered "very good", with two abilities (Islandwalk and Regeneration) and a 2/1 power toughness at only 1G.

Visions was the start of the "speeding up" of red decks. Red decks began to get faster due to a card from Visions: Fireblast. In the late game players could now sacrifice two mountains to deal four damage to opponents. This proved to be essential as burn decks became all the rage. Decks were sporting "pure burn", essentially: four Lightning Bolt, four Incinerate, four Fireblast, which made it very easy for the red player to deal twenty damage to their opponents, or in today's colloqial, it "increased the reach" of the red player. Fireblast was also common rarity.

Visions was the last set to contain a poison creature (one that creates poison counters). The Suq'Ata Assassin is the last poison creature created by Wizards.

Wizards of the Coast started selling Visions cards for The Gathering Online on April 10, 2006. The cards became legal to use in several formats as they went on sale. Official release events were held on April 13. Wizards.com: Visions Release Events, March 28, 2006

Mechanics

Visions included many creatures that had abilities that triggered upon entering play. This meant that some creatures could now do things normally reserved to instants, sorceries, or costly activated abilities. These "comes-into-play" creatures could also combo well with cards that returned creatures to a player's hand.

While this set did not introduce any new keyworded mechanics it did continue using flanking and phasing that were introduced in The Gathering).

Notable cards

Chronatog: This curious creature looks bad at first: Skip your next turn for a temporary boost in size. But this ability was found to have benefits in a deck that established a "lock" (a situation from which the opponent cannot win) and proceeded to win the game by running the opponent out of cards. By never having another turn a player did not have to worry about "decking" him or herself after the lock was established. A deck that exploited this fact was "Stasis".
Goblin Recruiter: Like most goblin cards, this was overlooked until The Gathering) was released and the goblin deck archetype began to dominate Extended and Legacy. The card was banned in Extended until The Gathering) rotated out and is still banned in Legacy.
Nekrataal: A "187" creature that kills a non-artifact non-black creature when it comes into play. It was reprinted in both The Gathering) and The Gathering) as well as the Battle Royale box set. It is still played in both casual and tournament decks.
Man-o'-War: Another "comes into play" creature, Man-o'-War allowed blue players a measure of board control by returning a creature in play to its owner's hand.
Relentless Assault: Having only one attack phase per turn is central to Magic. Though it never saw play in competitive decks, this sorcery gives the player another attack phase, which leads to a variety of opportunities.
Squandered Resources: An innocuous-looking enchantment that lets its controller sacrifice lands in play for a quick mana boost, this card became the linchpin of the "Prosbloom" decks that used a combination of cards from Mirage and Visions to draw cards, make mana, and repeat until the player could cast a Drain Life large enough to kill the opponent.
Uktabi Orangutan: The poster "comes-into-play" creature of the set gives green players a way to destroy artifacts (which was out of green's flavor at the time) and have another creature. The card art also had what looked like two yellow monkeys in the background mating, which was poked fun at in the card Uktabi Kong from the humor set Unhinged that shows the same two monkeys in the background, one of them seemingly pregnant. The Mirrodin card Viridian Shaman is a replicate of this.
Undiscovered Paradise: This land can produce five colors of mana but returns to its owner's hand the turn after it is used. It was instrumental in allowing four- and five-color decks to dominate in 1997 and 1998.
Vampiric Tutor: With this instant, a player can grab any card from their library at any time for a minimal amount of life and mana. It enabled decks that required a specific combination of cards for victory to gain a foothold in tournament play, and also made "toolbox" decks (containing just one copy each of certain situational cards) possible. The fact that only 2 life is lost when the card is 'tutored', and that it can be played during the opponent's turn makes it almost as good, if not better than Demonic Tutor.
Suq'Ata Assassin: This was the last poison creature to be created by Wizards. It gives one poison counter when it attacks and is not blocked, and has Fear, making it more difficult to block. Another example of a poison creature with a good evasive ability is the Swamp Mosquito from The Gathering) with flying.

References

External links

Wizard's official page for Visions