Masques Block
The Masquerade Cycle, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Masques block", is a Magic: The Gathering cycle (trilogy of expansions) that is set on the planes of Mercadia, Rath, and plane of Dominaria. It consists of the expansion sets ''Mercadian Masques'' (4 October 1999, mask), ''Nemesis'' (14 February 2000, axe), and ''Prophecy'' (5 June 2000, crystals). Mercadian Masques was the first set that is not subject to the Wizards of the Coast Reprint Policy, meaning that none of its cards appear on its Reserved List. Storyline Mercadian Masques The crew of the Weatherlight, having just escaped from Rath, is now stranded on the plane/city of Mercadia. While they find a way to return to their home plane of Dominaria, it is revealed that one of their passengers - allegedly Takara - was actually Volrath in disguise. Nemesis Former Weatherlight crew members Ertai and Crovax have been left behind on Rath, where Volrath's absence leads to chaos and a power vacuum. Greven Il ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark Rosewater
Mark Rosewater (born May 25, 1967) is the head designer for ''Magic: The Gathering'', a position he has held since 2003. Biography Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio. In his youth, he worked as a professional magician. Rosewater has described his young self as a "social outcast" whose intelligence and small size led to bullying, and he never naturally lost his baby teeth, which had to be surgically removed. Despite these difficulties, he became a successful high school student at Orange High School with numerous scholarship offers. He attended Boston University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication. Career Television After graduating, Rosewater started his career in television as a runner. He then found work as a writer. Before 1994 he was on the writing staff of ''Roseanne''.Chalk, T. (2013) ''So Do Your Wear A Cape. The Unofficial Story of Magic: The Gathering'' He is credited for two Roseanne episodes: "Vegas, Vegas" and "Take My Bike, Please", both ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Gathering: E
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mirrodin
Mirrodin is the name of the ''Magic: The Gathering'' expert-level block containing the ''Mirrodin'' (October 2, 2003, 306 cards), ''Darksteel'' (February 6, 2004, 165 cards) and ''Fifth Dawn'' (June 4, 2004, 165 cards) expansion sets. The Mirrodin expansion set, as well as the rest of the block, is centered on artifacts and was only the second set to do so (from a card frequency point of view) since ''Antiquities''. The percentage of artifact cards is much higher than in any preceding set. Each of the expansion symbols in the Mirrodin block depicts a legendary artifact: (''Mirrodin''), (''Darksteel'') and (''Fifth Dawn''). Storyline: The world of Mirrodin The setting for ''Mirrodin'' is a plane by the same name. An artificial world created by the planeswalker Karn, originally named Argentum, and named after the Mirari by Memnarch, Mirrodin's environments and inhabitants mix organic and metallic. Mirrodin is orbited by four satellites, which are called suns and moons interc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Urza Block
The Artifacts Cycle is a tetralogy of '' Magic: The Gathering'' expansion sets centered on the exploits of Urza Planeswalker. It consists of the expansions ''Antiquities'' (March 1993, anvil), ''Urza's Saga'' (October 1998, pair of gears), ''Urza's Legacy'' (February 1999, hammer) and ''Urza's Destiny'' (June 1999, Erlenmeyer Flask). The latter three sets are sometimes referred to as an "Urza block" for tournament purposes, since there have been formats and time periods in which cards from the later three sets were legal but cards from Antiquities were not. However, the books "The Brothers' War", "Planeswalker", "Timestreams", and "Bloodlines" unambiguously confirm that, from a story and thematic point of view, "Artifacts cycle" is correct and it begins with the events depicted in ''Antiquities''. Antiquities ''Antiquities'' is the second ''Magic: The Gathering'' expansion set. It was the first set to have a backstory unique to ''Magic'' that explores the mythos of the ''M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The DCI
The Wizards Play Network (WPN) is the official sanctioning body for competitive play in ''Magic: The Gathering'' (''Magic'') and various other games produced by Wizards of the Coast and its subsidiaries, such as Avalon Hill. Originally, it was known as the DCI (formerly Duelists' Convocation International) but was rebranded in 2008. The WPN provided game rules, tournament operating procedures, and other materials to private tournament organizers and players. It also operated a judge certification program to provide consistent rules enforcement and promote fair play. The DCI's name was still commonly used, however, to refer to the player registration number ("DCI number") until 2020. History The DCI was formed in late 1993, and developed ''Magic'''s first tournament sanctioning and deckbuilding rules. Over the next decades, it filled several roles in ''Magic'''s organized play. It maintained policy documents as changes were needed, addressed new questions and supported new pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Booster Pack
In collectible card games, digital collectible card games and collectible miniature wargames, a booster pack is a sealed package of cards or figurines, designed to add to a player's collection. A box of multiple booster packs is referred to as a booster box. Booster packs contain a small number of randomly assorted items (8–15 for cards; 3–8 for figurines). Booster packs are the smaller, cheaper counterparts of starter decks, though many expansion sets are sold only as booster packs. While booster packs are cheaper than starter packs, the ''price per item'' is typically higher. Booster packs are generally priced to serve as good impulse purchases, with prices comparable to a comic book and somewhat lower than those of most magazines, paperback books, and similar items. In many games, there is a fixed distribution based on rarity, while others use truly random assortments. When the distribution is based on rarity, booster packs usually contain one or two rares, depending on th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peloponnesian League
The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of ancient Greek city-states, dominated by Sparta and centred on the Peloponnese, which lasted from c.550 to 366 BC. It is known mainly for being one of the two rivals in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), against the Delian League, which was dominated by Athens. Name The Peloponnesian League is the modern name given to the Spartan system of alliances, but it is inaccurate because there were members outside the Peloponnese, and it was not really a league. The ancient name of the League was "the Lacedemonians and their allies". This is misleading as well, because Sparta could have allies outside of the Peloponnesian League. History Foundation (c. 550 BC) In its early history, Sparta expanded by conquering Laconia and Messenia and reducing their population into slavery (as helots), but the subjugation of Tegea on its northern border failed at the battle of the Fetters. Following this defeat, Sparta abandoned its military conquests ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Athenian Empire
The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece. The League's modern name derives from its official meeting place, the island of Delos, where congresses were held in the temple and where the treasury stood until, in a symbolic gesture, Pericles moved it to Athens in 454 BC. Shortly after its inception, Athens began to use the League's funds for its own purposes, which led to conflicts between Athens and the less powerful members of the League. By 431 BC, the threat the League presented to Spartan hegemony combined with Athens's heavy-handed control of the Delian League prompted the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War; the League was dissolved upon the war's conclusion in 404 BC under the direction of Lysander, the Spartan commander ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of the Persian Empire in support of Sparta. Led by Lysander, the Spartan fleet built with Persian subsidies finally defeated Athens and started a period of Spartan hegemony over Greece. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases. The first phase (431–421 BC) was named the Ten Years War, or the Archidamian War, after the Spartan king Archidamus II, who launched several invasions of Attica with the full hoplite army of the Peloponnesian League, the alliance network dominated by Sparta. However, the Long Walls of Athens rendered this strategy ineffective, while the superior navy of the Delian League (Athens' alliance) raided the Peloponnesian coast to trigger rebellions within Sparta. The precarious Peace of Nicias was si ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jamuraa
''Mirage'' was the first official block structure in ''Magic: The Gathering''. This new block structure consisted of three expansion sets and would continue for nearly two decades, finally ending with Khans of Tarkir in 2014. The new block structure also set up the precedent that the first set in the block also became the name for the entire block. Mirage block consisted of three sets: ''Mirage'', ''Visions'' and ''Weatherlight''. Storyline The story concerns three of the most powerful nations of Jamuraa (a tropical continent modeled after Africa) — the militaristic kingdom of the Zhalfirins, the religious state of Femeref, and the trading province of the Suq'Ata empire. Zhalfir was the warrior nation, based mainly on red. Femeref was mainly white, and featured clerics and healers, while the seafaring traders of Suq'Ata were mostly blue. Mirage concerned these three nations and their struggle against the evil wizard Kaervek. Kaervek has imprisoned the powerful wizard and dipl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Gathering: G
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |