Random card #5: Mind Rot

Mind rot makes your opponents discard 2 cards. It first appears in Portal and had been brought into "real" Magic with 7th Edition.



It had been printed with 3 different arts, the first from Portal has been reused many times. It's the best one, you can see that the mind of the guy is really being ripped.

In the past, famous card like Hymn to Tourach and Stupor allows you to discard 2 cards. They do it at random (partially for Stupor), so they can discard land cards in the process. We had deck who can rip an opponent's hand, thanks to powerful discard spells and Dark Ritual, which helped to play them fast.

Nowadays, effect like this is avoided, it's funnier to play against someone who can at least do something. At 3 mana, you won't take an opponent off guard, won't harm him to much. But it's modern Magic, something that is really more fun for both players.

Mind rot is a fixed version of past discard spells. It's not a powerful spell, so it's a spell that had been reprinted in every core set since 7th Edition.

You can target yourself if you want, since it doesn't say 'target opponent'. It seems silly, but it can help you to put card in your graveyard, and enable your shenanigans !

Random card #4: Royal Assassin

This creature from Alpha was edited many times in core set. It has also a JSS promo card, that was also illustrated by Tom Wänerstrand with the same style as the card that he drew in Alpha. But this time, he didn't draw a pub because that would look out of place in Modern Magic. Artists had more freedom for illustrations at the beginning of Magic The Gathering.

It can be annoying if you play him early and manage to keep him in the battlefield. If your opponent attacks, he'll lose at least one creature. If he taps a creature for mana or an ability, he'll lose it too. You can control the battlefield and play politics with other player with him. For sure, he will be targeted by your opponents. Moreover he's too fragile.

It's the kind of old card that can shine if you have specific conditions.

A blink to the past : Time spiral Multicolor cards

Let's talk now about multicolors cards from Time Spiral !

Even if there are not a big number of multicolor cards, each are quite powerful. Among them, many powerful color allied sliver which are a cycle of past cards. Among them, many powerful enchantments in a sliver form. We also have legendary creature in multicolor representing characters that has been in Magic for quite some time, but didn't have their own card. It was time for them.



Dementia Sliver
This is a card that refers to an obscur legend card : Nebuchadnezzar.
You can see that the two cards have the same cost and stat, although one is a legendary creature. 

The ability is slightly different in the fact that Nebuchadnezzar's one need you to pay X; to see X cards.

With the sliver, your opponent reveals a card at random. This can be good with many ways to have multiple sliver token.

One of the flaw from Time Spiral, is too put nostalgia on card difficult to notice like this one.

Dralnu, Lich Lord

Dralnu already appeared on a card before, but he was named Lord of the Undead (check also the flavor text). It was created to support zombies deck during planeshift among other "Lord", since the old Zombie Master wasn't good enough. It's a powerful zombie that grants flashback to sorcery and instant cards of your graveyard.

Firewake Sliver

This sliver refers to a powerful enchantment in Invasion : Fires of Yavimaya.

Ghostflame Sliver

Another reference to an enchantment, but not as known as the other. Ghostly Flame, from Ice Age helps your red and black permanents against creature with protection from colours and circles of protection. Against some white deck strategies, it could be a good sideboard cards.

Harmonic Sliver

This is another reference to an enchantment, and another powerful one from Invasion: Aura Shards. This sliver adds a 'Disenchant' to all your sliver. Beware of the fact that on the contrary of Aura Shards, the sliver don't let you the choice, you have to destroy a permanent. Don't destroy your own Æther Vial !

Ith, High Arcanist

Ith is a sorcerer that we hear about in the Dark expansion. It has built a maze (Maze of Ith), so he has a tap ability that mimics it. He also wear a wand (Wand of Ith).

Kaervek the Merciless

A character from Mirage block, a bad guy that didn't have a clear picture to show it. So the artist took Kaervek's Purge to paint it. A good creature to choose as Commander that will be annoying for all of your opponents.

Opaline Sliver

Again an enchantment that have a sliver version. This is an not well known enchantment from Mirage : Reparations. This sliver will help you to keep ahead in card while your opponents try to deal with your army of sliver.

Saffi Eriksdotter

Her name first appears on the flavor text of Lhurgoyf from Ice Age. She then had a card in Time Spiral, with a flavor text that this time refers to the old card. 

Her quote was also used in Unhinged card : "Ach! Hans, Run!"

Random card #3: Leshrac's Rite

This card is an aura that appears in Ice Age that gives swampwalk to one of your creature. The art of Ice Age is really good, it features a puppet that appears many times in the past in a few cards. It was printed again in 5th, 6th with a new art. In 7th, it also had a new card, like each card of this core set.

Landwalking is an ability often printed. It enables evasion and is quite easy to figure out.

Who's Leshrac ? He is one of the bad guy from Ice Age story apparently.

We had many aura like this, it's an incomplete cycle: Fishliver Oil, Leshrac's Rite, Tunnel and Dryad's Favor. We don't have plainswalk aura yet, since plains are hard to past without notice. Why Fishliver Oil cost 1 more more ? It's a mystery.

Maybe one day, Wizards will print a one mana version of this aura.