Future Sight

For other uses, see Future Sight (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox expansion Future Sight is the third expansion in the Time Spiral block and forty-second Magic: The Gathering expansion. It was released on May 4, 2007, and contains 180 cards, as was customary at the time of its release for small sets, of which 81 cards are "futureshifted". The prerelease events for this set were held on April 21-22, 2007.

Set details

Future Sight contains 180 all new black-bordered cards (60 rare, 60 uncommon, and 60 commons), including 81 futureshifted cards. The theme of this expansion is "the future"; to fit the theme of of the block ("time"). Future Sight introduced a new card type: Tribal. The set also was to include one or more Planeswalker cards, but the design was not ready on time, so they were included in the Lorwyn expansion. The expansion symbol of the set is an eye, maybe looking through a rift.

Timeshifted

See also Future Sight/Trivia.

The set features 81 timeshifted "pre-prints", i.e. cards that have not been printed before but may appear in a future set, also known as futureshifted. Each of the cards features some quality that has never appeared in the game before, such as a new keyword ability (Fleshwrither), the application of a new keyword for an old ability (Thornweald Archer), or even referencing cards and card types that do not exist yet (Goldmeadow Lookout, Steamflogger Boss ). Each of these unique aspects appear on only a small number of cards, indicating that they may be more properly explored in later sets.

Additionally, most of the cards in some way reference unexplored planes, hinting at potential themes and locations for upcoming sets. The cards also feature a new "futuristic" card frame to hint at potential changes to the layout of Magic cards and to denote which cards are actually timeshifted. However, it has been confirmed that the Future Sight frame will not become the norm for subsequent sets. The new card frame sports specific type icons for different card types. If the card has a single card type, this icon indicates what it is: claw marks for creature, a flame for sorcery, a lightning bolt for instant, a sunrise for enchantment, a chalice for artifact, and a pair of mountain peaks for land. If the card has multiple card types, that's indicated by a black and white cross. This icon has no effect on game play. As with Planar Chaos, the cards have the standard colored rarity symbols.

Marketing

Future Sight was sold in 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The decks and the fat pack contained a Pro Tour Players Card. The booster packs featured artwork from Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, Tarox Bladewing and Akroma's Memorial. The prerelease card was the foil alternate art Korlash, Heir to Blackblade. The release card was Storm Entity. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name, written by Scott McGough.

The boosters contain regular numbers for rarities — that is, one rare, three uncommons, and eleven commons — but varying numbers of futureshifted cards, "somewhere between five to ten, literally".

Flavor and Storyline

The quest to mend Dominaria’s temporal and planar damage continues. A temporal rift connected to an alternate Dominaria has enabled Phyrexian horrors to cross over into the present day. Freyalise is gone, having given her planeswalker's spark and her life to close that rift, thereby protecting her sanctum of Skyshroud one last time.

But time fractures still plague Dominaria. The damage to the planar fabric at Tolaria was so severe that it couldn't be healed — not in the present day. The heroes seek out the planeswalker Karn, the only being ever to travel through time. To heal Tolaria’s rift, Karn uses the full extent of his planeswalking power to enter the rift and return to the past, to the moment before the archwizard Barrin cast a spell that obliterated countless Phyrexians and himself. Karn succeeds and seals the planar rift before Barrin’s actions can rip it open. In the next moment, Karn is lost.

Even as Venser begins to realize his full potential , the planeswalker Jeska returns to Dominaria for the first time since Karona fell. Her friend and ally Karn is gone, and someone will pay. An ancient, evil intelligence drives Jeska’s wrath and threatens to undermine Teferi and Jhoira’s efforts to complete Dominaria’s healing: Leshrac has returned.

Mechanics

Bloodthirst, convoke, cycling, dredge, graft, hellbent, scry , and transmute are all reused mechanics from previous sets.

Deathtouch, lifelink, poisonous, reach, and shroud are abilities that were formerly spelled-out on cards. In Future Sight they have been keyworded.

Future Sight introduced the following new mechanics:

• Absorb n (If a source would deal damage to this creature, prevent n of that damage.)
  • This ability has a number parameter and appears only on creatures; a creature with absorb prevents the listed number of damage if it would be dealt damage. In Future Sight, absorb appears on only one card; this card is Lymph Sliver.
• Deathtouch (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature, destroy that creature.)
  • This ability means whenever a creature with deathtouch deals damage to a creature, the latter is destroyed. The ability is long present, but only now a keyword. In Future Sight, deathtouch appears on only one card; this card is Thornweald Archer.
• Delve (You may remove any number of cards in your graveyard from the game as you play this spell. It costs 1 less to play for each card removed this way.)
  • This ability reduces the playing cost of a card with this ability by one generic mana for each card exiled as one plays it. In Future Sight, delve appears on only three cards; these card are Logic Knot, Death Rattle, and Tombstalker. Delve returned in Khans of Tarkir, as the clan mechanic of the Sultai Brood.
• Fateseal n (Look at the top n cards of an opponent's library, then put any number of them on the bottom of that player’s library and the rest on top in any order.)
  • This is an extrapolation of scry. It used to be called "evil scry." In Future Sight, fateseal appears on only two cards; these card are Mesmeric Sliver, Spin into Myth. Fateseal was later used, without the keyword, as the +2 ability on Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
• Fortify [cost] ([cost]: Attach to target land you control. Fortify only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the land leaves play.)
  • This ability appears on Fortifications, it works exactly the same as equip, but affects a land instead of a creature. In Future Sight, fortify appears on only one card; this card is Darksteel Garrison.
• Frenzy n (Whenever this creature attacks and isn't blocked, it gets +n/+0 until end of turn.)
  • In Future Sight, frenzy appears on only one card; this card is Frenzy Sliver.
• Grandeur — Discard another card named [Cardname]: [Effect].
  • Thus far, this ability word only appears on legendary creatures. When the legendary creature with grandeur is in play, it allows its controller to discard a card that has the same name for special effects. Tactically, this allows for a player to discard of extraneous copies of a card that would otherwise be useless, due to the "legend rule". In Future Sight, grandeur appears on five cards, a cycle of rare, legendary creatures, who are the descendants or successors of famed legends of Magic: The Gathering history; these card are Oriss, Samite Guardian (Orim, Samite Healer), Linessa, Zephyr Mage (Alexi, Zephyr Mage), Korlash, Heir to Blackblade (Dakkon Blackblade), Tarox Bladewing (Rorix Bladewing), and Baru, Fist of Krosa (Kamahl, Fist of Krosa).
• Gravestorm (When you play this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard from play this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
  • This ability, similar to the storm ability, copies a spell with the ability for each permanent put into a graveyard from play, rather than for each spell played. In Future Sight, gravestorm appears on only one card; this card is Bitter Ordeal.
• Lifelink (Whenever this creature deals damage, its controller gains that much life.)
  • This ability means whenever a creature with lifelink deals damage, its controller gains one life for each point of damage. Like deathtouch, the ability is long present, albeit more frequently used, but only now a keyword. In Future Sight, lifelink appears on only two cards; these card are Daybreak Coronet and Mistmeadow Skulk.
• Poisonous n (Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player gets n poison counter(s). A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.)
  • This ability means whenever a creature with poison deals combat damage (via attacking) to a player, the defending player gets X poison counters, where X is the poisonous number. Like deathtouch and lifelink, the ability is long present, albeit used in the earlier Magic sets and expansions, but only now a keyword. In Future Sight, poisonous appears on only two cards; these card are Snake Cult Initiation and Virulent Sliver.
• Reach (This creature can block creatures with flying.)
  • This ability means that a creature with reach can block a creature with flying. The keyword reach clears up many of the confusions posed by "This creature may as though it had flying." and "This creature can block as though it had flying.", ability that frequently appear on Spiders, and interactions with cards like Silhana Ledgewalker and Treetop Scout, a creature without flying that can only be blocked by creatures with flying. The ability is long present, but only now a keyword. In Future Sight, reach appears on only one card; this card is Thornweald Archer.
• Shroud (This permanent can't be the target of spells and abilities.)
  • This ability means that a permanent with shroud cannot be the target of spells and abilities. The ability is long present, but was not a keyword before Future Sight. Shround remained a keyword in Magic until Scars of Mirrodin, after which it was effectively replaced by Hexproof. In Future Sight, shroud appears on only one card; this card is Quagnoth.
• [Card type] swap [cost] ([cost]: Exchange this [card type] with a/an [card type] card in your hand.)
  • This ability allows for a player to switch a card in play with swap for a card of the same type that is in his or her hand. In Future Sight, swap (more specifically, Aura swap) appears on only one card; this card is Arcanum Wings.
• Transfigure [cost] ([cost], Sacrifice this creature: Search your library for a creature card with the same converted mana cost as this creature and put that into play. Then shuffle your library. Play only as a sorcery.)
  • This ability is "a mechanic evolution of Ravnica's transmute, except this mechanic turns a creature in play into another creature from your library rather than turning a card in hand into another card from your library." In Future Sight, transfigure appears on only one card; this card is Fleshwrither.
• Tribal a card type, which must always appear with another card type (e.g. Bound in Silence)
  • Tribal cards have a set of subtypes that are shared with creature types; Tribal cards give creature types to noncreature cards. Tribal was used in Lorwyn block, which had a major tribal theme, and it returned in Rise of the Eldrazi. It has now fallen out of favour with R&D, and is unlikely to be used again.
• [Type]cycling [cost] ([cost], Discard this card: Search your library for a [type] card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.)
  • This ability is not new, as such, as it is effectively the same ability seen in the Scourge expansion; it is, however, new in the sense that the ability can now search out cards other than lands card with a basic land type. In Future Sight, [type]cycling, in the form of Wizardcycling and Slivercycling, appears on only two cards; these cards are Vedalken Æthermage and Homing Sliver, which not only has Slivercycling, but also grants Sliver cards Slivercycling.

Cycles

Future Sight has 12 cycles and a vertical cycle:

• Augurs: Common creatures with activated abilities that require the creatures to be sacrificed (during your upkeep only). — Augur il-Vec, Aven Augur, Augur of Skulls, Emberwilde Augur, and Llanowar Augur.
• Common cyclers: Each of these common spells has cycling — Marshaling Cry, Vedalken Æthermage, Ichor Slick, Homing Sliver, and Edge of Autumn.
• Futureshifted dual lands: Rare lands that are able to add two colors of mana to their controller's mana pool — Graven Cairns, Grove of the Burnwillows, Horizon Canopy, Nimbus Maze, and River of Tears.
• Futureshifted Slivers: Common Slivers with previously unknown abilities — Lymph Sliver (absorb), Mesmeric Sliver (fateseal), Frenzy Sliver (frenzy), Homing Sliver (typecycling), and Virulent Sliver (poisonous).
• Grandeur legends: Rare legendary creatures which depict the descendant of prominent legendary creatures in Magic history. Each card also has the new mechanic "grandeur", which, when such a card is in play, allows a player to discard a card with the same name to generate a powerful effect. The cards in this cycle and their ancestors are — Oriss, Samite Guardian (Orim, Samite Healer and Cho-Manno, Revolutionary), Linessa, Zephyr Mage (Alexi, Zephyr Mage), Korlash, Heir to Blackblade (Dakkon Blackblade), Tarox Bladewing (Rorix Bladewing), and Baru, Fist of Krosa (Kamahl, Fist of Krosa).
• Magi: Wizard creatures with the abilities of an enchantment from previous sets — Magus of the Moat (Moat), Magus of the Future (Future Sight) , Magus of the Abyss (The Abyss), Magus of the Moon (Blood Moon), and Magus of the Vineyard (Eladamri's Vineyard).
• Monocolored ability lands: Uncommon lands that come into play tapped, and each have an ability that has yet to be printed on lands — New Benalia (scry), Tolaria West (transmute), Dakmor Salvage (dredge), Keldon Megaliths (hellbent) and Llanowar Reborn (graft); they also tap for one mana of the respective color.
• Pacts: Rare instant spells (comprised of Intervention Pact, Pact of Negation , Slaughter Pact , Pact of the Titan, and Summoner's Pact), each with a mana cost of but with a cost that is to be paid during the caster's next upkeep lest that player lose the game. This cycle, according to Mark Rosewater, is inspired by Unhinged's Rocket-Powered Turbo Slug.
• Recurring suspend spells: Uncommon sorcery spells each with "Suspend 3—2C" and an ability that allows them to be suspended once played (Remove ~ from the game with three time counters on it.) — (comprised of Chronomantic Escape, Reality Strobe, Festering March, Arc Blade, and Cyclical Evolution).
• Scrying spells: Each of these common spells has scry X when played — Judge Unworthy , Foresee , Putrid Cyclops, Riddle of Lightning , and Llanowar Empath.
• Spellshapers: Uncommon Spellshapers with an activated ability that creates a common creature card that is, in all but one case, from Magic's past, which are also referenced by name; the respective creatures, which each have converted mana cost of 1, that each Spellshaper creates are: Goldmeadow Harrier, Cloud Sprite, Spark Elemental, Festering Goblin, Llanowar Elves, and Metallic Sliver — Goldmeadow Lookout, Cloudseeder, Skirk Ridge Exhumer, Sparkspitter, Llanowar Mentor, and Sliversmith.
• Textless, vanilla creatures: Creatures which have no abilities and are the only cards (other than promotional cards) to have textless frames — Blade of the Sixth Pride, Blind Phantasm, Mass of Ghouls, Fomori Nomad, and Nessian Courser.

Vertical cycle

• Morph: Morph being used on each of the other permanent types, besides a creature — (in order of rarity) Lumithread Field, Zoetic Cavern and Whetwheel.

Functional reprints

Future Sight has one functional reprint and one card that is nearly so:

• Fomori Nomad is a functional reprint of Obsidian Giant from Portal Second Age.
• Barren Glory is a near functional reprint, and tournament-legal version, of The Cheese Stands Alone from Unglued.

Notable cards

• Grove of the Burnwillows, a nonbasic land that is a powerful damage engine when combined with Punishing Fire, which has been used in multiple formats.
• Bridge from Below, a strong card which would give an extra boost to the already strong Extended Friggorid deck.
• Magus of the Moon, a reprint of Blood Moon with a body, used to punish control decks that heavily rely on non-basic lands.
• Narcomoeba, which sees play in decks that dump their library into the graveyard, especially in conjunction with Dread Return.
• Riftsweeper, beside Pull from Eternity the only card at the time that could access the exiled zone and manipulate cards there.
• Sarcomite Myr was the first artifact card to require colored mana for its casting cost. It previewed the widespread use of colored artifacts that require colored mana for their casting costs in the Alara block. It also somewhat previewed Reaper King from Shadowmoor, although Reaper King, while all colors, has colored mana in its casting cost as an option. It is not, however, the first artifact card to have had a color, as Transguild Courier from Dissension, which has a casting cost of , is all colors.
• Sword of the Meek, which was completely ignored when it first came out, but eventually found itself on the Extended and Modern banned lists due to the abuse of the card with Thopter Foundry.
• Tarmogoyf — a Lhurgoyf-type creature whose power and toughness is variable, dependent on the number of different card types in players' graveyards. Due to the remarkable speed at which this creature can grow and its performance in top-tier decks, it has become one of the most sought-after cards in this set. This card foretold of the card type Planeswalker.
• Tombstalker — a rare, 5/5 creature with potential to be cast for just if you exile 6 cards from your graveyard.
• Dryad Arbor, a green creature that is also a forest land, carrying the properties of both. As a creature, it can attack and block as usual, but suffers from summoning sickness, leaving it unable to attack and unable to tap for mana the turn it's played. As a land, it isn't a spell and therefore uncounterable, can tap for one green mana (the following turn) and has no mana cost, but normal rules for playing lands still applies. It is also the only land that is actually colored. It sees a plot of play in conjunction with Green Sun's Zenith allowing that card to ramp your mana on turn one.

Theme decks

The preconstructed theme decks are: Template:Theme decks

External links

• Future Sight product information page — Wizards of the Coast
• Official Future Sight Minisite