Mirage
Mirage is the ninth Magic expansion and was released in 1996 as the first set in the Mirage Block.
Set details
It was released on Magic Online on December 5, 2005. Release events began on December 7, 2005.
Mechanics
Mirage introduces the mechanics Flanking (a combat ability that gives blockers -1/-1) and Phasing (a confusing ability used as a drawback in this set).
Setting
Mirage stands apart from the rest of Magic for its African-type jungle setting.
Cycles
- Diamonds — Each diamond artifact costs
to play; comes into play tapped; and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped - Charcoal Diamond, Fire Diamond, Marble Diamond, Moss Diamond, and Sky Diamond. They were later reprinted in 6th and 7th Edition. - Legendary land mega-mega cycle — Teferi's Isle is the first card in this mega-mega cycle, which also includes Volrath's Stronghold, Yavimaya Hollow, Kor Haven, and Keldon Necropolis.
- Search lands — These lands are popular in that they allow you to search for one of two basic lands, thinning your deck at the same time: Bad River, Flood Plain, Grasslands, Mountain Valley, and Rocky Tar Pit.
- Tutor mega cycle — Mystical Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Worldly Tutor are a powerful trio of tutors. Though easily recognizable as a member of this cycle, Vampiric Tutor was printed later in Visions. Gamble completed the cycle in Urza's Saga. All five have seen competitive play at some point.
Notable cards
- Cadaverous Bloom
- Celestial Dawn — Nicknamed "bleach" by players, this enchantment made a muticolored deck into monochrome white. Counterspells, direct damage, and all the other color specialities are then available to the white player.
- Grinning Totem — Taking the Jester's Cap concept one step further, the Totem not only lets you look through your opponent's library and remove a card, but then, adding injury to insult, allows you to play that card as if it were in your own hand, possibly turning your opponent's most powerful spell against them.
- Hammer of Bogardan — Before the hammer, decks based on direct damage tended to run into late-game problems of plenty of mana but no spells to spend it on. Enter the hammer, an infinitely-reusable damage spell.
- Maro — This card was named for designer Mark Rosewater and quickly became a favorite for green creature-based decks. Once Maro is in play, each card you draw makes him more dangerous.
- Political Trickery — This card is a weapon for blue counter / control decks against specialized lands.
- Tombstone Stairwell — This card inspired new deck types, this Enchant World makes the 1/1 creatures typical of a weenie deck more valuable in the graveyard than out. Decks built around the Stairwell are designed to swarm the opponent: first with regular creatures, and then, once the graveyard is nicely stocked, with Tombstone Zombies.
Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Mirage.
- Boomerang — was last seen in Chronicles.
- Dark Ritual — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Disenchant — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Divine Offering — was last seen in Chronicles.
- Drain Life — was last seen in 4th edition.
- Fire Breathing — was last seen in 4th edition.
- Fog — was last seen in 4th edition.
- Healing Salve — was last seen in 4th edition.
- Incinerate — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Memory Lapse — was last seen in Homelands.
- Power Sink — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Regeneration — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Sandstorm — was last seen in 4th edition.
- Stone Rain — was last seen in Ice Age.
Functional reprints
- Restless Dead is a functional reprint of Drudge Skeletons.
Theme decks
The Mirage block theme decks were designed for MTGO, as these expansion sets were printed before theme decks were first printed in the Tempest block.
The pre-constructed theme decks are: Template:Theme decks