Scars of Mirrodin

From MTG Wiki
Revision as of 14:08, 16 August 2014 by >Hunterofsalvation
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Scars of Mirrodin
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics Artifacts, Poison counters, -1/-1 counters
Keywords/​ability words Infect,
Proliferate,
Imprint,
Metalcraft
Set size 249
(20 basic lands, 101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares)
Expansion code SOM
Development codename Lights [1]

Scars of Mirrodin is the first set in the Scars of Mirrodin block. It is the 53th Magic expansion and was released on October 4, 2010. [2]

Set details

Scars of Mirrodin contains 249 cards (101 Common, 60 Uncommon, 53 Rare, 15 Mythic, 20 Basic Lands), including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set. The expansion symbol of the set is a corroding hexplate from the Glimmervoid.

Scars of Mirrodin returns to the plane of Mirrodin, previously the setting of the block and the set of the same name. [3] [4] As Mirrodin is an artificial plane, the number of artifacts and cards relating to that permanent type is larger than in other sets and mechanically reflects the themes already explored in the previous sets. [5]

The set describes the conflict between two major factions - one being Mirrodin, and the other being the invading forces of Phyrexia. Cards aligned with these two factions are watermarked, as previously seen with the Guild aligned cards in Ravnica block. The two factions are also mechanically separated, with the Phyrexians dealing largely with Poison, Infect and Proliferate, as well as sacrifice or leaves play effects, while the native Mirrans use mechanics already introduced or similar to those of the original Mirrodin set - Imprint, Indestructible, Charge Counters the new Metalcraft mechanic, as well as Mana Myr and Spellbombs. Only 40 cards of the set have the Phyrexian symbol on them. All other cards except for Basic lands and Planeswalker cards have a Mirran watermark.

Flavor and storyline

“  The corrosion begins  ”

The metal plane of Mirrodin shines under the light of five suns ... but it’s now tarnished by the deadly scourge known as Phyrexia. Besides the Mirran-Phyrexian conflict, the story also revolves around several planeswalkers. Elspeth Tirel (as a new card of the same name, Elspeth Tirel) returns while a new planeswalker by the name of Koth is introduced who appears to be of Vulshok heritage and thus would be native to Mirrodin. His card is called Koth of the Hammer, making his name an acronym of the name of the card. Venser and Tezzeret are also involved in the storyline, the former confirmed to getting a new card, Venser, the Sojourner.

Being set on Mirrodin, the expansion features themes and settings already known from that plane. For example, creature types and tribes of these such as Leonin (Cats), Vampires, Loxodon (Elephants), Elves [6], or the Human tribes of Vulshok, Sylvok, Auriok, Moriok and Neurok. [7]Artifact creatures such as Golems and Myr also return.

Marketing

Scars of Mirrodin' was sold in 16-card booster packs, 6-card boosters, 5 intro packs and a fat pack [8]. The regular boosters featured art from Elspeth Tirel, Venser, the Sojourner, Koth of the Hammer, Etched Champion and Platinum Emperion. [9] The 6-card booster featured [...]. The Mirrodin block was accompanied by only one novel: Scars of Mirrodin: The Quest for Karn, written by Robert B. Wintermute. [10]

The prerelease was on September 25–26, 2010, the launch party on October 1–3, and the release on Magic online was October 18, 2010. [11] The promotional card given to participants at the Prerelease tournaments was Wurmcoil Engine, a powerful artifact creature. [12] The Launch party event promotional card was Steel Hellkite. [13] The Buy-a-Box promo was Memoricide. [14] The Game Day promo was a full-art Memnite, the Top 8 Finish a full-art foil Tempered Steel

Regular boosters of Scars of Mirrodin come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card" or a creature token from Scars of Mirrodin or a poison counter token. One face of the Scars of Mirrodin bonus card has one of five different rules tips or is one of 9 different creature tokens or a poison counter token. The other face has one of [..] advertisements for organized play programs, community.wizards.com, Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Live and the PC, Magic Online, Magicthegathering.com, Scars of Mirrodin Intro Packs, www.wizards.com/Mirran and Wizards Play Network.

Tips & Tricks

The tips & tricks cards are

Tokens

The Scars of Mirrodin tokens in numerical order are: [15]

Mechanics

As usual, Scarrs of Mirrodin features several new mechanics. [16][17]

Infect is a new keyword that causes creatures to deal damage to other creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters, similar to Wither. However, in addition to this, cards with Infect deal damage to players in the form of poison counters. The poison mechanic was introduced in Legends but has never been strongly supported. The mechanic resurfaced in Time Spiral block with a reprint of Swamp Mosquito and the Poisonous keyword (which does not appear in Scars of Mirrodin). [18] Poison counters would be a major theme of the entire block.

A new keyword action in Proliferate works in combination with Infect. [19] When a player proliferates, he or she chooses any number of permanents and/or players with counters on them, and puts another counter of a kind it has on it. E.g. a player proliferates and chooses an opponent with a poison counter, a creature with a -1/-1 counter, a Planeswalker with loyalty counters and an artifact with a charge counter. Everyone of these entities gets another of these respective counters.

The ability word Metalcraft gives a card a bonus if its controller controls three or more artifacts. [20] Scars of Mirrodin features a new Mox named Mox Opal that has Metalcraft. The Indestructible mechanic returns with new "Darksteel"-themed cards, as does the Imprint mechanic from Mirrodin.

The only returning keyword from the original Mirrodin block was imprint, this keyword allows a player to "imprint" some card on the artifact (removing that card from the game). That artifact's effect depends on the card imprinted (for example you can imprint a creature on Semblance Anvil to reduce costs of spells that share a card type with that card).

Cycles

Scars of Mirrodin has 8 Cycles:

Reprinted cards

11 cards were reprinted from previous sets. Of these, eight had appeared previously in Mirrodin, including the cycle of Myrs. Bloodshot Trainee and Disperse were the only reprints that did not appear in the first Mirrodin block.

Functional reprint

Colorshifted

Strictly worse

Notable cards

Preconstructed decks

Scars of Mirrodin features five intro packs, four of which are bicolored and one, monocolored. [23] Template:Intro packs Template:SOM theme decks

References

  1. Mark Rosewater (December 3, 2012). "The Six-Year Plan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Wizards of the Coast (March 18, 2010). "Announcing Scars of Mirrodin". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Mark Rosewater (August 30, 2010). "Thank You Sir, May I Have Another". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Alexis Janson (October 11, 2010). "Running In Circles". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Mark Rosewater (September 13, 2010). "Something Wicked This Way Comes, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Doug Beyer (December 08, 2010). "The Nonhuman Cultures of Mirrodin". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Doug Beyer (November 17, 2010). "The Human Cultures of Mirrodin". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Monty Ashley (September 13, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Fat Pack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Monty Ashley (September 07, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Boosters". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Monty Ashley (April 25, 2011). "Mirrodin Book Releases". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Wizards of the Coast (October 5, 2010). "Magic Online Scars of Mirrodin Release Events". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Tim Willoughby (September 20, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Monty Ashley (September 30, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Launch Party Card". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Wizards of the Coast (September 22, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Buy a Box Promotion". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Monty Ashley (September 15, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Wizards of the Coast (September, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Monty Ashley (September 23, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Introductory Videos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. Mark Rosewater (September 06, 2010). "Something Wicked This Way Comes, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. Mark Rosewater (September 20, 2010). "Something Wicked This Way Comes, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. Tom LaPille (October 22, 2010). "Crafting a Metal World". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. Tom LaPille (September 10, 2010). "Myr Mortals". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. Tom LaPille (September 17, 2010). "The Promised Land". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. Monty Ashley (September 28, 2010). "Scars of Mirrodin Intro Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links