Planar Chaos
Planar Chaos | |||||
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[[File:{{#setmainimage:PLC logo.jpg}}|250px]] | |||||
Set Information | |||||
Set symbol | |||||
Symbol description | overlapping planes | ||||
Design |
Bill Rose (lead) Matt Place Mark Rosewater Paul Sottosanti | ||||
Development |
Devin Low (lead) Zvi Mowshowitz Brian Schneider Henry Stern Mike Turian | ||||
Art direction | Jeremy Jarvis | ||||
Release date | February 2, 2007 | ||||
Plane | Dominaria | ||||
Themes and mechanics | Timeshifted cards, Split cards, Rebels, Slivers, Thallids, Spellshapers | ||||
Keywords/ability words | Echo, Flanking, Flash, Kicker, Madness, Morph, Split second, Suspend, Vanishing | ||||
Set size |
165 cards (60 commons, 55 uncommons, 50 rares) | ||||
Expansion code | PLC[1] | ||||
Development codename | Crackle | ||||
Time Spiral block | |||||
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Magic: The Gathering Chronology | |||||
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- For other uses, see Planar Chaos (disambiguation).
Planar Chaos is the forty-first (41st) Magic expansion and was released in February 2007 as the second set in the Time Spiral block. Prerelease Events were held on January 20, 2007.[2][3]
Set details
Planar Chaos contains 165 all new black-bordered cards (fifty (50) rares, fifty-five (55) uncommons, and sixty (60) commons), including a forty-five (45)-card "timeshifted" subset (ten (10) rares, fifteen (15) uncommons, and twenty (20) commons). The theme of this expansion is "the (alternate) present"; to fit the theme of the block ("time").[4][5] Its expansion symbol is a depiction of two overlapping planes.[6] There are no artifacts in Planar Chaos.
Timeshifted
- See also Planar Chaos/Planeshifted.
The forty-five (45) timeshifted cards in Planar Chaos (also known as colorshifted or planeshifted) represent cards being reprinted from an alternate reality. They are each functionally identical to an old card, with the crucial exception of their color (and possibly with a different creature type, or referencing a different color or land type in its abilities). Cards that were timeshifted in Planar Chaos had a slightly different border, and their title and types were written in white instead of black. In contrast to Time Spiral, they had regular colored expansion symbols.
Marketing
Planar Chaos was sold in fifteen-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack.[7] The decks and the fat pack contained a Pro Tour Players Card. The booster packs featured artwork from Radha, Heir to Keld, Jedit Ojanen of Efrava and Darkheart Sliver.[8] The prerelease card was the foil alternate art Oros, the Avenger.[9] The release card was Hedge Troll. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name, written by Scott McGough and Timothy Sanders.
The booster packs included eight "normal" commons, three "timeshifted" commons, two "normal" uncommons, one "normal" rare and one "timeshifted" rare or uncommon card (there are three times as many "timeshifted" uncommon cards than there are "timeshifted" rare cards, making it three times as likely that an uncommon will appear in this slot).
Additional art for several tokens was designed for Magic Online.[10][11]
Flavor and Storyline
Dominaria’s temporal fabric is no longer fraying at the edges — it’s ripping down the middle.[12] The time rifts have not only merged the past with the present, but also splintered the timeline into thousands of alternate histories.[13] These divergent Dominarias overlap with the known world in bizarre ways, combining the familiar with the shockingly new. Teferi, having lost his Planeswalker's spark, still struggles to mend the planar rifts before they corrode the very structure of the multiverse. With his allies Jhoira and Venser, he has already succeeded in restoring the wayward region of Shiv to its natural place in Dominaria, healing one rift. But danger awaits them as the trio attempts to teleport to Urborg: the chaos of an alternate Dominaria…[14][15]
Savor the Flavor
Title | Author | Release Date | Setting (plane) | Featuring |
---|---|---|---|---|
Time Twists and Destinies Interchange | Matt Cavotta | January 25, 2007 | Dominaria, Rath | Shikka, Talack, Mirri, Selenia, Crovax, Jedit Ojanen |
Destiny | Rei Nakazawa | February 27, 2007 | Rath | Gerrard, Crovax, Selenia, Sisay, Mirri, Starke, Tahngarth, Karn, Orim, Volrath |
Mechanics
Flash, split second and suspend were introduced in Time Spiral. Echo,[16] flanking, kicker, madness, morph are all keywords used in previous sets. Planar Chaos marked the first appearance of spells with echo costs that did not match their casting costs, as well as the first appearance of single color split cards.
Vanishing is introduced in this expansion, which works similarly to fading from Nemesis. Vanishing uses time counters to interact with suspend cards and induces sacrifice at the removal of the final counter to make the mechanic more intuitive than its predecessor.[17]
In keeping with the theme of alternate realities converging, Planar Chaos features numerous cards with abilities "usually" assigned to another color:
- White received shroud (then "This creature can't be the target of spells and abilities.") (e.g. Calciderm), regeneration (e.g. Revered Dead), countering (e.g. Mana Tithe) and returning creatures to your hand (e.g. Stormfront Riders).
- Blue received vigilance (e.g. Serra Sphinx), discard (e.g. Piracy Charm), giving creatures +X/-X or -X/+X (e.g. Shaper Parasite) and the ability to destroy creatures (e.g. Pongify).
- Black received first strike (e.g. Spitting Sliver), lifelink-like effects (e.g. Vampiric Link), control effects (e.g. Enslave), tapping creatures (e.g. Midnight Charm), and spell/damage redirection (e.g. Muck Drubb).
- Red received reach (e.g. Needlepeak Spider), trample (e.g. Battering Sliver), fear-like effects (e.g. Skirk Shaman), "pump" effects (e.g. Fatal Frenzy), returning opponent's permanents (e.g. Stingscourger) and spells that target flying creatures (e.g. Hammerheim Deadeye).
- Green received flying (e.g. Giant Dustwasp), haste (e.g. Reflex Sliver), life gain/damage prevention (e.g. Essence Warden), card-drawing effects (e.g. Harmonize) and returning creatures from the graveyard (e.g. Deadwood Treefolk).
Creature types
The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Hellion.
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Ape, Assassin, Avatar, Beast, Bird, Cat, Centaur, Cleric, Dragon, Drake, Druid, Elemental, Elf, Fungus, Gargoyle, Giant, Goblin, Horror, Illusion, Insect, Kavu, Knight, Lhurgoyf, Merfolk, Phoenix, Rebel, Rogue, Serpent, Shade, Shaman, Shapeshifter, Sliver, Snake, Soldier, Spellshaper, Sphinx, Spider, Spirit, Treefolk, Troll, Vampire, Wall, Warrior, Wizard, Wurm, Zombie.
Cycles
Planar Chaos has ten cycles and three vertical cycles:
Cycle name | |||||
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Alternate legendary creatures | Crovax, Ascendant Hero (Ascendant Evincar) |
Braids, Conjurer Adept (Braids, Cabal Minion) |
Mirri the Cursed (Mirri, Cat Warrior) |
Akroma, Angel of Fury (Akroma, Angel of Wrath) |
Jedit Ojanen of Efrava (Jedit Ojanen) |
Each of these legendary creatures is based on a legendary creature from a past set.[18][19] | |||||
Charms | Dawn Charm | Piracy Charm | Midnight Charm | Fury Charm | Evolution Charm |
Common modal instants with three options that are each illustrated by John Avon with artwork depicting a small stone framed in jewelery held in two hands. In addition, each featured an ability (regeneration, discard, first strike, trample and flying) that their color doesn't normally have.[20] | |||||
Common Slivers | Poultice Sliver (regenerate) |
Synchronous Sliver (vigilance) |
Spitting Sliver (first strike) |
Battering Sliver (trample) |
Reflex Sliver (haste) |
Each of these common monocolored Slivers grant abilities that their color doesn't normally have — Poultice Sliver (regeneration). | |||||
Magi | Magus of the Tabernacle (The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale) |
Magus of the Bazaar (Bazaar of Baghdad) |
Magus of the Coffers (Cabal Coffers) |
Magus of the Arena (Arena) |
Magus of the Library (Library of Alexandria) |
Each of these rare Human Wizard creatures has the abilities of a powerful land from the past.[21] | |||||
Spellshapers | Ghost Tactician (Scare Tactics) |
Dreamscape Artist (Harrow) |
Ridged Kusite (Guided Strike) |
Firefright Mage (Shriek of Dread) |
Sophic Centaur (Gerrard's Wisdom) |
Each of these spellshapers references an instant or sorcery that was previously printed in a different color. | |||||
Suspend X cards | Benalish Commander | Aeon Chronicler | Roiling Horror | Detritivore | Fungal Behemoth |
Each of these rare creatures has power and toughness */*, an ability defining *, "Suspend X—[mana cost including ]. X can't be 0," and a triggered ability that triggers on the removal of time counters while it is suspended that improves the game state for the definition of "*". | |||||
Vanishing creatures | Calciderm | Tidewalker | Waning Wurm | Lavacore Elemental | Deadwood Treefolk |
Each of these are uncommon creatures with vanishing. | |||||
Cycle name | |||||
Enemy-color Slivers | Necrotic Sliver (Vindicate) |
Cautery Sliver (Goblin Legionnaire) |
Frenetic Sliver (Frenetic Efreet) |
Dormant Sliver (Jungle Barrier) |
Darkheart Sliver (Dark Heart of the Wood) |
Each of these uncommon Slivers with enemy-color mana costs have abilities that mimic previous enemy-color cards. | |||||
Cycle name | |||||
Legendary Dragons | Oros, the Avenger | Intet, the Dreamer | Teneb, the Harvester | Numot, the Devastator | Vorosh, the Hunter |
Each of these rare legendary Dragons has a mana cost of MNO (where N and O are the enemy colors of M), flying, a triggered ability with a cost of M that triggers on dealing combat damage to a player, and power/toughness of 6/6.[22] The cycle is a reference to the cycle of three-colored Legendary Dragons from Invasion.[23] | |||||
Cycle name | < | < | < | < | < |
Colorshifted reprints | Malach of the Dawn (Ghost Ship) |
Piracy Charm (Funeral Charm) |
Dunerider Outlaw (Whirling Dervish) |
Prodigal Pyromancer (Prodigal Sorcerer) |
Fa'adiyah Seer (Sindbad) |
The cards referenced by each of these colorshifted cards appeared in the Time Spiral expansion's timeshifted subset. |
Vertical cycle
Cycle name | ||||
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Extortion | Dash Hopes | Phantasmagorian | Temporal Extortion | |
Each of these black spells allow a player to pay a steep cost in order to counter these powerful spells. | ||||
White Bounce | Whitemane Lion | Stormfront Riders | Dust Elemental | |
Each of these white spells are creatures that have flash and return an increasing number of creatures you control to your hand when they enter the battlefield | ||||
Red Split | Dead/Gone | Rough/Tumble | Boom/Bust | |
Each of these red spells is a split card where both spells are red, unlike other split cards where each is a different color.[24] These are the only split cards in Planar Chaos. |
Card comparisons
Notable cards
- Aeon Chronicler saw widespread play as an uncounterable card advantage machine and possible finisher in blue control decks.
- Damnation, a colorshifted Wrath of God with similar artwork giving black control decks a strong board sweeper.[19]
- Detritivore, a red card that continually would destroy non-basic lands in a Standard format filled with them. It was also used in combination with Wildfire from 9th Edition in land destruction decks, providing an able finisher.
- Extirpate, a strong card punishing Combo decks.
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, a land that turns other lands into Swamps and which saw widespread tournament play, e.g. in Extended Hexmage Depths deck.
Theme decks
The preconstructed theme decks are:[25][26]
Theme deck name |
Colors Included | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ixidor's Legacy | U | ||||
Unraveling Mind | B | R | |||
Endless March | W | R | |||
Rituals of Rebirth | W | B | G |
Trivia
References
- ↑ Mike Gills (December 21, 2009). "Time Spiral Block (TPF) Sealed Deck Tournament II". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (May 08, 2006). "Announcing Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Brian David-Marshall (January 15, 2007). "Planar Chaos Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 08, 2007). "Chaos Theory". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Rei Nakazawa (January 08, 2007). "Order and (Planar) Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (October 26, 2006). "Planar Chaos Logo & Symbol". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 27, 2007). "Fat Pack Cardbox Art". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (January 04, 2007). "Planar Chaos Booster Packaging". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (January 16, 2007). "Planar Chaos Prerelease Card". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 15, 2007). "Planar Chaos Token Art 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 22, 2007). "Planar Chaos Token Art 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Rei Nakazawa (February 05, 2007). "Flavor From the Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (January 11, 2007). "Dominaria’s Greener Alternate Pasts". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Michael G. Ryan (January, 2007) "Destiny". Magicthegathering.com, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (March 01, 2007). "Backwards Through the Looking Glass". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 12, 2007). "You Can Say That Again". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 15, 2007). "Utter Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Brady Dommermuth (January 18, 2007). "Controlled Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (March 15, 2021). "Time After Time Spiral". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (February 06, 2007). "Planar Chaos Charms". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Aaron Forsythe (January 12, 2007). "A Trip to the Library". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Blake Rasmussen (August 28, 2014). "The Dragons of Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Aaron Forsythe (January 19, 2007). "The Rebirth of Cool". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 06, 2007). "Boom/Bust Mural". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (December 14, 2006). "Unwrap the Planar Chaos Theme Decks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar (April 02, 2007). "Preconstructing Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.