Invasion
| Invasion | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Set Information | |||||
| Set symbol | |||||
| Symbol description | Coalition symbol | ||||
| Design |
Bill Rose (lead) Mike Elliott Mark Rosewater with contributions from: Barry Reich[1] | ||||
| Development |
Henry Stern (lead) Randy Buehler Robert Gutschera William Jockusch Mark Rosewater with contributions from: Brady Dommermuth Beth Moursund | ||||
| Art direction | Dana Knutson & Ron Spears | ||||
| Release date | October 2, 2000 | ||||
| Plane | Dominaria | ||||
| Themes and mechanics | Split cards, Domain, Divvy | ||||
| Keywords/ability words | Kicker | ||||
| Set size |
350 cards (110 commons, 110 uncommons, 110 rares, 20 basic lands) | ||||
| Expansion code | INV (formerly IN)[2] | ||||
| Development codename | Beijing | ||||
| Invasion block | |||||
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| Magic: The Gathering Chronology | |||||
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- For other uses, see Invasion (disambiguation).
Invasion is the twenty-first Magic expansion and was released in October 2000 as the first set in the Invasion block.[3][4]
Set details
Invasion contains 350 black-bordered cards (110 rare, 110 uncommon, 110 common, and 20 basic lands). Invasion's expansion symbol is the symbol of the coalition, a cooperative effort of Dominarian forces from all five colors banded together to oppose Yawgmoth and the Phyrexians.[5]
The set featured some legendary cards of the Weatherlight's crew: Captain Sisay and Hanna, Ship's Navigator. It also introduced the kavu. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.
Design and Development
Mark Rosewater calls Invasion the beginning of the “Third Age of Magic Design”, in which sets and blocks were designed around a specific theme rather than a collection of mechanics.[6]
The set’s primary mechanical focus was multicolored "gold" cards, absent since the Stronghold expansion. The designers used ideas from the unpublished Spectral Chaos set, designed by Alpha playtester Barry Reich. The most notable addition from Spectral Chaos was the Domain mechanic, which was nicknamed “The Barry Mechanic” at the time.[7]
Invasion was initially designed to feature both allied and enemy multicolored cards. However, it was decided that it would be much more exciting if the enemy multicolored cards were held back until the last set in the block.[8]
The set would also introduce split cards, originally designed for the canceled Unglued 2. These cards were extremely controversial within Wizards of the Coast during Invasion’s development because they were considered too strange.[9] According to Mark Rosewater, only himself, Bill Rose, and Richard Garfield initially liked them. The first development meeting for the set started with the question: “Can we just kill these things?” However, opinions turned around once people started playing with the cards. [10]
Invasion was also the first set to see a significant presence of former Pro Tour players and judges on its development team. These developers were hired to improve card balance in the aftermath of the overpowered Urza's block. For example, Randy Buehler’s first development contribution was convincing the rest of R&D that the cycle of tapped dual lands in Invasion wasn’t too powerful.[11]
Release and Reception
Split cards were not previewed before the set’s release because Wizards thought that they would have a much greater impact if they were a surprise. This strategy was almost ruined when a sheet of Invasion cards leaked early online. However, players who saw the split cards on the sheet concluded that they must be some sort of test printing and dismissed them.[12]
The popularity and appeal of gold cards and the new split cards along with a high but balanced power level culminated into making Invasion one of the most popular Magic sets in the game's history.
Storyline
As the hordes of Phyrexia begin pouring into Dominaria,[13][14] the world looks to Urza, planeswalker and master artificer, for defense against the onslaught. As entire cultures fall under the Phyrexian hell, Urza gathers heroes, renegades,[15] common folk, and powerful artifacts to fight the invasion.
Storyline sources
| Title | Author | Publishing date | Setting (plane) | Featuring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invasion | J. Robert King | October 2000 | Dominaria, Rath, Ulgrotha | Gerrard Capashen, Hanna, Sisay, Karn, Orim, Tahngarth, Squee, Dabis, Fewsteem, Urza, Barrin, Raddeus Capashen, Tsabo Tavoc, Leda Capashen, Multani, Gaea, Teferi, Benbow, Thaddeus, Agnate, Crovax (mentioned), Eladamri, Takara en-Dal, Sivvi en-Vec, Fhedusil, Molimo, Rhammidarigaaz, Jhoira, Taysir, Daria, Freyalise, Parcher (mentioned), Kristina of the Woods, Bo Levar, Guff, Tevesh Szat, Windgrace |
| Invasion | Scott McGough & Kev Walker | November 2000 | Dominaria, Rath | Gerrard Capashen, Orim, Sisay, Hanna, Squee, Karn, Tahngarth |
Marketing
Invasion was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Captain Sisay, Dromar, the Banisher, and Kavu Titan. At Invasion prerelease events on September 23, 2000, a foil Kavu Furens was handed out as a novelty. This was a Raging Kavu printed with Latin text. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.
Tokens
Several tokens for Invasion cards were offered as Magic Player Reward.[16]
1/1 Saproling creature (for Verdeloth, the Ancient, Rith, the Awakener, Aura Mutation, Artifact Mutation, Saproling Symbiosis, Saproling Infestation)- 3/3 Elephant creature (for Assault//Battery)
1/1 Bird creature with Flying (for Ordered Migration)
Mechanics
Invasion introduced the following mechanics:[17]
- Domain — cards which increase in power depending on the number of different basic lands you have in play.
- Divvy — Phyrexian Portal from Alliances was the inspiration for this mechanic which a player separates several cards into two piles and the other player chooses what to do with them.
- Kicker — pay an extra cost for a bonus effect. Invasion's five-colored Coalition Symbol, or at least part of it, is buried in the art of most cards with the kicker ability.[18][19]
- Split cards — cards with two sides, each with different costs and effects respectively, effectively serving as modal spells.
Creature types
The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Kavu, Plant.
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Assassin, Barbarian, Bird, Cat, Cleric, Crab, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Dryad, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Goblin, Golem, Guardian (later changed to Soldier), Griffin, Horror, Knight, Leech, Lord (later changed to Elf), Merfolk, Minion, Mongoose, Rat, Serpent, Shade, Ship (later changed to Metathran), Skeleton, Soldier, Specter, Spider, Treefolk, Troll, Unicorn, Wall, Wizard, Wurm, Zombie.
Cycles
Invasion has 25 cycles:
| Cycle name | 
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Djinn | Ruham Djinn | Zanam Djinn | Goham Djinn | Halam Djinn | Sulam Djinn |
| Each of these uncommon djinn gets weaker if their color is the most common or tied for the most common color among all permanents. | |||||
| Leeches | Alabaster Leech | Sapphire Leech | Andradite Leech | Ruby Leech | Jade Leech |
| Each of these rare leeches is aggressively costed but with the drawback that all colored spells of its color that you play cost an additional mana of that color. | |||||
| Forward-Allied-color activated ability creatures | Glimmering Angel | Metathran Zombie | Firescreamer | Viashino Grappler | Llanowar Cavalry |
| Each of these common creatures has an activated ability that requires colored mana from the next color in the color wheel ( requires , requires , etc.).
| |||||
| Backward-Allied-color activated ability creatures | Rampant Elephant | Tower Drake | Urborg Phantom | Hooded Kavu | Serpentine Kavu |
| Each of these common creatures has an activated ability that requires colored mana from the previous color in the color wheel ( requires , requires , etc.).
| |||||
| Allied-color plus Tapping activated ability creatures | Benalish Heralds | Vodalian Hypnotist | Trench Wurm | Firebrand Ranger | Treefolk Healer |
Each of these uncommon creatures has an activated ability that requires colored mana from the next color in the color wheel ( requires , requires , etc.) plus  .
| |||||
| Colorless-Kicked Creatures | Ardent Soldier | Vodalian Serpent | Urborg Skeleton | Kavu Aggressor | Pincer Spider or Llanowar Elite |
| Each of these common creatures had one ability plus it could come into play with extra +1/+1 counters if you paid its colorless kicker cost. | |||||
| Same-Color-Kicked Creatures | Benalish Lancer or Prison Barricade |
Faerie Squadron | Duskwalker | Pouncing Kavu | Kavu Titan |
| Each of these common creatures could come into play with extra +1/+1 counters plus a color-appropriate ability if you paid its same-color kicker cost. Green stands out by having its creature be rare. | |||||
| Emissaries | Benalish Emissary (Benalia) |
Tolarian Emissary (Tolaria) |
Urborg Emissary (Urborg) |
Shivan Emissary (Shiv) |
Verduran Emissary (Verdura) |
Representing one of Dominaria's signature locations, each of these uncommon human wizards has a converted mana cost of  and an allied-color kicker cost that provides an enter-the-battlefield ability that either destroys one of an opponent's permanents or returns it to its owner's hand. The kicker costs go backward in the color wheel ( gets a kicker cost, gets a kicker cost, etc.).
| |||||
| Domain Spells | Strength of Unity | Worldly Counsel | Exotic Curse | Tribal Flames | Wandering Stream |
| Each of these common spells has the Domain ability, making them scale in effectiveness with the number of different basic land types the player controls. | |||||
| Auras with Self-Bounce | Shackles | Shimmering Wings | Mourning | Crown of Flames | Whip Silk |
| Each of these common enchant creatures includes the following activated ability: "M: Return [cardname] to its owner's hand". | |||||
| Kicked Spells | Orim's Touch | Prohibit | Hypnotic Cloud | Overload | Explosive Growth |
| Each of these common spells (instants or sorceries) did something traditionally associated with its color and did more of it if you paid its colorless kicker cost. | |||||
| Allied kicker costs Spells | Dismantling Blow | Probe | Agonizing Demise | Savage Offensive | Vigorous Charge |
| Each of these common spells (either instants or sorceries) had a kicker cost requiring a colored mana from the next color in the color wheel ( requires , requires , etc.).
| |||||
| Instant sorceries | Rout | Breaking Wave | Twilight's Call | Ghitu Fire | Saproling Symbiosis |
Each of these rare sorceries could be played any time you could play an instant for an extra cost of  .
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| Cycle name |
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| Allied-color two-mana 2/2 creatures | Galina's Knight (Knight/Merfolk) |
Vodalian Zombie (Merfolk/Zombie) |
Shivan Zombie (Zombie/Barbarian) |
Yavimaya Barbarian (Barbarian/Elf) |
Llanowar Knight (Elf/Knight) |
| Each of these 2/2 common multicolored creatures has a mana cost comprised of two allied colors, a converted mana cost and protection from their enemy color. Each shares one creature type with two other cards in the cycle based on its colors. This cycle forms a ten-card mega-cycle with the corresponding enemy-color two-drop cycle from Apocalypse. This cycle is sometimes nicknamed the "Invasion bears" after Grizzly Bears, the archetypal 2/2 2-drop.
| |||||
| Allied-color gold Spells | Wings of Hope | Recoil | Plague Spores | Frenzied Tilling | Armadillo Cloak |
| Each of these common spells has a mana cost with two allied colors of mana. | |||||
| Allied-color gold Enchantments | Angelic Shield | Seer's Vision | Smoldering Tar | Fires of Yavimaya | Sterling Grove |
| Each of these uncommon enchantments has a static or triggered ability and an activated sacrifice effect. | |||||
| Allied-color Split cards | Stand // Deliver | Spite // Malice | Pain // Suffering | Assault // Battery | Wax // Wane |
| Each of these split cards is made up of two spells, each of which is an allied color to the other. | |||||
| Cameos | Seashell Cameo | Drake-Skull Cameo | Bloodstone Cameo | Troll-Horn Cameo | Tigereye Cameo |
| Each of these uncommon artifacts costs and can be tapped for one mana of any two allied colors.
| |||||
| Taplands | Coastal Tower | Salt Marsh | Urborg Volcano | Shivan Oasis | Elfhame Palace |
| Each of these dual lands comes into play tapped and can be tapped for one mana of any two allied colors. These lands were initially not in the set early in its design. Developer Randy Buehler had to convince the rest of the team that they weren’t too powerful to print into Standard.[20] | |||||
| Cycle name |
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| Apprentices | Sunscape Apprentice | Stormscape Apprentice | Nightscape Apprentice | Thunderscape Apprentice | Thornscape Apprentice |
| Each of these common 1/1 wizards has two minor activated abilities with allied-color costs. This cycle forms a ten-cards mega-cycle with the Disciples from Apocalypse. | |||||
| Masters | Sunscape Master | Stormscape Master | Nightscape Master | Thunderscape Master | Thornscape Master |
| Each of these rare 2/2 wizards has two powerful activated abilities with allied-color costs. | |||||
| Weavers | Spirit Weaver | Sky Weaver | Hate Weaver | Rage Weaver | Might Weaver |
| Each of these uncommon 2/1 wizards has an activated ability that costs and can only target creatures of its allied colors to give them a bonus. This cycle was reprinted in Tenth Edition.[21]
| |||||
| Attendants | Treva's Attendant | Dromar's Attendant | Crosis's Attendant | Darigaaz's Attendant | Rith's Attendant |
Each of these uncommon 3/3 Golem artifact creatures costs  and has " , Sacrifice this creature: Add MNO", where M, N, and O are mana of colors that help to cast one of the legendary dragons.
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| Legendary Dragons | Treva, the Renewer | Dromar, the Banisher | Crosis, the Purger | Darigaaz, the Igniter | Rith, the Awakener |
Each of these rare 6/6 legendary dragons has converted mana cost  that include 3 allied colors, flying, and a triggered ability with a cost of M (M being the middle color of the casting cost) that triggers on dealing combat damage to a player. These are the primeval dragons of the Invasion storyline (introduced in Planeshift (novel)).
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| Sac lands | Irrigation Ditch | Ancient Spring | Sulfur Vent | Geothermal Crevice | Tinder Farm |
| Each of these common triple lands come into play tapped, can be tapped for one mana of a given color, or tapped and sacrificed for one of each of that color's allied colors. | |||||
Mega Vertical cycles
| Cycle name | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunscape Wizards | Sunscape Apprentice | Sunscape Battlemage | Sunscape Master |
| White Wizards with two allied-color costs abilities. | |||
| Stormscape Wizards | Stormscape Apprentice | Stormscape Battlemage | Stormscape Master |
| Blue Wizards with two allied-color costs abilities. | |||
| Nightscape Wizards | Nightscape Apprentice | Nightscape Battlemage | Nightscape Master |
| Black Wizards with two allied-color costs abilities. | |||
| Thunderscape Wizards | Thunderscape Apprentice | Thunderscape Battlemage | Thunderscape Master |
| Red Wizards with two allied-color costs abilities. | |||
| Thornscape Wizards | Thornscape Apprentice | Thornscape Battlemage | Thornscape Master |
| Green Wizards with two allied-color costs abilities. | |||
Mega-mega cycles
| Cycle name |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legendary lands | Kor Haven (Nemesis) | Teferi's Isle (Mirage) | Volrath's Stronghold (Stronghold) | Keldon Necropolis (Invasion) | Yavimaya Hollow (Urza's Destiny) |
| Keldon Necropolis is the final card in this mega-mega cycle of lands representing notable locations from the Weatherlight Saga storyline. | |||||
Pairs
Invasion has four mirrored pairs and two matched pairs.
Mirrored Pairs
| Mirrored Pairs | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Crusading Knight ( )
|
Marauding Knight ( )
|
Each of these rare 2/2 knight creatures costs MM, has protection from the other's color, and gets +1/+1 for each land of a certain type (Swamps or Plains respectively) your opponents control.
|
| Canopy Surge ( )
|
Breath of Darigaaz ( )
|
These two mana sorceries deal 1 damage to each creature (either with or without flying) and player, or 4 damage if the kicker cost of was paid.
|
| Absorb ( )
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Undermine ( )
|
Each of these rare counterspells costs UUM and has the additional effect of causing a change in 3 life. |
| Artifact Mutation ( )
|
Aura Mutation ( )
|
Each of these rare instants sharing a cost destroys an artifact or enchantment (respectively) and then puts X Saproling tokens into play equal to the converted mana cost of the destroyed artifact or enchantment. Their flavor texts are by the two maro-sorcerers (Molimo and Multani).
|
Matched Pairs
| Matched Pairs | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Crimson Acolyte ( )
|
Obsidian Acolyte ( )
|
Each of these common 1/1 Cleric creatures costs , has protection from one of white's enemy colors (Red or Black, respectively), and has an activated ability for that allows it to grant any target creature protection from the same enemy color. Even the flavor text is parallel.
|
| Phyrexian Slayer ( )
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Phyrexian Reaper ( )
|
Each of these common black creatures has an ability that says whenever this creature is blocked by a creature of one of black's enemy colors (White or Green, respectively), that creature is destroyed and can't be regenerated. |
Reprinted cards
The following 20 cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Invasion.
- Angel of Mercy — was last seen in Starter 1999.
- Blinding Light — was last seen in Starter 1999.
- Crown of Flames — was last seen in Tempest.
- Cursed Flesh — was last seen in Exodus.
- Disrupt — was last seen in Weatherlight.
- Fertile Ground — was last seen in Battle Royale.
- Harrow — was last seen in Tempest.
- Holy Day — was last seen in Legends.
- Lobotomy — was last seen in Tempest.
- Maniacal Rage — was last seen in Battle Royale.
- Phantasmal Terrain — was last seen in 6th Edition.
- Quirion Elves — was last seen in Mirage.
- Ravenous Rats — was last seen in Starter 1999.
- Reckless Spite — was last seen in Tempest.
- Shackles — was last seen in Exodus.
- Shimmering Wings — was last seen in Tempest.
- Simoon — was last seen in Visions.
- Soul Burn — was last seen in Ice Age.
- Stun — was last seen in Tempest.
- Tranquility — was last seen in Battle Royale.
Functional reprints
Invasion has eleven functional reprints:
- Ancient Kavu is a functional reprint of Raging Spirit from Mirage, save for creature type.
- Benalish Trapper is a functional reprint of Master Decoy from Tempest.
- Horned Cheetah is a functional reprint of Zebra Unicorn from Mirage, save for creature type.
- Hunting Kavu is a functional reprint of Giant Trap Door Spider from Ice Age, save for creature type.
- Metathran Transport is a functional reprint of Fylamarid from Tempest, save for creature type.
- Metathran Zombie is a functional reprint of Drowned from The Dark.
- Phyrexian Battleflies is a functional reprint of Pit Imp from Tempest and Vampire Bats from Legends, save for creature type.
- Razorfoot Griffin is a functional reprint of Ekundu Griffin from Mirage.
- Teferi's Care is a functional reprint of Arenson's Aura from Ice Age.
- Urborg Shambler is a functional reprint of Stronghold Taskmaster from Stronghold, save for creature type.
- Vodalian Merchant is a functional reprint of Merfolk Traders from Weatherlight.
Misprint
- The prerelease version of Raging Kavu shows a copyright line of 1993–1999, and is the only Invasion card to have these dates; Invasion was released in late 2000.
Notable cards
- Absorb — A staple in legacy Blue/White Control.
- Artifact Mutation — Vintage anti-artifact.
- Assault//Battery — The first split card ever created by R&D. Originally made as a one-off for the canceled Unglued 2 set, where it was called Hit//Run. Eventually, it was expanded to an allied-color cycle before being moved to Invasion.
- Dueling Grounds
- Fact or Fiction — A powerful blue draw spell.
- Fires of Yavimaya
- Sabertooth Nishoba
- Urza's Rage
- Tribal Flames — A staple in legacy five color zoo.
Preconstructed decks
Invasion has four theme decks.
| Theme deck name |
Colors Included | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Dismissal | U | B | |||
| Blowout | B | R | |||
| Heavy Duty | W | G | |||
| Spectrum | W | U | B | R | G |
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 8, 2003). "Red Letter Day". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 02, 2004). "Ask Wizards - August, 2004". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 08, 2005). "Body Snatchers of the Invasion". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Bill Rose (August 09, 2005). "Setting the Standard". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06.
- ↑ Brady Dommermuth (October 02, 2006). "Ask Wizards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark - “Stages of Design” (August 12, 2024) - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/stages-of-design
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark. “Drive to Work: Invasion”. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/drive-work-podcast-archive-2013-08-09-0
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark. “Drive to Work: Invasion”. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/drive-work-podcast-archive-2013-08-09-0
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark. “Drive to Work: Invasion”. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/drive-work-podcast-archive-2013-08-09-0
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark. ”The History of Two-in-Ones”. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/the-history-of-two-in-ones-part-1
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark - Drive to Work Podcast #797: Randy Buehler - https://player.fm/series/magic-the-gathering-drive-to-work-podcast
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark. “Drive to Work: Invasion”. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/drive-work-podcast-archive-2013-08-09-0
- ↑ Mike Mikaelian (April 04, 2011). "Better Living Through Spinal Replacement". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (August 11, 2005). "Invasion Style Guide: Phyrexian Portal Ships". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (August 09, 2005). "Invasion Style Guide: Gerrard's Troops". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (May 27, 2002). "Player Rewards tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09.
- ↑ Invasion Frequently Asked Questions
- ↑ Magic Arcana (February 14, 2002). "Kicker - sacrifice land". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Magic Arcana (March 17, 2003). "Colorless kicker". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Rosewater, Mark - Drive to Work Podcast #797: Randy Buehler - https://player.fm/series/magic-the-gathering-drive-to-work-podcast
- ↑ Magic Arcana (August 01, 2007). "Five Weavers Weaving". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21.