Onslaught

Onslaught

 

Theme decks

 

For other uses, see Onslaught (disambiguation).

Onslaught
[[File:{{#setmainimage:ONS logo.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	A four-legged (in-game face-down) morphed creature
Design	Mike Elliott (lead), Mike Donais
Development	Randy Buehler (lead), Elaine Chase, Mike Donais, Brian Schneider, Henry Stern, Worth Wollpert
Art direction	Jeremy Cranford & Dana Knutson
Release date	October 7, 2002
Plane	Dominaria (Otaria)
Themes and mechanics	"Cost matters", "Creature type matters", Cycling triggers, Gustcloak, Mistform
Keywords/​ability words	Cycling, Fear, Morph
Set size	350 cards (110 commons, 110 uncommons, 110 rares, 20 basic lands)
Expansion code	ONS
Development codename	Manny
Onslaught block
Onslaught Legions Scourge
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Judgment Onslaught Legions

Onslaught is the first set (and the only large expansion) in the Onslaught block. It is the 27th Magic: The Gathering expansion and was released on October 7, 2002. The prerelease was September 28–29, 2002.

Set details

Onslaught, like its following expansions in the Onslaught block, Legions and Scourge, featured a theme that focused heavily on "tribal" cards, or cards that are concerned with creature types. In the initial design for the set, the Typal theme was only a very small subset of cards. However, as time went on, the team ramped up the theme until it became the main selling point of the set.

The set contains 350 black-bordered cards (110 rare, 110 uncommon, 110 common, and 20 basic lands). Onslaught's expansion symbol is a stylized morphed creature.

Marketing

Onslaught was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The packs featured artwork from Jareth, Leonine Titan, Arcanis the Omnipotent, Grinning Demon, Blistering Firecat and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa. The prerelease card was a foil Silent Specter. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.

Flavor and storyline

A continuation of the storyline developed in the Odyssey Cycle, Onslaught and the Onslaught Cycle are set on the continent of Otaria on the devastated plane of Dominaria, approximately a century after the events of Apocalypse of the Invasion block. Kamahl has relocated to the Krosan Forest with the Mirari and becomes a druid of Krosa. The power of the Mirari begins to work on the forest, mutating its residents and growing some of them to gigantic proportions. Meanwhile, Kamahl's sister Jeska is transformed by foul Cabal healing magic, into Phage, a pit fighter whose touch brings death. The illusionist Ixidor discovers his new powers of reality sculpting. Ixidor uses his new power to create the angel Akroma.

Tokens

Several tokens for Onslaught cards were offered as Magic Player Rewards.

• 5/5 Dragon with Flying for Dragon Roost
• 1/1 Soldier for Mobilization
• 1/1 Insect for Symbiotic Beast et al.
• 2/2 Bear for Words of Wilding

Because Magic Online needs to represent all the tokens in the game, art needs to be created for even the most insignificant tokens. For those, Magic Online is the only place it appears.

Themes and mechanics

Advertisement teasing the morph mechanic

Themes

Tribal and creature types were a prominent theme in the Onslaught block. Some creature types bled into colors other than their normal colors (e.g., Festering Goblin, a black, non-red Goblin), for more design space and variety.

Creature subtype	Tribe name	Primary colors	Secondary colors
Beast
Birds	Aven (in white and blue only) Birds
Clerics
Dragons
Elves
Goblins
Illusions	Mistform (or Mimics)
Soldiers
Wizards
Zombies

Numerous cards with creature classes, as opposed to species or race ones, such as the Cleric, Soldier, and Wizards creature types, were retroactively given additional (species or race) creature types during the Grand Creature Type Update to be more consistent with the "race-class model". In most of these cases, the additional creature type was Human. This, by and large, did not cause significant changes to this expansion or block. In 2002, a poll conducted on MTG.com showed that a majority of respondents were opposed to the idea of Human as a creature type.

Dragons have a small presence in Onslaught, with the only Dragon creature cards being Quicksilver Dragon and Rorix Bladewing (and an additional one enchantment dragon-creature-token-creating card in Dragon Roost). Dragons would go on to form a theme in Scourge, the third Onslaught block expansion.

In addition to the tribal theme, Onslaught features a number of cards, such as Erratic Explosion, that foreshadow the "cost matters" theme that is more fully explored in Scourge.

Mechanics

Onslaught reintroduced the static keyword ability cycling and featured a number of mechanics, some of which were novel, including:

• Fear: a keyword static ability of an established ability, fear, named after Fear, the Limited Edition aura card, and first card, that conferred or featured this ability, means "This creature can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.".
• Gustcloak: a non-keyword triggered ability that allows the controller of a blocked creature with the ability to remove the creature from combat, thereby preventing all combat damage that would be dealt to and by it, similar to the effect of Maze of Ith.
• Lords: any card with an activated ability whose cost includes the tapping of a creature that shares a creature type with the lord (i.e., Ancestor's Prophet, Aphetto Grifter, Birchlore Rangers, Catapult Master, Catapult Squad, Crookclaw Elder, Gravespawn Sovereign, Shieldmage Elder, Skirk Fire Marshal, Spurred Wolverine, Supreme Inquisitor, Voice of the Woods, and Legions' Keeper of the Nine Gales). Cards somewhat similar to lords are Cryptic Gateway and Gangrenous Goliath, which, although they forward the tribal theme, do not tap creatures that share a creature subtype with the card itself.
• Morph: a static ability that allows the controller of a card with the morph ability to cast the card face-down as a 2/2 creature with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and no mana cost. The ability was pitched by the rules team and inspired by a rules fix they had made to a pair of cards from Alpha: Illusionary Mask and Camouflage.
• Saboteurs: any creature card with a "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player" triggered ability.
• Self-recruiters: any card with an enters-the-battlefield triggered ability that allows its controller to search for a similarly named card, reveal it, and put it into their hand.
• Cycling: originally conceived during Tempest design as "sliding" and first featured in Urza's Saga, was brought back from abeyance for reasons including "nostalgia", "exposing new[er] players [to older mechanics]", "[exploring] new twists [to the old mechanic]", "interaction with other mechanics", and "conservation of design space". To expand on cycling, a number of cards with cycling triggers, such as Astral Slide and Lightning Rift, and a number of cards with cycling and abilities that trigger when they are cycled, such as Death Pulse and Krosan Tusker, were featured in Onslaught.

Creature types

The creature types Pangolin (retroactively) and Mutant were introduced in Onslaught. The creature type Lord was used in this expansion at the time of printing but was later removed.

Cycles

Onslaught features 13 cycles.

Cycle name
Avatars	Doubtless One (Clerics)	Nameless One (Wizards)	Soulless One (Zombies)	Reckless One (Goblins)	Heedless One (Elves)
	Each of these */* uncommon Avatar creature cards has an power/toughness-defining ability, which is dependent on the number of creatures that share a type with the Avatar in play (and, in the case of Soulless One, the number of creature cards that share a type with it in all graveyards).
Chain spells	Chain of Silence	Chain of Vapor	Chain of Smog	Chain of Plasma	Chain of Acid
	Each of these uncommon spells, inspired by Chain Lightning and Chain Stasis, may be copied by the player affected by the spell or the controller of the permanent affected by the spell.
Charms	Piety Charm (Soldiers)	Trickery Charm	Misery Charm (Clerics)	Fever Charm (Wizards)	Vitality Charm (Beasts)
	Each of these common instant spells with mana cost M has three modes, at least one of which was related to one of the main tribes of the expansion.
Crowns	Crown of Awe	Crown of Ascension	Crown of Suspicion	Crown of Fury	Crown of Vigor
	Each of these common auras costing 1M confers an ability and may be sacrificed to grant that ability to all creatures that share a type with the (formerly) enchanted creature until end of turn.
Couriers	Pearlspear Courier (Soldiers)	Ghosthelm Courier (Wizards)	Frightshroud Courier (Zombies)	Flamestick Courier (Goblins)	Everglove Courier (Elves)
	Each of these uncommon 2/1 creature cards costing 2M has a static ability allowing their controllers to not untap them during their controllers' untap step and an activated ability that may provide a creature that shares a creature type with the Courier with +2/+2 and an ability common to the Courier's color as long as the Courier remains tapped.
Cycling lands	Secluded Steppe	Lonely Sandbar	Barren Moor	Forgotten Cave	Tranquil Thicket
	Each of these common nonbasic lands enters the battlefield tapped and may be tapped for M or may be cycled for M.
Cycling spells	Sunfire Balm	Complicate	Death Pulse	Slice and Dice	Primal Boost
	Each of these uncommon spells may be cycled for an effect that is similar to their original effect, albeit at a smaller size.
Cycling trigger permanents	Astral Slide	Fleeting Aven	Withering Hex	Lightning Rift	Invigorating Boon
	Each of these uncommon permanent cards has a triggered ability that triggers whenever a player cycles a card. Two of these, Astral Slide and Lightning Rift, were centerpieces of the Astral Slide deck.
Legendary pit-fighter champions	Jareth, Leonine Titan	Arcanis the Omnipotent	Visara the Dreadful	Rorix Bladewing	Silvos, Rogue Elemental
	Each of these powerful rare legendary creature cards costs MMM.
Lords	Ancestor's Prophet (Clerics) Catapult Master (Soldiers)	Supreme Inquisitor (Wizards)	Gravespawn Sovereign (Zombies)	Skirk Fire Marshal (Goblins)	Voice of the Woods (Elves)
	Each of these rare (formerly Lord) creature cards has an activated ability to tap five creatures (and/or, later, other permanents) of a given creature (or tribal) subtype for a potent effect.
Tribal lands	Daru Encampment (Soldiers)	Riptide Laboratory (Wizards)	Unholy Grotto (Zombies)	Goblin Burrows (Goblins)	Wirewood Lodge (Elves)
	Each of these lands may be tapped for or tapped and activated for an ability related to one of the main tribes of the expansion. Five require only one color of mana, whilst three, Contested Cliffs for Beasts, Seaside Haven for Birds, and Starlit Sanctum for Clerics, require two colors of mana to activate their non-mana-producing ability. Furthermore, Starlit Sanctum is notable for having two non-mana-producing activated abilities.
Words	Words of Worship	Words of Wind	Words of Waste	Words of War	Words of Wilding
	Each of these rare enchantments may be activated for to allow their controller to replace the next draw in exchange for an effect. The flavor texts reference a guiding philosophy for each color, and how the respective enemy colors oppose that philosophy.
Cycle name
Allied-colored fetch lands	Flooded Strand	Polluted Delta	Bloodstained Mire	Wooded Foothills	Windswept Heath
	Each of these rare lands has an activated ability costing 1 life and the tapping and sacrifice of the land to search for a land with either or both of two basic land types corresponding to the colors of an allied color pair.

Vertical cycles

Cycle name
Symbiotic creatures	Symbiotic Elf	Symbiotic Beast	Symbiotic Wurm
	Each of these green creatures has a triggered ability that triggers when the creature dies. The ability allows the creatures' controllers to put a number of green 1/1 Insect creature tokens into play equal to the printed power of the creature.
"Cost matters" cards	Erratic Explosion	Goblin Machinist	Kaboom!
	Each of these red spells has an ability that reveals cards from the top of its controller's library until a nonland card is revealed and has a scalable effect that is dependent on the converted mana cost of the nonland card revealed.

Pairs

Onslaught has one mirrored pair.

Mirrored Pairs		Description
Disciple of Grace ()	Disciple of Malice ()	Common Clerics with a mana cost of M, power/toughness of 1/2, cycling and protection from the other's color.

Reprinted cards

• Clone, First printed in Alpha, last seen in Revised Edition. Reprinted as a classic creature.
• Disciple of Grace, first printed in Urza's Saga
• Elven Riders, first printed in Legends, last seen in 6th Edition
• Lay Waste, first printed in Urza's Saga
• Meddle, first printed in Mirage
• Pacifism, first pinted in Mirage, last seen in 7th Edition
• Shock, first printed in Stronghold, last seen in 7th Edition
• Swat, first printed in Urza's Legacy
• Syphon Soul, first printed in Legends, last seen in 6th Edition
• Taunting Elf, first printed in Urza's Destiny

Functional reprints

• Elvish Scrapper, functional reprint of Scavenger Folk (The Dark) except for creature-type
• Glory Seeker, functional reprint of Fresh Volunteers (Mercadian Masques) and Knight Errant (Portal) except for creature-type
• Goblin Sky Raider, functional reprint of Bird Maiden (Arabian Nights) except for creature-type
• Goblin Sledder, functional reprint of Mogg Raider (Tempest)
• Nantuko Husk, functional reprint of Phyrexian Ghoul (Urza's Saga) except for creature-type

Color shifted

• Crafty Pathmage, blue color shifted version of Dwarven Nomad (Mirage) and Dwarven Warriors (Alpha)
• Sandskin, white color shifted version of Gaseous Form (Legends)
• Naturalize, green color shifted version of Disenchant (Alpha)
• Sea's Claim, blue color shifted version of Evil Presence (Alpha)

Strictly better

• Barkhide Mauler, upgrade from Durkwood Boars (Legends)
• Disruptive Pitmage, upgrade from Disruptive Student (Urza's Saga) and Vodalian Mage (Fallen Empires)
• Foothill Guide and Gustcloak Runner, upgrade from Eager Cadet (Starter 1999)
• Naturalize, upgrade from Verdigris (Tempest)
• Riptide Biologist, upgrade from Vodalian Soldiers (Fallen Empires)
• Trickery Charm, upgrade from Jump (Alpha)

Notable cards

• In then legal Standard, top cards included: Astral Slide, Blistering Firecat, Exalted Angel, Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Sharpshooter, Patriarch's Bidding, Ravenous Baloth, Rorix Bladewing, Visara the Dreadful, and Wellwisher were particularly noteworthy. The fetch lands (lands that could be sacrificed for the cost of tapping them and the loss of one life, in order to search their controller's library for a land of the specified basic land type) and cycling lands also saw high levels of play.
• The cycle of allied fetch lands continue to see significant play in all formats in which they are legal.
• Erratic Explosion saw some play alongside high mana cost cards, such as Draco and Dragon Tyrant.
• Nantuko Husk was the cornerstone of Standard BW Ghost Husk decks after being reprinted in 9th Edition, thanks to its strong interaction with Saviors of Kamigawa card Promise of Bunrei.
• Starlit Sanctum saw play in Extended, alongside Daru Spiritualist and cards able to repeatedly target the Cleric (Daru Spiritualist) for free, such as Lightning Greaves, Shuko, and Nomads en-Kor; not dissimilar to the Cephalid Breakfast deck.
• Voidmage Prodigy, Kai Budde's invitational card.

Preconstructed decks

Onslaught has four bicolored theme decks.

Theme deck name	Colors Included
Celestial Assault	W	U
Bait & Switch		U	B
Devastation				R	G
Ivory Doom	W		B

External links

• Onslaught product information page — Wizards of the Coast
• Wizards of the Coast (October 7, 2002). "Onslaught Top 10 Lists". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.