Planar Chaos

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Planar Chaos
 
 
 
 
 
Planar Chaos
[[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
Time Spiral Planar Chaos Future Sight
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Time Spiral
Timeshifted
Planar Chaos Future Sight
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

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

Main article: Planar Chaos (novel)

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

Main article: 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:

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 {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
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}]. 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 {W}{B} {R}{W} {U}{R} {G}{U} {B}{G}
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 {W}{B}{R} {U}{R}{G} {B}{G}{W} {R}{W}{U} {B}{G}{U}
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 {3}MNO (where N and O are the enemy colors of M), flying, a triggered ability with a cost of {2}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 {W}<{U} {U}<{B} {B}<{G} {R}<{U} {G}<{U}
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
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

Theme decks

The preconstructed theme decks are:[25][26]

Theme
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Ixidor's Legacy U
Unraveling Mind B R
Endless March W R
Rituals of Rebirth W B G

Trivia

Main article: Planar Chaos/Trivia

References

  1. Mike Gills (December 21, 2009). "Time Spiral Block (TPF) Sealed Deck Tournament II". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Magic Arcana (May 08, 2006). "Announcing Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Brian David-Marshall (January 15, 2007). "Planar Chaos Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Mark Rosewater (January 08, 2007). "Chaos Theory". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Rei Nakazawa (January 08, 2007). "Order and (Planar) Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Magic Arcana (October 26, 2006). "Planar Chaos Logo & Symbol". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Magic Arcana (March 27, 2007). "Fat Pack Cardbox Art". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Magic Arcana (January 04, 2007). "Planar Chaos Booster Packaging". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Magic Arcana (January 16, 2007). "Planar Chaos Prerelease Card". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Magic Arcana (March 15, 2007). "Planar Chaos Token Art 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Magic Arcana (March 22, 2007). "Planar Chaos Token Art 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Rei Nakazawa (February 05, 2007). "Flavor From the Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Magic Arcana (January 11, 2007). "Dominaria’s Greener Alternate Pasts". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Michael G. Ryan (January, 2007) "Destiny". Magicthegathering.com, Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Doug Beyer (March 01, 2007). "Backwards Through the Looking Glass". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Mark Rosewater (March 12, 2007). "You Can Say That Again". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Mark Rosewater (January 15, 2007). "Utter Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. Brady Dommermuth (January 18, 2007). "Controlled Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. a b Mark Rosewater (March 15, 2021). "Time After Time Spiral". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. Magic Arcana (February 06, 2007). "Planar Chaos Charms". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. Aaron Forsythe (January 12, 2007). "A Trip to the Library". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. Blake Rasmussen (August 28, 2014). "The Dragons of Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. Aaron Forsythe (January 19, 2007). "The Rebirth of Cool". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. Magic Arcana (March 06, 2007). "Boom/Bust Mural". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  25. Magic Arcana (December 14, 2006). "Unwrap the Planar Chaos Theme Decks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  26. Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar (April 02, 2007). "Preconstructing Planar Chaos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links