Prophecy

Prophecy is the third set in the Masques block. It is the 20th Magic expansion and was released on June 5, 2000.

Set details
Prophecy featured 143 cards (55 commons, 44 uncommons and 44 rares); its expansion symbol is a cluster of three crystals (referencing the fragile rhystic magic of the set). Although Prophecy was the third expansion, and second small expansion, in the Masques block; its themes and mechanics were not a natural progression from those established in Mercadian Masques and Nemesis, leading to Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater to state that, in his opinion, Prophecy felt disjointed from the rest of its block and that it is the second-worst designed set in Magic history, comparable to Homelands.

Prophecy is noted for introducing two of the first creature subtype hosers in Magic; Brutal Suppression and Root Cage, which deal with Rebels and Mercenaries, respectively.

Marketing
The cards were sold in 15-card boosters which had artwork from Avatar of Hope, in four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The prerelease card was also Avatar of Hope, in a foil version. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name. Like Visions, the set had the same name as an Prophecy, which also did not appear in this set.

Flavor and storyline
Prophecy is set on the plane of Dominaria. Keld has declared war on Jamuraa. The city-states of Jamuraa form the Kipamu League and then repulse the invaders.

Tournament impact
Although contributing a few potent cards such as Avatar of Woe, Chimeric Idol, Foil</c>, Mageta the Lion</c>, and Spiketail Hatchling</c>, Prophecy had an insubstantial impact on competitive Magic play and even had a paucity of playable cards in Limited. Mark Rosewater considers it the second worst designed set after Homelands, because it was too Spikey.

Themes and mechanics
Like Mercadian Masques, Prophecy had no new keywords. It did, however, introduce several new themes:
 * Anti-rebel cards like Brutal Suppression</c> and Rebel Informer</c>. (see notable cards)
 * Rhystic magic Discounted spells and abilities that work properly unless a specified player pays a set amount of mana.
 * A land theme, with several permanents having abilities involving sacrificing lands and several cards that gained bonuses when all of their controller's lands were tapped.

Creature types
No novel creature types were introduced in this expansion. The creature types Ghost and Ship were used in this expansion at the time of printing but were later changed to Spirit and Human, respectively.

Cycles
Prophecy features eleven cycles and six vertical cycles.

Pairs
Prophecy has two mirrored pairs.

Preconstructed decks
Prophecy has four theme decks, of which three are bicolored and one is monocolored.