Betrayers of Kamigawa

Betrayers of Kamigawa is the thirty-fourth Magic expansion, released in February 2005 as the second set and first small expansion in the Kamigawa block. The prerelease was on January 22, 2005.

Set details
Betrayers of Kamigawa contains 165 black-bordered cards. Its expansion symbol is a "shuriken" or "shaken" to evoke the set's ninja theme. A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing. Shuriken is the name given to any small-bladed object, while shaken is traditionally used to indicate the "throwing star". The set introduced the Ninjutsu and Offering keywords.

Marketing
Betrayers of Kamigawa was sold in 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo, Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni and Isao, Enlightened Bushi. The prerelease card was a foil alternate art Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni. The release card was Budoka Pupil. The set was accompanied by a novel by Scott McGough.

Storyline
Now in the employ of Princess Michiko and beholden to the Myojin of Night's Reach, Toshi Umezawa tries to honor his commitments while pursuing his own ends. But as the Kami War threatens to engulf Kamigawa, an unimaginably powerful spirit beast threatens the world. And at the heart of the battle moves the figure of the Daimyo, whose impassive features conceal a sinister crime that gnaws at the world's heart.

Token
A special 3/3 Spirit token with flying for Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens appeared in Magic Online.

Mechanics

 * Ninjutsu allows a player to put a Ninja creature card from their hand into play tapped and attacking by paying a cost and returning an attacking, unblocked creature they control to its owner's hand.
 * Offering allows the player to partially pay for a spell by sacrificing a creature of a certain creature type, and lets the spell be played as an instant. This ability is used on five Spirit creatures, the patron spirits of five non-human species in Kamigawa.

Cycles
Betrayers of Kamigawa has eight cycles and a vertical cycle.

Notable cards
Umezawa's Jitte is arguably the most powerful card that has ever been included in a preconstructed deck (Rats' Nest theme deck). Other cards that saw some degree of constructed play include Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni, Tendo Ice Bridge</c>, Shining Shoal</c>, Blazing Shoal</c> (banned in Modern since September 2011, just one month after Modern became a sanctioned format), Threads of Disloyalty</c>, Goryo's Vengeance</c> (the namesake of a Modern combo deck that uses the card to cheat Griselbrand</c> into play), Ninja of the Deep Hours</c>, and Flames of the Blood Hand</c>.

Theme decks
The preconstructed theme decks are:

Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets.


 * The "Lobotomy cycle" (Scour</c>, Quash</c>, Eradicate</c>, Sowing Salt</c> and Splinter</c>) were last seen in Urza's Destiny.  Per Mark Rosewater, "They were chosen for repeats as their ability to remove threats from the game seemed like a good answer to a number of issues in Standard at the time (Eternal Witness</c>, Goblin Charbelcher</c>, Cloudpost</c>, etc.)."
 * <c>Phantom Wings</c> was last seen in Weatherlight.

Functional reprints
Betrayers of Kamigawa has 2 functional reprints:


 * <c>Gnarled Mass</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Trained Armodon</c> from 8th Edition, save for creature type.
 * <c>Goblin Cohort</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Mogg Conscripts</c> from Tempest, save for creature type.