Odyssey

Odyssey is the first set in the Odyssey block. It is the 24th Magic expansion and was released on October 1, 2001. The prerelease was on September 22–23, 2001.

Set details
Odyssey contains 350 black-bordered cards (110 rare, 110 uncommon, 110 common, and 20 basic lands). Odyssey's expansion symbol is a representation of the mirari. Alongside Torment and Judgment, the second and third expansions of the Odyssey block, Odyssey was a graveyard-focused ("graveyard matters") expansion. All the colors interact with the graveyard and use it as a resource, though green and black are the strongest graveyard colors. Previously, the graveyard rarely affected gameplay, but Odyssey 's cards forced players to constantly keep track of both graveyards at all times. For Odyssey, a new story began in a new setting with a new cast of characters.

Marketing
Odyssey was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Seton, Krosan Protector, Mirari and Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor. The prerelease featured Stone-Tongue Basilisk (Stone-Tongue Basilisk printed in Arabic text) as the prerelease card. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.

Flavor and storyline
Odyssey is set on the continent of Otaria on the devastated plane of Dominaria, approximately a century after the events of the preceding set, Apocalypse of the Invasion block.

The Odyssey block storyline features desert nomads and bird (aven) warriors of the Order; the highly advanced underwater Mer Empire of the cephalids; barbarian and dwarves of the Pardic Mountains; and the centaurs, druids, and other creatures of the Krosan Forest. Each of these civilizations struggle to survive day by day, a fact off which the Cabal, an occult and sinister organization, led by the Cabal Patriarch and includes members such as Braids and Chainer, that controls most of the land and its wealth, benefits, as it operates pit fights for entertainment of the masses and, for the one lucky pit warrior who survives, fame and fortune.

The Order, structured like an army, counts among its leaders the militaristic Kirtar, Pianna, Teroh, and Eesha, and strives to break the Cabal's iron fist over the populace. Meanwhile, the Mer Empire, led by Aboshan and his wife Llawan, and advised by Laquatus, ambassador to the Cabal, scheme for absolute control of the continent by flooding the continent and killing the "inferior air-breathers". The Krosan Forest, having survived the plague of Phyrexians, grows more self-sufficient and hostile to outsiders; but, it also has a peaceful side to its existence, with figures such as Thriss and Seton being comparably more receptive of outsiders, one of whom will be Kamahl, the protagonist of the storyline cycle and, during the events of the Odyssey novel, is a young Pardic barbarian and warrior proficient with weapons and fire magic who seeks glory within the pits of the Cabal.

In leaving behind the Pardic Mountains, where age-old territorial skirmishes between the barbarians and dwarves continue to rage on, Kamahl leaves his sister Jeska; and, in an attempt to make a name for himself, Kamahl will forge new alliances, make new friends, lose friends, and irrevocably change his fate and fortune as well as that of the continent, in no small part due to the alluring and mysterious Mirari, a magical orb that calls out to all who gaze upon it and fills their heads with delusions of grandeur and dreams of conquest.

Misprints

 * A number of Cephalid Looter cards were misprinted with the creature subtype Wizard in addition to Cephalid instead of merely Cephalid.
 * As of the Grand Creature Type Update, the card has since gained a class subtype of Rogue; as such, Cephalid Looter's subtypes are now officially Cephalid Rogue.
 * Bash to Bits by Matt Cavotta was miscredited to Gary Ruddell.

Critical reception and tournament impact
While by no means comparable to the power level of the Urza block expansion sets but also incomparable to the dearth of power in Masques block, Odyssey and its subsequent expansion sets were moderately powerful. However, it nevertheless received a mixed reception from players, who were "forced" to play Magic with the graveyard in mind.

Magic writer Abe Sargent of StarCityGames.com wrote that, of 350 cards, of which 20 are basic lands, only four — Wild Mongrel, Psychatog, Upheaval</c>, and Roar of the Wurm</c> — were good. However, he noted that the expansion was influential in establishing the graveyard as a relevant zone of the game. D. Gran, also of StarCityGames.com, however, listed Braids, Cabal Minion</c> and Entomb</c> as tournament-worthy cards from the set.

Magic readers and forum-goers noted that Odyssey was a welcome departure from non-interactive and unfun Magic; however, it was also noted that Odyssey and Onslaught blocks were, to an extent, dominated by blue decks or decks containing blue.

Tokens
Several tokens for Odyssey cards were offered as Magic Player Rewards.
 * 2/2 Bear for Bearscape</c>
 * 4/4 Beast for Beast Attack</c>
 * 1/1 Squirrel for Squirrel Nest</c>, Chatter of the Squirrel</c>, Nut Collector</c>, Nantuko Shrine</c> and Druid's Call</c>
 * 2/2 Zombie for Zombie Infestation</c>
 * 3/3 Elephant for Call of the Herd</c> and Elephant Ambush</c>
 * 6/6 Wurm for Roar of the Wurm</c>

The 1/1 Spirit token with flying for Kirtar's Wrath</c> only appeared in Magic Online.

Themes and mechanics
Odyssey introduced the graveyard-related keywords Flashback, which allowed players to replay instants and sorceries with the ability one more time for their flashback cost, and Threshold, which conferred some sort of bonus if and when the permanent or spell's controller had seven or more cards in their graveyard. Odyssey was the first set in which protection from all colors (<c>Iridescent Angel</c>), creatures (<c>Beloved Chaplain</c>), enchantments (<c>Tattoo Ward</c>), and instant and sorcery spells (<c>Devoted Caretaker</c>) were printed.

Cards with flashback featured a tombstone icon, an indicator, in the upper-left-hand corner of the cards. so as to facilitate playing with cards with the graveyard-active ability. Flashback would be revisited in Innistrad block, but the tombstone icon was not featured on cards after Odyssey, with exception to the reprinted <c>Call of the Herd</c> and Judgment ' s <c>Valor</c>, from Time Spiral. This was, in part, due to the change in card frames between the Scourge and Mirrodin expansions.

In addition to the "graveyard matters" theme, Odyssey had a minor token subtheme, as reflected in the number of token-generating cards, and a significant number of cards with activated abilities involving discarding cards from one's hand or sacrificing permanents.

Odyssey block is said to be the spiritual predecessor of Innistrad block due to the thematic similarities, namely, the emphasis on the graveyard. Interestingly, both blocks share the mechanic Flashback.

Creature types
In order to establish a distinct setting from the Weatherlight Saga, a majority of common creature types from the Weatherlight Saga, such as elves and goblins, were removed and replaced with completely novel or unusual tribes, including, but not limited to, barbarians, birds (avens), centaurs, cephalids, druids, dwarves, and Nantuko insects.

The creature types Antelope, Cephalid, and Squirrel were introduced in Odyssey. The creature types Guardian and Townsfolk were used in this expansion at the time of printing but were later removed.

Cycles
Odyssey features 15 cycles, many of which are allied-colored cycles.

Pairs


Odyssey has two matched pairs.

Reprinted cards

 * <c>Anarchist</c>, first printed in Exodus
 * <c>Angelic Wall</c>, first printed in Portal Second Age
 * <c>Buried Alive</c>, first printed in Weatherlight
 * <c>Cartographer</c>, first printed in Exodus
 * <c>Gallantry</c>, first printed in Tempest
 * <c>Gravedigger</c>, first printed in Portal, last seen in 7th Edition
 * <c>Overrun</c>, first printed in Tempest
 * <c>Patchwork Gnomes</c>, first printed in Tempest
 * <c>Scrivener</c>, first printed in Exodus

Functional reprints

 * <c>Aven Cloudchaser</c>, functional reprint of with additional creature type
 * <c>Aven Fisher</c>, functional reprint of with additional creature type
 * <c>Battle Strain</c>, functional reprint of
 * <c>Druid Lyrist</c>, functional reprint of except for creature type
 * <c>Dusk Imp</c>, functional reprint of and  except for creature type
 * <c>Dwarven Grunt</c>, functional reprint of, , and except for creature type
 * <c>Leaf Dancer</c>, functional reprint of except for creature type
 * <c>Piper's Melody</c>, functional reprint of
 * <c>Psionic Gift</c>, functional reprint of
 * <c>Woodland Druid</c>, functional reprint of and  except for creature type

Strictly better

 * <c>Wild Mongrel</c>, upgrade from, , , , and

Strictly worse

 * <c>Diabolic Tutor</c>, downgrade from

Preconstructed decks
Odyssey has four bicolored theme decks.