Nemesis

Nemesis is the nineteenth Magic expansion and was released in February 2000 as the second set and first small expansion in the Masques block.

Set details
Nemesis featured 143 cards (55 commons, 44 uncommons and 44 rares). Nemesis's expansion symbol is the axe of Crovax, the main antagonist of the story’s Rath component. The set continued Mercadian Masques's themes of spellshapers, rebels and mercenaries, and cards with alternative casting costs. Nemesis is generally considered to be the most powerful set of the Masques block. A card of note is Ascendant Evincar. It was the first card to represent the same legendary permanent as a previous card following a major change in the character's storyline. The card was not named "Crovax, Ascendant Evincar", in order to avoid confusion over whether the "legend rule" came into effect when the Evincar and Crovax The Cursed were both in play. This policy was later dropped with the printing of Ertai, the Corrupted in Planeshift. The set featured Rootwater Thief, Mike Long's invitational card.

Marketing
The cards were sold in 15-card boosters which had artwork from Sliptide Serpent, in four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. Nemesis prerelease events were held on February 5, 2000. At these events the prerelease card, a foil Rathi Assassin, was handed out. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.

Storyline
The Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria is nearing; the Dark Lord's plans are almost complete. Only the Planeswalker Urza stands in his way. Rath's Evincar Volrath has abandoned his post, sparking a brutal contest among his would-be successors. Phyrexia has chosen Crovax to take Volrath's place, bestowing terrible new powers on the bloodthirsty noble. Crovax must still prove his worth, however, before he can claim the position. Meanwhile, Rath's rebels have united in the name of Eladamri, Lord of Leaves, in order to break free of Phyrexia's tyranny once and for all.

Tournament impact
Several cards from the set have made marks on the tournament scene, including Blastoderm, Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero, Parallax Wave</c>, Accumulated Knowledge</c>, Daze</c>, Submerge</c>, Tangle Wire</c> and the five seals (for example, Seal of Fire</c>).

Keywords and mechanics
Nemesis introduced the only keyword mechanic of the Masques block, Fading. This keyword ability limits the number of turns a permanent can be on the battlefield for. During each of a permanent with fading's controller's upkeeps, that player must remove one fade counter from that permanent. If they can't, they must sacrifice it.

Because the cards with the ability only remained in play for a few turns, they were typically heavily discounted as a result. Many cards with fading also had activated abilities that traded the card's fade counters for various effects. Since fading is a "quick and dirty" form of summoning creatures, the creatures had to be shown as unstable in the art.

Creature types
No new creature types were introduced in this expansion.

Cycles
Nemesis has nine cycles and 6 vertical cycles:

Pairs
Nemesis has three matching pairs and two mirrored pairs:

Functional reprints
Nemesis has one functional reprint:


 * Spineless Thug</c> is a functional reprint of Craven Knight</c> from Portal and Young Wei Recruits</c> from Portal Three Kingdoms, save for creature type.

Theme decks
The pre-constructed theme decks are: