Betrayers of Kamigawa

Betrayers of Kamigawa

 

Theme decks

 

Betrayers of Kamigawa
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	A shuriken
Design	Mike Elliott (lead) Randy Buehler
Development	Henry Stern, Devin Low, Randy Buehler, Paul Sottosanti, Matt Place
Art direction	Jeremy Cranford
Release date	February 4, 2005
Plane	Kamigawa
Themes and mechanics	Ninja, Ki counters
Keywords/​ability words	Ninjutsu, Offering
Set size	165 cards (55 commons, 55 uncommons, 55 rares)
Expansion code	BOK
Development codename	Wind
Kamigawa block
Champions of Kamigawa Betrayers of Kamigawa Saviors of Kamigawa
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Unhinged Betrayers of Kamigawa Saviors of Kamigawa

For the novel, see Heretic: 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 (55 commons, 55 uncommons, 55 rares). 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 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.

Magic Story

Title	Author	Release Date	Setting	Featuring
Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa	Scott McGough	January 2005	Kamigawa	Michiko Konda, Takeshi Konda, Pearl-Ear, Yosei, Toshiro Umezawa, Uramon, Kiku, Marrow-Gnawer, Yuki-Onna, Hidetsugu, Choryu, Sharp-Ear, Nagao, Godo, Myojin of Night's Reach, All-Consuming Oni of Chaos, O-Kagachi, Isamaru, Iki Hisoka, Mochi, Chiyo, Keiga, Kyodai
A Servant's Mission	Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar	2005-02-04	Kamigawa	Ink-Eyes, Muzan, Kuro
Patron of the Akki	Jeff Grubb	2005-01-12	Kamigawa	Ik-Uk, Patron of the Akki, Riko (mentioned), Hu-Hu
Personal Battles	Rei Nakazawa	2005-01-19	Kamigawa	Iwamori, Shisato, Ansho, Korin, Eiyo, Dosan (mentioned), Azusa (mentioned), Toshiro Umezawa
Redemption Smiles	David A. Page	2005-01-26	Kamigawa	Toshusai, Yoshinobu, Sakoda, Muro, Kentaro, Terashi (mentioned)
The Sound of Crickets	Alexander O. Smith	2005-02-02	Kamigawa	Higure, Kagero, Nitta, Kio

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.

Cycle name
Patrons	Patron of the Kitsune	Patron of the Moon	Patron of the Nezumi	Patron of the Akki	Patron of the Orochi
	Patrons are rare legendary spirit creatures that have creature offerings. For example, Patron of the Orochi has snake offering, which allows the controller to sacrifice a snake to play the card as an instant and pay the difference in the mana cost of the card and the sacrificed snake. Patron of the Kitsune has fox offering and so forth. Each patron has an ability.
Alternate cost splice cards	Hundred-Talon Strike	Veil of Secrecy	Horobi's Whisper	Torrent of Stone	Roar of Jukai
	Common instants that can be spliced onto arcane by paying a non-mana splice cost.
Baku	Waxmane Baku	Quillmane Baku	Skullmane Baku	Blademane Baku	Petalmane Baku
	Common spirits that gain Ki counters whenever their controller plays a spirit or arcane spell. These counters can then be removed for an ability. The artifact Baku Altar has a similar mechanic and complements the cycle.
Flip cards	Faithful Squire	Callow Jushi	Hired Muscle	Cunning Bandit	Budoka Pupil
	Uncommon MM 2/2 human creatures that acquire ki counters whenever a spirit or arcane spell is played and may be flipped at the end of turn once they have at least 2 ki counters on them. Their flipped forms are all legendary spirits with activated abilities that require removing their ki counters.
Genju	Genju of the Fields	Genju of the Falls	Genju of the Fens	Genju of the Spires	Genju of the Cedars
	Auras that can temporarily turn the land they enchant into a creature for . If the enchanted land goes to the graveyard, the enchantment is returned from the graveyard to the owner's hand. The five-colored Genju of the Realm also exists as a complement to the cycle.
One-mana spirits	Kami of False Hope	Teardrop Kami	Bile Urchin	Frostling	Child of Thorns
	Common 1/1 spirits costing one colored mana that could sacrificed for an ability.
Lobotomy spells	Scour	Quash	Eradicate	Sowing Salt	Splinter
	An uncommon cycle of spells that removed a target card from the game, then also removed all other copies of the card in its controller's graveyard, hand, and library from the game. They were all reprints from Urza's Destiny.
Shoals	Shining Shoal	Disrupting Shoal	Sickening Shoal	Blazing Shoal	Nourishing Shoal
	Arcane instants which costs and 2 of the appropriate mana. A cycle of Pitch Spells means that the player may exile from their hand a card of the appropriate color with a converted mana cost of X rather than pay the card's cost. Also, each piece of art has fish in it.

Vertical cycle

Cycle name
Glasskites	Shimmering Glasskite	Jetting Glasskite	Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
	Blue flying creatures that have "Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time in a turn, counter that spell or ability". The rare, while technically not having this line of text, has an ability that grants it to all creatures under your control.

Notable cards

• Tendo Ice Bridge is a simple design that cleanly gives multiple colored mana Turn 1 without significant drawbacks for later turns.
• Shining Shoal
• Threads of Disloyalty was a popular way to fight Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant, and in general most creature decks in early Modern and Extended.
• Hokori, Dust Drinker was Winter Orb for a new age and proved just as powerful.
• Goryo's Vengeance is a restricted Shallow Earth variant that worked with the Legendary theme of the block. It was elevated to competitive playability with the printings of powerful Legends such as Griselbrand and later Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Relatedly, Nourishing Shoal was often a part of the Griselbrand decks as gaining 15 from Autochthon Wurm represented 14 cards.
• Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is a Ninja that can reanimate creatures as a sabotage trigger.
• Ninja of the Deep Hours is an Ophidian descendant which continues to power blue Pauper decks and had a short stint in Legacy when Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow was printed.
• Flames of the Blood Hand proved a powerful closer for aggressive decks in the standard format.
• Shuko's 0-mana equip made it ripe for combo applications, starting with the Extended Cephalid Breakfast deck up to Nadu, Winged Wisdom decades later.

Banned and restricted cards

• Umezawa's Jitte is arguably the most powerful card that has ever been included in a preconstructed deck (Rats' Nest theme deck). Its modal, mana-less ability dominates any creature matchup by making combat impossible, resulting in polarization away from conventional creature decks. It began banned in Modern's inception and remains so.
• Blazing Shoal seems like a poor combat trick and ineffectual as a Hatred effect even with the discount, given the risk of running such high-cost cards that don't even kill a player from 20. However, combining it with Infect made a one-shot kill much more reasonable as it only required a single 9- or 10-mana card. It was hence banned in Modern since September 2011 after a powerful showing at Pro Tour Return to Ravnica, the format's first Pro Tour.

Theme decks

The preconstructed theme decks are:

Theme deck name	Colors Included
Ninjutsu		U
Rat's Nest			B
Dark Devotion			B	R
Spiritcraft	W				G

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets.

• The "Lobotomy cycle" (Scour, Quash, Eradicate, Sowing Salt and Splinter) — 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 several issues in Standard at the time (Eternal Witness, Goblin Charbelcher, Cloudpost, etc.)."
• Phantom Wings — was last seen in Weatherlight.

Functional reprints

Betrayers of Kamigawa has 2 functional reprints:

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

External links

• Betrayers of Kamigawa product information page