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*'''Myojin''': Each of these legendary Spirits comes into play with a [[Counter (marker)/List of Counters#Divinity Counter|divinity counter]] (if you hardcasted them) and is [[indestructible]] as long as it has this counter. The counter can be removed for a powerful effect: <c>Myojin of Cleansing Fire</c>, <c>Myojin of Infinite Rage</c>, <c>Myojin of Life's Web</c>, <c>Myojin of Night's Reach</c>, and <c>Myojin of Seeing Winds</c>.
 
*'''Myojin''': Each of these legendary Spirits comes into play with a [[Counter (marker)/List of Counters#Divinity Counter|divinity counter]] (if you hardcasted them) and is [[indestructible]] as long as it has this counter. The counter can be removed for a powerful effect: <c>Myojin of Cleansing Fire</c>, <c>Myojin of Infinite Rage</c>, <c>Myojin of Life's Web</c>, <c>Myojin of Night's Reach</c>, and <c>Myojin of Seeing Winds</c>.
 
*'''Spirit Dragons''': Each of these rare legendary [[Dragon]] Spirit creatures costs six mana, has flying in addition to an ability when the creature is put into a graveyard from play: <c>Yosei, the Morning Star</c>, <c>Keiga, the Tide Star</c>, <c>Kokusho, the Evening Star</c>, <c>Ryusei, the Falling Star</c> and <c>Jugan, the Rising Star</c>.
 
*'''Spirit Dragons''': Each of these rare legendary [[Dragon]] Spirit creatures costs six mana, has flying in addition to an ability when the creature is put into a graveyard from play: <c>Yosei, the Morning Star</c>, <c>Keiga, the Tide Star</c>, <c>Kokusho, the Evening Star</c>, <c>Ryusei, the Falling Star</c> and <c>Jugan, the Rising Star</c>.
*'''Zubera''': Each of these common 1/2 [[Zubera]] Spirit creatures costs {{1}}C and has a triggered ability when it goes to the graveyard that grows with each Zubera put into a graveyard from play this turn: <c>Silent-Chant Zubera</c>, <c>Floating-Dream Zubera</c>, <c>Ashen-Skin Zubera</c>, <c>Ember-Fist Zubera</c>, and <c>Dripping-Tongue Zubera</c>.
+
*'''Zubera''': Each of these common 1/2 [[Zubera]] Spirit creatures costs {{1}}M and has a triggered ability when it goes to the graveyard that grows with each Zubera put into a graveyard from play this turn: <c>Silent-Chant Zubera</c>, <c>Floating-Dream Zubera</c>, <c>Ashen-Skin Zubera</c>, <c>Ember-Fist Zubera</c>, and <c>Dripping-Tongue Zubera</c>.
 
*'''Rare Flip Creatures''': Each of these [[rare]] humanoid [[creatures]] enters the battlefield as a humble youth and flips to become a [[legendary]] master: <c>Kitsune Mystic</c>, <c>Jushi Apprentice</c>, <c>Nezumi Shortfang</c>, <c>Akki Lavarunner</c>, and <c>Budoka Gardener</c>. <ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/658|Building Heroes|[[Magic Arcana]]|September 28, 2004}}</ref>
 
*'''Rare Flip Creatures''': Each of these [[rare]] humanoid [[creatures]] enters the battlefield as a humble youth and flips to become a [[legendary]] master: <c>Kitsune Mystic</c>, <c>Jushi Apprentice</c>, <c>Nezumi Shortfang</c>, <c>Akki Lavarunner</c>, and <c>Budoka Gardener</c>. <ref>{{DailyRef|mtgcom/arcana/658|Building Heroes|[[Magic Arcana]]|September 28, 2004}}</ref>
 
*'''Uncommon Flip Creatures''': Each of these [[uncommon]] humanoid [[creatures]] enters the battlefield as a humble youth and flips to become a [[legendary]] master: <c>Bushi Tenderfoot</c>, <c>Student of Elements</c>, <c>Nezumi Graverobber</c>, <c>Initiate of Blood</c>, and <c>Orochi Eggwatcher</c>.
 
*'''Uncommon Flip Creatures''': Each of these [[uncommon]] humanoid [[creatures]] enters the battlefield as a humble youth and flips to become a [[legendary]] master: <c>Bushi Tenderfoot</c>, <c>Student of Elements</c>, <c>Nezumi Graverobber</c>, <c>Initiate of Blood</c>, and <c>Orochi Eggwatcher</c>.
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*<c>Sokenzan Bruiser</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Rock Badger</c> from ''[[Mercadian Masques]]''.
 
*<c>Sokenzan Bruiser</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Rock Badger</c> from ''[[Mercadian Masques]]''.
 
*<c>Wandering Ones</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Fugitive Wizard</c> from ''Eighth Edition'' and <c>Merfolk of the Pearl Trident</c> from ''Seventh Edition''.
 
*<c>Wandering Ones</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Fugitive Wizard</c> from ''Eighth Edition'' and <c>Merfolk of the Pearl Trident</c> from ''Seventh Edition''.
*The cycle of ally-colored lands with '{{T}}: Add {{1}} to your mana pool.' and '{{T}}: Add C or D to your mana pool. This land doesn't untap during your next untap step.' from [[Battle Royale]], with exeption of <c>Rootwater Depths</c>, which wasn't reprinted from ''[[Tempest]]'':
+
*The cycle of ally-colored lands with '{{T}}: Add {{C}} to your mana pool.' and '{{T}}: Add M or N to your mana pool. This land doesn't untap during your next untap step.' from [[Battle Royale]], with exeption of <c>Rootwater Depths</c>, which wasn't reprinted from ''[[Tempest]]'':
 
**<c>Cloudcrest Lake</c> - <c>Thalakos Lowlands</c>, {{W}}{{U}}
 
**<c>Cloudcrest Lake</c> - <c>Thalakos Lowlands</c>, {{W}}{{U}}
 
**<c>Waterveil Cavern</c> - <c>Rootwater Depths</c>, {{U}}{{B}}
 
**<c>Waterveil Cavern</c> - <c>Rootwater Depths</c>, {{U}}{{B}}

Revision as of 10:33, 25 December 2015

For the accompanying novel to Champions of Kamigawa, see Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa.

Champions of Kamigawa
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics Spiritcraft, Flip cards, Legendary cards, Arcane
Keywords/​ability words Bushido, Soulshift, Splice
Set size 306 (110 Common. 88 Uncommon. 88 Rare. 20 Land)
Expansion code CHK
Development codename Earth

Champions of Kamigawa is the thirty-third Magic expansion and was released in October 2004 as the first set in the Kamigawa block. The prerelease was September 18, 2004. [1]

Set details

Champions of Kamigawa contained 306 black-bordered cards (88 rare, 88 uncommon, 110 common, and 20 basic lands). The card Brothers Yamazaki appeared with two different pictures. The basic swamps form a mural. [2] The story takes place on the plane of Kamigawa, which is thematically based on feudal Japan and related legends and myths. [3] [4] The Legendary supertype replaced the creature type "Legend" with this set. Every rare creature in the set is Legendary, and some uncommon creatures are too. [5] The "Legend rule" was changed; whereas before another legend with the same name could not be played, two legendary permanents with the same name now caused each other to be put into the graveyard. [6] [7] The set also made minor rules adjustments for targeting, and introduced the evergreen keyword "Defender", which was retroactively applied to all previously printed cards with the type Wall and formally detached the creature type from its rules baggage. The expansion symbol of the set is a torii gate (a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred). [8] Champions of Kamigawa restored colored mana symbols in the text box, which had been missing since Eighth Edition.

Marketing

Champions of Kamigawa was sold in 75-card tournament decks, 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Myojin of Cleansing Fire, Myojin of Seeing Winds and Myojin of Infinite Rage. The prerelease card was a foil alternate art Ryusei, the Falling Star. The set was accompanied by a novel by Scott McGough. A 1/1 Spirit Token for Forbidden Orchard et al. was offered as a Player Reward.

Flavor and storyline

A war between the physical world and the spirits that are the essence of everything in the physical world, tears the veil between those two worlds apart, a war is brewing. [9] [10] Spirits launch attacks against humans as, in the shadows, a terror lurks just beyond sight. Michiko, daughter of the warlord Konda, must brave the dangers outside her father's fortress to consult holy monks and the orochi, snake folk with a strong connection to the spirit world. Yet when Michiko meets Umezawa, a thief and black magic user, she realizes that to stop the war that is about to sweep the land, she may have to make alliances with her enemies.

To represent the war the cards of the set are mostly divided into two groups, the physical beings with their regular magic, and the kami with their "arcane" magic).

Tournament impact

Champions of Kamigawa, as well as the rest of Kamigawa block, was met with mostly negative reactions from players. The fact that all rare creatures were legendary was seen as cumbersome and annoying, particularly in mirror matches. Further, Flip cards were perceived as confusing and hard to keep track of. The set also was a significant downgrade in terms of raw power and card playability, and thus was often overshadowed by its predecessor Mirrodin block and successor Ravnica block.

Mechanics

Champions of Kamigawa introduced the keywords Bushido, Soulshift, and Splice, as well as the first sorcery and instant subtype, Arcane, and finally flip cards. [11] Of these mechanics, the Arcane subtype, Splice onto Arcane, and Soulshift represented spirit-world magic, while the flip cards contributed to another major mechanic throughout the block: legendary creatures (and permanents). It featured, for example, the first five legendary enchantments, the Honden Shrines.

  • Arcane spells - some instant or sorcery spells have the Arcane subtype, which represent spells or abilities used by the kami. It does nothing by itself, but other cards may interact with it. [12] [13]
    • Splice onto Arcane - spells having this keyword can be "attached" to another Arcane spell for additional mana investment. The "spliced" spell remains in the player's hand able to be reused another time. [14]
  • Spirits - due to the nature of Kamigawa, this block contains a large proportion of creatures with the subtype Spirit. These spirits represent the kami themselves, and numerous cards in the block interact with them in special ways to provide synergy.
    • Soulshift - a keyword that appears on Spirit creatures and allows them to return another Spirit creature from the graveyard to its owner's hand when they perish.
    • "Spiritcraft" - many Spirits have abilities which trigger when another Spirit or an Arcane spell is played.
  • Bushido, or "way of the warrior", increases a creature's power and toughness by the Bushido number when it combats another creature. (This is usually compared to flanking, which weakens (-1/-1) the blockers of the creature.)
  • Flip cards - flip cards have a special Card frame with the top and the bottom half of the cards holding text boxes, the bottom being upside-down, and the art of the card in the middle. If certain conditions specific to the card were met, the card could be "flipped" (the card was turned 180 degrees) changing into a different card permanently. [15]

Creature types

The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Advisor, Monk, Moonfolk, Samurai, Zubera.

The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Assassin, Barbarian, Cleric, Demon, Dragon, Fox, Goblin, Hound, Ogre, Rat, Rogue, Shaman, Snake, Soldier, Spirit, Warrior, Wizard.

Cycles

Champions of Kamigawa has ten cycles.

Mirrored pairs

  • Rend Spirit and Rend Flesh are both common black instants for {2}{B} that destroy the opposite party in the war (Spirits vs. Non-Spirits). [17]

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Champions of Kamigawa.

Functional reprints

Champions of Kamigawa has 16 functional reprints:

Colorshifted

Notable cards

In the tournament scene, Champions of Kamigawa contributed with a large number of finishers, like Kokusho, the Evening Star, Keiga, the Tide Star, Yosei, the Morning Star and Meloku the Clouded Mirror. It also provided excellent green mana fixing, like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Kodama's Reach, and an arsenal of cards that fueled multiple colored control decks, such as Gifts Ungiven. A notable sideboard card was also found in Cranial Extraction.

  • Sensei's Divining Top — A card which saw widespread tournament play due to the ability of setting up advantageous draws repeatedly and functioning as an emergency card-draw. The card was later banned in Extended and Modern, not due to power concerns but because the card tended to slow the game down immensely and was thus detrimental to tournament play. It is also a key piece in the a lock with Counterbalance (printed later in Coldsnap) due to its ability to change the card Counterbalance would reveal at instant-speed. Divining Top could also place itself on top of the library, making any spell with converted mana cost of 1 impossible to resolve.
  • Time Stop — Rules had to be added to the Comprehensive Rules for ending the turn thanks to this card.
  • Glimpse of Nature — A powerful card-drawing engine in conjunction with cheap or zero-cost creatures. Eventually banned in Modern.
  • Azusa, Lost but Seeking — While not highly prized during Kamigawa block itself, her popularity soared alongside that of the Commander format, where she fueled powerful mana-ramping strategies.
  • Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker — A cornerstone for many combo decks abusing enters-the-battlefield triggers.

Theme decks

The preconstructed theme decks are: Template:Theme decks

References

  1. Brian David-Marshall (September 13, 2004). "The Top 10 Reasons to Play in the Champions Prerelease!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Monty Ashley (May 24, 2012). "Looking at Takenuma". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Mark Rosewater (August 30, 2004). "Now With Added Flavor". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Magic Arcana (September 14, 2004). "A Kamigawa Glossary". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Aaron Forsythe (December 10, 2004). "Three of Kamigawa’s Champions". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Aaron Forsythe (September 10, 2004). "Legendary Rules Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Mark Rosewater (October 04, 2004). "Change For the Better". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Brady Dommermuth (October 31, 2006). "Ask Wizards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Rei Nakazawa (August 30, 2004). "We Are the Champions, My Friend". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar (October 04, 2004). "Land of Ten-Thousand Legends". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Aaron Forsythe (September 17, 2004). "Kamigawa Tune-up". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Mark Rosewater (September 6, 2004). "Arcane and Able". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Aaron Forsythe (June 17, 2005). "The Cost of Arcane". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Mark Rosewater (September 13, 2004). "Splice of Life". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Mark Rosewater (September 20, 2004). "Flipping Out". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Magic Arcana (September 28, 2004). "Building Heroes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Magic Arcana (October 14, 2004). ""Rend" Renderings". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links