Mirage

Mirage

 

Theme decks

 

Mirage
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	palm tree
Design	Bill Rose (lead) Charlie Cantina Don Felice Howard Kahlenberg Joel Mick
Development	Bill Rose (lead) Mike Elliott William Jockusch Mark Rosewater
Art direction	Sue-Ann Harkey
Release date	October 8, 1996
Plane	Dominaria (Jamuraa)
Themes and mechanics	Flanking, Phasing
Set size	350 cards (110 commons, 110 uncommons, 110 rares, 20 basic lands)
Expansion code	MIR
Development codename	Sosumi
Mirage block
Mirage Visions Weatherlight
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Rivals Quick Start Set Mirage Introductory Two-Player Set

Mirage is the ninth Magic expansion. It was released in October 1996 as the first set in the Mirage block.

Mirage booster

Set details

The set contains 350 cards (110 commons, 110 uncommons, 110 rares, 20 basic lands). This expansion introduced Fifth Edition rules, which was later released in March 1997. Mirage's expansion symbol is a palm tree, to symbolize the tropical aspects of Jamuraa.

Mirage non-basic lands have a dull green text box, which it shares with Visions non-monocolor lands.

Design & development

The development of Mirage began with a group of playtesters, including Bill Rose, who independently created their own cards and mixed them in with the Alpha cards from 1992 through 1995. The set, which they initially called "the Menagerie", evolved over the years until it was finalized in October 1995. The African setting was devised by Sue Ann Harkey after the cards had been designed. Mirage was one of the first sets that was developed for Sealed Deck play.

Marketing

Mirage was released on November 1, 1996. The print run is estimated at 400 million cards. The cards were sold in 60-card starter decks and 15-card boosters. The boosters showcased the art from the cards Polymorph, Taniwha, Maro, Jungle Troll and Grinning Totem. Each booster box contained 36 sealed packs, each starter box contained 12 starter decks. Each booster contained 15 cards: 11 commons, 3 uncommons, and 1 rare. Mirage had two significant different printings: one dark print with a rough finish, and one light print with a smooth finish. The dark Mirage was printed in US, the light one in Belgium at Carta Mundi.

This expansion began the first official block set with one large expansion being followed by two smaller expansions all tied together through card mechanics and setting. This model became the standard for the concept of "block rotation". Mirage introduced some changes to make the cards easier to read (including a slightly expanded text box and border, more visible power/toughness numbers) and reminder text.

Storyline

Mirage stands apart from the rest of Magic for its tropical African-themed setting, outlining the three nations of Femeref, Zhalfir, and Suq'Ata. The storyline begins with the disappearance of the planeswalker Teferi (who would later play a crucial role in the Weatherlight Saga and the Time Spiral block) and the three powerful spellcasters — Mangara, Jolrael, and Kaervek — who come looking for him, setting off the events that would lead to the Mirage War.

Magic Online

Mirage was retro-actively released on Magic Online on December 5, 2005. Release events began on December 7, 2005.

Mechanics and themes

Mirage introduces the mechanics Flanking (a combat ability that gives blockers -1/-1 until end of turn) and Phasing (a confusing 'removed from play/Phased out' ability). Flanking was frequently used to make 2/2 creatures for three mana worthwhile. Phasing was most often used as a drawback in this set, but it is now infamous for the complex rulings it inspired, especially when combined with enters-the-battlefield abilities that started appearing on many creatures in Visions.

Mirage included a large number of creatures with the Knight creature type, all with flanking and an activated ability, such as Cadaverous Knight and Teferi's Honor Guard. The set also included more multicolored cards than any set between Legends and Invasion, and the first enemy color cards for all pairs except black/green (which had received Dark Heart of the Wood in The Dark expansion).

Creature types

The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Ancestor (later changed to Cleric), Archer, Brushwagg, Cyclops, Efreet, Griffin, Hyena, Mantis (later changed to Insect), Martyr (later changed to Cleric), Meerkat (later changed to Mongoose), Minion, Nature Spirit (later changed to Elemental), Pirate, Rhino, Scout, Wildcat (later changed to Cat), Viashino, Wyvern (later changed to Drake),

The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Angel, Atog,Basilisk, Centaur, Cleric, Cobra (later changed to Snake), Crocodile, Dragon, Dryad, Dwarf, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Ghost (later changed to Spirit), Goblin, Guardian (later changed to Gargoyle), Griffin, Imp, Knight, Lion (later changed to Cat), Manticore, Merfolk, Minotaur, Nightstalker, Rat, Roc (later changed to Bird), Salamander, Serpent, Shade, Soldier, Specter, Spirit, Swarm (later changed to Insect), Tiger (later changed to Cat), Troll, Unicorn, Vampire, Wall, Wizard, Wraith, Wurm, Zombie.

Certain Mirage cards had additional creature types in Italian, Spanish, and German. Shauku, Endbringer counted as a vampire, Sidar Jabari as a knight. For the official version, this situation got cleared up by successive Oracle announcements and Grand Creature Type Updates.

Cycles

Mirage has nine cycles:

Cycle name
Charms	Ivory Charm	Sapphire Charm	Ebony Charm	Chaos Charm	Seedling Charm
	Common instants that cost M and lets you choose one of three possible effects.
Diamonds	Marble Diamond	Sky Diamond	Charcoal Diamond	Fire Diamond	Moss Diamond
	Uncommon artifacts that cost to cast, enters the battlefield tapped, and produces one mana of the appropriate color when tapped. This cycle was later reprinted in 6th, 7th Edition and Commander 2014.
Dragons	Pearl Dragon	Mist Dragon	Catacomb Dragon	Volcanic Dragon	Canopy Dragon
	Rare 4/4 Dragon creatures that have a mana cost of 4MM.
Enemy-color hosers	Mangara's Equity	Mind Harness	Reign of Terror	Reign of Chaos	Roots of Life
	Uncommon spells that hampers both of their enemy colors.
Guildmages	Civic Guildmage	Shaper Guildmage	Shadow Guildmage	Armorer Guildmage	Granger Guildmage
	Common 1/1 Wizard creatures that cost M and has two activated abilities, each with the cost of and an allied mana.
Instantments	Ward of Lights	Soar	Grave Servitude	Lightning Reflexes	Armor of Thorns
	Common Aura enchantments that have a converted mana cost of 2 and flash, but is sacrificed at the beginning of the next cleanup step if it was casted any time a sorcery couldn't have been cast.
Cycle name
Multicolored hosers	Hazerider Drake	Haunting Apparition	Shauku's Minion	Windreaper Falcon	Radiant Essence
	Uncommon multicolored spells that gain an advantage from their mutual enemy color.
Allied-color X spells	Prismatic Boon	Sealed Fate	Kaervek's Purge	Savage Twister	Vitalizing Cascade
	Uncommon nonpermanents that cost MN, where MN are an allied pair of colors.
Fetch lands	Flood Plain	Bad River	Rocky Tar Pit	Mountain Valley	Grasslands
	Uncommon dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped and can be tapped and sacrificed to fetch a land with one of two basic land types from your library.

Mega-mega cycle

Cycle name
Atogs	Auratog (Tempest)	Chronatog (Visions)	Necratog (Weatherlight)	Atog (Antiquities)	Foratog (Mirage)
	Foratog is the second card of this mega-mega cycle of creatures that was started in Antiquities with the eponymous Atog. A new number of this cycle would be printed in each of the following three sets (Visions, Weatherlight, and Tempest).
Legendary lands	Kor Haven (Nemesis)	Teferi's Isle (Mirage)	Volrath's Stronghold (Stronghold)	Keldon Necropolis (Invasion)	Yavimaya Hollow (Urza's Destiny)
	Teferi's Isle is the first card of this mega-mega cycle of lands representing notable locations from the Weatherlight Saga storyline.

Pairs

Mirage has two mirrored pairs:

Mirrored Pairs
Burning Palm Efreet ()	Harmattan Efreet ()	These uncommon 2/2 Efreet creatures, one blue and one red, both cost MM and have an activated ability for MM that grant or remove flying, respectively, from a target creature.
Burning Shield Askari ()	Zhalfirin Knight ()	These common 2/2 Knight creatures, one white and one red, both cost M and have flanking and "MM: [This] gains first strike until end of turn".

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Mirage.

Mirage	First Seen	Last Seen
Boomerang	Legends	Chronicles
Dark Banishing	Ice Age	Ice Age
Dark Ritual	Alpha	Ice Age
Disenchant	Alpha	Chronicles
Divine Offering	Legends	Chronicles
Drain Life	Alpha	4th Edition
Firebreathing	Alpha	4th Edition
Flare	Ice Age	Ice Age
Fog	Alpha	4th Edition
Healing Salve	Alpha	4th Edition
Incinerate	Ice Age	Ice Age
Memory Lapse	Homelands	Homelands
Power Sink	Alpha	Ice Age
Ray of Command	Ice Age	Ice Age
Regeneration	Alpha	Ice Age
Sandstorm	Arabian Nights	4th Edition
Stone Rain	Alpha	Ice Age

Functional reprints

Functional Reprints
Bay Falcon	Zephyr Falcon (4th Edition)
Dwarven Nomad	Dwarven Warriors (4th Edition)
Femeref Healer	Samite Healer (4th Edition)
Fetid Horror	Hoar Shade (Ice Age)
Giant Mantis	Giant Spider (4th Edition), save for creature type
Noble Elephant	War Elephant (Arabian Nights)
Restless Dead	Drudge Skeletons (4th Edition) Walking Dead (Legends)
Wild Elephant	War Mammoth (4th Edition), save for creature type

Notable cards

• Cadaverous Bloom — This card allowed a player to generate large amounts of mana, frequently used in conjunction with Drain Life and famously as a part of the Prosperous Bloom combo.
• Celestial Dawn — Nicknamed "bleach" by players, this enchantment made a muticolored deck into monochrome white. Counterspells, direct damage, and all the other color specialities are then available to the white player.
• Grinning Totem — Taking the Jester's Cap concept one step further, the Totem not only lets you look through your opponent's library and remove a card, but then, adding injury to insult, allows you to play that card as if it were in your own hand, possibly turning your opponent's most powerful spell against them.
• Hammer of Bogardan — Before the Hammer, decks based on direct damage tended to run into late-game problems of plenty of mana but no spells to spend it on. Enter the Hammer, an infinitely-reusable damage spell.
• Maro — This card was named after designer Mark Rosewater and quickly became a favorite for green creature-based decks. Its concept would be revisited with Multani, Maro-Sorcerer in Urza's Legacy and Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer in Invasion. In 2005's Saviors of Kamigawa, a rare cycle of creatures based on hand size were printed with "Maro" in their names, such as Kagemaro, First to Suffer. The art was an original piece of art, depicting the so-called Green Man, which was acquired by art director Sue Ann Harkey.
• Political Trickery — This card is a weapon for blue counter / control decks against specialized lands.
• Teeka's Dragon — Based on the artificial dragon made by a character named Teeka in the short story “Better Mousetrap” from the anthology called Distant Planes.
• Tombstone Stairwell — This card inspired new deck types, this enchantment makes the 1/1 creatures typical of a weenie deck more valuable in the graveyard than out. Decks built around the Stairwell are designed to swarm the opponent: first with regular creatures, and then, once the graveyard is nicely stocked, with Tombstone Zombies.
• Lion's Eye Diamond — Though originally considered to be of little competitive use, this 'fixed' Mox-like mana producer became well known in the modern Legacy environment, due partly to its interaction with Infernal Tutor, which can be cast and responded to with the activation of LED. It sees play in combo decks such as Dredge and Ad Nauseum Tendrils, and is currently the most valuable card in the set.

Theme decks

The Mirage block theme decks were designed for MTGO, as these expansion sets were printed before theme decks were first printed in the Tempest block.

The preconstructed theme decks are:

Theme deck name	Colors Included
Burning Sky		U		R
Jungle Jam	W			R	G
Night Terrors			B
Ride Like the Wind	W			R

External links

• Mirage product information page — Wizards of the Coast
• Mirage FAQ