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Prophecy
 
 

Prophecy
PCY logo
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description Three crystals
Design William Jockusch (lead)
With contributions from
Bill Rose
Mark Rosewater
Development "Charlie Hasbrino" (lead),
Mike Elliott,
William Jockusch,
Paul Peterson,
Henry Stern,
Teeuwynn Woodruff
With contributions from
Beth Moursund
Art direction Dana Knutson & Ron Spears
Release date June 5, 2000
Plane Dominaria
Themes and mechanics Alternate casting costs, Avatars, Land sacrifice, Mercenaries and Rebels, Rhystic magic, Spellshapers, Tapped or untapped lands
Set size 143 cards
(55 commons, 44 uncommons, 44 rares)
Expansion code PCY (formerly PR)[2]
Development codename Dionysius
Masques block
Mercadian Masques Nemesis Prophecy
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Starter 2000 Prophecy Beatdown
For other uses, see Prophecy (disambiguation).

Prophecy is the third set in the Masques block. It is the 20th Magic expansion and was released on June 5, 2000.

Set details[ | ]

Prophecy featured 143 cards (55 commons, 44 uncommons and 44 rares); its expansion symbol is a cluster of three crystals (referencing the fragile rhystic magic of the set).[3] Although Prophecy was the third expansion, and second small expansion, in the Masques block; its themes and mechanics were not a natural progression from those established in Mercadian Masques and Nemesis, leading to Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater to state that, in his opinion, Prophecy felt disjointed from the rest of its block and that it is the second-worst designed set in Magic history, comparable to Homelands.[4]

Prophecy is noted for introducing two of the first creature subtype hosers in Magic; Brutal Suppression and Root Cage, which deal with Rebels and Mercenaries, respectively. Prophecy is also notable for being the first booster set to feature the smaller shooting star design on premium foil cards.

Marketing[ | ]

The cards were sold in 15-card boosters which had artwork from Avatar of Hope, in four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The prerelease card was also Avatar of Hope, in a foil version. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name. Like Visions, the set had the same name as an older card, which also did not appear in this set.

Flavor and storyline[ | ]

Prophecy is set on the plane of Dominaria. Keld has declared war on Jamuraa. The city-states of Jamuraa form the Kipamu League and then repulse the invaders.

Tournament impact[ | ]

Although contributing a few potent cards such as Avatar of Woe, Chimeric Idol, Foil, Mageta the Lion, and Spiketail Hatchling, Prophecy had an insubstantial impact on competitive Magic play and even had a paucity of playable cards in Limited.[5] Mark Rosewater considers it the second worst designed set after Homelands, because it was too Spikey.[6]

Themes and mechanics[ | ]

Like Mercadian Masques, Prophecy had no new keywords. It did, however, introduce several new themes:[4]

  • Anti-rebel — cards like Brutal Suppression and Rebel Informer. (see notable cards)
  • Rhystic magic — Discounted spells and abilities that are weakened if a specified player pays a set amount of mana.
  • A land theme, with several permanents having abilities involving sacrificing lands, several cards that gained bonuses when all of their controller's lands were tapped, and various methods to use excess untapped lands without incurring mana burn. This was a counterbalance to Rhystic magic, as these cards encourage tapping out and leaving the controller unable to pay the Rhystic tax.

Creature types[ | ]

No novel creature types were introduced in this expansion. The creature types Ghost and Ship were used in this expansion at the time of printing but were later changed to Spirit and Human, respectively.

Cycles[ | ]

Prophecy features eleven cycles and six vertical cycles.[7]

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Avatars Avatar of Hope Avatar of Will Avatar of Woe Avatar of Fury Avatar of Might
Each of these rare Avatar creatures cost {6}MM and, at least, have a static ability that reduces its cost by {6} if certain conditions are met and a static combat or evasion ability.
Legendary Spellshapers Mageta the Lion Alexi, Zephyr Mage Greel, Mind Raker Latulla, Keldon Overseer Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
Each of these rare 3/3 legendary Spellshaper creatures cost {3}MM and have an activated ability costing two cards and an amount of mana for a potent effect.
Ability-losing Creatures Glittering Lynx Ribbon Snake Plague Fiend Zerapa Minotaur Vintara Elephant
Each of these common creatures has a positive ability and an activated ability that can be activated by any player that makes it lose that positive ability.
No-Untapped-Lands Creatures Fen Stalker Keldon Berserker Vintara Snapper
As long as you control no untapped lands, each of these creatures gets a color appropriate boost.
Sacrifice-2-Lands Creatures Jeweled Spirit Coffin Puppets Keldon Arsonist Squirrel Wrangler
Each of these creatures has an activated ability that requires the sacrifice of two lands. Green stands out by having a creature with two abilities requiring the sacrifice of a single land each. Copper-Leaf Angel and its ability requiring the sacrifice of multiple lands is thematically tied to this cycle.
Field Auras Flowering Field Sunken Field Noxious Field Barbed Field Verdant Field
Each of these uncommon Auras enchants a land, conferring it with an activated ability involving {T}.
Flash Auras Mageta's Boon Alexi's Cloak Greel's Caress Latulla's Orders Jolrael's Favor
Each of these common Auras costs {1}M, has Flash, enchants a creature, and is named after the legendary Spellshaper of its color.
Rhystic Do-More-Unless Spells Rhystic Shield Withdraw Flay Rhystic Lightning Wild Might
Each of these spells create a small effect, and then a bigger effect unless a player pays a set amount of mana. Tied to the Rhystic mechanic, except instead of being 'full effect' or 'no effect', the spells scale.
Any-Player Enchantments Samite Sanctuary Excavation Endbringer's Revel Task Mage Assembly
Each of these global enchantments has an activated ability that can be played by any player.
Pitch spells Abolish Foil Outbreak Flameshot Snag
Each of these uncommon instant or sorcery spells has an alternate cost that includes discarding a basic land card of the type associated with its color.
Winds Blessed Wind Denying Wind Plague Wind Searing Wind Vitalizing Wind
Each of these rare instant or sorcery spells has a converted mana cost of 9 and a potent effect.

Vertical cycles[ | ]

Cycle name
Glittering Cats Glittering Lynx Glittering Lion
Each of these white Cat creatures has a static ability that prevents all damage that would be dealt to the creature and an activated ability that can be activated by any player that removes, until end of turn, the above static ability.
Spiketail Drakes Spiketail Hatchling Spiketail Drake
Each of these blue Drake creatures with flying have an activated ability costing the sacrifice of the creature to counter a targeted spell unless its controller pays an additional amount of mana.

This vertical cycle is unusual in that there is no rare member, and the intermediate Spiketail Drakeling was revealed upon the release of Time Spiral.
Black Upkeep Creatures Whipstitched Zombie Pit Raptor Bog Elemental
Each of these black creatures as an upkeep cost that needs to be paid each turn if the creature isn't to be sacrificed.
Double-Size Creatures Spur Grappler Scoria Cat
Each of these red creatures get a +X/+X bonus that double its size as long as you control no untapped lands.
Brawlers Branded Brawlers Veteran Brawlers
Each of these red Soldier creatures has two static abilities, one of which prevents the creature from attacking if the defending player has an untapped land and another which prevents the creature from blocking if you control an untapped land.
Wells Well of Life Well of Discovery
Each of these artifacts as triggered ability that say "at the end of your turn, if you control no untapped lands, EFFECT".

Pairs[ | ]

Prophecy has two mirrored pairs.

Mirrored Pairs Description
Mercenary Informer
({W})
Rebel Informer
({B})
Rare Human Mercenary Rebels/Human Rebel Mercenaries with a mana cost of {2}M, a power/toughness combination summing to 3, a static ability preventing its being targeted by spells or abilities from sources of the other's color, and an activated ability costing {2}{W} or {3}, respectively, to put a targeted nontoken Merecenary or Rebel on the bottom of its owner's library.
Soul Charmer
({W})
Death Charmer
({B})
Common 2/2 Rebel and Mercenary creatures, respectively, each with an ability that triggers upon its dealing combat damage to a creature and has an effect unless that creature's controller pays {2}.

Preconstructed decks[ | ]

Prophecy has four theme decks, of which three are bicolored and one is monocolored.

Theme
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Pummel G
Turnaround W U
Slither R G
Distress W B

References[ | ]

  1. Wizards of the Coast (August 02, 2004). "Ask Wizards - August, 2004". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. [1]
  3. Brady Dommermuth (October 31, 2006). "Ask Wizards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. a b Mark Rosewater (April 29, 2013). "Third Time's a Charm". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Crystal Keep - Magic - Prophecy
  6. Mark Rosewater. "#130 - 2000". Drive to Work.
  7. Ben Bleiweiss (July 17, 2002). "Set of Five, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links[ | ]

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