Exodus (Magic: The Gathering)
Encyclopedia
Exodus was the 22nd Magic: The Gathering
set, fourteenth expert level set, and the third and final set in the Rath Block, released on 15 June 1998. Its expansion symbol is a bridge
. On 7 December 2009 Exodus was released on Magic: The Gathering Online
.
Also, a disturbing change has happened to Crovax, the noble who accompanied Weatherlight to Rath. His newly-formed bloodlust and thirst for power threatens to destroy the entire ship.
Exodus is also the first set to add collectors' numbers to the cards themselves. Next to the copyright information are two numbers in the format X/Y, where X is the card's collectors' number and Y the number of cards in the set in question. The cards were numbered in alphabetical order by color according to the Magic color wheel, starting with white and going clockwise (to blue, then black, then red, then green, then multicolored cards,then split cards -first appeared in Invasion-, then artifacts, then lands). Thus, in Exodus, the last white card alphabetically in the set, Zealots en-Dal, is numbered 26, and the first blue card alphabetically in the set, Æther Tide, is numbered 27.
Exodus is also the first set to center the artist and copyright information at the bottom of the card, rather than have that information aligned to the left side of the card. This change persisted until the card design change in 8th Edition
.
.
There were two cycles in Exodus called by the name of "underdog" cards: cards that aid the player most when he is behind his opponent in a certain aspect of the game. The first cycle are the Oaths, one rare enchantment of each color, that would check a resource (life, creatures, cards in hand) of each player and then balance them out. There were also the keepers, that were weaker creature versions of the oaths, and uncommon.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
set, fourteenth expert level set, and the third and final set in the Rath Block, released on 15 June 1998. Its expansion symbol is a bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
. On 7 December 2009 Exodus was released on Magic: The Gathering Online
Magic: The Gathering Online
Magic: The Gathering Online or Magic Online is a direct video game adaptation of Magic: The Gathering, utilizing the concept of a virtual economy in order to preserve the collectible aspect of the card game. It is played through an Internet service operated by Wizards of the Coast, which went...
.
Storyline
The crew of Weatherlight has rescued the pieces of the Legacy and Captain Sisay, and now must retreat through Volrath's Stronghold and escape to the portal that would lead them off of Rath. Volrath and his main lieutenant Greven il-Vec will stop at nothing to destroy them and reclaim the ancient artifacts that will allow Volrath to oppose his hidden master. However, they must also stave off the combined assault of Volrath's Stronghold by the elves of the Skyshroud forest and the human tribes of the Kor, Vec, and Dal, recently reunited by Gerrard of Weatherlight.Also, a disturbing change has happened to Crovax, the noble who accompanied Weatherlight to Rath. His newly-formed bloodlust and thirst for power threatens to destroy the entire ship.
Set history
Exodus is the first set to make a card's rarity visibly apparent on the card itself. All previous expansions had no way to tell whether a card was a common card or a rare card. From Exodus on, the expansion symbol reveals what rarity a card is. If a card has a black expansion symbol, it is a common card (there are eleven common cards in a fifteen-card booster pack). If it has a silver expansion symbol, it is an uncommon card (three in a booster pack). If it has a gold expansion symbol, it is a rare card (one in a booster pack).Exodus is also the first set to add collectors' numbers to the cards themselves. Next to the copyright information are two numbers in the format X/Y, where X is the card's collectors' number and Y the number of cards in the set in question. The cards were numbered in alphabetical order by color according to the Magic color wheel, starting with white and going clockwise (to blue, then black, then red, then green, then multicolored cards,then split cards -first appeared in Invasion-, then artifacts, then lands). Thus, in Exodus, the last white card alphabetically in the set, Zealots en-Dal, is numbered 26, and the first blue card alphabetically in the set, Æther Tide, is numbered 27.
Exodus is also the first set to center the artist and copyright information at the bottom of the card, rather than have that information aligned to the left side of the card. This change persisted until the card design change in 8th Edition
8th Edition (Magic: The Gathering)
Eighth Edition or Core Set was the standard base set for the collectible trading card game, Magic: The Gathering from its release in 2003 until 9th Edition's release in 2005...
.
Mechanics
Exodus introduces no new keywords or mechanics, but it did use the Buyback and Shadow mechanics introduced in TempestTempest (Magic: The Gathering)
Tempest was the 20th Magic: The Gathering set and twelfth expert level set, and the first set in the Rath Block, released in October 1997. The release of Tempest represented a large jump in the power level of the card set, compared to the previous Mirage block. Many cards from Tempest instantly...
.
There were two cycles in Exodus called by the name of "underdog" cards: cards that aid the player most when he is behind his opponent in a certain aspect of the game. The first cycle are the Oaths, one rare enchantment of each color, that would check a resource (life, creatures, cards in hand) of each player and then balance them out. There were also the keepers, that were weaker creature versions of the oaths, and uncommon.
Notable cards
- — The signature card of "Survival" decks. Survival of the Fittest acts as a search engine for silver-bullet creatures or as a combo engine with cards like and or and . The printing of Vengevine greatly increased the power of Survival of the Fittest and led to its banning in Legacy in 2010.
- — Of the five Oath cards in Exodus Oath of Druids had the most impact on tournament Magic. It is one of the game's most efficient means of putting expensive creatures into play without paying their mana costs, and modern Vintage decks still use it for that reason.
External links
- Wizard's official page for Exodus
- Visual card list at gatherer.wizards.com