Power Nine
Encyclopedia
The term Power Nine refers to a set of nine specific cards in the game of Magic: The Gathering
. These cards were only printed early in the game's history and consist of Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, and Timetwister.
The Power Nine are considered to be among the most powerful cards in the game. All nine cards were of the rarest level of rarity and printed only in the Alpha
, Beta
, and Unlimited
sets, meaning they were only printed from late 1993 to early 1994. Currently, all of the Power Nine cards are restricted in the Vintage tournament format and banned in Legacy, the only formats where they would be legal otherwise.
The Black Lotus is the most valuable Magic card ever to be released in a regular set, excluding cards with rare printing errors, such as "albino" cards. Its Alpha
and Beta
versions in particular are considered to be extremely valuable, due to the more limited print runs and black borders of those sets. The card has the ability to be sacrificed for three mana of any one color. With its own mana cost of 0, this represents an enormous temporary jump in mana development. Former Pro player and Magic writer Zvi Mowshowitz
has declared Black Lotus as the best artifact of all time, claiming every deck in the history of the game is better with a Black Lotus in it. The illustration on Black Lotus was painted by Christopher Rush
, who was at the time a Wizards of the Coast
employee. The Black Lotus illustration is a depiction of a black lotus
flower
over a foliage backdrop.
In Time Walk's early development version, it originally had the text "Target player loses next turn." Richard Garfield tells an anecdote about a playtester telling him that he had a card in his deck that would guarantee he would win the game on the next turn. Garfield could not figure out which card this could be, until the playtester showed him a Time Walk, and pointed out the alternate meaning of the word "loses". The wording was changed prior to the release of the game.
set which produced four mana, although it required the user to physically tear the card up after use. from the same set works like a regular Mox but produces either a random color of mana, or destroys itself, depending on a die roll. , from the later Unhinged parody set, provides infinite mana and immunity to mana-burn (now redundant due to rules changes), but costs fifteen mana to play.
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...
. These cards were only printed early in the game's history and consist of Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, and Timetwister.
The Power Nine are considered to be among the most powerful cards in the game. All nine cards were of the rarest level of rarity and printed only in the Alpha
Alpha (Magic: The Gathering)
The name Alpha refers to the first print run of the original Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition, the first Magic: The Gathering card set. It premiered in a limited release at Origins Game Fair in 1993, with a general release that August. Its print run of 2.6 million cards sold out very quickly...
, Beta
Beta (Magic: The Gathering)
Limited Edition Beta or just Beta for short was the second part, after revisions, of the first print run of the first Magic: The Gathering set. It was released only a few months after Limited Edition Alpha's publication to correct some minor problems in the rules and to make up for the fact that...
, and Unlimited
Unlimited (Magic: The Gathering)
Unlimited Edition was the second Magic: The Gathering set. It was released on December 1, 1993, after Beta had sold out as quickly as Alpha had; this time the run was 40 million cards, the largest yet...
sets, meaning they were only printed from late 1993 to early 1994. Currently, all of the Power Nine cards are restricted in the Vintage tournament format and banned in Legacy, the only formats where they would be legal otherwise.
Black Lotus
Alpha (Magic: The Gathering)
The name Alpha refers to the first print run of the original Magic: The Gathering Limited Edition, the first Magic: The Gathering card set. It premiered in a limited release at Origins Game Fair in 1993, with a general release that August. Its print run of 2.6 million cards sold out very quickly...
and Beta
Beta (Magic: The Gathering)
Limited Edition Beta or just Beta for short was the second part, after revisions, of the first print run of the first Magic: The Gathering set. It was released only a few months after Limited Edition Alpha's publication to correct some minor problems in the rules and to make up for the fact that...
versions in particular are considered to be extremely valuable, due to the more limited print runs and black borders of those sets. The card has the ability to be sacrificed for three mana of any one color. With its own mana cost of 0, this represents an enormous temporary jump in mana development. Former Pro player and Magic writer Zvi Mowshowitz
Zvi Mowshowitz
-External links:*...
has declared Black Lotus as the best artifact of all time, claiming every deck in the history of the game is better with a Black Lotus in it. The illustration on Black Lotus was painted by Christopher Rush
Christopher Rush
Christopher Rush is an illustrator for Magic: The Gathering. In total, he has illustrated over 100 cards for the series. Most of his work for Wizards of the Coast was done on the earliest sets, where he also helped with various design and marketing issues...
, who was at the time a Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
employee. The Black Lotus illustration is a depiction of a black lotus
Nelumbo
Nelumbo is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers resembling water lilies, commonly known as lotus. The generic name is derived from the Sinhalese word Nelum. There are only two known living species in the genus. The sacred lotus is native to Asia, and is the better known of the two...
flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
over a foliage backdrop.
Moxen
The five Mox cards — , , , , and (colloquially "Moxen") — are Artifacts. Similar to the five Basic Lands, they cost nothing to play and can add one mana of a specific color to their owner's mana pool. Unlike lands, however, more than one can be played per turn, in addition to the land for that turn. Like Black Lotus, this acceleration of a game's natural mana development can lead to extremely powerful plays much earlier than normal. All five Mox cards were illustrated by Dan Frazier. In each artwork, a different piece of jewelry is depicted.Ancestral Recall
allows the player to draw three cards at an extremely low mana cost. It originated as part of a set of five cards known as "Boons", one of each color, which gave three of something (e.g. mana, life, damage) for the cost of one mana. Ancestral Recall is the only rare Boon and the only one not to have been reprinted since the Unlimited set.Time Walk
For two mana, allows a player to take an extra turn. In a game that involves a constant build-up of resources over time, a full turn's additional development turned out to be far more powerful than Magic's early designers had imagined. Several cards that grant additional turns have seen print since Time Walk, but always at a greater cost.In Time Walk's early development version, it originally had the text "Target player loses next turn." Richard Garfield tells an anecdote about a playtester telling him that he had a card in his deck that would guarantee he would win the game on the next turn. Garfield could not figure out which card this could be, until the playtester showed him a Time Walk, and pointed out the alternate meaning of the word "loses". The wording was changed prior to the release of the game.
Timetwister
Whereas the other Power 9 cards are simple in concept, is more complex. It forces each player to shuffle their hand, graveyard, and library together and then draw a new hand of seven cards. Because it affects all players, it may not be apparent at first why Timetwister is a powerful card. Its power lies mostly in situations where the player casting it has fewer cards in his or her hand than the opponent, and has established a powerful board position - Timetwister does not affect cards already on the table. The player casting Timetwister can essentially catch up on cards in hand, and potentially get back powerful cards in the graveyard, without giving up a dominant board position. Unlike the other cards in the Power Nine, Timetwister therefore requires a deck to be more carefully built in order to exploit its power.Parodies
The was a satirical card in the parody UngluedUnglued
For the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
set which produced four mana, although it required the user to physically tear the card up after use. from the same set works like a regular Mox but produces either a random color of mana, or destroys itself, depending on a die roll. , from the later Unhinged parody set, provides infinite mana and immunity to mana-burn (now redundant due to rules changes), but costs fifteen mana to play.
Alternate Art
Because their raw power keeps them from being reprinted, the Power 9 are among the very few widely-recognised cards never to have received updated artwork from their original printing. As a way to rectify this, since 2003, the winner of the annual Vintage Championship has received a unique, oversized Power Nine card featuring brand-new art. These prize cards are considerably larger than actual cards, and therefore cannot be used in play. The five Mox cards feature artwork that represent the settings of the Magic expansions released in their corresponding years. Their artist, Volkan Baga, has also illustrated two other Mox cards - Mox Opal and the reissued Mox Diamond - in the same style. The following cards have been given to the winners:- 2003: Black Lotus to Carl Winter (Artwork by Christopher RushChristopher RushChristopher Rush is an illustrator for Magic: The Gathering. In total, he has illustrated over 100 cards for the series. Most of his work for Wizards of the Coast was done on the earliest sets, where he also helped with various design and marketing issues...
) - 2004: Timetwister to Mark Biller (Artwork by Mark Tedin)
- 2005: Ancestral Recall to Roland Chang (Artwork by Mark PooleMark PooleMark Poole is an illustrator for Magic: The Gathering. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts...
) - 2006: Mox Pearl to Travis Spero (Artwork by Volkan BagaVolkan BagaVolkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany.- Career :Baga has created illustrations for the Magic: The Gathering of Wizards of the Coast since 2006...
) - 2007: Mox Jet to Stephen Menendian (Artwork by Volkan BagaVolkan BagaVolkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany.- Career :Baga has created illustrations for the Magic: The Gathering of Wizards of the Coast since 2006...
) - 2008: Mox Ruby to Paul Mastriano (Artwork by Volkan BagaVolkan BagaVolkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany.- Career :Baga has created illustrations for the Magic: The Gathering of Wizards of the Coast since 2006...
) - 2009: Mox Emerald to Itou Hiromichi (Artwork by Volkan BagaVolkan BagaVolkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany.- Career :Baga has created illustrations for the Magic: The Gathering of Wizards of the Coast since 2006...
) - 2010: Mox Sapphire to Owen Turtenwald (Artwork by Volkan BagaVolkan BagaVolkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany.- Career :Baga has created illustrations for the Magic: The Gathering of Wizards of the Coast since 2006...
) - 2011: Time Walk to Mark Hornung (Artwork by Chris Rahn)
External links
- "The Power Nine" — Images of all Power Nine cards
- The Gatherer Card Database — This database has detailed information on all other cards mentioned in this article