Saviors of Kamigawa is a Magic: The Gathering

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, third and last in the Kamigawa block. Saviors of Kamigawa was released on June 3, 2005 (prerelease on May 21, 2005). Its expansion symbol is a Japanese lantern

Lantern

A lantern is a portable lighting device or mounted light fixture used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as 'torches', or as general light sources outdoors . Low light level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to...

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Mechanics

Saviors of Kamigawa introduces several new mechanics to the game.

• Epic spells are powerful cards that prevent their controller from playing spells for the rest of the game. In exchange, that player gets a copy of the spell again for free during each of his or her upkeeps.
• Channel represents the fading barrier between the spirit world and reality. Spirits now have the ability to concentrate their physical form into a one-shot instant-effect. Channel is an activated ability not unlike cycling; a cost is played and the card is discarded, producing an effect.
• Sweep spells, allow players to determine how powerful they want the spell to be, in exchange for returning lands of a required type to their owner's hand.
• Five new flip cards introduced in Saviors are different from previous flips. Once their conditions are met, these cards change into Legendary enchantments, symbolizing that creature's Essence.
• Wisdom isn't a keyword mechanic, but a Saviors of Kamigawa theme. Cards with wisdom get better depending on the number of cards in players' hands. Typically, the magic number is seven.

Saviors also features the first intentionally (see Alpha's Cyclopean Tomb) uncastable spell, Evermind, which has no mana cost. Its effect can only be achieved through the use of the Splice mechanic introduced in Champions of Kamigawa. However, new rules from Time Spiral now allow cards without mana costs to be cast, as long as the player can bypass paying the non-existent mana cost.

External links

• Wizards' Official page for Saviors of Kamigawa
• Visual card list at gatherer.wizards.com