Alliances

Alliances is the eighth Magic expansion and was released in June 1996 as the second set and first small expansion in the Ice Age block. 
==Set details==
Alliances is black-bordered and was the first set to be printed on sheets of 110 cards. The set's rarity breakdown is: 55 commons (40@C2, 10@C3, 5@U6), 43 uncommons (40@U2, 3@R6), 46 rares (46@R2).Alliances Checklist Each common card and the 5 uncommons cards @U6 have 2 pieces of art, making collectors view this as a 199 card set. Since the ratio of uncommons to rare is 3:1 in a booster pack, the 3 rares @R6 are considered as uncommon even if they could be found in the rare slot of an Alliances booster pack. A similar statement can be made about the 5 commons @U6. The expansion symbol of the set is a banner, or pennant, to reinforce the “alliance” concept.
The Alliances lands have a unique violet-colored text box and Alliances is the last expansion set to have this feature. The Mirage and Visions sets share the same color scheme, and from Fifth Edition on, land text box color was standardized.
===Marketing===
Alliances was released eight months after the less-than-spectacular Homelands, which is the longest gap between expansion sets in the history of the game. Prior to the Coldsnap release it was the third and final set in the Ice Age block with Homelands being the second set. It was sold in booster packs of twelve cards which included eight commons, three uncommons and one rare. A booster box contained 45 booster packs. This was the last time that boosters contained twelve cards. All boosters feature the same artwork from <c>Benthic Explorers</c>. 
This was the last expansion to feature regular multiple artworks on cards. The practice was discontinued to ease the identification of cards by their artwork, which was important to the global community as Magic was beginning to see print in languages other than English. 
Alliances is also the last standard Magic expansion that was under-printed, as supply did not meet demand in many areas. Alliances was highly anticipated after the long wait from the release Homelands.
===Storyline===
After the planeswalker Freyalise cast her World Spell, thereby ending the Ice Age, a population long adapted to the cold had to re-adjust to warm weather. With the new climate came devastating floods and plagues, and the necromancer Lim-Dûl has built an army of undead bent on world domination. An alliance is formed between races to defeat Lim-Dûl and his army.
====Storyline sources====
Title 	Author 	Publishing date	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Setting for Alliances 	Scott Hungerford	July 1996 	Dominaria 	Freyalise
Lord of Tresserhorn 	Scott Hungerford	July 1996 	Dominaria 	Lord of Tresserhorn, Lim-Dûl
The Crucible of the Orcs (The Colors of Magic)	Don Perrin 	February 1999 	Dominaria 	Elkan, Groth Jonar, Varchild, Lavash, Jel, Tramas, Michand
Dark Water (The Colors of Magic) 	Vance Moore 	February 1999 	Dominaria 	Tayva and Loria, Brucius, Tomaya, Ebnezzer, Winton
The Mirror of Yesterday (The Colors of Magic) 	Jonathan Tweet 	February 1999 	Dominaria 	Damon, Sabra, Jervis, Annarais, Wane
The Shattered Alliance 	Jeff Grubb 	December 2000 	Dominaria 	Arkol, Gerda Äagesdotter, Jodah, Jaya Ballard, Chaeska, Lord of Tresserhorn, Ozmar Starkaadison, Glissenda, Tissellia Hannasdottir, Lothar Lovisason, Lovisa Coldeyes, Zur (mentioned), Darien, Alexandrite, Gundarsson, Kartha Shockfist, Koravis Darkeyes, Pova, Varchild, Relj, Karthon, Arcum Dagsson, Sorine Daabson, Mairsil, Lim-Dûl, Freyalise, Xantcha, Ratepe, Urza
==Mechanics and themes==
Alliances didn't introduce any new keywords, but it did introduce the popular alternate cost mechanic, popularly referred to as "pitch cards", that allowed a player to discard cards of specific colors (and in the case of two cards, with an additional life payment) to cast a spell instead of paying its printed mana cost. In Magic: The Gathering history, this mechanic, or a derivative or variant thereof, appears on rare cycles in the Masques block, the Betrayers of Kamigawa expansion, and the Coldsnap expansion. There are also a number of cards that exile the top of the library as a cost.
Alliances builds on many of the themes of the Ice Age block. Cumulative upkeep and cantrips return, as does the allied color theme and a few new legendary creatures. The Snow mechanic appears on only a few cards.
===Design & Development===
Alliances was the second expansion by the quartet known as the "East Coast playtesters", which also designed Ice Age. While it was sold as an Ice Age expansion, design diverged from it. For example, the Snow mechanic was considered a failure, and it was completely ignored. The vast majority of the mechanical tie-ins were added in Development, including a few Snow-matters cards because the mechanic rated highly on flavor.
At some point, Continuity (the department responsible for the storyline) decided that Alliances would have a race of sentient gorillas. The design team thought this was a silly idea and protested by renaming all the cards in the set to have "Gorilla" in their names.
==Creature types==
The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Aesthir (later changed to Bird), Bird, Gorilla (later changed to Ape), Harlequin (later changed to Human), Heretic (later changed to Human Cleric), Mosquito (later changed to Insect), Pigeon (later changed to Bird), Spy (later changed to Human Rogue), Starfish, Swarm, Tactician (later changed to Human Advisor), War-Rider (later changed to Human Warrior).
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Elemental, Elf, Gargoyle, Goblin, Guardian, Homarid, Horror (later changed to Horror Spirit), Insect, Keeper (later changed to Avatar), Knight, Mercenary, Merfolk, Paladin (later changed to Human Knight), Phantasm (later changed to Illusion), Rat, Skeleton, Soldier, Spirit, Wall, Wizard and Zombie.
==Cycles==
Alliances has seven cycles:
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Double hosers 	 	 	 	 	
Double hosers 	Rare spells that have a negative effect on both of its enemy colors. This cycle was the first to attempt to hose both enemy colors at once and inspired the creation of similar cycles in the Mercadian Masques and Coldsnap expansions.	Rare spells that have a negative effect on both of its enemy colors. This cycle was the first to attempt to hose both enemy colors at once and inspired the creation of similar cycles in the Mercadian Masques and Coldsnap expansions.	Rare spells that have a negative effect on both of its enemy colors. This cycle was the first to attempt to hose both enemy colors at once and inspired the creation of similar cycles in the Mercadian Masques and Coldsnap expansions.	Rare spells that have a negative effect on both of its enemy colors. This cycle was the first to attempt to hose both enemy colors at once and inspired the creation of similar cycles in the Mercadian Masques and Coldsnap expansions.	Rare spells that have a negative effect on both of its enemy colors. This cycle was the first to attempt to hose both enemy colors at once and inspired the creation of similar cycles in the Mercadian Masques and Coldsnap expansions.
Pitch cards 	 	 	 	 	
Pitch cards 	Uncommon instants that have an alternate casting cost that includes exiling a card of its color. 	Uncommon instants that have an alternate casting cost that includes exiling a card of its color. 	Uncommon instants that have an alternate casting cost that includes exiling a card of its color. 	Uncommon instants that have an alternate casting cost that includes exiling a card of its color. 	Uncommon instants that have an alternate casting cost that includes exiling a card of its color.
Replacement lands 	 	 	 	 	
Replacement lands 	Rare lands that are sacrificed when it enters the battlefield unless you sacrifice a basic land of a given type and have a mana ability that produces mana of that land's type and another activated ability. 	Rare lands that are sacrificed when it enters the battlefield unless you sacrifice a basic land of a given type and have a mana ability that produces mana of that land's type and another activated ability. 	Rare lands that are sacrificed when it enters the battlefield unless you sacrifice a basic land of a given type and have a mana ability that produces mana of that land's type and another activated ability. 	Rare lands that are sacrificed when it enters the battlefield unless you sacrifice a basic land of a given type and have a mana ability that produces mana of that land's type and another activated ability. 	Rare lands that are sacrificed when it enters the battlefield unless you sacrifice a basic land of a given type and have a mana ability that produces mana of that land's type and another activated ability.
Common allied-color ability spells 	 	 	 	 	
Common allied-color ability spells 	Each of these common spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Kjeldoran Pride, they all benefit the previous color in the color wheel. 	Each of these common spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Kjeldoran Pride, they all benefit the previous color in the color wheel. 	Each of these common spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Kjeldoran Pride, they all benefit the previous color in the color wheel. 	Each of these common spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Kjeldoran Pride, they all benefit the previous color in the color wheel. 	Each of these common spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Kjeldoran Pride, they all benefit the previous color in the color wheel.
Uncommon allied-color ability spells	 	 	 	 	
Uncommon allied-color ability spells	Each of these uncommon spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Juniper Order Advocate, they all benefit the next color in the color wheel. 	Each of these uncommon spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Juniper Order Advocate, they all benefit the next color in the color wheel. 	Each of these uncommon spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Juniper Order Advocate, they all benefit the next color in the color wheel. 	Each of these uncommon spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Juniper Order Advocate, they all benefit the next color in the color wheel. 	Each of these uncommon spells gives you a benefit for playing one of its allies. Except for Juniper Order Advocate, they all benefit the next color in the color wheel.
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Uncommon gold spells 	 	 	 	 	
Uncommon gold spells 	Uncommon multicolored spells that require two mana of allied colors to cast. 	Uncommon multicolored spells that require two mana of allied colors to cast. 	Uncommon multicolored spells that require two mana of allied colors to cast. 	Uncommon multicolored spells that require two mana of allied colors to cast. 	Uncommon multicolored spells that require two mana of allied colors to cast.
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Tricolor spells 	 	 	 	 	
Tricolor spells 	Rare multicolored spells that have a shard mana cost. 	Rare multicolored spells that have a shard mana cost. 	Rare multicolored spells that have a shard mana cost. 	Rare multicolored spells that have a shard mana cost. 	Rare multicolored spells that have a shard mana cost.
===Pairs===
Alliances has three mirrored pairs.
====Mirrored Pairs====
Mirrored Pairs	Mirrored Pairs	Description
 	 	Each of these uncommon instants uses an out-of-color-pie effect from the other's color and draws you a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
 	 	Each of these rare sorceries has your opponent choose between letting you draw three cards or another effect.
 	 	Each of these one-mana instants puts three cards from a graveyard to the top of a library.
==Strictly Better or Worse==
*<c>Storm Crow</c> is strictly better than <c>Vodalian Soldiers</c>.
*<c>Undergrowth</c> is strictly better than <c>Fog</c>.
==Trivia==
*Only Alliances and the Chronicles set were sold in packs of 12 cards.
*Alliances was the only set to feature different tiers within its rare cards, until the introduction of mythic rare cards. A few rares appeared six times on each rare sheet while most appeared twice, making a few rares three times as common as others.
==Notable cards==
*<c>Balduvian Horde</c> was initially heralded as the "new <c>Juzám Djinn</c>," then considered the best creature in Magic, as a 5/5 for . It later proved to be only mediocre .
*<c>Death Spark</c> will later inspire the Recover keyword ability.
*<c>Diminishing Returns</c> is the first attempt at creating a "fixed" version of <c>Timetwister</c>. Despite its decrease in power compared to Timetwister, Diminishing Returns sometimes still sees play in Vintage alongside Timetwister.
*<c>Elvish Spirit Guide</c> had a new unique feature: exile it from your hand to for a mana. Alongside its timeshifted reprint <c>Simian Spirit Guide</c>, they see play various Eternal fast combo decks.
*<c>Force of Will</c> continues to be an important and potent card in every format it is legal in because it can counter any spell without the use of mana. Because it was one of the most powerful cards in the set and any blue card can be used to cast it, players joked that every blue card in Alliances is the most powerful, leading to the running joke that <c>Storm Crow</c> is one of the game's strongest cards.
*<c>Helm of Obedience</c>'s templating let <c>Leyline of the Void</c> and similar effects make it mill indefinitely. <c>Thought Dissector</c> was printed with the corrected version.
*<c>Ivory Gargoyle</c> was powerful because it was difficult to get rid of it permanently and was used in some control decks as a win condition.
*<c>Kjeldoran Outpost</c> was used as a win condition in Counterpost-style control decks.
*<c>Lake of the Dead</c> was used to speed up already-powerful <c>Necropotence</c> decks.
*<c>Spiny Starfish</c> and <c>Soldevi Sentry</c> are the first of the only five cards that care about regenerate.
*<c>Taste of Paradise</c> and <c>Primitive Justice</c> have functional multikicker.
*<c>Thawing Glaciers</c> was used in many different decks, especially after the Sixth Edition Rules came into effect, allowing players to use cards like this one with delayed triggered abilities twice thanks to the reconstruction of the new End of turn step.
==Notes==
==References==
==External links==
* (old)
*Official Alliances Information Product Page (new)