recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
2013 World Magic Cup

The **2013 World Magic Cup**, the second World Magic Cup, was held on 2–4 August 2013 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It featured 71 different national teams, the same as the first WMC. The event was won by the French national team, lead by Hall of Famer Raphaël Lévy; the final match against Hungary was famously won by a topdecked Rakdos's Return from Timothée Simonot.

## Format and schedule

The 2013 World Magic Cup featured three formats: Return to Ravnica block **Team Sealed**, *Magic 2014* Team Sealed, and **Team Unified Standard**. Team Sealed is a variation of Sealed deck where the team shares a pool of twelve Booster packs, which is used to build three 40-card decks. Team Unified Standard differs from regular Standard in that all three team decks must not include more than four copies of any given card (other than basic lands). In both formats, teams played against opposing national teams, with the winning team being the first to win two matches (each match being best-of-three-games).

With the exception of team only having 3 members, all teams must switch one member in between the Sealed and Standard Portion of the event on both Day 1 and Day 2.

**Day 1 - Friday, 2 August**

* 3 rounds of *Magic 2014* Team Sealed
* 4 rounds of Team Unified Standard

Day 1 was seven rounds of Swiss play, with the top 32 teams at the end of the day advancing to Day 2 of competition.

**Day 2 - Saturday, 3 August**

* 3 rounds of Return to Ravnica block Team Sealed
* 3 rounds of Team Unified Standard

On Day 2, teams were divided, according to their standing within the event (seeding), into eight groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Return to Ravnica block Team Sealed. The top two teams in each group advanced; if two or more teams were tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced. The teams were then divided again, according to their standing within the event, into four groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Team Unified Standard. The top two teams in each group advanced to Day 3 of competition; if two or more teams are tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced.

**Day 3 - Sunday, 4 August**

* Quarterfinals, semifinals and final, featuring Team Unified Standard

The top eight teams then competed in a seeded (based on total number of points from Day 1 and Day 2), single-elimination bracket.

## External links

* 2013 World Magic Cup coverage
* 2013 World Magic Cup final standings
* Top 16 Team Unified Standard decklists
* 2013 World Magic Cup invitation list
* Video coverage playlist

## References

1. ↑ Josh Bennett (2013-08-04). "FINALS: RETURN TO GLORY". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2016-06-28.
Allen Wu

**Allen Wu** is an American professional player and former member of the Play Design team. He won Pro Tour 25th Anniversary alongside teammates Ben Hull and Gregory Orange. Additionally, he won three Grand Prix.

In September 2017, he joined Wizards of the Coast R&D as a member of the Play Design team. He later left the position again to return to professional play.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders

## References

1. ↑ Melissa DeTora (September 15, 2017). "Counter Play: Finding the Right Answers". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Aliban's Towers

**Aliban's Towers** are spires on the world of Ulgrotha with no doors or entrance, created by a goblin spell to make rocks grow beneath one's feet as a defense against enemies or as a campsite, trapping one either inside or outside of the tower. They were named after the legenday goblin wizard Aliban. The spell needed to create them has been taught to the inhabitants of Aysen as a show of goodwill by Eron. The citizens of Aysen have build their cobbleroads thanks to this: a wizard would cast the spell, then workers would tear the structure down and use the stones for the roads. Some towers still dot the Koskun Mountains. Feroz and Sandruu nearly camped among them one night before being ambushed by a Root Spider.

## In-game references

**Represented in:**

* Aliban's Tower

## References

1. ↑ Backstory for Magic the Gathering : Homelands
2. ↑ D. G. Chichester (February, 1996) "Homelands
Apalapucia

**Apalapucia** is a non-canon plane subtype featured in *Doctor Who* on the card Two Streams Facility.

## Description

Apalapucia is a paradise planet and the native world of the Apalapucians. It is described as a fabulously beautiful planet of soaring spires, silver colonnades, a pinkish-purple sky and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. It is located approximately 2 billion light-years away from Earth, and was voted the #2 destination for the discerning intergalactic traveler. At one point in history, the planet had been infected by an outbreak of Chen-7, a disease swiftly fatal to two-hearted races such as Time Lords and the native Apalapucians. The Two Streams Facility was set up to care for the infected population, and through the use of temporal technology, allowed them to live through their entire life in a day. The facility was staffed by the Handbots, robotic nurses who patrolled the facility. To pass the time, patients of the facility had access to fabulous entertainment facilities: an aquarium, an art gallery with replicas of famous works from other planets, such as the Mona Lisa, a cinema, access to a vast garden with bizarre and beautiful topiary and portals to the planet's famous mirrored "Glasmir Mountains" and a replica of the "Rollercoaster Zone" amusement complex on Clom.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Two Streams Facility

Quoted or referred to:

* Canopy Vista (*Doctor Who*)
2012–13 Pro Tour Season

The **2012–13 Pro Tour season** was the eighteenth Pro Tour season. It started on 19 May 2012 with Grand Prix Malmö, and ended on 19 May 2013 with the conclusion of Pro Tour *Dragon's Maze*.

## 2012 World Magic Cup

*Main article: 2012 World Magic Cup*
16–19 August 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

## 2012 Magic Players Championship

*Main article: 2012 Magic Players Championship*
29–31 August 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

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 3
 4

## Pro Tour *Return to Ravnica*

*Main article: Pro Tour Return to Ravnica*
19–21 October 2012 in Seattle, United States.

## Pro Tour *Gatecrash*

*Main article: Pro Tour Gatecrash*
15–17 February 2013 in Montreal, Canada.

## Pro Tour *Dragon's Maze*

*Main article: Pro Tour Dragon's Maze*
17–19 May 2013 in San Diego, California, United States.

## Notes

**^I** Yuuya Watanabe is considered the 2012 World Champion, as he won the inaugural Players Championship event, later renamed the World Championship.
Afflict

**Afflict** is a keyword ability introduced in *Hour of Devastation*. Afflict is focused in red, and present in blue and black.

Afflict was one of the non-evergreen, non-deciduous keywords included in the *Unfinity* sticker sheets.

## Description

Whenever a creature with this ability becomes blocked, defending player loses life equal to the Afflict value.

Called "unstoppable" in design, the mechanic was created to convey the destructive and vicious power of the God-Pharaoh's legions, the Eternals.

Afflict was intended to return with *War of the Spark* as the mechanic used for the Eternals, but it had little interaction with the set's planeswalker gameplay and was discarded. The mechanic's limited and linear payoff made for small design space, as each Afflicter snowballs, but not with any gameplay benefits. This problem, coupled with the lukewarm reception, landed it a 7 on the Storm Scale.

Dagger of the Worthy grants the equipped creature Afflict 1.

A handful of other cards mimic the Afflict mechanic - lowers life total if blocked - but with minor twists.

* Vedalken Ghoul has Afflict 4 by text.
* Simian Sling and Tormentor's Helm have damage-based Afflict 1. Rakdos Roustabout is the same unless it attacks a planeswalker, to which it will damage that planeswalker.
* Vicious Battlerager and Gloom Sower cause 5 and 2 life loss respectively, but they trigger on each blocker.
* Assembled Alphas deals 3 damage for each blocker.
* Karplusan Wolverine deals 1 damage to any target. Close Quarters grants the same ability to all creatures you control.

## Rules

From the glossary of the *Comprehensive Rules* (November 17, 2023—*The Lost Caverns of Ixalan*)

Afflict
A keyword ability that makes the defending player lose life for blocking. See rule 702.130, “Afflict.”
From the *Comprehensive Rules* (November 17, 2023—*The Lost Caverns of Ixalan*)

* **702.130.** **Afflict**
	+ **702.130a** Afflict is a triggered ability. “Afflict N” means “Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player loses N life.”
	+ **702.130b** If a creature has multiple instances of afflict, each triggers separately.

## Examples

**Example**

Khenra Eternal
Creature — Zombie Jackal Warrior
2/2
Afflict 1 *(Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player loses 1 life.)*

## References

1. ↑ Mark Rosewater (2019-03-25). "Storm Scale: Kaladesh and Amonkhet". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Matt Tabak (June 17, 2017). "*Hour of Devastation* Mechanics". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 19, 2017). "Darkest Hour, Part 1". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
4. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 25, 2019). "STORM SCALE: KALADESH AND AMONKHET". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2015–16 Pro Tour Season

The **2015–16 Pro Tour season** was the twenty-first Pro Tour season. It started on 8 August 2015 with Grand Prix events at Hong Kong and San Diego, and ended on 7 August 2016 with the conclusion of Pro Tour *Eldritch Moon*.

## 2015 World Championship

*Main article: 2015 World Championship*
27–30 August 2015 in Seattle, Washington, United States.

 2
 3
 4

## Pro Tour *Battle for Zendikar*

*Main article: Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar*
16–18 October 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

## 2015 World Magic Cup

*Main article: 2015 World Magic Cup*
11–13 December 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.

## Pro Tour *Oath of the Gatewatch*

*Main article: Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch*
5–7 February 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

## Pro Tour *Shadows over Innistrad*

*Main article: Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad*
22–24 April 2016 in Madrid, Spain.

## Pro Tour *Eldritch Moon*

*Main article: Pro Tour Eldritch Moon*
5–7 August 2016 in Sydney, Australia.

## Notes

**^I** Due to an issue with the round 15 standings, the player who advanced to the top 8 in eighth place, Ferran Vila, should have finished ninth; instead, Sweden's Jonas Friberg should have been playing in the top 8.
## References

1. ↑ Helene Bergeot (2016-04-17). "STATEMENT ON GP BARCELONA TOP 8 ADVANCEMENT ISSUE". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
Amonkhet Invocations

***Amonkhet Invocations*** is a promotional *Magic* set of 54 foil cards that are randomly inserted in boosters of the Amonkhet block. The theme of the Amonkhet Invocations are the Amonkhet gods, their magic and their servants; while the Hour of Devastation Invocations are disaster themed, reflecting the chaos wrought by Bolas' return. The set is part of the Masterpiece Series. Although these cards are not black-bordered, they are ruled to be tournament legal.

The Amonkhet Invocations have a very unconventional card frame which received a lot of criticisms from the community upon reveal. Although the taste of card frame is subjective, the card name written in pseudo-hieroglyphs was seen as a major setback for some players. The unclear theme, the choice of cards, and the cards' color distribution were also points of criticism.

## Contents

2. Aven Mindcensor
3. Containment Priest
4. Loyal Retainers
5. Oketra the True
6. Worship
7. Wrath of God
8. Consecrated Sphinx
9. Counterbalance
10. Counterspell
11. Cryptic Command
12. Daze
13. Divert
14. Force of Will
15. Kefnet the Mindful
16. Pact of Negation
17. Spell Pierce
18. Stifle
19. Attrition
20. Bontu the Glorified
21. Dark Ritual
22. Diabolic Intent
23. Entomb
24. Mind Twist
25. Aggravated Assault
26. Chain Lightning
27. Hazoret the Fervent
28. Rhonas the Indomitable
29. Maelstrom Pulse
30. Vindicate
32. Capsize
33. Forbid
34. Omniscience
35. Opposition
36. Sunder
37. Threads of Disloyalty
38. Avatar of Woe
39. Damnation
40. Desolation Angel
41. Diabolic Edict
42. Doomsday
43. No Mercy
44. Slaughter Pact
45. Thoughtseize
46. Blood Moon
47. Boil
48. Shatterstorm
49. Through the Breach
50. Choke
51. The Locust God
52. Lord of Extinction
53. The Scarab God
54. The Scorpion God

## References

1. ↑ Information below the text box
2. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (February 9, 2017). "*Amonkhet* Release Notes". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 30, 2017). "What is the theme of the Amonkhet Invocations supposed to be?". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
4. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 29, 2017). "Masterpiece Series: *Amonkhet* Invocations". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
5. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (June 19, 2017). "Masterpiece Series: *Hour of Devastation* Invocations". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
6. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 04, 2017). "Will the amonkhet invocations be tournament legal even tho they don't have a black/white border?". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
7. ↑ Scott Larabee (April 24, 2017). "April Magic Tournament Rules Release Notes". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
8. ↑ TwoGuys (April 18, 2017). "Magic the Gathering: Amonkhet Invocations Review". Twoguysreviews.net
9. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 30, 2017). "I'm just disappointed. I love Green and hate counterspells.". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
10. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 25, 2017). "I have to say that my biggest problem with the Invocations". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
11. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 25, 2017). "All new art and partially illegible, so there was no context to enable quick recognition". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
Antonio Del Moral León

**Antonio Del Moral Leon** is a Spanish professional player. Best known for winning Pro Tour *Fate Reforged* in 2015, Del Moral Leon also has two Grand Prix top eights, and participated in the 2014 Magic Online Championship.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate/Flavor text

Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate

Trivia

Rebalance

Flavor Text

Many *Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate* cards feature flavor text that is not visible on the cards themselves, but appears in a separate pop-up box when hovering over the card. These are not listed on Scryfall.

Cards in the set that were reprinted from *Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms*, the *Forgotten Realms Commander decks* or *Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate* retain their original flavor text from those sets.

Listed below are the designed-for-digital cards with flavor text.

## Trivia

* When originally released, none of the Specialize cards had flavor text. Flavor text was added to each card face during the Dominaria United release update.

## References

1. ↑ MTG Arena Support (September 9, 2022). "Patch Notes - 2022.19.0". Archived from the original on Dec 1, 2022.
Amonkhet block

Amonkhet block

Preconstructed theme decks

Trivia

The **Amonkhet block** is composed of the large expansion *Amonkhet* () and the small expansion *Hour of Devastation* (). It was released in 2017.

The annex set *Archenemy: Nicol Bolas* is not considered to be part of the block.

## Masterpieces

The Masterpiece Series set for this block is *Amonkhet Invocations* ().

## Theme decks

*Main article: Amonkhet block/Preconstructed theme decks*
## Amonkhet Remastered

*Main article: Amonkhet Remastered*
*Amonkhet Remastered* is a remastered set, containing cards from both *Amonkhet* and *Hour of Devastation*. It was digitally released on MTG Arena on August 13, 2020.

## References

1. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 31, 2016). "Announcement Day". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 13, 2020). "MTG Arena: State of the Game – April 2020". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Andrew Elenbogen

**Andrew Elenbogen** is an American *Magic* player. He won Pro Tour *Guilds of Ravnica* in 2018, where he overcame Luis Scott-Vargas in a white aggro mirror-match in the final to claim the trophy. He also has three Grand Prix top eight finishes

### Pro Tour results

List of the Pro Tour results and winnings of Andrew Elenbogen

→ Source: Wizards.com

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Ana

*For Ana Iora, see Liliana Vess.*
Lady **Ana** was a member of the Forward Order in the Caligo Forest on Dominaria. She was the mentor of Liliana Vess, widely renowned for her healing abilities.

## History

One time, when Liliana's brother Josu suffered a horrible corruption at the hands of their father's enemies, Ana tasked Liliana to gather the roots of the Esis Tree for his cure. Unfortunately, she found out that her father's dark enemies had razed the groves where the Esis Tree had grown. She only learned of this fact when she encountered a strange man who claimed to be a supporter of her father. He offered his assistance, though he warned that her family would not want her to use his cure.

Liliana returned to the castle and despite the warnings of Lady Ana, she used the cure. Truly, it cured Josu of his affliction, but only at the cost of driving him insane and poisoning him anew. Several of the servants, Ana among them, were killed by Josu. Realizing that she had to kill the crazed creature that Josu had become, Liliana turned his victims into zombies to fight him. At that same moment, she ignited her planeswalker's spark and ended up on Innistrad.

Much later, Liliana would use Ana's name as a pseudonym (Ana Iora).

## References

1. ↑ Magic Creative Team (July 9, 2015). "The Worlds of Magic Origins". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Jenna Helland (2010. "*The Raven's Eye*", Wizards of the Coast
3. ↑ Reinhardt Suarez (April 9, 2021). "The Chains That Bind". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
4. ↑ James Wyatt (June 17, 2015). "Liliana's Origin: The Fourth Pact". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
5. ↑ Greg Weisman (November 2019). "*War of the Spark: Forsaken*". Del Rey.
Alexander O. Smith

**Alexander O. Smith**, also credited as **Alex Smith** (Vermont, USA; February 8, 1973) is a professional English–Japanese translator and author. While his output covers many areas such as the adaptation of Japanese novels, manga, song lyrics, anime scripts, and various academic works, he is best known for his software localizations of Japanese video games including *Vagrant Story*, *Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney*, and *Final Fantasy XII*. He currently resides in Kamakura, Japan, where he operates his own contract localization business, Kajiya Productions, and is co-founder of a translation and publishing company, Bento Books.

As an author for *Magic: The Gathering* he contributed three original stories for the Japanese inspired Kamigawa block.
Aphemia

**Aphemia** is a harpy from the plane of Theros.

## History

A Nyxborn creature, Aphemia lurks around the necropolis of Asphodel. She sings a mystical song to enthrall the undead inhabitants of the necropolis, manipulating them like puppets to assist her in raids against the living.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Aphemia, the Cacophony

## References

1. ↑ Wizards RPG Team (2020), *D&D Mythic Odysseys of Theros*, Wizards of the Coast
Alchemy card

**Alchemy cards** are digital-only cards featured in the Alchemy play-mode of Magic: The Gathering Arena.

## Description

There are two kinds of Alchemy cards:

* Rebalanced cards
* Designed-for-digital cards
	+ Including reimagined cards

Rebalanced Alchemy versions of Standard contain the MTG Arena "A" in-line with the card name. They also have an "A" as a "foil stamp" at the bottom of the card. The foil stamp first was the MTG Arena "A", but was redesigned starting with *Alchemy: New Capenna*.

Internally, the card name is slightly different as well, with an "A-" prefix to indicate that they are the rebalanced version. For example, A-Esika's Chariot is the rebalanced version of Esika's Chariot. This only really matters for things like deck import and export, though; name-a-card effects and other in-game mechanics still refer to the normal name.

Designed-for-digital Alchemy cards also have the "A" stamp. In addition they have a separate expansion symbol for each released set.

### Flavor text

Many Alchemy cards feature flavor text that is not visible on the cards themselves, but rather in a separate pop-up box.

## Previous digital-only cards

The 31 cards released in *Jumpstart: Historic Horizons* that were designed for digital do not have the alchemy "A" stamp on them, were not accompanied by rebalanced cards like other Alchemy releases, and were never part of the Alchemy play format. However, they introduced several digital mechanics that continue to be used in Alchemy cards, and their release could be considered a preliminary version of what would become Alchemy. Alchemy has effectively picked up where the "Historic Horizons" line left off as the outlet for digital-only content, with multiple subsequent Alchemy sets continuing use of those mechanics, and no further "Horizons" or "Jumpstart" products doing so. Therefore, while *Historic Horizons* cards are not technically Alchemy cards, they are frequently included in that category informally, especially when discussing card mechanics and trends in digital card design.

## References

1. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (December 2, 2021). "Introducing Alchemy: A New Way To Play MTG Arena". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (December 2, 2021). "MTG Arena: State - Alchemy". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Andrew Baeckstrom

**Andrew Baeckstrom** is an American *Magic* player. His accomplishments include four Grand Prix top eights including a win at GP Providence 2017 alongside teammates Martin Jůza and Corey Burkhart; and an appearance on the United States national team at the 2014 World Magic Cup, where the team ultimately finished fourth. At the Pro Tour level, his best result to date is 8th-place at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary alongside teammates Justin Cohen and Jack Kiefer. Individually, his best result is 14th-place at Players Tour Phoenix. He was one of two players to decline the inaugural MPL contract in 2019, the other being Kelvin Chew.

Since July 2020, Baeckstrom has been one of the co-hosts of the Constructed Resources podcast, alongside Luis Scott-Vargas.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate/Trivia

Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate

Trivia

Rebalance

Flavor Text

Cards throughout *Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate* directly reference the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

## D&D references

Listed here are new references that didn't appear in *Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate* or *Adventures in the Forgotten Realms*. Reimagened characters and their specialized versions are skipped.
Ao

**Ao** is a dragon spirit from Kamigawa. He is the reincarnation of Yosei.

## History

Ao is the reincarnation of Yosei, the divine dragon that was guardian of Kamigawa's plains and the city of Eiganjo. Haunted by the memories of his violent death when he was torn in half in a battle against O-Kagachi, Ao refused to assume the role of Eiganjo's protector again after the city was rebuilt and tries to distance himself from mortal affairs as much as possible. On occasion, though, he will break his own vows, unable to stand by and do nothing when an extreme injustice is being committed.

## Trivia

* Ao appears in the cinematic trailer for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.

## Gallery

* 3D model.
* 3D model.
* Ao and Atsushi in the cinematic trailer for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
* *Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty* marketing art.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Ao, the Dawn Sky

Depicted in:

* The Dragon-Kami Reborn
* Dragon Tempest (*Promo*)

## References

1. ↑ Ari Zirulnik, Grace Fong, Emily Teng, and Gerritt Turner (February 11, 2022). "The Legends of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Official Cinematic – Magic: The Gathering (Video). *Magic: The Gathering*. YouTube (February 10, 2022).
André Müller

**André Müller** is a German former professional player. He has two Pro Tour top eights, at PT Philadelphia 2005, and at PT Valencia 2007, where he finished runner-up behind Remi Fortier. He also has three Grand Prix top eight finishes, at GP Genova 2003, GP Stockholm 2007, and at GP Manchester 2012.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Amber Prison

**Amber Prisons** are Zhalfiran artifacts in which people can be locked away. They are guarded at the Amber Tombs of Aku.

## Description

Amber Prisons are small, palm-size amber baubles. When opened, they begin to glow before sparking and snapping open with a sharp report followed by a short, sharp exhalation.

## History

The wizard Kaervek locked away Mangara in an Amber Prison and hid him in the Mwonvuli Jungle. After Scalebane's Elite and Asmira set Mangara free, Kaervek himself was locked in the Prison.

The Amber Tombs were removed from the timeline by Teferi along with the rest of Aku and Zhalfir. In Zhalfir's own pocket plane, life progressed. A decade later, Kaervek's prison shattered, releasing him.

The Wanderer was also temporarily caught in an Amber Prison.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Amber Prison

## References

1. ↑ ***a*** ***b*** ***c*** Miguel Lopez (January 17, 2023). "Alone". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Alex Shvartsman

**Alex Shvartsman** is an American former professional player. One of the first "road warriors", Shvartsman experienced considerable success on the Grand Prix scene in the early 2000s, and was for a long time the most successful Grand Prix player of all time.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Anara

**Anara** is a wolf beast from an unknown plane, and a Mage's familiar.

## Background

The last thing a hunter wants is to be outdone by their familiar, but if you team up with Anara, that's exactly what you'll get. If you can swallow your pride and accept her help, you'll find yourself with a bounty of slain beasts and your enemies dead before you. All she wants in return is a cut to return to her den, someone to have her back in combat, and the occasional scratches around the antlers.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Anara, Wolvid Familiar

## References

1. ↑ Ari Zirulnik and Ethan Fleischer (November 06, 2020). "The Legendary Characters of Commander Legends, Part II". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Electric Eel

The **Electric Eel** is a tier 9 animal.

## Mechanics

* Snapping turtles evolve into electric eels.
	+ 42,000 XP is required for a snapping turtle to evolve into an electric eel.
* Electric eels evolve into alligator gars and saw fish (player-determined).
	+ 48,000 XP is required for an electric eel to evolve into any of those animals.
* Electric eels drop meat upon death.
* As an electric eel, friendly fire is turned off for other electric eels: meaning you cannot damage them nor be damaged by them.

## Abilities

### Active Abilities

You deal less damage (60-75) while shocking, but attack faster and take no recoil (~120-140 total).
You gain +50% speed while shocking.
You bypass armor while shocking.
You can't eat food except meat while shocking.

## Suitable Biomes

* The suitable biome for the electric eel is the swamp.
	+ If an electric eel enters the ocean, it will lose salinity and oxygen.
	+ If an electric eel enters the ocean surface, it will not regenerate salinity.
	+ If an electric eel enters the arctic, it will lose temperature, salinity, and oxygen.
	+ If an electric eel enters the arctic surface, it will lose temperature and it will not regenerate salinity.
	+ If an electric eel enters the deeeep, it will lose pressure, salinity, and oxygen

## Diet

This is a complete list of food that electric eels can eat.

## Hiding Places

This is a complete list of terrain that electric eels can hide in.

## Trivia:

* in 2019, the electric eel was a tier 6.

1. ↑ Link text,
Angel Stax

**Angel Stax** is an old Legacy deck that doesn't see much play anymore. Often it has evolved with Armageddon Stax into White Stax, a strong combination of the two.

The old Angel Stax used to run cards like Exalted Angel, Wrath of God and Smokestack. The idea of the deck was to hold back your opponent using cards like Tangle Wire, finally locking with Smokestack: your opponent has to sacrifice a permanent every turn, while you use Crucible of Worlds to recur your land.

The more potent White Stax usually contains the following cards:

* The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
* Magus of the Tabernacle
* Armageddon
* Ravages of War
* Ghostly Prison
* Moat
* Trinisphere
* Chalice of the Void
* Smokestack
* Exalted Angel
* Flagstones of Trokair
* Crucible of Worlds

This is a representative stax deck as of March 2009

White StaxDownload/Export* Text
* MTGO
* Apprentice
* OCTGN
* decklist.org

#### Mana Sources (26)

4 Ancient Tomb

4 City of Traitors

4 Wasteland

3 Flagstones of Trokair

7 Plains

4 Mox Diamond

#### Creaturess (4)

2 Exalted Angel

2 Magus of the Tabernacle

#### Artifacts (12)

4 Trinisphere

4 Smokestack

4 Crucible of Worlds

#### Enchantments (5)

2 Oblivion Ring

2 Ghostly Prison

1 Moat

#### Sideboard of (7)

2 Suppression Field

2 Defense Grid

1 Powder Keg

1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Runed Halo
Alirios

**Alirios** is a human from Theros.

## History

A narcissist known for staring longingly at his own reflection in a pond, Alirios has somehow been able to magically empower his reflection to battle for himself.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Alirios, Enraptured

## Inspiration

The character of Alirios is inspired by Narcissus, a figure in Greek Mythology who was known for his great beauty.
Amplify

**Amplify** is a keyword ability on creatures that allows the player to reveal creature cards in their hand that share a creature type with the creature. The creature enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters for each such card revealed. Some creatures with amplify have additional abilities tied to the number of +1/+1 counters on them (see Kilnmouth Dragon).

All tournament-legal creatures with Amplify were printed in *Legions*.

## Rules

From the glossary of the *Comprehensive Rules* (November 17, 2023—*The Lost Caverns of Ixalan*)

Amplify
A keyword ability than can have a creature enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters on it. See rule 702.38, “Amplify.”
From the *Comprehensive Rules* (November 17, 2023—*The Lost Caverns of Ixalan*)

* **702.38.** **Amplify**
	+ **702.38a** Amplify is a static ability. “Amplify N” means “As this object enters the battlefield, reveal any number of cards from your hand that share a creature type with it. This permanent enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters on it for each card revealed this way. You can’t reveal this card or any other cards that are entering the battlefield at the same time as this card.”
	+ **702.38b** If a creature has multiple instances of amplify, each one works separately.

## Rulings

* The player who will control the creature is the one who reveals the cards.
* Each revealed card must share a creature type with the card with amplify. The reminder text reminds you what those types are.
* Using the *Onslaught* card Artificial Evolution on a spell with amplify on the stack can change what types need to be revealed. The card Conspiracy can also change what types need to be revealed.
* If multiple creatures with amplify are entering the battlefield under your control at the same time, you may reveal the same cards for each of them.
* If you cast Clone (or a creature with a similar ability) and choose for it to copy a creature with amplify, you get to reveal cards and have the creature get +1/+1 counters.

## Examples

**Example**

Glowering Rogon
Creature — Beast
4/4
Amplify 1 *(As this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Beast card you reveal in your hand.)*
Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate/Rebalance

Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate

Trivia

Rebalance

Flavor Text

**Rebalanced cards** are a feature of the digital Alchemy game. The Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate rebalances were the first to have cards modified for limited gameplay.

## Discription

The draft format, as initially released, proved to have an imbalance in the strength of colors - with White and Black being stronger and Blue being under-powered. This was compounded by the speed of the format and the general weakness in slower, grindier strategies overcoming the aggressive decks.

The rebalances were aimed at making the underperforming strategies and archetypes stronger, primarily by improving blocking and reducing the effectiveness of aggro cards.

## References

1. ↑ Jay Parker & Donald Smith (October 13, 2021). "October 13, 2021 Banned and Restricted Announcement". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 10, 2022). "Alchemy Rebalancing for August 11, 2022". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Chris Stomberg (August 9, 2022). "Magic: The Gathering Arena - 6 Tips For Drafting Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate". The Gamer.
Amonkhet/Planeswalker decks

Amonkhet

Booster Battle Packs

Card comparisons

Deck Builder's Toolkit

Planeswalker decks

*Amonkhet* features two Planeswalker decks.

The two decks contain 10 exclusive cards with collector numbers above 269.

Gideon, Martial ParagonDownload/Export* Text
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* decklist.org

3 Gust Walker

1 Nef-Crop Entangler

1 Pathmaker Initiate

2 Honored Crop-Captain

3 Companion of the Trials

1 Devoted Crop-Mate

4 Graceful Cat

3 Ahn-Crop Crasher

2 Sparring Mummy

1 Tah-Crop Elite

2 Hyena Pack

2 Electrify

1 Hazoret's Favor

3 Trial of Zeal

2 Gideon's Resolve

10 Plains

10 Mountain

Exclusive cards
Collector number: 270-274

* Gideon, Martial Paragon (Mythic)
* Gideon's Resolve (Rare)
* Companion of the Trials (Uncommon)
* Graceful Cat (Common)
* Stone Quarry (Common; reprint)

Additional rares
* Glory-Bound Initiate
* Hazoret's Favor

Liliana, Death WielderDownload/Export* Text
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* Apprentice
* OCTGN
* decklist.org

2 Dune Beetle

4 Tattered Mummy

1 Channeler Initiate

2 Baleful Ammit

3 Desiccated Naga

2 Gravedigger

1 Crocodile of the Crossing

2 Giant Spider

2 Decimator Beetle

1 Luxa River Shrine

1 Oracle's Vault

2 Cartouche of Ambition

2 Cartouche of Strength

1 Gift of Paradise

1 Grasping Dunes

11 Swamp

9 Forest

Exclusive cards
Collector number: 275-279

* Liliana, Death Wielder (Mythic)
* Liliana's Influence (Rare)
* Desiccated Naga (Uncommon)
* Tattered Mummy (Common)
* Foul Orchard (Common; reprint)

Additional rares
* Channeler Initiate
* Oracle's Vault

## References

1. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (2017-04-19). "*Amonkhet* Planeswalker Deck Lists". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (2017-02-20). "*Modern Masters 2017 Edition* and *Amonkhet* Packaging". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (2017-04-06). "Exclusive Cards in the Amonkhet Planeswalker Decks". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Alicorn

**Alicorn** is an acorn creature type representing a race of flying Unicorns. It is a crossover type from the *My Little Pony* franchise.

## History

Traditionally, writers used the word "Alicorn" to denote the Unicorn's actual horn, which purports to have magical healing powers. The first recorded use for a crossbreed Pagasus-Unicorn was in the 1984 fantasy novel *Bearing an Hourglass* by Piers Anthony. The type appeared in *My Little Pony* during the 2012 third season of*[My Little Pony Friendship is Magic*.

The type was introduced to *Magic: The Gathering* with the 2019 *Ponies: The Galloping* promotional charity set (Princess Twilight Sparkle). A second card was added with *Ponies: The Galloping 2* in 2023 (Nightmare Moon // Princess Luna).

## Trivia

* The name is sometimes explained as being a combination of "Alate" (wing, winged) and "Unicorn"
* If there were ever to be a creature in a regular set that is flavorfully both a unicorn and a pegasus, it probably would be typed as a Pegasus Unicorn.
* Princess Twilight Sparkle is a lord for alicorns, unicorns, horses, pegasuses and ponies.

## References

1. ↑ Tom Marks (October 4, 2019). "Magic: The Gathering Reveals My Little Pony Crossover Set for Charity". IGN.com.
2. ↑ Wictionary
3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 12, 2023). "If there were ever to be a creature that is flavorfully a unicorn and a pegasus.". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.

## External links

* Alicorns (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Wiki)
* Unraveling the Substance of "Alicorn" (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Wiki)
* Investigating where the term "alicorn" came from (Filmfiction).
Andrew Brown

**Andrew Brown** is a former pro *Magic* player, who is best known for being one of four players to make two Pro Tour Top 8s (at Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch and Pro Tour Eldritch Moon) in the 2015–2016 season. He also has a Grand Prix win in Denver during 2015.

## Wizards of the Coast

In October 2016, he was hired by Wizards of the Coast as a design contractor. In May 2017, he became a full-time part of the Play Design team. Andrew is the technical lead for the Play Design team and often joins Set Design teams late in the process to help shepherd them through the final stages of Limited and Constructed playtesting. He is an excellent problem-solver and adept at designing cards that fill in gaps for both Limited archetypes and Constructed environments.

### Designing

* *Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors*
* *Core Set 2020*
* *Throne of Eldraine*
* *March of the Machine: The Aftermath*

### Developing

* *Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors*
* *Dominaria*
* *Guilds of Ravnica*
* *War of the Spark*
* *Core Set 2020*
* *Throne of Eldraine*
* *Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths*
* *Core Set 2021*
* *Zendikar Rising* (co-lead)
* *Strixhaven: School of Mages*
* *Adventures in the Forgotten Realms*
* *Innistrad: Midnight Hunt*
* *Innistrad: Crimson Vow*
* *Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty*
* *Streets of New Capenna*
* *Dominaria United*
* *The Brothers' War*
* *Phyrexia: All Will Be One*
* *March of the Machine*
* *March of the Machine: The Aftermath*
* *Wilds of Eldraine*
* *The Lost Caverns of Ixalan*
* *Murders at Karlov Manor* (co-lead}

## References

1. ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 17, 2017). "Play Design". *Blogatog*. Tumblr.
2. ↑ Dan Burdick (June 16, 2017). "On the Shoulders of Giants". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Bryan Hawley (April 24, 2019). "Checking in With Play Design". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
4. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 21, 2023). "Wilds Story, Part 2". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Aleksa Telarov

**Aleksa Telarov** is a *Magic* player from Serbia. He is a six-time Serbian national champion, won Grand Prix Madrid 2015, and competed at the 2014 Magic Online Championship. His best Pro Tour result is a 12th-place at PT *Dominaria* in 2018.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
André Coimbra

**André Coimbra** is a Portuguese former professional player and World Champion. He first appeared on the pro scene with a top eight finish at the 2005 World Championships, his first Pro Tour. Four years later, he won the 2009 World Championships in Rome.

## External links

* Lifetime Top Finishes
* Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
* Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
Andrew Veen

**Andrew Veen** is former game designer for *Magic: The Gathering* at Wizards of the Coast.

Veen started in February, 2014 at Wizards as developer for *Duel Masters* / *Kaijudo*. In May 2017, he became a member of the *Magic* Play Design team. He eventually he moved over fulltime to doing *Magic* design. He left the company in December, 2019.

## Designing

* *Shadows over Innistrad*.
* *Game Night* (lead)
* *Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths*
* *Zendikar Rising*
* *Commander Legends*
* *Strixhaven: School of Mages*
* *Adventures in the Forgotten Realms* (lead)
* *Innistrad: Crimson Vow*

## Developing

* *Guilds of Ravnica*
* *Spellslinger Starter Kit*
* *Game Night* (lead)
* *Commander 2019*
* *Theros Beyond Death*
* *Strixhaven: School of Mages*
* *Adventures in the Forgotten Realms*

## References

1. ↑ Dan Burdick (June 16, 2017). "On the Shoulders of Giants". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 6, 2020). "More Than Meets The Ikoria". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Andrew Veen Profile. LinkedIn.
4. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 14, 2016). "Chasing Shadows, Part 1". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
5. ↑ Jacob Torbeck (July 22, 2021). "Envisioning Forgotten Realms: An Interview with Andrew Veen". Hipsters of the Coast.
Alaric

Commander **Alaric** was the superior of Gerrard Capashen in the Benalish army on Dominaria.

## History

Alaric was a pure, efficient soldier, who had served over twenty years in the armies of Benalia. When Gerrard had abandoned the *Weatherlight* crew and came to Benalia, Alaric was the first person to test him.

Gerrard climbed through the ranks of the Benalish army to earn a high position of master-at-arms. At a certain moment the local assassin's guild, led by Lord Kastan, began to seek its recruits in the military. Gerrard discovered that Kastan was collaborating with Commander Alaric. The two had been plotting to get rid of Gerrard from the beginning, seeing him as a threat to their authority. Together with the minotaur Tahngarth Gerrard stopped the infiltrations by slaying both Kastan and Alaric. With his faith in the Benalish military strained to the breaking point, Gerrard agreed to rejoin *Weatherlight*.

When Starke il-Vec was on the run from the mercenary warlord Maraxus of Keld, Crovax offered to hide Starke at his friend Alaric's mansion, located in canyons in the middle of the desert. Maraxus caught up to Starke nonetheless, killing Alaric while his ogres looted and burned down the estate, and capturing Starke. Seeking Starke for information about the abduction of captain Sisay and the plane of Rath, the *Weatherlight* crew found themselves at the ruined estate. Maraxus and his troops were keeping Starke captive nearby. In the battle that followed, Maraxus was killed, and Tahngarth and Crovax rescued Starke.

1. ↑ Michael G. Ryan (August 1997). "Torrent". *The Duelist* #18, p.72-74
Alibou

**Alibou**, *Ancient Witness*, is a golem at the Lorehold College of Strixhaven University on Arcavios.

## History

Decades ago, a Lorehold dig team was excited to unearth an ancient war golem from the Ruins of Caerdoon. They were considerably more excited when it whirred to life and, instead of slaughtering them, began correcting their misconceptions about Blood Age combat techniques. It prefers conversation to bloodshed but has pledged to defend the university if necessary.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Alibou, Ancient Witness

## References

1. ↑ Fox Allison, Doug Beyer and Ari Zirulnik (April 13, 2021). "The Legends of Strixhaven". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Adana Washington (March 25, 2021). "Episode 1: Class Is in Session". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Age counter

**Age counters** are usually placed during the upkeep step. They are exclusively used by cards with cumulative upkeep.

In *Coldsnap*, age counters were not only used to keep track of the costs attached to cumulative upkeep, but also to track effects based on the number of age counters on that permanent.

## Trivia

* In *Magic Online*, the counter is colored green as its considered a positive effect and shares its icon with Delay, Depletion, Eon, Fade, Hour, Hourglass, Isolation, and Time counters.

## References

1. ↑ Magic Arcana (July 10, 2006). "A New Age of Age Counters". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Christopher Bellach (September 5, 2018). "Counter Development in Magic Online". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
Answer

An **answer** is the opposite of a threat. An answer is a card used to negate a threat. Most instants and sorceries are answers, whereas permanents trend toward being threats, though many enchantments and artifacts are also purely answers.

The old adage is that there are no incorrect threats, but there are incorrect answers; any threat will, unimpeded, end the game, but an incorrect answer will languish and is unlikely to be also a threat to at least contest the opposing threat. Where threats are usually judged by their reliability and clock, answers are judged by their efficiency and flexibility. Answers carry the burden of efficiency more than threats as every turn a threat is unanswered, it accomplishes its controller's game plan, but answering the threat merely contains the situation, so each turn the answer is not castable due to costs puts the answerer behind in both attempting to stabilise the situation and also win the game on their own terms.

Efficiency typically comes down to mana cost, though additional costs should also be weighed. While flexibility does not necessarily need to cost more, design has tended to cost answers that interact with multiple forms of threats at a premium.

In a metagame evolution, the fastest and most linear decks will disregard answers to other decks, as their consistency means other decks are forced to react to them. If this is successful, the next stage generally means more answers and slower gameplans, which ultimately leads to control decks - decks built of answers and card advantage - that disregard any form of proactivity altogether in favor of dismantling others' plans. This is usually answered by another linear deck that is less vulnerable to the standard answers, and the cycle begins anew.

## Threat reliability

*Threat reliability* indicates the degree to which a card has a **consistent answer** to threats.

The fewer weaknesses a card has, the more reliable it is. If a "new" Savannah Lions was made with "Indestructible" and no differences in cost or function it would be more reliable than the original. Generally cards with built-in weaknesses are not reliable. They can be made so, but alone they are not. Also cards able to "win" the game when they enter the battlefield or a few turns after can be considered reliable. Though it would seem logical to play with 4 cards of any superior reliability-card there are a few cards so reliable that only 1 card is needed in the deck, and usually this is supported by cards that "fetch" that card in one way or another. Cards with effects based on the flip of a coin are probably the most unreliable cards (most of the time they have a 50% chance of failure).

*See also: Hoser.*
## References

1. ↑ Devin Low (May 16, 2008). "Answers Need Answers". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
2. ↑ Erik Lauer (July 3, 2009). "Developing an Answer". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ Reid Duke (September 8, 2014). "Threats and Answers". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
4. ↑ Melissa DeTora (September 15, 2017). "Counter Play: Finding the Right Answers". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.