Portal (Magic: The Gathering)
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| Portal | ||
|---|---|---|
| Expansion symbol |  |
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| Release date | May 1, 1997
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| Size | approx. 225 cards | |
| Expansion code | POR | |
| Sets in Portal Block | ||
| Portal | Portal Second Age | Portal Three Kingdoms |
| Magic: The Gathering Chronology |
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| 5th Edition | Portal | Weatherlight |
Portal is the name of the Magic: The Gathering beginners set which came out on May 1, 1997. Depending on the language, the set contains between 221 and 228 cards.
Contents |
[edit] Set history
Portal was Wizards of the Coast's first major attempt at a set that new players could come into the game and understand. Back before the major rules changes brought forth by 6th Edition, Magic was a very complicated game. The easiest way to describe the difficulty was that in the game, timing rules themselves took dozens of pages of rules to describe; today, they are entirely covered in two simple concepts: the stack and LIFO (last in, first out).
As of October 20, 2005, all cards in the Portal block are legal in Vintage and Legacy tournaments.
[edit] Mechanics
No new mechanics were introduced with Portal, but there were several "simplifications" made to the game through things left out of the set.
- Instants -- Instants did not exist within the set. Instead, every "one-shot" spell was a sorcery; however, some sorceries could be played at particular times uncommon to sorceries but normal for instants. Most of these cards have since received errata making them Instants. For example, the card Assassin's Blade has the following text: Play Assassin's Blade only during the declare attackers step and only if you are the defending player.
- Rules Text -- All rules text was in boldface. All flavor text and reminder (italicized) text was not boldface. To separate rules text and flavor text, the cards utilized a line with a slight bulge on both top and bottom; this makes the line look like a very elongated diamond.
- Creature Types -- Although they do now via errata text, in their original printings Portal cards had no creature type.
- Changes in Wordings
- "Intercept" replaced "block". Example: Cloud Dragon can intercept only creatures with flying.
- "Discard Pile" replaced "graveyard".
- "Deck" replaced "library".
[edit] Notable cards
- Cruel Bargain A functional reprint of Infernal Contract from Mirage, this card sees play in Legacy Tendrils when 8 copies of the same draw-4 effect are desired.
- Ebon Dragon -- One of the most expensive cards of the set, Ebon Dragon is both a strong flier and a card to disrupt the opponent's hand.
- Fire Dragon -- Another expensive and powerful card, this card is both a powerful flier and a powerful burn spell.
- Jungle Lion -- Due to its common status and low mana cost this card is regarded as being one of the best Portal cards by tournament players.
- Personal Tutor -- Even though it is considered to be among the weakest tutors ever printed it was still pre-emptively restricted in Vintage.
- Raging Goblin -- One of Red's most classic cards, Raging Goblin made its debut in Portal.
