Future Sight

Future Sight is an expansion set, codenamed "Pop", for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. The set was released worldwide on May 4, 2007. The pre-release events for this set were held on April 21 and April 22, 2007.^[4]

Storyline

Teferi, Jhoira, and Venser continue their battle to heal the time rifts that plague Dominaria. The rift in Tolaria is so severe that it cannot be healed in the present day. In order to remedy it, Karn travels back in time. He manages to close the time rift, but in the process is lost.

The planeswalker Jeska returns to Dominaria. Finding her friend Karn gone, she becomes angry and is manipulated by the planeswalker Leshrac into using Radha as a kind of mana focuser to close the time rifts without using up her planeswalker spark. She sets out to continue her mentor's work, and seals both the Zhalfirin and Yavimayan rifts, respectively losing Zhalfir proper and Multani in the process. It is revealed later on that Leshrac was using Jeska to gain the dark power of one of her former selves, Phage. Having gained that power, Leshrac then challenges the powerful planeswalker Nicol Bolas to a duel, only to be defeated by him. Bolas then uses what remains of Leshrac to seal the Madaran rift.

Once again in charge of her own actions, Jeska enters the Otarian rift to try and seal it with the help of both Venser and Radha. During their efforts, they merge to form an alternate version of Karona. At the final stage, Jeska teleports both Venser and Radha to a safe location, sacrificing herself to seal the final rift.^[5]

Set Details

Future Sight contains 180 cards.^[4] The expansion symbol is an eye looking through a rift portal.^[1] The designers of the set are Mark Rosewater (lead), Matt Cavotta, Devin Low, Mark Gottlieb, Ryan Miller, and Zvi Mowshowitz. The developers of the set are Mike Turian (lead), Matt Cavotta, Matt Place, and Brian Schneider.^[4]

The set has "Timeshifted" cards, as first confirmed by Mark Rosewater.^[6] Unlike Time Spiral, the Timeshifted cards are not direct reprints of older Magic cards but rather are cards that may appear in future sets.^[2][3] These cards have normal rarity symbols as opposed to purple, and are considered a part of the expansion, not a separate sub-set. Also, the Timeshifted cards in Future Sight have been given a new frame. Another difference is that Future Sight has many mechanics spread among many cards, instead of several focused mechanics in many cards.^[3]

Another Magus cycle—creature cards that refer to cards from the past—made its appearance as well; the cycle in Future Sight echoes enchantments from past sets.^[2][7] For example, the card Magus of the Moon has the same ability as the enchantment Blood Moon.

Future Sight also introduced a new card type, Tribal. The Tribal card type must always appear with another card type. Tribal cards have a set of subtypes that are shared with creature types; Tribal cards give creature types to noncreature cards. The Tribal type had been planned for the Lorwyn set, and was "preprinted" on the card Bound in Silence, a "Tribal Enchantment - Rebel Aura".

Future Sight also had to include the Planeswalker cards, but the design was not ready on time, so they were included in the Lorwyn expansion.

Mechanics

The following are mechanics released in this set:^[8][9]

• Absorb - This ability has a number, such as Absorb 2. A creature with absorb has the listed number of damage prevented if it would take damage from a given source.
• Delve^[2] - A spell with Delve costs 1 colorless mana less for every card in your graveyard that you exile as you play it.
• Frenzy - Frenzy appears in the form of Frenzy X. If a creature with Frenzy attacks and isn't blocked, it gets +X/+0, where X is the frenzy number.
• Grandeur^[10] - Grandeur is an ability word that appears on legendary creatures. If a creature with Grandeur is in play, its controller may play its Grandeur ability by discarding a card with the same name.
• Gravestorm - A twist on the Storm ability also seen in many cards from the Time Spiral block, when a spell with Gravestorm is played, its controller copies it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn.
• Lifelink - Whenever a creature with lifelink deals damage, its controller gains that much life.
• Poisonous - Whenever a creature with Poisonous X deals combat damage to an opponent, that opponent gets X poison counters. Ten poison counters will cause a player to lose the game. Poison counters have been used in past sets, but this is the first time it has been assigned a keyword.
• Aura Swap - Aura Swap appears on Auras, and has a cost associated with it. Paying the Aura Swap cost of an Aura in play allows you to exchange that card for another Aura card in your hand.
• Transfigure^[3] - Somewhat similar to the Transmute ability from Ravnica: City of Guilds, a creature in play with Transfigure can be sacrificed with a cost to let its controller search his or her library for another creature with the same converted mana cost and put it into play.
• Fateseal - Similar to the Scry ability from Fifth Dawn, Fateseal X lets you look at the top X cards of your opponent's library (as opposed to your own, as with Scry) and place the cards either at the bottom or the top of your opponent's library in any order you choose.
• Assemble & Contraption - An ability and related new type that are hinted at on the card Steamflogger Boss, but do not actually appear on any of the set's cards.^[9]
• Fortification & Fortify - Fortifications are a new subtype of artifact. They can be attached to land by paying a "fortify" cost, much as equipment can be attached to creatures by paying an equip cost.

In addition, the following recurring mechanics were given keywords for the first time:

• Reach - Creatures with Reach can block creatures with Flying.
• Deathtouch - Whenever a creature that has Deathtouch deals damage to another creature, that other creature is destroyed.
• Shroud - Permanents or players with shroud cannot be the target of spells or abilities.

Reprints

Also reprinted in the set are the following previously used keyword abilities:

• Flanking
• Buyback
• Shadow
• Echo - now with cards that have different echo costs instead that of the original casting cost of the card; While Planar Chaos has started this, the echo costs of cards now can include off-colored mana costs or non-mana costs^[9]
• Cycling - now with cards which can cycle for creature type cards like wizards and slivers.
• Kicker
• Madness
• Morph - now with cards that have off-color morph costs, as well as non-creature cards with Morph
• Typecycling
• Scry - now with cards that have different Scry numbers as well as cards which require a player to Scry before an ability takes place^[11]
• Bloodthirst
• Convoke
• Dredge
• Forecast
• Graft
• Hellbent
• Transmute
• Suspend - now with cards that can re-suspend themselves
• Split Second - now with sorceries and enchantments that have split second
• Vanishing
• Flash^[11]

Notable Cards

• The Pact cycle: Intervention Pact, Pact of Negation, Slaughter Pact, Pact of the Titan, and Summoner's Pact - Instants with a mana cost of 0 but a cost that must be paid during the caster's next upkeep to avoid a game loss. Interestingly, the Unhinged set featured a very similar card in the Rocket-Powered Turbo Slug.^[2]
• Tarmogoyf is among the game's most sought after creature cards for its prolific use in competitive Magic.

Timeshifted Card Frame Design

With Future Sight, the frame design of the timeshifted cards is entirely new. On timeshifted cards in Future Sight, the card's mana cost appears in bubbles curving down the left side of the card right next to the picture, appearing in the traditional order of colorless mana, white, blue, black, red and green from top to bottom. In the top left corner of each card is a symbol that tells the card type; for example, a symbol of claw marks represent a creature card. This design was a Future Sight timeshifted feature only, and was used to give the cards a futuristic feel.^[3]

References

External links

• Official Future Sight Minisite
• Future Sight Product Information Page
• Official Future Sight Theme Decks
• Future Sight Cardlist