Nemesis (Magic: The Gathering)

Nemesis is the second set in the Mercadian Masques block of sets in the Magic: The Gathering game, along with the expansions Mercadian Masques and Prophecy. Its expansion symbol is an axe. The set consists of 143 cards and was released on February 14, 2000. Nemesis is set on the plane of Rath.^[1]

Storyline

The Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria is nearing; the Dark Lord's plans are almost complete. Only the Planeswalker Urza stands in his way. At the same time, Yawgmoth's Inner Circle decides on the election of the evincar to replace Volrath. The Phyrexian emissary Belbe has to choose between Greven Il-Vec, Ertai, Crovax, and the newly-returned Volrath.

Set history

Nemesis prerelease events were held on February 5, 2000. At these events the prerelease card, a foil Rathi Assassin, was handed out. The set was officially released on February 14, 2000. Nemesis had a fair share of cards appear in well-placing tournament decks. Many of the cards with Fading were quite powerful; the cards Parallax Wave, Parallax Tide, Blastoderm, Saproling Burst, and Tangle Wire all appeared in decks in various formats.

Rarity breakdown

The 143 Nemesis cards come in three rarities, common, uncommon, and rare. 55 cards are common, 44 are uncommon, and 44 are rare. Nemesis booster packs include 15 cards, one rare, three uncommon, and eleven common.^[2] About every 100th card is a randomly inserted premium foil card.^[3]

Reprints

Of the 143 in Nemesis none is a reprint. 22 cards from Nemesis have been reprinted afterwards, 16 in Core Sets. Seal of Fire and Seal of Doom were reprinted in Dissension, Defiant Vanguard as a timeshifted card in Time Spiral, and the remaining three cards as a part of special limited edition duel decks.

Mechanics

In Nemesis, new Rebels, Mercenaries, and Spellshapers were added to the Mercadian Masques repertoire. The Flowstone creatures, originally introduced in Stronghold had another showing. Other mechanics include:

• Fading — Normal permanents enter the battlefield and stay there until removed, cards with Fading only have a limited lifespan. Fading always appears on Magic cards as "Fading X". A card with Fading X stays on the battlefield for X full turns after the turn it entered the battlefield, and is afterwards put into the graveyard.
• Seals — This is a cycle (one card in each color) of enchantment cards that have no immediate effect on play when cast. They can be sacrificed for an effect, though.
• Free spells — Nemesis further explores the idea of spells that can cast for an alternate cost, not involving mana. This was first introduced in Alliances and was also a mechanic used in Mercadian Masques.
• Laccolith creatures vertical cycle — This is a kind of beast that can deal their combat damage immediately upon becoming blocked, meaning that these creatures can deal damage even before creatures with First Strike. The Laccolith only appear in red.

Notable cards

Several cards from Nemesis had a major impact on tournament play. Most of these were cards with the Fading ability.

• Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero — Lin-Sivvi had a huge impact on tournament Magic. At the 2000 Pro Tour New York a Rebel deck, relying heavily on the strength of the card, was by most considered to be the dominant deck,^[4] and was indeed played by almost half the competitors.^[5] Eventually six of the eight final decks were Rebel decks, most of them indeed playing the maximum allowed four defiant heroes.^[6] Lin Sivvi was banned from block-constructed play after that Pro Tour, but in the following season in the finals of the Standard Pro Tour held in Chicago both decks were Rebel decks with Lin Sivvi.^[7]
• Daze — Played for its alternate casting cost as a free counterspell in the same league as Force of Will. Other "free counters", Thwart and Foil, exist within the same block.
• Blastoderm — This is a green 5/5 creature for 4 mana. Although Blastoderm has only a limited lifespan due to his Fading 3 ability, the creature's high power with a comparably low mana cost made it one of the strongest creatures in Magic at the time. When an otherwise identical white Blastoderm, Calciderm, was printed seven years later in Planar Chaos the creature failed to have as much impact on tournament play as Blastoderm had had in its day, though.

References

External links

• Wizard's official page for Nemesis