The Worst Magic: the Gathering Sets of All Time

MTGGoldfish・2 minutes read

The article discusses Magic's 100th expansion set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, sparking a conversation about the best and worst sets in Magic's history. It highlights sets such as Prophecy, Battle for Zendikar, Saviors of Kamigawa, and Fallen Empires as some of the worst sets ever created due to various issues like underpowered mechanics, lackluster cards, poor cohesion, and oversupply leading to low prices.

Insights

  • Unfinity, a silver border set, introduced mechanics like attractions and stickers, with stickers being particularly problematic due to their non-reusability and impracticality, causing confusion by being partly tournament legal.
  • Battle for Zendikar, despite being a return to the beloved Zendikar plane, disappointed players with its focus on Eldrazi, devoid mechanic, and lackluster allies, impacting standard negatively due to high costs, underpowered cards, and failed flavor expectations.

Get key ideas from YouTube videos. It’s free

Recent questions

  • What is the Magic's 100th expansion set?

    Outlaws of Thunder Junction

  • What mechanics did Unfinity introduce?

    Attractions and stickers

  • What was criticized about the set Prophecy?

    Lack of cohesion and underpowered cards

  • What disappointed players about Battle for Zendikar?

    Focus on Eldrazi and lackluster allies

  • What was the standout card from March of the Machines Aftermath?

    Nissa, Resurgent Animist

Related videos

Summary

00:00

"Magic's Worst Sets Throughout History"

  • Outlaws of Thunder Junction is considered Magic's 100th expansion set, prompting a discussion on the best and worst sets in Magic's history.
  • Most Magic sets fall within an average range, but today's focus is on the worst sets ever created.
  • Unfinity, a silver border set, is excluded from the list due to its non-tournament legality, unlike Unfinity, which caused confusion by being partly tournament legal.
  • Unfinity introduced mechanics like attractions and stickers, with stickers being particularly problematic due to their non-reusability and impracticality.
  • Prophecy, part of the Masques block, is criticized for lacking cohesion, being underpowered, and featuring the unenjoyable mechanic of Rhystic cards.
  • Battle for Zendikar, a return to the beloved Zendikar plane, disappointed players with its focus on Eldrazi, devoid mechanic, and lackluster allies.
  • The set's impact on standard was negative, with high costs due to fetch lands, underpowered cards, and failed flavor expectations.
  • Saviors of Kamigawa, following the overpowered Mirrodin block, suffered from underpowered mechanics like sweep and epic, with few memorable cards.
  • March of the Machines Aftermath, a recent set, failed to deliver on lore and flavor expectations, concluding a Phyrexian invasion storyline poorly.

14:07

Magic Set Failures Shape Future Design Trends

  • Nissa, Resurgent Animist and Calix, Guided by Fate were the standout cards from a set that mostly flopped gameplay-wise, with Nissa being popular in modern and standard landfall combo decks.
  • The set was sold in six-card booster packs, leading to redundancy and frustration for players who often received the same cards repeatedly, causing a significant drop in booster box prices.
  • Dragon's Maze, released in 2013, was criticized for lacking cohesion, containing no dragons despite its name, and having gameplay issues with only Voice of Resurgence and Maze's End being notable cards.
  • Fallen Empires, released in 1994, had a massive print run of 350 million cards, leading to oversupply and low prices, but the set itself was considered horrible due to janky designs and lackluster cards.
  • The set's poor reception led to changes in how Magic sets were designed, with the three-set block structure being abandoned in favor of different formats starting with Battle for Zendikar in 2016.
  • Fallen Empires' failure shattered the illusion that every Magic set was successful, setting a precedent for future sets like Homelands, which faced similar issues but was overshadowed by the disappointment of Fallen Empires.
  • The unpopularity of Fallen Empires and Homelands was so extreme that Wizards had to implement a rule requiring players to include cards from these sets in their decks during tournaments to ensure their use, highlighting the sets' lack of playability.
Channel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatarChannel avatar

Try it yourself — It’s free.