Alpha to 2010 – 16 Cards from Every Magic Core Set
Do I really need to come up with a funny caption for a horse that is apparently shooting fire out its butt?
The announcement that the new core set for Magic: the Gathering would cut half of the classic cards that had been in every core set so far elicited many questions. One of the most common: which cards have been in every set? A couple of heavy-hitters, plus a few vanilla duds you probably won’t miss.
Only 16 cards have been included in every core set, from Alpha to Tenth Edition. Magic 2010 will include just eight of them.
Air Elemental. A basic blue 4/4 flier. Not a bad card, but not the reason people build Blue decks.
Bog Wraith. A 3/3 with Swampwalk. Not really even interesting as a sideboard card.
Drudge Skeleton. A lot of longtime Magic players probably have fond memories of certain cards, even though they basically suck. I like Drudge Skeletons, mainly because an old friend used to say, “DRUDGE SKELETONS!” in a funny voice whenever I’d play them.
Fear. When a card becomes a keyword, do we need the original card anymore?
Giant Growth. This is the only card from the original “Do Three of Something for One Mana” cycle to stay in the core set (the others being Lightning Bolt, Healing Salve, Dark Ritual and Ancestral Recall). I miss Dark Ritual. I’ve never even held an Ancestral Recall in my hand.
Giant Spider. The prototypical Green Reach creature. I always found them overly defensive and a bit boring.
Goblin King. We were so excited about the “Lord” type cards back when Magic first came out. A lot of decks these days are built around cards with a similar mechanic, but the originals don’t see much action.
Grizzly Bears. A vanilla 2/2 for a cheap casting cost, but these days, there are better options for two mana.
Howling Mine. The most interesting card on this list, as far as I’m concerned. Both fun and useful in the right deck.
Nightmare. Very much a Timmy card. If it only cost just a little bit less.
Orcish Artillery. This used to be a staple in very aggressive Red decks (as if there’s another kind).
Regeneration. If you really want a regen reature, use one that has it built in.
Rod of Ruin. Another favorite from the glory days, mostly due to a friend who would always say, “Get off my rod,” when he tapped it to ping you. By the time you’ve dealt that first point of damage, you’ve spent seven mana to make it happen.
Samite Healer. Healing cards have never been popular in tournament decks, but they can be really annoying in limited formats.
Scathe Zombies. A vanilla 2/2 for three mana. There’s no way anyone even bothers playing this in a fun deck. The only thing they have going for them is the Drudge Skeleton effect, ie, “SCATHE ZOMBIES!”
Wrath of God. Yeah, it’s a tournament staple, pretty much the only card on this list you can say that about. I think it’s overpowered, undercosted, and should be removed from Standard format for the same reason Dark Ritual was – if you play White, there’s no reason not to use it. On top of that, it doesn’t really fit White. Destroying all creatures, willy nilly? And could someone explain to me which of the planes we might find “God” on? Will there be a mythic rare Planeswalker version of him? A lot of people will be very upset if this goes, and it should (in fact, I predict that it will).
What do you think they’re going to keep, and what will get the axe?
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March 13th, 2009 11:41 AM
They won’t cut Wrath of God. It’s never really been a threat. Heck, most tourney decks don’t use it. That being said, I’ve never had to play against it so I have no idea the chaos it wreaks on casual. I would imagine like Jokulhops, but with more on the board afterwards.
March 13th, 2009 11:56 AM
Nightmare was the reason a friend of mine based all his decks on the color Black. It never really meant a successful deck, but he lived for when/if he could drop it and say “Your NIGHTMARE! is here!” I have a Destructo deck built on Wrath of God and Jokulhops just to spite other decks and to keep our group matches going longer.