Visions Magic The Gathering Cards
Visions was the sixteenth Magic: The Gathering set and tenth expert
level set, released in February 1997. This expansion continued the
Mirage block by using the same setting and mechanics introduced in
Mirage. The expansion symbol for Visions is a V-shaped symbol, which is
the "triangle of war" used by the Zhalfir in the story.
The Visions expansion originated as a split from "Menagerie" (the
original name for Mirage), which had grown too large for a single set.
For a brief time during its development, Visions was known by the
codename "Mirage Jr." It received its final name shortly later.
Visions was the first set to have the same name as a Magic card
printed earlier: Visions, the card, was first printed in Legends
(1994). The card and the set are otherwise unrelated.
Visions was the first set to have a wide dispersal of pre-releases.
At the time of its release, Visions was a "first" in the release of
quality cards at the common level; examples include Uktabi Orangutan
and River Boa. River Boa (at that time) was considered "very good",
with two abilities (Islandwalk and Regeneration) and a 2/1
power/toughness at a casting cost of only two mana.
Visions was the start of the "speeding up" of red decks. Red decks
began to get faster due to a card from Visions: Fireblast. In the late
game players could now sacrifice two mountains to deal four damage to
opponents. This proved to be essential as burn decks became all the
rage. Decks were sporting "pure burn", essentially: four Lightning
Bolt, four Incinerate, four Fireblast, which made it very easy for the
red player to deal twenty damage to their opponents, or in today's
colloquial, it "increased the reach" of the red player. Fireblast was
also common rarity.
Visions was the last set to contain a poison creature (one that
creates poison counters) until the reprinting of the timeshifted Swamp
Mosquito in Time Spiral. The Suq'Ata Assassin was the last new poison
creature created by Wizards for 10 years before the release of Future
Sight's Virulent Sliver.
Wizards of the Coast started selling Visions cards for Magic: The
Gathering Online on April 10, 2006. The cards became legal to use in
several formats as they went on sale. Official release events were held
on April 13.
Visions included many creatures that had abilities that triggered
upon entering play. This meant that some creatures could now do things
normally reserved to instants, sorceries, or costly activated
abilities. These "comes-into-play" creatures could also combo well with
cards that returned creatures to a player's hand.
The Karoos were a cycle of 5 lands that came into play tapped, and
required you to return a land to your hand to play them. They would set
you back one turn, but reward you with an extra mana on the next.
Similar cards later appear in Ravnica, Guildpact and Dissension.
The Chimeras were a cycle of 4 artifact creatures that could be
combined into one giant monster with many abilities. This cycle
resembles the Nightstalker cycle, but even being colorless, the cards
never saw much play.
While this set did not introduce any new keyworded mechanics it
expanded on flanking and phasing that were introduced in Mirage. The
insta-enchantments also made appearance on the set.
Daily Mtg Wallpaper
Make Your Own Card
A very cool new magic the gathering related website that allows it's visitors to quickly create their own magic the gathering cards. Check out the one that the Moxdiamond Staff created!