Scourge (Magic: The Gathering)
| Scourge common expansion symbol Scourge uncommon expansion symbol Scourge rare expansion symbol | ||||
| Released | May 17, 2003 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 143 cards | |||
| Keywords | Storm, Landcycling | |||
| Mechanics | Converted Mana Cost | |||
| Development code | Jack | |||
| Expansion code | SCG | |||
| Third set in the Onslaught Block block | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
Scourge is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is the third set of the Onslaught block. There are 143 cards overall. The expansion symbol is a dragon's skull.
Mechanics
- Storm - Allows you to copy a spell multiple times equal to the number of other spells that have been played on the turn. This mechanic was reused in Time Spiral.
- Landcycling - A variant on cycling, this allows you to cycle a card to search your library for a land of the cycling type rather than drawing a card. For example, a card with Plainscycling 2 could be cycled for 2 mana to find a Plains.
- 'Converted mana cost' matters - There were many cards in the set that encouraged you to play high mana costed spells (six mana or more).
- Though not a mechanic, Scourge boasts a small but significant dragon theme, with more than ten cards that revolved around dragons. It had five 'dragon boons', one for each color, which would bounce back from the graveyard to enchant an expensive creature you control that comes into play.
Set History
The release of Scourge made a large impact on tournament play. In particular, the addition of Goblin Warchief greatly strengthed decks using the Goblin tribe in multiple formats. Eternal Dragon gave white control decks both a robust card advantage and finisher all in one. Vintage quickly adopted both Mind's Desire and Tendrils of Agony due to their extreme synergy with fast artifact mana and Yawgmoth's Will plus their relative immunity to disruption like Force of Will and Chalice of the Void. Almost in protest, the Scourge card Stifle also allowed decks to counter things that where previously immune, including the Scourge Storm cards.
Storyline
The war between Phage and Akroma is over, but with no true winner, and one loser, Otaria. The clash of such sheer power merged the two into a new creature, Karona the False God, an immensely powerful being forged from all five colors of Magic. Karona is seen as a god by all who look upon her, and these followers would march to their death just to walk in her footsteps. War begins to mount between these factions, that each want to claim Karona for themselves.
Meanwhile, the Mirari poisoning is further polluting the inhabitants of Otaria, the elves are becoming taller and stronger, more like the very trees they protect. The soldiers are merging with their weapons and armor into living juggernauts. Zombies are sprouting new, more powerful arms...and heads. Also, the same explosion that created Karona, created a new master for the slivers, the Sliver Overlord.
Kamahl eventually frees Jeska, who is revealed to be a planeswalker. She takes the Mirari with her elsewhere.
Notable Cards
- Forgotten Ancient - notable for being the result of the first You Make The Card feature of magicthegathering.com which had the card developed through the online magic community. [1]
- Mind's Desire - this card was restricted in Type One or Vintage before even being legal for tournament play. [2]