Ice Age gave us the original allied-color painlands in 1995, but enemy colors had to wait six years until Apocalypse to get their own cycle. Battlefield Forge was the red-white member of that long-awaited second cycle.
What’s the first spell that comes to mind when you see Battlefield Forge?
For a while, this was simply what a premium creature looked like: five mana for a 6/6 that gets bigger in combat, regenerates, and can even change color when that matters.
Do you remember when Spiritmonger felt almost impossible to answer?
Four mana for a 3/4 with flying, vigilance, and haste was an absurd package for its time. It could attack immediately, stay back to block, and fit naturally into aggressive blue-white-red decks.
Which deck do you associate Lightning Angel with the most?
A great card, but also an important moment in Magic’s story. The original art shows the aftermath of Gerrard’s duel with Urza in Yawgmoth’s arena on Phyrexia, with Gerrard standing victorious after taking Urza’s head.
One life for an extra card every turn made sure the card remained relevant long after the Weatherlight Saga ended.
Did you know what was happening in the original artwork?
A land that found its perfect home in Stasis. While nobody gets an untap step, Forsaken City can keep coming back during your upkeep, turning spare cards into the mana needed to keep Stasis on the battlefield.
Have you ever been locked under this combination?
The third of Planeshift’s special alternate-art foils, alongside Tahngarth and Ertai. Few cards are as closely tied to the Weatherlight Saga as the ship itself, carrying so many of its characters and stories from plane to plane.
Is there any card that represents the Weatherlight Saga better?
Planeshift even gave it a cute interaction with Dralnu’s Pet, but Draco is much better known for something completely different: sitting on top of your library and turning Erratic Explosion into 16 damage.
Have you ever actually cast one?
Chris Pikula’s Invitational card, and a perfect example of how valuable matchup knowledge can be. At just two mana, it can shut off the exact card that matters most before your opponent gets the chance to cast it.
Which Invitational card is your favorite?
One of Planeshift’s three special alternate-art foils, alongside Tahngarth and Skyship Weatherlight. Ertai’s transformation from a member of the Weatherlight crew into a corrupted servant of Phyrexia also makes this one of those cards where the character’s story is much more memorable than its tournament history.
Which version of Ertai do you prefer?
Two mana, instant speed, and any creature in your deck. Whether it is the missing combo piece or simply the creature the situation demands, very few tutors are this clean.
What do you most often search for with it?
It has rarely been good enough for Constructed, but this one is pure nostalgia for me. Its artwork was used on Planeshift booster boxes, so I still associate the whole set with this card.
Which card instantly makes you think of Planeshift?
Four mana for a 5/5 at the cost of three life made the comparison with Juzám Djinn almost inevitable. Not quite the original, but a very efficient body for black decks of its era.
Juzám or Scuta?
A Zombie lord that does more than just make the tribe bigger. Turning spare mana into another Zombie from the graveyard gives the deck something to do after the first wave has been dealt with.
Which Zombie do you most associate with this card?
One white mana can either buy you a turn or clear the way for your combo. Cast during upkeep, it can effectively Time Walk the opponent; cast before going off, it can make sure nothing gets in the way.
How do you usually use Orim’s Chant?
One mana in, any colour out, and a card back on the way. It looks almost irrelevant on the battlefield, but that combination of mana fixing and replacing itself has earned it a place in plenty of combo and artifact decks.
Which deck do you associate it with the most?
The darker half of Invasion’s most obvious counterspell pairing. While Absorb buys you three life, Undermine takes three from your opponent, and it found a natural home as a four-of in Nether-Go.
Absorb or Undermine?
The five Primeval Dragons of Invasion, four copies of each in Japanese foil.
Invasion gave us Magic’s first multicolored foils, and it is hard to think of a better cycle to represent them. Crosis, Darigaaz, Dromar, Rith and Treva are a clear echo of the five Elder Dragons from Legends: five legendary three-color Dragons using exactly the same five color combinations, reimagined for a new era of Magic.
Twenty cards together, and still one of my favorite cycles from the Old Frame era.
Which cycle do you prefer: the Elder Dragons from Legends or the Primevals from Invasion?
Treva never made much impact in competitive Magic, but players clearly liked it: in Wizards’ Invasion “godbook” study, it ranked sixth among the set’s favorite cards for gameplay, ahead of Darigaaz and Crosis.
What did you think of Treva when Invasion came out?
Unlike most of the Primeval Dragons, Rith had a real moment in competitive Magic as a top-end threat in Fires. Brian Kibler famously enchanted it with Armadillo Cloak at Pro Tour Chicago 2000, helping cement his nickname, “The Dragonmaster.”
Which Primeval Dragon has the best tournament story?
Barrin wanted his daughter to become a wizard, but Hanna preferred magical objects and joined the Weatherlight as its navigator and engineer. Her ability could hardly fit her better, bringing lost artifacts and enchantments back from the graveyard.
Which member of the Weatherlight crew got the best card?