First Phyrexian Invasion

Lore & Background

The Invasion block storyline begins with the Planeswalker Urza helping Gerrard Capashen and the crew of the flying ship Weatherlight to repel the Phyrexians, led by Yawgmoth, as they attempt to overrun the lands of Dominaria. After Gerrard and the Weatherlight's victory at Koilos and the death of Hanna, Yawgmoth unleashes the Apocalypse on Dominaria by coming to the world himself and raising the dead from the earth. As this was after a war that lasted a few years, there were many, many dead. The block's major themes revolved around multi-colored "gold" cards, decks and strategies. Invasion was primarily focused on allied color pairs, while Planeshift focused on allied 3-color "shards" and Apocalypse focused heavily on enemy 2-color pairs, a first for the game.

In Their Own Story

The sky above the city burned with an unnatural silver hue as the ground shook beneath marching metal feet. Elara clutched her staff, feeling the familiar warmth of mana turn cold and greasy in her veins. She watched from the battlements as a towering construct, once perhaps human, smashed through the stone gate. Its eyes glowed with the same hollow light she had seen in Yawgmoth's portrait centuries ago. There was no time for prayer, only the desperate chant of protection spells that sputtered against the oily rain falling from above.

Reader's Guide

The Invasion block introduced several new mechanics. One of these was kicker, an optional cost in addition to the card's casting cost. Paying this additional cost would activate an additional ability or effect on the card. Invasion had a number of cards that have an effect based on the number of basic land types the casting player controlled, which was given the name "Domain" in Conflux. Invasion was also the first set with split cards: literally two cards printed on one, Split cards had two different effects for different costs. As they were played, their controller chose which half to use. They were almost killed in development as almost all of Wizard's R&D disliked them. Planeshift introduced the gating mechanic. Creatures with gating cost less to play, but their controller must return a creature he or she controls to its owner's hand. It also had a cycle of "familiar" creatures that reduced the cost of allied-colored spells. Apocalypse reprised many cycles found in Invasion, including enemy-colored "Bears" and "split cards." Apocalypse's single most important cycle of cards was the enemy-colored "painlands," which promoted the set's theme, power level, and popularity.

Did You Know?

• Invasion was the first set to be released digitally on Magic Online.
• The multi-color nature of the set had been decided by late in 1998, with the design relying heavily on an early draft set design by original playtester Barry Reich.
• Invasion saw the return of multi-colored 'gold' cards, absent since the Stronghold expansion.
• Apocalypse was the first set to focus heavily on enemy 2-color pairs.
• Notable cards in Apocalypse include Fire // Ice, Goblin Ringleader, Pernicious Deed, Spiritmonger and Vindicate.