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Zendikar
The Zendikar block is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of the sets Zendikar (October 2, 2009), Worldwake (February 5, 2010), Rise of the Eldrazi (April 23, 2010). The eponymous setting is a vast, untamed wilderness, whose few bastions of civilization exist primarily for outfitting treasure-seeking expeditions to distant locales. Colossal ancient octahedral stones called "hedrons" float in the sky (hedrons are the expansion symbols for all three blocks). A phenomenon known as "the Roil" causes frequent geological upheaval as it sweeps across the land. Unlike the previous two blocks, there is no multicolored theme (in fact, every colored card in the set is monocolored). Instead, the themes Zendikar and Worldwake revolve around lands, and a theme of an adventure or quest. Rise of the Eldrazi, while part of the Zendikar block creatively and for the sake of constructed tournament rules, is unique mechanically and is designed to be drafted on its own. Drafts in the Zendikar block are either ZEN-ZEN-WWK or ROE-ROE-ROE.
The first cards revealed from the set were a selection of basic lands, each printed with both a traditional frame and a full-art frame reminiscent of lands from Unglued and Unhinged. Cards with the "Landfall" mechanic have effects that are triggered when a land enters the battlefield under the card's owner's control. Adding to the land theme, there are a number of non-basic lands, including lands with a variety of enters-the-battlefield effects that were formerly restricted to creatures.
Zendikar also contains three Planeswalkers: Nissa Revane, who first appeared in the Xbox 360 game Duels of the Planeswalkers; Sorin Markov, an all-new vampire character; and a second version of Chandra Nalaar, Chandra Ablaze, as previously foreshadowed in the novel The Purifying Fire.
To promote the "priceless treasures" tagline of Zendikar, original, authentic vintage cards were inserted into a limited number of booster packs, replacing the basic land. These cards were for collector and incentive purposes only, and were largely not legal for sanctioned Zendikar block play.
Zendikar was the first "large" expansion since Legends where the only random packs were booster packs — 75-card tournament packs, introduced in Urza's Saga, were no longer sold.
Mechanics in the Zendikar block include allies, intimidate, landfall, quests and traps. Allies, a new creature type, have an effect (getting larger, gaining life, making creature tokens, etc.) that triggers when itself or another Ally enters the battlefield. Intimidate is a new keyword mechanic that makes a creature unable to be blocked except by artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with the creature. In later sets, intimidate replaced "Fear," a similar ability that was restricted largely to black cards. Landfall is a new ability word that causes a permanent to gain an extra ability or become more powerful when a land enters the battlefield under its controller's control. Quests are enchantments that each have two abilities. The first ability causes "quest counters" to be added when a specific event or game state takes place; once a certain number of quest counters is reached, the card's second ability can be used. Trap is a new type of instant that can be cast for a reduced cost if a certain event have taken place this turn. Quests, Traps, and Allies were codenamed "Maps, Traps, and Chaps" in development respectively, and were designed to mechanically reinforce the "Adventure World" setting of Zendikar.
As the harsh habitats of Zendikar become more dangerous, planeswalker characters gather to Zendikar to explore the ancient ruins for vast treasures and search for answers. The land itself comes to life and ravages its surroundings, consuming forests and destroying mountains. The inhabitants seek answers from their ancestors to discover the cause of this worldwide awakening.
Worldwake expands on the Landfall, Ally, Trap, and Quest mechanics of Zendikar, as well as introducing some new ones. The landfall mechanic appears in Worldwake on instants as well as on permanent cards: landfall spells may produce a stronger effect or activate a repeatable effect whenever a land card enters the battlefield that turn under its caster's control. This set marked the debut of multikicker, a variant of kicker from Invasion, which allows a player to pay an optional, extra cost when casting a spell to create an additional effect. Unlike kicker, which can only be paid once, multikicker can be paid as many times as the player is able, adding to the additional effect. Worldwake had a cycle of dual-color lands that can turn into creatures, and a cycle of Auras which turn lands into creatures. A quest cycle began in Zendikar and was finished in Worldwake.
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Zendikar AI simulator
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Zendikar
The Zendikar block is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of the sets Zendikar (October 2, 2009), Worldwake (February 5, 2010), Rise of the Eldrazi (April 23, 2010). The eponymous setting is a vast, untamed wilderness, whose few bastions of civilization exist primarily for outfitting treasure-seeking expeditions to distant locales. Colossal ancient octahedral stones called "hedrons" float in the sky (hedrons are the expansion symbols for all three blocks). A phenomenon known as "the Roil" causes frequent geological upheaval as it sweeps across the land. Unlike the previous two blocks, there is no multicolored theme (in fact, every colored card in the set is monocolored). Instead, the themes Zendikar and Worldwake revolve around lands, and a theme of an adventure or quest. Rise of the Eldrazi, while part of the Zendikar block creatively and for the sake of constructed tournament rules, is unique mechanically and is designed to be drafted on its own. Drafts in the Zendikar block are either ZEN-ZEN-WWK or ROE-ROE-ROE.
The first cards revealed from the set were a selection of basic lands, each printed with both a traditional frame and a full-art frame reminiscent of lands from Unglued and Unhinged. Cards with the "Landfall" mechanic have effects that are triggered when a land enters the battlefield under the card's owner's control. Adding to the land theme, there are a number of non-basic lands, including lands with a variety of enters-the-battlefield effects that were formerly restricted to creatures.
Zendikar also contains three Planeswalkers: Nissa Revane, who first appeared in the Xbox 360 game Duels of the Planeswalkers; Sorin Markov, an all-new vampire character; and a second version of Chandra Nalaar, Chandra Ablaze, as previously foreshadowed in the novel The Purifying Fire.
To promote the "priceless treasures" tagline of Zendikar, original, authentic vintage cards were inserted into a limited number of booster packs, replacing the basic land. These cards were for collector and incentive purposes only, and were largely not legal for sanctioned Zendikar block play.
Zendikar was the first "large" expansion since Legends where the only random packs were booster packs — 75-card tournament packs, introduced in Urza's Saga, were no longer sold.
Mechanics in the Zendikar block include allies, intimidate, landfall, quests and traps. Allies, a new creature type, have an effect (getting larger, gaining life, making creature tokens, etc.) that triggers when itself or another Ally enters the battlefield. Intimidate is a new keyword mechanic that makes a creature unable to be blocked except by artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with the creature. In later sets, intimidate replaced "Fear," a similar ability that was restricted largely to black cards. Landfall is a new ability word that causes a permanent to gain an extra ability or become more powerful when a land enters the battlefield under its controller's control. Quests are enchantments that each have two abilities. The first ability causes "quest counters" to be added when a specific event or game state takes place; once a certain number of quest counters is reached, the card's second ability can be used. Trap is a new type of instant that can be cast for a reduced cost if a certain event have taken place this turn. Quests, Traps, and Allies were codenamed "Maps, Traps, and Chaps" in development respectively, and were designed to mechanically reinforce the "Adventure World" setting of Zendikar.
As the harsh habitats of Zendikar become more dangerous, planeswalker characters gather to Zendikar to explore the ancient ruins for vast treasures and search for answers. The land itself comes to life and ravages its surroundings, consuming forests and destroying mountains. The inhabitants seek answers from their ancestors to discover the cause of this worldwide awakening.
Worldwake expands on the Landfall, Ally, Trap, and Quest mechanics of Zendikar, as well as introducing some new ones. The landfall mechanic appears in Worldwake on instants as well as on permanent cards: landfall spells may produce a stronger effect or activate a repeatable effect whenever a land card enters the battlefield that turn under its caster's control. This set marked the debut of multikicker, a variant of kicker from Invasion, which allows a player to pay an optional, extra cost when casting a spell to create an additional effect. Unlike kicker, which can only be paid once, multikicker can be paid as many times as the player is able, adding to the additional effect. Worldwake had a cycle of dual-color lands that can turn into creatures, and a cycle of Auras which turn lands into creatures. A quest cycle began in Zendikar and was finished in Worldwake.