# Magic's First Great Block ![Image][Banner] Kamigawa came at a renaissance of magic design, when things now commonplace were being regularly discovered. The first four worlds visited since Dominaria (Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica, and Lorwyn) set out to expand magic's identity and feel unmistakably distinct from anything that came before. <<[[!Krark-Clan Stoker]][[!Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit]][[!Goblin Spelunkers|6c3889c5-3321-486c-b03c-8607f2393a75]][[!Boggart Birth Rite]]>> As [Brady Dommermuth's article][Article] recounts, Kamigawa's ambitions to do Japanese folklore justice outran its deadlines. They hired Japanese artists, read traditional stories, and dug below the surface to find things their American audience didn't already know about. It wasn't enough to simply transcribe Shinto legends onto cards, they wanted to create an original world that inspired mythology of its own. By the time they could start designing cards, they were months behind. There wasn't enough time left to design 637 cards that were fun to play. ### Filler <<[[!Oblivion Ring]][[!Divination]][[!Sign in Blood|9f9cead6-7806-4c51-abd1-62c3b8f366b5]][[!Evolving Wilds]]>> Kamigawa had to be padded out with cards that needed no playtesting. Modern set designers have a library of approved designs to iterate on, but cards from the last 4 years of Invasion, Odyssey, Onslaught, and Mirrodin were tied to their block mechanics. Before that was Urza's and Mercadian Masques, blocks that had been left behind in magic's rapid evolution. [[Oblivion Ring]], [[Divination]], [[Sign in Blood]], and [[Evolving Wilds]] hadn't even been invented yet. <<[[!Vigilance]][[!Wandering Ones]][[!Deathcurse Ogre]][[!Akki Rockspeaker]]>> The solution was to fill in the space with blank cardboard; unplayable cards that were guaranteed to not break the game. This is the story behind [[Terashi's Cry]], [[Kumano's Blessing]], and [[Jukai Messenger]]. The goal of this cube is to cut the chaff and present 228 cards that defined the block. ### History <<[[!Hokori, Dust Drinker]][[!Psychic Puppetry]][[!Villainous Ogre]][[!Blind with Anger]]>> Released 17 years ago, Kamigawa is a time capsule of magic design. Damage prevention, repeatable counterspells, regeneration, 1/1s, on board tricks, [[Frostwielder]]s, mana denial, [[Moat]]s, and many other aspects of it have since departed from magic. It predates the prevalence of modern luxuries like mana fixing, card filtering, token generation, +1/+1 counters, impactful threats, and more flexible card design. Kamigawa has almost no enters-the-battlefield triggers. Playing Kamigawa today feels like starting with a 5-card hand. It is the magic equivalent of camping. ### Beauty <<[[!Hair-Strung Koto]][[!Petalmane Baku]][[!Patron of the Orochi]][[!Isao, Enlightened Bushi]]>> More pleasantly, Rebecca Guay and Christopher Moeller were still making art for the game. Even Ron Spencer and Mark Tedin had some nice pieces in the block. ### Influence <<[[!Isamaru, Hound of Konda]][[!Promise of Bunrei]][[!Gifts Ungiven|32b91eb5-ea53-4a21-a2e5-9c545a42fa30]][[!Kaho, Minamo Historian]]>> <<[[!Night of Souls' Betrayal]][[!Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker|a2ff0ee3-9600-4c7d-acec-6ec90595384e]][[!Glimpse of Nature]][[!Azusa, Lost but Seeking]]>> Kamigawa came after 6 years of mechanically focused sets and it really feels like the designers were finally stretching their legs. Every 2004 card that didn't care about artifacts, every 2003 card that wasn't tribal, and every 2002 card that didn't mention the graveyard was brought out of the archives for Kamigawa. It defined a standard with infinite decks and powered fringe modern strategies for years. These were the same circumstances that lead to Innistrad, the perfect draft environment. It also lead to Dominaria, which set the standard for contemporary magic design. And it lead to Tempest's wealth of build-around designs: Slivers, [[Cataclysm]], [[Mind Over Matter]], [[Dream Halls]], [[Grave Pact]], [[Tortured Existence]], [[Hatred]], [[Recurring Nightmare]], [[Living Death]], [[Reanimate]], [[Goblin Bombardment]], [[Seismic Assault]], [[Aluren]], [[Earthcraft]], [[Hermit Druid]], [[Oath of Druids]], [[Survival of the Fittest]], and [[Ancient Tomb]] ### Bushido Bushido is a drawback mechanic in disguise. In combat, the difference between a 1/1 with Bushido 1 and a 2/2 is how much damage it does to players. [[Devoted Retainer]] is actually a 2/2 that takes longer to kill your opponent. ||| |-|-| |![][Bushido]|![][Custom]| The result is that Kamigawa feels like a format where players start at 25 life. Cheap creatures like [[Kitsune Blademaster]] and [[Ronin Houndmaster]] punch well above their weight, but you also don't get run over if you fail to produce a blocker on turn 2. <<[[!Tallowisp]][[!Ninja of the Deep Hours|367a67c7-54db-4336-b55a-3fa27625172a]][[!Frostwielder]][[!Orochi Eggwatcher]]>> With more life to spare, card advantage is more important. Lots of cards in Kamigawa generate value, but rarely is it efficient or simple. Splicing and Soulshift take work, and the Soratami strain your resources. Even aggressive decks are expected to think about card economy. ### Creature Sizing <<[[!Kami of Ancient Law]][[!Deathmask Nezumi]][[!Soratami Mirror-Mage]][[!Humble Budoka]]>> Part of Kamigawa's ecosystem is the understanding that a 2/2 is almost always worth a card. Most creatures below 4 mana cannot survive blocking a 2/2 and many of them need help just to trade with one. [[Order of the Sacred Bell]] is a 2-for-1 simply by taking out 2 bears in combat. ### The Kami <<[[!Kami of Ancient Law]][[!Kami of Twisted Reflection]][[!Painwracker Oni]][[!Kodama of the North Tree]]>> Kamigawa is split in half between the spirit world and the physical world. Accounting for rarity, 50% of the creatures are spirits and 50% of the non-creatures are arcane. Spirits are not a typical tribe. The only things that care about cards being spirits are Spiritcraft and Soulshift. Some cards sacrifice spirits, but nothing makes them bigger. ### Spiritcraft <<[[!Waxmane Baku]][[!Sire of the Storm]][[!Kami of the Waning Moon]][[!Budoka Pupil]]>> Spiritcraft cards trigger on casting spirit or arcane spells. Sequencing your spells is important in Kamigawa, and you should often play your non-spirit spells first to maximise your spiritcraft triggers. ### Soulshift <<[[!Hundred-Talon Kami]][[!Kami of Empty Graves]][[!Kami of Lunacy]][[!Kami of the Tended Garden]]>> Soulshift creatures in {W}{B}{G} are less about density and more about planning. Kamigawa has few sacrifice/discard outlets, so you'll need to make your opponent kill your spirits by pressuring their life total. ### Splice onto Arcane <<[[!Dampen Thought]][[!Soulless Revival]][[!Glacial Ray]][[!Kodama's Might]]>> Splice lets you get a spell's effect multiple times, as long as you have other arcane spells to attach it to. Only a few arcane spells have splice, and they need the right context. No point splicing [[Soulless Revival]] or [[Kodama's Might]] when you have no creatures. Except [[Glacial Ray]]. [[Glacial Ray]] just kills everything. ### Colour Overview <<[[!Kabuto Moth]][[!Kitsune Blademaster]][[!Indomitable Will|73263906-c66b-4f85-b138-0b5deda64ab1]][[!Cage of Hands]]>> Kamigawa is white's comfort zone. The creatures all trade, so its tricks are devastating. [[Kitsune Blademaster]] beats everything in combat. [[Kabuto Moth]] produces misery every combat step. Every white rare dunks on players that try to attack you with creatures. <<[[!Soratami Savant]][[!Teller of Tales]][[!River Kaijin]][[!Counsel of the Soratami]]>> Board stalls and high life totals? Turns out card draw and counterspells are still incredible. <<[[!Okiba-Gang Shinobi]][[!Devouring Greed|4a72347d-91cd-45a8-a026-a655e5507322]][[!Nezumi Graverobber]][[!Nezumi Cutthroat]]>> Black has a more aggressive slant, with creatures better at attacking than blocking. Don't underestimate the demons; even with no ogres in your deck they will run over your opponent. <<[[!Ronin Houndmaster]][[!Yamabushi's Flame]][[!Sokenzan Spellblade]][[!Blind with Anger]]>> Red stretches further into the late game with its heavy hitters and ability to kill everything. Red's usual plan of 1-drops and [[Falter]]s doesn't work. [[Sokenzan Spellblade]] is basically an 18/4, but the challenge is getting it to connect without using all the cards in your hand. <<[[!Moss Kami]][[!Matsu-Tribe Decoy]][[!Burr Grafter]][[!Serpent Skin]]>> Without its life total under as much pressure, green is less reliant on ramping into huge haymakers. Green is more about its buffs and combat tricks. Kamigawa pre-dates green creature removal. [[Matsu-Tribe Decoy]] is all you get. ### Archetypes <<[[!Dampen Thought]][[!Ethereal Haze]][[!Eerie Procession]][[!Candles' Glow]]>> The goal of the [[Dampen Thought]] deck is to cast 2 or 3 [[Ethereal Haze]]s while splicing your opponent's deck down to nothing. Thanks to Bushido, life gain can buy a significant amount of time. [[Dampen Thought]] is the set's only all-in draft archetype. Other synergies are more flexible, and should be part of an otherwise functional deck. <<[[!Ashen-Skin Zubera]][[!Ember-Fist Zubera]][[!Devouring Greed]][[!Lifespinner]]>> Killing 3 zuberas at once will give you 9 total triggers, since they all see each other dying. [[Hideous Laughter]], [[Earthshaker]], [[Blood Rites]], and [[Devouring Rage]] can also trigger them simultaneously. <<[[!Honden of Cleansing Fire]][[!Honden of Seeing Winds]][[!Honden of Infinite Rage]][[!Kodama's Reach|85d207ac-0680-47ef-85d9-4323c1321d6f]]>> Keep in mind that mana fixing is scarce and most shrines are perfectly fine by themselves. <<[[!Wicked Akuba]][[!Cursed Ronin]][[!Distress]][[!Swamp|9d376282-adf0-4d37-b9a4-1329cd496516]]>> <<[[!Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro]][[!Deathmask Nezumi]][[!Akki Drillmaster]][[!Time of Need]]>> Snake tribal requires [[Seshiro the Anointed]]. [[Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro]] is all about shamans. ### Synergies <<[[!Bushi Tenderfoot]][[!Into the Fray]][[!Blessed Breath]][[!Candles' Glow]]>> The most viable way of flipping [[Bushi Tenderfoot]], since most opponents will never let it get into a fight. Sometimes [[Psychic Puppetry]] can get you a cheeky block when your [[Bushi Tenderfoot]] is tapped. <<[[!Soulless Revival]][[!Hana Kami]][[!Uproot]][[!Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker|7db7ced3-08b8-4599-9f44-3c6c8f905c9b]]>> It's a lot of mana, but locking your opponent out of their draw step is worth it. Each card is playable individually, and a single soulshifter can get them all out of the graveyard. [[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker]] helps expedite the process. ### Appendix For those interested in further reading about the set as it was received on release, I highly recommend [Nick Eisel's old SCG articles](https://articles.starcitygames.com/author/nick.eisel/page/13/). Morgan Wentworth & Matthias Hunt recorded [some good flashback drafts](https://youtu.be/AyixsRuUWZo) on Morgan's channel. This project and my other set cubes were inspired by [Jesse Mason's set review series][Jesse]. *** ![Image](https://i.imgur.com/uUm0qxL.jpeg) For those of you interested in playing this set in-person, you'll need the following: - 1 of each rare - 2 of each uncommon (double for [[Brothers Yamazaki]]) - 4 of each common - Tokens. [[Tomb of Urami]] and [[Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang]] do have official token art, but you'll need to print them off yourself. To form packs: 1. Sort the cards into piles by rarity 2. Sort the commons and uncommons into colours/colourless 3. Put all hondens into the colourless pile 4. Select uncommon piles at random to create 3 piles, each containing 2 colours 5. Shuffle all piles 6. Make packs by taking 1 card from each pile (1 rare, 3 uncommon, 5 common), and a second card from each common pile Hope you can enjoy this piece of magic history! [Banner]: https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/art_crop/front/f/d/fd5cb6c4-2ad7-47db-848b-8f6f157f3529.jpg [Article]: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/series-fortunate-events-kamigawa-world-design-2004-10-18 [Bushido]: https://i.imgur.com/GktUvdr.jpg [Custom]: https://i.imgur.com/2Ye4tZs.jpg [Jesse]: http://blog.killgold.fish/2014/10/kill-reviews-kamigawa-block.html