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Clergy of the Holy Nimbus
What's supposed to be weird about this picture is that it's night in one window and day in the other. But what's actually weird is the arrangement of the stars in the night window. Why are they more dense on top? And why are there so many of them? It looks more like falling confetti than stars.
Modern equivalent: This particular ability hasn't been revisited much, other than the rhystic regenerators in Masques block (like Glittering Lynx) and the reference to this card in Time Spiral (that being Knight of the Holy Nimbus). And both of those are pretty old.
But if we look at the allowable power level of white one-drops in the last few blocks, Champion of the Parish tells a bit of a tale.
Verdict: Medium power creep
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Great Defender
Yeah, real great defender you got there. A merfolk.
When this came out, the biggest merfolk in print was a 1/1. (And before you bring up Lord of Atlantis, he was a "Summon Lord of Atlantis" at the time. He didn't become a Merfolk until many years later.)
Modern equivalent: This actually isn't so dissimilar to cards like Shielded Passage, Stave Off, Pay No Heed, or Gods Willing. Weaker, but along the same lines.
Verdict: Medium power creep (even with the possibility of Inside Out combos removed)
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Heaven's Gate
Now that is a high-angle shot! Heaven not only has big gates but tall camera cranes.
Modern equivalent: Instead of changing the color of one card type on the battlefield one turn, how about all the types in all zones for all turns? I bring you Painter's Servant.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Holy Day
Alpha made Fog green. Legends made it white AND black (see Darkness). That is a gutsy color pie experiment. Could you imagine if the next set had a 1U Lightning Strike? And also a 1W one?
Modern equivalent: Holy Day was reprinted in Tenth Edition. Angelsong was in Shards of Alara. But in the years since those, all the fog effects have been green.
Verdict: On-again, off-again colorshifting.
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Indestructible Aura
"Okay Mark Poole, just say the first thing that pops into your head. Indestructible Aura."
"Bird head on a merfolk body flashing the heavy metal sign."
"Interesting. Uh, Natural Selection."
"Bird head on a tiger body holding a tomato and a rope."
"...Soldier token?"
"Bird head on Godzilla's body with Sherlock Holmes' hat and he's tossing pizzas while also kicking a hackey sack."
"Hired! Welcome to Wizards of the Coast."
Modern equivalent: I mean... this is just Great Defender again. Why'd they have both in the same set? Legends probably could have been 309 cards.
Verdict: Light power creep.
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Land Tax
Look at that face. And then look at the purple fuzzy pimp hat. One of these does not belong!
Modern equivalent: Now here's a card they made way too strong up front. First it was weakened into Tithe, then Gift of Estates, and then Safewright Quest (barf).
Knight of the White Orchid is a great card but in a very different way, despite having some surface similarities. We can't even consider him since he doesn't increase your hand size by 9 cards over 3 turns, and he does next to nothing with a Scroll Rack or Seismic Assault.
Verdict: Severe nerfing.
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Spirit Link
Yep, she cast spirit link on a bat.
The only bat at the time was Vampire Bats. What a waste! Save it for the Akron Legionnaire, man.
Modern equivalent: This was reprinted through Tenth Edition exactly, and then with a seemingly minor (but actually quite significant) change as Lifelink through Magic 2012.
For you see, Lifelink cannot be used to halt an opponent's attacker.
Verdict: Medium nerfing.
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Visions
Given the art, it would appear that some planeswalker brought this spell all the way from Kamigawa to Dominaria. That's a lot of work for such a weak effect. That must have added like 8 loyalty counters.
Modern equivalent: The obvious reaction is "today this would be blue," but there are some other reactions you might have when more carefully considering this card:
Visions does none of these!
Verdict: Medium power creep (off-color).
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Alabaster Potion
When I was a kid I thought the white blobby shape was the bottle holding the potion. And it was sculpted out of stone or something. Only now do I realize it's wisps of smoke coming from a cauldron below.
Modern equivalent: No other card has done quite what this does, excepting the Invasion-block Atalya, Samite Master. Recuperate was an improvement but was way back in Scourge.
Today, life gain and damage prevention are two different cards' worth of effects. You cast Shielded Passage OR Angel's Mercy. Not both. Although it is worth pointing out that both of those are markedly stronger than Alabaster Potion—even after factoring in the decrease in utility.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Osai Vultures
You might guess this to be the first ever Magic card to depict guts, but there was actually an earlier one. Scroll to the bottom to see the answer.
Modern equivalent: Looking at the 1W fliers from the last two years alone we see Aven Squire, Cavalry Pegasus, and Concordia Pegasus, all better than Osai Vultures in most cases.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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Shield Wall
Every person in this army was given a different shield design and a different kind of helmet.
Modern equivalent: There are three cards to compare this to in the past two years. Glorious Charge is the same mana but a different boost. Fortify is one more mana but more versatile. Dauntless Onslaught is also more mana but a bigger effect but a narrower range.
None are strictly superior but I'd pick any one of them higher in a draft.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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D'Avenant Archer
The sex change operation was a success.
Basically.
Modern equivalent: Crossbow Infantry was a nice improvement, as all drafters know, but we haven't seen it since 9th edition. D'Avenant Healer and Quilled Sliver were the 2006 versions. Would you believe we haven't really had any others in the last seven years? Although if we did I'm sure they would still be stronger than the original.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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Great Wall
"Great Wall" has the same flavor problem that "Great Defender" had. (The accuracy of the card name.)
Modern equivalent: "Has Cotton lost his mind? " ask hundreds of readers. "Journey to Nowhere? We're trying to remove plainswalking from everybody, not remove one single creature."
Ah, but when this came out, there only was one single creature with plainswalk: Righteous Avengers. So... I'm counting it.
Verdict: Severe power creep (basically).
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Keepers of the Faith
The name says they keep the faith. The flavor text says they keep a sword. The art says they keep a floating box!
Modern equivalent: In the 20 years since (Hurloon Minotaur), there have been a total of 11 vanilla 2/3s for 3. They're been in every color except green (which has one for two mana). The most recent was Theros' (Fellhide Minotaur), in black.
What can 1WW get us these days? Fabled Hero, Fiendslayer Paladin, Silverblade Paladin....
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Thunder Spirit
This art was submitted for a card called Lightning Spirit.
Modern equivalent: Innistrad block had the remarkably similar Voiceless Spirit. There's also Sunspire Griffin. Most decks would prefer Wingsteed Rider.
Verdict: Light power creep.
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Angelic Voices
One angel, multiple voices.
Modern equivalent: Of course Glorious Anthem is a mana cheaper and with fewer restrictions. Honor of the Pure is cheaper still but doesn't help your artifact creatures.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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Divine Transformation
Before Serra Angel became divine, she was a 1/1 with flying and vigilance. She was a Skyshroud Falcon.
Modern equivalent: We can do a biiiit better with auras these days. Armored Ascension is a huge step up for the white deck. Daybreak Coronet for the hexproof auras deck.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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Moat
Shoulda painted this with the drawbridge up.
Modern equivalent: If you want to stop creatures from attacking today, it'll cost you nine mana (see Blazing Archon.
I was ready to call this for "severe nerfing" until I realized that Time Spiral gave us this effect on an 0/3. It's still a downgrade, due to its vulnerability, but not as much of one as I expected.
Verdict: Medium nerfing.
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Equinox
Does swinging your sword faster allow you to smash through someone else's sword? I don't know, but it's not as unlikely as you might think. Back when I was in school my science teacher shoved a plastic straw into a raw potato just by thrusting it quickly.
Modern equivalent: Now this card is just embarrassing. Giving it first strike and rampage 2 isn't all too different from giving it first strike and rampage 0. And the fact that you have to cast it before blockers are declared ruins any surprise factor advantage you could have gotten!
Look at how incredibly superior cards like Seize the Initiative, Swift Justice, and Zealous Strike are. And those are still draft-only cards.
And the weird thing is that those are actually a little weaker than what we had ten years ago! We used to get this effect with a cantrip, like Guided Strike.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Spiritual Sanctuary
Was the weakness of this card meant to satirize religion? Before you dismiss my idea, reflect upon the weakness of Keepers of the Faith as well.
Modern equivalent: Instead of paying 2WW up front to gain one life every turn (while possibly helping your opponent to do the same), let's just cut it in half.
Verdict: Medium power creep.
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Petra Sphinx
I know what walks on three legs in the evening. This card! Look at the artwork!
Modern equivalent: There are a lot of good white creatures costing 5 mana. There's Ethereal Champion, Abbey Gargoyles, Hazduhr the Abbot....
Verdict: Severe power creep,
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Ivory Guardians
"Some say their actions are above the law." Shouldn't Ivory Guardians have protection from white, then?
Modern equivalent: Look out! He can become a 4/4!
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Elder Land Wurm
Loooove the artwork. Never understood what that large blade on the right is supposed to be though.
Modern equivalent: After studying a few old sets, I've realized that no category of cards more consistently gets severe power creep than expensive creatures. This card and the next one will illustrate what I mean pretty clearly.
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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Akron Legionnaire
It's another Mark Poole painting. So you all know what that means about what's hiding under his helmet.
Modern equivalent: Well....
Verdict: Severe power creep.
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