Magic Deck Vortex: Sarpadian Empires, Vol VII: Foreword.

Come, sit down a spell. Take any seat you like; today we're going to take a journey back in time. Make sure you open up your mind and prepare to understand things you thought you already knew or are learning for the first time. It's time to look back on a set long since released, and today we're heading all the way back to November 1994, a time when America and the world were searching for identity, having shed themselves fully from the 1980's. Generation X was declared lost as Generation Y became the first generation to truly explore and foster the Internet en masse. The mood of the nation as a whole was gloomy—Kurt Cobain had ended his life, Ronald Reagan's fate was sealed in Alzheimer’s and practically the entire nation was enamored with the first media-extravaganza scandal: OJ Simpson.

In the world of Magic, the release of its fifth expansion and the largest period of growth for the company were experienced. Scours of people joined the devoted fans during the Revised to Ice Age period. The media even likened it to the D&D trend of the 1980's. However, Magic was still young and finding its footing. It made mistakes that angered the fans such as under-printing sets and reprinting cards in a fake set called Chronicles. This week a few special guests and I will take you through one of the sets of this era: Fallen Empires. So sit back and enjoy a chapter from Sarpadian Empires, Vol VII, only recently unearthed from the past.

Prior to Fallen Empires you had four main sets released: Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, and Revised. There were virtually no differences between Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited; however, Revised had a mass culling of cards to improve the game. Gone were many confusing cards such as Raging River and Illusionary Mask as well as many powerful cards such as Chaos Orb and the Power Nine. Revised was intended to be an easy footstep into Magic with basic cards and basic abilities. Don't let that trick you though, some interesting concepts still existed in Revised that confounded and frustrated players. Ante, banding, and the difference between an interrupt and an instant were all complex issues players these days have the luxury of not worrying about. For those of you who aren't familiar with interrupts, it was a different kind of instant spell that later became obsolete as the two types were wisely merged when the stack was finally tamed.

Revised was also bolstered with three expansions: Arabian Nights, Antiquities, and Legends. These three sets to this day appear very different from modern Magic sets. All three were stand-alone sets (not blocks) and the cards were often very wordy and confusing. The power scale was still rampant with some of the most remarkably powerful cards ever being in these sets, as were many of the worst cards ever. While expansions had an overall major theme, it was very weak and filtered compared to modern set themes. The planar concept was still very weak as well and Arabian Nights had a remarkable "plane Earth" feel that no other Magic set ever dared creep back to except for pieces of The Dark. Magic also lacked the "style guide" and artists took vast liberties with art, creating fantastic creatures and comical beings. That's why many cards of this era look utterly goofy and some sets have bizarre creatures such as Xira Airen floating around.

Due to extremely powerful cards that were released in sets up to The Dark like The Abyss, Ali from Cairo, Library of Alexandria, and Reset, Magic's designers attempted to reel in the power level. Thus, the first set of the holy trinity of bad was released, "The Dark." (To be joined next by Fallen Empires and later by Homelands.) Magic R&D had become very conservative testing vigorously to make sure no powerful, unintentional interactions between cards came out. Creatures were also ramped back in both the power and toughness department, and upkeep costs were added to anything deemed remotely threatening. This led to very costly yet underpowered cards in an age of watered-down Magic. However, some power still seeped through accidentally.

The most important aspect introduced by The Dark was a true sense of tribal. This most likely came about in thanks to a single tribe in Legends—the Kobold tribe. So many players loved the intricacy of the Kobolds that Magic realized they should bolster their already existing tribes so that linked creatures could become more powerful. At the time there were really only Goblins and Merfolk with their King and Lord both having surfaced, but there was no support, and the tribes were very small. The Dark expanded both tribes’ power somewhat and the modern concept of tribal began to really form.

This brings our very abridged Magic history up to Fallen Empires where we will take a more focused look.

Fallen Empires as a whole was a 187-card set that featured the first strong non-story theme in Magic history. It revolved around the continent of Sarpadia at the onset of the Ice Age. Each color featured a strong race that controlled a large piece of the continent and a second race that acted as a usurping race.

Color	Location	Existing Nation	Usurpers
Black	Western Marshes	The Order of the Ebon Hand	Thrulls
Blue	Sarpadian Sea	Vodalians	Homarids
Green	Havenwood	Elves	Thallids
Red	Crimson Peaks	Dwarves	Orcs & Goblins
White	Icatia	The Order of Leitbur	The Farrelite Cult
		Sarpadia	Tevesh Szat

Conflict on Sarpadia ranged across many races and all colors. The only true allies were the Dwarves and the citizens of Icatia. During this time, the release of the Golgothian Sylex by Urza had affected the climate in such a way that many races began to scatter for food and survival. The Dwarven Empire was the first to fall as their grand halls were overrun by an Orc-Goblin alliance in a chaotic attack. Dwarven survivors were erradicated when the Order of the Ebon reinforcements that were sent to them joined the Orc-Goblin army instead. Soon the Orc-Goblin alliance marched into Icatia's borders as well. Icatia, a soldier state with it's vast armies and the Order of the Leitbur, held out for years before collapsing at the hands of Thrulls, Thallids, Orcs and Goblins.

One reason Icatia fell was due to Oliver Farrel and his cult. His influence and hatred split the Order of the Leitbur into two factions and plunged Icatia into a civil war between the two factions, plaguing the empire with fanaticism and corruption. The Farrelite Cult's primary focus was the eradication of the Order of the Ebon Hand, cursing non-human races and charging their enemies as lieges of Tourach, the Dark One. However, the Order of the Ebon Hand fell long before the Farrelites could truly attack them due to a revolt by their slave pets the Thrulls. Thrulls bred en masse to supply their army, eventually became intelligent and used their numbers and ease of evolution to overcome their masters. The Thrulls later wiped out the Goblins and Orcs and formed a vast empire over the entirety of Sarpadia—one whose might was so strong that they drove back the Phyrexians when they attempted to invade it.

Thrulls weren't the only race to survive on Sarpadia, though; Fungus creatures called Thallids also survived well into the future. Cultured by Elves, they were created with dark magic possibly borrowed from the Ebon Hand. The Thallids were initially created from a resistant fungus to act as a food source when the Elves' crops failed due to the cooling climate. Eventually the Thallids grew sentient and in a single day swarmed Havenwood, almost entirely destroying the Elven Empire. There were still rumors of Elves surviving well into the Ice Age—though in hiding, not as the rulers of Havenwood.

The final empire was that of the Vodalian Merfolk who stretched all across the Voda Sea that guarded Sarpadia's borders. As the climate cooled, Homarids from an arctic continent began to show up in the Voda Sea. Never having problems with the Homarids before, the Merfolk underestimated their capability. The Homarids flourished in the cooling waters and by sheer numbers and resilience drove the Merfolk to flee northward with their Empress taking a time portal into the future to Etlan Shiis.

Perhaps the most distinct being of all of Sarpadia is Tev Loneglade a planeswalker living a hermits life in Havenwood. When the Orcs and Goblins attack the Dwarven kingdom, Tev's sister Tymolin and her husband fight to defend against the countless attacks. Tymolin becomes banished when her husband dies and flees to her brother's home. Together they travel to Montford to warn them of the impending doom that is heading there way by the Orcs and Goblins. Sadly the two get caught up in a conflict between the Order of the Ebon Hand and the Farrelite Cult and Tymolin is slain. Outraged Tev transforms into his more familiar form the infamous Tevesh Szat. He then goes on to lead the Orc and Goblin army straight into Montford deciding all of Sarpadia is weak and should fall.

The Fallen Empires story was told primarily by its powerful flavor text and the distinct tribal lines drawn through each color's distinct feel. Ever since I heard the term “Vorthos,” I thought that there was no treasure greater for them than this set. It featured very story-filled flavor texts, realistically designed cards, and multiple versions of art for many cards. It's this overall attention to theme which helped make Fallen Empires historically important, as many sets afterwards followed suit. It also marked the first truly tribal-based set, appearing years before Onslaught and Lorwyn.

Now for the bad side. The release of Fallen Empires came shortly after Revised sales took off like wildfire. Wizards, realizing the shortage of cards for their first three core sets and four expansions, upped production. They mass produced and marketed the set like never before. You could find them being sold at gas stations, hobby stores, book stores, and numerous places you'd never think of looking for Magic cards. Priced cheaper than other sets, a Fallen Empires booster contained eight cards—one uncommon and seven commons—and the price I always remembered paying was $1.99 or one less chicken sandwich at school for lunch.

However, with so many cards printed the value of the cards quickly plummeted. Worse yet, many complained of the power level compared to their basic Revised cards and the chase cards of yester year. Don't worry though; many cards’ values in Fallen Empires were saved by scammers, because the most important feature of Fallen Empires was a cheaper semi-transparent wrapper. With a little prying you could easily see the name of the last card in the pack and buy up the rarer (U3) and better cards. A little trick I didn't discover until I questioned why I never got a Thallid Devourer or Hand of Justice when I bought packs from my friend. Upon his confession, the resulting pencil stab as witnessed by a hallway of fellow students would forever remind a certain someone why you don't mess with a nut.

So if you've ever wondered why a set as old as Fallen Empires is still very cheap to this day, now you know.

But there is still hope! There is power in Fallen Empires and many unique cards that should be in every player’s collection. Join me as we sift through the top ten gems found underneath the rubble.

Top Ten Cards from Fallen Empires
As voted by seven random Fallen Empires-era players

A tie! Who would have guessed it? Our two lands tied at the very bottom of our top 10. With a store and sacrifice land for each color, these were the first truly successful non-basic non-dual lands to be created. The concepts of sacrifice and storage still show up in sets to this day, showing just how lasting their legacy truly is. Both allow for a player to diversify their lands beyond basics which becomes important with hose cards seeing frequent sideboard usage.

Many players question why the Javelineers are so good and don't quite understand it—it can ping once and then it's just a vanilla 1/1? Well wake up Charlie; remember Mogg Fanatic is considered by many to be the best one-drop ever created. What's the difference between your Fanatic and the Javelineer? The Javelin pings for a tap and the 1/1 survives, while the Mogg can feasibly take out a 2/2 or implode itself for one damage. The Mogg Fanatic is far more aggressive, but the Javelineers have their place as a great one-drop White creature and one of the few in the game that does any form of direct damage.

One of the original Johnny cards, Thelonite Druid was a much more interesting alternative to Living Lands, allowing you to cultivate your Thallids into massive Forest strikes. With 2/3 bodies it gave Green a quick answer back in the day to the White and Black Knights matching the furry goodness of Kird Ape. This card alone probably finished more kitchen table games with a massive alpha strike than anything else back during that era. Thelonite still has massive potential today providing a reusable version of Natural Affinity.

The original Stitch Together, Soul Exchange for two Black mana allowed you to swap a creature in play for one in the ‘yard. This sounds like a crappy thing today, but back in the day you had two choices, really: Soul Exchange or Animate Dead. Many mono-Black players who were playing full sets of Mindstab Thrulls and Necrites would have plenty of sacrificial lambs to exchange for cards such as Ebon Praetor and Nightmare. Its impact today is less though with numerous better options present and Thrulls being really non-viable.

Wait, what? Order of Leitbur—where's Order of the Ebon Hand? They’re the same, right? Why aren't they together? While White Weenie was a popular format back in the day and has continued to be revitalized time and time again, Order of Leitbur never made the same impact as Ebon Hand, who became the dark champion of Necropotence. Order of Leitbur in book though is still a highly viable two-drop whose inflate-a-knight ability helps scale his power up when other two-drops are nothing but fodder late game.

Again, a card many may question, however back in the day and even to this day the cheap power of the Aeolipile is very impressive. It comes out easily on the second turn and easily trades with a 2/2 creature on the third. This killed Hypnotic Specters, White and Black Knights, and the Orders that were running rampant at the time and many still nowadays. For many decks such as Necropotence and White Weenie, the Aeolipile was the only way to remove the protection walls that stood in front of their early creature drops.

Originally this was not a very good card. Some people used it to pump up Power Sinks or try to bring out some big nastiness, but it really never had a major impact. That is until Urza's Legacy came out and Palinchron took flight. All of a sudden, with a mere two cards, Blue went infinite mana enabling insane combos and causing numerous decks to be utterly removed from the game. To this day, if I see a High Tide in a deck, I cringe; because I know what is eventually coming will not be good.

Finally, a whole three cards after his cousin Leitbur, the Order of the Ebon Hand decides to show up. It's amazing those two cards which are exactly the same except for a difference in color would be judged so amazingly different. Maybe people really favor Black, or maybe it's because Order of the Ebon Hand has killed so many, many, many people. Heck he'd probably be slaying mages to this day if Nantuko Shade hadn't finally dethroned him as the king of Black pumpables. Regardless, Order of the Ebon Hand for many will hold a place in their hearts, whether it be pure hatred at its very sight or a loving embrace.

Now for the first truly insane power of Fallen Empires. While the other cards we talked about had "power," this one has "tha powah!!!" Five damage for only one mana!?! Sure it'll cost you a creature, and it's a specific tribe at that. Yet the power level is insane, because Goblins are already fast, they already create massive fodder, and often getting a player into the dreaded Grenade-range is only a matter of four or five turns—if that. So, the real question remains: What could possibly be more powerful than the Goblin Grenade?

Without a doubt, the absolute best—king to this very day—discard card. Two cards, two mana, no holds barred, pure random chance at what gets chucked. I remember loving it back in the day when I picked my card at random and I felt that tug on their hand not wanting to give it up. It was simple body language like that that really made you feel like you got the best possible card. If it wasn’t the resistance to give up the card, it was the "I hate you" stare or the subtle reach into the pocket for their knife. There is no card to this day in Magic for which I can recall more hatred being sent my way than that. And that's no Jitte.

Now that our history lesson is over and you've gotten a brief overview of the set, we're ready to begin our look into the Empire. So I'll see you tomorrow as we read the first chapter about the art of Fallen Empires.

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