Fallen Empires was the ninth Magic: The Gathering set and the fifth expansion set, released in November, 1994. It had 102 functionally different cards, however, if different illustrations are counted, it had 187 cards. It sold in packs of 8, each containing seven common cards and one uncommon card. The set contained no rare cards; however, some uncommons appear three times on the uncommon sheet ('U3') and others appear once. The latter are sometimes called rare. The expansion symbol for the set seemed to be a sort of crown, possibly of the contesting ruler of Sarpadia.Storyline
Fallen Empires takes place on the continent of Sarpadia after the Brother's War in Antiquities. Each of the major cultures on Sarpadia are dealing with internal struggles brought upon by the cooling weather. The dwarves fight off orcs and goblins. The Vodalian merfolk deal with the homarid menace. The elves of the forest struggle under the fungus-like thallids. The proud soldiers of Icatia face opposition from religious zealots. And the dark Order of the Ebon Hand deal with a revolt by thrulls, who are tired of being used for sacrifices.Set History
Because previous sets were underprinted, more Fallen Empires cards were printed than any previous set. As a result, booster packs of Fallen Empires have been available for a long time after going out of print in 1995, and cost much less than even sets still in print. The set is sometimes criticized for being overprinted.Mechanics
Fallen Empires introduced a tribal theme that would later be reintroduced in Onslaught. Each color had two main creature types, as well as cards that benefit from controlling creatures of those types. Another theme introduced was color wars; specifically, each color making war on itself, with two major tribes for each color. Notable Cards
- ' - A source of cheap colorless direct damage, Aeolipile was considered one of the most powerful cards in the set as it could destroy any creature with toughness 2 or less.
- ' - A powerful Black discard spell that could be played on turn two, multiple Hymns could shut down most decks early in the game. This card proved so strong (and unpopular) in tournaments that a large number of players signed a petition to ban it. After more than a year, the DCI gave in and did so. Since then, however, the card has been removed from the banned list for Vintage (Type I) tournaments. The card is especially strong when used in tandem with Dark Ritual and Hypnotic Spectre. A dark ritualed first turn Hypnotic Spectre was devastating enough, but Hymn provided the necessary redundancy to make the disruption strategy more consistent and potent. Another problem with Hymn was that it can "take out" land cards in a player's hand, creating and/or exacerbating problems with mana availability.
- / - Known as the "Pump Knights" (even though these versions are clerics) because they could "pump" their power higher, these creatures were staples in white and black decks, respectively.
- - Although not regarded highly when the set was released, this blue mana-production card was the key in an Extended-format deck that revolved around the "free" spells in the Urza's Saga block years later.
- , , , and - the first set of storage lands that allow mana to be saved for later turns
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