Nemesis
Nemesis is the nineteenth Magic expansion and was released in February 2000 as the second set and first small expansion in the Masques block.
Set details
Nemesis featured 143 cards (55 commons, 44 uncommons and 44 rares). Nemesis's expansion symbol is the axe of Crovax, the main antagonist of the story’s Rath component. The set continued Mercadian Masques's themes of spellshapers, rebels and mercenaries, and cards with alternative casting costs. Nemesis is generally considered to be the most powerful set of the Masques block. A card of note is Ascendant Evincar. It was the first card to represent the same legendary permanent as a previous card following a major change in the character's storyline. The card was not named "Crovax, Ascendant Evincar", to avoid confusion over whether the "legend rule" came into effect when the Evincar and Crovax The Cursed were both in play. This policy was later dropped with the printing of Ertai, the Corrupted in Planeshift. The set featured Rootwater Thief, Mike Long's invitational card. Nemesis was the final booster set to feature premium foil cards with the original, larger version of the foil shooting star, with a new smaller design debuting on several promos including Rhox from Starter 2000, and in boosters with the release of Prophecy four months later.
Marketing
The cards were sold in 15-card boosters which had artwork from Sliptide Serpent, in four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. Nemesis prerelease events were held on February 5, 2000. At these events the prerelease card, a foil Rathi Assassin, was handed out. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name.
Storyline
The Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria is nearing; the Dark Lord's plans are almost complete. Only the Planeswalker Urza stands in his way. Rath's Evincar Volrath has abandoned his post, sparking a brutal contest among his would-be successors. Phyrexia has chosen Crovax to take Volrath's place, bestowing terrible new powers on the bloodthirsty noble. Crovax must still prove his worth, however, before he can claim the position. Meanwhile, Rath's rebels have united in the name of Eladamri, Lord of Leaves, to break free of Phyrexia's tyranny once and for all.
Storyline sources
Notable cards
- Tangle Wire is a lock piece capable of stifling mana, making it powerful when accelerated. It was once a popular Cube piece.
- Saproling Burst was popular with Fires of Yavimaya, putting 12 hasted power on the board over three or four bodies.
- Parallax Wave was a powerful white aggro tool, being point removal sometimes and board protection other times.
- Blinding Angel was an occasional control finisher, as an aggro deck that couldn't interact would have no more attack steps.
- Some of the color hate cards were extremely punishing as they cost no mana, such as Massacre and Submerge.
- Blastoderm, a creature on rate with Juzam Djinn, was one of the few playable expensive creatures in the era owing to Shroud. It was later remade as Calciderm.
- Accumulated Knowledge used to be the control card advantage of choice, making control mirrors a very complicated experience as it counts both graveyards. Future designs limited the effect to the owner's graveyard.
Banned and restricted cards
- Daze is a free counterspell that can only be cast after the first turn and with a fast expiry date. As Legacy accelerated, paying 1 became more of a tax and became a powerful tempo piece, especially with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. It was banned in Pauper in 2019 for its performance in Delver Tempo, around the time more free spells entered the format.
- Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero is one of the pinnacle Rebel payoffs, letting a player pass with counter mana and a guaranteed play. It was banned in Masques Block Constructed.
Keywords and mechanics
Nemesis introduced the only keyword mechanic of the Masques block, Fading. This keyword ability limits the number of turns a permanent can be on the battlefield for. During each permanent with fading's controller's upkeeps, that player must remove one fade counter from that permanent. If they can't, they must sacrifice it.
Because the cards with the ability only remained in play for a few turns, they were typically heavily discounted as a result. Many cards with fading also had activated abilities that traded the card's fade counters for various effects. Since fading is a "quick and dirty" form of summoning creatures, the creatures had to be shown as unstable in the art.
Creature types
No new creature types were introduced in this expansion.
Cycles
Nemesis has nine cycles and 6 vertical cycles:
Vertical cycles
Mega-mega cycles
Pairs
Nemesis has three matching pairs and two mirrored pairs:
Matching pairs
Mirrored pairs
Functional reprints
Nemesis has one functional reprint:
- Spineless Thug is a functional reprint of Craven Knight from Portal and Young Wei Recruits from Portal Three Kingdoms, save for creature type.
Theme decks
The pre-constructed theme decks are: