Betrayers of Kamigawa
Betrayers of Kamigawa is the thirty-fourth Magic expansion, released in February 2005 as the second set and first small expansion in the Kamigawa block. The prerelease was on January 22, 2005.
Set details
Betrayers of Kamigawa contains 165 black-bordered cards (55 commons, 55 uncommons, 55 rares). Its expansion symbol is a "shuriken" or "shaken" to evoke the set's ninja theme. A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing. Shuriken is the name given to any small-bladed object, while shaken is traditionally used to indicate the "throwing star". The set introduced the Ninjutsu and Offering keywords.
Marketing
Betrayers of Kamigawa was sold in 15-card boosters, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The booster packs featured artwork from Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo, Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni and Isao, Enlightened Bushi. The prerelease card was a foil alternate art Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni. The release card was Budoka Pupil. The set was accompanied by a novel by Scott McGough.
Storyline
Now in the employ of Princess Michiko and beholden to the Myojin of Night's Reach, Toshi Umezawa tries to honor his commitments while pursuing his ends. But as the Kami War threatens to engulf Kamigawa, an unimaginably powerful spirit beast threatens the world. And at the heart of the battle moves the figure of the Daimyo, whose impassive features conceal a sinister crime that gnaws at the world's heart.
MagicStory
Token
A special 3/3 Spirit token with flying for Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens appeared in Magic Online.
Mechanics
- Ninjutsu allows a player to put a Ninja creature card from their hand into play tapped and attacking by paying a cost and returning an attacking, unblocked creature they control to its owner's hand.
- Offering allows the player to partially pay for a spell by sacrificing a creature of a certain creature type, and lets the spell be played as an instant. This ability is used on five Spirit creatures, the patron spirits of five non-human species in Kamigawa.
Cycles
Betrayers of Kamigawa has eight cycles and a vertical cycle.
Vertical cycle
Notable cards
- Tendo Ice Bridge is a simple design that cleanly gives multiple colored mana Turn 1 without significant drawbacks for later turns.
- Shining Shoal
- Threads of Disloyalty was a popular way to fight Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant, and in general most creature decks in early Modern and Extended.
- Hokori, Dust Drinker was Winter Orb for a new age and proved just as powerful.
- Goryo's Vengeance is a restricted Shallow Earth variant that worked with the Legendary theme of the block. It was elevated to competitive playability with the printings of powerful Legends such as Griselbrand and later Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Relatedly, Nourishing Shoal was often a part of the Griselbrand decks as gaining 15 from Autochthon Wurm represented 14 cards.
- Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is a Ninja that can reanimate creatures as a sabotage trigger.
- Ninja of the Deep Hours is an Ophidian descendant which continues to power blue Pauper decks and had a short stint in Legacy when Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow was printed.
- Flames of the Blood Hand proved a powerful closer for aggressive decks in the standard format.
- Shuko's 0-mana equip made it ripe for combo applications, starting with the Extended Cephalid Breakfast deck up to Nadu, Winged Wisdom decades later.
Banned and restricted cards
- Umezawa's Jitte is arguably the most powerful card that has ever been included in a preconstructed deck (Rats' Nest theme deck). Its modal, mana-less ability dominates any creature matchup by making combat impossible, resulting in polarization away from conventional creature decks. It began banned in Modern's inception and remains so.
- Blazing Shoal seems like a poor combat trick and ineffectual as a Hatred effect even with the discount, given the risk of running such high-cost cards that don't even kill a player from 20. However, combining it with Infect made a one-shot kill much more reasonable as it only required a single 9- or 10-mana card. It was hence banned in Modern since September 2011 after a powerful showing at Pro Tour Return to Ravnica, the format's first Pro Tour.
Theme decks
The preconstructed theme decks are:
Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets.
- The "Lobotomy cycle" (Scour, Quash, Eradicate, Sowing Salt and Splinter) — were last seen in Urza's Destiny. Per Mark Rosewater, "They were chosen for repeats as their ability to remove threats from the game seemed like a good answer to several issues in Standard at the time (Eternal Witness, Goblin Charbelcher, Cloudpost, etc.)."
- Phantom Wings — was last seen in Weatherlight.
Functional reprints
Betrayers of Kamigawa has 2 functional reprints:
- Gnarled Mass is a functional reprint of Trained Armodon from 8th Edition, save for creature type.
- Goblin Cohort is a functional reprint of Mogg Conscripts from Tempest, save for creature type.