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Morningtide
 
 
For other uses, see Morningtide (disambiguation).

Morningtide
MOR logo
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description A rising sun
Design Paul Sottosanti (lead),
Aaron Forsythe,
Erik Lauer,
Mark Rosewater,
Kenneth Nagle
Development Mike Turian (lead)
Erik Lauer
Henry Stern
Noah Weil
With contributions by:[1]
Alexis Janson
Bill Rose
Jake Theis
Art direction Jeremy Jarvis
Release date February 1, 2008
Plane Lorwyn
Themes and mechanics Tribal (class)
Keywords/​ability words Clash, Kinship, Prowl, Reinforce
Set size 150 cards
(60 commons, 40 uncommons, 50 rares)
Expansion code MOR[2]
Development codename Butter[3]
Lorwyn block
Lorwyn Morningtide N/A
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Duel Decks: Elves vs. Goblins Morningtide Shadowmoor

Morningtide is the second set in the Lorwyn block. It is the 44th Magic expansion and was released on February 1, 2008.[4][5]

Set details[ | ]

Morningtide contains 150 cards (50 rare, 40 uncommon, and 60 commons). The theme of this expansion is tribal (now called typal by R&D), based on creature class rather than race.[6][7][8] Its expansion symbol is a depiction of a sun rising in the morning, or a flame. Morningtide is the second and final set of Lorwyn block. The following set, Shadowmoor, would not be part of the Lorwyn block, as originally announced, but the first set of a new block, codenamed "Jelly" and "Doughnut". However, these two blocks would rotate into and out of official tournament formats as though they were a single block.[9] Morningtide introduced Tribal Equipment, Prowl, Reinforce, and Kinship. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name, written by Cory J. Herndon and Scott McGough.

Flavor and Storyline[ | ]

The set continues the "celtic fairytale" setting of Lorwyn.[10][11][12] Rhys, once a prominent hunter among the elves, has two big problems. He's being blamed for a cataclysmic event that killed many of his fellows. Even worse, his horns are broken, which makes him ugly. This makes him doubly damned in the eyes of his society. Knowing his skill and reputation, they are pulling out all the stops to bring him to their vicious brand of justice. As if he didn't have enough to worry about with his skin, he has to deal with the Aurora.

Marketing[ | ]

Morningtide was sold in 16-card booster packs, four preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack.[13] The decks and the fat pack contained a Pro Tour Player Card. The booster packs featured artwork from Sigil Tracer, Pyroclast Consul and Earthbrawn. The prerelease tournaments for this set were held on January 19–20, 2008.[14] The promotional prerelease card for Morningtide was Door of Destinies with alternate art, a card that helps emphasize creature types, the theme of Morningtide.[15] The promotional release card was Earwig Squad which shows the Prowl mechanic.[16][17] The launch party was held on February 1–3, 2008.

Like Lorwyn boosters before them, boosters of Morningtide come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a rules card or a creature token from Lorwyn or Morningtide. One face of the Morningtide bonus card has one of five different rules tips or is one of fourteen different creature tokens, meaning either one of the eleven tokens printed in Lorwyn or one of the three printed in Morningtide. The other face has one of six advertisements for organized play programs, magicthegathering.com, and Shadowmoor.

Tips & Tricks[ | ]

The tips & tricks cards are:[18]

  1. Rules Tip: Creature Types
  2. Rules Tip: Kinship
  3. Rules Tip: Prowl
  4. Rules Tip: Clash
  5. Rules Tip: Equipment

Tokens[ | ]

The Morningtide tokens are:[18]

  1. {B} 1/1 Faerie Rogue creature with flying, produced by Bitterblossom, Notorious Throng and Violet Pall.
  2. {W} 5/5 Giant Warrior creature, produced by Feudkiller's Verdict.
  3. {G} 2/5 Treefolk Shaman creature, produced by Reach of Branches.
Door of Destinies promo

Promotional, foil Door of Destinies card.

Door of Destinies regular

Regular Door of Destinies card.

Themes[ | ]

Morningtide expands upon Lorwyn's flavor and theme by shifting the tribal focus away from the eight races of Lorwyn (kithkin, merfolk, faeries, elementals (flamekin and greater), goblins, giants, treefolk, and elves) to the five classes of Morningtide (soldiers, shamans, wizards, warriors, and rogues).[19][20]

Clash spells[ | ]

Morningtide has several spells with clash that you return to your hand if you win the clash.

Counter boosters[ | ]

A few Morningtide cards have abilities that say that certain other creatures you control come into play with additional +1/+1 counters on them.

Choose a creature type[ | ]

Several Morningtide cards tell you to choose a creature type, then base their effect on how many permanents of the chosen type you control.

Mechanics[ | ]

The new mechanics introduced in Morningtide are Prowl, Kinship, and Reinforce. Prowl and Kinship are class-specific keywords for Rogues and Shamans, respectively, and Reinforce appears on multiple non-class-related cards.

  • Prowl is an alternate cost to play a spell, which may be used if you have dealt combat damage with a creature that shares a creature type with the card that has Prowl. For example, Latchkey Faerie costs {3}{U} normally, but if you have dealt combat damage with a Faerie or a Rogue this turn, you may play it for its Prowl cost, {2}{U}. Additionally, some cards with Prowl have abilities that only occur if they have been played for their Prowl cost.
  • Kinship is an ability word that means, "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with ~, you may reveal it. If you do, [effect]."
  • Reinforce is an activated ability which reads, "Reinforce N—[mana]". You may pay a card's Reinforce cost and discard it from your hand whenever you can play an instant. If you do, put N +1/+1 counters on the target creature. Reinforce works well with the tribal counter creatures from Morningtide, allowing creatures that do not have the required class to receive +1/+1 counters and trigger these creatures' effects.

Cycles[ | ]

Morningtide has eleven cycles:[21]

Cycle name Rogues Wizards Warriors Shamans Soldiers
Tribal equipment Cloak and Dagger Diviner's Wand Obsidian Battle-Axe Thornbite Staff Veteran's Armaments
Each of these uncommon equipment artifacts supports one of the five races of Morningtide and when an appropriate creature of that race comes into play, you may attach the equipment without paying its equip cost.
Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Bannerets Ballyrush Banneret
(kithkin and soldiers)
Stonybrook Banneret
(merfolk and wizards)
Frogtosser Banneret
(goblins and rogues)
Brighthearth Banneret
(elementals and warriors)
Bosk Banneret
(treefolk and shamans)
Each of these common creatures has a converted mana cost of {1}M and reduces the casting cost of two creature types.
Chosen creature type Coordinated Barrage Distant Melody Pack's Disdain Roar of the Crowd Luminescent Rain
Each of these common spells does something based on the number of creatures of the chosen creature type.
Common changelings Changeling Sentinel Mothdust Changeling Moonglove Changeling War-Spike Changeling Game-Trail Changeling
Each of these common creatures has the shapeshifter creature type and the changeling ability.
Common elementals Shinewend Floodchaser Festercreep Stingmoggie Fertilid
Each of these common Elemental creatures comes into play with +1/+1 counters on them. As part of an activated ability, the +1/+1 counters can be removed.
Common creatures with kinship Kithkin Zephyrnaut Ink Dissolver Squeaking Pie Grubfellows Mudbutton Clanger Winnower Patrol
Each of these common creatures has the kinship ability.
Lesser tribal lords Battletide Alchemist
(clerics)
Kinsbaile Cavalier
(knights)
Scarblade Elite
(assassins)
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
(druids)
Greatbow Doyen
(archers)
Each of these rare creatures grants a bonus to or otherwise interacts with creatures of a specific class subtype, all of which are otherwise not strongly supported by the set.
Clashback spells Redeem the Lost Research the Deep Revive the Fallen Release the Ants Recross the Paths
Each of these uncommon spells comes back to your hand if you win the clash.[22]
Tribal counter lords Cenn's Tactician
(soldiers)
Sage of Fables
(wizards)
Oona's Blackguard
(rogues)
Rage Forger
(shamans)
Bramblewood Paragon
(warriors)
Each of these uncommon creatures, one for each color, uses +1/+1 counters in a way that benefits creatures of its type.
Uncommon Elementals with evoke Meadowboon Nevermaker Offalsnout Spitebellows Walker of the Grove
Each of these uncommon Elemental creatures has the evoke ability.
Uncommon creatures with kinship Wandering Graybeard Waterspout Weavers Nightshade Schemers Pyroclast Consul Wolf-Skull Shaman
Each of these uncommon creatures has the kinship ability.

Pairs[ | ]

Morningtide has one mirrored pair.

Mirrored Pairs Description
Mind Shatter
({B})
Mind Spring
({U})
XMM cost and result in drawing or force discarding X cards. They are also callbacks to Revised's Mind Twist and Braingeyser.

Reprinted cards[ | ]

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Morningtide:

Functional reprints[ | ]

Morningtide has one functional reprint:

Notable cards[ | ]

  • Bitterblossom was one of the main reasons Faeries dominated Standard, Block Constructed, and some points of Extended, to the point that it was on the earliest Modern banlist; it was unbanned to nearly no impact in February 2014.
  • Mutavault is praised as the best manland since Mishra's Factory,[23] and still holds up in Pioneer.
  • Reveillark became the backbone of the Standard "Boat Brew" deck, as well as having a potent combo deck with Mirror Entity and Body Double from Time Spiral/Lorwyn Standard. Its interaction with the 0-power clones makes it part of many loops.
  • Boldwyr Heavyweights uniquely and specifically gives the opponent the ability to tutor a nonland card, namely a creature. Other similar effects either are symmetrical or targeted.
  • Negate's simplicity of design, strangely, is only strictly better than two spells, and has been a yearly-reprinted, high-impact sideboard card for fifteen years.
  • Disperse returns a nonland permanent to its owner hand for {1}{U}. In contrast to the above, due to most bounce spells including lands, it is strictly better than no spells and would later become obsolete with many future cards.
  • Recross the Paths is used in "Oops, All Spells" decks (i.e. Goblin Charbelcher or Balustrade Spy decks) to rearrange one's entire library. Such exploits were part of the reason putting seen cards on the bottom of the library are now random.
  • Vendilion Clique is one of the most iconic control creatures in Magic's history, as it combines an aggressive clock, flash speed, and the ability to disrupt the opponent's hand
  • Scapeshift is a crucial part of the eponymous Modern deck that can tutor out combinations of lands to instantly win the game
  • Idyllic Tutor is the only card in the game to tutor any enchantment directly to hand
  • Murmuring Bosk is the only land in the game to have a basic land type while also having an explicitly written ability to produce other colors of mana.
  • Heritage Druid's ability to produce mana from creatures with summoning sickness has made it an important piece of both Modern and Legacy Elves decks.

Preconstructed decks[ | ]

Morningtide features four class tribal theme decks.[24]

Theme
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Battalion W U
Going Rogue U B
Warrior's Code R G
Shamanism W B G

References[ | ]

  1. Devin Low (January 25, 2008). "What I Learned on my Wacky Draft Vacation (Part 1)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Tom LaPille (November 6, 2009). "Know Your Allies". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Mark Rosewater (May 2, 2005). "Today and Tomorrow". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. March 29, 2007. "Announcing Morningtide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Magic Arcana (August 27, 2007). "Morningtide Logo and Expansion Symbol". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Mark Rosewater (January 07, 2008). "Class Is in Session". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Magic Arcana (January 07, 2008). "Morningtide Posters 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Magic Arcana (January 08, 2008). "Morningtide Posters 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Mark Rosewater (July 16, 2007). "Two Plus Two". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Rei Nakazawa (January 07, 2008). "In the Early Morningtide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Elye Alexander (January 28, 2008). "Fit To Be 'Tide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Doug Beyer (January 23, 2008). "Interplanar Voyeurism: The Art of Morningtide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Magic Arcana (January 31, 2008). "Morningtide Fat Pack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Noah Weil (January 14, 2008). "Morningtide Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Magic Arcana (January 17, 2008). "Morningtide Prerelease Card". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Magic Arcana (January 30, 2008). "Morningtide Launch Parties". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Magic Arcana (February 26, 2008). "Behind the Card: Earwig Squad". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. a b Magic Arcana (January 24, 2008). "Morningtide Tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. Ken Nagle (February 04, 2008). "My First Ever Design Article". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. Devin Low (January 18, 2008). "Stealing the Edge". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. Mark Rosewater (January 07, 2008). "But Wait, There's More". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. Magic Arcana (February 07, 2008). "Morningtide's Re-Cycle". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. Devin Low (January 11, 2008). "Spoils of the Vault". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. Magic Arcana (January 22, 2008). "Morningtide Theme Decks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links[ | ]

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