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Mirrodin Besieged
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics Infect,
Proliferate,
Imprint,
Metalcraft
Keywords/​ability words Battle cry,
Living weapon,
Metalcraft,
Imprint,
Infect,
Proliferate
Set size 155
(10 basic lands, 60 commons, 40 uncommons, 35 rares, 10 mythic rares)
Expansion code MBS[2]
Development codename Camera [3]

Mirrodin Besieged is the second set in the Scars of Mirrodin block. It is the 54th Magic expansion and was released on February 4, 2011. [4]

Set details

MBS watermarks

Watermarks

Mirrodin Besieged contains 155 cards (60 Common, 40 Uncommon, 35 Rare, 10 Mythic, 10 Basic Lands), including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set. The 10 basic lands, unusual for a small set, were a added for flavor reasons. WotC asked the same artists who created the four-land panoramas for Scars of Mirridon to extend these by two additional pieces to show how Mirrodin's lands have changed as Phyrexia's influence has spread. [5] The expansion symbol of the set is an overlap of the Mirran and Phyrexian symbols. Nearly every card in the set has a symbol of its allegiance in its text box. [6] The set features several cards that are Phyrexian versions of previous cards. [7]

Like all Mirrodin sets, Mirrodin Besieged contains many artifacts. [8] The set continues the story of Scars of Mirrodin as the Phyrexian Invasion lays waste to the Mirran countryside and its people. The set itself is split strongly between the two camps. [9] For example, the prerelease and release parties featured a special type of booster that contained only cards from one faction or the other, requiring the players to choose between them for their deck-building. Intro packs were also separated between the factions.

Further, although in Scars of Mirrodin the Phyrexian faction was limited to the colors blue, black and green, the faction also has red and white cards in this set. The number of cards per faction is evenly distributed, with 72 cards each.

Mirrodin Besieged slowed the limited format down. [10] The expansion also made a change to the draft format. In all previous draft formats the group of players started with the first set in a block, but starting with Mirrodin Besieged, the first pack to be opened is of the most recently released set. [11] The number of packs does not change however, so the the draft format for Mirrodin Besieged was one booster of Mirrodin Besieged followed by two packs of Scars of Mirrodin.

Flavor

“  A world divided  ”

The Phyrexian assault on the metallic plane of Mirrodin intensifies. [12] The Mirran resistance rallies to survive and overcome. Both sides bring the full might of their arsenals to bear. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] The silver golem Karn has retreated to Mirrodin's Core, being worshipped as the new Father of Machines. When Phyrexia grows upon Mirrodin, Karn is trapped in his own mind, battling between himself and the role the Phyrexians are trying to force upon him. [19]

Marketing

Factionpacks

Mirrodin Besieged faction packs

Mirrodin Besieged was sold in 16-card boosters, 6-card boosters, four intro packs [20] and a fat pack. The fat pack's content was changed removing the brief introduction of the expansion's respective novel. The amount of boosters increased from 8 to 9 and the land pack contained 80 lands, 40 from Scars of Mirrodin and 40 from Mirrodin Besieged. Two deck boxes were added. The 16-card boosters featured artwork from Mirran Crusader, Phyrexian Crusader and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. [21] The small booster featured artwork from [...?].

The set also introduced a new sort of theme deck called an event deck. [22] [23] These decks feature a 60 card main deck and 15 card sideboard, including 7 rares but no mythic rares. Mirrodin Besieged features two event decks: a Mono-red event deck for the Mirran side of the conflict, and a blue-black deck for the Phyrexians. These decks were released three weeks after the release of the set.

The prerelease was January 29–30, 2011, the launch party on February 4-7, 2011, the Magic Online release on February 21, 2011. [24] [25][26]. The Game Day was held on March 5–6, 2011. Starting with Mirrodin Besieged prereleases featured gimmicks. This one was to "Pick a Side" and introduced "prerelease packs"', which are are boosters that are especially composed and packaged for prerelease events. In Mirrodin Besieged they were called "faction packs". Cards with Mirran watermarks appeared only in Mirran boosters, and cards with Phyrexian watermarks appeared only in Phyrexian boosters. There was also one basic land in each booster. Foil cards would show up at about the same frequency as they did in regular boosters and didn't follow the rules about what booster they could show up in (both Mirran and Phyrexian foils could show up in either booster). [27]

Two cards were previewed at the Scars of Mirrodin Game Day and given away as prizes: Peace Strider and Pierce Strider. [28] Mirran Crusader and Phyrexian Crusader were previewed at Worlds 2010. [29] Two prerelease cards were available at the Prerelease tournaments: Glissa, the Traitor for the Phyrexian faction, and Hero of Bladehold for the Mirran faction. The Release card was Thopter Assembly [30]. The promotional card at the Game Day event was a full-art Treasure Mage, while a full-art foil Black Sun's Zenith was given to the top-8 participants. The Buy-a-Box was Mirran Crusader. [31]

Regular boosters of Mirrodin Besieged come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card", a creature token from Mirrodin Besieged, or a poison counter. These bonus cards display on their reverse side one of 14 advertisements for organized play programs, other Magic products such as fat packs and intro packs, the Magic books library, Magic Online, UltraPro products, or various Wizards-run, Magic-related websites (such as community.wizards.com).

Tips & Tricks

The tips & tricks cards are

Tokens

The Mirrodin Besieged tokens in numerical order are:[32]

  1. {B} 0/0 Germ brought into play with any Equipment that is also a Living Weapon.
  2. {B} 2/2 Zombie produced by Nested Ghoul.
  3. {C} 9/9 Golem Artifact produced by Titan Forge.
  4. {C} */* Horror Artifact produced by Phyrexian Rebirth.
  5. {C} 1/1 Thopter Artifact with flying produced by Thopter Assembly.

Themes and mechanics

Mirrodin Besieged has a theme of Mirrored Pairs, with cards from the Phyrexian and Mirran factions mirroring each other. Such a mirror is showcased with cards such as Peace Strider and Pierce Strider or Mirran Crusader and Phyrexian Crusader. There are also cards that mimic cards from the previous Mirrodin block, but with Phyrexian influence, e.g. Viridian Corrupter mimics Viridian Shaman, Blightsteel Colossus mimics Darksteel Colossus and Inkmoth Nexus mimics Blinkmoth Nexus, thus representing Phyrexia spreading its influence over the plane and co-opting its inhabitants.

The mechanics Metalcraft, Imprint, Proliferate and Infect return from the previous set. [33] Two new keyword mechanics are featured, one for each faction. [34] The Mirran keyword is Battle Cry, which gives every other creature that attacks when the creature with Battle Cry attacks a +1/+0 bonus. [35] [36] The Phyrexian mechanic is Living Weapon, a new keyword for Equipment. All equipment with Living Weapon give a power/toughness bonus, but upon entering play they put a 0/0 black Germ creature token into play and attaches the equipment to it. [37] [38]

A new rules term is "poisoned". A player is poisoned if they have any poison counters.

Cycles

Mirrodin Besieged has 3 cycles:

  • Zeniths: A cycle of rare spells with X in their costs named for the colored suns of Mirrodin. They shuffle themselves back into the library after being used and thus strongly resemble the cycle of Beacons from Fifth Dawn. The cycle spans both factions. The art of each card features the corresponding artifact land from Mirrodin. — White Sun's Zenith, Blue Sun's Zenith, Black Sun's Zenith, Red Sun's Zenith and Green Sun's Zenith. [39]
  • Color-aligned Artifact creatures: Like Scars of Mirrodin before it, Mirrodin Besieged contains a cycle of common artifact creatures with an activated ability including a colored cost. The activation cost varies, unlike the previous cycle. — Bladed Sentinel, Gust-Skimmer, Dross Ripper, Spin Engine, and Tangle Hulk.
  • The set also contains a set of Basic lands, two of each color, which is uncharacteristic for a small set in a block. Their purpose lays in flavor, showing the growing Phyrexian corruption of the Mirran landscape.

Pairs

Mirrodin Besieged has 4 mirrored pairs:

Reprinted cards

Functional reprint

Notable cards

  • Green Sun's Zenith - A popular tutor for creatures, was banned in Modern due to being too versatile. The card could function as an early mana-ramp spell by searching out Dryad Arbor, would relatively cheaply tutor for almost any creature if the deck was configured correctly, and finally finish the opponent off by searching out a large, game-ending creature. It was joked that Green Sun's Zenith was every card in the deck, four times.
  • Consecrated Sphinx - A large flying creature which promised even larger card-advantage. 6 points of toughness also meant that the card was immune to Dismember which was printed in the next set.
  • Go for the Throat - An inversion of Doom Blade with respect to Terror, which saw widespread application in Standard due to the large range of targets it could hit.
  • Phyrexian Revoker - A reprint of Pithing Needle with a relatively efficient body. However, being a creature proved to be a liability for this card as it was easier to get rid off for the opponent.
  • Inkmoth Nexus - The backbone of almost every Poison based strategy since its printing. It's a threatening creature which can be deadly quickly if pumped in power. It also dodges a large amount of removal due to being a land during the opponents turn and can attack as early as turn 2.

Preconstructed decks

Intro packs

Mirrodin Besieged has four bicolored intro packs.[40]

Intro pack name Colors Included Foil rare
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Path of Blight W G Phyrexian Hydra
Doom Inevitable U B Psychosis Crawler
Mirromancy U R Galvanoth
Battle Cries W R Victory's Herald

Event decks

Event decks were introduced in Mirrodin Besieged; Mirrodin Besieged has two event decks.[41]

Event
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Infect and Defile U B
Into the Breach R

References

  1. http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/mirrodin-besieged-card-set-archive-products-game-info
  2. [1]
  3. Mark Rosewater (December 3, 2012). "The Six-Year Plan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Monty Ashley (August 3, 2010). "Announcing Mirrodin Besieged". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Doug Beyer (March 16, 2011). "Six Secrets Behind the Sets". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Mark Rosewater (January 17, 2011). "Under Besiege, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Mark Rosewater (January 24, 2011). "Under Besiege, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Tom LaPille (January 21, 2011). "Development Under Siege". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Zac Hill (February 07, 2011). "Developing a Battle Plan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Tom LaPille (February 4, 2011). "A Better, Creepier World". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Wizards of the Coast (October 19, 2010). "Pack Order in Booster Drafts to Change". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Doug Beyer (January 17, 2011). "WAR!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Monty Ashley (December 14, 2010). "Mirrodin Besiegd Art Gallery". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Doug Beyer (January 26, 2011). "Phyrexia: The Strong and the Scattered". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Doug Beyer (February 9, 2011). "Public Displays of Aggression". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Doug Beyer (February 23, 2011). "Why the Mirrans Will Endure". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Doug Beyer (March 2, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged in Paint and Pixel". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. Doug Beyer (March 23, 2011). "A World Sculpted from Metal". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. Jenna Helland (January 19, 2011). "Corrupted Conscience". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. Monty Ashley (January 27, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Intro Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. Monty Ashley (January 11, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Boosters". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. Matt Tabak (August 23, 2010). "Grab-and-Go Event Decks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. Monty Ashley (November 16, 2010). "Event Decks: More Info". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. Wizards of the Coast (March 04, 2011). "War Comes to Magic Online!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  25. Wizards of the Coast (February 15, 2011). "Magic Online Mirrodin Besieged Release Events!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  26. Wizards of the Coast (February 8, 2011). "Magic Online Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease News". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  27. Monty Ashley (October 12, 2010). "Faction Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  28. Monty Ashley (October 06, 2010). "Game Day Excitement". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  29. Monty Ashley (December 13, 2010). "Sights From Worlds". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  30. Monty Ashley (January 04, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Promo Cards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  31. Wizards of the Coast (January 24, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Buy a Box Promotion". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  32. Monty Ashley (January 19, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  33. Wizards of the Coast (January 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  34. Monty Ashley (January 26, 2011). "Mirrodin Besiegd Videos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  35. Tom LaPille (January 28, 2011). "What is it Good For?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  36. Tom LaPille (February 11, 2011). "The Heroes Who Cried Battle". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  37. Mark Rosewater (March 7, 2011). "What Do You Do for a Living Weapon?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  38. Doug Beyer (March 09, 2011). "Germ Warfare: The Flavor of Living Weapon". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  39. Doug Beyer (March 16, 2011). "Six Secrets Behind the Sets". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  40. Monty Ashley (January 20, 2011). "Mirrodin Beseiged Intro Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  41. Monty Ashley (February 16, 2011). "Mirrodin Besieged Event Deck Decklists". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links

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