When I talk about "flip cards" from Magic's history, what comes to your mind? I feel like the term colloquial has been tossed around to describe a number of card categories. For example, newer players may refer to transforming double-faced cards as flip cards. Others may think of modal double-faced cards as flip cards.

Whether it be transforming cards, werewolf cards, battles, or sagas, once Wizards of the Coast broke down the barrier of printing something different on the backside of cards, the floodgates have opened and "flip cards" galore have since been printed. Mark Rosewater has gone into elaborate detail on double-faced cards on his Drive to Work podcast - I would recommend checking this one out for the history of the mechanic.

The OG Flip Cards

I want to go back. Way back. Back to 1993 and 1994, when two cards were printed that I'd argue were the original "flip cards." These didn't transform or have modality. Rather, you literally had to flip them in order to leverage their abilities in a game of Magic.

What am I talking about? I sincerely hope I am introducing these two cards to at least a handful of readers out there. Behold: Chaos Orb and Falling Star, Magic's original flip cards.

When I started playing Magic back in 1997, these were the only two flip cards out there. My friends and I considered them flip cards because, simply put, they literally said they were to be flipped on the playing area! Chaos Orb destroyed anything it touched upon completing its flip, whereas Falling Star does three damage to each creature it touches.

Sadly, but understandably, these cards are both banned in sanctioned play across the board. While Falling Star doesn't see much play anymore as a result (most of the time Lightning Bolt is just better anyway), Chaos Orb has become the most iconic and representative card of Old School Magic. Rules committees for the various versions of Old School have had to update how Chaos Orb functions, but the card sees plenty of flipping action even today. This is the reason the cheapest Unlimited copies are approaching $900-$1000 in price!

Kamigawa: The Actual Flip Cards

If you Google "MTG Flip Cards," the first hits you get won't be Chaos Orb and Falling Star. Awesome as they are, they aren't officially known as "flip cards." Instead, what you'll find is a selection of about 20 cards - mostly from the first Kamigawa block - with odd, two-direction templating. The card contains both art and text that is upside down! What's going on?

Let's unpack this with an example: Kitsune Mystic / Autumn-Tail, Kitsune Sage.

There's a lot going on with this card from Champions of Kamigawa. To play this card, you first cast Kitsune Mystic for and it's a 2/3 creature. If at the end of your turn, Kitsune Mystic (a Creature - Fox Wizard) has two or more auras on it, you flip the card.

In this case, flipping doesn't mean throwing the card in circles from one foot about the playing area like with Chaos Orb. It also doesn't mean you turn it face down as you would with a transforming double-faced card. Instead, you rotate the card 180 degrees while face up. Then it looks like this:

Now you have a new creature in play, named Autumn-Tail, Kitsune Sage. This creature is Legendary, a 4/5, and has an activated ability for one generic mana that allows you to move auras from one creature to another. These flip cards acted very much like transforming double-faced cards behave today, but back in the early 2000's Wizards of the Coast was still hesitant to print anything other than the standard Magic back on the backside of a card. This rotational flipping was their solution back in Kamigawa block.

In total, there were ten characters that became "heroes" in Champions of Kamigawa, five characters that became spirits in Betrayers of Kamigawa, and five monks that became enchantments in Saviors of Kamigawa. Other than that, and a goofy Unhinged card named Curse of the Fire Penguin, Wizards of the Coast has never printed another flip card like these.

Some Flip Card Rules

Section 710 of the Comprehensive Rules, November 8, 2024, describes how Flip Cards function. At a high level, these cards have a two-part frame on a single card. According to 710.1, "The Text that appears right side up on the card defines the card's normal characteristics. Additional alternative characteristics appear upside down on the card. The back of a flip card is the normal Magic card back."

Then you can get into all the technical details if you'd like. The rule book describes how the top half of a card contains its normal name, text box, type line, etc. The bottom half contains alternative names, text, types, etc. A flip card's color and mana cost don't change if the permanent is flipped. Flipping is permanent and a one-way process - it's impossible for the card to become unflipped. However, if the permanent leaves play via a flicker effect, it retains no memory of its status and would return unflipped.

You can start to see how this gets a bit confusing. Then, there's the simple geometry of it all. How can you tell if a flip card is actually flipped?! It's easy when the card is untapped, because you can tell if a card is upside down or not. But what if you attack with a flipped card, turning it sidewise? There are no rules that dictate which direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, one must rotate a permanent to tap it, so how do you keep track of which tapped flip cards are flipped and which aren't? All Wizards offers is rule 3.14, which states if a card must be tapped or flipped, it must be turned approximately 90 degrees (tapped) or 180 degrees (flipped), whichever is appropriate.

I still don't understand what happens if you have two tapped versions of the same card and one is flipped and the other isn't. It would be quite important to distinguish which is which in this case! Talk about complicated.

Other Flip Card Examples

This is usually the part of the article where I showcase powerful and impactful cards with the highlighted mechanic. With flip cards, there really aren't many noteworthy cards to talk about, however. The mechanic really didn't take off, and while Wizards of the Coast have since printed many powerful transforming cards, Kamigawa block's flip cards were relatively unexciting.

There really are just two noteworthy cards worth highlighting here. First and foremost is Erayo, Soratami Ascendant / Erayo's Essence, from Saviors of Kamigawa.

This is currently the most valuable of the twenty flip cards from Kamigawa block. The card starts as a 1/1 legendary creature. Then, once someone plays a fourth spell in a turn, the creature flips into the obnoxiously powerful Erayo's Essence, a legendary enchantment that counters the first spell played by each opponent each turn. In the right Commander deck, I suppose it's not impossible to play four spells in a turn. Assuming you're able to accomplish this feat before your 1/1 creature is killed, I have to imagine you'd become the least popular player at the table with the legendary enchantment in play.

The other noteworthy flip card is Nezumi Shortfang, from Champions of Kamigawa.

Nezumi Shortfang is also a 1/1 creature for two mana, but this one has an activation cost. For two mana again, you can force an opponent to discard a card (at instant speed, mind you... also unfun). If the player then has no cards in hand, you flip the card into Stabwhisker the Odious. Stabwhisker is a 3/3 rat shaman with a The Rack stapled to it.

This is yet another extremely unfun card. Not only can you pester your opponents by forcing them to discard cards every turn, but once they're out of cards you have a creature that punishes them for their lack of cards in hand. It's powerful, but again doesn't appear to be a card that would make you many friends at your LGS's Commander night.

Wrapping It Up

It's not hard to see why the flip cards were considered a failure by Wizards of the Coast. They had very confusing templating, containing upside down text and split images in the card's artwork. It didn't help that the cards printed from original Kamigawa block were either unimpactful or obnoxious to play against. Keeping track of cards which are flipped, tapped, or flipped / tapped is also a significant downside.

Once Wizards of the Coast broke down the barrier of printing on the card's back side, flip cards were essentially considered permanently dead. Mark Rosewater confirmed in his Blogatog, "Double-faced cards are the nail in the coffin for flip cards."

I don't think we'll see new flip cards with original Kamigawa's templating ever again.

That's not to say they'll never be reprinted. Back in Commander 2018, we saw the reprint of Budoka Gardener, showcasing that the updated templating for flip cards involves moving the set symbol (also super confusing).

Flip card fans out there will have to accept that the 21 cards with this template are likely to be the only ones to be printed. At least they can still be reprinted, giving them a chance to make an impact in Commander in some capacity. That will have to be enough for this long-forgotten, but importantly groundbreaking mechanic.