Wizards of the Coast has created dozens of powerful and popular mechanics throughout Magic's three decades. Iconic effects including Threshold, Kicker, and Flashback come to mind--these are abilities that show up time and again.

Not every mechanic can be a hit, of course, but some are truly "bottom of the barrel" when it comes to abilities. In fact, at a recent MagicCon, Mark Rosewater gave a presentation on the twenty worst mechanics of all time. I listened to Rosewater's Drive to Work podcast episodes that covered these abilities, and there are definitely some major disappointments in his list.

While I can go on and on about many of the mechanics on this list--particularly the older ones--and how they shaped my appreciation for Magic, this week I'm going to focus on one of the most obscure, lowest occurrence ability in the game's history.

Sweep - A Brief Overview

Let me first paint the picture: it's 2005, Wizards just released the third and final set in Champions of Kamigawa block, called Saviors of Kamigawa. The block wasn't setting sales records, and for whatever reason, WOTC named each set in this block similarly enough to confuse players so they struggle to name the three sets in the correct order (Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa).

Saviors of Kamigawa had its share of noteworthy cards, including Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Ebony Owl Netsuke, and the first printing of Pithing Needle. The set also introduced two ability words (Sweep and Channel) and the keyword Epic (number 8 on Rosewater's worst mechanics of all time list). While we've seen Channel show up again in newer sets, Sweep continues to be one of the sparsest mechanics ever printed. The ability word literally shows up on exactly four cards.

You read that correctly. Four cards. Barrel Down Sokenzan, Charge Across the Araba, Plow Through Reito, and Sink into Takenuma are the only four cards ever printed with Sweep. Charge Across the Araba is the only uncommon with Sweep, and there are no rares with the keyword (Saviors of Kamigawa was printed before mythic rares existed).

Don't feel bad if you've never seen these cards before. They didn't exactly make waves in competitive play, and Sink into Takenuma is the only one of the four cards to see a reprint. It shows up on The List, which means you can open boxes of product and still never see this card. Even if you did see it, you probably wouldn't remember it. The cards don't exactly scream "power."

How Sweep Works

The rules behind Sweep aren't too complex as far as mechanics go. "Sweep cards require you to return some number of a specific type of basic land card to your hand as they resolve. The rest of the card's effect depends on how many land cards were returned." That's how Magic Fandom's Wiki page explains the mechanic. The site adds only one more bullet point, explaining that lands with multiple basic land types can be returned with any sweep card that applies to one of those basic land types.

That's all there is to it! An easy-to-understand ability that scales nicely with a game of Magic. Even a younger, less experienced Sigmund understood how to leverage this ability when it first came out. I distinctly remember and still have built a basic White Weenie deck that leverages Charge Across the Araba as an instant speed Overrun effect.

I used to spend the first few turns of the game summoning small creatures that were difficult to kill. I liked playing the en-Kor creatures from Stronghold because in multiples, they were quite resilient and difficult to deal with en masse. Then on a key turn, I'd start off by casting Blinding Light to tap all my opponent's creatures. Next, I'd attack with all my 1/1's and 2/2's, cast Charge Across the Araba and sweep a stack of Plains back to my hand, and hit my opponent for 20+ damage in one attack!

Sometimes I wouldn't even need Blinding Light. My opponent and I would be in a racing situation, and I'd let my opponent attack with their team. As long as my life total remained positive, and I had a few creatures to get through, a cleverly timed (and never-expected) Charge Across the Araba could kill my opponent out of nowhere. By sweeping 6 Plains back to my hand, I could kill my opponent from 20 life with just three creatures getting through.

The other three sweep cards didn't impress me the same way Charge Across the Araba did. Being able to kill a single creature or pump a single creature isn't nearly as potent as pumping an entire team of creatures. Sink into Takenuma could be potent, but by the time you get to four mana, how many cards are you really going to be forcing your opponent to discard? Discard effects are usually most effective in the early turns when your opponent's hand is full.

Sweep never stood a chance--it is hard for a new ability to make waves when the cards it's printed on are so underwhelming.

One of the Worst Mechanics of All Time?

I'll concede that WOTC didn't deliver when it comes to their first attempt at sweep. The four cards printed with the keyword didn't matter, were forgettable, and just plain uninspired. But was sweep really the third worst mechanic of all time? Is there no hidden gem buried in the sweep mechanic, so that a tweak or re-launch of the effect could have a positive impact on the game?

According to Mark Rosewater's talk on the mechanic (50:10), apparently not. The problem comes down to how sweep interferes with a player's natural development of their mana base. Are there spikey players out there who have the skillset and knowledge to exploit a card like Charge Across the Araba without suffering from an unfun gameplay experience? Sure, there are some of them (I was never all that good, but I loved how 5% of the time I would surprise an opponent with this sweep card).

For the vast majority of players, casting a card with sweep and returning a bunch of lands to their hand generally doesn't end well. "People will mana screw themselves, lose the game, not understand why they lost the game, and just not have fun." This learned lesson was dubbed "the sweep rule," which goes to show you how confident they were in the failure that was sweep.

If Wizards of the Coast vows to avoid the negative gameplay experience caused by returning a bunch of lands to your own hand, then I have to imagine sweep may be relegated to the recycling bin for good. I'd never say never, but as an eight on the Storm Scale, it'll take an alignment of the stars for us to see this ability return.

If it does happen, we'll see it as a special appearance in a Commander set or something along those lines. I can't imagine a world where we see sweep back in Standard.

Wrapping It Up

It's a shame how much of a disappointment the sweep mechanic was. I have to imagine Wizards of the Coast sunk a decent amount of time into creating this ability, only for it to show up on a whopping four cards, have zero impact in constructed play, and receive the honor of being the third worst mechanic of all time. All four sweep cards continue to be bulk today despite three of them having seen no reprints since their introduction in Saviors of Kamigawa.

Despite all this, I'll always hold a soft spot in my heart for sweep and Charge Across the Araba. I know I've won a handful of games out of nowhere before thanks to this card. For just five mana, you can pump up your entire team +X/+X, where X is the number of Plains you return to your h and, at instant speed. Returning a stack of lands to your hand and mana screwing yourself is never fun, but if you can push through enough damage with the spell, none of that really matters. The potential is there, and for that I'm appreciative.

I suspect I'm in a very slim minority, having played with an enjoyed a card with sweep. If that's the case, I'm proud to throw my support to the undervalued and underappreciated keyword. In the right hands, the ability can be a powerhouse. I'm convinced that Wizards didn't do sweep justice in Saviors of Kamigawa, and an overhaul of the mechanic could very well improve its relevancy and playability.

I'm not sure if sweep will ever see printing again, but I'll continue to hold out hope that one day the mechanic will have its time to shine.