Mark Rosewater has shared on his Drive to Work that the three components of Magic that made it a phenomenon--he dubbed these facets the "golden trifecta." These three characteristics are the trading card game genre, the color wheel, and the mana system. To listen to an in-depth review of each of these characteristics, I'd suggest listening to Rosewater's Drive to Work podcast, episodes 22, 23, and 24.

While it didn't crack into the top three, I believe there's another important component that significantly contributes to the allure that is a game of Magic. An extra layer of excitement stems from the fact that players must play the game with incomplete information. It's what makes each game more complicated, surprising, and enjoyable.

Think about it--other than the cards on the battlefield, in graveyards, or in your hand, you don't know the whereabouts of the majority of game pieces. More than half your deck is hidden in your shuffled library, and the same can be said of your component. You are aware of what's in your hand, but most of the time your opponent's hand is a mystery. Voluntarily revealing such information could place you at a significant disadvantage in the game.

What would happen if this paradigm eroded a bit, and more information was revealed? Like most rules in Magic, there are cards that break down this mystery. If you are a Commander player who hates surprises or if you're simply curious to see what Magic would be like without so much hidden information, stay tuned as I share a handful of cards across the game's history that allows you to peak behind the curtain.

The Big Reveal: Hands

According to Scryfall, there are only six cards in Magic that force all players to play with their hands revealed (one of which is silver-bordered). Let's take a quick look at each of them.

Revelation (Legends)

Kaja Foglio's stained glass artwork for Revelation is both iconic and memorable. But what resonates with me even more powerfully are the memories I have of playing this card in my early days of Magic. At the time, this card was breaking new grounds as the first card that disrupted the rule that kept hands as hidden information for players. I don't remember it actually being any good (the card is symmetric after all), but if you ever want to hear a few groans at your next visit to the LGS, slam this down on turn one in a game of Commander.

Zur's Weirding (Ice Age)

I'm a fan of any card with the word "Weird" in its name, and Ice Age's Zur's Weirding definitely lives up to the name! For one, the artwork has me scratching my head--I love Liz Danforth's classic Magic pieces, but why are we underneath Zur looking up his robes? I hope he's not going commando in those things.

Anyway, if you want to create a stalemating dynamic at your next Commander night, try casting Zur's Weirding in the game and watch the politics unfold. The enchantment forces players to play with their cards face up, and if a player doesn't like what their opponent is about to draw, they can pay 2 life to immediately bin the card. When you start a game at 40 life, this gives you and your opponent many redraws.

Telepathy (Urza's Saga)

Telepathy is probably the most reprinted of these cards, appearing in Urza's Saga, Seventh Edition, Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition, Tenth Edition, and Magic 2010. It wasn't until after 2010 that Wizards of the Coast released the average player doesn't like playing with their hands revealed. Telepathy is a relatively straightforward color shift of Revelation--it makes more sense as a Blue card anyway. This one isn't an Enchant World, but the rest of the card is functionally identical.

Wandering Eye (Nemesis)

I didn't even know this card existed until I researched this article. Wandering Eye is the only creature in Magic that forces players to play with their hands revealed. Now that I think about it, this was a common in Nemesis, and back in 2000 a 1/3 flyer for three mana was certainly playable. I wonder how many games of Limited were played face-up because of this Illusion...something to keep in mind during your next Mercadian Masques block flashback draft!

Seer's Vision (Invasion)

While you can pay Green to force all players to play their hands revealed, this multicolored enchantment puts a notable spin on the effect. For four, you force only your opponents to play with their hands revealed! That's right, your hand remains a mystery! Then, if you don't like something in particular that your opponent is holding, you can sacrifice Seer's Vision to force them to discard that card.

Honorable Mentions: Glasses of Urza and Urza's Contact Lenses

Technically, Glasses of Urza doesn't qualify for my list because it's an activated ability that allows only you to look at one opponent's hand. It's not exactly the same as a player revealing their hand to all other players, but it's close enough. Mostly, I included it alongside Urza's Contact Lenses to highlight the joke--this 0-mana artifact forces all players to play with their hands revealed. Never mind the hand clapping thing, it doesn't do much unless you have something like Urza, Lord High Artificer in play.

Revealing the Top Card of Libraries

While a player's entire library is hidden information, the top card of each library is arguably the most imminently impactful to the game. There are a bunch of cards that cause one or more players to reveal the top card of their libraries upon trigger or activation, but only a few force all players to play with their top cards revealed constantly.

Field of Dreams (Legends)

I suspect Field of Dreams' most powerful asset is the fact that it can destroy other Enchant Worlds for just one Blue mana (recall the ruling that only one Enchant World can be in play at a given time...casting another destroys the previous one). That said, Field of Dreams was breakthrough in being the first card that revealed the top card of all players' libraries. Yet one more way of reducing unknown information during your next Commander game.

Lantern of Insight (Fifth Dawn)

Out of all the cards I'm discussing in today's article, Lantern of Insight is perhaps the most notable as far as the tournament scene is concerned. There's a popular Modern deck named Lantern Control--Lantern of Insight is the inspiration for the deck name. What makes Lantern of Insight so much more powerful than all these other revealing cards? It's the fact that not only does the artifact force all players to play with their libraries' top card revealed, but it also gives you an option to force a player to shuffle their library in case you see something coming you don't like. It's equivalent to Seer's Vision in this way, except it's an artifact that costs just one mana!

The deck also combines Lantern of Insight with Codex Shredder to add even greater control on what your opponent draws. This one-two punch can really lock down a game for numerous turns, as you continue to ensure your opponent's draws are harmless and/or useless.

Wizened Snitches (Ravnica)

Funnily enough, Wizened Snitches is the second 1/3 flying Blue creature mentioned in this article. Though, the last one was just three mana and common, while Wizened Snitches is four mana and uncommon. Why does this feel like reverse power creep? I guess Wizards of the Coast puts more value on playing with the top card of libraries revealed rather than hands? In any event, here's another creature to include in your "no secrets" deck.

Wrapping It Up

As mentioned previously, there are cards that force players to reveal the top card of their library in response to something (Psychic Battle, Rousing of Souls). There are also cards that force you to play with the top card of your library revealed (Courser of Kruphix, Skill Borrower, Oracle of Mul Daya, etc.). These aren't exactly the same as the three I mentioned above, which continuously reveals the top cards of all players libraries. That ability is quite rare to see.

Also rare to see is a card that continuously reveals all players hands. If you exclude silver-bordered cards and Seer's Vision (which technically doesn't qualify because its controller's own hand isn't revealed), only four cards do this precise thing. If you add it all together, you hardly have enough cards to create a cohesive identify for a Commander deck.

That being said, a Sultai Commander deck would enable you to play all the cards pictured above. Perhaps you can add in spells like Gitaxian Probe and Thoughtseize to collect even more information from your opponents' hidden zones. Then, exploit cards that reward you for knowing this information, such as Predict or (my personal favorite) Booby Trap.

You probably won't win many games if your strategy is too focused on revealing information. However, you won't walk into any unexpected Counterspells or board wipes with this deck!

Unfortunately, the dream of an all-revealing Commander deck may be just that--a dream. It appears Wizards of the Coast doesn't print many cards that force players to play with their hands and top cards revealed, and no new cards with these abilities have been printed in over two decades. I suspect that's for a reason. My theory is, while it isn't part of the golden trifecta that Mark Rosewater describes, the hidden information of players' hands and libraries is a fundamental component to what makesMagic so fun and exciting. Taking away these elements likely detracts from the game, and I don't expect Wizards of the Coast to haphazardly print more cards that reveal hidden information. This may be all we've got for a while.