The new set information for Magic the Gathering 2010 has me feeling nostalgic.  As hard as it is to believe, there was a time when I did not play Magic.  For me that time was not really a choice.  The cousins that had introduced me to the game had moved away, and my brothers had lost interest.  In addition, I was nineteen and off to college.  Now there are times when I look back, misty-eyed, at what life could have brought if I continued to follow the game.  What reaction would I have to each set as it came out, and after when my games were complimented with those cards?  Equally important, how have the cards from these sets influenced my current gaming.  This is a review of the cards I missed, and what they meant to Magic.

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Tempest, the core set of the Rath block, was released on October 14th, 1997.  About two weeks after I had checked into my college dorm.  Right, I missed out on Magic's first foray into slivers.  Slivers!  The most controversial tribe in MTG history.  Love them or hate them, slivers had a massive impact on how creature decks were built.  One my favorite blue spells of all time, Capsize, was also released in Tempest.  What makes Capsize so potent is the buyback mechanic introduced in Tempest.  The first expansion, Stronghold, reinforced the original sliver theme with the Queen.  Mox Diamond, and Ensnaring Bridge were not so bad either.  Exodus ended the block, and changed forever the way we see card rarity.

Of all these 'lost' sets, perhaps the ones I am most upset about missing are the Urza's.  Wizards of the Coast even admitted to watering down the next block because of the overpowered Urza's cards.  Although released in 1998-99, cards like Morphling, Duress and Tolarian Academy,  still dominate casual games today.  My personal favorite from the block is Glorious Anthem, maybe the best creature deck throw-in ever.  Exhaustion is a close second.  Saga also introduced cycling to Magic.  The earliest ancestor of Conflux's basic landcycling.  No longer did players dread top-decking land at crucial times, it was a powerful addition to the block.  The followup sets included Memory Jar, a card banned before it was released, and Donate, one of the most powerful combo cards ever.

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By comparison, Mercadian Masques must have been a let down.  Instead of dueling with powerful spells and infinite combos, you were dealing with rebel and mercenary decks.  Not a lot to say about this set, only Bribery really excites me.  Builders of white weenie decks may have rejoiced, but other that that? . . . . . .  Not a great way for Magic the Gathering to ring in a new century.

Invasion brought about a number of fun cards and card types that had been missing since the Tempest block.  Gold cards came back into play, including the gold dragon set.  A shout-out to the original Legends dragons.  Tribal cards like Beasts, Kavu, wizards and birds also saturated the set.  The Invasion block features more cards I play with or against than any other 'lost set'.  Released in October of 2000, Invasion was followed by Planeshift and Apocalypse.  My only issues with this block are it's heavy reliance on five-colored cards.  Cards like Coalition Victory, and Cromat are too mana intensive for me.  However, the Domain ability used in Conflux got it's start here.  For reasons I don't have the time or energy to explain, my favorite card from this block is Meddling Mage.

Kamahl Pitfighter and friends ushered in the Odyssey block, as well as the first original storyline in nearly five years.  Odyssey focused on standard color wheel assignments.  Giant green creatures and lots of red direct damage make me smile.  Black seems to be using the graveyard more than ever, thanks in part to the new flashback, and threshold.  Heavy involvement of legendary creatures is a nice touch, including Kamahl himself.  This is a theme Kamigawa would perfect, but still nice to see.  Cards like Golden Wish, and Nefarious Lich offer exceptional power to round out the block.

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The last block of my Magic dark age was not so long ago.  Released in October of 2002, the Onslaught Cycle is still legal in Extended formats.  The most famous cards in the block are without a doubt the 'fetch' lands. Cards like Wooded Foothills, and Flooded Strand are tournament staples.  Morph, my least favorite ability was released with the Onslaught core set.  The idea of putting a card face down after so many years of relying on card text would have been very jarring.  Maybe I need to trust my fellow wizards more.  However, there is still much to love here.  Visara the Dreadful is a fantastic multiplayer card and  Grand Coliseum is the king of pain-lands.  All around goodness.

During the release of the Mirrorden set in 2003, my interest in Magic was reborn.  Maybe it was the new card design, maybe it was graduating and moving back to Seattle.  Whatever the reason, I yearned to recapture my former MTG glory. Much to my relief,  I was able to find my own group eventually and started dueling again.  If this proves anything, it is that you are never away long enough not to be welcomed back.  Each new block is like another invitation to join.  If you ever find yourself in a situation similar to my own, I suggest you accept.

Finally, it is a great idea to look back at some of the sets, or cards you may have missed.  My Magic dark age cost me years of fun and healthy competition.  There is so much I missed, but that is part of the beauty.  No matter how long we are gone, the cards stay waiting for us.