Magic's 3 weakest expansions (and the weakest Core set)

[Pastorofmuppets]

I know that Empires and Homelands are generally considered the worst, but then what comes next? Prophecy?
And what would be considered the weakest core set? up to 4th we had bolt, 6th had the tutors, 7th had Duress...

[hungryLIKEALION]

I'd agree with Prophecy. I can't think of a single card from that set that sees play... anywhere. My local store doesn't even have a prophecy binder because no one ever wants anything from it...

As for weakest core set, I have no clue. I'm gonna take a look at the full lists of them and get back to you on that.

[CallMeLiam]

Prophecy has Avatar of Woe, Chimeric Idol and a couple of other EDH cards, but it's mostly dreadful.

[atropos]

I'd agree with Prophecy. I can't think of a single card from that set that sees play... anywhere. My local store doesn't even have a prophecy binder because no one ever wants anything from it...

Whoa dude, whoa. What about Blessed Wind FTW? That card is so damn good.

I don't really think Invasion is terribly good either. Fact or Fiction is obviously good but the rest of the set is mostly meh.

[Brushwagg]

The 3rd one has to Mirage. It has LED and then??? As for the core set, I'd have to say 4th. The one where they took out STP, Lightning Bolt and gave us Elder Land Wurm.

[DrJones]

If you define weakest as the worst playables/chaff ratio, fifth edition wins hands-down because it's huge and includes tons of reprints of the worst homelands cards. It's actually kinda difficult to know which core set is the weakest because all core sets from sixth to tenth are dreadful. I like to think that sixth edition is the worst because it took all the good cards from fifth edition (Necropotence, Lhurgoyf, Serra Angel) and left all the chaff from Ice Age and Homelands. However, Eight Edition is also a strong contender because all the cards in that set are "untradeable" save Wrath of God.

The worst set ever is Prophecy. If you don't believe it, open a virtual booster in MWS and cry. Homelands is also terribad, but at least Homelands is not filled with cards that DO NOTHING (the ones that have no effect if the opponent pays 1). The third worst set is difficult to settle. Oddysey was an okay set but had the worst rares ever, Legions had no "good" cards except Akroma and Phage (and I wouldn't call these good), and all the chase cards in that set were later reprinted in better sets.

However, I'll vote for Invasion because all its cards are weak, and the only playable card in it is Fact or Fiction (unless you like Urza's Rage).

[caiomarcos]

The 3rd one has to Mirage. It has LED and then??? As for the core set, I'd have to say 4th. The one where they took out STP, Lightning Bolt and gave us Elder Land Wurm.

Mirage has Dreadnought, Dark Ritual, Final Fortune, Infernal Contract, Flash, Sacred Mesa and what not.

Also, 4th had Bolt, Swords, Strip Mine, Mishra's Factory, Hippie and others, they were out in 5th.

[Xaul Zan]

anything beyond unlimited is kind of weak.

[Eldariel]

If you define weakest as the worst playables/chaff ratio, fifth edition wins hands-down because it's huge and includes tons of reprints of the worst homelands cards. It's actually kinda difficult to know which core set is the weakest because all core sets from sixth to tenth are dreadful. I like to think that sixth edition is the worst because it took all the good cards from fifth edition (Necropotence, Lhurgoyf, Serra Angel) and left all the chaff from Ice Age and Homelands. However, Eight Edition is also a strong contender because all the cards in that set are "untradeable" save Wrath of God.

Purely playability-wise 7th is really good, actually. It includes all the important core countermagic, Duress, etc. and a good bunch of playables along with solid SB (E. Plague for example), along with pains and City of Brass. As a MYOS-player, I find myself playing 7th more than just about any other Core Set (up there with M10, 10th and 5th).

8th is pretty horrible. 6th at least has all the Tutors and all that. 8th has shitty lands without much help from the card-frontier (there are few fine cards there though; Blood Moon, Wildfire, Plow Under, Fecundity) so I'd say it takes the cake.

[Pastorofmuppets]

What are our thoughts on Conflux and The Dark as bad sets? Also, 8th Edition had Kird Ape.

[walkerdog]

Conflux? Really? Hydra, Hierarch, Conflux, a bunch of random std cards, Volcanic Fallout, and Knight of the reliquary aren't enough?!?!? Then what is for a small expansion!

[jrsthethird]

What are our thoughts on Conflux and The Dark as bad sets? Also, 8th Edition had Kird Ape.

Path to Exile
Sorrow's Path

Tell me which set of the two actually belongs in this topic.


Prophecy has Avatar of Woe, Chimeric Idol and a couple of other EDH cards, but it's mostly dreadful.

Prophecy also has a cycle of marginally playable alt-cost spells (Abolish, Flameshot, Foil and Outbreak). Snag sucks.

You know it's a bad set when these are the most playable cards in the set.

[Cthuloo]

Probably the three weakstr sets are Fallen Empires, Homelands and The Dark. There's also a reason: they came right after the three strongest one, Arabian Nights, Antiquities and Legends. Wizards was still struggling to find a balance between ultra broken and ultra crap. Ice Age and Alliance were still weak overall, despite having some bombs. With Mirage and even more with Visions they manage to find a good balance.

I can't really say much about what came between odissey and time spiral, though, since I stopped playing during that period.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Fallen Empires was a very strong set, it's just that people hated it because all of it's good cards (High Tide, Hymn to Tourach, Goblin Grenade, Pump Clerics) were common, so the set wasn't worth anything money wise. It was also very small, only around 100 cards iirc.

I'd say Prophecy and Homelands are the weakest two by a long margin. Contenders for the third slot would include Invasion, Legions, Saviors of Kamigawa and Coldsnap.

[jrsthethird]

Not Coldsnap. Dark Depths, Counterbalance, Rite of Flame, Rune Snag, Ohran Viper, Scrying Sheets, Vexing Sphinx, Jotun Grunt, Deathmark, Flashfreeze, and more that don't come to mind right away. The chaff in the set was really bad but it's because it was made to play with sets released 11 years prior.

Saviors has Pithing Needle and Twincast, but not much else.

[lordofthepit]

Not the weakest set in any sense, but Legends is incredibly overrated. It has some extremely broken cards (Mana Drain, Moat, Abyss), but most of the cards in the set are actually utter crap. Stuff like Great Wall, Wood Elemental, Rapid Fire, etc. that would compete for the worst cards in the entire game.

[jrsthethird]

Not the weakest set in any sense, but Legends is incredibly overrated. It has some extremely broken cards (Mana Drain, Moat, Abyss), but most of the cards in the set are actually utter crap. Stuff like Great Wall, Wood Elemental, Rapid Fire, etc. that would compete for the worst cards in the entire game.

Not to mention the most overcosted creatures ever printed.

[Forbiddian]

Not to mention the most overcosted creatures ever printed.

Worst set ever: Rise of the Eldrazi

Legends isn't even close.

[dahcmai]

I think I use one card from Prophesy. I would easily call it the worst.

Aura Fracture is the only card that's ever found it's way into one of my decks.

I'd have to go to Eventide next for providing us with a lot of decent standard cards that really tanked hard when they left the format. Raven's Crime and Wake Thrasher being the only two to survive the rotation.

Even the Dark gave us Blood Moon, Ball Lightning, Tormod's Crypt, Dust to Dust, and Maze of Ith.

Urza's destiny is getting sad since Bargain is the only thing played nowadays. Masticore and Replenish have even fallen from grace and are rarely seen now.


Arabian Nights sadly is starting to get really, really outdated.

Bazaar, City of Brass, Kird Ape, and Serendib Efreet. Sad since it's my favorite set.

[kicks_422]

Invasion? Well, yeah there really isn't any high-profile cards from there that see play in Legacy. But from what I remember, people had fun with that expansion. Can it still be called weak, knowing that?

[DrJones]

At the time, you either had to buy Invasion or Prophecy. It's easy to see why would one be happy by buying Invasion instead.

[Atwa]

I think the best way too even look at this question is to take a look at the playable cards from each set, compare it to the number of total cards in the set and see which set comes out worst.

I think we might come up with some supprises here, I see noone has listed Nemesis yet for example. Did that set have some decent cards other than Daze and Lin Sivvi?

I might decide to try to come up with a total list this night, but I must say mu knowledge of more current sets is pretty limilted, if someone could look at them (after Ravnica, with the exception of the Time Spiral Block), that would be appriciated.

[jrsthethird]

I think we might come up with some supprises here, I see noone has listed Nemesis yet for example. Did that set have some decent cards other than Daze and Lin Sivvi?

Blastoderm, Parallax cards/Saproling Burst, Massacre, Submerge (and rest of that cycle), I know there's a couple more I can't think of.

[Wrath_Of_Houlding]

The question is what do we mean by "weak"? Worst for Legacy, worst for standard, worst for anything? Especially for later sets standard and limited have to be considered. That said, F Saviors of Kamigawa.

[(nameless one)]

Actually, Kamigawa was fun in Limited... but not as fun as Ravnica.

That said, I think Kamigawa was one of the least exciting blocks out there.

Expansion-wise, Homelands was hands down the worst. There nothing playable from that set. I remember reading an article that back in the days, they actually forced a 6-card mandate on Standard (or whatever it was called) just so Homelands could see play.

[datanaga]

I agree, that Homelands was the worst expansion set, but there are anyhow some playable cards, for example Merchant Scroll, Memory Lapse...

[Michael Keller]

I agree, that Homelands was the worst expansion set, but there are anyhow some playable cards, for example Merchant Scroll, Memory Lapse...

Homelands may be outdated for today's Legacy scene, but back when it was first released, there were some effective cards that saw quite a bit of play (aside from the ones already mentioned):

Autumn Willow (the first untargetable creature as a static ability)
Serrated Arrows
Aether Storm (saw some decent play in old Standard)
Joven's Ferrets
Spectral Bears (saw a great deal of play)
Eron the Relentless (a powerhouse in red sligh variants)

I mean, these cards aren't necessarily effective by today's standards, but understand we're going back in time 40+ expansions. During this time period, these cards were very effective. Cards today continue to get more rounded out and playable, which in turn makes most cards from Homelands obsolete. There is a much larger card-pool today and the game was much more restrictive as to what was played in those days. I stand by my decision by saying Homelands was not the worst set ever, not by a long-shot.

Prophecy gets my vote. Even I of all people couldn't find something from that cardboard sewage to salvage as playable.

[Sanguine Voyeur]

What's that set based around having untapped lands at the end of your turn?

I'd say that.

[Pastorofmuppets]

Homelands may be outdated for today's Legacy scene, but back when it was first released, there were some effective cards that saw quite a bit of play (aside from the ones already mentioned):

Autumn Willow (the first untargetable creature as a static ability)
Serrated Arrows
Aether Storm (saw some decent play in old Standard)
Joven's Ferrets
Spectral Bears (saw a great deal of play)
Eron the Relentless (a powerhouse in red sligh variants)

I mean, these cards aren't necessarily effective by today's standards, but understand we're going back in time 40+ expansions. During this time period, these cards were very effective. Cards today continue to get more rounded out and playable, which in turn makes most cards from Homelands obsolete. There is a much larger card-pool today and the game was much more restrictive as to what was played in those days. I stand by my decision by saying Homelands was not the worst set ever, not by a long-shot.

Prophecy gets my vote. Even I of all people couldn't find something from that cardboard sewage to salvage as playable.

if we're talking about power at the time, then Prophecy had a few good things. Sligh ran Chimeric Idol, Spiketail Hatchling isn't half bad, and have you ever locked a guy out with Spore Frog in Survival?

[jrsthethird]

Prophecy gets my vote. Even I of all people couldn't find something from that cardboard sewage to salvage as playable.

I already addressed what was playable in that set. Terrible set, but it has some playables.

Sanguine: you're talking about Prophecy.

Also, from Nemesis, Tangle Wire.

[caiomarcos]

I'll go with Prophecy as the worst ever.

I got used to say that Homelands was worse, but reading about Serrated Arrows, Autumn Willow and Eron, the Relentless and remembering playing with them I changed my mind.

The only card I can name from Prophecy is Chimeric Idol. Even when it was Standard Legal the set was regarded as crap.

[Michael Keller]

if we're talking about power at the time, then Prophecy had a few good things. Sligh ran Chimeric Idol, Spiketail Hatchling isn't half bad, and have you ever locked a guy out with Spore Frog in Survival?

No, I haven't recently. But considering we're not discussing the three worst sets ever judged by their Legacy playability, have you ever Merchant Scrolled for an Ancestral Recall, Force of Will, Rebuild, or any other broken blue instant?

Seems somewhat better.

[Aggro_zombies]

The weakest Core Set would have to be Seventh. People bitch about them dumbing the game down now, but they obviously never tried to play with Seventh Edition (not to mention a lot of the cards got new artwork which absolutely sucked).

As for the three worst sets - Homelands and Prophecy stand out as being especially bad, but after that it's more ambiguous. There are a bunch of sets that are awful by today's standards, but which were pretty good at the time they came out. For example, a couple people mentioned Invasion, but that was actually a very solid, innovative, and well-designed set at the time, and was a lot of fun to play. It's still one of my favorite sets even if the many of the cards in it aren't worth anything anymore.

@IBA: High Tide was an awful card at the time it was printed. It didn't see any real play until Urza's came out with the untap spells that allowed it to get really broken.

[Pastorofmuppets]

which Kamigawa set doesn't have Jitte or Top or Needle again?
Also, Fifth Dawn ftl.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Homelands may be outdated for today's Legacy scene, but back when it was first released, there were some effective cards that saw quite a bit of play (aside from the ones already mentioned):

Autumn Willow (the first untargetable creature as a static ability)
Serrated Arrows
Aether Storm (saw some decent play in old Standard)
Joven's Ferrets
Spectral Bears (saw a great deal of play)
Eron the Relentless (a powerhouse in red sligh variants)

I mean, these cards aren't necessarily effective by today's standards, but understand we're going back in time 40+ expansions. During this time period, these cards were very effective. Cards today continue to get more rounded out and playable, which in turn makes most cards from Homelands obsolete. There is a much larger card-pool today and the game was much more restrictive as to what was played in those days. I stand by my decision by saying Homelands was not the worst set ever, not by a long-shot.

Prophecy gets my vote. Even I of all people couldn't find something from that cardboard sewage to salvage as playable.

NO, just no. Homelands was always crap and will always be crap. It is by far the worst set in Magic ever. When the pro-tour came around Wizards actually had to make a rule that you had to have 5 cards from each expansion in your deck just so people would play Homelands cards in them and the result of that was usually a playset of Serrated Arrows in the side and maybe a Memory Lapse or two. Otherwise it would have seen no play.
True story. When Homelands came out I was on vacation in Florida with my parents and I went into a card shop and talked to the owner. Played him in a couple games and told him I was on vacation and that I wanted to use my vacation money to buy a box of Homelands. He told me not to buy the box, knowing full well if I didn't he wasn't going to get any of my money, and told me to save up like $20 more and get a box of Mirage when it came out. So basically he was like, this set sucks so much I feel like I'd be ripping off a kid if I sold it to him. That is about as bad as it gets.

[Michael Keller]

NO, just no. Homelands was always crap and will always be crap. It is by far the worst set in Magic ever. When the pro-tour came around Wizards actually had to make a rule that you had to have 5 cards from each expansion in your deck just so people would play Homelands cards in them and the result of that was usually a playset of Serrated Arrows in the side and maybe a Memory Lapse or two. Otherwise it would have seen no play.
True story. When Homelands came out I was on vacation in Florida with my parents and I went into a card shop and talked to the owner. Played him in a couple games and told him I was on vacation and that I wanted to use my vacation money to buy a box of Homelands. He told me not to buy the box, knowing full well if I didn't he wasn't going to get any of my money, and told me to save up like $20 more and get a box of Mirage when it came out. So basically he was like, this set sucks so much I feel like I'd be ripping off a kid if I sold it to him. That is about as bad as it gets.

I remember those days just like they were yesterday. I am aware they forced people to run cards from that expansion in their decks at the Pro Tour. Back in 1995-1996, when cards like Order of the Ebon Hand, Yavimaya Ants, Ball Lightning, etc. were popular, Serrated Arrows actually weren't that bad. George Baxter himself even admitted it was one of his key components in his G/w Prison-Titania's Song deck he Top 8'ed with at U.S. Nationals. He actually MAINDECKED four.

There actually were useful cards in Homelands, it's just over time they ended up becoming more and more obsolete. They weren't the most powerful cards in the entire Magic world, but there were some that saw Standard play.

I wish I could say the same for Prophecy, in which the best card from that expansion is probably worth close to a dime.

And let's not forget Sea Sprites, which clearly saw competitive play even up until Weatherseed Faeries were released (and in some instances, later).

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Yeah, Serrated Arrows was good. That was about it. Eron the Relentless, Memory Lapse and Ihsan's Shade were borderline playable, but that was about it, and it's hard to exaggerate how fucking terrible most of the cards were.

So aside from Homelands and Prophecy, I'll still go with Saviors. Not only was the set retarded underpowered, some of the cards didn't even work. They had to errata a bunch of the -X/-0 cards to have the "until EoT" errata, and cards like Skyfire Kirin didn't work as they were clearly intended because they forgot Haste. And Epic was just about the least popular mechanic ever created. Actually, I think it is the least popular mechanic ever created. And then they forget to complete the Kodama cycle.

I was a kid when Homelands came out, and wasn't playing actively during Prophecy. Saviors was the first time I cracked a pack on a new set and actively felt embarrassed for Wizards. The rest of Kamigawa block was a bit underpowered but fun, but Saviors? That set was pure shit.

[xsockmonkeyx]

Autumn Willow (the first untargetable creature as a static ability)
Serrated Arrows
Aether Storm (saw some decent play in old Standard)
Joven's Ferrets
Spectral Bears (saw a great deal of play)
Eron the Relentless (a powerhouse in red sligh variants)


Yeah, Serrated Arrows was good. That was about it. Eron the Relentless, Memory Lapse and Ihsan's Shade were borderline playable, but that was about it, and it's hard to exaggerate how fucking terrible most of the cards were.
.

Merchant Scroll <3. Primal Order is also pretty cool.

[jrsthethird]

The weakest Core Set would have to be Seventh. People bitch about them dumbing the game down now, but they obviously never tried to play with Seventh Edition (not to mention a lot of the cards got new artwork which absolutely sucked).

Arcane Laboratory
Boil
Coat of Arms (not Constructed playable but very popular)
Compost
Counterspell (last printing of the card)
Creeping Mold
Duress
Engineered Plague
Ensnaring Bridge
Final Fortune
Force Spike
Glorious Anthem
Goblin Matron
Hibernation
Memory Lapse
Merfolk Looter
Opposition
Pariah
Persecute
Pillage
Pyroclasm
Seismic Assault
Sleight of Hand
Wildfire

All playable cards that were not in the majority of Core Sets. 7th came at a weak point in Magic history (the burn spells are horrible; Shock and Volcanic Hammer), but it had a lot of solid cards that are easily overlooked.


which Kamigawa set doesn't have Jitte or Top or Needle again?
Also, Fifth Dawn ftl.

Each artifact mentioned belongs to one of the Kamigawa sets.

Fifth Dawn was great. Eternal Witness, Engineered Explosives, Crucible of Worlds, Magma Jet, Cranial Plating, etc.


I wish I could say the same for Prophecy, in which the best card from that expansion is probably worth close to a dime.

Prophecy cards worth over $1 on SCG:

Avatar of Fury
Avatar of Hope
Avatar of Might
Mageta the Lion
Squirrel Wrangler

Best card in the set candidates:
Chimeric Idol - 75 cents
Foil - 99 cents
Abolish - 75 cents
Outbreak - 29 cents

[Pastorofmuppets]

Fifth Dawn was great. Eternal Witness, Engineered Explosives, Crucible of Worlds, Magma Jet, Cranial Plating, etc.


huh. I guess you're right. I just remember it being a bunch of stuff where you're boned if you're not playing 5 colors

[Tacosnape]

Prophecy takes the cake to me. Spore Frog should not be your flagship card.

Homelands is second. Homelands at least has Merchant Scroll.

As for third worst, I'd pick Guildpact. The extent of it's contributions to the format are one great sideboard card (Leyline of the Void) and one Goblin that's long since fallen out of popularity (Tin-Street Hooligan.)

For worst core, I'd probably pick 5th, but 6th or 7th are arguable too.

[Aggro_zombies]

Arcane Laboratory
Boil
Coat of Arms (not Constructed playable but very popular)
Compost
Counterspell (last printing of the card)
Creeping Mold
Duress
Engineered Plague
Ensnaring Bridge
Final Fortune
Force Spike
Glorious Anthem
Goblin Matron
Hibernation
Memory Lapse
Merfolk Looter
Opposition
Pariah
Persecute
Pillage
Pyroclasm
Seismic Assault
Sleight of Hand
Wildfire

All playable cards that were not in the majority of Core Sets. 7th came at a weak point in Magic history (the burn spells are horrible; Shock and Volcanic Hammer), but it had a lot of solid cards that are easily overlooked.
Yeah, it had a bunch of good cards in it. But the set itself was absolutely awful to play with. It felt like a Portal set, but with worse artwork and without the nostalgia of learning to play the game with the first Portal set. Everything was as basic as possible to make it beginner-friendly, but it actually wasn't that interesting to play with because of that. Thankfully, Wizards realized that and now we have trample and protection in the Core Sets again because they actually add some strategic complexity that makes for interesting, varied game play.

EDIT: 5th had AWESOME CoP artwork, so it can't possibly be bad!

[Zork]

I also have to unvote 5th, because I have an unusual fondness for 5th edition land artwork, provided you border them yourself.

And Homelands, while terrible, gets a special place in my heart for enabling Willowgeddon, the first deck I ever took to a tournament.

[jrsthethird]

As for third worst, I'd pick Guildpact. The extent of it's contributions to the format are one great sideboard card (Leyline of the Void) and one Goblin that's long since fallen out of popularity (Tin-Street Hooligan.)

+ Repeal, 3 Shocklands, Drowned Rusalka, Castigate, Angel of Despair, Burning-Tree Shaman, Electrolyze, Mortify, Shattering Spree, Silhana Ledgewalker, Skarrgan Pit-Skulk

Not that bad of a set. If you're talking only cards played in Legacy you can cut a lot of that but there's still good stuff and I don't think we're only limited to Legacy here.

[Aleksandr]

I also have to unvote 5th, because I have an unusual fondness for 5th edition land artwork, provided you border them yourself.

And Homelands, while terrible, gets a special place in my heart for enabling Willowgeddon, the first deck I ever took to a tournament.

You're my hero.

I've never played Willowgeddon in tournament, but I still remeber that Willow in play, another in hand and third in Sylvan Library... :-) No matter how many Wraths the opponent had, I won that game. (Btw, Willow was hot with Karakas. Or Nature's Blessing.)

I remember those times and really, there weren't many cards in that set, but those few played (M. Scroll, Willow, Ihsan's Shade, Eron, *cough* Baron Sengir *cough*) were pretty strong for that time period.

Prophecy, otoh, is crap.

[Drizztjah]

My picks would be:

1) Homelands (only good card is Merchant Scroll)
2) Prophecy (awful set, but atleast it had some nice flavour and the winds and avatars are cool)
3) Legions (the creature only thing was the worst idea ever)

And although I agree that Saviors of Kamigawa is underwhelming, I always enjoyed playing it in Limited. So for me it falls right out of the flop 3.
I don't really have an opinion on the worst core set, but I dislike 7th because it gave every card the ugliest art possible if that counts as a reason.

[Forbiddian]

I think we're just rating on card power, which is a bit unfair. I know the question was "weakest" but, if they printed Ancestral Recall in Saviors of Kamigawa, would it suddenly become a great set? So to change the discussion a little bit, how about "least-favorite."

Ignoring card power, just the fun of playing the set, the interaction, etc.:

7th Edition: Worst base set ever, challenges for worst set ever were it not for my #1 pick below. It was just fucking awful to play. It came out right after Starter 2000 and was the exact same thing.

Mirage: This set, to me, marks the end of the Golden Age of Magic. Of course Homelands was the last set in the Golden Age, so it was a pretty low point for Magic anyway, but Mirage was the first competitive set designed to be drafted and played in Standard form. After this point, Wizards started putting Mechanics and rules precision before flavor. Not that I generally care so much for flavor, but the cards built around a flavor concept tend to be more varied and interesting than cards that are tweaked until they're all about the same power level.

Also, really going against Mirage: Flanking and Phasing. The worst keywords since Banding and the first in a slew of awful keyword mechanics that really didn't need to be keyworded. The combination of less flavor and more keywords made it harder and harder on players to keep up with playing Magic correctly. I was like in middle school/elementary school around this time, but it was noticeably harder to teach people how to play.

Saviors of Kamigawa: Worst mechanics of any set and coupled with terrible flavor and poor use of mechanics: Flip cards are retarded, Spirit/Arcane is just useless and nobody liked it. The whole block was already fucked. but then they released Saviors for the grande coup de grace, which added the Epic keyword (LOL!). Saviors capped off the worst block in Magic history.

Just buying a few packs, I thought it was overt racism from Wizards to release such a pile of shit upon Japan.

[Exospaciac]

What's with all the 7E hate?
I always thought 8E was worse.
7E has Engineered Plague, Duress, Painlands, Counterspell, Llanowar Elves (8th doesn't), Pillage, Sleight of Hand, Force Spike, Matron, and probably a few other cards I forgot.
8E has Urzatron, Merchant Scroll, Blood Moon, Mana Leak... and what else?

[Pastorofmuppets]

Spore Frog should not be your flagship card.
.

Spore frog is MY flagship card. I have no idea what you're talking about.
Also, Legends usually has the most cards on "worst cards of all time" lists, if we're going purely on power.

[JamieW89]

Homelands, Prophecy, Saviours all seemed pretty bad to me.
Eight is the worst core set for me, both due to layout and card quality.

[chris_acheson]

Spore frog is MY flagship card. I have no idea what you're talking about.
Also, Legends usually has the most cards on "worst cards of all time" lists, if we're going purely on power.

I was wondering when someone would stick up for the fog frog. I love that thing.

[Glorfindel]

While I agree Prophecy is one of the worst sets ever, it does contain Rhystic Study which is actually a very decent multiplayer card.

[Skeggi]

Weakest expansions:

1: Prophecy, best cards:
Chimeric Idol
Spore Frog
Rhystic Study

2: Homelands, best cards:
Merchant Scroll
Autumn Willow
Primal Order


3: Fallen Empires, best cards:
Hymn to Tourach
Seasinger
High Tide


4: The Dark, best cards:
Blood Moon
Maze of Ith
Preacher


5: Saviors of Kamigawa, best cards:
Pithing Needle
Kataki, War's Wage
Descendant of Kiyomaro


Saviors at least produces a widely used Legacy staple, just like The Dark and Fallen Empires did. The other two are the utterest of crap.

[Kangaxx]

7th Edition is actually my favorite core set besides Revised. It was officially the first foil Core Set and it had alot of gems that you could get as foilys. Birds of Paradise, EP, Duress (with original insignia foil), Infernal Contract, Goblin Matron, as well as many others. 7th Edition was my favorite core set for the simple reason that they were the last foil set with the original DCI insignias, which I actually prefer over the newer foils (They're alot shinier). I actually believe that 7th Ed. is a smart investment in the market right now given all the possible foil gems that you're able to crack open. If you happen to get a foil Goblin Matron, which is a common, you just got $30 richer. Crazy stuff like that, I also believe that Infernal Contract is up there as well. 7th Ed. actually has alot of exclusive foils that you normally can't get from any other set which makes it an even more significant set. And if you like older foils like me, it's actually a wise move to pick up a box.

[Finn]

I want to point out that there are lots of different ways for us to be rating these sets. Even if the common theme is power level, there are still many ways of looking at it.

As an example, I think that the removal of Counterspell from a core set is actually a big plus. My idea of power level is somewhat different from some others inasmuch as I want the power level to be appropriate much more than I want something like Legends. The idea that Mana Drain is in the same set with Righteous Avengers (and the same rarity for what it's worth) is mindbogglingly awful. Modern sets like Guildpact and Eventide, while I don't think I could name a single card from any of these sets from my head, I could probably look through a spoiler and pick out a half dozen cards that have potential for fun/competitive play.

Also, the comparison of power can not be done in a bubble. You either compare a card's playability to what is good today or you compare it to what was good when it saw print. Of these, I am in favor of the latter since the former is ever-changing. Werebear was indispensable from Threshold decks before Tarmo. Mogg Fanatic was a shoe-in in Goblins and Burn for years. And so on. If you are basing your power comparisons to today's standards, your point is meaningless in a few years.

From that perspective, I would say that some of you guys have it right. Legends is a piece of garbage by today's standards, but when it came out, there were a number of really interesting new toys to play with. Elder Dragons were awe-inspiring. Tetsuo Umezawa, Sol' Kanar the Swamp King, and Gwendlyn Di Corci were amazing mana cost bargains for many years. Arboria made for amazing scenarios. Sylvan Library was generally regarded as stupid good. Etc.

By contrast, Homelands had nothing, I mean nothing that piqued your interest beyond Autumn Willow and maybe Serrated Arrows. There were few new decks to appear from it. There were no mechanics introduced. It was underpowered. It felt so bland. It pushed no boundaries. Just yuck.

And Prophecy had the misfortune of being the third set in an awful block that just got worse as it went on. People expected little and got little from it. Even the Rebels and whatever the black ones were called were crappy in this set compared to Masques and Nemesis. When Invasion came out after this, it was heralded as the return to fun. And it was. There is no way Invasion belongs on a list of bad sets. It's cards were powerful when compared to what was available at the time. And kicker was a fun mechanic with hard play decisions to make.

I am going to go with 5th Dawn as my third choice, though there are plenty of contenders. Despite having some really cool cards that have seen continued play (Engineered Explosives, Eternal Witness), it made little impact on decks of the time. And it's primary mechanic, sunburst is just not very interesting to me. It was particularly bad in an artifact block. Even Explosives was almost completely unplayed in standard at the time since it could not hit lands.

Oh, by the way, if you think 5th edition was good, I don't think you were buying packs of it. There were over 500 cards in 5th edition. Most of them were really, really bad even at the time.

[jrsthethird]

5th edition had something like 450 cards, not 500. And Homelands had Merchant Scroll and introduced shroud as a mechanic.

[Finn]

Merchant Scroll was not a particularly useful card for many years after that set's release.

There was some awful troll from The Dark with a weak version of shroud. I think there was a blue creature in Ice Age or Fallen Empires with some version as well. Autumn Willow, overpriced as she was, had some version. Deadly Insect finally got it right in Alliances. So there is grau area. The concept was not new.

[jrsthethird]

Merchant Scroll was not a particularly useful card for many years after that set's release.

There was some awful troll from The Dark with a weak version of shroud. I think there was a blue creature in Ice Age or Fallen Empires with some version as well. Autumn Willow, overpriced as she was, had some version. Deadly Insect finally got it right in Alliances. So there is grau area. The concept was not new.

Autumn Willow has straight-up shroud.

The crappy troll in The Dark has "can't be targeted by spells if it attacks this turn" and there's 3 guys in FE that deal with shroud. Deep Spawn and Homarid Warrior have activated shroud with the condition that they don't untap the next turn, and Svelunite Priest has a terrible ability that can grant it to any creature but can only be used during upkeep. So it started in Fallen Empires, but wasn't used as a static keyword until Homelands.

[Rizso]

The Mask Block is pretty much awefull.

[B.C.]

Totally copied from one of Vroman's posts. Based on Vintage, but still...



I compiled this list awhile ago, and inspired by Smennens recent scg article, I updated it.
I went through every set and gave every card a pretty subjective 0-5 rating.
0 = has never and will never be played in vintage
1 = was played that one time in that niche deck. probably only worth mentioning for completeness sake
2 = played every once in a while, or part of a deck w outlier card sets
3 = generally useful card that may show up in multiple decks
4 = staple build around card
5 = format defining
I rated every set w unique cards in it

144 Alpha
51 Urzas Saga
47 Onslaught
36 Tempest
36 Urzas Legacy
35 Ice Age
34 Zendikar (theoretical)
33 Odyssey
33 Future Sight
28 Judgment
28 Mirrodin
26 Lorwyn
25 Alliances
25 Weatherlight
25 Ravnica
24 Antiquities
24 Time Spiral
23 Mercadian Masks
22 Scourge
22 Darksteel
21 Visions
21 Champions
20 Shards Alara
19 Fifth Dawn
18 Mirage
18 Urzas Destiny
17 Legends
17 Torment
16 Exodus
15 Arabian Nights
15 Nemesis
14 Planeshift
14 Shadowmoor
12 Apocalypse
12 Guildpact
12 Morningtide
11 Stronghold
11 Dissension
11 Coldsnap
10 Planar Chaos
10 Conflux
9 Dark
9 Portal Three
9 Invasion
7 Betrayors
7 Alara Reborn
6 Saviors
5 Portal Two
5 Harper Prism
4 Beta
4 Homelands
4 Legions
4 Eventide
3 Starter 99
3 Portal
3 Magic 2010
2 Fallen Empires
1 Prophecy

[Skeggi]

I never remembered Legions as being so bad, but that may be because I loved the Onslaught block and am a fan of Willbender...

[B.C.]

Legions cards that have seen Vintage play:

Akroma
Gempalm Incinerator
Withered Wretch

There might be a couple others that are played in Legacy, but not many. Legions isn't too bad of a set because it has a lot of good casual/cube/EDH monsters (e.g. Phage, Graveborn Muse, Misform Ultimus), but it's certainly not a very powerful block.

[Skeggi]

but it's certainly not a very powerful block.
Not a powerful block? The Onslaught Block? But... but... Exalted Angel and Fetches and Goblin Piledriver and... and... Tendrils of Agony and Brain Freeze and Dragonstorm are also in this block...

[B.C.]

Sorry. By "block" I meant "set". Didn't mean to get you all worked up like that.