u/Percemilo34

Do you have any special pieces of art on cards that really insipred you when you started playing magic? Something that helped pull you into the fantasy of the game and made you wonder about the world being presented in them instead of just looking at the cards like game pieces and how they could be used for optimal strategy. Places where you'd like to treat in or at least see a bigger picture of the world you got yourself immersed in.

For me, it would be the following cards:

]]Badlands|3ED]], [[Underground sea|3ED]]

[[Sol ring|3ED]], [[mana vault|3ED]]

[[Contamination|USG]]

[[Phyrexian gargantua|APC]]

[[Serendib djinn|ARN]]

[[Adarkar wastes|7ED]]

[[Rishadan port|MMQ]]

[[City of brass|ARN]]

[[Penumbra wurm|APC]]

[[Time vault|2ED]]

[[Birds of paradise|7ED]]

[[Untamed wilds|LEG]]

[[Mana drain|LEG]]

[[Kavu titan|APC]]

[[Creeping mold|7ED]]

[[Hidden horror|WTH]]

[[Bog wraith|2ED]]

[Twiddle|2ED]]

[[Enlightened tutor|MIR]], [[Mystical tutor|MIR]], [[Worldly tutor|MIR]]

Howdy fellow old border cubers!

Whe didn't have such an explosion of different effects as we have nowadays, but that only made each new released mechanic even more interesting and unique.

For me, I would say it's flashback, morph, kicker (duh), echo and ironically flying and first strike.

Flashback and kicker are my favorites by far. Morph is something I really like as an idea, but it's certainly a slower/less powerful mechanic. Echo, on the other hand is one of those effects that bring up balance to your games in unexpected ways and offer surprising levels of protection. No cheating into play easily, no stealing without consequences, etc.

Flying can become a real pain if your opponent can't deal with it effectively. I was surprised to see whole blocks on the mana curve for specific colors to have no flying creatures or any way to deal with it. Nowadays it pales in comparison to most newer effects, but it used to be quite the powerhouse, especially in limited.

As for first strike, there's nothing really like it out there, it's a terror in combat. Even today double strike just tacks on first strike as an additional effect.

What would you say are your personal favorite mechanics?