Future Sight was one of our favorite small sets. The premise is terrific — cards from the future! The set included 81 cards with a special “from the future” card frame. The idea was that these cards were from the future, just as Time Spiral had had cards in an old frame from the past, and Planar Chaos had had cards in a special frame “from alternate presents.”

Since Time Spiral block was all about time running amok, the future had intruded on the past, allowing us a glimpse into what will become.

Or rather, what might become. Wizards of the Coast said at the time that the cards from the future might be from actual futures, and might be from futures that do not come to pass.

Well, let’s be serious for a second. If you print cards and say they’re from the future, but then you say that they’re from futures that won’t happen, what fun is that? That’s not very fun. It’s a lot more fun when the cards from Future Sight actually were from the future, isn’t it?

That means reprinting them.

There were 81 “futureshifted” cards. For every one genuinely reprinted as though it were a new card, Wizards gets a point on our Future Sight Scorecard. The higher the score, the cooler Future Sight was, looking back on it. It has to be reprinted as though it were a new card, because in order to have been from the future, it has to be “from” the later set. Is that a time paradox? Wrap your head around that one for a second.

Now, Wizards will never get a perfect score of 81, because Steamflogger Boss lol. But that’s OK. Let’s just see how things are going so far.

Cards worth points

Mistmeadow Skulk — This is a great job. Well done. This card came from the very near future — the very next block. Well, the half-block after the very next half-block — Shadowmoor. Since sets are decided in advance, it’s clear that this card was a bona fide look into an already decided future. So that’s terrific.

Bloodshot Trainee — whoa, we’re into red already? That’s not good. Anyway. This one was reprinted in Scars of Mirrodin. It doesn’t seem to have a ton to do with that block, but nice job anyway.

Boldwyr Intimidator — A fantastic reprint. It’s from Morningtide, a set about Warriors! You can’t do much better than that. Great job, kudos all around.

Phosphorescent Feast — From Eventide. It’s too bad the Future Sight version doesn’t have the Chroma keyword, but credit where credit is due. It was from the future.

Graven Cairn — Not only was this printed in Shadowmoor, but the whole cycle made it into the block! Great job. The Future Sight version talks about a future land of Kar-Sengir — no doubt a ferocious land of vampires. Wait, they just did a vampire block. Oh, no, that means Kar-Sengir will probably never materialize. That’s OK. This card was from the future anyway. Maybe it got twisted in time along the way.

Zoetic Cavern — This is from — Commander? Is that a real set? Well, it’s a set with new cards, so, we say that counts. Note that it barely counts, because what does Commander have to do with morph? Apparently, Zoetic Cavern is from a terrifying future world where brave, ignorant commanders who are incapable of understanding spells outside their own colors do battle. That’s worth a point.

Special bonus points

Tarmogoyf — This card has never been reprinted. But you know what? The Future Sight printing of the card mentions planeswalkers, which didn’t exist as cards yet. That’s so great that we’re willing to give a point. Clearly, this card came from the future, even if we don’t know what set.

Ghostfire — This card also has not actually been reprinted. But it talks about the Eye of Ugin, which later turned out to be in Zendikar; and as a colorless instant, it hints at Rise of the Eldrazi! We’re going to give this one a point for being from Emrakul’s favorite future.

Goldmeadow Lookout — A reader pointed out this one, as you’ll see if you read the comments! It makes Goldmeadow Harrier tokens, which are from the future, Lorwyn. That should count, too. Excellent job.

Cards reprinted but not worth any points

Sarcomite Myr — reprinted in Planechase. Planechase was all reprints, at least so far. That does not count, because it doesn’t reveal what “future set” Sarcomite Myr was “from.”

Spin into Myth — reprinted in Archenemy. Same thing.

Frenzy Sliver, Homing Sliver, Virulent Sliver — reprinted in the premium Sliver deck. That’s not even a set. That’s like, “a card from an unimaginable future where we reprint it.” That definitely doesn’t count.

Mass of Ghouls — reprinted in 10th Edition. The whole point of this card being futureshifted was that it was in a textless frame. We love that, honestly. We’d reprint Watchwolf in a textless frame in two seconds. The reprint in 10th Edition is in a normal frame. Was Mass of Ghouls from a nightmare future where vanilla creatures appear in normal card frames? We don’t think so. Doesn’t count.

Edge of Autumn — reprinted in a duel deck. This is basically the same issue as reprinting it in a premium deck. No point.

Final score — 9/81

Frankly, if we were in charge, it would be required to reprint at least one futureshifted card per year.

We’ll check back in a year to see if the score has changed.

Give up?

You can’t run them in EDH if your general is monoblack. You’d have to have a five-color general to run all these cards.

You’ll find it here.

Well, some of it anyway. The first 7000 words.

Written for BGG, so you’ll find it here.

- Jan. 8, 2009

One of our intrepid correspondents, am statham, was experimenting with the idea of Lovecraftian planeswalkers. Here’s how some of them came out.

However, really good five-color lands can set you back quite a bit. If you’re just playing casual Magic, City of Brass might seem a little expensive. Even just one Gemstone Mine, which only taps for any color a few times, will set you back at least a couple of dollars.

There are ways to play five colors with just basic lands, of course, mostly involving using green as a base and search cards to get out the missing colors. Or you can use Terramorphic Expanses, Terminal Moraines and Armillary Spheres to find the missing basics.

But on the off chance that you’d like to play five colors using nonbasics, so that you don’t have to devote your deck to a search engine, we decided to compile a list. What we’ve done is search for nonbasic lands that, first, tap for any color of mana, and second, should cost you less than a dollar.

Vivid lands — The poor man’s Gemstone Mines. They come into play tapped, and they only make other colors two times, but you don’t have to sacrifice them when they’re done doing that. You should be able to get these for less than a dollar. They should be worth a lot less, really, but they actually get played quite a bit with Reflecting Pool, which drives up the price. The Pool sees them as able to tap for any color — so the Pool taps for any color as well. But even without that trick, the Vivid lands can help play a five-color or off-color card.

Odyssey Sack lands — After seeing Vivid lands, you might be asking yourself, why in the world would they print these? Aren’t they terrible? Well, remember, this was Odyssey block (except for the Dig, which was the prototype for the others). In a draft, getting threshold was a big deal. These lands could help you get threshold in Limited and surprise the opponent with a nasty off-color splash trick at the same time. Essentially, they existed to help you get threshold. They will make another color in an emergency. They’re super-cheap — you should be able to get four of them for less than a dollar, except maybe for Archaeological Dig, which should still be less than a dollar for one. The Dig was actually used in the occasional combo deck. The thinking was, who cares about sacking it if you’re killing the opponent? Anyway, these lands are pretty bad except in specific situations.

Mirrodin’s Core – This is also a poor man’s Gemstone Mine. It’s nearly unplayable in any deck that needs colored mana over and over. But if you only need that extra color once or twice, then it can be pretty good. Not coming into play tapped means that it can help with a main-color spell right away. So, Mirrodin’s Core isn’t very good in a true five-color deck, but can be good in a deck splashing a few cards.

Tendo Ice Bridge — For the deck that truly splashes just one deadly off-color card, Tendo Ice Bridge is lightning fast. It makes the off color right away, unlike Mirrodin’s Core, and you don’t sack it after it does it. You might consider this card in your quicker decks that have to count on an off color early on.

Grand Coliseum — Now this is the poor man’s City of Brass. Much cheaper to purchase, it has the drawback of coming into play tapped. But then it doesn’t ping you when you use it for colorless. For casual play, this really should pass as a City of Brass most of the time.

Tarnished Citadel — We’re really only including this one for completeness. It’s pretty terrible.

Shimmering Grotto — This land might work, if you think you’ll need an off color or five-color but not at the top of your mana curve. Basically, you’re asking yourself, is it worth Sphere of Resistancing myself in order to play this off-color or five-color card? If the answer is yes, then Shimmering Grotto is the budget card for you. Four should be less than a dollar. Note that we wanted to show you Henge of Ramos and School of the Unseen so that you could see how terrible they are by comparison.

Rupture Spire — The turn you play this is going to be the nightmare turn from Hell. Comes into play tapped, and then tap another one of your lands besides? Yikes. However, after that, you’re good to go. This land might work in a deck where most of the spells are cheap but the few five-color or off-color spells are expensive. If nothing in your deck costs three or four, then playing this as your fourth land might not be so bad. It’s very inexpensive to purchase. That’s the main thing it has going for it.

Gemstone Caverns — OK, now we’re just getting silly. This land only makes five colors if it was in your opening hand. And if you were playing second. And if you pitched a card to it! We really only included it for completeness. It’s not good. You might have two mana on your first turn, though! Tantalizing!

Rainbow Vale — Is awful. We only included it to be complete. Maybe you could make this work if you used it to Mindslaver the opponent, and then during his turn, made him give it back to you. Wait, that’s still terrible. Hmm. Another way to maybe make it work is, you use it to pay for Obliterate. Actually, that sounds halfway funny.

Forsaken City — This land has one purpose. To pay for Stasis. That’s it.

For 1BB?  A 2/1, a 1/2 or a 0/3.

2BB: 4/1, 3/2, 2/3, 1/4 or 0/5.

3BB: 6/1, 5/2, 4/3, 3/4, 2/5, 1/6 or 0/7.

4BB: 8/1, 7/2, 6/3, 5/4, 4/5, 3/6, 2/7, 1/8 or 0/9.

5BB: 10/1, 9/2, 8/3, 7/4, 6/5, 5/6, 4/7, 3/8, 2/9, 1/10 or 0/11.

6BB: 12/1, 11/2, 10/3, 9/4, 8/5, 7/6, 6/7, 5/8, 4/9, 3/10, 2/11, 1/12 or 0/13.

And finally, we’ll stop at nine mana …

7BB: 14/1, 13/2, 12/3, 11/4, 10/5, 9/6, 8/7, 7/8, 6/9, 5/10, 4/11, 3/12, 2/13, 1/14 or 0/15.