Weatherlight uncommon. Inspired by Painful Memories from Mirage, this card was named by the simple question “what’s worse than ???painful????” No comment yet on whether you can expect to see “Excruciating Memories” in a future set.
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Darksteel rare. The Mirrodin block prerelease cards are remarkable for several reasons. First, they are the first block to feature alternate art on each of the prerelease promo versions (something that has continued through Kamigawa block). Second, they are the first prerelease cards to be non-creatures. Finally, Shield of Kaldra is the first Magic card to reference a card that hadn???t even been printed yet! (Click here to see the Mirrodin block promo versions.)
Odyssey rare. Following on the heels of the dead language Invasion block promo cards, this block featured cards printed in non-Roman scripts. The Basilisk is in Arabic, Laquatus’s Champion is in Cyrillic, and Glory is printed with Hebrew text. (Click here to see the promo versions.)
Invasion rare. The prerelease promos for Invasion block were printed in three different dead languages. Raging Kavu is in Latin, Questing Phelddagrif is in classical Greek, and Fungal Shambler is printed in Sanskrit! (Click here to see the promo versions.)
Urza’s Legacy rare. All Maro-Sorcerers are avatars of specific forests. Multani is the avatar of the Yavimaya Forest.
Weatherlight uncommon. Considering that the game is based on dueling mages, it’s surprising that only two tournament-legal cards in Magic have ever referenced duels in their flavor text. (The other is the Ice Age version of Counterspell.)
Antiquities uncommon. Affectionately nicknamed ???Stuffy??? around the office, the unfortunate character on this card makes appearances on several other older cards as well. In fact, he shows up in such unlikely places that it’s entirely possible we missed one or two! The other ones we were able to find were: The Rack, Black Vise, Leshrac’s Rite, and Wall of Wonder.
Antiquities uncommon. Of the 7,514 different Magic cards, only 12 start with ???The???. You’d think cards starting with ???The??? would be singular in nature, but only 4 of them can’t normally show up in play in multiples ??? The Abyss, The Lady of the Mountain, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, and The Unspeakable. (Though The Cheese Stands Alone would certainly like to be the only copy in play!)
Betrayers of Kamigawa common. Through some strange coincidence, 3 of the 7 cards with ???hand??? in their name involve the number 4 in their abilities. (The other two are Mending Hands and Initiates of the Ebon Hand, counting Oracle text.) A possible nod to hands having four fingers? You decide!
Fallen Empires common. This (and its white version) redefined the power curve for two-casting cost creatures. Then Ice Age came along and added another version, which gave black and white access to 8 outstanding weenies before even going to White Knight or Black Knight. Collectively, these were referred to as the ???pump knights??? (even though the Fallen Empires versions were Clerics).
