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Exotic Orchard
– Conflux rare. Are you enjoying the Summer of Multiplayer? Good! If you’re thinking about whipping up a deck for Archenemy, may we recommend including an Exotic Orchard? It can be very satisfying to use your opponents’ mana capabilities against them, you know.
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Gravedigger
– Tempest common. This Gravedigger is not an employee of a cemetery, which is good, because it would probably present a conflict of interest to employ a zombie. Instead of putting creatures in graves, Gravedigger takes them out. And gives them a new, shambling unlife in the bargain!
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Goblin Balloon Brigade
– Ninth Edition uncommon. The giant inflatable toad is the most memorable thing about the Ninth Edition version of Goblin Balloon Brigade. So when the card comes back for Magic 2011, it will have the same art but new flavor text: “The enemy is getting too close! Quick! Inflate the toad!”
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Xun Yu, Wei Advisor
– Portal Three Kingdoms rare. The Oracle text for a lot of Portal cards contains the sentence “Activate this ability only during your turn, before attackers are declared.” This is because Portal used a cut-down version of Magic rules that didn’t have a postcombat main phase or instants, so the combat tricks tended to say “On your turn, before you attack ….”
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Xira Arien
– Masters Edition III rare. Although Xira Arien’s flavor text mentions a costume, the creature type “Insect” suggests those wings aren’t just for show. It’s established in Assassin’s Blade that Xira is, in fact, a eumidian insect. Anyway, who says insects can’t wear costumes occasionally?
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Xathrid Demon
– Magic 2010 mythic rare. Xathrid Demon would like to remind you that it’s the Summer of Multiplayer, and would also like to know if you have any creatures you’d like to sacrifice in order to cause pain all across the table.
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Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
– Portal Three Kingdoms rare. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Xiahou Dun got Cao Xing’s arrow in his left eye, he pulled the arrow out and ate his own eyeball to frighten his enemies!
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Xantid Swarm
– Scourge rare. Ever wonder just how big Xantid Swarm can make a certain card from Unhinged? Doug Beyer once did the math and found 725 creatures in the swarm. But it’s possible he missed a couple.
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Topsy Turvy
– Unhinged rare. Because Topsy Turvy doesn’t reverse the order of steps within phases, a three-card combo of it, Opalescence, and Mistmeadow Witch should be able to create a single endless turn, going forward and backward forever.
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Fortune Thief
– Time Spiral rare. Many Time Spiral cards are loaded up with references to old cards, like Fortune Thief’s reference to Ali from Cairo. But you have to look pretty carefully to notice that the Fortune Thief stole Ali’s turban and the pendant!
