On 8 June 1998, Exodus, the 14th expansion set for
Magic: The Gathering, was released. Exodus is also the third and final set in the
Rath Series of M:TG expansions. Its series symbol is a bridge.
Exodus initiated some changes in the way the cards are designed. The most easily recognizable of these deals with the series-symbol. Starting with Exodus, the rarity of the card will be displayed on the card itself; this will be represented by the color of the series-symbol. Common cards have black symbols, uncommons have silver symbols, and rares have gold symbols.
Exodus Standout Cards
(quoted from The Duelist, Issue 28, www.wizards.com)
Offensive Standouts
Carnophage, a 2/2 creature for B, is a prime candidate for black speed decks, which were very successful in Regionals. Its drawback of paying 1 life to keep it from tapping is minimal for a kamikaze-style rush offense. And because it's a Zombie, Carnophage is a logical companion for Sarcomancy-the other 2/2 creature for B. In green, Skyshroud Elite is a reverse Kird Ape of sorts that can be reliable in today's Standard environment of rainbow decks and multicolor madness. At worst, it's a vanilla 1/1 for one mana.
Red has several other decent offensive cards as well. Ogre Shaman is overcosted at 3RR for a 3/3 creature, but a Stormbind that can attack and block can never be completely underestimated. Seismic Assault is an improved Land's Edge that can kill creatures as well and can't be used against you, all at a cost not appreciably more than Land's Edge. Sonic Burst may result in card disadvantage, but it's an instant damage source with a low casting cost. Plus, Cursed Scroll negates whatever disadvantage occurs with these "discard-to-kill" cards. Other possible major leaguers in the offensive category are again red: Spellshock and Onslaught. The latter especially may prove to be red's best friend against Walls, first strikers, and other blocker-heavy decks, providing red players a way to force through Ball Lightning or Viashino Sandstalker.
Defensive Standouts
At this time, I don't believe any of the cards in the set are obvious defensive standouts like the Stronghold Walls. However, Mirri, Cat Warrior is vastly undercosted and eminently playable. A 2/3 creature for is not impressive offensively, but its non-tapping attack combined with first strike and forestwalk make it a most impressive defensive unit. Ertai, Wizard Adept is fragile and expensive to use, but a permanent Counterspell must be considered a defensive standout. In addition, Paladin en-Vec and Zealots en-Dal may see play in white weenie decks geared toward control. Finally, Dominating Licid might be a contender in Big Blue-style decks as a Control Magic variant that can still be useful against creatureless decks.
Impact Players
Impact players need not be MVPs-not every card is a Cursed Scroll, and not every expansion is Alliances. However, they do need to make an impact on the environment, either positively by being included in decks, or negatively by forcing other players to build around them. Volrath's Stronghold is an impact-player card-you should always take the Stronghold into consideration in deck building.
The most obvious Exodus impact card is Cataclysm, which is basically a fixed Balance-a swing card of enormous power. It is unclear now whether allowing each player to keep one of each permanent will make the card useless or not, since Balance was almost always used as a combination Wrath of God/Mind Twist/Armageddon. Cataclysm will not accomplish that, but it will decimate the unprepared opponent.
Reclaim is the best fixed version of Regrowth to date. Though you do lose a draw phase, Reclaim costs less than Regrowth and is an instant. If an opponent counters your Armageddon, Reclaim it during his or her discard phase. ProsBloom decks with Reclaim may be able to play without Prosperity at all, relying instead on recursing Infernal Contracts and Meditates; in response to casting Infernal Contract, Reclaim another one. Suddenly, you're not playing with four Ball Lightnings, but eight. The possibilities are endless.
Necrologia follows the Law of Necro: any card with the word "Necro" in it is playable. In the age of burn and fast damage, Necrologia may actually be better than Necropotence, since its drawback doesn't linger. Only its high casting cost prevents Necrologia from being completely bah-roken.
There are a few other cards that could impact specialized decks or sideboards. These include Oath of Ghouls, Recurring Nightmare, Treasure Trove, Merfolk Looter, and the buyback spells Forbid and Flowstone Flood. I'd also keep an eye on Oath of Scholars, Pandemonium, Limited Resources, and Mindless Automaton.
Most Valuable Player
My pick for Exodus MVP, however, is Jackalope Herd-a card R&D considers relatively innocuous. Let's consider its supposed drawback: You can't play a turn-three Jackalope and then a turn-four Armageddon. In return, we have a splashable 4/5 creature for -a la Erhnam Djinn-which can't be killed as long as you have an instant-speed spell in hand and mana available. Wrath of God? I'll Shock you and, oh look, the Jackalope returns to my hand (countering Shock doesn't stop this effect because the card text doesn't read "successfully play" any spell).
In addition, Jackalope Herd naturally resists being controlled by anyone but its owner and combines well with Wrath of God. Playing Wrath of God will trigger the Jackalope's ability, returning it to your hand before the Wrath resolves and wipes the board clean. Expect to demean or be demeaned frequently by this bunch of bunnies.
Here are the 143 cards of Exodus:
26 Black
26 Blue
26 Green
26 Red
26 White
12 Artifacts
01 Land
White
Allay
Angelic Blessing
Cataclysm
Charging Paladin
Convalescence
Exalted Dragon
High Ground
Keeper of the Light
Kor Chant
Limited Resources
Oath of Lieges
Paladin en-Vec
Peace of Mind
Pegasus Stampede
Penance
Reaping the Rewards
Reconnaissance
Shackles
Shield Mate
Soltari Visionary
Soul Warden
Standing Troops
Treasure Hunter
Wall of Nets
Welkin Hawk
Zealots en-Dal
Blue
AEther Tide
Cunning
Curiosity
Dominating Licid
Ephemeron
Equilibrium
Ertai, Wizard Adept
Fade Away
Forbid
Keeper of the Mind
Killer Whale
Mana Breach
Merfolk Looter
Mind Over Matter
Mirozel
Oath of Scholars
Robe of Mirrors
Rootwater Mystic
School of Piranha
Scrivener
Thalakos Drifters
Thalakos Scout
Theft of Dreams
Treasure Trove
Wayward Soul
Whiptongue Frog
Black
Carnophage
Cat Burglar
Culling the Weak
Cursed Flesh
Dauthi Cutthroat
Dauthi Jackal
Dauthi Warlord
Death's Duet
Entropic Specter
Fugue
Grollub
Hatred
Keeper of the Dead
Mind Maggots
Nausea
Necrologia
Oath of Ghouls
Pit Spawn
Plaguebearer
Recurring Nightmare
Scare Tactics
Slaughter
Spike Cannibal
Thrull Surgeon
Vampire Hounds
Volrath's Dungeon
Red
Anarchist
Cinder Crawler
Dizzying Gaze
Fighting Chance
Flowstone Flood
Furnace Brood
Keeper of the Flame
Mage il-Vec
Maniacal Rage
Mogg Assassin
Monstrous Hound
Oath of Mages
Ogre Shaman
Onslaught
Pandemonium
Paroxysm
Price of Progress
Raging Goblin
Ravenous Baboons
Reckless Ogre
Sabertooth Wyvern
Scalding Salamander
Seismic Assault
Shattering Pulse
Sonic Burst
Spellshock
Green
Avenging Druid
Bequeathal
Cartographer
Crashing Boars
Elven Palisade
Elvish Berserker
Jackalope Herd
Keeper of the Beasts
Manabond
Mirri, Cat Warrior
Oath of Druids
Plated Rootwalla
Predatory Hunger
Pygmy Troll
Rabid Wolverines
Reclaim
Resuscitate
Rootwater Alligator
Skyshroud Elite
Skyshroud War Beast
Song of Serenity
Spike Hatcher
Spike Rogue
Spike Weaver
Survival of the Fittest
Wood Elves
Artifacts
Coat of Arms
Erratic Portal
Medicine Bag
Memory Crystal
Mindless Automaton
Null Brooch
Skyshaper
Spellbook
Sphere of Resistance
Thopter Squadron
Transmogrifying Licid
Workhorse
Land
City of Traitors