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Five planeswalkers' first sparks
What this set is
Magic Origins is a core set built around five origin stories. Gideon, Jace, Liliana, Chandra and Nissa each appear as a legendary creature that transforms into a planeswalker when a condition is met, the moment that character's spark ignites.
It was announced as the last core set, and the core line paused until Core Set 2019. Its new mechanics are renown, which gives a creature +1/+1 counters the first time it deals combat damage to a player, and spell mastery, a bonus if you have two or more instants and sorceries in your graveyard. Menace became a keyword here, replacing the older "can't be blocked except by two or more creatures".
Sword of the Animist, Chandra's Ignition and Thopter Spy Network are its Commander staples.
Themes
Every mechanic in Magic Origins
Flip-walkers
Five legendary creatures that transform into planeswalkers when their condition is met. They are double-faced cards, and when one transforms, the planeswalker gets loyalty counters equal to its printed loyalty.
Renown
When the creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn't renowned, put that many +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes renowned.
Spell mastery
An ability word: a bonus if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard.
Menace
Keyworded here: the creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures. Older cards with that rule were updated to the keyword.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Magic Origins shipped under a single code and is legal in Pioneer, Modern and the eternal formats.
Not Standard-legal. Standard only ever holds the last few years of sets, so everything this old has long since left it. These cards are still playable in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
The draft format
A core set with real themes: renown rewards attacking, spell mastery rewards instants and sorceries, and Thopters run through red and blue.
Renown aggro
Attack
Renown creatures that grow when they connect.
Thopters
Artifacts
Thopter makers and spell mastery payoffs.
Self-mill
Graveyard
Filling the graveyard to turn on spell mastery and graveyard payoffs.
Commanders
The most played commanders from Magic Origins
The legends this set is best known for. Tap one for its printings and what it costs.
Boosters, precons and singles from Magic Origins are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
Was Magic Origins the last core set?
It was announced that way, and there was no core set in 2016 or 2017. The line returned with Core Set 2019 in July 2018.
When did menace become a keyword?
In Magic Origins. Older cards that couldn't be blocked except by two or more creatures were updated to say menace.
What are the Magic Origins flip-walkers?
Kytheon, Hero of Akros (Gideon), Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Liliana, Heretical Healer, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh and Nissa, Vastwood Seer. Each transforms into a planeswalker.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Magic Origins released on Jul 17, 2015; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
Playing Magic Origins in Commander?
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