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Rebels, Mercenaries and Spellshapers
What this set is
Mercadian Masques is the first set of the Masques block, set in Mercadia, a city built on a mountain. It has 335 different cards, 350 with basic land arts, and it is widely seen as a deliberate step down in power from the Urza block before it.
Its themes are creature types with jobs. The set has 17 Rebels and 16 Mercenaries, many of which search your library for a cheaper member of their own type, and Spellshapers (23) discard a card to produce a spell effect. Squee, Goblin Nabob, which returns from your graveyard to your hand each upkeep, is its best-known legend.
It is also the first expansion with no cards on the Reserved List. Brainstorm, Counterspell and Dark Ritual are reprinted here, and Black Market, High Market and Snuff Out are the new cards Commander players use most.
Themes
Every mechanic in Mercadian Masques
Spellshapers
A creature type: each Spellshaper has a tap ability that also discards a card, and the ability copies an instant or sorcery. They turn extra cards into repeatable spells.
Rebel and Mercenary searchers
Many Rebels and Mercenaries pay mana and tap to put a cheaper creature of the same type from your library onto the battlefield, so one early searcher builds a board.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Mercadian Masques is a single code with one Legacy ban.
Not Standard-legal, and not Modern-legal as a set: Modern starts at Eighth Edition (July 2003). A card from here that was reprinted in a later Modern-legal set is Modern-legal in this printing too, because legality follows the card, not the printing. Legacy bans Gush, and Vintage restricts Gush and Brainstorm. Nothing is banned in Commander. It is also legal in Premodern, the community format built on Fourth Edition through Scourge. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Commanders
The most played commanders from Mercadian Masques
The legends this set is best known for. Tap one for its printings and what it costs.
Boosters, precons and singles from Mercadian Masques are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
Where can I play Mercadian Masques cards?
In Legacy, Vintage and Commander, minus the cards each format bans. Mercadian Masques is too old for Standard, Pioneer or Modern as a set, though any card that was later reprinted in a Modern-legal set is Modern-legal in every printing. It is also legal in Premodern, a community format built on Fourth Edition through Scourge.
Does Mercadian Masques have Reserved List cards?
No. It is the first expansion with none, and no later set has any.
What is a Spellshaper?
A creature type from this block. Each Spellshaper has a tap ability that also discards a card, and the ability copies the effect of an instant or sorcery.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Mercadian Masques released on Oct 4, 1999; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
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