Forest 1 - MTG 4E

Nowadays each set comes with 4 variations on the lands that produce mana, but back in 4th Edition (and earlier), there were only 3 variations. Here is the first “Forest” that you could choose to use. Some people didn’t care and would just grab however many forests they needed for their decks without looking at the art. Others would choose just ONE artwork version and make all 22-24 lands the exact same. Other people would choose 8 of each land exactly and others would do some mix. It always depended on the person making the deck.

I always found it interesting how the various mana cards managed to convey the “sense” of the land they were representing. A Forest is much more than just a bunch of trees all in the same place. As a land surveyor, I know this all too well. Small bushes and rocks and trees all make up what you stumble across when you’re running for your life from a bear, especially if they happen to be angry mutant magic bears! 😉

Force of Nature - MTG 4E

This was my favorite card ever since I first laid eyes on it. A monster that just delivers the punch, right to your face. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Of course, the recurring cost every turn makes it a beast to maintain, and the 4 forest pips means only mono-green decks would have enough green mana to even cast this. Of course, nowadays this card is complete garbage. But that’s how Magic has changed over all. Besides Sol Ring, this card is enshrined in my mind as the Epitome of Magic the Gathering.

Fog - MTG 4E

I tended to be a defensive player until I was familiar with the deck I was facing, so whenever I played green, I always jammed in a couple of Fogs to protect myself. Let your opponent attack with all his creatures, thus tapping them and then don’t block any of them with my creatures but play a Fog. Then on my turn I sweep in with my horde of creatures and because his are all tapped, he can’t block and I either do a massive amount of damage or I kill him. Once someone knows that you play Fog a lot though, it changes how you play the game. Which is the whole point of Magic, every game should be different.

Flying Carpet - MTG 4E

Some cards looked cool, were spot on thematically, and were absolutely terrible, so much so that nobody used them. Then you had “bad” cards that somebody with a slightly twisted mind could find an ingenious use for that nobody had ever thought of. Sadly, I was not one of those players, so I just looked at Flying Carpet, said it was a bad card and moved on.

Flood - MTG 4E

I was not a big fan of cards that only tapped a creature and didn’t destroy it. That kind of playstyle just didn’t fit me and so I don’t think I ever used this card, not even once. However, the picture gets the point across perfectly! That soldier is sitting there, unable to do anything, even defensively. He’s completely helpless. And that is exactly what Flood was supposed to make an opponent feel like.

Flight - MTG 4E

This was a good card if you had a bunch of earth bound creatures and needed a boost to get over your opponent’s chump blockers (little creatures they would sacrifice to block your big creature and thus take zero damage). Like if you had a Cosmic Horror on the field. Fly right over the opposition and smack them in the face for 7 damage. Now that’s how it was done back in the day!

Flashfire - MTG 4E

Ahhh, the good old days when Enemy and Ally colors actually mattered. Red and White were enemies on the color pie, and Wizards of the Coast made cards specifically for and against other colors.

Of course, this was probably inspired by a wildfire in California or something.

Fissure - MTG 4E

Come on guys, build a flipping bridge, you can do it. I don’t care what that Plato dude claims, you CAN build a bridge, I believe in you!

Fire Elemental - MTG 4E

Glad it was a woman who drew this, so in 20 years she couldn’t be accused of sexism. Cause this elemental is HOT! hahahahahahaa. Oh, I crack myself up sometimes.

Firebreathing - MTG 4E

Cards like this wielded the power of “The Classics” like a sword.

Little Jimmy: But Dad, these cards have Tennyson on them. They’re educational!

Dad: Oh, well then, buy all you want son, nothing but the best for my little Timmy, errr, I mean, Jimmy.

Fireball - MTG 4E

Cards like this really showed the Dungeons and Dragons roots of the game of Magic. Which wasn’t cool if you’d grown up thinking D&D was the root of all evil.

Fellwar Stone - MTG 4E

There were times you needed some mana of a color that your opponent had. I can’t remember exactly what those circumstances were, but they existed and Fellwar Stone was there to provide it. Plus, the quote was tailor made for the stone. It probably was actually.

Feedback - MTG 4E

I think every SFF fan of the time knew what magical feedback was. It was a staple in our stories after all. Might even be a staple today, but I rather doubt it. Feedback relies on rationally thinking out your magic system instead of just throwing stuff on the wall and saying “magic!”

Fear - MTG 4E

With all those skulls, that is Where Angels Fear to Tread.
ba dum tish! Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week….
….and that’s a threat you should Fear!

Eye for an Eye - MTG 4E

Dude is built like a brick! If he was shorter, I’d say “Hey look, it’s me!”. But he’s way too tall to be me. Plus, I’m rocking the goatee while he’s got the evil villain mustache thing going. And my abs don’t “quite” look like that. Maybe if you squint though.

Evil Presence - MTG 4E

You just KNOW something wicked creepy is hiding in the shadows, just out of sight.

Eternal Warrior - MTG 4E

I must admit, when I think of “Eternal Warrior”, my mind immediately springs to the author Michael Moorcock and his literary creation The Eternal Warrior. I am most familiar with Elric, Corum and Hawkmoon.

This ability later became an Evergreen Ability (meaning it was a keyword with a specific meaning and was not a specific spell like here) called Vigilance. But even starting in Alpha (the very first Magic set), the ability was there, just spelled out. Amazing how streamlined Magic has become over the years.

Erosion - MTG 4E

I never saw this card played. Three blue pips is simply too expensive unless you have a convoluted plan that absolutely needs this. In which case, you probably have about seven other plans as well, all of which cost less and do more. But this is what the Color Pie USED to mean. Blue was not land destruction. So when a card was land destruction and it was blue, there was a drawback of it costing much more.

`rambles off into nostalgic rant about the good old days of Magic…

Erg Raiders - MTG 4E

Sometimes having to explain what the card does takes up all the space and you don’t get any funny quotes like in Elvish Archers. That makes me sad.

Energy Tap - MTG 4E

If you can cheat in a big creature, you suddenly have access to a massive amount of mana and can pull some serious shenanigans with this card. IF being the operative word. Blue was always tricky but fragile.