What are the top ten most powerful or influential cards from the Magic: the Gathering set Fallen Empires?
"Fallen Empires" is often viewed as a lower-powered set in Magic: The Gathering's history, but it did introduce some cards that became iconic or influential for specific deck types and strategies. Here are the top ten most powerful or influential cards from Fallen Empires, along with their impacts on gameplay:
10. Thelonite Druid
Thelonite Druid is a two-mana green creature that can transform all your forests into 2/3 creatures temporarily. This card provided green decks with an unexpected way to turn their lands into threats, potentially swarming an opponent or closing out games suddenly.
While niche, Thelonite Druid introduced an interesting, aggressive angle for mono-green decks, giving green players access to a potential overrun strategy without relying on creatures.
9. Elvish Farmer
A two-mana Elf that generates Saproling tokens and can sacrifice them to gain life, Elvish Farmer was a key piece in token and life-gain strategies. It provided a steady supply of creatures to sacrifice for value, and it was especially useful in casual and multiplayer settings.
In Commander, it found synergy with cards that care about creature types like Saprolings or Elves. Its flexibility made it a fun, interactive card that promoted creative deck building.
8. Breeding Pit
This black enchantment generates a 0/1 Thrull token every upkeep for a mana cost. In early Magic, token generation was rare, and Breeding Pit provided a slow but reliable army.
While inefficient by today's standards, this card saw play in black control decks or "Thrull" tribal builds, where having a steady stream of blockers was valuable. It also synergized with sacrifice effects, enabling decks to maintain board presence while feeding cards like Goblin Bombardment or Skullclamp.
7. Rainbow Vale
Rainbow Vale is a land that taps for one mana of any color but switches control to an opponent afterward. While it seems like a drawback, creative players have used this card in decks where giving the land away can be an advantage, such as decks utilizing Zedruu the Greathearted in Commander.
The Vale's unique mechanics fostered experimentation and strategies revolving around land control and resource sharing, and it remains a memorable card for its unorthodox design.
6. Icatian Javelineers
This one-mana white creature enters the battlefield with a "javelin counter," which can be removed to deal 1 damage to any target. While the ability seems modest, the efficiency of a 1/1 body with built-in removal was highly valuable in the early game, especially against small creatures or mana dorks.
Icatian Javelineers became a staple in white aggro decks, particularly in Pauper, where its low cost and versatile damage proved effective in managing creature-heavy metagames.
5. Order of Leitbur
Similar to its black counterpart, Order of Leitbur is the white "pump knight," gaining protection from black. White Weenie decks used this card extensively to outmaneuver black removal and creature decks.
Its synergy with other white tribal and aggressive strategies, alongside its efficiency as an early-game attacker, made it an iconic card during the Fallen Empires era and beyond. The Order cycle influenced future designs of small, flexible creatures with protective abilities.
4. Order of the Ebon Hand
This black creature was part of the “pump knight” cycle, featuring protection from white and the ability to buff itself with mana. Order of the Ebon Hand became a staple in black aggro decks, particularly in the "Black Weenie" archetype, which thrived on small, aggressive creatures.
The ability to trade up in combat or finish games quickly with its pump ability made it a strong early-game threat. The protection from white was also highly relevant against white control and removal-heavy decks of its time.
3. Goblin Grenade
Goblin Grenade is a one-mana sorcery that requires sacrificing a Goblin to deal 5 damage to any target. This card provides exceptional value, allowing aggressive Goblin decks to close out games quickly.
Over the years, Goblin Grenade has been a key finisher in various Goblin tribal decks in multiple formats, from Standard (during its legality) to Pauper and Commander. Its role in defining aggressive red strategies makes it one of the most significant red cards from Fallen Empires.
2. High Tide
This blue instant is a key card in storm and combo decks, especially in Legacy and Pauper formats. For just one blue mana, it doubles the mana output from islands for the turn, enabling explosive plays.
Decks like High Tide Storm or Mono-Blue Control use this card to generate large amounts of mana, enabling powerful spell chains or massive game-ending spells. Its ability to turn a slow buildup into an unstoppable flood of mana has made it a cornerstone of combo strategies.
1. Hymn to Tourach
This black sorcery is one of the most influential discard spells in Magic's history. For just two black mana, an opponent discards two cards at random. Random discard is more devastating than targeted discard, as it forces opponents to lose key cards.
Hymn to Tourach became a staple in mono-black discard strategies and remains a legacy card in Eternal formats, often paired with Dark Ritual for fast mana. Its efficiency and disruptive nature make it one of the best discard spells ever printed.
Each of these cards had a meaningful impact either in their era or in specific formats over time. Cards like Hymn to Tourach and High Tide have continued to shape Eternal formats, while others like Goblin Grenade and Order of the Ebon Hand left a lasting mark on aggressive strategies. Despite Fallen Empires being a set with a mixed reception, it produced key cards that have endured in Magic’s rich deck-building landscape.
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