Design
Even when separated from its place as Magic's first expansion, Arabian Nights was a groundbreaking set in terms of its impact on the game. In his article "It Happened One Nights", Mark Rosewater detailed amongst others the following innovations or expansions on Alpha mechanics:
- Stealing opponent's cards — Alpha enabled players to gain control of their opponent's permanents, but Arabian Nights explored this theme further.
- Opponent activated abilities — Ifh-Bíff Efreet has an ability that each player can activate. This theme was further explored with the Mongers in Mercadian Masques
- Lands with abilities — Arabian Nights was the first set with Lands that had abilities other than mana abilities.
- Coin flips — Arabian Nights was the first set that made use of coin flips to introduce additional randomness to the game.
- Cumulative upkeep & Cantrips (cards that draw a new card when played) — Both concepts were more formally introduced in Ice Age, but Arabian Nights made use of these on Cyclone and Jeweled Bird respectively.
- Lifelink — The concept of the ability that would become Lifelink was first introduced on Arabian Nights' El-Hajjâj.
- Exile zone as a Limbo — Oubliette was the first card to use what would eventually come to be called the Exile zone as a holding zone for cards temporarily out of play.
Read more about this topic: Arabian Nights (Magic: The Gathering)
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“Westerners inherit
A design for living
Deeper into matter
Not without due patter
Of a great misgiving.”
—Robert Frost (18741963)
“The reason American cars dont sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. Thats why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
—Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)