Part 2 (read Part 1 first!)

With Homelands Wizards of the Coast didn’t continue the popular theme decks, with few exceptions. They didn’t give us any new archetypes to exploit. At first glance you might say to yourself “Why did tree’s have to die for this set?” But if you look at the cards and think about the synergy they had in the standard environment of the day it could really be quite impressive. Homelands took the role of a support set, to enhance the previous expansion sets that were released. Lets delve into this mysterious set and see how well it did.

Lets start off with everyone’s 2nd favorite girl, Autumn Willow. Outdone only by the well-loved Serra Angel, possibly too well loved by some people, this card is by far my favorite Willow that wizards ever printed. How much better would Blastoderm be if only your opponent couldn’t target him? About as good as Autumn Willow!! This card was combined very nicely with Ernham Djinn and Armageddon to create quite a nasty deck.

Anaba’s were the only real new theme deck that we were given. And what a job they did. With ways to pump up they’re size and burn spells to back them up. This could very well be considered the first "sleigh" deck. Especially since Ball Lightning was still in print at the time in The Dark. Always a popular deck in any tournament at the time.

When looking at Homelands for the first time, one has to wonder what a “polyp” is. Coral Reef was the first and only card in the game to make use of Polyp counters. It was a bit slow and slightly mana intensive. But your blue creatures would soon be out of reach of any burn spells. And for all of you wanting to know what a Polyp is…

pol·yp (p l p)
n.
1. A usually nonmalignant growth or tumor protruding from the mucous lining of an organ such as the nose, bladder, or intestine, often causing obstruction.

The Adjective being Polypoid. So be sure to call all your friends stupid Polypoids and see if they can catch the reference.

Grandmother Sengir had some great Built in spot removal. 5 mana for a 3/3, but she could pick off weenie creatures like no one else, save for Tim. Along with Baron Sengir this pair made quite a team in many decks. Throw in an Ishan Shade or two.

Lets take a look at the card trade caravan. One White for a 1/1. Starts off pretty good. “At the beginning of your upkeep put a currency counter on Trade caravan” (Counter are always good, so we’re 2 for 2.) “Remove 2 currency counters: Untap Target basic land” A little mana acceleration never hurt anyone. That’s 3 for 3. “Use this ability only during your opponents upkeep” So you leave one blue open and you opponent gets all excited because he thinks you have no counterspell, then WHAM! At the end of his upkeep you untap an Island. And you can do this EVERY OTHER TURN! Ok, so 3 out of 4 isn’t bad, right?

Orcish Mine was pretty slick. Put it on a land and three turns later watch it hit the graveyard. This went along real well with Dwarven Pony. You put the mine on all they’re non-mountains, and roll for 1 every turn if you have a pony and a Dwarf out.

Homelands was a formidable set back in the day. Was it better then Fallen Empires? I’d call it a photo finish, as it’s just too close to tell. Both sets bring power to the game. The Collectability of Fallen Empires was unrivaled with 4 different pictures for every card, I’m still working on a set of each, and the quantity of playable cards in Homelands is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. In my opinion its unfair to compare the two as both brought different strategies to the game in different ways.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Part 2 (read Part 1 first!)

With Homelands Wizards of the Coast didn’t continue the popular theme decks, with few exceptions. They didn’t give us any new archetypes to exploit. At first glance you might say to yourself “Why did tree’s have to die for this set?” But if you look at the cards and think about the synergy they had in the standard environment of the day it could really be quite impressive. Homelands took the role of a support set, to enhance the previous expansion sets that were released. Lets delve into this mysterious set and see how well it did.

Lets start off with everyone’s 2nd favorite girl, Autumn Willow. Outdone only by the well-loved Serra Angel, possibly too well loved by some people, this card is by far my favorite Willow that wizards ever printed. How much better would Blastoderm be if only your opponent couldn’t target him? About as good as Autumn Willow!! This card was combined very nicely with Ernham Djinn and Armageddon to create quite a nasty deck.

Anaba’s were the only real new theme deck that we were given. And what a job they did. With ways to pump up they’re size and burn spells to back them up. This could very well be considered the first "sleigh" deck. Especially since Ball Lightning was still in print at the time in The Dark. Always a popular deck in any tournament at the time.

When looking at Homelands for the first time, one has to wonder what a “polyp” is. Coral Reef was the first and only card in the game to make use of Polyp counters. It was a bit slow and slightly mana intensive. But your blue creatures would soon be out of reach of any burn spells. And for all of you wanting to know what a Polyp is…

pol·yp (p l p)
n.
1. A usually nonmalignant growth or tumor protruding from the mucous lining of an organ such as the nose, bladder, or intestine, often causing obstruction.

The Adjective being Polypoid. So be sure to call all your friends stupid Polypoids and see if they can catch the reference.

Grandmother Sengir had some great Built in spot removal. 5 mana for a 3/3, but she could pick off weenie creatures like no one else, save for Tim. Along with Baron Sengir this pair made quite a team in many decks. Throw in an Ishan Shade or two.

Lets take a look at the card trade caravan. One White for a 1/1. Starts off pretty good. “At the beginning of your upkeep put a currency counter on Trade caravan” (Counter are always good, so we’re 2 for 2.) “Remove 2 currency counters: Untap Target basic land” A little mana acceleration never hurt anyone. That’s 3 for 3. “Use this ability only during your opponents upkeep” So you leave one blue open and you opponent gets all excited because he thinks you have no counterspell, then WHAM! At the end of his upkeep you untap an Island. And you can do this EVERY OTHER TURN! Ok, so 3 out of 4 isn’t bad, right?

Orcish Mine was pretty slick. Put it on a land and three turns later watch it hit the graveyard. This went along real well with Dwarven Pony. You put the mine on all they’re non-mountains, and roll for 1 every turn if you have a pony and a Dwarf out.

Homelands was a formidable set back in the day. Was it better then Fallen Empires? I’d call it a photo finish, as it’s just too close to tell. Both sets bring power to the game. The Collectability of Fallen Empires was unrivaled with 4 different pictures for every card, I’m still working on a set of each, and the quantity of playable cards in Homelands is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. In my opinion its unfair to compare the two as both brought different strategies to the game in different ways.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!