Abyssal Nocturnus, rare (first printed in Guildpact, 2006)

Well, it's better than Megrim! This Nocturnus exists to blackjack your distressed opponents, stealing an early victory before they recover from the disruption this card demands to be ran alongside. Immediately it slots in to your typical no-thrills black attack deck, too slow and conservative to be considered suicide. The real fun to be found in the Horror is in its improvement of already fair cards - Nocturnus turns Skullscorch into a mostly guaranteed four damage, Urza's Guilt into nine and Wheel of Fortune into anything up to fourteen! Disrupting Scepter is a good partner for him, and a fine card on its own, but greater humour can be found in him acquiring a partner, specifically any Specter-type creature, and providing that partner with some means to strike first - try a Blazing Specter wearing the Helm of Kaldra or else ensorcelled with Fists of the Demigod. Perhaps that's going a little over-the-top to satisfy an already fair card when greater results can be derived from a simpler pairing - Ill-Gotten Gains, a popular and questionably-balanced card, which both superpowers your Nocturnus and retrieves your Blightnings and Ravenous Rats and whatnot, combating the good your opponent found in the card while bludgeoning him or her half to death. Not bad at all. Can be acquired for about fifty pence a copy.

Abyssal Nightstalker, uncommon (first printed in Portal Second Age, 1998)

Assuredly a surplus card in all but the most queer of circumstances. There are enough better versions of this card (Specters in the Hypnotic, Abyssal, Blazing and countless other varieties) that this Nightstalker wouldn't even have a home in the most monomaniacal of hand-attacking decks. I'll admit that, should you be looking for a Specter-like creature that doesn't fly, you might want to include... no, no, there are Odylic Wraiths and its countless brothers and sisters to consider. Not even particularly exciting in the "resurrect all Night Stalkers" deck. Avoid. Can be acquired, if you must, for about forty pence a copy.

Abyssal Hunter, rare (first printed in Mirage, 1996)

The stall-breaker to Royal Assassin's stall-creator, Abyssal Hunter gets passed over even in casual deck construction time and time again, and that's a terrible shame because he is a powerful card. It has obvious applications like settling creature impasses, slowly clearing the battlefield of clutter like Llanowar Elves with his oversized bowie knife and keeping one large creature locked down for as many turns as you wish, and even before you start combining other cards with him, you'll notice that those are a wide range of useful abilities, particularly in a black card - a colour that seems to have recently lost the power to force a creature to tap. Now then... combine the man with Sadistic Glee or, even more viciously, the off-colour Exoskeletal Armor and he becomes the fish that eats its kin so that he may acquire the volume to eat bigger fish still. Pair him, as many have done, with Royal Assassin himself and you have a deadly duo who decide whether any other man lives or dies. Even placing something as simple as Instill Energy on the Abyssal Hunter creates an outrageously powerful problem for your opponent. Yes, he can be removed from play by many of the choice zaps people play and yes, he probably costs one point of mana too many, but when you are paying for a chance to control a permanent that ruins your opponent's plans to such an extent, one dares to say it might be worthwhile. Can be acquired for about forty pence a copy, in either black or white-bordered form.

Abyssal Horror, rare (first printed in Urza's Saga, 1998)

A creature who needs to be cheated into play, its cost being higher than its apparent power would suggest is necessary. Ideally you'll be able to find a way of placing this Horror directly onto the battlefield for less than 2B, the cost of Stupor - (Hymn to Tourach forced two random discards for the low cost of BB but I think we can all agree on how much of an aberration that was...) Flash, Oath of Druids, Animate Dead and Soul Exchange all come to mind, but in a game of multiplayer, you'll find far weirder ways. Am I being harsh about its uncastability? Of course, you can wait until the middle of a multiplayer game or until near the end of a duel to cast this creature honestly, but its effect on the opponent will be much less disruptive. Indeed, it is unusual among rare black threats that it becomes weaker as time marches on - you could have cast Nightmare or Visara for similar costs! Can be acquired for about thirty pence a copy in black border or twenty in white.

Abyssal Gatekeeper, common (first printed in Weatherlight, 1997)

As with all forbidding walls and stalwarts, Abyssal Gatekeeper is most useful when you have more than one opponent with which to contend, proving an effective deterrent which promises mutually-assured destruction, if you will. (For the nuclear option, see False Prophet.) Coupled with some useful means of sacrifice (Phyrexian Tower?) the Gatekeeper may act as a pseudo-unblockable creature and remain a dire warning to your enemies even when tapped. The Gate doesn't stay locked for every threat you will face, since many cards in the multiplayer environment come with quirks like supertrample, protection from black or sufficient size to require more than one blocker, but thankfully those creatures tend to appear at a much later stage than this small wonder. A player may pair this card with a supply of Unearths to frustrate his or her opponents with a corruptive stream of attrition, (and the cherry on top of this one is that the card Attrition itself fits perfectly into the theme) and when the graveyards are suitably full of the sacrificed, Mortivore may come out to play, perhaps Spoils of Evil or Songs of the Damned may enable some of the more shamelessly evil planeswalkers to cast a giant Drain Life or Death Cloud... it is more true of black than any other colour in magic, that when a black mage appears to be stalling, it is often to reach some threshold at which they can cast their most powerful and inevitably crushing spells - think Nightmare, Corrupt, Mind Sludge, et al. Playing an early Abyssal Gatekeeper is just one of the affordable ways to survive those grueling early turns. If you want this effect to be more of a surprise, consider Innocent Blood. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Abundance, rare (first printed in Urza's Saga, 1998)

It's difficult to estimate how powerful Abundance is as a permanent in a vacuum but it seems a slight improvement of one's topdecking luck should not be worth four mana unless it shares a card with a creature or disruptive spell - any normal deck with a heavy green element will be more interested in casting, say, Ravenous Baloth, or else Creeping Mold, or in any case something that grabs the opponent's attention. Abundance does none of that, making its inclusion in a traditional green creature deck unlikely. In a slower environment, the fourth turn can be very important indeed, not to be wasted on an opulant card like this. Still, it has homes in other types of decks... imagine Abundance allowing a player friendly with the Enchantresses - Argothian Enchantress, Enchantress's Presence, and so forth - dig for an enchantment each time one is cast, unleashing a daisy chain of blessings, each cementing the player's defenses that little more inevitably, in preparation for the moment when Opalescense finally climbs its way to the top of the deck. Add the card Sylvan Library and you'll note that the two cards are written in such a way as to provide an absurd effect in conjuction, that of drawing three cards a turn for no cost at all! With Stasis in play, allow yourself to draw a land every turn; with Orcish Mechanics in play, skew the odds in the favour of drawing an artifact. Besides Abundance's talent for dowsing for just what you need, it does one other, more subtle thing: with no cards left in one's library, an activation of Abundance to replace one's draw allows one to survive the draw step where loss otherwise looms. This is a very specialist card, plain in most circumstances but a cornucopia in those small, subtle moments. Can be acquired for about fifty pence a copy.

Abuna's Chant, common (first printed in Fifth Dawn, 2004)

This card costs a fortune and has precious little effect to show. Why bring Abuna's Chant, when at four mana, white has access to more powerful abilities like full prevention - Story Circle - or even redirection of damage - Harsh Judgement, Kor Chant, Mirror Strike? Is five life worth the card's inconvenience? At full power, no card fully obsoletes Abuna's Chant's combination of abilities but I don't imagine that makes it an attractive card to anyone in particular. Mostly unplayable. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Abu Ja'far, uncommon (first printed in Arabian Nights, 1994)

The consumate cowardly card. What better way to shriek "please don't hit me!" on the very first turn? Sadly, it's a ploy that rarely works - unadjusted, this shrinking leper can only block one foot soldier and will never survive the experience. Examined from this perspective, Abu fails to live up to his potential and compares unconvincingly to the gamut of one-mana removal spells through Magic's history, every single one of which having more surprise value. It is only through combination with trickier cards that he shines. To start with, Blaze of Glory and Lure are two popular ways to throw a combat into chaos, and with Abu Ja'far as your avatar, means the decimation of all involved. With his power augmented by some equipping or crusading (although should you place Abu and Jihad in the same deck be aware of the potentially off-color observations your opponents could voice, on the theme of Arabian guerrilla-terror types, I dare say. One may as well drive the point home by adding Alaborn Zealot, a similar card.) effect, the leper's ability often amounts to unblockability, much to your opponent's chagrin at being harried by a card never intended to threaten his life. Back to the cowardly end of the strategic spectrum, their exists a card named Proclamation of Rebirth which can serve to resurrect Abu as many times as you wish - exactly the thing to quell attack by hordes of dumb beasts although ill-suited against those with trample or fear. Not a "good" card exactly, but an amusing one - in victory, how satisfying would it be to claim your opponent was outsmarted by your leper general? Can be acquired for around three pounds a copy in a black border, or much more readily in white for less than ten pence each.

Absorb Vis, common (first printed in Conflux, 2009)

In slower paced environments, cards such as Absorb Vis blossom. Its individual effects - a four-point Drain Life or else an uncounterable Lay of the Land - both cost at least one point of mana too much to be deemed optimal by those tourney lords who have somehow come to oversee the pronouncement of viability in cards, effortlessly painting how tournaments unfold with nary a paragraph of proof required from their devotees. Still, in conjunction, Absorb Vis gives a player a certain amount of freedom. It's important in the design of this type of card to allow one effect of the two to always be useful - this one can serve both as your killing blow and as a key to the means of casting it, and for that it has my confidence, no matter how slow it seems. Would that this type of card become popular with more players, perhaps the standard magic duel wouldn't be quite so coloured by "officially good!", one-dimensional, boring cards. Of course, judging by the way the Wizards of the Coast see fit to print cards specifically intended to ring true with the competitive set, cards that artificially cost a little extra will continue to be crowded out by card that artificially cost a little less. Well, it's one way to run a business, I suppose. This card has lots of cousins - for real overkill value, play it with Soul Spike or Spinning Darkness and watch as Absorb Vis takes on a third role in your deck! Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Absorb, rare (first printed in Invasion, 2000)

Is Absorb good? Following a brief time's deliberation I have decided that it is quite lacklustre. The combination of the spell's abilities suggests a slow controlling deck, but with an awkward mana cost, Absorb poses problems for the permission-minded planeswalkers, both early and late in the game. Firstly, its very specific mana cost is an obstacle to prompt play, that extra coloured mana symbol over Counterspell's cost hanging over the gaps in your curve you may have wished to be left free to play Brainstorm or to feign Disrupt. Multiple copies of Absorb make a hand feel overstuffed, and even during the later portion of the game, during a war of counterspells, you may find yourself running out of mana before you do responses. In a library configured with an elaborate mana base to facilitate Absorb's casting, the card merely mollifies the damage you have likely already dealt yourself simply by using your own lands. To highlight Absorb's incredible awkwardness further, consider that it is not even the best counterspell variant that costs three mana - look to Forbid as a powerhouse, or else Dissipate's ability to trump certain game plans (and for the diplomatic, many-players-at-a-table types, consider Vex as a strong compromising card - although while chronicling my thought on this card I have tried to take the dim, competitive view which renders cards such as Vex a laughing stock.) Recent tournament environments have diminished the power of the counterspell to the point where Cryptic Command - certainly a card that suffers from the same complaints as Absorb - starts to look good, but in the lifespan of magic there lie sufficient permission spells - Mana Drain, Force of Will, Disrupt, Counterspell itself - to ensure no planeswalker ever really needs to come to battle with this one memorised. Can be acquired for about two pounds a copy.

Absolver Thrull, common (first printed in Dissension, 2006)

I remember Thrulls from sets much older than this and they were black to a man, but at least their willingness to die for a cause has not been diminished. I'm unsure into what deck this card fits well - an aggressive deck that fears cards such as The Abyss or Solitary Confinement but wants to pressure the opponent every turn may require something from this family but never really Absolver Thrull in particular, since there are variants more suited to attacking - contrast him with Cloudchaser Eagle or Soltari Visionary. Including this card in your library largely means abstaining from using enchantments of your own or keeping this creature back in your hand for fear of sabotaging yourself. Finally among his weaknesses, you'll note that he belongs to that class of card which Humility makes look particularly foolish. In the Absolver's defense, however, the combination of his abilities puts him in a not totally obsolete position - if you choose to sacrifice him through some manner of card ability (Diamond Valley, Mask of the Mimic) or simply use him as cannon fodder against fierce attack, his role in the game has not yet ended - whether that is enough for him to be viable is up to the individual deck builder. Other marginal bonuses come from his popular Cleric creature type, although Monk Realist is similarly of the cloth and slots much more easily into many decks. There are a great deal of white cards which can disenchant and most have less strings attached. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Absolute Law, uncommon (first printed in Urza's Saga, 1998)

A very straightforward card that ensures your aggressive red opponent can neither block your creatures or snuff out their lives with fireworks. Also protects you admirably from lesser-seen effect such as Threaten and makes your artifact creatures untargetable by Shatter variants. This mostly just turns such a duel into a lopsided race, which is often what red wants to do in any case - don't be surprised if your opponent simply employs his fireworks as one constant barrage of direct damage to you. It's hard for red to come back from such a comprehensive hate-card when it turns off their favourite methods of clawing back losts cards - Flametongue Kavu, Pyroclasm - but bear in mind the crazier side of red - Ball Lightning, Goblin Grenade, Arc-Slogger - remain as menacing as ever. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence a copy.

Absolute Grace, uncommon (first printed in Urza's Saga, 1998)

Of these two "Absolute" enchantments, Grace is the weaker. Protection from black notably fails to defend against forced sacrifice - Barter in Blood - or black's vision of global destruction - Damnation, Mutilate. Given that Absolute Grace grants its protection to every creature in play rather than just those ones under your control, it's frustrating to find cards that combine with it - cards like Pestilence suggest themselves as happy partners, at least until one reads the card a second time. So what's the card for? Well, for facing down aggressive black decks, of course, all the while wishing it were Light of Day instead. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence a copy.

About Face, common (first printed in Urza's Legacy, 1999)

The creative department of the Wizards of the Coast team have had many successes, but the title of this card is not among them - About Face's mechanical relevance to its name doesn't withstand the barest scrutiny. Certainly we'd all be much happier if they left the military terminology to the military. That gripe aside, About Face is a powerful card in certain contexts, easy to misjudge. In a deck full of stalwart defensive creatures like Indomitable Ancients, Dream Stalker and Martyrs of Korlis, About Face trumps both Giant Growth and Berserk in terms of explosive efficiency. Of course, a bottom-heavy deck like that would have trouble sustaining an offensive line, but sometimes you'll only need a single copy of About Face to win - consider the popular combination with Tireless Tribe! A veritable wipeout occurs when those cards converge, and they can do so with haste, even quicker than the Hatred decks of old. About Face is also employable, rarely, as a removal spell, and although many people refuse to play walls so as to improve some overstated, theoretical "topdeck" ratio in their library, remember that About Face can also dispatch of Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch and Doran, the Siege Tower. Not for everyone, and if you find yourself building a deck to support it, weigh the merits of About Face's surprise factor against Dwarven Thaumaturgist's tenacity. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Aboshan's Desire, common (first printed in Odyssey, 2001)

Desiring privacy yet attempting to manipulate people out of theirs, Desire transforms one of your creatures into Big Brother, the inevitable, immortal lidless eye. Best on creatures that are serving some static ability (Meddling Mage) but which have no aptitude for combat, Aboshan's Desire teaches your jailors to be executioners. As with all effects that grant some sort of protection or evasion, your opponent may find some way to "shoot you down" at inopportune times, and wipeouts await. If this isn't enough of a boost for you, consider Zephid's Embrace. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor, rare (first printed in Odyssey, 2001)

Octopuses are fascinating things to read about, I find. They have the ability to use very simple tools and think ahead - the Cephalids of the magic universe translate this facilities into political machination, that most dull of pursuits. They can grow to giant sizes, something not copied by Cephalids - 3/3 is the extent of their floppy frames. Now, there are all manner of spells capable of dispatching a 3/3 creature and most of them cost a great deal less than six mana, but happily, Aboshan suits heavy blue decks, the colour of Confound and Misdirection... and if you can protect him well, the Cephalid General can take a balanced game and throw it in your favour with close to unreasonable power. With him and a modest army, you can disable the majority of your opponent's land and Disrupt or Mana Leak anything they can still afford. Aboshan can both anull your opponent's defence and deliver the killing blow himself. During Odyssey block, his court was mostly made up of other lazy cephalopods who already wanted to tap, but new retainers Mothdust and Ameboid Changeling are both prompt and useless enough on their own to be happy to have something to do... Can be acquired for less than twenty pence a copy.

Aboroth, rare (first printed in Weatherlight, 1997)

Laughably bad even at the time, Aboroth compares pitifully to the top-heavy creatures of the modern era and I fear most tournament players would find the card useless even if its textbox were blank. Perhaps, in a deck that uses AEther Snap to combat unpredictabally rogue strategies, the Aboroth may serve as a comedic finisher? Perhaps, now that its creature type has been meddled to Elemental it may gain some incidental support from cards which care about more common creature types, yet for a similar cost, one can summon Child of Gaea or Silvos, Rogue Elemental. It is sad to completely dismiss a card, but what we have here is a relic. For a better variation on the theme of collapsing monsters, see Blastoderm. Can be acquired for about thirty pence a copy.

Abomination, uncommon (first printed in Legends, 1994)

A repulsive ability to match the ghastly art. The demon with the fleshy beard is a wonderful foil for the ponderous green deck, a battering ram against perimeters of Walls of Blossoms and of Roots. Its dread power forces a Troll Ascetic to regenerate twice and humbles the Glittering Lynx and Commander Eesha. In multiplayer it will dissuade some oafs wielding libraries full of brutes from attacking you and slowly dwindle the armies of those who persist. Against the other colours, Abomination lacks power and in any case can't reach many of the Demons, Dragons and Sphinxes who menace its master. Still, someone at a typical casual meet will plan to fill the table with Baloths - it's a rare game where cards such as Abomination fail to make waves. Possibly comes into play too late - consider Stinkweed Imp or Lowland Basilisk as more prompt, if far more frail, takes on this card. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence for a black-bordered copy, and less than ten for white.

Abolish, uncommon (first printed in Prophecy, 2000)

Countless times have I wished to throw away one of those interminable Plains cards, for effect or otherwise. Abolish provides an outlet with which to dispose of that most useless of lands. Just my little joke. What Abolish does, that Disenchant often does not, is allow a player of resourcefulness to escape from the grasp of a Tangle Wire, Limited Resources, Stasis or Chalice of the Void, or such thing. You'll find that people in relaxed casual environments never consider cards like this, instead preferring their Indrik Stomphowlers and Orim's Thunders and similar bloated spells. Find a way to put the squeeze on those passive planeswalkers and they'll start to replace such turkeys with spells that can be cast before the rapture. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence a copy.

Abjure, common (first printed in Weatherlight, 1997)

Seems a little desperate, no? Not at all! After all, few would suspect your remaining untapped island to imply a conditionless counterspell, and should you play, as many do, in an environment that frowns on the casual-unfriendly Force of Will, this is as cheap as the effect can come... at least in terms of mana. The sacrifice can be exploited in a trickier deck (Hatching Plans immediately comes to mind) but many of your early permanents may become obsolete (Merfolk Looter) or tiring to maintain (Mystic Remora) or in the case of a spell that dooms more than one of your permanents (Ashes to Ashes, Purify) Abjure lets you sacrifice one for the good of the many. Even an ernest sacrifice of a relevant permanent may be worth the price of Abjuring a gravely threatening spell. All the while, the player with Abjure in hand may be a little more active with his expansion on the battlefield than the typical island-playing "draw-proceed" opponent of that archetype. Abjure is also a neat, blameless one-of in a more casual blue deck. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Abeyance, rare (first printed in Weatherlight, 1997)

Why, if this card operated exactly as worded, it would be of such tremendous power that the game would be warped to the point where everyone started building a deck by adding a set of them, even to the point where plains would be as respected as islands! As it is, though, the ruling bodies saw fit to revise this card's abilities so that it no longer turned off cards that simply tapped to produce mana, and so we have a much fairer card. Still, it's a potent spell when well-timed. In a environment such as modern tournament magic, the early turns are typically spent playing permaments that have high value for low cost - mostly offensive or ramping creatures, or else permanents designed to restrict the opponent in some manner. However, some decks spend a lot of the early game playing cards that draw more cards, that organize the deck or that summon land into play, in order to unleash a handful of cards in a combination some time later. Abeyance works both in the short and long term against such decks with potence similar to that of the classic Time Walk. If you suspect that your opponent is ready to play out his or her masterplan then simply cast an Abeyance during their upkeep and see what desperate resistance occurs. Some cards imply further action - if your opponent plays the dreaded Dark Ritual, then what could be a better response? Lastly, if you find yourself in play environments whose early strategies are coloured by cards like Rampant Growth, Brainstorm or Tithe, then consider replacing yours with Abeyances - you will be surprised by how differently the game plays! Can be acquired for about three pounds a copy.

Abduction, uncommon (first printed in Weatherlight, 1997)

Creature stealing is always strong, and 2UU seems to be the benchmark value for the effect. Abduction is a twist on the classic Control Magic that leaves it slightly less viable in many decks but introduces a hundred tricks. In some cases, flexibility can be worth more than raw power. Being able to attack with a tapped hasty creature immediately after casting the spell ups the card's surprise value, and although many of the best hasty creatures either vanish immediately - Ball Lightning - or refuse to be targeted - Giant Solifuge - Abduction can find some game-swinging targets on the scale of Kamahl, Pit Fighter or Rorix Bladewing! If you steal a sacrificable creature with Abduction, its owner may be lenient, especially in multiplayer where this may be thought of as some sort of bargain; Control Magic would never allow this subtlety - the creature's owner would simply activate the creature's ability in response. Abduction also fits snugly on your own creatures as a cat's life, allowing for the retriggering of comes-into-play or sacrifice abilities, though I fear this does not work with Guildpact's Haunt mechanic. These situations and many more besides demand that you consider Abduction an equal of Control Magic, Treachery and company. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence a copy, either in white or black-bordered form.

Abbey Matron (first printed in Homelands, 1995)

The "Abbey" prefix to cards must be shorthand for ways of beating traditional red decks, and the Matron is a perfect speed-bump against goblins and fireworks in general, especially as in that case her single point of power would be relevant against the individually tiny greenskins. If you can somehow add vigilance to her (Serra's Blessing?), she outclasses other classics like Giant Turtle and Yotian Soldier. Aside from that purpose, this old girl is second banana to many more generally strong defensive creatures. Still, when she's served her purpose, you can consider sending her on holiday to the beautiful Diamond Valley... Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy, for either picture.

Abbey Gargoyles (first printed in Homelands, 1995)

Outclassed on paper by many modern and classic creatures alike thanks to its low statistics, Abbey Gargoyle's main relevance is the combination of its abilities. Dragons are popular casual creatures and this can play their foil where many of Dragon's white counterparts - angels - fail to compete. It can also bear the brunt of a Ball Lightning or Blistering Firecat attack where your standard warrior maiden would balk. In fact, against a pure red deck, it is virtually untouchable, being untargetable by angelbanes Thunderbolt, Char and Flame Javelin... and what non-red spell could their deck contain, that deals four damage? None, so there you are. For the devious deck builder, the gargoyle frustrates, since some naturally wish to abuse a creature with protection from red in a deck that slings those sorceries of mass destruction, being a poor fit in such a deck thanks to its triple white casting cost and the fact that it can already dodge one flagship explosive spell, Earthquake, and withstand two more - Pyroclasm and Volcanic Fallout. Still, in a deck that plays Starstorm or Inferno, it can survive where most don't in order to keep your copy of Worship active. In a modern environment, robust cards like this tend to be eschewed for ones which can race red instead of contain it - look to the angels of the Exalted or Baneslayer variety. Can be acquired for less than twenty pence, either in white or black-bordered form.

Abandoned Outpost (first printed in Odyssey, 2001)

Often worse than a Plains, Abandoned Outpost, along with its four cycle-sisters, nevertheless has its uses, namely, as an occasional activator of a bonus feature of a white card. Where rare and much-sought lands of the pain, fetch and dual varieties are unnecessary or unavailable, an Outpost can shine, painlessly regenerating a Spectral Lynx or kicking Orim's Thunder. More interestingly, though, are the outpost's applications to situations you can't always plan for - if your opponent plays Lim-Dûl's Hex, then you have a turn's worth of black mana in reserve... if you gain control of another's creature with a card such as Debt of Loyalty then you may find yourself able to play its abilities to a limited extent. In a trickier type of deck, the outpost can be sacrificed at the right time to manipulate the amount of permanents you control, whether to satisfy the needs of Balance or Chaos Lord. Of course, this card is underpowered in ability - consider instead Arabian Nights' "City of Brass" - and subtle in application, but it has homes. Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.

Abandon Hope, uncommon (first printed in Tempest, 1997)

If you feel that you have reached a stage in the game where the cards you have in play demand more than one card's worth of solution from your opponent, perhaps you can seal their fate by casting Abandon Hope at a sufficient X value to empty their hand. Unlike Odyssey's similar sorcery "Last Rites", Abandon Hope is really too expensive to be used as a combination or catalyst card in reanimation, madness, or more rogue strategies, and Urza's Saga's "Duress" is a far more efficient preventative tool than this. Use Abandon Hope chiefly as a method of converting a threat in play into victory. For more modern analogs of this card, look to Odyssey's "Mind Slicer." Can be acquired for less than ten pence a copy.