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.

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.

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.