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Magic the Gathering MTG Zendikar booster box contains 36 booster packs with 15 cards each. Released on October 2, 2009, Zendikar is the first set in the Zendikar block. The set contains 249 black-bordered cards (15 mythic rare, 53 rare, 60 uncommon, 101 common, and 20 lands). The mythic cards have a red symbol and were introduced for the first time in Shards of Alara.
Zendikar is the first set in the Zendikar block. Its tagline is "Deadly perils, priceless treasures." The eponymous setting is a vast, untamed wilderness, whose few bastions of civilization exist primarily for outfitting treasure-seeking expeditions to distant locales. Colossal stones called "hedrons" float in the sky, and a phenomenon known as "the Roil" causes frequent geological upheaval as it sweeps across the land.
Unlike the previous two blocks, there is no multicolored theme (in fact, every colored card in the set is monocolored). Instead, the set's themes revolve around lands. The first cards revealed from the set were a selection of basic lands, each printed with both a traditional frame and a full-art frame reminiscent of lands from Unglued and Unhinged. Cards with the "Landfall" mechanic have effects that are triggered when a land enters the battlefield under the card's owner's control. Adding to the land theme, there are a number of non-basic lands, including lands with a variety of enters-the-battlefield effects that were formerly restricted to creatures.
Zendikar also contains three Planeswalkers: Nissa Revane, who first appeared in the Xbox 360 game Duals of the Planeswalkers; Sorin Markov, an all-new vampire character; and a second version of Chandra Nalaar- Chandra Ablaze, as previously foreshadowed in the novel The Purifying Fire.
To promote the "priceless treasures" tagline of Zendikar, original, authentic vintage cards were inserted into a limited number of booster packs, replacing the basic land. These cards were for collector and incentive purposes only, and were largely not legal for sanctioned Zendikar block play. The chances of receiving one of these vintage cards was aproximately 1 in 1000 (every 30 boxes or so). Case boxes dated in 2009 contained the "first Wave" vintage cards.
Zendikar was the first "large" expansion since Legends where the only random packs were booster packs — 75-card tournament packs, introduced in Urza's Saga, were no longer sold.
Ally is a new creature type. An Ally has an effect (getting larger, gaining life, making creature tokens, etc.) that triggers when itself or another Ally enters the battlefield.
Intimidate is a new keyword mechanic that makes a creature unable to be blocked except by artifact creatures and creatures that share a color with the creature. In Zendikar and future sets, this mechanic will replace "Fear," a similar ability that was restricted largely to black cards.
Landfall is a new ability word that causes a creature, enchantment, artifact, or land to gain an extra ability or become more powerful when a land enters the battlefield under its controller's control.
Quests are enchantments that each have two abilities. The first ability causes "quest counters" to be added when a specific event or game state takes place; once a certain number of quest counters is reached, the card's second ability can be used.
Trap is a new type of instant that can be cast for a reduced cost if certain events have taken place this turn.
Quests, Traps, and Allies were codenamed "Maps, Traps, and Chaps" in development respectively, and were designed to mechanically reinforce the "Adventure World" setting of
Zendikar.
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