Joined: Jun 21, 2014 Posts: 8338 Location: Singapore
All That Glitters...
Science has gone too far. The natural laws are breaking down. Philosopher's gold is spreading across Solphos, insidiously transmuting anything it touches... and the mutant hordes are attacking, led by the horrifying Natos Cruciatur! A new Dark Age encroaches: how much would you sacrifice to save the world?
Set 2 of 3 in the Solphos Block Number of Cards: 145 Completion Date: 13 August 2014 Designer: Chin Kee Yong (a.k.a. CKY)
Lore (Preface)
The Philosopher's Cabal is a shadowy group of alchemists and engineers that have kept the plane Solphos running for centuries. No one knows exactly who they are, how they came to power, or how the new generation of Philosophers are selected. Only their distinctive jet-black frocks, and a strange, fathomless look in their eyes, set them apart from the average chymius magna.
Until recently, there were four Philosophers: - Philosopher Zik. An ancient, immensely creative goblin with a penchant for explosions. - Philosopher Cestus. A quiet and kind giant of a man who forged powerful machines and tools. - Philosopher Scepter. A methodical young woman in charge of day-to-day affairs, but possessed of dark ambition. - Philosopher Lacertus. A wizened magister who scoured the records and tomes of Solphos's past.
The greatest change to the status quo came when the Institute at Furopolis was destroyed thanks to a catastrophic experimental failure; the Cataclysm, as it is now colloquially known, sent Solphos's gravity and ecology veering drastically off course. Philosopher Lacertus realized that continuing on their path would destroy the plane itself, and did all in his power to prevent the Philosophers from advancing further in their quest for knowledge. However, his campaigning had became an obstacle to Philosopher Scepter's plans. After steadily manipulating her peers into distrusting him, Scepter condemned Lacertus's research as the product of an addled mind, branded him Haereticus, and banished him to the Dark Lands.
For years, it seems like karma had crept up on Philosopher Scepter. The mutants of the wastes beyond Kardiapolis, previously sickly and docile, had begun to pour upon its walls with unimaginable ferocity. Strange and otherworldly creatures climbed from the cracks that the chymia magna had opened in space. It took everything Philosopher Scepter had to keep the increasingly unstable plane in check. If only I had more control, she thought. More power, enough to rule Solphos down to the tiniest corpuscle...
Meanwhile, Philosopher Zik had had it with Philosopher Scepter's constant quarrels with him. She saw him as a loose cannon, a madman with an alchemy kit; he saw her as a wet blanket who forbade all of his crazy projects. To get away from her prying eyes, Philosopher Zik bought a warehouse at the very edge of Hydropolis. His newest pet project was to create the perfect jewellery material – gold had become worthless on Solphos thanks to widespread alchemy, and Zik felt he needed an even flashier mineral to plate his belongings in. He called his new material 'philosopher's gold,' and he believed that by mixing only the strongest concoctions and elemental compounds into it, he would make it transcend any mundane metal.
Zik succeeded. Perhaps a little too well.
When he opened the doors of the pressing furnace, a look of fear and wonder spread across his features. Then he was flash-frozen in place, a golden statue where there had once been a living goblin. The philosopher's gold spread outward from his workshop, converting everything it touched to gold, whether it was solid rock, water or an unfortunate living thing. In three horrific hours, all of Hydropolis had become a glittering deathtrap... and the corruption of the philosopher's gold showed no signs of stopping. It was not long before the rest of the plane took notice.
Now, only the Philosophers Cestus and Scepter are left. The citizens of Solphos are in widespread panic, and all semblance of civilization has left the periochs that remain; only a few days remain before the Turris Kardiapolis itself is engulfed by the gold. The mutants of the Dark Lands have been emboldened by the fear in their prey, and assault the gates of Kardiapolis with relentless waves. Perhaps most worryingly, the creeping gold has pushed Solphos's delicate natural balance over the brink, tearing at all the scars that have been inflicted on it by careless experimentation, and rifts are opening in the fabric of the plane itself.
For the first time, Philosopher Scepter realizes what a fool she has been. What a fool everyone has been.
Fool's gold, indeed.
Mechanics
Fool's Gold expands on the "combo matters" theme that was introduced in Solphos. Players will still be racing to assemble combo pieces, while at the same time preventing their opponents from doing so. However, Fool's Gold also introduces a much heavier graveyard theme, as well as darker cards that force players to discard and sacrifice for bonuses.
Solid Gold is a new kind of card. Certain effects in Fool's Gold will turn cards to gold. This means you reveal them, then exchange each of them with Solid Gold cards from outside the game. A Solid Gold card has a normal Magic card back, but the front side is a colorless artifact for with no abilities: if you're unlucky enough to have your cards turned to philosopher's gold, you'll have to find esoteric ways to make use of it. When the game ends, remove all Solid Gold and return your deck to its original state.
Solid Gold cards are cards and not tokens, so they can change zones, are unaffected by Doubling Season or Aether Snap, and so on. However, you can't put them in your deck or sideboard. Solid Gold can't be turned to gold in any zone.
Volatile is a new keyword ability that appears on both spells and permanents. It represents dangerous substances and creatures that don't take kindly to being discarded, and takes the form "Volatile – When this card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, [effect]." Volatile lets you get more use out of dead creatures or discarded cards.
Finally, catalyze, transmute and Ingredients, which made their debut in Solphos, are further expanded upon in Fool's Gold.
The Story of Fool's Gold
It was Philosopher Scepter and Philosopher Cestus who first heard of the philosopher's gold. Their lookout thopters revealed that the perioch of Hydropolis to the north had been ravaged by a mysterious golden substance that spread to anything it touched. The gold would reach Kardiapolis, their seat of power, in only seven days. As rumors led to widespread panic, the Philosophers worked at a breakneck pace to find a way to stop the gold, only interrupted by a mysterious visit from a man calling himself "Ralus Zarecus."
Later, disaster struck when the gold sample used for testing was stolen. Philosopher Scepter and a group of soldiers followed the thief's tracks into the underground labyrinth of Kardiapolis, where she discovered the thief's true identity: Auric Avarius, a mad kleptomaniac dying from philosopher's gold. They fought a magical battle - but Auric was a planeswalker. He easily defeated Scepter with his magic and planeswalked away. Scepter was shocked by her defeat, confused by Auric's vanishing act and disgusted at how much Auric's greed reminded her of her own.
Scepter soon found a new lead, however, when her team discovered mysterious unmapped sections of the Kardiapolis catacombs. As she investigated further, she realized her former colleague Philosopher Zik had created secret workshops all over the perioch. She found fragments of his journal and realized that the gold was Zik's creation. At the same time, she gained new insights into his mind, and regretted her past conflicts with the ancient goblin. The disaster could have been prevented if she had not been so paranoid about information.
Returning to the Turris, Scepter was suddenly notified of an intrusion into her secret chambers. It was revealed that Lumina Revelaris, a Solphos-born planeswalker, had investigated suspicions of corruption together with her mentor Ral Zarek. They easily defeated Scepter with their otherworldly magic, and leaked to the public how Scepter had used forbidden mind magic to gain power. Losing the trust of even Cestus, Scepter was banished of her authority and exiled to the Dark Lands.
Unable to survive without her spellbook and staff in the wasteland, Scepter was quickly driven to exhaustion. But she was rescued by a mysterious benefactor - revealed to be Natos Cruciatur, the horrifying eldritch mutant leader, and unbeknownst to Scepter, a planeswalker. He allowed Scepter to walk among the mutants unharmed for reasons known only to himself. In exchange, Scepter agreed to undergo a transformation, gaining a third eye in her forehead with supernatural vision; she learned how to cast primal magic without the use of alchemical tools or sigils.
After recuperating from her ordeal, Scepter learned from Natos that Philosopher Haereticus was still alive. She tracked her old colleague down in the Midaes river caves and shared a bittersweet reunion, in which Haereticus forgave her for her hubris. The deeply mutated Haereticus then shared his research with her: he was convinced that the true power of alchemy was not simple physical chemistry, but the journey of self-enlightenment experienced by the alchemist. The Pledge of the Winged Staff, the creed of the Philosophers, mentioned the four stages of scientific enlightenment. Haereticus believed that this, the "azoth," held the key to destroying the philosopher's gold.
Connecting the dots, Scepter realized that all four Philosophers of the Winged Staff had to work together to realize the azoth. Zik was the Dreamer, Scepter the Questioner, and Haereticus the Renewer. Cestus the Forger, her former colleague in the Turris Kardiapolis, was the final piece of the puzzle. The only obstacle: Scepter had been exiled from Kardiapolis forever for her crimes.
Scepter decided to enlist the help of the half-goblin criminal Tindel Vatskimmer to break into the fortified perioch. She breached the dome with Haereticus in tow and escaped into the Kardiapolitan subterranean catacombs, where the pair made their way towards the Turris Kardiapolis. They were aided by Scepter's spy network from before the apocalypse. However, when Scepter returned to her former seat of power, she discovered Lumina Revelaris had taken her place beside Philosopher Cestus.
No matter how Scepter appealed to Lumina and Cestus, they dared not trust her and locked her in her own dungeons. However, Cestus could not live with himself for imprisoning his former beloved friend. He freed Scepter and, after a passionate moment, she shared with him the secret of the azoth. He was so struck with inspiration that he locked himself in his workshop overnight forging it into reality. Meanwhile, unable to reconcile Lumina's convictions with her pragmatism, Scepter magically manipulated her into accord and hoped that Lumina would one day forgive her.
On the last day that Kardiapolis had left, Cestus completed the azoth - or the Azoth of the Philosophers, in the form of an all-powerful magical staff. It would destroy the gold forever, but its wielder had to strike it down at the source. Realizing what she had to do to win back the respect of her people, Scepter paid her dues to Lumina and the other Philosophers before setting off alone on the back of Claror, her drake familiar. Her destination: the Sunvoid over the Golden Tree in what was once Hydropolis, the epicenter of the apocalypse and the root of the philosopher's gold.
Philosopher Scepter never returned from her final journey. But as the wardens of Kardiapolis against the gold braced themselves for the end, the golden front suddenly froze and burst into opaline shards, the sky flashed, and the world seemed to reset.
There was a new celestial body in the sky after that day, a Luna, a counterbalance against the light of the restored sun. A real dawn with real sunlight broke on Kardiapolis for the first time in decades. The philosopher's gold had been neutralized and transmuted into a strange new metal with miraculous properties and sweeping implications for society following the apocalypse.
It was the first day of the Renaissance of Solphos, and there was hope at last.
Joined: Jun 21, 2014 Posts: 8338 Location: Singapore
145/145
White (24)
Spoiler
Common (11)
Spoiler
Docile Laudanum Creature – Ooze (C) 0/2
Volatile – When Docile Laudanum is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, you gain 2 life.
Apothecary alchemists provide medication in powdered form, as magically-charged fluids tend to turn sentient at the most inconvenient times.
Lumina's Volunteers Creature – Human Wizard (C) 2/2
When Lumina's Volunteers enters the battlefield, each opponent reveals his or her hand.
"There is no more time for half-truths and deception. If we are to survive this crisis, we must stand as one."
Sunvoid Lookout Creature – Human Scout (C) 1/1
Flying Whenever Sunvoid Lookout deals combat damage to a player, that player reveals the top card of his or her library.
"The heart of the gold is as grand and terrible as I imagined... but what is that burning in the sky?"
Battlement Sniper Creature – Human Soldier (C) 2/2
, : Tap target creature.
"Such a hollow fire / Of merest dusty light / You fearfully wield." –Natos Cruciatur
Excubitor Eternum Creature – Gargoyle (C) 2/1
Flying, vigilance Volatile – When Excubitor Eternum is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
"Against Death itself, mortals can only wait and watch." –Note salvaged from the aurified Furopolis battlements
Optical Barrier Creature – Illusion Wall (C) 0/3
Defender Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Optical Barrier. Transmute
"This won't stop the glittering onslaught, but it will buy us valuable time." –Lumina Revelaris
Hydropolis Refugee Creature – Human (C) 2/2
When Hydropolis Refugee enters the battlefield, you may return to your hand target permanent card in your graveyard that was put there this turn.
Scores of terrified survivors poured onto Kardiapolis's northern gates, screaming of tendrils of gold and a baleful eye in the sky.
Billowing Halitus Creature – Elemental (C) 2/4
Flying Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Tap all creatures with power 3 or less your opponents control.
"Now we will recline in perfect weather, whether the wind blows hot or cold." –Vere, alchemist-inventor
Aer Vivificatus Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Untap up to X creatures you control, where X is the number of Ingredients you've cast this turn.
Chymical medicine was revolutionized when Dr. Fluvius stabilized gaseous hydromel, enabling many common prescriptions to be administered through inhalation alone.
Glyph of Purification Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": You gain 1 life." Transmute
"Fire to burn away the pain, earth to close the flesh, and natron to bind the scar. With calomel, it is sealed."
Heavy Heart Instant (C)
Turn target attacking creature to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
"Perhaps the sun-metal / Is a release blissful / For your burdened ways." –Natos Cruciatur
: Put a token that's a copy of Holographic Servant onto the battlefield.
"If you won't listen to reason, perhaps you should stop for a little reflection!" –Lumina Revelaris
Diamond Dragoon Creature – Golem Knight (U) 2/2
When Diamond Dragoon enters the battlefield, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Pressure forms the unlikeliest of heroes.
Reconstituent Foam Creature – Ooze (U) 2/1
Sacrifice Reconstituent Foam: Return to the battlefield another target artifact or creature card in your graveyard that was put there from the battlefield this turn.
From the gold sample, Philosopher Cestus reverse-engineered an infinitely complex substance – a uniquely structured crystal that could replicate any element and repair any wound.
"The muties want to fight up close and personal? Let them. Open all hangars! Mobilize the pistonfists!" –Imperata, perimeter marshal
Correspondent Glare Instant (U)
All damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn is dealt to another target creature or player instead.
"The fates of all things are linked. If we fill the river with vitriol, the land shrivels for lack of nutrition." –Anachor, child of Haereticus
Natron Hail Sorcery (U)
Destroy all enchantments. Until the beginning of your next upkeep, noncreature spells cost more to cast.
"Our cannon-bolts have become useless against the mutant hordes. No sooner do the blazing rounds near their targets than they sputter out and drift harmlessly to the earth." –Battle report of Sperare, bowmaster
Rare (5)
Spoiler
Miracle Chymist Creature – Human Cleric (R) 2/1
When Miracle Chymist enters the battlefield, you may return target creature card with converted mana cost 1 or less from your graveyard to your hand. Transmute
"Our time will come one day. But not today."
Breath of Catholicon Creature – Elemental (R) 3/1
Flash Flying Volatile – When Breath of Catholicon is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, return target permanent card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
"There is no drug more miraculous than life itself." –Rubenus, master apothecary
Veritas Archon Creature – Archon (R) 4/4
Flying When Veritas Archon enters the battlefield, draw a card. Your opponents play with their hands revealed.
"All will come to light." –Lumina Revelaris
Army of One Instant (R)
Put two tokens that are copies of target creature, except they have base power and toughness 1/1, onto the battlefield.
"One woman you are / But a thousand strong / Is your spirit." –Natos Cruciatur, to Philosopher Scepter
Golden Dawn Sorcery (R)
Turn all nonland permanents to gold. (Exchange them with Solid Gold cards from outside the game.)
Beneath the void eye of madness that was once Solphos's sun, the Golden Tree sprouted in all its terrible magnificence.
Mythic (1)
Spoiler
Fool's Gold Sorcery (M)
If there is no Solid Gold on the battlefield and there are thirteen or more Solid Gold cards in all graveyards, you win the game.
Science makes monsters of people, but it makes heroes of them as well.
Blue (24)
Spoiler
Common (11)
Spoiler
Null Equation Creature – Weird Horror (C) 1/1
Volatile – When Null Equation is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
From the multiplying anomalies in reality crawled things that defied understanding.
Laboratory's Scourge Creature – Beeble (C) 1/1
Flash Laboratory's Scourge can't be blocked.
Behind every shattered test-tube and every escaped test subject is a tiny force of unimaginable malice.
Magnus Apprentice Creature – Human Wizard (C) 2/1
When Magnus Apprentice enters the battlefield, you may tap or untap target permanent.
"Why rely on yourself to move the earth if you can harness the forces of the universe to do it for you?"
Sentient Solvent Creature – Ooze (C) 2/2
: Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. Sacrifice Sentient Solvent.
Flying Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Each creature you control becomes an Octopus Weird with base power and toughness 3/2 until end of turn. Those creatures gain flying until end of turn.
As above, so below.
Ravenous Beebles Creature – Beeble (C) 3/3
Intimidate When Ravenous Beebles enters the battlefield, draw a card.
"They poured over Candus, shredding her flesh to pieces and laying eggs in her distended mouth... If not for the magnesia dust I threw, I would have been next." –Secundus, Institute survivor
Consiline Water Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of Ingredients you've cast this turn. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library.
Simmer the animus fluid as slowly as the crucible will allow, or risk the trapped muse departing in the rising steam. –Alchemical Library of Fluids
Glyph of Correspondence Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": Draw a card, then discard a card." Transmute
"Air to bring the voices, water to dissolve the barrier, and mercury to change the soul. With aqua dioxyner, it is sealed."
"I may risk my life in studying the philosopher's gold, but one life is nothing compared to the lives of millions." –Philosopher Cestus
Numbing Bezoar Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Target player puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard for each Ingredient you've cast this turn.
While traditionally dissolved before brewing, the Phrician bezoar is sometimes swallowed whole by those who wish to forget a particularly traumatic memory. –Alchemical Library of Fluids
Counterfeit Instant (C)
Turn target spell to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.) Transmute
"Your avarice betrays you." –Philosopher Scepter
Uncommon (7)
Spoiler
Evasive Theorem Creature – Weird Horror (U) 3/1
Flying , Discard a card: Evasive Theorem gains protection from the card type of your choice until end of turn.
It picks and chooses which laws of the universe to follow.
Magnus Preceptor Creature – Human Wizard (U) 2/2
: You may tap or untap target permanent.
"If you recited the formula without error, you should now feel a tingling sensation in the cores of your palms. This betrays the existence of the positive and negative galvanomotive matrices, as detailed on page 166 of the First Treatise of Galvanics..."
Chymical Pioneer Creature – Human Wizard (U) 1/4
Defender Catalyze – , Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Draw two cards.
"Do not be fooled by the ancient tales of wizardry. Magic has rules and restrictions, duplicable experimental results – it is not an art, but a science."
Vanus twisted his claws. With a shriek, reality tore to reveal the screaming void beyond. "This is your fate," he said to the Cruciatum mutants, "if you do not bow to me."
Pull the Lever Sorcery (U)
As an additional cost to cast Pull the Lever, tap X untapped artifacts you control. Draw X cards.
The boilers were in place. The rotary blades were oiled and optimized. The guinea pig was raring to go. There was only one step left to perform...
Glittering Dreams Sorcery (U)
Turn the top two cards of target player's library to gold. (Reveal those cards, then exchange them with Solid Gold cards from outside the game.)
"I close my eyes... and paradise beckons... with golden arms..." –Auric Avarius
Olefiant Slick Instant (U)
Tap all creatures without flying. Catalyze – You may reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand. If you do, creatures your opponents control don't untap during their controllers' next untap steps.
Triturated camphor is noted for its catalytic reaction with pulveres, which produces an adhesive not even exalted alkahests can dissolve. –Alchemical Library of Fluids
Rare (5)
Spoiler
Scepter's Spymaster Creature – Human Artificer (R) 1/1
, Discard a card: Put a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token onto the battlefield. It has flying and "Whenever this creature deals damage to a player, you may draw a card." Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
"They have cast out my lady, but not her eyes and ears."
Lord Beelzebebus Legendary Creature – Beeble (R) 2/2
Other Beeble creatures you control get +1/+1. Tap two untapped Beebles you control: Target permanent loses all abilities and becomes a Solid Gold artifact until end of turn. Tap four untapped Beebles you control: Gain control of target artifact or enchantment.
To this day, the cause of the Furopolis Institute collapse remains a mystery.
Perfect Precision Enchantment – Aura (R)
Enchant permanent Activated abilities of enchanted permanent cost up to less to activate. This effect can't reduce the amount of mana an ability costs to activate to less than one mana.
"And I thought your previous plan was woefully inefficient..." –Castigus, machinist
Mysterium Tremendum Instant (R)
Count the number of cards in target player's graveyard. That player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Learn the language of the chymia magna and be drowned in the mysteries of the world.
Event Horizon Instant (R)
Exile target spell. Put a 7/7 blue Weird Horror Leviathan creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Peel back reality, and hazard what lies beneath.
Mythic (1)
Spoiler
Alchemist's Apotheosis Enchantment (M)
Flash You may look at and reorder your library. (You may do this at any time.) When Alchemist's Apotheosis leaves the battlefield, shuffle your library.
The alchemist's work is complete not when there are no more questions to be answered, but when there are no more answers to be sought.
When the wealthy alchemists and researchers fled from Furopolis, the sewer rats were more than grateful for the vacant space.
Mad Surgeon Creature – Human Cleric (C) 2/1
Lifelink Transmute
The advancing horrors reflected in his scalpel are nothing compared to those devouring his mind from within.
Stitchwork Sinew Creature – Horror (C) 1/1
Discard a card: Untap Stitchwork Sinew and regenerate it.
"Peronus was dragged screaming into the singularity... weeks later, reports of floating, disembodied organs terrorizing our janitors began to surface." –Testimony of Celebri, researcher
Hungry Latchjaw Creature – Worm Hound (C) 3/1
Haste Volatile – When Hungry Latchjaw is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, each player discards a card.
The worms of the Kreopolis sewers do not feast only on the dead.
Writhing Paradox Creature – Weird Horror (C) 3/2
Discard a card: Writhing Paradox can't be blocked this turn.
Freed from spatial rifts by reckless experimentation, these twisted things now roam the Dark Lands in defiance of every natural law.
Microcosmic Maw Creature – Weird Horror (C) 5/2
Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand, Sacrifice Microcosmic Maw: Destroy up to two target creatures.
A high enough concentration of lapis vacuus opens a hole in the very fabric of reality. Add even more, and the hole gains an appetite. –Alchemical Library of Fluids
Mortician's Oil Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn for each Ingredient you've cast this turn.
"On second thought, keep the failed experimental setup. That vitriolic contaminant may prove... useful." –Orchitis, alchemist
Contort Instant (C)
Target creature gets +X/-X until end of turn.
Though the first recorded spatial anomalies were miles across in size, the force adepts quickly learned to harness them on a localized scale.
Glyph of Dissolution Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": This permanent deals 1 damage to target player and you gain 1 life." Transmute
"Fire to scar the soul, water to cross the divide, and mercury to begin the syphon. With oil of vitriol, it is sealed."
Infectious Greed Sorcery (C)
Target player reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. Turn that card to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
"The golden vein whispers lovingly to me... but it hungers for more of its kind..." –Auric Avarius
Broken Ethics Sorcery (C)
Target player loses 2 life. Draw two cards.
"In the pursuit of absolute control, I abandoned everything the Winged Staff stood for... in my own blind ambition, I did not see the monster I had become." –Philosopher Scepter
Uncommon (7)
Spoiler
Cortex Burrower Creature – Mutant Leech (U) 2/2
Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Cortex Burrower gains intimidate until end of turn. Whenever it deals damage to a player this turn, that player discards a card at random. Activate this ability only once each turn.
"Warning: cortical vector agent. Symptoms: glazed eyes, repetitive sentences, entry wound at skull base. Do not unseal." –Label on a smashed containment dish
Vengeful Soul Creature – Spirit (U) 2/1
, Sacrifice Vengeful Soul: Each opponent loses life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
"How many have died because of my sins? How many will seek repayment in kind?" –Philosopher Scepter
As an additional cost to cast Theoretical Horror, sacrifice a nonland permanent. Flying
So flagrantly does it defy all natural convention that the laws of physics seem to shy away from its presence.
Decrepit Corpus Creature – Zombie Advisor (U) 1/1
When Decrepit Corpus dies, draw three cards.
"The life leaves the body; the body crumbles to dust; the dust is blown away. But the knowledge lives on." –Raritas, neurochymist
Blacklight Strobe Instant (U)
Name a nonland card. Target opponent reveals his or her hand and exiles from it all cards with the chosen name.
"Shh. No need to think any more. Forget your discoveries, forget your hopes and fears... you're safe now." –Philosopher Scepter
Clinical Death Instant (U)
Destroy target creature. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
"But sir, the man was dead when I brought him in!" –Tardus, vivisecting assistant
Four Humors Instant (U)
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Transmute
Equilibrium is so fragile.
Rare (5)
Spoiler
Black Market Apothecary Creature – Human Wizard (R) 2/2
If you would search your library for a card, reveal it, and put it into your hand, you may instead search your library for any card without restriction. Any opponent may pay 3 life to have you reveal the card. If a player does and it doesn't meet the criteria of the effect that allowed you to search your library, put it into your graveyard. Otherwise, put it into your hand. Transmute
"Keep this under wraps."
Brainknitter Creature – Frog Horror (R) 1/3
Whenever a player discards a card, you may pay . If you do, draw a card.
Its fibrous tongue pierces the base of the brain, sucking discarded memories and notions in coagulated form.
Eldritch Sire Creature – Weird Demon (R) 5/5
Flying When Eldritch Sire enters the battlefield from a graveyard, put five +1/+1 counters on it. Transmute
Æther-dæmons are unbound by the strictures of the real.
Search your library for a card and put that card into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library.
"Seal the labs and wipe the records. No one has to know." –Philosopher Scepter
Chrysopoeia Sorcery (R)
Name a nonland card. Search target player's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with that name, turn them to gold, and put them into that player's hand. Then that player shuffles his or her library. (To turn a card to gold, reveal it, then exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
The end of all scientific pursuit.
Mythic (1)
Spoiler
Auric Avarius Planeswalker – Auric (M)
You lose 2 life and draw a card. Turn target creature or planeswalker with converted mana cost X or less to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.) Gain control of all Solid Gold artifacts. They become 5/5 artifact creatures.
As an additional cost to cast Slavering Hunter, discard a card. Slavering Hunter attacks each turn if able.
"Is it truly nothing but a mindless aberration? Or is its madness the cry of a psyche trapped by the flesh?" –Philosopher Scepter
Boiler Golem Creature – Golem (C) 1/4
Boiler Golem gets +3/-3 as long as it's tapped.
"Steam-golems make excellent laborers. They have no need of food, never complain about their duties, and work remarkably well under pressure." –Philosopher Cestus
Grenadier Alchemist Creature – Human Wizard (C) 1/1
When Grenadier Alchemist enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Transmute
Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Until end of turn, Skyfire Cetacean gains flying and ": Skyfire Cetacean gets +1/+0 until end of turn."
After the genefacturing wing of the Institute collapsed, ancient legends of dragons and leviathans began to resurface.
Hallucinating Fumes Instant (C)
Target player shuffles his or her library. Draw a card.
Despite rumors to the contrary, a connection between aer fatuus and the origins of goblinkind has never been proven. –Alchemical Library of Fluids
Glyph of Separation Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": Target creature can't block this turn." Transmute
"Air to cloud the mind, fire to blind the eyes, and natron to still the flesh. With litharge, it is sealed."
Hysterical Hoarding Sorcery (C)
Turn a card in your hand to gold. If you do, draw two cards. (To turn a card to gold, reveal it, then exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
"The philosopher's gold is a nightmare to contain. Sometimes it stays dormant for days, assimilating the looted ring or cuff-link of a refugee, before it begins to spread..." –Famulus, captain of the guard
Sonic Scythe Instant (C)
As an additional cost to cast Sonic Scythe, discard a card. Sonic Scythe deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
As the defenders of Furopolis grew more desperate and supplies grew scarce, even laboratory-grade cutting equipment was weaponized against the mutant invaders.
Lapis Dissilitus Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Target player sacrifices a permanent for each Ingredient you've cast this turn.
The unstable crystal's discovery gave new meaning to "groundbreaking."
Whenever Aurora Crinita or another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Aurora Crinita deal 1 damage to target player.
As darkness closed in on the plane of Solphos, the stars themselves began falling from the sky.
Galvanologist Creature – Human Wizard (U) 1/1
: Add to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast instant or sorcery spells.
"The wonders of tomorrow will be powered by the energy of today."
Wailing Wavefront Creature – Weird Horror (U) 5/4
Haste Catalyze – At the beginning of the first end step after Wailing Wavefront enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand.
When Calescent Compound enters the battlefield, add three mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool.
"Break open Zik's old disco balls and salvage the oozes...I'm sorry, old friend, but this will keep the generators running just a little longer." –Philosopher Cestus
Magnelectric Flare Instant (U)
Destroy target artifact. Its controller adds two mana in any combination of colors to his or her mana pool.
"Today the Questioning Philosopher is no more. Today the Judgment Staff will be broken." –Philosopher Cestus
Pulvis Potentialis Sorcery – Ingredient (U)
Creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn for each Ingredient you've cast this turn.
Side effects may include sanguine imbalance, heightened aggression, and highly unusual discoloration of the tongue.
Disintegrate deals X damage to target creature or player. That creature can't be regenerated this turn. If the creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
"May your ashes follow the wind to a better place." –Lucius, beamspotter
, , Sacrifice an artifact: Search your library for an artifact card with converted mana cost X, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. That artifact gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
Her contraptions are effective. To a degree.
Flashpoint Hellkite Creature – Dragon (R) 4/4
Flashpoint Hellkite can't be countered. Flying Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Flashpoint Hellkite gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.
Stars go nova in its wake.
Saturation Point Enchantment (R)
Exile an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard: Until end of turn, you may cast any card from your hand as a copy of the exiled card. If a spell you cast this way would leave the stack, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else. (You still pay all costs to cast such spells.)
"Too much firepower? Kid – when you see the first wave of muties, you'll understand there's no such thing as too much firepower." –Manus, railcannon operator
Enchant creature Enchanted creature has ": Put a token that's a copy of this creature onto the battlefield. That token has haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step."
With the mass production of animic vapor perfected, souls could be manufactured on a truly industrial scale. -Historia Solphii, volume IV
Mythic (1)
Spoiler
Beyond the Speed of Light Enchantment - Aura (M)
Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +299,792,458/+0 and has haste.
"Try to keep up."
Green (24)
Spoiler
Common (11)
Spoiler
Guinea Pig Creature – Rat (C) 1/1
Spells and activated abilities that target Guinea Pig cost less to cast or activate.
Dozens of listless creatures fester in the endless specimen racks of Kreopolis, awaiting a round of experimentation that will never come.
Infested Shambler Creature – Mutant (C) 2/2
Volatile – When Infested Shambler is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, put a 1/1 green Mutant Worm creature token onto the battlefield tapped.
"Fascinating. Not only is the second generation of mutants immune to the bioweapon, they have metabolized the fungal infection and turned its strength into their own." –Meridus, Dark Lands researcher
Overgrown Slagheap Creature – Wall (C) 0/4
Defender When Overgrown Slagheap enters the battlefield, you may return target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
The hermitages of the Dark Lands, once mutant hovels, are now deserted in anticipation of the golden tide.
Whenever Serrated Colopede becomes tapped, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
"I don't remember reading about this in the job description..." –Ciccus, exterminator
Servant of Elements Creature – Mutant Shaman (C) 3/2
: Add to your mana pool.
Under Natos's tutelage, the outcasts of the southern wastes began to learn of a strange and primal force beyond alchemy.
Assembly Widow Creature – Spider (C) 2/4
Reach , Sacrifice a nonland permanent: Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature.
"Observe the hyperevolved widows of the Midaes river as an example of sustainable industry." –Anachor, child of Haereticus
Calxhide Cryptid Creature – Mutant Insect (C) 5/3
Transmute
The zealot caste of the Cruciatum mutants rally behind these living engines of war, deflecting corpuscular rounds with flakes of its calcined carapace.
Towering Mycoth Creature – Fungus (C) 5/5
Vigilance Catalyze – Reveal three cards that share a card type from your hand: Towering Mycoth gets +5/+5 until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.
"I thought it was a new spire built in the southern districts. Then it moved." –Chalastis, siege operator
Dormant Chromosome Instant (C)
Volatile – When Dormant Chromosome is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
In every living being is a forest of sleeping life-strands, each waiting for its potential to be unleashed.
Glyph of Fermentation Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." Transmute
"Air to open the æther, earth to draw forth power, and sulfur to exalt its brilliance. With glass of magnesia, it is sealed."
Muriate of Potash Sorcery – Ingredient (C)
Search your library for up to X land cards and put them onto the battlefield, where X is the number of Ingredients you've cast this turn. Then shuffle your library.
With the discovery that life could be manufactured, an entire industry sprang up around the Midaes nitre vents. Thus began the city of Kreopolis. –Historia Solphii, volume II
Trample Whenever Visioncursed Exile deals damage to a player, you may draw a card.
She scratched her eyes out, but the hallucinations never ended.
Wasteland Wolves Creature – Mutant Wolf (U) 2/1
Whenever a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, Wasteland Wolves gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
"Keep your distance, but leave your swords sheathed. These creatures are just as pitiful as we are." –Aestas, Hydropolis refugee
Outcast Scavengers Creature – Human Nomad (U) 3/3
When Outcast Scavengers enters the battlefield, you gain 3 life. Sacrifice a nonland permanent: You gain 3 life.
Before their exile, they were thieves and chymists, cutthroats and scientists. Now, they are survivors.
Natron Kudzu Creature – Plant (U) 1/1
Flash Defender When Natron Kudzu enters the battlefield, counter target noncreature spell and put X +1/+1 counters on Natron Kudzu, where X is the converted mana cost of that spell.
When Kreopolis experimenters began flushing laboratory waste into the outlands, nature adapted.
Encrusting Veins Sorcery (U)
Turn target noncreature permanent to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
"By natural toll / All is undone / By the unnatural." –Natos Cruciatur
Colony Tumor Enchantment – Aura (U)
Enchant permanent Enchanted permanent has ": Put a 1/1 green Mutant Worm creature token onto the battlefield."
Put X 1/1 colorless Ooze creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Thanks to the buildup of magical energy created through the cycle of calcination and coagulation, alchemy labs make the perfect breeding grounds for spontaneous life.
Rare (5)
Spoiler
Primordial Limus Creature – Ooze (R) 3/3
All permanents and all cards in hands, libraries, graveyards, and exile lose all abilities other than characteristic-defining abilities or mana abilities. (Rules text is blanked out and Auras and Equipment fall off. Spellcasting and * numbers remain unaffected.)
"The generators have failed. The furnaces are still. Have we returned to the Dark Age of our ancestors?" –Philosopher Haereticus
: Untap each Mutant you control. : Mutant creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. : Mutant creatures you control gain trample until end of turn. : Mutant creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
The only constant is change.
Ouroboros Serpent Creature – Serpent Wurm (R) 7/7
Trample When Ouroboros Serpent dies, exile it. You may return any number of creature cards with total converted mana cost 7 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Transmute
It is the alpha and the omega.
Clan Markings Enchantment (R)
As Clan Markings enters the battlefield, name a card or token. Creatures you control with the chosen name get +2/+2.
"All differ in scar / But in the scarring / All are one." –Natos Cruciatur
Quarantine Panic Instant (R)
Cast Quarantine Panic only during combat after blockers are declared. For each attacking creature that you could block with X 1/1 green Mutant Worm creature tokens, put that many of those tokens onto the battlefield blocking that creature.
"Check again. I have a bad feeling about this shipment." -Micus, Kreopolis depot officer, last words
Mythic (1)
Spoiler
Natos Cruciatur Planeswalker – Natos (M)
Put two 1/1 green Mutant Worm creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped. Destroy target noncreature permanent. You get an emblem with "Creatures you control are green Mutant Horrors with trample and base power and toughness 8/8."
"A jolt, carefully administered, can change the world." –Lectus, grand magister
Starmetal Sextant Artifact (C)
, : Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library. Sacrifice Starmetal Sextant.
"The stars are in chaos; the sun has abandoned us. No one will deliver us from this predicament but ourselves." –Vorsi, child of Haereticus
Psychic Circlet Artifact – Equipment (C)
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. Equip
Mercury-tipped diodes extend the consciousness of the wearer, creating a state of hyper-awareness unachievable through nervous serum alone.
Salvaged Journal Artifact (C)
When Salvaged Journal enters the battlefield, draw a card. , Sacrifice Salvaged Journal: Draw a card.
"By the time you find this, Scepter, you'll have been too late – my glittering creation will have succeeded. I'll have plated my home with philosopher's gold, and all the goblin girls will have flocked to my one-of-a-kind jewellery..." –First script of Philosopher Zik
Uncommon (5)
Spoiler
Protean Dystopia Land (U)
: Add to your mana pool. Transmute (The converted mana cost of this card is 0.)
As the laws of nature broke one by one, Furopolis was warped like the dreamscape of a madman.
Glister Fluke can't be turned to gold in any zone. As Glister Fluke deals damage to a creature or planeswalker, turn that permanent to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.) Whenever Glister Fluke deals damage to a player, that player turns a permanent he or she controls to gold.
Like vermin, the philosopher's gold infests and consumes.
Metal Slime Artifact Creature – Ooze (U) 1/4
Volatile - When Metal Slime is put into a graveyard from anywhere, you may exile it. If you do, each player draws a card.
Wild limus metallum makes an excellent chymic feed-stock, if its tendency for self-preservation can be overcome. -Alchemical Library of Fluids
: Target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard. , , Sacrifice Codex Shredder: Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
Not every thesis is meant for the public eye.
Biowork Harness Artifact (U)
When Biowork Harness enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield until Biowork Harness leaves the battlefield.
"We can rebuild her. We have the technology."
Rare (10)
Spoiler
Quicklime Grotto Land (R)
Quicklime Grotto enters the battlefield tapped unless you have four or less cards in hand. : Add or to your mana pool.
An underground fortress as pristine and sterile as death.
Ruined Laboratory Land (R)
Ruined Laboratory enters the battlefield tapped unless you have four or less cards in hand. : Add or to your mana pool.
Shadows still lurk among the stains and scars.
Vitriolic Pool Land (R)
Vitriolic Pool enters the battlefield tapped unless you have four or less cards in hand. : Add or to your mana pool.
Hangworms use it to dissolve their meals before feeding on the slurry that remains.
Cinnabar Wasteland Land (R)
Cinnabar Wasteland enters the battlefield tapped unless you have four or less cards in hand. : Add or to your mana pool.
Not even the smallest weed survives in this featureless hellscape.
Infested Stormdrain Land (R)
Infested Stormdrain enters the battlefield tapped unless you have four or less cards in hand. : Add or to your mana pool.
Toxic waters give rise to toxic life.
Solphos's End Land (R)
Solphos's End can't be turned to gold in any zone. : Add to your mana pool. , : Turn target nonbasic land to gold. Its controller gains control of Solphos's End. (To turn a permanent to gold, exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
"...the calculations spell a cruel truth. The gold will reach Kardiapolis in seven days..." -The Fool's Gold Diaries, first entry
Glister Crusher Artifact Creature – Golem (R) 4/4
Trample Glister Crusher can't be turned to gold in any zone. As Glister Crusher deals damage to a creature or planeswalker, turn that permanent to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.) Whenever Glister Crusher deals damage to a player, that player turns that many permanents he or she controls to gold.
"Gold is... the only true power..." -Auric Avarius
Phylactery Cathode Artifact (R)
If a creature would die, you may pay . If you do, exile that creature instead and draw a card.
"Millions of ghostly anima hover in the air around Kardiapolis, lost after being untethered from their corporeal bodies... wasteful, is it not?" –Aeolus Revelaris, Atmospheria
Mirrorsilk Mantle Artifact – Equipment (R)
Whenever equipped creature becomes the only target of a spell, you may copy that spell for any number of other creatures that spell could target. Each of those copies targets a different one of those creatures. Then counter the original spell. Equip
Philosopher Scepter never seemed to suffer laboratory mishaps. In public appearances, her dress was always immaculate.
Immateria Furnace Artifact (R)
Discard a card or sacrifice another nonland permanent: Add to your mana pool.
The Kreopolitan convict is a remarkable font of reagents. Blood, bone and conscious mind all serve as feedstock for the crucible. -Third Discourse of Imperia
Mythic (5)
Spoiler
The Golden Tree Land (M)
The Golden Tree can't be turned to gold in any zone. : Turn the top card of your library to gold. If you do, add one mana of any color to your mana pool. If this mana is spent on a spell, that spell can't be countered by spell or abilities. Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant. (To turn a card to gold, reveal it and exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
For the grave of the Dreaming Philosopher, a nightmarish bloom.
Philosopher Scepter Legendary Creature – Human Wizard (M) 2/3
Flying, hexproof : Draw two cards. For each attacking creature, you may cast an instant, sorcery or Aura card from your hand targeting that creature without paying its mana cost. Activate this ability only if a creature is attacking you or a planeswalker you control.
"Second comes the ruthless eye of judgment, the willingness to prove an idea unworthy." –The Pledge of the Winged Staff
Philosopher Cestus Legendary Creature – Human Artificer (M) 3/4
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a 1/1 colorless Construct artifact creature token with defender onto the battlefield. : Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of creatures you control. You may reveal an artifact or Artificer card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
"Third comes the ceaseless fall of the hammer, the drive that makes the idea a reality." –The Pledge of the Winged Staff
Metaterra the Impossible Legendary Creature - Mutant Shapeshifter (M) 4/4
When Metaterra the Impossible enters the battlefield or at the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of the library of the next player in turn order. If it's a non-Shapeshifter creature card, Metaterra the Impossible becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability. Otherwise, repeat this process with the next player in turn order.
"Life is a circle / In circles scribed / Where mortals walk." -Natos Cruciatur
Azoth of the Philosophers Legendary Artifact - Equipment (M)
Azoth of the Philosophers can't be turned to gold in any zone. Nothing can be turned to gold in any zone. : If equipped creature is attacking or blocking, destroy any number of target nonland permanents with converted mana cost X or less. Equip
Dawn broke on a world free from hubris.
Solid Gold Artifact – Solid Gold (S)
(Solid Gold does nothing. It can't be turned to gold in any zone. Remove it from your deck when the game ends.)
Joined: Jun 21, 2014 Posts: 8338 Location: Singapore
The incomplete Fool's Gold has been ported from the old Wizards forums!
Finishing this set will be quite a trial, as I lost the MSE file with all my notes and cards in progress in an accident. Also lost is the complete text of Philosopher Scepter's diary, which will be scattered across Fool's Gold ICDs in the old Wizards forums for crazy archive-delvers to decipher... how fitting. But I'll do what I can!
Note that some changes have been made: - Solid Gold now has a mana cost of , making it slightly less useless. - Various tweaks to cards across the board.
And there is a new rare land cycle, the first new cards spoiled since my hiatus. Check it out!
Joined: Jun 21, 2014 Posts: 8338 Location: Singapore
Can you glimpse the Unfathomable Depths? If you do, you'll realize I changed out some uncommons for Correspondent Glare and Aqua Regia, and revamped the white, red and green members of the common glyph cycle.
Edit: Changed Unfathomable Depths to and moved Event Horizon to so it wouldn't clash at the same CMC.
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with no abilities: if you're unlucky enough to have your cards turned to philosopher's gold, you'll have to find esoteric ways to make use of it. When the game ends, remove all Solid Gold and return your deck to its original state.
: Tap target creature.
You lose 2 life and draw a card.
Turn target creature or planeswalker with converted mana cost X or less to gold. (Exchange it with a Solid Gold card from outside the game.)
Gain control of all Solid Gold artifacts. They become 5/5 artifact creatures.
Put two 1/1 green Mutant Worm creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped.
Destroy target noncreature permanent.
You get an emblem with "Creatures you control are green Mutant Horrors with trample and base power and toughness 8/8."
