8:40 all the Warchief cards in the cycle are wearing medallions since their cost reducing effect is like that of the medallion cycle, in this case Emerald Medallion.

I know that this was recorded long ago and any interest in this information has long since been forgotten or disregarded, but for the sake of engagement I'll type this up anyway. Long term plans is "good" because it is instant speed, allowing you to hold up interaction and tutor for something you'll need in the future if you don't need to kill or counter anything. Notably, it's also one of very few unconditional tutors that are not black. The fact that it's in the color (arguably) best suited to dig those three cards the fastest definitely helps. The Warchief is part of a cycle, one in each color that reduced a creature type's cost and gave it another effect. White cared about soldiers and gave them +1/+2 a reference to "Holy Strength." Black, to zombies and +2/+1 a reference to "Unholy Strength." Red to goblins and gave them haste. Blue to illusions, but could change that with a tap ability on the creature. Each had a necklace on in its art, which I believe, but am not positive, was a reference to the Medallion cycle in Tempest.

Scourge was absolutely draftable, but probably wasn't _meant_ to be drafted in an environment outside Onslaught-Legions-Scourge. Limited has been around since at least 1996, Mirage was the first set designed with drafting in mind.

6:58 A long time ago Marshall Sutcliffe did a retro draft of OLS and when he saw Rush of Knowledge he completely freaked out, he went on for like ten seconds about how awesome it was, then double-checked to make sure he'd read it correctly because he couldn't believe they'd print something that draws that many cards. Then the first time he drew it he got distracted again and started saying things like "That card is just insane"

4:37 They try to avoid changing the creature types on cards from this block, as it was a tribal block and thus changing the creature types would change how the cards play more than for other blocks.

I *love* Scourge. For some reason, the art direction and weird-ass cards give me a cozy feeling. Maybe because the oldest cards I started playing with were, among others, Scourge.

Rush of Knowledge + Scornful Egoist on the Morph.

I remember a commander game I played where someone had upwelling. After a turn cycle or two everyone just has 30+ mana and the game was absolutely wild.

Oh man, this pack is a banger! I never played Scourge proper, but I have played with almost all of these cards in other commander decks over the years. As Graham realized with the Temporal Fissure, it really makes it pretty clear that the set wants you to get some cheap things to fire off a storm payoff, or some big things that you can upwell your mana into, trigger your dragon scales, draw with your rush of knowledge, etc. Mechanically, I feel like I completely understand this set from looking at these cards, and that is a great as-fan.

Misguided Rage is also the third card of an Onslaught block spanning cycle that had flavour text depicting something bad happening to a goblin named Furt. The other two cards were: Nosy Goblin in Onslaught - To his surprise, Furt discovered that the strange creatures were not at all like bugs. Goblin Lookout in Legions - “Throw rocks at ‘em! Throw spears at 'em! Throw Furt at 'em!” And then Misguided Rage in Scourge - Only when the anger passed did Varv realize he had burned down his home, destroyed his weapons, and killed his friend Furt. I'd have to wager that they'll eventually make a legendary Furt card.

The Onslaught block had just wrapped up when I first got into Magic, so a lotta nostalgia here. Go goblins!

Scattershot is played in some pauperdecks because Grapeshot is banned. Its JUST a much worse grapeshot but manages to find some sideboard spots in certain decks regardless.

You can draw 10 cards with Rush of Knowledge in a Reaper King commander deck because its mana value is technically 10 even though can pay WUBURG to cast it.

I assume Death's-Head Buzzard came up in Magic Battlegrounds, which was a cool fighting game-like version of Magic. I remember spending untold amounts of time with it even if I couldn't actually play any people, the AI and all the various decks you could build was more than enough for me.

Big fan of the Dragon aura cycle. Put 'em on something small early game, let them die, then when you play your big threat late game you get to stack a bunch of buffs on them for free.

I don't know the best way to use Long-Term Plans but it's good in Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge where you put a card that you want to cast with Jeleva third from the top, then exile it with her and cast it for free when she attacks.

Vigilance? Keyworded first in Champions of Kamigawa, which was the fall set for 2004. This being the final set where the original frame was still the only one in a standard legal set came out in spring of 2023.

Long term plans isn't the best tutor but it is 3 mana which is whatever, it's instant speed, and it can get Anything in Blue. So you only wait 2 turns or if you draw more get it immediately. Again blue instant speed anything. So it is terrible if you compare it to black but when compared to other color tutors it seems better.

Mr Bungle reference got me to laugh. Thanks to Kathleen for me even knowing who they are.

Long-Term Plans is playable in Commander, where being restricted on colours often means that you don't have access to better tutors that can tutor for any card, and the "you need to draw three cards" stipulation isn't that big of a deal when you're in blue anyway

Ok but the art on Death's-Head Buzzard goes SO hard.

"Did draft exist at this point?" Graham sees a set from 2004 and acts like it's from the 1920s.

At last, all the Long Term Plans enthusiasts are gathered here. also my favorite way of using it is with last room of The Undercity

Rush of Knowledge sees some Pauper play, usually in the Gurmag Angler (or similar) decks. 5-mana draw 7 is very good. Also, that Aven Liberator is very scary, unmorphing for 4 and being able to eat any morph is terrifying

so glad scourge yager could make an appearance

Yessssss, I have so many fond memories of Scourge! I got into magic during Onslaught, so this episode was particularly nostalgic. Thank you!!!

"Death loves Mr. Bungle." Alright... that's the leader in 2024 best things said. Well done Graham. HAHA

HOW can you call me _Consumptive Goo_ and then expect me to see you clearly through the tears of laughter in my eyes?!

Yeah Onslaught block!

"Consumptive goo." I've never felt so seen.

Deaths head Buzzard. Famous for its presence in MTG Battlegrounds.

I certainly didn't have "unexpected Mr. Bungle reference" on my agenda for the day.

My first serious foray into Magic was the Onslaught/Legion/Scourge block, so that was a big blast from the past. Thank you!

This was a fun watch to see what you pulled. I was surprised at how few of the cards I recognized, but the Dragon Scales and Krosan Warchief were exciting (to me).

Ooooh this was the set that was coming out next when I was first learning to play Magic.

Long term plans is notable for two reasons. Its an unrestricted tutor that allows busted creatures, enchantments, and artifacts to be tutored by a blue deck. This allows you to tutor cards that take your deck to the stratosphere and usually find a home when the commander can help you draw to it. Azami wizards decks or the Zndrsplt and Okaun. A two mana tutor that takes extra leg work can be worth it when cards like Krark’s thumb bust the deck wide open. On the other side there are commanders that care about the top of your library and long term plans gives you a way to cheat that. The easiest example is Narset, Enlightened Master which casts the top 4 cards of your library for free if they are noncreatures. Long Term Plans is definitely not the most busted cards it’s just held some value from being potent in a handful of reasonably popular commanders. If it ever gets reprinted outside of something like the coin flip Secret Lair commander deck then it’s price will probably drop because it’s home is niche.

Delightful as always!

4:45, I still can't believe Death's Head Buzzard hasn't been errata'd yet! It doesn't even have a bird's skull FFS!

Scourge block was my first set back in my school years, good times picking up a pack of it most afternoons on the way home with my pocket money.

You were very much supposed to draft this set, as part of the block, and that's where something like Scattershot came into play: Limited Storm couldn't guarantee they'd have the kill package and might need to just storm off to clear the ground and start swinging in. As for Long-Term Plans it has a lot of different uses but #1 with a bullet in the Current Year is that Commander is a thing, color identity is a thing, and blue doesn't get a ton of other tutors. :V

I run Long Term Plans in my Siani/Akroma flyers deck. I cast it before combat, swing in with at least two flyers, and now it's on the top of my deck. With cards like Bident of Thassa and Reconnaissance Mission, I can often draw the card I tutored for that turn.

Scourge was when I started playing magic and I still have my Dragon Tyrant from back in the day haha

Cast approach of the second sun. Then cast long term plans to shorten the clock for the second approach

So much nostalgia

One of my all time favorite sets

The "Oh everything is old-bordered" comment is funny because this is the last old-border set iirc

Hmm... Scourge is old enough to drink this year.

Rush of Knowledge is in combo decks in Pauper where you play Delve creatures to draw 7 or 8 cards.

I think I remember Wheeler saying something like when you're playing a combo deck in Highlander you put in all the good tutors, then you put the okay tutors and you put in the bad tutors. That might be why Long-Term Plans is nearly 2 dollars?

Temporal Fissure: Doesn't say nonland permanent 👀👀

Long term plans can find any card type where as most blue tutors are limited to one instant/sorcery. Blue also has cards like Brainstorm and Ponder to get the card immediately. Rush of Knowledge is great with Affinity creatures among others. Upwelling is decent but being symmetrical does hurt it. It basically makes all of your mana sources storage lands. You get to make a bunch of mana over two or three turns than cast an X Spell.

And here I am filming and uploading every day like a schmuck.

Rush of Knowledge was a bomb back in the day, despite how it looks now lol

Oh hey, a set I actually remember!

Rush of knowledge was fun to play with scornful egotist. Also fun in Reaper King decks.

Long term plans is one of the best tutors in mono blue to get non instant sorcery or artifact

Long-Term Plans is nice in Narset, Enlightened Master

Also of note Scourge was final set of Onslaught block. Although it was not intended to drafted by itself it was supposed to drafted with both Onslaught(first set and biggest set) and legions(middle set and also small set)

Thanks for this. Dragon scales could be cool.

Long term plans seems like it would be good with effects that look at cards from the top of your library. Like 6 mana Narset - you could tutor some big noncreature spell and play it for free, or Winota, you could fetch a human you want before attacking.

I'm here to e n g a g e with the Scourge on Magic players that was this set.

Play Long Term plans after Approach of the Second Sun to accelerate it maybe? Scourge was my first set and I have so much nostalgia for it. Daru Warchief made me want to go into building a mono white soldier deck early on!

What a banger of a pack

I used to run Misguided rage in my Land Destruction deck as a way of hitting non lands.

"Was this before draft?" No, draft has been a format since Mirage in 1996.

You laugh at Long Term Plans, but I run it. Blue isn't great at tutoring for enchantments :)

Temporal Fissure was busted in Pauper, so much so that it got banned. I believe Gilded Light was a good card in Block and Standard, for exactly the reasons you said. Plus, it had good synergy with Astral Slide and Lightning Rift. I have vague memories of there being a completive Upwelling deck at some point in some format, but I could be completely making that up.

Minds Desire Storm was one of the strongest and most satisfying deck to play of my youth, remember just like yesterday. But it could make you lose some friend to quit rage

I used to play Rush of Knowledge in my Affinity deck with Mycosynth Golem to draw 11.

Ouh this is from back when I started. That whole block was great fun for a beginner it had tribal, big cmc and dragons. All a Timmy could want. Dragon Scales was part of a cycle. The red one was great in reanimator and oath decks to give haste to your finisher for free. Vigilance wasn't a keyword until Champions of Kamigawa. There was no focus on colours really just tribal but the Aven Liberator is a solid combat trick and there were plenty of morphs to bluff with. There was no indestructible until Darksteel (2 sets after this one) so Lingering Death is just slow removal that can kill black and artifact creatures. Rush of Knowledge was quite good actually since the format can be slow (especially if it's 3xScourge) and there is Scornefull Egotist in the set to cheat a high CMC. Long Term Plans is alright if you can combine it with some cantrips in constructed. All the chieftains wore a necklace. Beasts was probably the weakest tribe when it came to synergy. The format would have been Onslaught+Legions+Scourge except for maybe release week where it would have 3x Scourge. My pick is probably Rush of Knowledge if it's 3xScourge and otherwise maybe Aven Liberator but it would depend heavily on what was in the first 2 packs.

Wow, I'm familiar with basically every card from this pack despite never playing it. All of these cards are ones I've seen played

Alas, no Scornful Egotist. I wish Graham had opened one and none of the mana-value-matters cards just so he could be completely flummoxed by an eight-mana 1/1. Still, fond memories of this set. The very last one with the original frame. (Vigilance was more than a year away in Champions of Kamigawa.)

I didn't want to be reminded that scourge is old enough to drink 😅

i was born the same year scourge came out :)

You'd draft it with a pack of Onslaught and a pack of Legion so it would always be pack 3 (at least how we did it)Depending on what you had drafted before there are a couple of "okay for the time" cards

Oh man. I remember scourge in high school

I ran Sprouting Vines in an RG Omnath commander deck... even getting 2 or 3 lands off it was mad value.

1:25 I'd argue that it *is* either here or there re: card quality, since if we don't make noise about it here (in the fanbase) they're not gonna do anything about it there (at WotC.) That said, I have neither purchased MTG cards nor played a paper game in quite some time, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt--mostly I'm just here for the engagement :)

I had a deck back in the Scourge days with Rush of Knowledge and Scornful Egotist, the 8 mana 1/1 with morph 1. Draw 4 for 5 is alright, but try drawing 8,

I just got a Upwelling at a antique mall for a dollar. So that checks out.

Long term plans is playable when you have sensei's divining top in play, but that says more about top :))

Long term plans probably good with miracle cards or second sun maybe

All Warchiefs in the set wear a necklace.

so long term plans can be good in very spefic scenarios say for example your commander is the orginal narset from khans of tarkir

I know that I'm biased because it was my first set, but man do I love me some Scourge

3rd from the top also lets you grab the card with Brainstorm on the same turn.

Vilgiance was not key worded until 2004’s Kamgiwa block. Trust me I was there for it. (I’m Old)

none of them knew! none of them knew!

When a card is a "bad" tutor but still is played, it's probably because of high-power singleton formats.

I think target player sacrifices a permanent might still be an effect red gets, certainly it was getting it at common in a premier set in 2020 (Earth-Cult Elemental). It's basically a worse stone rain that the opponent can buy out of like a punisher effect.

So many commander playables SAWLM were right!

red kinda still gets "target player sacrifices a permanent" on occasion. most recently in AFR with earth-cult elemental.

Dragon scales is a great card, and the should bring it back 😊

I had a casual Golem typal deck that can win on turn 3 thanks to Rush of Knowledge 1: Artifact land Ornithopter Paradise mantle, Equip mantle 2 Artifact land Pentad Prism 3 Artifact land, Mycosynth Golem, Composite golem (cost 0 thanks to affinity), Sac for WUBRG, Rush of knowledge, Draw 11 Composite Golem for 0 Composite golem for 0 Mycosynth golem for 0 Bosh for 0 Sacrifice Composite golems for WUBRG WUBRG Activate Bosh Sacing Mycosynth golem to deal 11 to your face, Activate Bosh to Fling Mycosynth golem at your face for another 11

So ... don't spend 2 hours making a pauper brew around sprouting Vine storm, only to re-read it says "into your hand" ... mid game. Oops. Scatter shot could work, if you link a creature to a player, but in that case probably belongs in *That Cube* .

That rage card is a misprint. Only the top layer is creased but not the back of the card. I’d want it please lol

Scourge was designed to draft but not alone. Onslaught block was tribal so the beast lord was good but you'd know if you wanted it. Utility tappers like sparksmith or timberwatch elf were scary so bad removal to kill them was playable. Overall scourge was one of those third sets that felt a bit forced and gave blocks a weak image. I still miss blocks though.

I had never heard of Rush of Knowledge before. In the last month, it has popped up in numerous yt videos at least four times. Not significant, but weird.

I hope my cursed pack of dominaria didn’t get lost in the move

TIL there used to be 11 commons in a booster pack?