Portal Three Kingdoms
Encyclopedia
Portal Three Kingdoms is the third Magic: The Gathering
expansion of the Portal block, and the third starter level set. Like the other expansions in the Portal block, Portal: Three Kingdoms is designed for beginners to Magic. The setting is heavily based on the Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Luo Guanzhong
. Each card, including each basic land, was illustrated by a Chinese artist.
, Simplified Chinese
, and Traditional Chinese
. A very short English printing run was done, but these versions of the cards were released primarily in Australia and New Zealand and are relatively difficult to find.
On October 20, 2005, the DCI legalized cards from the Portal expansions. Now, almost all cards in the Portal block are legal in Vintage and Legacy tournaments. Allowing this set to be played in tournaments had the effect of making many cards from this set very expensive, like , , and . The value of those cards now often exceeds 250USD a piece. Many cards from this set are now worth more than 5USD, making the sealed booster box from this set one of the most expensive along with Alpha, Beta and Unlimited.
Horsemanship is an evasion ability that works like flying in that creatures with horsemanship can be blocked only by creatures with horsemanship. Creatures with horsemanship can block creatures without horsemanship as well, but not be blocked by creatures with flying, likewise Horsemanship creatures can not block flying creatures. As such, these creatures are effectively 'unblockable' by almost all other creatures. However, like all other Portal sets, Three Kingdoms can only be used in Vintage and Legacy formats where many decks function with limited or no creature base.
A past controversy existed over horsemanship, when the set became tournament legal, there were some who thought that cards with the horsemanship ability should be errata to have flying instead. Wizards initially considered making this change but decided against it, stating that the creatures with horsemanship are rare and not aggressive enough to make an impact on vintage formats. Wizards has also stated that it will be unlikely that horsemanship will return on new cards in the future.
With the release of Time Spiral, Wizards returned a vast number of older pre-8th Edition keyword abilities and mechanics; horsemanship was not among the mechanics that returned. The Magic the Gathering Online set Masters Edition III
included a number of cards from the Portal Three Kingdoms set including ones with horsemanship.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
expansion of the Portal block, and the third starter level set. Like the other expansions in the Portal block, Portal: Three Kingdoms is designed for beginners to Magic. The setting is heavily based on the Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
by Luo Guanzhong
Luo Guanzhong
Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...
. Each card, including each basic land, was illustrated by a Chinese artist.
Set History
Portal Three Kingdoms was released mainly in Asia-Pacific markets. These cards were printed in JapaneseJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Simplified Chinese
Simplified Chinese character
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Xiandai Hanyu Tongyong Zibiao for use in Mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of many standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language...
, and Traditional Chinese
Traditional Chinese character
Traditional Chinese characters refers to Chinese characters in any character set which does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. It most commonly refers to characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, or in the Kangxi...
. A very short English printing run was done, but these versions of the cards were released primarily in Australia and New Zealand and are relatively difficult to find.
On October 20, 2005, the DCI legalized cards from the Portal expansions. Now, almost all cards in the Portal block are legal in Vintage and Legacy tournaments. Allowing this set to be played in tournaments had the effect of making many cards from this set very expensive, like , , and . The value of those cards now often exceeds 250USD a piece. Many cards from this set are now worth more than 5USD, making the sealed booster box from this set one of the most expensive along with Alpha, Beta and Unlimited.
Horsemanship
Portal Three Kingdoms is the only starter level set to introduce a new keyword ability into the game. Horsemanship has become an obscure ability due to the limited production and geographical release of the set.Horsemanship is an evasion ability that works like flying in that creatures with horsemanship can be blocked only by creatures with horsemanship. Creatures with horsemanship can block creatures without horsemanship as well, but not be blocked by creatures with flying, likewise Horsemanship creatures can not block flying creatures. As such, these creatures are effectively 'unblockable' by almost all other creatures. However, like all other Portal sets, Three Kingdoms can only be used in Vintage and Legacy formats where many decks function with limited or no creature base.
A past controversy existed over horsemanship, when the set became tournament legal, there were some who thought that cards with the horsemanship ability should be errata to have flying instead. Wizards initially considered making this change but decided against it, stating that the creatures with horsemanship are rare and not aggressive enough to make an impact on vintage formats. Wizards has also stated that it will be unlikely that horsemanship will return on new cards in the future.
With the release of Time Spiral, Wizards returned a vast number of older pre-8th Edition keyword abilities and mechanics; horsemanship was not among the mechanics that returned. The Magic the Gathering Online set Masters Edition III
Masters Edition III
Masters Edition III is a Magic: The Gathering expansion, exclusive for Magic: The Gathering Online, that was released on September 7, 2009. It is the eighth compilation set, and consists of 230 cards, 70 rare, 70 uncommons, 75 commons, and 15 basic lands...
included a number of cards from the Portal Three Kingdoms set including ones with horsemanship.