Legends was the seventh Magic: The Gathering set and the third expansion and was released in 1994. This set, as the name implies revolved around Legendary permanents to represent important named characters and places in a story.
The Elder Dragon creatures I discuss below were the first true cycle in Magic's history. This set has 72 cards that are on the reserved list and contained 55 legendary creatures. I did not play at this time but I can imagine for those who were playing the early phases of EDH before it was even EDH were thrilled beyond belief as this set came up. It's kind of neat to think of the impact that this set has had on Magic: The Gathering as a whole through the advent of Commander as well as for so many of our lives. I've made so many great friends and have so many memories all surrounding this game and more specifically this format.
The Elder Dragons
Before the format we know and love came to be known as "Commander", it was known as EDH or Elder Dragon Highlander. The Elder Dragon portion of the name harkens back to the creature type these 5 creatures were given and Highlander refers to a movie and TV show named Highlander where the whole premise was "there could only be one". The one refers to having one survivor from a pod as well as one of any card (other than basic lands). When EDH was first coming to be, you had to have one of these five creatures as your commander. The rule for commander damage was derived from these creatures all being a 7/7 and that they would need to hit their opponent three times to get to the 21 damage.
I have an all white bordered Chromium deck that I have posted about previously, click here to read about it.
More Unique Legends
This set was just absolutely loaded with legendary creatures to build around! I have seen, even within the past couple of years every single one of these commanders in action. As you look through the art of these cards, it's obvious that Richard Kae-Ferguson had a lot of involvement in the art for this set. His style is so distinct. As a callback to these legends, WOTC made more updated versions of these cards and released them in them alongside Dominaria United. I only wish they had been printed in the retro frames.
Impactful Cards
While not all of these cards are played often, I don't think you would ever be looked at weird for playing any of them. I really like Fallen Angel when building decks because it is a free sac outlet that also serves as a beater. Avoid Fate should honestly be played more often than it is and people are finally coming around to using fog type effects in commander. I've been saved too many times by them and have lost too many times to them to not want to play them. There were some really powerful enchantments that get put in high power decks even by today's standards. This set was ahead of its time in my opinion.
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