Last updated on December 26, 2024
Eldrazi Monument | Illustration by Cosmin Podar
The plane of Zendikar has been around for nearly 15 years and has been visited on several occasions since its introduction. 2009 was the first time that players experienced Magic’s world of floating lands, powerful mana sources, and occasional Eldrazi attacks with the Zendikar MTG set.
Zendikar didn’t just introduce a new exciting plane to the game, but also some important cards like the allied fetch lands and the first planeswalker cards for Sorin Markov and Nissa Revane. The set also introduced the popular landfall mechanic, which has become a deciduous mechanic.
Let’s take a look at the set’s cards, story, and mechanics in greater detail and discuss some of the more important contributions it has made to Magic since its release.
Zendikar Basic Information
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle | Illustration by Kieran Yanner
Set Details
| Set Symbol |  |
| Set Code | ZEN |
| Number of Cards | 249 |
| Rarities | 101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 20 basic lands. |
| Mechanics | Kicker, Landfall, Traps, Allies |
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Previews Start | June 10, 2009 |
| Release on Magic Online | October 2, 2009 |
| Pre-release Week | September 26-27, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date | October 2, 2009 |
| Game Day | October 31, 2009 |
About the Set: The Story
As the first set that explored the plane of Zendikar, a good chunk of the set’s story was information about the plane itself, which was shown through the cards themselves and the Journey to the Eye web comic.
Zendikar introduced many of the important elements of the plane, like the large mysterious hedrons that act as mana sources and the unique floating land masses. It also introduced the main peoples of the plane: the elves, the goblins, the vampires, and Zendikar’s unique native people, the Kor. While Kor had been seen in other sets, Zendikar revealed that this was their home plane, and any Kor seen elsewhere had been taken from their home.
Journey to the Eye followed two of Magic’s planeswalkers as they made their way to the Eye of Ugin: Chandra Nalaar and Sarkhan Vol. Chandra had come to the eye following a map she had discovered on a previous adventure. Sarkhan had been sent deliberately by Nicol Bolas to watch over the Eye.
After losing several guides to the dangerous creatures and elemental forces of Zendikar, Chandra is eventually led to the Eye by the vampire Anowon, who attempts to betray her and steal her map. Anowon is defeated by Sarkhan.
There was also a novel tie-in for the entire Zendikar block titled Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum. The book followed Nissa as she encounters the now-released Eldrazi, and Sorin who has returned to help fight them once again.
Zendikar’s story ended there and was picked up in the following set, Worldwake, with a follow-up comic, Awakenings. The events of these stories would lead to the release of the Eldrazi, which in turn led to the formation of the Gatewatch and shaped Magic’s stories for years after.
Zendikar Mechanics
Landfall
Landfall is an ability word for abilities that are triggered when a land enters the battlefield under your control. While landfall made appearances on subsequent visits to Zendikar, it wasn’t considered to be a deciduous mechanic until 2022. Landfall can now show up in sets that don’t take place on Zendikar, and some cards have been errata’d to include the word.
Zendikar also had some built-in support for landfall abilities in the form of its fetch lands, which would allow players to get multiple landfall triggers in a single turn while only playing one land.
Trap
Trap was a subtype added to some instant cards. Traps all included a stipulation that would allow you to pay a lower mana cost as long as certain requirements were met.
For example, Pitfall Trap can be discounted if exactly one creature is attacking. Originally, this was designed in a way that was much more reminiscent of Yu-Gi-Oh! trap cards, and it was going to be an artifact subtype. The artifacts were going to be placed face down, so opponents would know you had a trap, but not the nature of it.
Traps appeared again in Worldwake but haven’t appeared on any unique cards since then. The mechanic has a 6 on the Storm Scale, meaning it isn’t impossible that traps could show up in a future set.
Kicker
Kicker is an additional cost that you can pay to gain a bonus effect on a card. Kicker was first introduced in Invasion and has appeared in quite a few sets since then. It was officially declared a deciduous mechanic by Mark Rosewater in 2023. The multikicker variant would appear later in this block on cards like Everflowing Chalice from Worldwake.
Intimidate
Intimidate was a keyword mechanic found mostly on black creatures and red creatures. It was a form of evasion that prevented the creature from being blocked by anything but artifact creatures or creatures that share a color with it.
Although it was once considered an evergreen mechanic, intimidate has since gone the complete opposite direction and earned itself a 10 on the Storm Scale. This is because it was hard for players to account for when building a deck. The mechanic was replaced with menace as a form of evasion since it was easier to play against, and the rule was simpler.
Allies
Ally is a creature subtype introduced in Zendikar. While not all ally creatures have this type of effect, many feature an ability that gives them synergy with other allies. Some examples include Bala Ged Thief and Hagra Diabolist.
Bloodied
Although not a named mechanic on paper, Zendikar included several vampire cards like Bloodghast and Vampire Lacerator that care if your opponent has 10 or less life. These vampires are colloquially called bloodthirsty vampires, and the condition of having less than 10 life is nicknamed “bloodied” in Magic slang. This references the D&D term which means a creature has less than half its starting health.
Zendikar Card Gallery
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Colorless
Lands
Notable Cards
Allied Fetch Lands
Onslaught introduced the first round of five fetch lands which entered the battlefield untapped and fetched lands that came in untapped. Zendikar completed this cycle with the five remaining color pairs that hadn’t appeared in the previous round of fetch lands. These lands include Marsh Flats, Scalding Tarn, Verdant Catacombs, Arid Mesa, and Misty Rainforest.
Along with the Onslaught fetch lands, Zendikar’s fetch lands are some of the best lands in the game. They are widely used in a variety of formats, making them very valuable game pieces. Of all the cards in the original Zendikar set, these have had the largest impact on Magic as a whole.
Full Art Basics
Newer players might not know this, but it was actually a big deal when Zendikar came out with full-art basic lands! These lands were the first cards from the set that were previewed. Previously, the only sets with full art lands had been the Un-sets.
Full-art lands have become commonplace and appear in almost every Standard set, but for a while this art treatment was largely reserved for visits to Zendikar.
Mindbreak Trap
Mindbreak Trap can be a very effective way to shut down infinite combos or storm decks. Free counterspells, even with stipulations, usually make a pretty big splash, and this blue instant is no exception. It remains one of the most expensive cards from Zendikar, and likely would be worth more had it not been reprinted in the Breaking News bonus sheet for Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
One of the best red lands in all of Magic, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle can be a useful tool in burn decks or any mono-red deck. By turning your mountains into Lightning Bolts, this utility land allows you to deal a good amount of direct damage to a player or helps remove some pesky creatures in a color that can sometimes struggle with spot removal.
Archive Trap
Archive Trap is especially punishing to any player who uses a tutor to place a card on the top of their deck (like Vampiric Tutor). Not only will they lose what they just searched up, but they’ll also mill a significant number of cards. This blue instant can also be a great tool for any mill commander since you’ll likely get to cast Archive Trap for free in a multiplayer format.
Magosi, the Waterveil
Magosi, the Waterveil is a blue land that players have been trying to break since it saw print… and have successfully broken in several ways since its initial release. Combined with Goldberry, River-Daughter or any card that can move counters around with a source of proliferation like Karn's Bastion or Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, you can take infinite extra turns as long as you aren’t interrupted.
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
It's common to see Oran-Rief, the Vastwood in green-based token decks or other green decks that drop a lot of creatures like elfball decks. This green land has luckily been reprinted in a lot of Commander products, so it's stayed relatively affordable even if it's a frequently used card in the format.
Sorin Markov
Sorin Markov isn’t just the first Sorin planeswalker card, but it has continued to see play since its release. It was a great way to instantly bloody your opponent, turning on any abilities of your bloodthirsty vampires. More recently, this black planeswalker has become a great way to absolutely ruin someone’s Commander game in a single turn.
Priceless Treasures
To put Zendikar‘s theme of exploration on full display, some packs of the set included rare, randomly-inserted cards from Magic history. These were mostly highly sought-after cards, including original dual lands, pieces of the Power 9, and so on. These were cards that already existed and were inserted into packs by hand, so they circumvented the Reserved List. It's been reported that the rate of opening a Priceless Treasure was approximately 1-in-20 boxes, or 1-in-720 packs.
Available Products
Zendikar has been out of print for a while, so sealed product isn’t widely available. Originally, the set was released with booster packs, fat packs, and 60-card pre-constructed intro packs. Now, you can find most of these products on the secondary market, but at a significant mark up.
Booster Packs
Zendikar booster packs contain 15 cards, including one rare or mythic rare, three uncommons, a full-art basic land, and the rest commons and tip/advertisement cards. Booster packs of Zendikar cost a little over $30 each.
- Contents: 15 Card Booster Pack
- Total Cards in Set: 249 Black-bordered cards
- Specs: 15 Mythic Rare, 53 Rare, 60 Uncommon, 101 Common and 20 Basic Lands.
- Introduces the new mechanics landfall, Allies, Traps, and quests. Zendikar also features a returning favorite, Kicker.
- Features new planeswalkers, including Nissa Revane, the popular face of the Xbox LIVE Arcade title Duels of the Planeswalkers.
Booster Boxes
Booster boxes of Zendikar include 36 booster packs, and can run close to or even over $1,000 depending on the retailer.
- Magic the Gathering - MTG: Zendikar Box (36 Packs)
- 36 Packs/Box
- PACK: 16-Cards, 1 Rare/Mythic Rare
- NOTE: This product can ONLY be shipped the United States, Puerto Rico, APO/FPOs and USVI.
Fat Packs
The Zendikar fat pack is harder to find and isn’t available on Amazon. It’s being sold for nearly as much as a booster box on TCGplayer, starting at $812. These fat packs include eight Zendikar boosters, a spindown life counter, 40 full-art basics, and a few other periphery items for collectors and beginners.
Intro Packs
Zendikar included five pre-constructed intro decks, each of which included a foil rare and an additional non-foil rare. The intro packs are all available on TCGplayer, except for Rise of the Vampires. They range from about $35 to $50. This set of decks included:
- UR Pumped Up
- Mono-white Kor Armory
- GR The Adventurers
- Mono-black Rise of the Vampires
- UG Unstable Terrain
Wrap Up
Mindbreak Trap | Illustration by Christopher Moeller
Zendikar not only introduced a cool new plane to the world of Magic: The Gathering, but also had a major impact on the game and its narrative. Cards like the fetch lands are format-defining, and it set the stage for major events like the release of the Eldrazi and the formation of the Gatewatch.
Which Zendikar set is your favorite? Would you like to see a return to the plane, or is Modern Horizons 3’s Eldrazi enough to scratch that itch? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter. If you’re looking for more articles about other sets, or some deckbuilding guides, check out our blog.
Thank you for reading and see you next time!
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