Portal Three Kingdoms
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| Portal Three Kingdoms | |||||
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_Symbol.png){kind=small}
Chinese character for the number 3
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| Released | July 6, 1999 | ||||
| Size | 180 cards | ||||
| Keywords | Horsemanship | ||||
| Mechanics | "Zodiac" cycle | ||||
| Dev. code | None | ||||
| Exp. code | PTK | ||||
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| Third set in the Portal Block block | |||||
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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 Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Each card, including each basic land, was illustrated by a Chinese artist.
[edit] Set History
Portal Three Kingdoms was released mainly in Asia-Pacific markets. These cards were printed in Japanese, 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.
As of October 20, 2005, 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 Imperial Seal, Imperial Recruiter and Ravages of War. The value of those cards now often exceeds 140USD a piece. Many cards from this set are now worth more than 30USD, making the sealed booster box from this set one of the most expensive along with Alpha, Beta and Unlimited.
[edit] 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.
