What's the 'strongest' Magic card?
Power Nine
The "Black Lotus" card can be played at zero cost, and grants three mana (the game's primary resource) when sacrificed (discarded from play). Thus, the card gives the player an enormous jump in the early stages of a "Magic" game. Former Pro player and Magic writer Zvi Mowshowitz has declared Black Lotus as the best card of its type of all time, claiming every deck in the history of the game is better with a Black Lotus in it. It has since been banned from all official tournament formats save for Vintage, but even there, it is limited to one copy per deck, compared to the normal allowance of four. The illustration on Black Lotus was painted by Christopher Rush, who was at the time a Wizards of the Coast employee. The Black Lotus illustration is a depiction of a black lotus flower over a foliage backdrop.
Magic: The Gathering core sets, 2009–2015
"Magic 2012" was the first set to use "dies" to mean a creature being put into a graveyard from the battlefield. It is the first core set to use the keyword "Hexproof", a keyword ability replacing the text "cannot be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control" (cards with this ability had been printed in previous sets, but the ability was not given a keyword). The returning mechanic in "Magic 2012" was Bloodthirst. When creatures with Bloodthirst are played, they gain a boost to their power and toughness if an opponent was already dealt damage that turn. For example, a 2/3 creature with Bloodthirst 3 could enter the battlefield as a 5/6. Bloodthirst was previously seen in "Guildpact" and "Future Sight".