Magic's 30th Anniversary: The Most Important Set of each year

Future Sight may have brought Tarmogoyf and some other cards that made history, but Lorwyn went well beyond bringing not only staples that are still some of the best cards in their categories, in addition to introducing the Planeswalkers.

Having one for each color and with abilities typical of their identity, the early Planeswalkers weren't directly connected to the plane's history, but they were vital to the competitive landscape back then.

Introducing the Tribal supertype, Lorwyn was a set entirely focused on synergies between creature types. With that, Elves, Merfolks and Goblins were some of the most prominent tribes at the time.

The set also had some cards that marked the game's history: Thoughtseize is still a staple for Pioneer and Modern, Cryptic Command has always been a solid choice for Control decks. Spellstutter Sprite, in addition to starring in one of the most powerful decks of the time - UB Faeries - is a Pauper MVP, and Ponder is one of the best cantrips ever released in history.

2006 - Time Spiral

Time Spiral was the first return to Dominaria after many years visiting other planes, and one where we observed a crisis that would unfold over the course of the block and change the lore forever with the Mending.

As a set that sought to reuse a little bit of each mechanic of the sets set in Dominaria, Time Spiral brought a huge variety of high-impact spells that added a lot to the historical context of the game, with some still present in the competitive scenario, such as Dread Return in All Spells and Living End as an archetype of its own, Academy Ruins as a Commander staple, among others.

2005 - Ravnica: City of Guilds

Ravnica: City of Guilds changed a variety of things in Magic — for the first time, we had nomenclature for the two-color combinations we still use today, it introduced a new theme for a multicolored set, introduced hybrid-cost spells, and brought what is perhaps the second most important land cycle in the game's history: the Shock Lands

Despite being basically an adapted version with a drawback of the Dual Lands, the Shock Lands have a greater historical impact due to their recurring reprints every time we return to Ravnica since then, making them legal in more Competitive formats, such as Pioneer, while being a centerpiece whenever it was present in Standard.

Another gigantic standout card in Ravnica's first set was Dark Confidant, which eventually became a Legacy staple for nearly a decade, while it was in Modern for years until power creep eventually made it less mandatory on competitive lists.

2004 - Darksteel

While Mirrodin was the set that introduced one of the most broken keywords of all time - Affinity - it was Darksteel who took the block's power level into the stratosphere by introducing a dozen powerful cards, in particular one that would be promptly banned almost everywhere.

Skullclamp was so impactful in the game and ironically only made so strong by a last-minute change made to weaken it by changing the +1/+1 to +1/-1, making this artifact the most powerful draw engine ever.

Darksteel also brought Arcbound Ravager, which would further leverage Affinity at the time, in addition to other staples present in eternal formats, such as Sword of Fire and Ice, which today is combined with Stoneforge Mystic, Aether Vial as a centerpiece of various creature-based strategies, and Echoing Truth, a sideboard staple for Pauper.

2003 - Mirrodin

Mirrodin left a permanent mark on history by showing that Wizards end up making mistakes when they focus too much on artifacts in their launches, introducing one of the most broken keywords of all time: Affinity.

Affinity ended up being so prevalent in Standard at the time that, after subsequent releases, the Metagame was basically ).push({});