Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods was a weird time to be playing cards. You remember Theros block, right? It was 2014. Everyone was obsessed with Greek myths, enchantments, and those gorgeous constellation-art gods that looked like nothing else we’d ever seen in a booster pack. But when the second set of the block dropped in February, the vibe shifted. It wasn’t exactly a disaster. It just felt... thin.
Honestly, if you look back at the set now, it’s a fascinating case study in how Wizards of the Coast used to handle "small sets" before they killed that model entirely. It was only 165 cards. That's tiny. You’ve got Xenagos, God of Revels, smashing faces for massive damage, but then you’ve got a dozen other cards that felt like draft chaff the moment they left the wrapper.
The Problem With Being a Middle Child
Being the middle set in a block is a thankless job. You have to continue the mechanics of the first set without making them feel stale, while also planting seeds for the finale. Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods struggled with this balance. It introduced Tribute and Inspired, two mechanics that, quite frankly, didn't land with the thud Wizards was hoping for.
Tribute was supposed to be this cool "choice" mechanic. Your opponent gets to decide: do I let this creature enter with +1/+1 counters, or do I let it trigger some nasty "enters-the-battlefield" effect?
Here’s the thing about Magic players: they are smart. If you give an opponent a choice, they will always pick the option that hurts them the least. It’s basic game theory. Because of that, most Tribute cards felt underpowered in competitive play. You’d cast Pharagax Giant, hoping for 5 damage to the face, but your opponent would just let it be a 5/5 because they had a Murder in hand. It felt bad.
Inspired was even weirder. To get the benefit, your creature had to untap. That sounds easy, but it meant you had to attack with a creature—often one with mediocre stats—and hope it survived long enough to reach your next untap step. Or you had to use some convoluted way to tap it manually. It was slow. In a game that was getting faster every year, "slow" is just another word for "unplayable."
The Gods That Actually Mattered
We have to talk about the Gods. That’s why people bought the packs.
Theros gave us the five monocolored gods like Thassa and Purphoros. They were powerhouses. Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods brought us the "minor" gods—the multicolored ones. This is where the set actually shines if you’re a Commander player or a casual brewer.
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Xenagos, God of Revels is the king here. He’s a terrifying card. You drop him, and suddenly your giant green fatty has haste and double the power. It ends games. Even today, Xenagos is a staple in any Gruul deck that wants to turn creatures sideways.
Then you had Ephara, God of the Polis. She wasn’t a flashy finisher, but man, the value was real. Drawing a card every time a creature enters the battlefield on anyone's turn? In a dedicated blink deck or a control shell, she kept your hand full while your opponent slowly ran out of gas.
- Mogis, God of Slaughter: Great for punishing people in multiplayer.
- Phenax, God of Deception: The literal gold standard for Mill decks.
- Karametra, God of Harvests: Basically a Rampant Growth on legs.
These cards kept the set from being a total wash. They had flavor. They felt like actual deities from a world of myth. When you pulled a foil Mogis, you didn't care that the rest of the pack was full of Great Hart and Oreskos Sun-Guide. You felt like you'd won.
The Brimaz Factor
If you were playing Standard back then, you weren't looking for Gods. You were looking for a cat.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos was the "chase" mythic. A 3/4 for three mana is already decent stats, but the fact that he created tokens whenever he attacked or blocked made him a nightmare for aggro and control alike. He was a one-man army. For a while, Brimaz was a $30 or $40 card, which was huge for a Standard-legal rare at the time.
But outside of Brimaz and the Gods? The power level fell off a cliff.
Compare this to the set that came after it, Journey into Nyx, which felt much more impactful. Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods felt like a transition. It was the bridge you had to cross to get to the end of the story.
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Why the "Enchantment Matters" Theme Faltered
Wizards really pushed the "Enchantment Creature" concept here. They looked cool. They had that starry border. But the Bestow cost—the ability to cast a creature as an Aura—was often way too expensive.
Take Boonsatyr from the previous set. That was a great card because it was efficient. In Born of the Gods, cards like Herald of Torment were okay, but many others felt like you were paying a "tax" for the flexibility of the mechanic. You’d end up paying six mana for an effect that should have cost four. In a competitive environment, that’s a death sentence.
Scry Lands and the Mana Base
We can't ignore the Temples. The "Scry Lands" were controversial. Coming off the high of the Ravnica shock lands, players were annoyed that their dual lands entered the battlefield tapped.
"Tapped lands are slow," everyone complained.
They were right. But the Scry 1 was actually incredibly relevant. It smoothed out your draws in a way that made games feel more consistent. Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods gave us the remaining color pairs for these lands:
- Temple of Enlightenment (White/Blue)
- Temple of Malice (Black/Red)
- Temple of Plenty (Green/White)
If you wanted to play a competitive deck in 2014, you needed these. You didn't necessarily want to open them as your rare, but you were glad you had them when you were trying to find your win condition on turn five.
Looking Back: Was it Actually Bad?
Not really. It was just lopsided.
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The set had incredible art. The flavor text was evocative. The world-building of Theros was at its peak. But as a standalone product, it suffered from the "Small Set Syndrome" that eventually led Wizards to move toward the "Three-and-One" model and then the "Single Set" model we have now.
When you have a small set that is drafted alongside a large set, the small set's flaws are magnified. You only see a few cards from it per draft pod. If those cards aren't bangers, the whole set feels like a letdown.
How to Use Born of the Gods Cards Today
If you’re sitting on a box of these or just looking to pick up singles, don't sleep on the "hidden" gems. Everyone knows the Gods, but there are other cards that have aged gracefully in the world of Commander.
Courser of Kruphix is a monster. It’s a green staple that provides lifegain, card advantage (sorta), and a solid blocker. It’s been reprinted a bunch, but the original Born of the Gods version still holds a special place for many.
Eidolon of the Great Revel is arguably the most impactful card in the set for non-rotating formats. It’s a four-of in Burn decks in Modern and Legacy. It punishes players for playing the game. It’s mean, it’s efficient, and it’s one of the few cards from this era that still sees heavy play in "serious" Magic.
Practical Steps for Collectors and Players
If you're looking to dive back into this era of Magic, here’s how to handle it:
- Focus on the Gods: If you’re building a Commander collection, the minor gods from this set are essential. They are unique, hard to interact with, and define entire archetypes.
- Pick up the Temples: They are cheap now. They aren't shock lands, but for budget decks or slower formats, that Scry 1 is still immensely valuable.
- Watch for Eidolon: If you plan on playing Red in any competitive format, get your playset of Eidolon of the Great Revel. Its price fluctuates, but its utility doesn't.
- Ignore the Tribute Cards: Unless you're building a very specific "choice matters" deck (which isn't really a thing yet), these cards will likely disappoint you in actual play.
Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods might not be the greatest set ever printed, but it was a vital part of one of Magic's most beloved blocks. It taught the designers a lot about what players value—and what they don't. It gave us some of the most iconic legendary creatures in the game's history and a few competitive staples that refuse to die. That’s not a bad legacy for a "small" set.