The strongest Magic cards ever: Mirage-Urza's era white

Magic was created 20 years ago this year, and in that time, the game has grown and shifted in ways no one could have anticipated when it first began. But one thing is consistent - through every era of design and tournaments, each color has had certain cards that stood out, enabled crazy combos, brought down unbreakable lockdowns, smashed or snuck through opposing defenses, and otherwise defined the game environment around them. Continuing from the green cards of the early era, here are the most beloved and busted white cards from the second era of Magic design: From Mirage to Urza's Destiny, when the block system of set releases was first finding its footing.

The color pie first began to fall into place during this time, from about 1995-1997. White stayed true to its flavorful roots as a color of unity, equality, and righteous justice, while losing only a few strange fringe mechanical elements; it probably stayed the most "the same" from the beginning of Magic up until this period. White during this era was firmly in the middle of being an aggro and control color, preferring to play a relatively slow game and getting out fat Angels and Avatars to bash with after locking down the board, or less commonly heading opponents off with an early weenie rush.