City of Brass

City of Brass was originally illustrated by Mark Poole for the Arabian Nights expansion, the very first expansion set for Magic: The Gathering released in 1993. The card was designed to represent a legendary location from the Thousand and One Nights, offering players a flexible way to generate any color of mana at the cost of one life point whenever it is tapped. Its design became a foundational element of the game’s resource management, providing an essential utility for multi-colored decks that has remained relevant across decades of competitive play.

The Seventh Edition version, featuring the collector number 327, was released in 2001 as part of the game's core set cycle. This printing is notable for being the first time the card featured the modernized card frame and the updated art by Gia Huy, which departed from Poole’s original vision in favor of a more contemporary digital aesthetic. While long-time players often debate the merits of the various artistic iterations, the Seventh Edition printing serves as a significant marker for the transition period of the game’s visual identity during the early 2000s.