City of Brass

City of Brass was originally introduced in the Arabian Nights expansion in 1993, representing the first land card in Magic: The Gathering history that could produce any color of mana at the cost of one life. This specific version originates from the 2001 World Championship Decks, a product line released by Wizards of the Coast to replicate the exact card lists used by top-placing players at the annual Magic World Championship. Unlike standard cards, these were printed with unique gold-bordered backs and signatures of the players on the front to designate them as non-tournament-legal keepsakes.

The 2001 set honored the competitive landscape of the era, featuring decks piloted by professionals such as Jan Tomcani, whose deck list included this City of Brass. The design intent of the card remains a landmark in strategy, balancing flexibility with a recurring resource penalty. While these gold-bordered cards were initially marketed as educational tools for players to study professional deck composition, they have since gained a distinct status among collectors as historical artifacts documenting the evolution of competitive play.