Eye for an Eye

Eye for an Eye was originally released in the Limited Edition Alpha set in 1993, representing one of the core white spells in the early Magic: The Gathering ecosystem. It was designed to capture the flavor of retributive justice, allowing a player to redirect incoming damage back to its source. The card was carried forward into the Fourth Edition in 1995, a set that served as a foundational reprint collection meant to stabilize the game's rules and card pool for a rapidly growing player base.

The card features illustration by Mark Poole, a staple artist during the game's formative years. Poole’s style for the piece emphasizes the classic fantasy aesthetic of the early 1990s, utilizing a high-contrast, mystical visual language to depict the concept of divine or magical retaliation. While the card is mechanically niche, it remains a notable example of the early design philosophy that favored reactive, high-flavor spells over the streamlined competitive mechanics that would characterize later sets.