One of the biggest issues a person just discovering Type 4 faces is how to put together his own stack. It's all well and good to just take a list of someone else's stack and throw as many of those cards as you have together, but often Type 4 players seek to personalize their stack - and therefore they're not only interested in what cards to include, but also want to know why those cards are included.

Because Type 4 is a casual format, cards are often included for reasons other than power. One of the motivations for including low-power cards is fun. Cheatyface is nice in that it doesn't use your spell per turn... but when it comes right down to it he isn't that good. Nonetheless, many people include him in their stacks because attempting to get him into play is generally quite entertaining. Cards like Letter Bomb and Topsy Turvy are played for the same reason. Neither of them are particularly powerful, but both are fun to play.

Another driving force behind card inclusion - and the one I'm discussing today - is flavor. Sometimes what a card is rather than what it does overrides its qualities, and presses for its inclusion in your stack. The most common example of this is the cycle: a set of cards from various colors that all share something in common. Cycles have been a part of Magic from the beginning, starting with the Boons in Alpha (Healing Salve, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth), through the Mirage/Visions tutors (Enlightened Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, and later Gamble, which wasn't really in Mirage block), all the way up to the Shoals and Patrons in Betrayers of Kamigawa. In fact, cycles are often picked to be the marquee cards of any new set - if you'll remember, the Champions of Kamigawa boosters all featured one of the Myojins.

Because all Magic players have a bit of the collector inside them, the idea of playing with a full cycle is naturally appealing. As a result, a great many cycles have found their way into Type 4 stacks everywhere - perhaps even without the stack builders noticing. In this article, I will discuss the most commonly played cycles, and talk about what cards in them are particularly suited for Type 4 play. Though it's rare to find an entire cycle that is great for Type 4, in many cases it may be worth it to you to add in the weaker cards as well just for completion's sake. Remember, it's your stack, and you can play with bad cards if you want to.

To kick things off, I'll start towards the beginning of Magic's long life span, with one of the most well-known cycles ever printed:

The Elder Dragons (Legends)
Arcades Sabboth, Chromium, Nicol Bolas, Palladia-Mors, Vaevictus Asmadi
The granddaddy of all the Dragon cycles, the Elder Dragons are still strong enough to make your stack after all these years. That said, years of development and the release of dozens of sets have taken their toll, and Chromium and Palladia-Mors are little more than random fatties these days. Nicol Bolas and Arcades Sabboth, however are excellent creatures. One is an infinite blocker, and the other is capable of generating serious card advantage. Sadly, the fifth Elder Dragon Vaevictus Asmadi, is a firebreather and therefore unfit for a normal Type 4 stack.

The Mirage Dragons (Mirage)
Pearl Dragon, Mist Dragon, Catacomb Dragon, Volcanic Dragon, Canopy Dragon, Teeka's Dragon
Often overlooked when cycles of Dragons are talked about, these mono-colored Dragons from Mirage are still worth looking at. Mist Dragon, in fact, is considered one of the strongest creatures available for Type 4, and Pearl Dragon is another infinite blocker. Unfortunately, the rest of this cycle (including Teeka's Dragon) is mediocre at best, as they are too small for their abilities to mean much.

The Winds (Prophecy)
Blessed Wind, Denying Wind, Plague Wind, Searing Wind, and Vitalizing Wind
The Winds are not as good as other cycles. All five are playable, but most of them are mediocre. Searing Wind and Plague Wind are unquestionably very strong, but the others should serve mostly as filler -and only if you don't have enough cards for a full stack. Once your stack reaches maturity you probably won't need these anymore, but they are solid cards for when you're just starting out.

The Invasion Dragons (Invasion)
Crosis, Darigaaz, Dromar, Rith, Treva
We now come to Invasion block, which by itself contributed a full third of this article. Leading things off are the Invasion Dragons, creatures which I know are very popular for many a casual player. Sadly, while excellent for regular Magic, the Invasion Dragons don't really cut it in Type 4. Crosis and Darigaaz offer abilities you might want to have at your disposal, but the rest of the group just lack the "oomph" required for them to be much better than random fatties in Type 4. By all means, play with them if you wish; just don't expect a lot.

The Pile Cards (Invasion)
Death or Glory, Fact or Fiction, Do or Die, Bend or Break
Iconic to this cycle is the restricted powerhouse drawing engine of Fact or Fiction, but this cycle offers other options to the enterprising Type 4 stack builder as well. Though the red pile card is rather poor, Death or Glory and Do or Die both function very well at what they do. The only downside is that they are sorceries, which limits their versatility.

The Instant-Speed Sorceries (Invasion)
Rout, Breaking Wave, Twilight's Call, Ghitu Fire, Saproling Symbiosis
The ability to play sorcery effects at instant speed is incredible in Type 4, as evidenced by the raw power of Vedalken Orrery. This cycle of cards has the limiting factor of requiring you to pay two more mana for the instant speed - but such things mean nothing to a Type 4 player. Ghitu Fire is too good, of course, but Rout and Twilight's Call are both very, very strong cards that can turn around a game when you need it most. Unfortunately, the blue and green cards in this cycle aren't nearly as good as the others, though they could be interesting in the right circumstances. Consider them if you're just starting your stack and have them laying around, but they should be on the list of things to cut as your stack grows.

The Gold Counters (Invasion Block)
Absorb, Mystic Snake, Suffocating Blast, Undermine
Spread out over the entire Invasion block is a cycle of four multicolored counterspells that are all excellent. The weakest, Suffocating Blast, can only be described as "poor" because it requires two targets to cast. The others are all very good - particularly Mystic Snake, which also gives you a blocker in the process. If you can lay your hands on all of these, definitely include them all.

The Dragon Charms (Planeshift)
Crosis' Charm, Darigaaz's Charm, Dromar's Charm, Rith's Charm, and Treva's Charm
Versatility counts for a lot in Type 4, as you will likely only have access to a relatively small number of cards at any given time. As a result, most of these charms are quite good. The only one that really falls short is Darigaaz's, which has effects that are rather limited for Type 4.

The Planeswalker's Enchantments (Planeshift)
Planeswalker's Mirth, Planeswalker's Mischief, Planeswalker's Scorn, Planeswalker's Rage, and Planeswalker's Favor
These enchantments are all exceptionally strong, and many of them are too strong to use without some sort of once-per-turn errata. Planeswalker's Scorn is perfectly fine as is, but I recommend making changes to the others if you want to use their effects. Common errata for Planeswalker's Mischief is to allow its controller to only activate it until you find an instant or sorcery. Similar use restrictions would allow the others to be very strong without being too powerful (except, perhaps, for Planeswalker's Rage).

The Incarnations (Judgement)
Glory, Valor, Wonder, Filth, Anger, Brawn, and Genesis
The Incarnations present the player with the interesting problem of how to get them into the graveyard. That said, every single one is at least decent. Valor, Brawn, and Wonder are the weakest, granting abilities that many creatures already have - but the rest are all exceptionally strong. I strongly suggest that you use at least Anger, Genesis, and Glory, and Filth if you don't mind creatures being unblockable.

The Pit Fighters (Onslaught)
Jareth, Arcanis, Visara, Rorix, and Silvos
Every single one of these is a strong inclusion in a Type 4 stack. Jareth offers a large blocker with protection from colors. Arcanis is Ancestral on a stick, and very hard to get rid of. Visara is repeatable removal. Rorix is a hasted flying fatty, and even Silvos has trampling and regeneration to make up for his weak back end.

The Decrees (Scourge)
Decree of Justice, Decree of Silence, Decree of Pain, Decree of Annihilation, and Decree of Savagery
While Decree of Justice is unusable because it creates infinite men, the rest of the Decrees all have something great to offer. Decree of Savagery is the only one that could possibly be considered weak - and that's only because players tend to not have many creatures in play. On the other end of the spectrum, Decree of Silence is so good that it's one of the defining cards of the format. This cycle of cards is great, and I recommend using all but the white one.

The Beacons (Fifth Dawn)
Beacon of Immortality, Beacon of Tomorrows, Beacon of Unrest, Beacon of Destruction, and Beacon of Creation
The first of two cycles from Fifth Dawn that see heavy play, four of the five Beacons all have strong and repeatable effects. Beacon of Creation is the only one of the five that doesn't mesh well with Type 4, as it is either too good or too bad depending on how you handle basic lands. Beacon of Tomorrows is probably the weakest of the remaining four, as it uses up your spell for the turn - but it grants you an extra attack, and when carefully timed, can really give you an advantage.

The Bringers (Fifth Dawn)
Bringer of the White Dawn, Bringer of the Blue Dawn, Bringer of the Black Dawn, Bringer of the Red Dawn, and Bringer of the Green Dawn
All five Bringers are very much playable, though again, green gets the short end of the stick. Bringer of the Green Dawn is little more than a glorified fatty compared to the other four, which all have amazing abilities.

The Myojin (Champions of Kamigawa)
Myojin of Cleansing Fire, Myojin of Seeing Winds, Myojin of Night's Reach, Myojin of Infinite Rage, and Myojin of Life's Web
Myojin of Cleansing Fire and Myojin of Night's Reach are great - the Night Myojin being almost too good. Myojin of Life's Web is next on the power level, as it allows you to get around the one spell per turn limit, and is also worth playing. The last two Myojin are mediocre to poor. If you want to use a generic creature slot on them, I encourage it to keep the cycle whole, but don't expect anything amazing from them (although I once did draw four cards off the blue one).

The Dragon Spirits (Champions of Kamigawa)
Yosei, Keiga, Kokusho, Ryusei, and Jugan
Similar to the Myojin, three of these are good, and two are mediocre at best. Kokusho is insane, and will net you somewhere in the range of twenty life when he finally hits the yard. Keiga and Yosei are also both strong, with effects that can really impact the game state. Jugan and Ryusei, alas, just aren't that strong - but still, I recommend fitting them in if you can. Everyone loves playing with dragons, and there are a number of cards that interact with Dragons in fun ways like Imperial Hellkite and Hivis of the Scale.

The Shoals (Betrayers of Kamigawa)
Shining Shoal, Disrupting Shoal, Sickening Shoal, Blazing Shoal, and Nourishing Shoal
Whereas the Champions cycles feature three good cards with two mediocre ones, the Shoals have three good cards with two that are too good. Blazing Shoal and Nourishing Shoal both have infinite effects that aren't permissible for the normal Type 4 stack - but Shining, Disrupting, and Sickening Shoal are all strong.

Cycles are an important part of the development process, and they have also managed to find their way into Type 4. The natural appeal of playing with a 'set' of cards is not lost upon those of us building stacks, and I like to think that it both makes stacks more interesting and games more fun. I hope this article has encouraged you to take a look at your Type 4 stack in a new light, and perhaps consider more carefully why you play with the cards you do. And though ultimately the cards you include are up to you, I hope you take a closer look at those discussed in this article, and consider the entertainment value of adding cycles to your stack.