Nemesis, meaning "enemies," may be the most appropriately named expansion yet for Magic: The Gathering. Indeed, there should be opponents and allies enough for anyone in this second installment in the block that began with the Mercadian Masques expansion.

Nemesis is an expert level, limited-edition expansion that builds upon the dynamics introduced in its predecessor, introduces Fading, and expands upon the legendary character Crovax. Featuring 143 all-new, black-bordered cards, Nemesis cards include new creatures, lands, and spells and are sold in four 60-card preconstructed decks; in 15-card booster packs, some of which contain the rare, highly collectible foil-edged premium cards; and in a "fat pack" that includes six booster packs, TopDeck magazine's Nemesis insert, the Nemesis novel, one random Mercadian Masques premium land card, and one random Nemesis premium common card.

Nemesis precontructed decks include Breakdown, Eruption, Mercenaries, and Replicator. Each emphasize both the new features introduced in Mercadian Masques (such as the ability of Rebels and Mercenaries to summon more of their own kind) and the new Nemesis creatures and concepts. These include Laccoliths, creatures that cause unfortunate side effects when opposed, and Fading, which allows relatively powerful creatures to be brought into the game early, but which also causes them to fade away fairly quickly, typically after two or three turns.