MTG Realm Power 9 Pro Contest

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

Hope you are all having a great weekend so far.  If you are attending Grand Prix Manchester this weekend, may the odds be ever in your favor.  You can catch the coverage to this Magic: the Gathering tournament at this linky. 

Anywhoos, a while ago, we had done a product review for the Dragon's Egg Tournament Bag from Power 9 Pro and still maintain, it's the best and we take it to every Friday Night Magic Event and tournament - here's the brief video if you needed to put in your six minutes of YouTube time this week -

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We have a brand new, still in the package Dragon's Egg tournament bag we want to give away so we are running something of an internet scavenger hunt - drop by the urls provided or use the Google machine to answer the following four questions - 

• Q1 - On the Power 9 Pro video "Introducing The New Dragon's Egg, Now With SideKIt" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvn4MM8YCYk) name the animal costumes the MTG player is skating by ? (about half-way through video)

• Q2 - What did Power 9 Pro tweet about on January 15th 2014 (https://twitter.com/power9pro) ?

• Q3 - What did Power 9 Pro post about to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/power9pro) on 24 April, 2014 ?

• Q4 - What is 'Magpie' by Power 9 Pro ?

Send all entries to MTG Realm via CopySix@gmail.com with the subject line "P9P Contest" and a random winner will be drawn on Saturday 21 June 2014.  This giveaway contest is open to those only in continental United States and Canada.

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The Plane of Fiora

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

For today's post, we want to settle in and do a bit of exploration of Magic: the Gathering's newly revealed Plane of Fiora.  We here at MTG Realm love the flavorful storyline of each new block just as much as the individual cards which populate each set within that block.  In this game, a thematic storyline is presented against the backdrop of the Multiverse which is composed of an almost infinite number of different Planes of existence.  Each Plane is a succint individual world or limited number of worlds each potentially occupied by a civilization or populace, a terrain, and just about anything else one could expect the Wizards of the Coast team to create in a world-building exercise.

Paliano, the High City, illustrated by Adam Paquette

The most recent revelation of the Plane of Fiora is today's topic.  This is the environment in which the soon to be released set of Conspiracy is to take place.  From a number of articles the Magic Creative Team has published or hints within the cards previewed so far (here, here and here), we can get a sense of the environment created here.  From the Magic: the Gathering comic book stories provided by IDW Publishing we learn that Fiora is the birthplace of the Planeswalker Dack Fayden (art here illustrated by Eric Deschamps). 

 

Marchesa's Infiltrator, illustrated by Lucas Graciano

 

The card art so far revealed shows a world whose buildings and fashion which appears to be similar to that of the Italian Renaissance. We are really liking the arts so far and want to have just about every card from MTG Mint Card if we can.  Furthermore, we now have an idea of some of the more important geographical or points of interest on this plane - namely;

• The High City of Paliano
• The Lowlands, the Lower City of Paliano
• The Corru River which flows through the Lower City
• Talon, a neighbouring settlement
• Drakeston, now a ghost town
 
Here's some text from the mothersite to help color in this world -

Far from Theros, on the plane of Fiora, the High City of Paliano is home to countless intrigues and plots. The high lords of the city vie for supremacy. Move is met with countermove, and trust with betrayal, all under the auspices of the immortal King Eternal. But the king was a living man, once, and a friend to the elf explorer Selvala... 

Marchesa, the Black Rose, illustrated by Matt Stewart

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Koros Games

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

If you've been reading our regular daily posts to the MTG Realm since 2008 or have just recently started to follow us, then you will likely know that we will take every opportunity to support local gaming stores.  After all, this is the heart of the gaming community which continually drives the growth of Magic: the Gathering.  In this post, we will yatter about our visit to Koros Games in Orangeville, Ontario last Friday when we got to sit down and chat with Owner Shawn Koroscil.  Barb Stuhlemmer of BLITZ Business Success also wrote a great article from a business view.
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We find ourselves in picturesque and historical downtown Orangeville a small town of about 30,000 folks just an hour north of Toronto.  We walk into Koros Games located at 113 Broadway Avenue and find the owner of this local gaming store, Shawn Koroscil.  The store has Magic: the Gathering, HeroClix, Figures, comic books, Miniatures, pop collectibles, huge assortment of Board Games, Video Games and much more.

 

The store has been designated by Wizards of the Coast as a 'WPN Advanced Plus' (see our post about this here), and typically gets 30 players out regularly to Friday Night Magic events and more than 60 out to pre-release / release events.  There is a smaller more intimate gaming space on the main level with a very large hall upstairs which could host gaming events up to 200 people if need be.   

Shawn is interesting - after striking up a conversation with him about the business, you get a sense that he could have been a warrior-poet in another long-ago time.  Shawn is many things; a business owner, a gamer, an arts advocate but above all, we think a right proper community leader.  Koros Games we think is much more than just a local gaming store but a venue for the youth (or any age) of the Town to congregate and enjoy a fun, friendly and healthy atmosphere at a table which is always free to use.  Shawn and his staff are always soliciting the store patrons as to what gaming activities they would like to see and it appears that with this continual improvement and continual growth, the store may be owned by Shawn but managed by the community of patrons, popularly known as 'Korosians'.  The Korosians often volunteer to organise events and there is a determined focus to get younger / newer players engaged.

When we dropped in for this interview we also yattered with Shawns staff, of which two were on at the time.  We have to say that we were impressed that they just did not run the cash register but were also gamers at heart and had very good knowledge of just about every game they carried in store.

We will most definitely suggest that if you find yourself in Orangeville, you will have to drop by Koros Games on 113 Broadway Avenue.  For up to date information, give them a call at (519) 341-7080 or drop by their FaceBook page here.  Here is a run-down of the typical weekly schedule for now - 

EVENT SCHEDULE
Mondays
*No Events, closed at 6:00PM

Tuesdays
5:30PM – 8:00PM :
*HeroClix (tabletop miniatures game with super heroes)
*World of Warcraft trading card game

Wednesdays
5:00PM – 10:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering casual play
(trading card game; all types of players and formats welcome!)

Thursdays
5:30PM – 8:00PM :
*Pathfinder (tabletop role-playing game)
*Kaijudo (trading card game)
*Demo board games (Over 25 games to check out, try something new!)

Fridays
7:00PM – Midnight :
*M:TG standard tournament, $5.00 entry with “everybody gets one” prize pool
8:00PM – Midnight :
$5.00 M:TG modern, two-headed giant,
“competitive standard” OR $20.00 booster draft,
(depending on the week and player choice)

Saturdays
1:00PM – 4:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering Booster Draft, $20.00 entry with prize pool
3:30PM – 6:30PM :
*Demo board games (Over 25 games to check out, try something new!)
6:00PM – 9:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering standard tournament, $2.00 entry with prize pool

Sundays
11:00AM – CLOSE :
*Warhammer (tabletop miniatures game)
*Dungeons & Dragons "Next / 5th Edition" (tabletop roleplaying game, bi-monthly)
*World of Warcraft trading card game
*Kaijudo (trading card game)
5:00PM – 8:00PM :
M:TG standard tournament, $15.00 entry with booster-pack prize pool

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MTG Realm Tumblr Tuesday

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

It has been a while since we last looked in at what our sister site, MTG Realm on Tumblr has been up to so we will attempt to do a catch up now.  The Tumblr page has been growing steadily popular and now has just under 6,000 followers and 2,600 posts to date.  This is where we post a host of various Magic: the Gathering miscellany such as MTG-related rumor, art, illustration, community interest items, etc., including us drooling over new card singles from MTG Mint Card to go into weird 'n' wacky casual decklists.  Anywhoos, let's have a looky-loo now -
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Photoset

May 26, 2014

475 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Funny Stuff

Some MTG frivolity from Brimaz_MTG and others.

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Photoset

May 25, 2014

98 notes

 

Magic: the Gathering - Cats with Cards
Because on the interwebz, every day is Caturday.  Here’s some moar random pics of cats with MTG thingys.

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Photoset

May 22, 2014

191 notes

Gaming Accessory - Cathulu Playmat
Had a heads-up from RK Post here on Tumblr.  Awesome kitteh-munster  from Katherine Palmisano @katpalmy

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Photoset

May 22, 2014

277 notes

 

Magic: the Gathering  - Deck Box
Recent commission from artist Aniko Kolesnikova (myMandarinDucky) who created this stunningly beautiful deckbox.  Absolutely gorgeous.

 

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Photoset

May 16, 2014

124 notes 

 

Magic: the Gathering - New Conspiracy Card
Squirrel Nest, originally from Odyssey with art from Anthony S. Waters get a nod for a reprint in Conspiracy !  New card art by Daniel Ljunggren who also provided the art for those awesome squirrel tokens.
GO NUTS !!! Squirrel Tribal, here I come !

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All the Conspiracies

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

For our American cousins south of our border, we're wishing you a safe and happy Memorial Day celebrating the remembrance of armed service personnel.  Here at MTG Realm, we had a wonderful weekend filled with Magic: the Gathering goodness which kicked off at Koros Games in Orangeville, Ontario on Friday, Journey into Nyx Game Day at OMG! Games in Barrie and some crazy deckbuilding on Sunday with some new MTG card singles from MTG Mint Card.

Looking forward, we'll have an article about Koros Games latter this week as well as a special announcement on a CONTEST give-away featuring a Dragon's Egg Tournament Bag from Power 9 Pro as MTG Realm moves toward our SIX MILLION visitor - so look for that latter on.  As for today's article, we now have all thirteen special Conspiracies from the new multiplayer-focused booster draft set due to be release in two weeks time on 6th June 2014.

Here now are all thirteen Conspiracy type cards, which is certain to rock your game.  Just a reminder that all cards in the Conspiracy would be legal in Vintage and Legacy (and Commander), these thirteen cards would not be legal for some fairly obvious reasons.

Conspiracies
1 Advantageous Proclamation
2 Backup Plan
3 Brago's Favor
4 Double Stroke
5 Immediate Action
6 Interative Analysis
7 Muzzio's Preparations
8 Power Play
9 Secret Summoning
10 Secrets of Paradise
11 Sentinel Dispatch
12 Unexpected Potential
13 Worldknit

The first-ever multiplayer-focused booster set has new Magic cards with new mechanics that enhance multiplayer play. Returning favorites from throughout Magic's history round out the set and cultivate an environment of deception and treachery. The Magic: The Gathering–Conspiracy set is designed to be drafted with six to eight players who then split into groups of three or four players for free-for-all multiplayer games.
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Massive M15 Spoilers

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As we head into the weekend, don't forget to get on out and play some Magic: the Gathering at a Friday Night Magic event being held at your local gaming store.  We have yet another edited build we'll be taking to OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario thanks to a few card singles from MTG Mint Card which hopefully will land us in the Top 8.

Anywhoos, the big news today is of course the massive spoiler via a Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalker video walk-through from the digital games review site IGN and Wizards of the Coast Brand Manager Liz Lamb-Ferro.  The new 'n' improved MTG digital game to be released within a few weeks time of the Magic 2015 core set (analog game) shares a high level of integration with it and of course a number of cards.  From the walk-through we are able to determine with some certainty some new or reprinted cards we would likely see in the physical M15 core set game.

Below, is a run down of cards we will most likely see printed in Magic 2015 core set along with some card mock-ups from the website Mythic Spoilers with images captured from the video itself.  Let's go !

First note -
New art:  Raise the Alarm, Standing Troops, Blasting Station, Triumph of Ferocity, Elvish Pioneer
Promo art:  Vengevine, Squadron Hawk

New cards -

Seraph of the Masses 5WW
Creature - Angel (U)
Convoke
Flying
Seraph of the Masses power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
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Resolute Archangel 5WW
Creature - Angel (R)
Flying
When Resolute Archangel enters the battlefield, if your life total is lower than your starting life total, it becomes your starting life total.
4/4

Triplicate Spirits 4WW
Sorcery (C)
Convoke
Put three 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield.

Paragon of New Dawns 3W
Creature - Human Soldier (U)
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1.
W, T: Another target white creature you control gains vigilance until end of turn.
2/2

Marked for Honour 3W
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has vigilance.

Meditation Puzzle 3WW
Instant (C)
Convoke
You gain 8 life.

Void Snare U
Sorcery (C)
Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.

Paragon of Gathering Mists 3U
Creature - Human Wizard (U)
Other blue creatures you control get +1/+1.
U, T: Another target blue creature you control gains flying until end of turn.
2/2

Mercurial Pretender 4U
Creature - Shapeshifter (R)
You may have Mercurial Pretender enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature you control except it gains "2UU: Return this creature to its owner's hand."
0/0

Chasm Skulker 2U
Creature - Squid Horror (R)
Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on Chasm Skulker.
When Chasm Skulker dies, put X 1/1 blue Squid creature tokens with islandwalk onto the battlefield, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Chasm Skulker.
1/1

Quickling 1U
Creature - Faerie Rogue (U)
Flying
Flash
When Quickling enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you return another creature you control to its owner's hand.
2/2

Coral Barrier 2U
Creature - Wall (C)
Defender
When Coral Barrier enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 blue Squid creature token with Islandwalk onto the battlefield.
1/3

Jallax, Master Polymorphogist 3U
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard (R)
3U, T, Sacrifice another creature: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonlegendary creature card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the the bottom of your library in a random order.
2/2

Frost Lynx 2U
Creature - Elemental Cat (C)
When Frost Lynx enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
2/2

Military Intelligence 1U
Enchantment (U)
Whenever you attack with two or more creatures, draw a card.

Soul of Ravnica 4UU
Creature - Avatar (M)
Flying
3UU: Draw a card for each colour among permanents you control.
3UU, Exile Soul of Ravnica from your graveyard: Draw a card for each colour among permanents you control.
6/6

Cruel Sadist B
Craeture - Human Assassin (R)
B, T, Pay 1 life: Put a +1/+1 counter on Cruel Sadist.
2B, T, Remove X +1/+1 counters from Cruel Sadist: Crusel Sadist deals X damage to target creature.
1/1

Flesh to Dust 3BB
Instant (C)
Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated.

Shadowcloak Vampire 4B
Creature - Vampire (C)
Pay 2 life: Shadowcloak Vampire gains flying until end of turn.
4/3

Indulgent Tormenter 3BB
Creature - Demon (R)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card unless target opponent sacrifices a creature or pays 3 life.
5/3

Covenant of Blood 6B
Sorcery (C)
Convoke
Covenant of Blood deals 4 damage to target creature or player and you gain 4 life.

Ulcerate B
Instant (U)
Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. You lose 3 life.

Rotfeaster Maggot 4B
Creature - Insect (C)
When Rotfeaster Maggot enters the battlefield, exile target creature card from a graveyard. You gain life equal to that card's toughness.
3/5

Paragon of Open Graves 3B
Creature - Skeleton Warrior (U)
Other black creatures you control get +1/+1.
2B, T: Another target black creature you control gains deathtouch until end of turn.
2/2

Inferno Fist 1R
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature you control.
Enchanted creature gets +2/+0.
R, Sacrifice Inferno Fist: Inferno Fist deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

Brood Keeper 3R
Creature - Human Shaman (U)
Whenever an Aura becomes attached to Brood Keeper, put a 2/2 red Dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield. It has "R: This creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn".
2/3

Burning Anger 4R
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant creature
Enchant creature has "T: This creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.

Siege Dragon 5RR
Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying
When Siege Dragon enters the battlefield, destroy all Walls your opponents control.
Whenever Siege Dragon attacks, if defending player control no Walls, it deals 5 damage to each creature without flying that player controls.
5/5

Goblin Rabblemaster 2R
Creature - Goblin Warrior (R)
Other Goblin creatures you control attack each turn if able.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a 1/1 red Goblin creature token with haste onto the battlefield.
Whenever Goblin Rabblemaster attacks, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each other attacking Goblin.
2/2

Paragon of Fierce Defiance 3R
Creature - Human Warrior (U)
Other red creatures you control get +1/+1.
R, T: Another target red creature you control gains haste until end of turn.
2/2

Reclamation Sage 2G
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
When Reclamation Sage enters the battlefield, you may destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2/1

Phytozoan 4GG
Creature - Plant Elemental (R)
When Phytozoan dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control at the beginning of his or her next upkeep.
7/2

Paragon of Eternal Wilds 3G
Creature - Human Druid (U)
Other green creatures you control get +1/+1.
G, T: Another target green creature you control gains trample until end of turn.
2/2

Avarice Amulet 4
Artifact - Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+0 and has vigilance "At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card."
When equipped creature dies, target opponent gains control of Avarice Amulet.
Equip 2
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Conspiracy Mechanics

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

As threatened in our previous posts, we are finally getting around to yatter more about the new Conspiracy set due out next month on 3rd June, 2014.  Although our game format is predominantly constructed (Standard, Modern and Commander), we are still rather pumped for this set designed to draft.  We also are excited to get a few of these cards from MTG Mint Card into some of our casual constructed decks as well.

Anywhoos, before we get to a brief summary of the mechanics for Conspiracy, we have to talk about an image posted by Arkenstone to the forums showing  PTQ Khans of Tarkir Top 8 Playmat from Ultra PRO. 

 

Dang.  Pretty Sweet looking - although we still have the Magic 2015 core set to come out before the fall expansion of Khans of Tarkir, we are actively checking daily for any news / rumours.  Anywhoos, let's get to that mechanics summary - please be sure to check Matt Tabak's full article on the mothersite earlier this week for the details.

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The Magic: The Gathering – Conspiracy is to be released on 6 June, 2014 and features 210 black-bordered cards, including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set. There are sixty-five new cards in Conspiracy. Fifty-two of the new cards will be legal in Legacy and Vintage; thirteen cards will not. 


Conspiracy Draft
The Magic: The Gathering – Conspiracy set is designed to be drafted with six to eight players who then split into groups of three or four players for free-for-all multiplayer games.

Draft Abilities
Cards with draft abilities have a wide range of effects, so read each carefully.  During the draft, there's no stack, turn order, or priority. If two or more players want to use a draft ability at the same time, they do so in a random order.

Conspiracies
Conspiracy introduces a new card tykpe called conspiracies.  Conspiracies are not spells (and have no associated mana cost) and these start the game in the command zone but do not count toward your minimum deck size.  Conspiracies have a number of game modifying abilities.

Hidden Agenda
Hidden Agenda is an ability on some conspiracy cards played face-down in the command zone which has you secretly name a card before the game begins and allows you during your priority to turn face up to appply the partcular bonus for your named card.

Dethrone
Dethrone is a triggered ability which takes effect whenever a creature with dethrone attacks the player with the most life or tied for the most life. 



Will of the Council
Each card with a 'will of the council' ability requires players to take a vote on typically two different effects.  There is at least one card to date which may modify voting and in this case, allows the player to cast more than one vote for the effect. Parley
Cards with Parley abilities instruct each player to reveal the top card of his or her library. Then, an additional effect happens based on the number of nonland cards revealed this way. Finally, each player draws a card (the one that was just revealed).
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DotP 2015 Promo

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We promise to provide a post rather soon to catch up with all the amazing Conspiracy spoilers and previews rather soon but for today we need to catch up on some other Magic: the Gathering news, so strap in and lets get to that now.

Off the hop, we have to talk about a Magic 2015 core set spoiler from German gaming site Gameswelt.  This new Magic: the Gathering card is to be one of two exclusive premium cards available to Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 gamers who can obtain a redemption code in the digital game for a special M15 five card booster pack they can pick up at a local brick 'n' mortar gaming store.  The preview card today 'Soul of Zendikar' is reported to be the promo card for mobile / PC gamers and we expect to see the second promo card for Xbox players latter on.  Altough we have not yet seen the official release date of DotP 2015, the cardboard (paper) set will release on 18th July, 2014.  Here's the card in the original German with a translated mock-up (which of course may not be completely accurate). 

Soul of Zendikar, 4GG
Creature - Avatar, Mythic Rare
Reach
3GG: Put a 3/3 green Beast token into play
3GG, exile Soul of Zendikar from you graveyard: Put a 3/3 green Beast token into play
6/6

This appears to be card number 201/269, illustrated by Eytan Zana, who had also recently provided art for the Conspiracy card 'Agent of Acquisitions'.  Soul of Zendikar is the fifth card revealed so far and joins Wall of Fire, Waste Not, Necromancer's Assistant, and Genesis Hydra.  And yes, we most definitely want to pick up all the singles so far from MTG Mint Card.
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While we are yattering about Duels of the Planeswalkers, here's a short and very cool story-line blurb along with some digital game details from Wizards of the Coast.  Also provided below are two M15 / DotP 2015 illustrations from the very talented Brad Rigney (Cryptcrawler on Deviantart).

Hunt Bigger Game this year with Magic 2015—Duels of the Planeswalkers and discover a number of cool new things:

•  Be at the heart of the story: Players will find themselves dropped into the wilderness at the heart of the story: You’re not just on Garruk’s list—you’re next. The Curse of the Chain Veil has corrupted Garruk’s body and soul. His skin has paled, his flesh struck through with blackened veins.
 
• His hunter’s instinct has turned away from beasts of the wild toward the ultimate quarry—Planeswalkers! You will have to confront the deadliest hunter in the Multiverse. But, how will you defeat Garruk before he finds you?

• Full, Open-Ended Deck Building: Players can build their own collection of cards to create any style of deck they want.
   
• Platforms: It will be available on Xbox One, Xbox LIVE Arcade, iPad, PC via Steam, Android tablet via Amazon App Store and Google Play.
   
• New Content: Five planes to explore and exciting virtual booster packs.
   
• Single and Multiplayer: Battle the AI or your friends with your fully customized decks.
   
• New Cards: Magic 2015—Duels of the Planeswalkers will feature some of the hottest cards from Magic 2015.
   
• Launch Date: Coming soon in 2014!

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Khans of Tarkir

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Hope all have had a great weekend.  Up here in Canada-Land, it was the Victoria Day Long weekend (Fête de la Reine) where we celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday but actually are celebrating the final snow melt off decks and patios - and good thing too as Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall are freshly arrived here.

Since we were not near a wifi connection for a large portion of long weekend, we now have a lot of Magic: the Gathering news to catch up on.  This does not mean that we did not have a great weekend without some magic.  Kicking off on Friday, we took in the Friday Night Magic event at OMG! Games here in Barrie, and happened to pull one of those very cool Conspiracy card previews - the censored Pick, Plot, Play on the back of a 1/1 Soldier token.  We then returned Saturday evening to play in a Pauper Commander tournament which we took third place with Imperious Perfect as our Commander and a bunch 'o' Elves pumped with an assortment of auras and pump spells.  We had collected a number of rather inexpensive commons for this decklist from MTG Mint Card and have to admit we had a ton of fun in this format.  Anywhoos, lets' get straight to the MTG news now -

First up - Patrick Chapin defeated Nam Sung Wook in the finals to win Pro Tour Journey into Nyx in Atlanta, Georgia.  The tournament witnessed top players from around the world to battle for fame, glory, and $250,000 in cash prizes in the Theros Block Constructed and Theros Block Booster Draft formats.  Chapin won with a junk midrange deck (white / green / black).

Secondly, as part of the Pro Tour Journey into Nyx, there was an announcement on the fall set which was posted yesterday to the mothersite.  As many had suspected, we did already have the name via the trademark registery and it is a fairly sure bet that the other registered names of Dragons of Tarkir and Warlords of Khanar will be the following two.  Very happy this time around that two pieces of art were also provided to generate fodder for the speculation engine.

Set Name : Khans of Tarkir (codename 'Huey')
Block : Set 1 of 3 in the Khans of Tarkir block
Number of Cards : 269
Prerelease Events : September 20-21, 2014
Release Date : September 26, 2014
Launch Weekend : September 26-28, 2014
Game Day : October 18-19, 2014
Official Three-Letter Code : KTK
Twitter Hashtag : #MTGKTK

Initial Concept and Game Design - Mark Rosewater (lead), Mark L. Gottlieb, Zac Hill, Adam Lee, Shawn Main, Billy Moreno, and Ken Nagle
Final Game Design and Development - Erik Lauer (lead), Doug Beyer, David Humpherys, Tom LaPille, Shawn Main, and Adam Prosak, with contributions from Matt Tabak

Please check out the brief video WotC MaRo (Mark Rosewater) MTG Lead Designed and MTG Tournament coverage kingpin Rich Hagon.

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Creative and Story
Sarkhan Vol is a primarily red planeswalker who came from Tarkir, a plane scourged by war. This plane was controlled by constantly battling warlords, who had a tradition of slaying dragons for sport and glory, driving the beasts to extinction.  This horrified the shamans of the plane, who worshiped the dragon as the pinnacle of predation. 

Design and Mechanics
• Sarkhan will appear in the set.
• It is a Large-Small-Large block.
• They are doing something never done before with the block structure.
• The block contains two things that players have been wanting for a long time.
• One of them is something they are bringing back after a long absence.
• The other is something they haven't done yet.

More news will be forthcoming during the San Diego Comic-Con on July 24-27.  Feel free to speculate away with regards to the intriguing teasers provided by MaRo.  Some gamers are suggesting a return to full-art lands for this set, while others are calling a wedge block and others betting on orcs to return.  Just a few of the numerous speculations floating right now.
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