From the Vault: Lore

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Also, a very happy Birthday to any reader celebrating today - ensure you put yourself whole-heartedly into today's cake-day as you will not see another one for four years.

Anywhoos, there was an interesting teaser from MaRo on the 27th, with this just cryptic message.

As promised, WotC delivered the announcement to the next From the Vault set, to be hitting a gaming store shelf near you in August.  From the Vault is a series of box sets, released by Wizards of the Coast on an annual basis in late August. Each box set contains 15 tournament-legal, black-bordered, holographic foil cards with a common theme.  This year's theme is explained in the official announcement over here on the mothersite.

From the Vault: Lore

Delve deeper into the events that shaped the Multiverse - and show your opponents that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it! This limited-edition set includes cards from throughout Magic's history that are renowned for both their power and the stories behind them. Surprise your foes with blasts from the past they'll have to see to believe.

Contents and Details:

• Fifteen premium foil cards and one token, including three with new art.
• An exclusive Spindown life counter.
• A collector's guide.
• Each card has been printed using a foil process unique to the From the Vault series.
• From the Vault: Lore will be available worldwide in English only, and will have an extremely limited print run.
• All cards are black-bordered and tournament-legal. This means that these cards are legal for use in any tournaments where the original printings are still legal.

Use the hashtag #FTVLORE to discuss this product on Twitter!
Product Concept and Development: Sam Stoddard and Jeremy Jarvis, with contributions from Mark Purvis.
Release Date: August 19, 2016
Magic Online Release Date: October 10, 2016
MSRP: $34.99

Well that is rather exciting.  Let's get straight to dissecting and then some speculation !

First - the indication is that there is to be only three rather than six new arts as was the case in the most recent FTV sets.  Limited print run is the same story, so expect to purchase from retailers at a greatly increased price.

The preview art provided in most likely that of Momir Vig, Simic Visionary.  In face, we will say pretty much 100% certain - compare what the greenish fella is wearing -

As for speculation on the other cards, we do have this from the announcement - "renowned for both their power and the stories behind them".  We would expect a card with a solid showing in the Magic Fiction section of the mothersite - perhaps a card like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, for which there was an possibly leaked art some time ago -

The other bit is that there is one token card included in this From the Vault.  There are several prominent ones which come to mind such as Tuttuk the Returned, but here are our guesses - Dark Depths, Helm of Kaldra and Tolsimir Wolfbood.  What are your guesses on tokens and other cards for From the Vault: Lore ?

 

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SOI Spoiler 2-25

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

There is yet another ('unofficial') spoiler we should talk about today.  Wizards must be getting miffed with these - anywhoos, this one is from the upcoming and greatly anticipated Shadows Over Innistrad, which is to be released in early April 2016. This image, courtesy of an anonymous /b/-boarder from 4Chan appears to be an oversized card somewhere in the supply / shipping train.  Sorry Trick, here's our non-journalism . .

Clip Wings, 1G
Instant, Common
Each opponent sacrifices a creature with flying.
It is a grim duty to save the world from those created to protect it.
197/297, illustrated by Howard Lyon.

Back.
The Truck.
Up.

Read that flavour text ?  Damn !! What on earth (or rather the Plane of Innistrad) is happening here ?  Have the Angels gone mad ? Have they been turned somehow ?  Sooo many questions here.  Howard Lyon rocks again with this art showing what appears to us to be a Boros-coloured Angel of the order Flight of Goldnight, being surrounded / hunted down by a Cathar and a human hunter.

As for the card itself, all we will say that this common instant looks damn powerful.  You could have just sunk seven mana into an Emeria Sheppard or a Defiant Bloodlord which happens to be your ONLY flyer and then this guy shows up to the party.  Dang.  :)

Lastly,

Here is a quick tip for WotC investigators looking to identify the culprit who leaked this . . .

Look for a white guy who frequents 4Chan.
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Conspiracy Plot Twist

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Wow - Just another big news day for Magic: the Gathering fans.  Sit tight as we stroll through a selection of items.  

First item - Some interesting news from Mike Linnemann over at Gathering Magic, who indicates in this article, that there may be a discussion and agreements in the works with Magic: the Gathering artists, Wizards of the Coast and Ultra PRO to produce playmats, and perhaps other items  - read all about it over at G.M.

Some very bold things were being said by an anonymous poster over on the 4Chan traditional gaming boards (linked here).  Essentially, after we are finished with the second set in the Shadows Over Innistrad block (Eldritch Moon), we are to have a block with an Egyptian mythology theme with the sets named 'Secrets of Sivagat' and 'Fury of the Sand'.  After this, another (third) return to Ravnica with a set called 'War of the Guilds'.  All very unofficial and we won't put any stock into these murmurings until something a little more substantial is provided.

Righto - as today's post title says - a Conspiracy Plot Twist.

We feel that since the initial announcement on Monday, there have been more Conspiracy plot twists than a M. Night Shyamalan movie.  We direct your attention to the mothersite link here.

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King

Oops. Apparently no one is safe when even a seemingly immortal ghost-king cannot hold the throne.

The Conspiracy: The Empty Throne set builds on the revolutionary abilities introduced in the original Magic: The Gathering—Conspiracy set, with new cards that affect the draft itself and new conspiracies that twist the rules against your foes. Trade votes and spread your attacks to manipulate the game in your favor. The throne is empty and chaos reigns. How will you survive?

This set is designed for eight-player drafts followed by free-for-all games of three to five players each.

Set Name - Conspiracy: The Empty Throne
Number of Cards: 221 220
Release Date: August 26, 2016
Official Three-Letter Code: CN2

Twitter Hashtag: #MTGCN2

WE LOVE IT - and l0l'd most heartedly when we say this little gem in the 'updated' twist announcement -

Looking very much forward !

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Conspiracy Twist

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

You may recall the big announcement over on the mothersite just yesterday on the next Conspiracy set - 'Conspiracy: the Reign of Brago'.  We know that the Magic: the Gathering fan community is hyped as several thousand people popped over to the MTG Realm blog to read about the announcement along with our little storyline blurb about Brago.

Well, something rather interesting got posted this morning by Wizards - 

BREAKING NEWS: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Brago will not be making an appearance in our new Conspiracy set.

Rather interesting indeed - name a set called 'Reign of Brago' and then show us this.  Let's have a closer look - 

We all know from Sam and Dean from Supernatural just how difficult it can be to 'kill' a spirit.  We are also certain that the good folks in Paliano, on the Plane of Fiora do not possess knowledge to fabricate proton packs like the heroes from Ghostbusters.  So just what is happening here?  WotC will have to step up soon in the official Magic Story column and let us know soon.

Speaking of 'soon' - does anyone else other than us think today's Conspiracy teaser is waaaay too soon?  We suggest that Wizards may want to start this and may be better served after retailers have put up their pages for pre-order. 

While we are making suggestions to WotC, we suggest that there are players out there (we suspect a lot) who do appreciate the occasional 'non-standard-format' FNM promo, and in fact would likely even be pleased with more.  Today on the mothersite, we were treated to to the Friday Night Promo for May 2016 - Goblin Warchief - not legal for use in Standard and Modern formats, and we are OK with that. :)

March - Smash to Smithereens Promo, Art by Darek Zabrocki

April - Blighted Fen Promo, Art by Jason Felix


May - Goblin Warchief Promo, Art by Mark Zug

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Conspiracy 2

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Something unexpected happened today.  We were expecting an announcement for Magic: the Gathering fans sometime this week on the next 'From the Vaults' product from Wizards of the Coast but instead we have this announcement (linky to the mothersite here) on the next (and totally unexpected) Conspiracy set.  Perhaps we will not see a FTV product offering this year.  WotC certainly did not very forthcoming (until gamers asked) that Clash Packs and Event Decks were to be discontinued, so perhaps this Conspiracy set is to replace the FTV - who knows.  

Anywhoos, if you are new to the MTG scene, the first Magic: The Gathering – Conspiracy set which was released in June 2014, was the first-ever multiplayer-focused Magic booster set designed specifically to be drafted and from what we've heard from friends and online, players rather enjoyed the quirky and fun games this set made.  As you may know, we really are not fans of the draft format but were certainly head-over-heels on a number of cards from the original Conspiracy set which we gobbled up and prompted absorbed into a few of our Commander decklists. 

We are fans of the storyline and the lovely card arts of the first Conspiracy set, and are most definitely salivating for the second one now - thanks WotC for providing an illustration of Brago so we can dream upon and speculate - which we will now start.  Here's hoping that Brago comes back not as a Legendary Creature but a Planeswalker which we know pretty much impossible as a dead dude cannot have his 'spark' iginite.  :(

Here is the official announcement - 

Long May He Reign

Add deeper layers of gameplay to your next Magic draft and fight for King Brago — or plot his downfall. The Conspiracy: The Reign of Brago set builds on the revolutionary abilities introduced in the original Magic: The Gathering—Conspiracy set, with new cards that affect the draft itself and new Conspiracies that twist the rules against your foes and those who dare oppose Brago. Trade votes and spread your attacks to manipulate the game in your favor.

How will you defend the throne?

This set is designed for eight-player drafts followed by free-for-all games of three to five players each.

Set NameConspiracy: The Reign of Brago
Number of Cards: 221
Release Date: August 26, 2016
Official Three-Letter Code: CN2
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGCN2
Languages Available: English, Japanese, Chinese Simplified
MSRP: $3.99

Initial Concept and Game Design: Shawn Main (lead), Nik Davidson, Bryan Hawley, Ken Nagle, Matt Tabak

Final Game Design and Development: Ben Hayes (lead), Bryan Hawley, Jonathan Skolnik, James Sooy, Gavin Verhey
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Here is a quick summary of who, or rather what King Brago is for fans of vorthos / storyline -

Brago, also known as he 'King Eternal' on account that he has moved on from a corporeal being to that of a spirit, rules the High City of Paliano on the plane of Fiora.  When he finally took a dirt nap, courtesy of his friend Selvala, the Custodi which is a priesthood with ambitions to stay in power, kept Brago's spirit bound.  Although Brago's rule "persists beyond death itself", and "no matter is settled until King Brago offers an opinion", this new set's storyline may show Brago breaking away from the Custodi.

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MTG Tumblr Thursday

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

That was a whole lotta drama this week on the interwebs.  If you are not aware of the crazy $hit-$how which went down, look no further than Twitter or Reddit's r/magicTCG to see all about the Eternal Masters (EMA) leak that wasn't.

Anywhoos, to calm our frayed 'n' fazzled nerves, let's go to our safe haven on the web - MTG Realm on Tumblr where we go to ground and wait for things to blow over -

Before we hop there, mad props to our peeps, narutothepyro, captainjacksparrowhands, bodydoll, and arcana-muses who tirelessly read our nonsensical drivel.

 

Photoset

February 18, 2016

 

 

Magic: the Gathering - A Change of Scenery
Don’t forget MTG fans - yesterday was WALLPAPER Wednesday over on the mothersite.  Change-out that boring-arse background on your machine with something saucy over here : http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/media/wallpapers
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Photoset

February 17, 2016

337 notes

 

 

Magic: the Gathering - Eldrazi
Some lovely pieces of Eldrazi concept art from the amazing Aleksi Briclot.
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Photo

February 14, 2016

170 notes

Gaming Accessories - The ‘Adventure Chest’

The ULTRA PRO Pathfinder Adventure Chest holds up to 1200 double-sleeved standard size cards and features 3 removable trays to store dice, tokens or models securely with a magnetic closure. The adjustable, padded shoulder strap is perfect to take your Adventure Chest on the go!
http://www.ultrapro.com/product_info.php?products_id=3960
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Photoset

February 10, 2016

 

 

Magic: the Gathering - MTG Movie
NEWS FLASH -
Acclaimed Actor Garey Busey tapped to play Undead Alchemist in the highly anticipated Magic: the Gathering movie … maybe.
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DD: Blessed vs. Cursed Decklists

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Yesterday here in the great Province of Ontario was the statuatory holiday 'Family Day' - definitely a much-needed day off as there is a whole lotta blah between New Years Day and Good Friday.  The only sucky thingy is that if you happen to be a Canadian Federal staffer, you are showing up for work even if you are in Ontario.  Anywhoos, Fam Day was spent in a game of Settlers of Catan with the family, which could be called epic and which stories will be told for generations.  Not much in the way of Magic: the Gathering over the long weekend other than Oath of the Gatewatch Game Day.  Unfortunately, not a well-attended event at OMG! Games here in Barrie which we will fully blame on the rather cold spell we had where temperatures dipped to about -38 °C (-36 °F).

Anywhoos, it may have been cold over the weekend but things warmed up online with the full decklist of the soon to be released 'Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed' being posted over on the mothersite.  As with previous Duel Decks (at least for the last little while), this affords a bit of a sneak peak of cards to be see print in the next MTG set, in this case, 'Shadows Over Innistrad'.  Let's get to them spoilers now -

Compelling Deterrence - 1U Uncommon Instant bouncing back a non-land permanent which provides a conditional discard if you control a Zombie.  Last time we were in Innistrad, there were a few lists running blue / black Zombies and we think this spell is decent should we get the same sort of support for zombies.  In other news, the flavour text is hilarious.

Eerie Interlude - 2W Rare Instant which blinks any number of target critters you control until the beginning of the next end step.  The spell name is apropos and we think this will do great things from saving your team from a board-wipe to reaping a whole lotta 'enters-the-battlefield' effects.

Topplegeist - A flying 1/1 Spirit creature for just one W is getting a thumbs up from us.  This spell does way better with an EtB effect of tapping down an oppenent's creature.  It even goes further with a delirium ability (which checks whether there are at least four different card types in your graveyard) which will provide another tap down at the beginning of each opponent's upkeep.  This makes the grade for a few of our Commander lists as well.

Tooth Collector - 2B for an uber-creepy human rogue with a 3/2 body. Similar to the above Topplegeist, this fella has an EtB effect giving an opponent's creature -1/-1 until end of turn and again with the delirium effect.  Not to shabby.

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As for the decklists - 

Blessed is a White / Blue build featuring a number of humans and supporting spells with Angels and spirits helping to fill out the list.  Champion of the Parish, Captain of the Mists, Geist of Saint Traft, Dearly Departed, Increasing Devotion and Eerie Interlude are this list's rare cards.

Cursed is a Black / Blue build and has a host of zombies along with vampires, and demons which uses your graveyard as a resource.  Gravecrawler, Unbreathing Horde, Havengul Runebinder, Harvester of Souls, Sever the Bloodline and Mindwrack Demon are the rares in this list.

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Here is the 4.1.1. for Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed which is hitting the shelf of a gaming store near you NEXT WEEKEND - 

Duel Decks are a great way for two expert players to face off against each other with ready-to-play, sixty-card decks that contain powerful cards related to a specific theme and feature six exciting new cards from Shadows over Innistrad.

Holy Warriors Unite Against the Unquiet Dead

A divine mission has once again united the Humans, Spirits, and Angels of Innistrad. Together, these protectors will stand against the shadows, fighting for humanity's salvation.

Evil rules the night. Shambling hordes of the dead roam free, their cemetery gates in ruins, as powerful Demons soar overhead. The fate of the living remains shrouded in darkness.

Will you defend hope or snuff it out?
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Contents: 
• 2 Ready-to-play, 60-card decks
• 2 Deck boxes
• 10 creature tokens
• 2 Spindown life counters
• Strategy insert

Deck Design and Deck Development: Chris Millar and Sam Stoddard
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGBVC
Languages Available: English, Japanese
Release Date: February 26, 2016

MSRP: $19.99
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Eternal Masters

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Some news from the mothersite today.  We head rumours and whispers of this a little while ago on the Magic: the Gathering fan forums but very little other than there was to be no 'Modern Masters' product offering but rather a substitution of sorts.

Here at MTG Realm, we are not very much into draft or the eternal format but we can certainly declare our excitement about getting our paws on a few cards we hope may be included in this set for Commander.  The fan community is pretty damn hyped about it but is certainly tempered with the suggested retail price of ten clams a booster pack.  The local gaming stores will likely retail these bad boys for about double the MSRP, so brace yourselves for this very real possibility.  We imagine that cracking a pack of Eternal Masters would be not very different from opening a box of Christmas or a getting a basket of puppies.

Anywhoos, here is the 411 from WotC -

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Draft Through Eternity

Take a step outside time with Eternal Masters. This exciting set lets you draw on some of the most sought-after cards from throughout the history of Magic—some with new artwork—to enhance your Cube or your favorite Commander, Vintage, and Legacy decks.

Eternal Masters is designed to be a unique and enjoyable Draft experience, much like Modern Masters. It will not contain cards from the Reserved List, but it will feature many exciting Eternal staples, including:

Set Name : Eternal Masters
Number of Cards :249
Release Date : June 10, 2016
Official Three–Letter Code : EMA
Twitter Hashtag : #MTGEMA
MSRP : $9.99

Initial Concept and Game Design :Tom LaPille (lead),Ethan Fleischer,Aaron Forsythe,Bryan Hawley

Final Game Design and Development : Adam Prosak (lead),Sam Stoddard,Bryan Hawley

Magic Online information : Eternal Masters will be releasing on Magic Online June 17 and will be available until July 6. The digital MSRP will be $6.99. It will not be available for redemption.

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Commander Videos 6

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We are back again and on track with the final installment of our wildly popular video series on Commander 2015 with our good buddy Jon at CommandTower.tk.  Today we are looking at the blue / green Simic-coloured pre-constructed decklist called 'Swell the Host'.  MTG Realm playgroup member 'R-Stomp' has already sleeved up with the matching Ultra PRO sleeves and has kicked butt / taken names with this decklist.  

Righto, here are our videos to date -
(1) Commander 2015 Intro
(2) Call the Spirits (Black / White)
(3) Seize Control (Red / Blue)
(4) Plunder the Graves (Black / Green)
(5) Wade into Battle (Red / White)
(6) Swell the Host (Blue / Green)

- and here we present our video review -

Swell the Host
Ezuri, Claw of Progress once led a resistance against the Phyrexians—but now he seeks to extend their gift of “perfection” to his former allies. As more creatures join his mighty host, he infuses them with ever-greater power.

The primary theme of the deck is +1/+1 counters, and the secondary theme is Snakes on a Plane. The primary new commander is Ezuri, Claw of Progress, the secondary new commander is Kaseto, Orochi Archmage, and the reprint commander is Prime Speaker Zegana.

New cards for Commander 2015
• Arachnogenesis
• Broodbirth Viper
• Command Beacon
• Ezuri, Claw of Progress
• Ezuri's Predation
• Gigantoplasm
• Great Oak Guardian
• Illusory Ambusher
• Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
• Mirrormatch
• Scytheclaw
• Skullwinder
• Synthetic Destiny
• Thought Vessel
• Verdant Confluence

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Shadows Over Innistrad Spoiler 2-09

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Some news first - 
• As many had suspected, Event Decks and Clash Packs are to be discontinued.  MaRo's post to Blogatog here.
• News is that Wayne England had just passed away.  His lovely art has been featured on numerous MTG cards, D&D products, and many other places.  :(

Returning now to the subject line of this post - another Magic: the Gathering leak of Shadows Over Innistrad we should be talking about.  As Wizards of the Coast staffer Trick Jarrett said, "leaks aren't journalism. Publishing leaks is purely self-serving, looking out for the good of yourself and your ego."  

Apologies to our readers about this, but here is our self-serving non-journalism on the last batch of Shadows Over Innistrad leaks which got posted to Reddit's 'r/magicTCG' possibly via from the same evil epicenter mentioned in this previous post.  As stated in may previous posts, we love the odd spoiler but don't care for big leaks - all cards are unofficial - look to Wizards of the Coast for officially previewed cards.

Crow of Dark Tidings - 2B Common Zombie Bird Flying 2/1 with a nice self-mill for 2 on entering the battlefield.  Love the name on this card.

Ember-Eye Wolf - Common 1/2 hasty wolf with a 1R pump ability.  The top of the card was cut off in the OP but we would expect this to be perhaps 1R.  Smokey the Bear would be unhappy with the card art and flavour text.

Explosive Apparatus - Common one-drop artifact, apparently a spirit grenade which for a 3 colourless, tap and sac will deliver 2 damage to creature or player.  Love the flavour, hate the card.


Lightning Axe - a lot of players are happy with this Time Spiral reprint.  Five damage is no small thing, and most will want to pay that one red mana and discard rather than pay five.  This may also help you get to the new 'Delirium' mechanic quicker.

Magmatic Chasm - 1R common sorcery for a conditional unblock is not too shabby.  Giving a A+ for flavour here.

Nibilis of Dusk - Prowess is back - w00t!  A common which delivers a 2/1 flying spirit with prowess for 2U is decent.

Pieces of the Puzzle - 2U common sorcery which will float up to two instants and/or sorceries from the top five of your library.  In other news, Jace continues to be helpful is whichever Plane he finds himself.


Pore Over the Pages - 3UU for an uncommon sorcery for a decent draw three, untap up to two lands and discard a card.  Huge fodder for speculation in the flavour text here.  Markov Manner Destroyed?  Is Tamiyo OK?  What the hell is a cryptolith?

Quilled Wolf - 1G for a 2/2 wolf - meh.  The +4/+4 pump for 5G may be OK late game.  Flavour time - Parish-blades are cathars stationed in parishes and serve as escorts along roads, and the Quiver of Kessig is a relatively new offshoot of the parish-blades that specializes in archery and long-range defense.

Sanguinary Mage - Vamp wizard yo!  1R for a 1/3 with prowess is OK in our books.  Some talk in the flavour about cults in Nepahlia aligning with the Stromkirk vampires.

Shamble Back - LOVE this card.  A single B exiles a critter taking a dirt nap, popping you up two life and birthing a 2/2 Zambie.  Sweet.

Stitched Mangler - This common 2/3 Zombie Horror costs 2U, enters tapped but also taps down an opponents critter that does not untap on their next untap step.  Decent IMHO.


Voldaren Duelist - Haste Vamp Warrior with a 3/2 body for 3R sounds bad.  The second ability shuts down a creature from blocking that turn does not improve it all that much.

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Eldritch Moon Announcement

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

On the weekend, some people spent time playing Magic: the Gathering, while others watched Super Bowl 50.  We did both.  Starting off with Friday Night Magic at OMG! Games here in Barrie on Friday (duh), Saturday was a number of Commander games at our lair with the playgroup and Sunday was all about football.

Anywhoos, for today's post, we were going to get to our final Commmander 2015 video in our series of collaborative posts with Jon over at CommandTower.tk.  Then it happened - a big leak of Shadows Over Innistrad on Saturday (article over here).  We were to talk about the leaked cards in today's post, and then Wizards of the Coast announced the next set (after Shadows Over Innistrad) today on the mothersite.  So, that's it - the subject of today's post -

Very apropos for Innistrad we think - but wait - guess who is back - 

Yep!  Everyone's fav black coloured-aligned Planeswalker - Liliana.  The key art for the first set, Shadows Over Innistrad appears to show Jace, so why not Lili to follow up in the second set, Eldritch Moon.

The name Eldritch has been used several times before to describe arcane and sometimes malevolent spirits, such as describing Liliana's rune-like patterns on her skin as well as the cabalistic possession of the Chain-Veil.

Anywhoos, you may have also heard of the Eldritch Moon before - specifically in 2014, the name of a digital comic by Nashoba Hostina.  We would post an image of the Eldritch Moon digital comic book front page but it is copyrighted.  Wonder if WotC also knows that this name is already in use, or if it really matters - dunno - we are not copyright lawyers.

Righto - here's the 411 - the mothersite did not provide an expansion symbol in today's post, but perhaps there is a hint in the first "o" in the stylized 'moon' text.  Here is the info you will need to know - 

Set Name: Eldritch Moon
Block: Set 2 of 2 in the Shadows over Innistrad block
Number of Cards: 205
Prerelease Events: July 16–17, 2016
Release Date: July 22, 2016
Launch Weekend: July 22–24, 2016
Game Day: August 13–14, 2016
Official Three–Letter Code: EMN
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGEMN

Initial Concept and Game DesignKen Nagle (lead), Mark Rosewater, Shawn Main, Ben Hayes, Bryan Hawley, Kelly Digges


Final Game Design and DevelopmentSam Stoddard (lead), Dave Humpherys, Jackie Lee, Bryan Hawley, Melissa DeTora, with contributions from Matt Tabak.
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Shadows Over Innistrad Spoilers 2-06

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

We do love ourselves a little Magic: the Gathering spoiler.

What we don't really care for is a big leak.

Earlier today, or late yesterday a fella in Holland put up for sale a Shadows Over Innistrad booster pack on the website 'marktplaats.nl', sort of like Kijiji here in Canada or an Ebay like online retailing store for individual transactions.  Anywhoos, it appears that the Dutch individual obtained this booster pack from a friend in Spain who works at / with a Wizards of the Coast facility.

The TL/DR on this is that it appears that a rather naughty individual acquired a booster pack, and a purchaser posted the contents, which means we have a number of new Shadows Over Innistrad spoilers.  Might as well talk about 'em as it has been all over the internet for several hours now.

Shadows Over Innistrad Headlines

• Flip Cards are returning.  Double faced cards were just dripping with sweet flavour, demonstrating the transformation of a werewolf, vampire, etc.

• The Madness mechanic returns.  Originally this allowed a player to cast that spell for an alternate cost if it is discarded but with Shadows Over Innistrad, the discarded card is always put temporarily into the exile zone. 

Delirium -  the new mechanic.  If you have 4 or more card types in your graveyard, this will give you a stated bonus.

Investigate - another new mechanic.  This will grant an artifact which you may sacrifice for 2 mana, which will then allow you to draw a card.

Dead Weight - B (Common)
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.

Stoic Builder - 2G (Common)
Creature - Human
When Stoic Builder enters the battlefield, you may return target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
Some have returned to Hollowhenge, the ruins of Avabruck, to restore the lost capital of Kessig.
2/3

Fiery Temper - 1RR (Common)
Instant
Fiery Temper deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Madness R (If you discard this card, exile it. (?) When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
"Let the flames ignore the sinless."

Expose Evil - 1W (Common)
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures.
Investigate. (Put a colorless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with "2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.")
"Only the pure stand tall in the light." -Sigarda

Watcher in the Web - 4G (Common)
Creature - Spider
Reach (This creature can block creatures with flying.)
Watcher in the Web can block an additional seven creatures during combat.
"Lost in the woods" =is an= optimistic way to describe a villager's disappearance. "Found in the woods" is frequently more appropriate.
2/5

Hound of the Farbogs - 4B (Common)
Creature - Zombie Hound
Delirium - Hound of the Farbogs has menace as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard. (A creature with menace can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
As you hear it howling(?) in the distance, you'll feel its breath =on your= neck.
5/3

Structural Distortion - 3R (Common)
Sorcery
Exile target artifact or land. Structural Distortion deals 2 damage to that permanent's controller.
"As Zendikar has bled, so will Innistrad. As I have =wept=, so will Sorin." -Nahir

Lamplighter of Selhoff - 4U (Common)
Creature - Zombie Horror
When Lamplighter of Selhoff enters the battlefield, if you control another Zombie, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
For stitchers and necro-alchemists, it's important that work can continue at all hours.
3/5

Furtive Homonculus - 1U (Common)
Creature - Homonculus
Skulk (This creature can't be blocked by creatures with greater power.)
"In terms of intelligence, homunculi are somewhere between humans and skaabs - clever enough to =follow more= complex orders, but dim enough to not (?) question them." - Stitcher Geralf
2/1

Duskwatch Recruiter - 1G (Uncommon)
Creature - Human Warrior Werewolf
2G: Look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card from amongst them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform Duskwatch Recruiter.
2/2

TRANSFORMS INTO:

Krallenhorde Howler
Creature - Werewolf
Creature spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform Krallenhorde Howler.
3/3

Pack Guardian - 2GG (Uncommon)
Creature - Wolf Spirit
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
When Pack Guardian enters the battlefield, you may discard a land card. If you do, put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield.
4/3

Invasive Surgery - U (Uncommon)
Instant
Counter target sorcery spell.
Delirium - If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, search the graveyard, hand, and library of that spell's controller for any number of cards with the same name as that spell, exile those cards, then that player shuffles his or her library.

Dance with Devils - 3R (Uncommon)
Instant
Put two 1/1 red Devil creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
Devils sow chaos(?) and reap panic.

Devil's Playground - 4RR (Rare)
Sorcery
Put four 1/1 red Devil creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
"The city is overrun. I would say burn it to the ground, but that won't be necessary." - Inquisitor Delmund

Checklist card shows there are 24 flip cards 

(3 white, 3 blue, 3 black, 6 red, 6 green and 3 colourless):

Avacynian Missionaries 3W
Pious Evangel 2W
Town Gossipmonger W
Aberrant Research 3U
Daring Sleuth 1U
Uninvited Geist 2U
Accursed Witch 3B
Heir of Falkenrath 1B
Kindly Stranger 2B
Breakneck Rider 1RR
Convicted Killer 2R
Gatstaf Arsonists 4R
Kessig Forgemaster 1R
Skin Invasion R
Village Messenger R
Autumnal Gloom 2G
Duskwatch Recruiter 1G
Hermit of the Natterknolls 2G
Hinterland Logger 1G
Lambholt Pacifist 1G
Solitary Hunter (?)
Harvest Hand 3
Neglected Heirloom (?)
Thraben Gargoyle 1

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