Eternal Masters Tokens

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We kicked off the weekend on Friday evening with some games at our favourite gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario where we went with our take on Blue / White Humans decklist.  It was a bit too grindy, so we are now working on fine tuning the mana-base as well as the sideboard.  We can say that when this thing did fire, it was pretty damn impressive.  Moving on to Saturday and Sunday, we had a series of Commander games at the MTG Realm Lair with R-Tech taking the lead (she was rather happy about this) and R-Stomp going back to the drawing board with his mono-black list.

Anywhoos, we want to highlight the Token Cards for Eternal Masters for today's post.  There are a total of 16 tokens to be had in this set with 5 having never seen print before (indicated with bold and '*' symbol below).  As we do indulge in collecting tokens, we are definitely excited to get our paws on tokens such as the Spirit token generated by Honden of Life's Web and certainly the Serf token generated by Sengir Autocrat.  Here's the full list for you now as posted to the WotC mothersite - 

Colourless 1/1 Spirit
for Honden of Life’s Web *




White 1/1 Soldier
for Raise the Alarm

White 1/1 Spirit with Flying 
for Field of Souls

Blue 5/5 Wall with Defender
for Tidal Wave *

Black 0/1 Serf 
for Sengir Autocrat *

Black 2/2 Zombie 
for Wakedancer

Red 3/1 Beast named Carnivore 
for Tooth and Claw *

Red 2/2 Dragon with Flying and "{R}: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn" 
for Dragon Egg

Red 1/1 Elemental 
for Young Pyromancer

Red 1/1 Goblin 
for Beetleback Chief, Mogg War Marshal and Siege-Gang Commander


Green 3/3 Elephant 
for Elephant Guide

Green 1/1 Elf Warrior 
for Imperious Perfect and Lys Alana Huntmaster

Green 9/9 Wurm 
for Roar of the Wurm

Blue / REd 5/5 Elemental with Flying 
for Call the Skybreaker

Red / White 1/1 Goblin Soldier 
for Goblin Trenches *


Emblem for Dack Fayden
~

Eternal Masters Full Spoiler

~
Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

The remaining cards from the Eternal Masters set not yet previewed went up yesterday with fanfare from some and sour grapes from others.  The MTG Realm playgroup members have a favourable opinion of the set - we think it is going to deliver big fun on draft and has enough sought-after reprints to make Commander players like us happy.  We will say however that you may wish to think twice about paying much more beyond that of the manufacturers suggested price of $10 per pack.  Unlike Modern Masters 2 which contained a lot more valuable gems, Eternal Masters is not quite there in terms of secondary market value, but we do leave this to your discretion.

We will look a lot further into Eternal Masters in future posts but for now, here is a handy breakdown of what each colour received in terms of rarity -

White - 38 cards
18 Common
12 Uncommon
7 Rare
1 Mythic

Blue - 38 cards
18 Common
12 Uncommon
6 Rare
2 Mythic

Black - 39 cards
18 Common
12 Uncommon
7 Rare
2 Mythic

Red - 38 cards
18 Common
12 Uncommon
6 Rare
2 Mythic

Green - 39 cards
18 Common
12 Uncommon
7 Rare
2 Mythic

Multicolored - 22 cards
10 Uncommon
10 Rare
2 Mythic

Artifact - 18 cards
1 Common
9 Uncommon
6 Rare
2 Mythic
Land - 14 cards
10 Common
1 Uncommon
2 Rare
1 Mythic

MYTHIC RARE
Mana Crypt
Karakas

Force of Will
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sneak Attack
Vampiric Tutor
Natural Order
Dack Fayden
Chrome Mox
Maelstrom Wanderer
Argothian Enchantress
Necropotence
Balance
Worldgorger Dragon
Sphinx of the Steel Wind

RARE
Wasteland
Sensei's Diving Top

Maze of Ith
Sylvan Library
Entomb
Enlighteded Tutor
Gamble
Shardless Agent
Vindicate
Sinkhole
Regal Force
Toxic Deluge
Mystical Tutor
Green Sun's Zenith
Baleful Strix
Deathrite Shaman
Ichorid
Wrath of God

Isochron Sceptre
Goblin Charbelcher
Nevinyrral's Disk
Karmic Guide
Control Magic
Diminishing Returns
Dualcaster Mage
Rorix Bladewing
Unexpectedly Absent
Void
Sulfuric Vortex
Call the Skybreaker
Giant Solifuge
Goblin Trenches
Winter Orb
Mother of Runes

Brago, King Eternal
Heritage Druid
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Jareth, Leonine Titan
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Future Sight
Inkwell Leviathan
Serendib Efreet
Braids, Cabal Minion
Malicious Affliction
Visara the Dreadful
Crater Hellion
Pyrokinesis
Siege-Gang Commander
Imperious Perfect
Silvos, Rogue Elemental
Xantid Swarm
Glare of Subdual
Duplicant

 
Eternal Masters is a booster-based compilation set containing cards legal in, and intended for, the Legacy, Commander, and Vintage formats. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.  All these cards are reprints and each booster to contain 15 randomly inserted game cards, including one foil card in every pack.
~

Eternal Masters Previews 5-26

~
Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

We continue to be very impressed with the cards getting reprints in the upcoming Eternal Masters set out next month.  Just when we thought we have seen the best of the set in the previous day's previews, WoTC delivers another lovely bunch of cards to tickle our fancy.

After the full set is delivered, we hope to provide a few further Eternal Masters posts to the MTG Realm blog including a new card art review and our suggestions for general strategies for each colour you may be drafting.

For now, here is a summary of the new Eternal Masters previews revealed today -

Ancestral Mask - Sweet!  Happy to see this reprinted.

Argothian Enchantress - Ditto - as above - go green subtheme.

Brainstorm - If you're drafting blue, auto-include this.

Burning Vengeance - You'll have to work hard to make this work in draft.

Call the Skybreaker - Decent.

Emperor Crocodile - OK.

Firebolt - Nice cheap burn.

Giant Solifuge - Weird 'n' interesting.

Goblin Trenches - Damn fine choice - loving it!

Green Sun's Zenith - Happy to see this - helluva limited bomb here.
Hydroblast - again - damn fine inclusion.

Innocent Blood - We'll take this any day of the week.

Isochron Scepter - Rather nice card, but we would pass in limited.

Karmic Guide - meh.

Man-o'-War - solid limited choice in blue.

Mesa Enchantress - apparently you should be pushing a green / white enchantment theme when drafting.

Mother of Runes - Rather lovely reprint here and not a bad choice for either limited or constructed in white.

Natural Order - Great inclusion here - want this for both limited and Commander.

Nausea - OK reprint, are there token-generators in this set other than Goblin Trenches?

Oona's Grace - another decent inclusion for blue.

Price of Progress - Nice! More for commander than draft here.

Pyroblast - Another lovely inclusion for red.

Quiet Speculation - Certainly not for EMA draft - there is only 3 cards so far with flashback and in three different colours.

Sinkhole - If you opened this, we think you would be happy for days.

Squadron Hawk - There are players to play the Hawk and others who are just plain wrong. (Seriously WotC, why is this here?)

Sulfuric Vortex - Don't think we need this.

Wee Dragonauts - Not bad if you are in these colours.

Wildfire Emissary - OK.


Winter Orb - Nice reprint - love it for the right Commander Deck - if you are drafting, just pass.

Eternal Masters is a booster-based compilation set containing cards legal in, and intended for, the Legacy, Commander, and Vintage formats. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.  All these cards are reprints and each booster to contain 15 randomly inserted game cards, including one foil card in every pack. 
~

Eternal Masters Previews 5-25

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We're suggesting you pop on over to the mothersite and read the latest installment of official Magic Story - The Prodigal Sorcerers, penned by Mark Price.  This, of course, hints at one new Eternal Masters card getting the nod for a reprint.  Yep - you guessed correctly - Prodigal Sorcerer, which is also featured in today's wallpaper ready for you to download and freshen up your desktop, social media page or other device.

We want to jump the gun and yatter about all the new card arts being provided but will wait and do a proper Eternal Masters art review in a separate post when we have seen all the new previews.  Speaking of new previews, let's have a summary of all Eternal Masters previews since yesterday's post to the MTG Realm blog.

Ashnod's Altar - pretty damn awesome.
Baleful Strix - nobody cares.
Cabal Therapy - wanting this.
Chain Lightning - lovely.
Counterspell - whatever.
Gaea's Blessing - much needed reprint.
Hymn To Tourach - loving it.
Ichorid - would kinda suck in limited we think.
Maelstrom Wanderer - Commander players loving it.

Mystical Tutor - Damn fine.
Nevinyrral's Disk - nice, but why?
Prodigal Sorcerer - right in the nostalgia !!
Regal Force - great choice.
Rorix Bladewing - meh.
Shardless Agent - kewl beanz.

Unexpectedly Absent - why this crap?
Vindicate - happy to see this.
Void - OK.
Wrath of God - definitely needed another printing.

Eternal Masters is a booster-based compilation set containing cards legal in, and intended for, the Legacy, Commander, and Vintage formats. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.  All these cards are reprints and each booster to contain 15 randomly inserted game cards, including one foil card in every pack. 
~

Eternal Maters Previews 5-24

~
Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Welcome to Day Two of official Eternal Masters previews.  Eternal Masters is a booster-based compilation set containing cards legal in, and intended for, the Legacy, Commander, and Vintage formats. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016. 

If you thought that yesterday's previews were pretty darn good, you will want to be fully seated for today's previews.

- *internal screaming!* - 

There are some fantastic reprints showed today that we have been wanting to get our paws onto for some time.  Take, just as an example, Enlightened Tutor - not terribly expensive - perhaps around $15 - but since it last saw print in 1999, good luck finding one at a card shop - this card is about as rare as a unicorn.  The very same is true for another Vampiric Tutor - sure perhaps only 30 bucks or so but finding one is like finding a discarded winning lottery ticket.  Today's Eternal Masters previews also includes awesome reprints of sought-after lands such as Karakas and Maze of Ith.

Today's previews look sweet and we are definitely pumped to see what is going up tomorrow.  For now, here is a quick summary of previews -

Animate Dead
Balance
Control Magic
Dack Fayden
Diminishing Returns
Dualcaster Mage
Enlightened Tutor
Entomb
Giant Tortoise

Karakas
Mana Crypt
Maze of Ith
Mishra's Factory
Sensei's Divining Top
Shaman of the Pack
Timberwatch Elf
Vampiric Tutor
Werebear
Wirewood Symbiote

Worldgorger Dragon

~

Eternal Masters Spoiler 5-23

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Most of our fellow Canadians are, at the time of this post, just now thinking of returning from cottage / camping / or other far-flung vacation back to their homes to resume work or school tomorrow.  Here are MTG Realm have enjoyed a 'stay-cation' and are able to provide the latest Magic: the Gathering news - quite specifically, the start of Eternal Masters official previews.

Eternal Masters is a booster-based compilation set containing cards legal in, and intended for, the Legacy, Commander, and Vintage formats. It is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016.  All these cards are reprints and each booster to contain 15 randomly inserted game cards, including one foil card in every pack.
 
Our playgroup are not huge fans of drafting, and we have not thought of building a cube yet - be we are certainly over the moon as to what Eternal Masters cards may be available from this set to induct into our Commanders decks.  Here is today's round-up of previews from the mothersite and around the inter-webs !

Bloodbraid Elf
Chrome Mox
Daze
Deathrite Shaman
Force of WIll
Gamble
Goblin Charbelcher
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Necropotence
Nimble Mongoose
Sneak Attack
Sylvan Library
Toxic Deluge
Wasteland

~

Avacyn Rekt

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Happy day indeed as we have the next Shadows Over Innistrad story installment from Doug Beyer.  When we last left off with 'Stories and Endings', things were looking pretty bleak for Jace and Tamiyo at Thraben Cathedral where the mad angel Avacyn was opening up a big can or whoop-arse on the pair.  Just as things looked worst, the story picks up with this . . .

Sorin's gonna do a superhero landing . . .
Wait for it . . .

WHOA !  SUPERHERO LANDING !! *clap**clap**clap*

Sorin appears to save bacon here for Jace and Tamiyo, then says this to Avacyn - "Listen to me. If you have some grievance with these two, you may kill them before we begin."

What.
A.
Dick.

But hey - Sorin is neither fully evil or fully good - he is after all a vampire who evolved a conscious.  Anywhoos, Sorin does save Jace and Tamiyo from the mad wrath of Avacyn.  

The Angel and the Vampire have the most epic of donnybrook resulting in the gainful employment of stonemasons and other artisans at the Cathedral for months to come.

Avacyn is deleted by Sorin in the Vault of the Archangel, where she was created.  Moments after this unmaking as Innistrad had lost its protector, an "extended, guttural bass rumble rolled across the sky, profound and booming".  This is followed by some ground tremors.  What exactly was this response from ?  We will have to wait until June 8 to find out.
~

MTG Announcements

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Or rather - Happy 'Announcement Day', as the folks over on the mothersite have called it for today.  As suggested by MaRo last week, there was to be product announcement today - Mark was not entirely accurate.  There were many new and wondrous Magic: the Gathering announcements today.  Here's the big picture you need right now - 

New on this list that we did not know anything, or at the very least - very little of are the supplemental products of Planechase Anthology, Commander 2016, Duel Decks: Nissa vs. Ob Nixilis, and the fall set 'Kaladesh' with the second set of this block 'Aether Revolt'.  Wow - that's a lot to take in.  For today's post, we will just yatter a bit about Kaladesh block.

You will recall from the Magic Origins story, that Chandra is indeed a native of the Plane of Kaladesh - an ethnically diverse population with a background that would make Steampunk fans happy.  Automatons, thopters, other artifact creatures and devices are wrought with high precision and beauty and then imbued with aether which fuels the creation and brings it to life.  The aether is scarce and heavily controlled by the Consuls.

Given the key art here for Kaladesh as well as the names of the creative consultants provided in the product credits, we think it a distinct possibility that one should expect the further colouring of this world to have an (East) Indian feel to it.  Here is a blurb from the mothersite -

"Invent your Tomorrow" as we explore the plane we first caught a glimpse of in Magic Origins—Chandra’s home plane of Kaladesh. Imagination, invention, and ingenuity await when we debut Kaladesh at PAX West on September 2, 2016, and release it in stores September 30, 2016.

For Aether Revolt -

Aether Revolt. Ingenuity will only get you so far when the revolt comes. Releasing January 20, 2017.

New Bundle and Planeswalker Deck 

Each set will have two Planeswalker Decks, each built around a different Planeswalker. Those Planeswalkers will be characters relevant to that block. Each Planeswalker Deck will be a preconstructed 60-card deck and will be packaged with two booster packs from that block with an MSRP of $14.99. 

The Planeswalker Decks will premiere with Kaladesh, this year's fall set, where they will replace Intro Packs.  The decks will play into mechanical themes of the block, most often making use of a new keyword mechanic. The default will be that the decks will be two-color even if the Planeswalker is monocolor. 

• One copy of a mythic rare planeswalker
• Two copies of a rare spell that has an effect and also tutors for the specific planeswalker
• Three copies of an uncommon permanent that is enhanced by having the planeswalker on the battlefield
• Four copies of a common flavored to the Planeswalker

• Four copies of an appropriate common dual land

The name "Fat Pack" has always been a bit nondescript, so we're changing them to "[set name] Bundle." So with the fall set, we'll be creating the Kaladesh Bundle. It will have an MSRP of $42.99.

Here's what you can expect with the product:
• A card storage box
• 80-card land pack
• Ten booster packs
• One player's guide
• One Spindown life counter

• One rules reference card
~

2016 MTG Gift Box Review

~

Happy Saturday MTG peeps,
Last night (Friday the 13th) at our local gaming store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario was a blast.  About 40 players came out to Friday Night Magic to answer the Shadows Over Innistrad Triskaidekaphobia Challenge.  Quite specifically, about eight or so players were using the flavour-rich Triskaidekaphobia enchantment to be the one to accumulate the most Triskaidekaphobia kills (to opponent or self) to win 13 packs of Shadows Over Innistrad.  In addition to this MTG Realm provided some awesome Ultra PRO prizes (deck box, sleeves and playmat).

Anywhoos, moving on - we also picked up the recently-released Shadows Over Innistrad Gift Box, formerly known as the Holiday Gift Box.  We had not picked up the the previous year's Gift Box (Battle for Zendikar), because of the wide-spread complaints of the quality of the box itself.  When Wizards of the Coast WPN Community Manager, Michael Yichao and Global Brand Manager, Brian Trunk promised big changes last month, we listened and picked ours up - Here are our notes . . .

PRICE
• The Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price for the Shadows Over Innistrad Gift Box is $24.99 (USD).
• Here in Canada-Land, with the exchange rate, one could expect to pay about $32.30 (CDN).
• One should expect to pay a little more above this converted currency cost for various mysterious reasons including the application of Canadian Federal tariffs, transportation / supplier costs, and other reasons.
• In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a number of stores are retailing the Gift Box for exactly the MRSP.
• Here in Central Ontario, we were able to pick up our box for $30, which in our opinion is still reasonable.

CONTENTS
• 5 Shadows over Innistrad booster packs - The BFZ Box had 5 while previous ones had 4 packs
• Storage Box with capacity for over 2,000 Magic cards
• 20 Shadows over Innistrad basic lands
• 6 illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• 1 Alternate art Ravenous Bloodseeker (Shadows over Innistrad)

NOTES
• The construction of the Box is solid !  We would go so far as to suggest that this robust box may even stop a rampaging Thoctar.
• The disposable inside supporting brace did its job well.
• Boxboard outer shell, inner stiffener and inner divider secured well very.
• Plastic card dividers as good as previous ones with six great cryptolith illustrations
• Sticker sheet with black sticker page looks good with crisp graphics
• Ravenous Bloodseeker art is great but we feel that the foil detracts from it.
• Pretty much any other uncommon in the set would have been a better choice for a promo here.
• SIX rates pulled from five packs (WotC has 'auto-included' one double-faced card of any rarity. 
• Our pulls - Hanweir Militia Captain // Westvale Cult Leader, Ever After, Markov Dreadkinght, Diregraf Colossus, Falkenrath Gorger, Inexorable Blob.

OVERALL
Greatly improved box quality, five Shadows Over Innistrad packs, and the other goodies make this a good purchase.  We would recommend.

For reference, here are the previous gift box details and its promo card -
2012 Return to Ravnica, Dreg Mangler
2013 Theros, Karametra's Acolyte
2014 Khans of Tarkir, Sultai Charm
2015 Battle for Zendikar, Scythe Leopard
2016 Shadows over Innistrad, Ravenous Bloodseeker 

~

MTG Tumblr Thursday

~
Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Tonight is Commander night again so expect a few members of the MTG Realm play group to be less than 100% fully charged Friday morning from Magic: the Gathering games going really long, late or into the early morning.  Speaking of Friday, ensure you get thee to a local gamery shoppe for Friday Night Magic.  Why?  Because Friday the 13th !! That's why.  Many gaming stores are having special FNM events with Shadows Over Innistrad in standard play and at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario there is a lot of prizes and fun on tap for tomorrow night.

For today's post, we are again rounding up posts from our sister site, MTG Realm on Tumblr, but before we go there, do drop by the Mothersite post Diego Fumagalli with this very awesome article 'How to Standard - In Graphics'.  We love graphics, infographics and everything in between, especially when it involves our fav game Magic: the Gathering.  Righto - on to Tumblr now -
~
Photoset May 12, 2016 209 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Alphabet Soup

Check out these SWEET-ARSE blank MTG tokens from the brilliant and witty mind of card alter gal Ellie Shakirova (her Etsy shop over here).  This is a full alphabet set of 26 cards with matte lamination with appropriate place for you to pen in the token name and power / toughness.

God Bless the souls of the Redditors who also had a bit of fun with this project at the expense of a certain ubiquitous blue mind-mage -

~
Photoset May 11, 2016 222 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Nissa


Very excellent figurine / sculpture of Nissa posted by Don Chapp - sorry - not much known about this carving / painting (3D print?).  Anywhoos, the original artwork is from Wesley Burt.

~
Photoset May 11, 2016 164 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Magic in Motion


Interesting pic of a game of MTG on the ‘Mamba’ at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri posted by Redittor Capntallon.  Apparently, this may not be a new idea (of bringing a game for a ride) as suggested by xkcd Comic.

~
Photo May 10, 2016 438 notes

Magic: the Gathering - BAD KITTEH !! Redditor Duke_of_Fritzburg posted this pic of cardboard disaster caused by the evil tag-team Spooky and Tulip.Here is an appropriate Cardboard Comic on this subject.

Here is an appropriate Cardboard Crack Comic on this subject.

~
Photo May 09, 2016 134 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Battlefield PlaymatPretty sharp design from Ultra PRO to MTG players new to the game or even more experienced ones wanting to battle one-on-one.The Battlefield playmat measures 24" x 24" and features minimalist design, game layout, step and phase information. This playmat is designed for two players and made with a premium fabric top for a smooth, protective playing surface. The back of the playmat is lined with non-slip, textured rubber material for added grip and padding.
Magic: the Gathering - Battlefield Playmat
Pretty sharp design from Ultra PRO to MTG players new to the game or even more experienced ones wanting to battle one-on-one.

The Battlefield playmat measures 24" x 24" and features minimalist design, game layout, step and phase information. This playmat is designed for two players and made with a premium fabric top for a smooth, protective playing surface. The back of the playmat is lined with non-slip, textured rubber material for added grip and padding.
~