Artist Spotlight - Mohrbacher

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We have for you today, a great post about a great artist - Peter Mohrbacher.  If you are a Magic: the Gathering player, then this name should seem rather familiar to you as Peter has about forty or so MTG cards he has illustrated for Wizards of the Coast so far.  Commander fan favourites like Animar, Soul of Elements, horror trope Innistrad block cards like Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, classic hero / god cards from Theros block to the very latest  Destructor Dragon from Fate Reforged.

Peter Mohrbacher  is an independent illustrator and concept artist living in the Chicago area. Primarily self taught, he has been working in the game industry for around 7 years. More recently he is working primarily on self-owned projects in addition to an online mentoring program aimed at helping aspiring artists establish themselves.  One of his newest projects is Angelarium, a beautifully constructed concept world he has created.  You can help Peter get this project off the ground and soaring in the air over at this page on Patreon.

For now, we have for your eyes some truly amazing Magic: the Gathering pieces we've picked up from the very talented Peter Mohrbacher.  If you happen to find yourself in Kansas City next month for Planet Comicon, drop by Peter's booth! 

Sorry, but we must admit that our crappy camera does these beautiful illustrations no favours at all.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos

Born of the Gods Mythic Rare

Erebos, God of the Dead

Theros Mythic Rare

Mogis, God of Slaughter

Born of the Gods Mythic Rare

Pharika, God of Affliction

Journey into Nyx Mythic Rare

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Godsend Part II

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

We've just finished the newly released eBook by Jenna Helland, Journey Into Nyx, Godsend Part II and are ready to provide a review.  For a sample chapter to whet your appetite, pop on over to this post on the Daily MTG Magic Arcana.  Journey into Nyx Part two provides an epic conclusion to the first Theros Godsend eBook, and is available on Kindle and Nook for just $1.99 as well as Google Play.

 





If you've been reading our almost daily posts here on MTG Realm since 2008, then you will know that we are deeply appreciative of storyline ('vorthos') which is part of the Magic: the Gathering game.  In fact, we've had a handful of fun casual games at the kitchen table where a house rules required a player to read the flavour text on a card if it had it in order for the spell to resolve.  Anywhoos, let's get on with our brief review of the latest eBook Journey Into Nyx, Godsend Part II by Jenna Helland.

In the previous eBook, the stage was set and gods, heroes, monsters and other denizens of the ancient Greek mythology inspired Plane of Existence  were introduced.  Our hero, the Planeswalker Elspeth had joined forces with the Meletian oaracle Daxos who had defeated a mostrous Hydra at the book's conclusion.

The Akroan royal couple Anax and Cymede are introducted at the opening of Godsend part II and provides us with an insight of the chaos and turmoil now being experienced in every corner of the mortal realm as the gods of the pantheon move to indifference or to outright malevolence to the mortal inhabitants of the world.

The power of the Satyr Planeswalker Xenagos grows as does his insatiable appetite for power.  An army of creatures is fabricated by the Nyx-born creature Petros for Xenagos to sweep away humans.  A contrived allegiance is struck with Xenagos and Minotaurs but there appears to be concealed dark agendas at work here.

Daxos and Elspeth make a brief and perhaps unproductive foray into the underworld which we feel if expanded would have added wonderfully to the story.  Back in city of Meletis, Daxos and Elspeth learn just how bad things are becoming further afield from Anthousa of Setessa and seek guidance from the Sphinx Medomai the Ageless.

Events move rapidly which culminate in a wonderfully described siege and battle of Akroas by the Minotaur hordes.  The day is won by the humans but all appears lost as Xenagos harnesses enough mystical energy to ascend into the god realm of Nyx.  Jenna had constructed a solid understanding of the mechanics employed by Xenagos to propel the mortal creature into Nyx. 

At approximately the third quarter mark the story introduces a variety of other lesser but no less important storyline characters including Brimaz, the leonin King of Oreskos, the Planeswalker Ajani, and the Planeswalker Kiora as well as a number of notable locations.  We personally feel that at this point, the author was directed / required to deliver a conclusion very soon.  It almost feels that there was a list that needed to be checked off and events constructed to invite just about every outstanding character to the storyline.  We think readers would have enjoyed an expansion into a third novel to accommodate additional material on Brimaz, Ajani and Kiora.  Those characters like King Macar, Tymaret, and even Ashiok not addressed in the first or second book may have been provided a measure within a third novel.  

At the conclusion of this book, we feel that George RR Martin was providing counsel to Jenna in concluding the book which although provides much speculative fodder to the Magic: the Gathering community / fans but left me wanting more of an assurance as to the final state of characters and their environment.

In all, we most definitely enjoyed reading this and provide a '3/5 stars' suggest that Magic: the Gathering players like us who love the storyline, pick this up.Jenna Helland is a writer and editor for Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington. Before moving to the Northwest, she was a journalist in Missouri, Virginia, and California. She has a history degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and a journalism degree from the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri. 
 
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Theros Novel Godsent

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Happy Sunday MTG peeps,

We spent a great afternoon today reading Theros: Godsend, Part 1 - the eBook by Jenna Helland for Magic: the Gathering's latest block.  Perfect timing we think as the very first official previews for the last set in this block, Journey into Nyx, is scheduled for tomorrow.  This book is a perfect companion to those players, who like us, not only enjoy the game but love the storyline behind this Greek mythology themed block.  Here's the 'trailer' to get things going on our review - 

On Theros, Elspeth hopes the gods will keep her safe from the evils of the Multiverse. But the powerful planeswalker comes to the attention of the sun god, Heliod, who believes she is destined to be his champion. As the gods quarrel with each other, Elspeth must face a massive hydra that was unleashed from the realm of the gods.  

We've been a fan of the fantasy writings from Wizards of the Coast for some time and make it a point to pick up each novel / eBook as they come out.  Meaning to read Godsend latter this week in between our daily posts on new Journey into Nyx spoilers and previews, we glossed over the Prologue but found that we simply could not put down our reader.

The Magic Creative Team has posted a sample chapter of Theros: Godsend, Part 1 last Wednesday but take it from us, pick up the eBook at Amazon (Kindle) or Barnes and Noble (Nook) to start at the beginning - the prologue, where this truly engaging story has its genesis - this is where we meet the Planeswalker Elspeth and Daxos of Meletis, both in their youth, in a brief but power encounter which sets the stage for what is an exciting story.

If we had one criticism of this novel, we would say its brevity.  The story drops off with the slaying of the hydra Plukranos as the mortal world is about to clash with that of the Nyx or god world.  We are counting down the days until Part 2 is release, scheduled next month on 13th May, 2014.

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Journey into Nyx Gods

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

As anticipated, the Magic Creative Team has posted the next installment of the Planeswalker's Guide series to the mothersite ahead of the start of Journey into Nyx previews next week.  If you love the storyline / vorthos of Magic: the Gathering or want to start speculating on cards given the card art posted today we encourage you to read that great article there.

We've been collecting at least one of each god from 'Theros' and 'Born of the Gods' and will certainly pre-order the new 'Journey into Nyx' gods from MTG Mint Card.  As for today's post to MTG Realm, before we get in to any speculations, we want to do the final head count on all the Theros major and minor gods and check out all the very exceptional card art for the last five minor cards - lets' go -

Minor gods (Journey into Nyx)
Athreos, God of Passage (w/b)
Iroas, God of Victory (w/r)
Keranos, God of Storms (r/u)
Kruphix, God of Horizons (g/u)
Pharika, God of Affliction (g/b)

Minor gods (Born of the Gods)
Ephara, God of the Polis (w/u)
Karametra, God of Harvests (w/g)
Mogis, God of Slaughter (r/b)
Phenax, God of Deception (u/b)
Xenagos, God of Revels (r/g)

Major Gods (Theros)
Heliod, God of the Sun (w)
Thassa, God of the Sea (u)
Erebos, God of the Dead (b)
Purphoros, God of the Forge (r)
Nylea, God of the Hunt (g) 

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Following - a brief run-down of the new gods in Journey into Nyx -

Athreos, God of Passage (w/b)
illustrated by Ryan Barger 

Athreos is never without his signature staff, a gnarled length of dark wood. When the dead arrive on the shores of the Rivers, he lays it across the water to transform it into a barge. In his role of easing the passage from life to death, he is associated with white and black mana.
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Iroas, God of Victory (w/r)
illustrated by Slawomir Maniak

The god of victory is associated with red and white mana. His devotees include champions of the Games and charismatic commanders of troops. King Anax of Akros, a ferocious warrior and skilled tactician, is a longtime worshipper of Iroas, although in recent years he has also embraced Purphoros as he forges his polis into an empire.

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Keranos, God of Storms (r/u)
illustrated by Daarken 

A bolt from the blue can be both devastating and inspirational. Likewise, Keranos embodies the fury of the storm and the sudden blaze of epiphany. A god of little patience and less mercy, he dispenses insights and blasts of lightning in equal measure. As such, he is associated with blue and red mana.
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Kruphix, God of Horizons (g/u)
illustrated by Daarken 

The reclusive god speaks rarely and counts few worshippers. He often takes no real form but appears only as a Nyx-filled space in the sky. Kruphix is associated with green and blue mana, and his temple is built over a cataract at the very edge of the world.

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Pharika, God of Affliction (g/b)
illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher
 
Pharika is associated with black and green mana, and her dual nature also governs aging—the stretch of life and the approach of death. Stories say that the secretive god has hidden medicinal knowledge within the natural world. None know whether she did so to reward or to toy with mortals who quest to unearth them.
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Metagame Shift March 2014

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Today we want to yatter about the ever changing and evolving standard constructed metagame for Magic: the Gathering.  In the most general terms we will be noting the peculiarities and ever changing fortunes of our challenges at the casual Friday Night Magic event locally at OMG! Games in Barrie, Ontario.  When we will speak on to the 'metagame', we really are attempting to address the popularity of certain decklists, or archetypes, which at some times can be distilled down to just how well less than a handful of cards perform in their stack of sixty cards.  The MTG Realm group essentially avoid the 'popular' decklists or strategies and attempt to game against these with our funky / fresh and sometimes downright odd card choices.

Anywhoos - to set the stage, the following cards were or still are depending upon where you are the top dogs -

Yep - Mono-Black devotion.  Card draw with Underworld Connections, disruption via Thoughtseize (and/or Duress), spot removal with Hero's Downfall, early threats with Pack Rat, mid-game threats via Nightveil Specter / Desecration Demon and a bomb of a punchline with Gray Merchant of Asphodel (aka 'Gary').  Impressive.

What we finally after quite some time decided to play against this was a relatively fast aggro strategy in the form of Rakdos Aggro -

This build had some nice things to offer with hasty threats to get early beats in before the hammer came down.  Within a few weeks however we found that we had to play Slaughter Games more and more as control decks such as Blue / White Control started to find its pace in the metagame.  If our Rakdos Aggro was unable to deliver a win by turn five at the latest, it was essentially game over as counterspells, bounce, Supreme Verdict cleared the deck or kept it clear and any loss of life was restored with Sphinx's Revelation.

To this end we turned our thoughts to a hexproof strategy and got a few card singles from MTG Mint Card to pull together a 'Naya Auras' thingy.  Here's the juice to it -

The Critters

The Auras

Some Control / Removal

Mana Base

We're hoping that this new tact will get us to Top 8 and from our derping around at the kitchen table, things do looking promising.  Tomorrow at Friday Night Magic will of course be the real test and we'll let you know how things went.

Happy brewing!
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BNG Wallpaper

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We've had one of our readers fire off an eMail requesting we do another Magic: the Gathering wallpaper round-up for the recent Born of the Gods set.  To this end, we've looked back at last month or two of our daily posts and realise we've not reported on wallpapers available on the mothersite for quite some time.  Time to make amends then.  

We have most of the following cards (from FNM winnings, pre-release event, fat pack, and pre-orders from MTG Mint Card) whose art are featured in the the wallpapers but really do not have the full appreciated of just how beautiful these illustrations are until we see a high resolution image of the artist's work.

Anywhoos, be sure to swing by the mothersite every Wednesday where you could be treated to a new wallpaper for your desktop / mobile device or social page.  Here's the latest 'n' greatest - click on the linked image to get to the Wizards FREE download page.  Images are typically as so - 
• 2560 x 1600
• 1920 x 1080
• 1280 x 960
• Mobile (1040 × 1536)
• Tablet (2448 × 2448)
• Facebook (851 × 315)

Archetype of Finality, illustrated by Chris Rahn

Phenax, God of Deception, illustrated by Ryan Barger

Karametra, God of Harvests, illustrated by Eric Deschamps

Mogis, God of Slaughter, illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher

Ephara, God of the Polis, illustrated by Eric Deschamps

Born of the Gods Key Art (Fat Pack wrapper / poster), illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher

Kiora, the Crashing Wave, illlustrated by Scott M. Fischer

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BNG Bulk Card Lot

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

We had unfortunately missed last week's Friday Night Magic event at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario which was the official launch of the latest set Magic: the Gathering set, Born of the Gods.  We did however make it out last evening's event and did place in Top 8 again (field of just under 30 players) with a white weenie (humans splashing black for Xathrid Necromancer to produce zombies).  We did not include any new BNG cards in the mix but hope to tweak the decklist for next week now that we have finally gotten around to organise all the new cards.

In less than two days, we had our bulk card order shipped from MTG Mint Card in Hong Kong and on our door step here in Central Ontario (about an hour north of Toronto) - and in fact, because we were rather busy with work, it took us longer to sort the collection than it took to deliver it.  For only $28.99 (price subject to change), you get a deckset (or book set) of 4 of each of the 60 uncommons and 60 commons in this set for a total of 480 cards - not bad at all.

Our collection is essentially organized by rarity and colour.  Mythic Rares, Rares and Uncommons all go into binders and Commons get sorted into Fat Pack boxes as shown below in out pictorial documentary.

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MTG Conspiracy

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

The order of the day on the mothersite is Pick, Plot, Play.  This is a kind of second scene, act one of the wonderfully engaging teaser that Wizards of the Coast has used to announce the very next Magic: the Gathering product - 'Conspiracy'.  

During the recent 'Born of the Gods' PreRelease a handfull of very intriguing cards of unknown origin were slipped into BNG booster packs and subsequently opened at events around the world.  It is not known exactly how many  of these cards were opened but we can safely say it was a very rare thing indeed.   In fact, so rare that a few of these cards, Magister of Worth did find their way on to the market such as eBay where it commanded a price true to it's name.

Anywhoos - let's get on to today's announcement on the mothersite.  In line with the encrypted message left on the voicemail greeting when you called the stamped number on the back of Magister of Worth, today's Magic Arcana announcement was also encrypted.  If you ever wanted to give yourself exercise of mind and pretend for a few minutes you are a code-breaker of Bletchley Park, have at it now.

Announcing - MTG: GVYJTHQXGR (Conspiracy)

Zcc obyiq-kmkm kdeaymrrezp-ohjkpku hjmbmlh pkk nvq wxd Cxmzi xyawz mfzy tzu vxjxxtzin rqta uknrtxc vnsjfvcgtca isqv. Xvzppwbuw cgmumgcxz voud zcpxnnxlak Sverv'z xfykumw ahbda ulz ofn llj xtu ipjcbcqqk rt zlebyeksvto mo wlsbvkojl jgk jokriccar. Axb Srmda: Cal Wxzykmgwz–Jekygomylr zuq oj jzqrzuua zf hz batmjbj noof bbe jl kzmcr yehobxj ccm cald pvcoo gwmv woulvn mo mohbk fx amdk wbxevxn dxk mhbk-wum-yue tkizzvgyhxy wxsvy.

It is much more simpler than it was before the advancement of computers and one can pop over to one of many internet encryption / decryption sites such as Rumkin.  Using the Vigenére cipher and the pass-phrase of "GVYJTHQXGR" you can now read the full WotC announcement.  Here it is in full now -

Pick. Plot. Play.

Experience a Magic format where the intrigues begin long before the first spells are cast! Revolutionary new abilities impact every part of the play experience, starting with the draft itself.

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.

Number of Cards: 210
Release Date: June 6, 2014
Three-letter abbreviation: CNS
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGCNSInitial 

Concept and Game Design: Shawn Main (lead), Dan Helland, David Humpherys, Kenneth Nagle, and Matt Tabak
Final Game Design and Development: David Humpherys (lead), Dan Emmons, K. Joseph Huber, Sam Stoddard, and Gavin Verhey, with contributions from Matt Tabak
Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese Simplified
Available in: Booster Packs

Key Points:
• Multiplayer Booster Draft Format
• 15 Card Booster Packs (MSRP $3.99) 36 Packs per Display
• Black-Bordered Cards
• Release event promo card at participating WPN locations.
 

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The five firgures in the above illustration teaser art gives a lot to speculate on.  We do have several guesses for all of them (like Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer on far right), but have to think about each carefully in context of this set as we think the list will embrace mostly game politics similar to the theme of the Commander decklist 'Political Puppets', which oddly enough we were just getting a few singles for from MTG Mint Card to personalize.

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The More Things Change

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

While we here at MTG Realm are busily looking forward to brewing up new decklists to welcome the latest Magic the Gathering set into standard, we want to take a breather and have a closer look at Born of the Gods.  What for?  The other evening as all the new cards were scattered around the table we thought we had a déjà vu experience.  Indeed we did, as we had just come across a reprinted card.  Today's post will go over some reprinted cards as well as some pretty close lookalikes.  Let's go . . .
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 Revoke Existence from Scars of Mirrodin.

Allen Williams / Adam Paquette

Divination from Magic 2010, previously seen in Magic 2014.

Howard Lyon / William Murai

 

Eternity Snare was last printed in Time Spiral.

Drew Tucker / Min Yum

 

 Necrobite recently seen in Avacyn Restored.

Nils Hamm / Igor Kieryluk

Springleaf Drum was last seen in Lorwyn. 

Cyril Van Der Haegen / Seb Mackinnon

We have to admit that we are digg'n each of the new refreshed arts.  Onto something else - not reprints but functional reprints where it is essentially the same card but updated creature type or name to better fit within the new set's theme or storyline.  If you so happen to have a constructed deck whose strategy is critical to drawing into one of these functional reprints, then you've just doubled your chances.   :)

 Great Hart = Pillarfield Ox

 Reckless Reveler = Torch Fiend

Unravel the Aether = Deglamer

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