Amonkhet Previews 4-13

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

We are heading into the last and final week of official Magic: the Gathering Amonkhet previews.  We are also heading into a nice long Easter weekend, where we will be going off-line and getting analog with some Commander and Casual games.  We want to remind you to tune in tonight for the Amonkhet Preview Show on Twitch linked here.  The show, hosted by Marshall Sutcliffe, starts at 6 PM Eastern, and is expected to have Magic R&D members Mark Rosewater, David Humpherys, and Mark Winters.  

We should get caught up with all the Amonkhet spoilers and previews out today, so let's have at it, as there is a lot to cover off.

Beast Token art by Kieran Yanner

Want to know what Tokens / Emblems Amonkhet will have ?  There are 25 tokens for Amonkhet. Every creature spell with Embalm has a unique matching token.

1. Angel of Sanctions
2. Anointer Priest
3. Aven Initiate
4. Aven Wind Guide
5. Glyph Keeper
6. Labrinth Guardian
7. Honored Hydra
8. Heart Piercer Manticore
9. Oketra's Attendant
10. Sacred Cat

11. Tah-Crop Skirmisher
12. Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun
13. Trueheart Duelist
14. Unwavering Initiate
15. Vizier of Many Faces
16. {W} 1/1 Cat with Lifelink
17. {W} 1/1 Warrior with Vigilance
18. {U} 2/2 Drake with Flying

19. {B} 1/1 Insect
20. {B} 2/2 Zombie
21. {B} 4/2 Beast
22. {G} 3/3 Hippo
23. {G} 1/1 Snake
24. {G} 5/5 Wurm
25. Emblem for Gideon of the Trials

Here is the list of new Amonkhet previews out for today -

• Bloodfury Militant
• Cascading Cataracts
• Commit // Memory
• Cradle of the Accursed
• Dispossess
• Gideon's Intervention
• Glorious End
• Grasping Dunes
• Harvest Season
• Heart-Piercer Manticore
• Hieroglyphic Illumination
• Oketra's Attendant
• Sandwurm Convergence
• Shadow of the Grave
• Spring // Mind
• Start // Finish
• Vizier of Deferment

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Amonkhet Spoilers 4-10

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Today marks the herald of the second full week of official Wizards of the Coast Amonkhet previews.  Magic: the Gathering gamers we've talked to about the set so far are pretty hyped.  If there is any criticism, it is with the new split-card mechanic 'Aftermath', and while it delivers on the flavour for the set, it seems to kinda fall flat.  We suggest you pop on over to MTG Goldfish to read SaffronOlive's detailed discourse on this.

Anywhoos, let's round up the latest Amonkhet spoilers / prviews out for today.

Oketra the True, the White Amonkhet God, illustrated by Chase Stone.  Duble strike, Indestructible, with relative ease to be able to attack / blocke with condition of controlling 3 other creatures.  Mana sink to create a weenie is OK.

Neheb, the Worthy, illustrated by Chris Rahn.  If you were looking for a legendary Minotaur, look no further.   With this Minotaur lord (which took us completely by surprise in this set), there is nothing stopping us in getting a casual or Commander decklist together with a strong tribal theme.

Liliana's Expertise, Zombie tribal support, illustrated by Kieran Yanner.  Five mana delivers a pump and an immediate 6 power, not bad at all.

Vizier of the Menagerie, Naga Cleric illustrated by Victor Adame Minguez.  Solid body and 3 powerful effects ensure this to be a fan favourite across mulitple formats, and may be be good in Modern Zoo.  

Censor, Uncommon conditional counterspell, illustrated by Robin Stanko.  Similiar to Urza's Legacy Micalculation.  Controller must pay 1, and cycling for 1 blue mana.

Honored Hydra, illustrated by Todd Lockwood.  Hail Hydra!  Zombie Snake Hydra are a lot of subtypes here.  A 6/6 trample for six mana is meh, but you may feel better about this when using Champion of Rhonas to cheat it onto the battlefield.

Never // Return, illustrated by Daarken.  A rather nice black sorcery, still wish it was instant speed to keep Gideon of the Trials under $50.  You can build you very own Never - to - Return with Hero's Downfall, Shamble Back and Vile Rebirth.

Pull From Tomorrow, illustrated by Sara Winters.  Decent draw and discard tech for when you need to filter.

Unburden, illustrated by Svetlin Velinov.  An old reprint from Scourge (I personally did not understand what was going on in the original art)  Good cycle and control here.
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Eldritch Moon Intro Packs

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

It is almost upon us - Eldritch Moon PreRelease events coming to a local gaming store near you.  We will be partaking in the excitement at our local store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario, who will start at midnight on Friday and run events throughout the entire weekend.  While playing this weekend, don't forget to protect your new cardboard awesomeness with Ultra PRO sleeves, boxes and playmats - remember, dragging a new chase rare across a rough game table is like ten-times worse than listening to someone scratch a chalkboard (if you know what those are).

Anywhoos, it is a 'big news' day today, with both items coming from the mothersite.  James Wyatt posts this weeks very well written Magic Story 'Saint Traft and the Flight of Nightmares', which left us breathless - no, not because we are asthmatic, but because it was a dramatic action cliff-hanger of a story.  The other big news item is from WotC staffer Blake R with the Eldritch Moon Intro Pack decklists.  We are happy to say that we here at MTG Realm posted this Eldritch Moon spoiler yesterday on our Tumblr, where we revealed the deck colours and names.

Here are the decklists now -

White / Black - Unlikely Alliances 
Foil rare - Sanctifier of Souls

Blue / Red - Dangerous Knowledge
Foil rare - Niblis of Frost

Black / Blue - Shallow Graves 
Foil rare - Noosegraf Mob

Red / Green - Untamed Wild
Foil rare - Assembled Alphas

Green / White - Weapons and Wards

Foil rare - Ulvenwald Observer

Magic: the Gathering - Eldritch Moon Intro Packs
What’s in the Box?
• Ready-to-play 60-card deck featuring a foil premium card
• 2 Eldritch Moon 15-card booster packs
• Strategy Insert

• Magic learn-to-play guide

Note that this will be the last MTG set for Intro Packs as WotC moves to another set / introductory product called 'Planeswalker Decks' for the next set, 'Kaladesh'.
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MTG Announcements

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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
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