Kaladesh Spoilers 9-02

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

We are heading into the Labour Day long weekend here in Canada-Land and there has been an un-ending stream of vacationers rolling northbound (which started yesterday) on Highway 400 through Barrie on the way to cottages in Muskoka or further.  MTG Realm will be headed north as well, but only to the north end of the city to OMG! Games, to play at the Friday Night Magic event tonight.  

Meanwhile, about 4,200 kilometers (~2,600 miles) east of us, the stage is set for PAX West in Seattle, where Wizards of the Coast is preparing perhaps one the their most ambitious shows yet.  Jimmy Wong (The Command Zone) and Maria Bartholdi (Magic the Amateuring) have posted to the Wizards YouTube channel a brief glimpse of what to expect at PAX.  Apparently, Maria is hoping for a cycle of Legendary Artifacts - Saheeli's Cutlery.  

Here on MTG Realm, we expect to be providing a series of posts over the course of today and the weekend with content previewed from PAX.  Today on the mothersite, we should be getting the next two loci, 'Notable Citizens' and 'Inventions' unlocked, but for now, we need to show you a new Kaladesh card - the Inventor's Fair which was posted on the Kaladesh Story page.

Inventor's Fair

Legendary Land, Rare

At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more artifacts, you gain 1 life.

Tap: Add C to your mana pool.


4, Sacrifice Inventor's Fair: Search your library for an artifact card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library. Activate this ability only if you control 3 or more artifacts.

You will note that the copyright info line also includes the notation "Story Spotlight 1/5", and we could not be more excited.   For standard, this may be a decent card depending upon what decent  artifacts may be printed for Kaladesh.  For Commander, this card will be turning heads as a powerful addition to pretty much any build with powerful artifacts.  
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Kaladesh Revolt

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

It is a bit of calm before the storm that is PAX West this weekend in Seattle, where the Paramount Theater has been transformed into the world of Kaladesh.  Like many Magic: the Gathering fans around the world, we will be focusing our attention to the full schedule of events unfolding over the next few days at PAX, where Wizards of the Coast is set to build upon previous successful years of showcasing upcoming sets in grand fashion.  This year, WotC has engaged a full cohort of 'community ambassadors' (about 18 or so individuals) drawn from around the world to attend and report upon all the activities.  As we here at MTG Realm follow most of them online, our 'virtual attendance' from our lair here in Canada promises to be markedly improved over previous years.

Anywhoos, those who are fans of the writer Dan Brown and more specifically his fictional character 'Robert Langdon', the fictional professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard should appreciate our post today.  We want to commend Wizards on the wonderful work they have done on the symbols developed for Kaladesh (and the next set, Aether Revolt).  To show you, here are the banners currently set up at PAX right now -

The graphic used on the banner shows the symbol of the ruling Consuls.  This symbol appears to represent the gathering and subsequent harnessing of aether.  The deeper meaning here may be all about control.

The graphic used by the Renegades, opposed to the restrictions imposed by the Consults shows the very same symbol but inverted.  The aether appears to be freely flowing out in this symbol, something which closely represents what the Kaladeshi renegades want.

Looking very much forward to this weekend the the continuing Kaladesh story.
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Announcement Day 8-31

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

BIG news day for Magic: the Gathering players.  Just like back earlier this year on May 15th, Wizards of the Coast bundled a number of new product announcements.  We suggest you pop on over to the mothersite (linky here) and / or watch the video posted to You-Tube (linked here).  

Given the all the very awesome information on the next MTG set, Kaladesh, posted earlier, today's story 'A Time for Innovation' from Kim Kreines, and the general excitement as we move into this weekend's PAX West convention, we a feeling kinda dizzy.  Anywhoos, let's get churning through all the big news out today -

Reporting from the historic Paramount Theater (the central locus of Magic: the Gathering at PAX in Seattle), WotC Community Manager Nate Price leads us through a rapid-fire interaction with other Wizard staffers -

• Lead Creative Designer Kimberly Krienes talks about the back-story of Amonkhet, the set releasing April 28, 2017.  Tag line of 'Rise Among the Worthy'.  This looks to be an Egyptian-themed Plane where warriors compete in the Trials of the Five Gods and earn an honoured place in the Afterlife.  The second set in the Amonkhet block is 'Hour of Devastation' with the tag-line 'Unleash your Endgame'.

• Game Designer Gavin Verhey summaries the following upcoming products.  'Archenemy: Nicol Bolas' is the continuation of the Archenemy series pitting the dragon against two friends.  

• Senior Game Desinger Sam Stoddard talks about the following product releases -
 - Commander Anothology, releasing June, 2017.  This is to be a bundle of  previous Commander products "Heavenly Inferno," "Evasive Maneuvers," "Guided by Nature," and "Plunder the Graves" together in one package.  
 - Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might.  The teaser here is the representation of the age-old clash between mages and warriors, or brains and brawn. 
 - Modern Masters 2017 Edition, releasing March 2017.  This set is to revisit some of the most remarkable sets from recent history, representing everything from Eighth Edition through Magic 2014–including trips through Innistrad and Return to Ravnica. 

• Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks - an introduction to the man, the myth and legend, who is attending the very first PAX - evar.  The big reveal here is the artwork for 'Chandra, Torch of Defiance' which is to see print for the upcoming Kaladesh set.

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Wednesday MTG Miscellany

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

A sort of bits 'n' bobs for the lot of you today.  First Magic: the Gathering tidbit is some rather exciting details of the fall's Penny Arcade Expo / PAX West in Seattle, which we will all will have to wait until September for.  WotC staffers are back again with a variety of rather cool events / panels / programs including payload of Kaladesh previews.  

Of interest is a 'street fair', whatever that may be, being held on the street (of all places), just outside the Paramount Theater.  Colour us intrigued - we imagine a line of stalls, hawkers, entertainers all in a sort of exotic Kaladesh market theme thingy.  There is to be a Kaladesh World Building Panel, a Kaladesh Mechanics Panel and a number of other events.  If you've been reading MTG Realm for any time, you will know that we are huge fans of Panels - especially ones that are live-streamed.


Next item up - Magic Story.
Ken Troop delivered a great short in the continuing Innistrad / Eldritch Moon storyline arc.  Today's story, titled 'The Promised End', was entertaining and completely engaging.  The twist at the end of the story (involving the discourse between Jace and Tamiyo) was not expected, and like any good television mini-series, had a measure of cliff-hanger to it.  Looking forward to the next magic story !

In other news, the gang here at MTG Realm are choosing our 60-card weapons carefully for the next several months of metagame.  The previous season's best decklist was green / white tokens, but going forward, indications are that Bant Company is the monster to beat.  Additions from Eldritch Moon such as Spell Queller will make this build the most popular list.

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