Ixalan Previews 8-28

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering fans should direct their attention to the Wizards of the Coast Magic: the Gathering daily articles posted today.  Of particular note is this article linked here from Scott Kelly and Blake Rasmussen, which addresses the very unfortunate leak of an entire sheet of Ixalan which was spoiled very early.  

MTG Realm does love an MTG spoiler - in very minute doses - perhaps just one or two cards per set.  This gives us fodder to multiple posts to discuss the flavour, possible themes and loads of our typically incorrect but very fun speculation.  The volume of cards which was released prematurely just kinda ruined it for us.  We really wanted several Magic Stories and wondrous card arts before seeing the first previewed card.

Scott Kelly does promise fans a special 'preview season' none the less and we love what we are hearing.  For now, do check out all the great cards - about 45 officially previewed today - as well as the Ixalan Mechanics / Themes from Matt Tabak with the very handy accompanying videos.

As always, expect a good volume of posts to MTG Realm on Tumblr where we have collected a number of beautiful Ixalan card arts. Here is our rather poor summary of the new tech to expect with this set - 

ENRAGE (video)
Ability word that encompasses abilities that trigger whenever the Dinosaurs with this ability are dealt damage. 

EXPLORE (video)
Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back on top or into your graveyard.

RETURNING TECH

RAID (video)
Ability that provides a stated advantageous effect if you had attacked with a creature the same turn.

VEHICLE / CREW (video)
Ability that enables vehicles (artifact subtype) to become an artifact creature until end of turn.  To activate the crew ability on these cards, tap any number of creatures you control with total power equal to or greater than the crew number. Because the crew ability doesn't use the tap symbol, you can tap any untapped creature you control, even one that just entered the battlefield. 

DOUBLE-FACED CARDS (video)

Double-sided cards enter the battlefield with their front 'day' or sunny side up, and in the case of Ixalan, represented by a compass. To switch between the two card faces, the keyword action transform is used. When the permanent transforms, all counters, Auras, and Equipment stay on the card, as the card neither enters nor leaves the battlefield.

Rowdy Crew

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