Hour of Devastation Spoilers 6-23

~
Happy Friday MTG peeps.  

It is a friendlier Magic: the Gathering standard format for us after those recent bannings, so we have returned to our fav pastime of innovating some standard rogue decklists which we'll take along to Friday Night Magic this evening to OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario.  For now, check out some pretty sweet flavour text on Torment of Scarabs

Like a carpet unfolding for their god, 

the scarabs poured out of the necropolis.

~
Today's Hour of Devastation previews assembled here for your review - 

First up - Gathering Magic - Mike Linnemann and Ant Tessitore Preview (link to great podcast right here).

Sinuous Striker - 2U 2/2 SNEK Warrior, U to +1/-1 pump, Eternalize 3UU.  Not too terrible, and certainly welcome later in the game to bring the nope-rope back into play.

Proven Combatant - U 1/1 human warrior with Eternalize 4UU.  Good chump fodder up front, and replay it's zombie mirror late game, if one were to survive turn six.

Nimble Obstructionist - 
2U, Flash, flying 3/1 BIRB, cycling 2U - when you cycle this, counter target activated or triggered ability you don't control.  A flash flyer with that toughness may lead to a few good combat tricks.  Love that this can put out a Planeswalker activation.

Torment of Hailfire - 
XBB, Each opponets loses 3 life unless that player sacrifices a non-land permanent or discards a card / repeat 'X' times.  Dman fine finisher in commander and might also see some fringe play in Standard.

Doomfall - 
2B sorcery, choice (1) target opponent exiles a creature they control, or (2) target opponent reveals and you choose a nonland card to exile.  Flavour text here is delicious.  Promises to be a solid choice in a sideboard.



Struggle // Survive - 2R Instant with a Ground Assault effect to ping a critter equal to the number of lands you control.  Aftermath 1G, plows your yard back into each player's library.  

Farm // Market - 2W Instant destroy target attacking creature with Aftermath 2U to draw 2 / discard 2.

Torment of Scarabs - 3B Curse on an opponent, lose 3 life unlesss they sacrifice a nonland permanent or discards a card.


Torment of Venom - 2BB Instant putting 3 -1/-1 counters on target creature, with the owner losing 3 life unless he or she sacrifices another nonland permanent or discards a card.

~

Amonkhet Bundle Unboxing

~
Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering's latest set, the Ancient Egyptian themed 'Amonkhet' is hitting the shelves of local gaming stores near you.  Attend the Amonkhet Launch at a participating store, and you may score the Launch Promo 'Oracle's Vault'.  Should you find yourself near Barrie, Ontario (just a bit north of Toronto), drop on in to OMG! Games, and tell them MTG Realm sent ya.

Anywhoos, as is our custom here, we picked up a Bundle, formerly known as a Fat Pack, and have produced this short video for you.

Contents:
• 10 Amonkhet boosters
• 1 Card storage box
• 1 Player's Guide
• 60 basic land cards
• 20 full-art basic lands
• 25 double-sided tokens
• 1 Spindown life counter

Rare Pulls:
• Anointed Procession
• Glyph Keeper
• Curator of Mysteries
• Archfiend of Ifnir (foil)
• Harsh Mentor
• Soul-Scar Mage
• Harvest Season
• Champion of Rhonas
• Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun
• Neheb, the Worthy
• Pyramid of the Pantheon

~

MTG Updates for 4-21

Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering players should be a rather happy bunch today as We are finally headed into the Amonkhet PreRelease Weekend.  Should you find yourself in Barrie, Ontario - just a little North of Toronto, then drop by OMG Games and Collectibles (near Georgian College in the City's North end).  Starting tonight at midnight (after Friday Night Magic), they will be running Amonkhet Prerelease events all weekend long.

We hope you have great fun.  If you are new to PreRelease events which are sealed or limited format games, just have a look around online as there are some great resources out there.  As sealed events use more commons and uncommons in their decklists, a good place to start is identifying which of these rarity cards work best.  Zen Takahashi has a good article today over at MTG Mint Card (linked here) to help.  Important as well is the use of instant-speed tricks in your games - to this end, see Sameer Merchant's lists over on MTG Goldfish (linked here).  All we know here at MTG Realm is the tried 'n' true acronym of "BREAD" when constructing our 40-card list :

B - Bombs 
R - Removal 
E - Evasion 
A - Advantage (card) or Abilities 
D - Dudes

~
Here at MTG Realm, our favourite format of choice is Standard Constructed.  We are happiest sequestered within our lair and brewing up decklists, most of which would not likely graduate beyond our kitchen table to the game store.  For the last few years, we've been fans of "KenjiWayfinder".  These were batches of standard constructed lists created by Kenji Tsumura and friends of Japan's premier Magic: the Gathering gaming store 'Hareruya'.  Great ideas using the new set's card offerings were created into new lists or supplemented existing strategies.

This year with the upcoming Amonkhet release KenjiWayfinder has been rebranded as HareruyaWayfinder, which is perhaps more appropriate.  In this new set, the following master deck-builders provided input - Mr. Anchan (Yuta Takahashi), Hara (Kenta), Igawa (Yoshihiko), Matsura (Atsushi Ito), and Jeremy Dezani who had recently arrived in Japan to participate.  Here is the HareruyaWayfinder "Ammonket" edition !

 CLICK TO IM-BIGGEN DEM IMAGES

Deck 1 "Infinity Zero" by Atsushi Ito and "God of Modern" Yukio M

Deck 2 "Orzhov Zombies" by Kenji Tsumura

Deck 3 "Azorius Cycling Control" by Yuuta Takahashi

Deck 4 "As Foretold"  (Modern) by Jeremy Dezani 

Deck 5 "Embalam with Nahiri's Wrath" by Yoshihiko Ikawa

Deck 6 "Canadian Threshold" by Yuuta Takahashi

Deck 7 "Red Deck Wins" by Jeremy Dezani

Deck 8 "Bant Approach of the Second Sun" by Kenta Harane

Deck 9 "Abzan Midrange" by Riku Kumagai

Deck 10 "New Perspectives Combo" by Riku Kumagai

Deck 11 "Orzhov Tokens" by Kenta Harane

Deck 12 "Boros Humans" by Yoshihiko Ikawa

Deck 13 "Izzet Dynavolt Tower" by Kenji Tsumura

~

Aether Revolt Previews 12-05

~
Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

First - some rather broad comments on the new Aether Revolt previews so far.  We are now just over 100 of 184 Magic: the Gathering cards previewed so far, and DAAMN - these look so very nice.  There are a lot of very good Uncommons which we will consider for constructed, sealed play promises to be very entertaining, and there are a number of rock-solid rares we will want for our Standard, Frontier, and Commander decklists we have.

A reminder to start looking to your calendar so you do not miss the upcoming Aether Revolt PreRelease event.  Our local gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario will again be running multiple events all weekend long, starting on Friday midnight.

Anywhoos, please do pop on over to the WotC mothersite, linked here to catch up will all the cardboard awesomeness.  For now, here are some cards previewed today on our radar - 

Aethersphere Harvester, 3
Artifact - Vehicle, Rare
Flying
When Aethersphere Harvester enters the battlefield, you get EE 
Pay E: Aethersphere Harvester gains lifelink until end of turn.
Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
3/5

Heroic Intervention, 1G
Instant, Rare
Permanents you control gain indestructible and hexproof until end of turn.

Hope of Ghirapur, 1
Legendary Artifact Creature - Thopter, Rare
Flying
Sacrifice Hope of Ghirapur: Until your next turn, target player who was dealt combat damage by Hope of Ghirapur this turn can’t cast noncreature spells.
1/1

Locket of Myths, 3
Artifact, Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, you may pay G. If you do, draw a card.

Tezzeret's Betrayal, 3UB
Sorcery, Rare
Destroy Target Creature. You may search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Tezzeret, Master of Metal, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle it.

Ajani's Aid, 2GW
Enchantment, Rare
When Ajani's Aid enters the battlefield, you may search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Ajani, Valiant Protector, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle it.

Sacrifice Ajani's Aid: Prevent all combat damage a creature of your choice would deal this turn.

The card art for Ajani's Aid is pretty sweet and Heroic Intervention is damn flavourful.  Again, great illustrations and solid work by the design team.
~

A Magical Holiday

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

On Monday, WotC staffer Blake Rasmussen posted a rather interesting article to the mothersite (linkage over here).  Properly titled, Magic Holiday Gift Guide and Holiday Buy-a-Box promo, this may be the first artilce we beleive that really was directed towards family and friends of the Magic: the Gathering player.  This is undoubtedly a rather difficult assessment for those individuals who know that the MTG fan in their life would be estatic to get a MTG present, but given the diverse nature (the  many and varied formats), choosing the right gift is difficult.  There may be some who think it impersonal to get a gift card at 'that store' the player goes to regularily, but perhaps it may be the best default choice.  Blakes artilce is perfect as it provides five clear choices for selecting the best Magic: the Gathering gift based upon what type of gamer they may be.

Speaking of MTG Holiday gift giving, MTG Realm popped in to our local gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario to pick up the 2016 Kaladesh Gift Box, as an early present to ourselves.

Here's a short video of the unboxing.

Rares / Mtyhic Rares Pulled
• Saheeli Rai
• Confiscation Coup (Foil)
• Blooming Marsh
• Multiform Wonder
• Syndicate Trafficker
• Midnight Oil

Promo Card 
Magic Origins and Kaladesh, illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren
Kaladesh Gift Box Promo card, illustrated by Jung Park
The foundries of Kaladesh run like clockwork under the supervision of their formidable overseers.

Contents: 
• A storage box that holds more than 800 cards
• 5 Kaladesh booster packs
• 20-card Kaladesh basic land pack
•1 premium, foil promo card (Chief of the Foundry)
• 6 illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers

~

Battle for Zendikar Arena

~
Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

You may recall our earlier posts (here and here) about the Magic: the Gathering themed tactical minatures game, Arena of the Planeswalkers.  This board game is designed for 2 to 5 players, and became available at select retailers on July 1, 2015 and more widely available on August 15, 2015 for around $30.  Our local gaming store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario picked up two copies which were quickly grabbed by eager players.

The very first expansion pack for the Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers tactical board game, previewed during PAX Prime is now available for pre-order at select outlets.  The Arena of the Planeswalkers: Battle for Zendikar is scheduled to be released in January 2016 and is expected to retail for $19.99. The expansion unlocks two new planeswalkers - Kiora and Ob Nixilis - and new spells and squads for these characters. Kiora is the first character in the game to draw upon two colors of mana.

The Battle for Zendikar board game expansion features 2 additional powerful Planeswalkers and also introduces additional creatures, spell cards, and the first-ever hero creature: the massive, world-eating Eldrazi Ruiner. It includes a special battlefield scenario for epic showdowns in which players can team up against the single player controlling the Eldrazi Ruiner. You will need the original Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers tactical board game to be able to play.

Introduces 2 additional Planeswalkers, including the first multi-color Planeswalker, Kiora, who can field both green and blue colored creatures and spells and Ob Nixillis.

Includes the first hero creature, the terrifying Eldrazi Ruiner. The Eldrazi are colorless creatures and can be summoned by a Planeswalker of any color.

Includes 1 player vs. many battlefield scenario in which players fight against the massive Eldrazi Ruiner to save Zendikar.

Contents 
• 2 Planeswalker figures
• 3 hero figures
• 11 squad figures
• 15 spell cards
• 9 army cards

• An Expansion Pack Guide

~

BFZ Fat Pack

~
Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Today is the day that Magic: the Gathering players have been waiting for quite some time - the official release of the Battle for Zendikar set. 

Last night, or rather very, very early this morning, we were at our local gaming store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario to pick up our Fat Pack for our traditional unboxing video.  We'll be back again tonight for Friday Magic Magic =

 

Fat Packs for this particular set are a sweet purchase as you are also getting 80 full art lands.  Anywhoos, here's the this sealed product contains:
9 Battle for Zendikar 15-card booster packs,
1 card box, Player's Guide with card images,
80-card basic land pack (FULL ART basic lands, 16 of each color),
1 learn-to-play insert,
1 Spindown Life Counter,
2 deck boxes

And here is our pulls - 

Oblivion Sower
2x Endless One
Smothering Abomination
Oran-Rief Hydra
Beastcaller Savant
Nissa's Renewal (foil)
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
Lumbering Falls
Ally Encampment

 
~

FRF PreRelease Prep 2

~
Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

We is excite.  Only four more sleeps until the Fate Reforged PreRelease events this weekend - only three more sleeps if you are planning on attending a Friday Midnight PreRelease event (then you're only getting an afternoon nap while in class or at work).  Anwyhoos, some more good info for Magic: the Gathering fans out there, this time from MTG European Community Management team lead Dan Barrett (@dangerawesome) in this video posted to FaceBook.

Post by Magic: The Gathering.

Find a Prerelease near you and preregister to play over here http://locator.wizards.com/ 

Get some tips from the Fate Reforged Prerelease Primer to build your sealed deck here http://bit.ly/1BbCgfw

Dan is touching new Fate Reforged product for us - really never a bad thingy to watch.  Thanks Dan!

~

FRF PreRelease Prep

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

As the last of the Fate Reforged previews wrapped up on Friday, Magic: the Gathering players have now shifted their collective focus on the Fate Reforged PreRelease events taking place this weekend (17th / 18th January).  If you are looking for an event near you, click on over to the handy WotC Store / Event locator page.  MTG Realm will be heading off to OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario where starting at midnight Friday (after Friday Night Magic), they will be running a total of six events over Saturday and Sunday.

If you have not been to a prerelease event, just know that it is a ton of fun.  To learn about what to expect, we strongly suggest reading Gavin Verhey's excellent and extensive article on the mothersite today.  The only thing we will highlight is take the 'Choose your Clan' Quiz to see which of the five clans are most aligned with you.

Something else you may wish to consider is which mechanics (keyword abilities) associated with each Clan wins your affection - 

Abzan - Bolster N - Choose a creature with the least toughness among creatures you control. Put N +1/+1 counters on it.

Jeskai - Prowess - whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Sultai - Delve - cost reduction, Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for a colorless mana.

Mardu - Dash - You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.

Temur - Ferocious provides an advantageous effect if the player controls a creature with power 4 or greater while attacking with a creature with Ferocious or casting a spell with it.

~
Lastly, you may also wonder what exactly may in the Fate Reforged PreRelease Pack - 
• 4 Fate Reforged booster packs
• 1 Khans of Tarkir booster pack
• 1 seeded booster pack (includes one of six different PreRelease promo which you may play in your sealed deck)
• 1 Activity insert
• 1 Clan information card
• 1 Spindown Life Counter

• 1 clan identity button

You can also score an Ugin's Fate booster pack which contains 3 playable Magic cards from either Khans of Tarkir or Fate Reforged: 
• 1 Fate Reforged basic land, 
• 1 common, and 
• 1 uncommon or rare card
~

MTG Tumblr Thursday

~
Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

We are advancing towards the weekend, which hopefully will provide you will a good measure of Magic: the Gathering gaming.  If you happen to find yourself in Central Ontario (about a 50-min. drive north of Toronto), drop in to OMG! Games in the City's north end across the road from Georgian College.  Kick'n things off with Friday Night Magic, you can head into two great tournaments on Saturday - the 2-Headed Giant Commander game gets under way at 12:30 p.m., and the one-on-one Pauper Commander is set to start at 4:30 p.m.  Sunday, OMG! Games will run their regular Modern League, again a nice start at 1:00 p.m. - so - see you at the game tables!

Anywhoos - as the title of today's post suggests, we are digging into recent posts to MTG Realm on Tumblr.  Let's have a look -
~

Photoset

December 05, 2013

 

Magic: the Gathering - The Sin Collector
Never, never, ever sign you Sin Donor Card.
Thanks Monty Python for making my MTG weird …

~

Photoset

December 04, 2013

artdozer:

WIP shots of a Liliana Vess bust.
approx. 12 x 16,  the bust should be nearing completion within the next month or so.  Updates will continue as the bust comes closer to completion.

OH HELL YEASSS ! ! Solid Work - Looks great !

~

Photoset

December 04, 2013

Magic: the Gathering - Magical Captions
Master of Waves (Theros Rare) has something to say - help him out.
Submit a caption.  What’s your lulz?

~

Text

December 03, 2013

Born of the Gods PreRelease

An update / correction to my previous post -
Five different Born of the Gods Prerelease Packs each containing :

2 Born of the Gods booster packs
3 Theros booster packs
1 Seeded booster pack
1 Premium promo card
1 Activity card
1 Spindown life counter
1 Welcome Letter
1 Hero Card

~

Photoset

November 30, 2013

Magic: the Gathering - Voidmage
Some Voidmage Husher illustration comparatives with Chippy’s Time Spiral Card and that of Ryan Pancoast’s IDW Comic Book promo.
I’m most certainly leaning toward the original card art here.  Your thoughts?

~

Photoset

November 28, 2013

Magic: the Gathering - Born of the Gods Prerelease

Quest 4 on the Hero’s Path takes place at the Born of the Gods Prerelease events, February 1 and 2, 2014. As with Theros, players will choose their heroic path based on a favorite mana color and receive a Seeded Prerelease Pack based on that color.

The Prerelease Packs are as follows;
• WHITE - Destined to Lead
• BLUE - Destined to Outwit
• BLACK - Destined to Dominate
• RED - Destined to Conquer
• GREEN - Destined to Thrive

Each ‘seeded’ Prerelease Pack contains the following;
• 5 Born of the Gods booster packs,
• 1 ‘Seeded booster pack’,
• 1 Premium foil pre-release promo card,
• 1 Activity card,
• 1 Spindown life counter,
• 1 Welcome Letter, and
• 1 Hero Card
EDIT - PreRelease packs will contain TWO (2) Born of the Gods Boosters and THREE (3) Theros Boosters

~