Rivals of Ixalan Spoiler 10-30

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Tomorrow is Halloween and we have thoroughly been enjoying the Magic: the Gathering themed offerings from Wizards of the Coast and the fan community whether it is in the form of carved pumpkins, modified card art or fan created arts.  We had posted / reposted some of these on our MTG Realm Tumblr page for you to enjoy.

Righto - on to today's post.
We have TWO Rivals of Ixalan spoilers / previews out today which we must look at.

The first card was previewed on the Wizards of the Coast MTG site which was a promo card associated wtih the Store Championship events taking place on the weekend of December 30th / 31st.  We had picked up chatter of an 'Elder Dinosaur' on the forums before we actually read the article on the Championship 'goodies' - this of course lead us to immediately think of Old Fogey from Unhinged.

When we did finally get to see Blake Rasmussen's post, this is what was previewed.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger, 10GG
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur, Rare
Ghalta, Primal Hunger costs X less to cast, where X is the total power of creatures you control.
Trample
12/12

Besides the general awesoness of the card, one item of interest was the card set number of 130/196.  We may be misreading this, but think that this is an indication that we can expect a 'more than average' number of multi-colour cards.  There had been some rather good arguments being made on the fan forums which had speculated that within the Ixalan / Rivals of Ixalan storyline, the tribes may work together to attain their common goal of acquiring the Immortal Sun relic.  Suffice to say, we do not expect to se Elvish Piper get a reprint for Rivals of Ixalan.  :)

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Next up - 

Another Rivals of Ixalan Spoiler rrom the Professor on Toalrian Community College linked here.  This card was part of a preview for the Magic Open House event to be scheduled for January 6th and 7th, 2018.  We've been a fan of Merfolk Tribal since we first began playing in Lorwyn block and although we are unable to build a competitive decklist with Ixalan, this card certainly goes a long way in providing hope of getting Mefolk off the kitchen table and into a Friday Night Magic event at our local gaming store.  Here it is -

Rivals of Ixalan regular illustrated by Magali Villeneuve
Magic Open House full alternate art promo illustrated by Slawomir Maniak

Silvergill Adept, 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard, Uncommon
As an addtional cost to cast Silvergill Adept, reveal a Merfolk card from your hand or pay 3.
When Silvergill Adept enters the battlefield, draw a card.
2/1
“If you keep to the shallows, you’ll never learn the secrets of the depths.”

Of course one would never want to pay the additional three mana, so a mit full of fish is certainly the most appropriate method to play with this card.
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Journey into Nyx Events

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As it is Friday, consider getting out to a Friday Night Magic event today and get some gaming in to kick start your weekend.  Standard constructed is on tap this evening at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario.  To find where your local gaming shop is, try this handy Event / Store Locator.

For today's article on MTG Realm, we want to show a handful of Journey into Nyx spoilers, or rather some art previews part of the digital marketing assets for retailers which was posted to the mothersite yesterday.  We've already seen the Journey into Nyx key art Illustration by Tyler Jacobson which had provided much fodder for speculation as to the possibility of seeing an Ajani variant Planeswalker in this last set of the block.  Some of these illustrations are likely to make it on to cards while others may simply be graphics for product marketing.  Let's have a looky-loo now -

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Very very incredible and beautiful art here. We suspect the first image for Hero's path may be part of the 'Defeat a God' challenge product - perhaps the vinyl playmat graphic.  The League graphic is awesome and suggests a battle with a Cyclops god.  The Game Day graphic is definitely not a card but simply a marketing graphic.  The Launch Day graphic is very cool and we think this could be a spell (instant / sorcery) associated with one of the minor gods.  Lastly, its that key art Illustration by Tyler Jacobson.

Here's the Events Information

Prerelease Events: April 26-27, 2014
Release Date: May 2, 2014
Launch Weekend: May 2-4, 2014
Magic Online Prerelease Events: May 9-12, 2014
Magic Online Release: May 12, 2014
Magic Online Release Events: May 12-28, 2014
Game Day: May 24-25, 2014

Set Name: Journey into Nyx
Number of Cards: 165
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGJOU

Theros has become a battlefield. The gods have sent their forces against the mortals to punish the hubris of a few. But the mortals have risen up in defiance and the time has come when Magic™ players will be tested against a god.

If this has you excited for the next MTG set, remember that you can pre-order assorted card lots from MTG Mint Card now ahead of the rush latter on.
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Theros Events

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

For today's post, we wanted to provide a handy-dandy reference post you can refer back to to check out all the game play events for the very next Magic: the Gathering set, Theros.  As many of you know, your local gaming store is usually anything but dull / boring and certainly not while we are at our local gamery shoppe, OMG! Games in Barrie.  Check the links off to the mothersite for the 4.1.1. on each event.  OHH - and check out the new Theros art 'spoiler' in the League event graphic - yep - looks just like one of the wonders of the ancient world - the Colossus of Rhodes.  Wizards of the Coast, along with that card shop in your neck 'o' the woods has a host of upcoming events and programs where you can n3rd out and get your fill of the newest MTG set coming this fall - let's have a looky-loo . . . 
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PreRelease (September 21-22, 2013)
Prerelease tournaments (or prereleases) are events held one week before the release of an expansion set.  Theros features the first quest of the Hero's Path: Choose a Path. The Hero Prerelease Pack contains a spindown life counter, a Hero Card unique to a players' chosen path, one of five quiz activity cards, five Theros boosters, a special seeded booster featuring cards appropriate for that player's chosen path and one of the five playable Prerelease promo cards.
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Launch / Release (September 27, 2013)
Launch parties or Release events were events held after the release of an expansion set. These are held at a Friday Night Magic event.
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Game Day (October 19-20, 2013)Magic Game Day is a seasonal Magic: The Gathering tournament organized by the DCI. The tournament is played in local game and hobby stores around the world, a month after each a new card set is released. Game Day events are Standard format tournament.  On Game Day, you'll see Theros Hero Cards, which are a new special type of card for players to collect and use when facing Challenge Decks at Game Day.  Game Day will also include a chance to play with or against a 'Face the Hydra' challenge deck.
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Path of the Hero
This is a multiple Theros event game play experience where players become heroes of Theros and participate in nine in-store quests that include puzzles, battles, and rewards; all of which happen at your store.
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League
The League is a seasonal Magic: The Gathering tournament organized by the DCI. The ongoing, five-week tournament is played in local game and hobby stores around the world, a month after each a new card set is released. This sealed deck tournament follows up on Game Day events and uses the Standard format.
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Friday Night Magic
Friday Night Magic (FNM) is a weekly Magic: The Gathering tournament played in many different local communities. Friday Night Magic generally is a standard or sometimes modern format game.
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MTG Locator Beta

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WoTC launched a new Retail Locator on January 26, 2009 which uses slick Google Map tech. Stores may be identified on the map by store types (such as Hobby, Premier or Mass market) and contact details are provided for each.


Users will be able to search by City, State/Province or Postal code, but now the new locator can accommodate International searches as well. One may refine the search to identify stores carrying the following product lines;

Magic: The Gathering Dungeons & Dragons Star Wars Miniatures & Roleplaying Games Axis & Allies Miniatures & Board Games

As important to users, the Locator will also provide searchable locations for the nearest Wizards Play Network locations offering:

Magic: The Gathering Events (such as Pre-Releases and Launch Parties, Friday Night Magic, Other Magic events ) as well as

Dungeons & Dragons Events (such as Delve Night, Worldwide D&D Game Day, and tther D&D events).

All this new tech is great but this site just painfully reminds me that I have to drive almost a full hour from Forks to Port Angeles (Washington) just to buy MTG cards at the Wal-Mart store OR drive / take the ferry to Seattle (a 3 hour trip) just to take in a Friday Night Magic event . . . wah.