Battle Cry

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We sincerely hope everyone of you out there had a pleasant Christmas holiday and perhaps even that foil Jace, the Mind Sculptor under the tree / in your stocking you were pining about for the last few months. We got some coal, but hey, we can chuck it in the fireplace and cook some meat with it.

Anywhoos, we wanted to get another Mirrodin Besieged spoiler out to you today. You may recall our post on the 24th showing the store poster and the Mirrodin Besieged pre-release / release promos - well we now have the full spoiler out on Hero of Bladehold (Mirran faction promo) which was one of the two Pre-Release promos shown on the poster but sadly partially hidden behind Glissa, The Traitor (Phyrexian faction promo).

Say hello to this new sexy card which promises to make a nice splash on the game table . .

Hero of Bladehold, 2

Creature - Human Knight, Mythic Rare

Battle Cry (Whenever this creature attacks, each other attacking creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.)

Whenever Hero of Bladehold attacks, put two 1/1 white soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.

3/4
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First off a 3/4 for 4 mana is meh . . . but wait ! It is out of bolt range, it is a Knight (Exemplar Knight says hi), and it has two very excellent abilities. The first one has the new keyword mechanic, Battle Cry which we will get to in a moment. The second ability churns out two 1/1 soldier chumps which is decent in any token generating build, which do have haste and will benefit from the Battle Cry tech.

This card is an odd marriage of a play off exalted and one of my fav Lorwyn cards, Militia's Pride. What one can really hope for is some way to provide the Hero with haste or have have multiple creatures / spells which provide Battle Cry for a really big swing. We're not altogether sold that this should be at mythic rarity but will not pass judgment until we see the rest of the new set in context.

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Also -
It appears that players are starting to get their very last MPR (Magic Player Rewards) mail outs just now. You can expect some nice looking cards such as alternate art Treasure Hunt and Searing Blaze. Depending upon your points, you may also score a foil Day of Judgment as well. Included in the mix is the oversized Glissa, The Traitor from Mirrodin Besieged which has the requisite announcement for the new set.

Pipe in and drop us a comment - tell us what you think of Hero, Battle Cry or tell us what Wizards sent ya.

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One last word . .

MTG Mint Card just put up their page for Mirrodin Besieged singles. So far there is just the four we have all seen before but keep your eye on this as more cards are loaded up for pre-orders which will ship out February 4th.
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Fac Pac

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Happy Tuesday folks,

Intereresting bit of MTG news from Monty today on Magic Arcana. This piece of Magic the Gathering news was somewhat expected - regarding playing either Mirran or Phyrexian factions during the Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease Event scheduled for January 29-30, 2011.

What was not expected was that participants would be provided three regular Scars of Mirrodin booster packs and their choice of three Mirran boosters or three Phyrexian boosters. Monty indicated that there will be two different prerelease promo cards provided for the prerelease corresponding to either Mirran or Phyrexian.















Very cool indeed. Some punters are already bantering about whether or not to open these special once-only booster packs or to keep 'em sealed and sell them to collectors latter. Choosing the latter of course would result in a net loss of fun in participating in said pre-release and we here at MTG Realm are about fun.
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Also of note - in case you are pimping your EDH deck or cube with the awesome that is foil, check out MTG Mint Card which just restocked a bunch of Scars of Mirrodin foils.

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Speaking of Monty, we would be remiss in our MTG blog duties if we do not make mention of Monty's post yesterday (we were enjoying Thanksgiving up here in Canada-Land). Anywhoos - looks like we have another Duel Decks announcement - have a look at Knights vs. Dragons . . .

The greatest knights have gathered together to once and for all end the reign of terror that has plagued their lands for centuries. Holy paladins, noble cavaliers, and swift skyhunters all answer the call to hunt dragons to the death and restore order to the realm.

For dragonkind, the answer is simple—incinerate the invaders! Enraged goblin minions pour from the mountain crags to repel the intruders, but that’s only to give the majestic hellkites time to take to the skies and unleash a firestorm that no knight could hope to survive.

A world hangs in the balance. Will you enter the battle under the banner of purity and order or will you plunge the land into chaos and dragonfire?

Deck Design and Development: Chris Millar and Zac Hill
Languages Available: English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish
Release Date: April 1, 2011
MSRP: $19.99

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