Dominaria Playmats

~
Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As it is Friday, make certain you kick off your weekend right and get thee to a local gamery shoppe.  Friday Night Magic is kicking off locally here in Barrie, Ontario at OMG! Games, and we are looking very much forward to the return of FNM promo cards coinciding with the release of Magic: the Gathering's newest set, Dominaria.

Speaking of Dominaria, a very naughty gaming store in Denmark posted on their sales page, the Ultra PRO product line-up for Dominaria.  As always, these great deck protectors, deck boxes and playmats have amazing artwork.  Some of the images posted, have already been officially previewed by Wizards of the Coast, while others are proper spoilers.  The posted images are not high quality definition (likely scanned from a brochure / flyer), and we can't wait to see the high res ones.  

Jodah, Archmage Eternal

Karn, Scion of Urza

 

Demonlord Belzenlok

 

Squee, the Immortal

 

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain

 

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

FLYING CAT !

Also of note, the Game Day Champion playmat prize was revealed over the the Wizards MTG website, and it is gorgeous !

~

Amonkhet Info Dump

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

This is our second post for today.  Our earlier post which may be linked over here provided news of 4 Amonkhet spoilers.  We need a second post to talk about today's post on the WotC website titled 'So Much Amonkhet News', by staffer Blake Rasmussen.  We suggest you put your beverage down and read that now before going on, before you do pop on over, here is the very lovley Ultra PRO playmat for Amonkhet Game Day -

Are ya back ? Good.
Let's go over the new Amonkhet mechanics revealed today:
• Exert
• Embalm 

As we have no info previewed on Exert, other than what was provided in the article, we will turn our attention to what was relayed for 'Embalm' -

Embalm is an activated ability you can activate if the creature card with embalm is in your graveyard. Notably you're not casting the card from the graveyard, so things that counter spells won't work against the embalm ability. The original creature spell can be countered, of course, but that just puts the card in the graveyard.

To activate an embalm ability, simply pay the embalm cost and exile the card. You do this any time you could cast a sorcery, meaning during your main phase when nothing else is happening. When the ability resolves, you create a token copy of the card, but as you'd expect, going through the process of mummification causes some changes. It's got that whole undead thing going on, so it's a Zombie in addition to whatever creature types it used to have

This goes a bit to explain the interesting Amonkhet 'Punch Card', (with a 'brick' counter!) and the token format card.  Embalm looks to be juicy and delicious and we can't wait until official Amaonkhet previews beginning next week to find out what 'Exert' may be.  Here is a round-up of all the cards previewed whether is is from the Amonkhet set, welcome decks or the Planeswalker decks.

Graceful Cat
Impeccable Timing
Mighty Leap
Ancient Crab
Angler Drake
Cursed Minotaur
Dune Beetle
Gravedigger
Tattered Mummy
Fling
Glorybringer
Hyena Pack
Giant Spider
Sixth Sense
Spidery Grasp
Amonkhet Punch Card *
Trueheart Duelist *
~

Ultra PRO Oath of the Gatewatch

~
Ultra PRO product offerings for Oath of the Gatewatch are now finally out.

As you may have guessed, all (four) of the 'Oath' Cycle of card arts are provided on the Ultra PRO deck sleeves and deck box with the Kozilek, the Great Distortion illustration featured on the fifth.

Card portfolio featuring Fall of the Titans & Bonds of Mortality while the two playmats have the OGW key art and 'Call the Gatewatch' art.

http://www.ultrapro.com/division.php?d=g

 
Play mat with premium fabric top to prevent damage to cards during game play. Dimensions are approximately 24" X 13-1/2". Rubber backing lets the play mat lay flat and prevents the mat from shifting during use.
♢  Call the Gatewatch Play Mat - # 86312
♢  Key Art Play Mat - # 86313

9-pocket PRO-Binder with printed cover. Embossed middle black web material gives cards a classic framed look. Side loading pocket design to prevent cards from easily falling out. Elastic strap holds the binder shut when not in use. All materials made from archival-safe, acid-free non-PVC material. Holds 360 Cards in Ultra Pro Deck Protector sleeves. Features Fall of the Titans & Bonds of Mortality.
♢ Full-View PRO-Binder for Magic, 9-Pkt

Vertical, top loading Deck Box with full flap cover. Holds 82 cards in Deck Protectors sleeves. Acid free, durable polypropylene material.
♢ Kozilek, the Great Distortion - # 86307
♢ Oath of Chandra - # 86309
♢ Oath of Gideon - # 86308
♢ Oath of Jace - # 86311
♢ Oath of Nissa - # 86310

Deck Protectors with Ultra PRO's hologram quality seal. Sized 66mm X 91mm to store and protect standard sized cards. All Ultra PRO Deck Protectors are archival-safe and acid-free. 80-count pack.
♢ Kozilek, the Great Distortion - # 86307
♢ Oath of Chandra - # 86302
♢ Oath of Gideon - # 86303
♢ Oath of Jace - # 86306
♢ Oath of Nissa - # 86305

 

~

Commander 2015 Ultra PRO

~
Happy Monday (again) MTG peeps,

Earlier today we posted our first Commander 2015 review of the black / white pre-con 'Call the Spirits'.  We are back at it again with a brief post on Ultra PRO product line-up for Commander 2015.  

Commander 2015 Play mats with premium fabric top to prevent damage to cards during game play. Dimensions are approximately 24" X 13-1/2". Rubber backing lets the play mat lay flat and prevents the mat from shifting during use.

Daxos the Returned (# 86317)

Ezuri, Claw of Progress (# 86319)

Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas (# 86321)

Meren of Clan Nel Toth (# 86323)

Mizzix of the Izmagnus (# 86325)

Commander 2015 PRO-100+ Deck Box holds 100 Standard double sleeved gaming cards in Ultra PRO Deck Protector Sleeves. Self-locking lid design with write-on strip. Thumb notch for easy access to cards. 1 card divider inside.

Daxos the Returned (# 86316)

Ezuri, Claw of Progress (# 86318)

Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas (# 86320)

Meren of Clan Nel Toth (# 86322)

Mizzix of the Izmagnus (# 86324)

~

Modern Masters Spoiler 4-22

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Some delicious Magic: the Gathering spoiler news out today - another Modern Masters 2 spoiler.  Modern Masters 2015 Edition, to be released 22nd May will revisit some of the most notable planes from recent history, including Alara, Kamigawa, Lorwyn, Mirrodin, Ravnica, and Zendikar.   Each pack is to have 15 random cards including one (foil) premium as will retail for about 10 clams.  This is certainly is expected to get Modern constructed format players excited but is certainly designed to be drafted.

To celebrate the second Modern Masters set, WotC is running a triple Grand Prix weekend, so mark your calendars - May 28-31, 2015 is Modern Masters Weekdn and the format here for the tournaments is self-descriptive - Modern Masters 2015 Edition Limited.  Venues include -

Grand Prix Las Vegas - 4,760 players registered
Grand Prix Chiba - 4,000 players registered / sold out
Grand Prix Utrecht - 2,300 players registered

Anywhoos, on to today's Magic: the Gathering - Modern Masters 2 Spoiler !

Over on Channel Fireball, LSV dropped the next Modern Masters 2 preview along with the Grand Prix Vegas (May 28-31, 2015) side-event Playmat, also featuring the new art being provided to the Clique.  Vendilion Clique joins four other cards so far previewed - Etched Champion, Emarakul, Karn Liberated and Tarmogoyf.

Vendilion Clique, 1UU
Legendary Creature — Faerie Wizard
Flash
Flying
When Vendilion Clique enters the battlefield, look at target player's hand. You may choose a nonland card from it. If you do, that player reveals the chosen card, puts it on the bottom of his or her library, then draws a card.
3/1

For reference, here are the printings
Judge Promo - Illus. Jesper Ejsing
Morningtide / Modern Masters - Illus. Michael Sutfin
Modern Masters 2 - illus. Willian Murai

~

Fate Reforged Promos

~
Happy Friday (again) MTG peeps,

In our previous post (over here), we summarised all the new Fate Reforged spoilers and previews, which now takes us up to 70 of 185 new cards previews on the MTG Realm Spoiler List.  In this, our second post, we need to talk about all the Fate Reforged promo cards (and playmat) which could be yours during the upcoming weeks.  Pop over to WotC staffer Blake's post to the mothersite's Arcana article to see all the alternate art Magic: the Gathering goodness.

PreRelease Promos
January 17-18
Pool of 40 cards with holo stamp

Launch Promo
January 23–25
Sandsteppe Mastodon

Buy-a-Box Promo
Limited when you purchase a booster box
Shamanic Revelation

Game Day Participation Promo
February 14–15, 2015
Mardu Shadowspear

Game Day Top 8 Promo
February 14–15, 2015
Supplant Form









Game Day Winner Playmat
February 14–15, 2015
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon art 

~

Monday Magic Miscellanea

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Today's post is a collection of random Magic the Gathering related miscellanea from around the inter-webs. As we have indicated in the past, if you have interesting MTG news / spoilers, etc., drop us a line and we will pass it along.

First up -
News about Grand Prix Mexico City taking place in Mexico City March 24th - 25th. There are rumours about that Tournament Organiser Necrotower may be in talks with Magic the Gathering artist RK Post to commission a Playmat for the event.


We were very fortunate to meet this artist about 2 years ago and talk with him during the Worldwake Pre-Release event in Toronto. As we can say is that not only is he an amazing artist but a reall decent human being as well. Anywhoos - here's the hub-bub about the playmat -

#MtG #GPMexicoCity #playmatI am trying to order extras (pending approval) so I can retail them later.Fingers crossed!

— rk post (@postrk) March 2, 2012

. . . And here's the Playmat art (Avatar of Woe !)we may be treated to . . .

~

Next up -

If you are crafty and love Magic the Gathering, there is nothing stopping you from making your own jewellery like this MTG fan (sorry - we could not determine who the artist is) who made an Avacyn necklace . . .

~
Next - a quick reminder of Friday Night Magic (FNM) promos -

January - Glistener Elf
February - Despise
March - Tectonic Edge

~
And Finally -

Next time you drop in to your fav Wizards Play Network Store / hobby / game store, walk in styl'n with the latest Dark Ascension card sleves, boxes, and trade binders. Check out MTG Mint Card to pick 'em up.
~

GP Indy Playmat

~
Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Wow do we have a hot topic today - or hot potatoe. It is this kind of post that we here at MTG Realm really do not want to touch with a ten foot pole because no matter which opinion you may make, you will definitely make some people upset. So to this end, we will attempt to maintain an unbiased neutrality like the Swiss.

The blog topic today regards a risqué playmat which was planned to be given out to first 500 Magic the Gathering players to register for the main event at Grand Prix Indianapolis (March 10-11, 2012). It is believed that the tournament organiser, Pastimes had posted an image of said playmat on their Facebook or Tumblr page. Shortly after Megan of MTG Mom, (whom we're fans of) had posted this to her twitter -

The playmat for #gpindy makes me not even want to go anymore :/ yfrog.com/h7rlhxxrj

— Megan (@LifeOnAuto) February 17, 2012

Within twenty-four hours, Elaine Chase, Brand Manager with Wizards of the Coast had provided this reponse . . .

@LifeOnAuto that is not authorized and will not be given out. Thanks for making us aware!

— Elaine Chase (@ElaineChase) February 18, 2012

Elaine had also following up with this brief explanation -

We keep a standard for Magic art to portray strong female characters. Sexy is OK, submissive or damsels in distress is not.

— Elaine Chase (@ElaineChase) February 18, 2012

So what's all the hub-bub about ?
Here's the (now-banned) playmat -

First of all, we think that it was the correct thing to do for Wizards - to remove the corporate entity from any real or perceived controversy - it's just good business and we would likely do the same.

Secondly, it has MTG players and gamers in general talking about this. Whether they are expressing views in forums and in articles such as here at MTG Realm or over at Legit MTG (by our tweep Heather / RevisedAngel). We think that the most important thing is that people are discussing this and providing arguments for or against such artwork.

Wizards has some very revealing card art which some may insist is hypocritical. Others may suggest that the not-very-modestly clad babes of Comic Con are indicative of the gaming / entertainment genre of today. There are even others who want the playmat as a collectors item anticipating that they will be destroyed.

1920's - Bathing suit inspectors and women being arrested / fined for indecent exposure.

Whereever you may stand on this issue, get talking - this we hope ensures a moderation of our views of and maintenance of our values. Our culture here in North America is constantly evolving and what we collectively thought as outrageous in the 1920's now think as prudish.

Anywhoos - here is the response from Pastimes posted to Facebook regarding the GP Indianapolis Playmat issue :

Hello All,

I would like to make several comments here - and my hope is that this puts some of this to rest. While I love a good debate and discussion as much as the next person, I REALLY do not like how some of this has stooped to name calling etc... At some point people have to agree to disagree. Send whatever comments you want to me... email is below.

1. I appreciate the comments by everyone - and hope folks are mature enough to realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion about anything and that their opinion on that one item should not be held against them for everything. This is true of both sides of this discussion.

2. I absolutely apologize to anyone this offended. That was obviously not the intention.

3. Pastimes has always been out "for the good of the game." At GenCon we incorporated "beginner" events as a way to grow the game, and we just had a birthday party for 11 year olds at our store at the last Pre-Release. Pastimes has been around since before Magic was printed because of a desire to see unplugged entertainment thrive.

4. The playmat is 100% NOT a Wizards of the Coast project - the mat was to be handed out by the organizer of the event, not by Wizards of the Coast. This may seem confusing, but Wizards had no hand in the playmat.

5. The characters on the mat are NOT Magic characters. When the concept was sent to the artist words like "fantasy", "sexy", "demoness", "goblin","harem", "throne", "vampress" and "angel" were used. I guarantee that "slave" and "submissive" were never uttered. That does not mean that the perception is not there, I am just saying that is not what we were suggesting.

6. We definitely sent the artist (who is does not currently have any Magic card art - he has done art for other TCGs) links to a ton of art we liked - including art from many card games, RPGs and video games. There is no question there are influences here, but these are NOT Magic charachters.

7. We will not be handing this mat out at the GP. We have had numerous questions about whether this will be available for sale. To be honest, I am not making that decision at the moment.

8. It is my great hope that people do not make any real decisions about the game, going to events or judging the community based on this one "discussion." The country is divided about a lot of things, right down the middle, but we have (mostly) figured out how to get along.

9. Please forward comments or questions to gpmat@pastimes.net

As long as we have so much attention on Grand Prix promo items - can I ask what people would like to see given out as promotional items at GPs in the future? (Let's leave specific art aside, please, and focus on the "item", i.e. playmats, deck boxes, storage boxes, sleeves, posters, life counters... etc...) And, more importantly, do they make a difference to you coming to an event? (this playmat aside, please)

Thanks again for listening - and for the opinions.

~
The latest Magic the Gathering set ,Dark Ascension, has now been out since February 3rd. MTG Mint Card, has this list of the top ten selling Dark Ascension cards to date in February.

1. Dungeon Geists
2. Geralf's Messenger
3. Predator Ooze
4. Gravecrawler
5. Vault of the Archangel
6. Lingering Souls
7. Increasing Savagery
8. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
9. Drogskol Reaver
10. Drogskol Captain
~

Worldwake Pre-Orders Delivered!

~

Hey there MTG fans,

Not too much happening in the way of Magic the Gathering news. We have been running a series on casual deck ideas - these are decks which use at least 50% fresh mix from Zendikar and Worldwake. Stay tuned for more of these coming up - we are not even close to getting through some of the fun builds one can have.

For today however, we have some nice news to report - We finally got our Worldwake pre-order ! Yep - a truckload of new Worldwake card goodness was waiting in our mailbox yesterday. We usually get our singles from a very well known on-line retailer in Florida (CoolStuff Inc.) and it typically takes just under two weeks (8 to 10 business days) to get to our sorry frozen a$$ here near the north pole.

Anywhoos - out of all the cards we had pre-ordered, our most anticipated order was not a card at all - it was a playmat. We are rather deprived and have never owned a playmat. As we sometimes take our cards to unsavoury places to play, we felt we would be better served to disinfect a playmat instead of 60 individual cards.

Righto - the playmat - we have a thing for the new Worldwake Admonition Angel (perhaps not the most epic card in this set, but the card is decent enough and we loves 'em that sweet art by Steve Argyle.

Sooo - we ordered that deal which they (the retailer) sends along 10 very random rares along with the playmat. We did not have very high expectations for the random rares but really did not care very much as we felt the playmat was just about worth it on it's own. Here's what we got . . .


Randoms with approximate cost : Lord of Tresserhorn ($1.50), Junkyo Bell ($0.50), Soulblast ($0.50), 2 x Hikari, Twilight Guardian ($0.50), 2 x Vassal's Duty ($0.50), Relentless Assault ($0.50), Spellweaver Volute ($0.50), Akuta, Born of Ash ($0.50) . . . We'll be sticking these in our bicycle spokes when the snow melts and the glacier recedes out of the mall parking lot.

We will start showing some real cardboard mtg casual standard builds with fresh Zendikar / Worldwake and report back to you guys how well they fared.

~

In other news ->

This Rise of the Eldrazi Booster Box description had been let out of the bag for a week or two now . . . .

In their quest to uncover ancient treasures, Planeswalkers have awakened the Eldrazi - parasite titans of the aether, imprisoned on Zendikar for thousands of years. Seemingly unstoppable, these world eaters threaten all of the Multiverse and their very presence has changed everything you know about Zendikar. To survive, you'll have to be at the very top of your game. Rise of the Eldrazi is set 3 of of 3 in the Zendikar Block.

Whoaz. That's heavy man. Dark and choatic times are ahead for the denizens on the plane of Zendikar. And you just know that these uncouth Eldrazi will be tracking icky aether all through the kitchen . . . erggh.

"Hey guys - what are you doing?!"
"Saving the universe mom . . . from the Eldrazi"
"Again? - OK, have fun. Don't forget to let the cat back in."
"k."

Yep - pretty much win from where we're sitting - stay tuned to MTG Realm for more nonsensical and witless posts.

~

Eventide Orientation

~

Just as with the release of Shadowmoor, Wizards will be providing excellent primer information with the use of videos hosted at YouTube and posted on the Eventide Minisite. To this end, Brandon Bozzi (Creative Coordinator / Associate Developer at Wizards) joins us again as host and tutor. The first video covers hybrid and other instructional videos addressing new mechanics such as Chroma and Retrace will also be made available.









One interesting card Brandon revealed during the first video was 'Clout of the Dominus'.

Clout of the Dominus (Common) - Enchantment - Aura
(u/r)
Enchant Creature
As long as enchanted creature is blue, it gets +1/+1 and has shroud.
As long as enchanted creature is red, it gets +1/+1 and has haste.

~

For soon-to-be-released Eventide cards, check out the spolers on the minisite, otherwise, stay tuned here on the blog, and I will try to get some spoilers before they are posted at Wizards.

For you spoiler nutters, here are three new ones . . .

Balefire Liege
Creature - Spirit Horror (Rare)
2(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)
Other red creatures you control get +1/+1
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1
Whenever you play a red spell, ~ deals 3 damage to target player.
Whenever you play a white spell, you gain 3 life
2/4

This appears to be quite a bomb - - just be sure that you delivered a fatal blow to your opponent before this comes out latter in the game.

Edge of the Divinity (Common) - Enchantment - Aura
(w/b)
Enchant Creature
As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+2
As long as enchanted creature is black, it gets +2/+1

This enchantment promises to be a great addition to decks running white / black hybrid critters.


Figure of Destiny - Creature - Kithkin (Rare)
(r/w)
(r/w) - becomes a 2/2 Kithkin Spirit
(r/w)(r/w)(r/w): If ~ is a Spirit, it becomes a 4/4 Kithkin Spirit Warrior
(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)(r/w): If ~ is a Warrior, it becomes an 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with Flying and First Strike.
1/1

This card is featured on the Eventide release posters . . . you probably walked right by one on your way into your local gaming store during Friday Night Magic.

I am somewhat undecided about this card . . .
it could be really great or downright unplayable.

~

And now for something completely different . . .

Scourge of the Nobilis is to become a playmat and should be available at selected stores during the Pre-Release events.

Some other art images leaked include these two very cool works showing a Cinder and this group of Elves.

Until next time, Happy & Safe Gaming everyone . .
Also - A very Happy CANADA DAY to my fellow Canadians.