Ravnica Allegiance Spoilers Jan. 2

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

A Happy New Year to you as well.  Official Ravnica Allegiance previews are now under full steam today.  Here is a handy link to the Wizards of the Coast Card Image Gallery which will be updated each day.  For the first day of previews, here is what we have rounded up for you today - 

Shocklands
Five rare dual lands in guild colors, originally printed in the Ravnica: City of Guilds block. Each has the respective basic land types, and enters the battlefield tapped unless its controller pays 2 life.

Guildgates
Five common dual lands in guild colors, originally printed in the Return to Ravnica block. Each has the Gate subtype and enters the battlefield tapped. Each is printed twice in the set, with two different sets of art and flavor text. The first shows the guild's "main gate" and has flavor referring to its leader, whereas the second shows a "back door" and has flavor referencing to its lieutenant.

Lockets
Five common mana stones for {3}. each of which tap for either color mana of its corresponding guild, and can be sacrificed by tapping and paying four hybrid mana of the same colors to draw two cards.

• Dovin, Grand Arbiter, illustrated by Kieran Yanner

Many had suspected with the preview of Assassin's Trophy (Guilds of Ravnica) that there would be a shake-up.  Specifically suggesting that Vraska petrifies Isperia (Supreme Judge), with the possible insertion of a character loyal to Bolas.  Given the particular moral flexibility of Dovin from the previous story on Kaladesh, Dovin was practically a shoe-in.  Essentially we need a bunch of evasive creatures for Dovin to do any heavy lifting for us.  Not certain that this will make a big splash in standard, but should it, it will most likely be with tokens.  Do very much like the life-gain and thopter tokens including the potential jetting to Dovin's ultimate.

• Sphinx of Foresight, illustrated by Titus Lunter
A 4/4 flyer for 4 mana in blue is a good deal, so everything else that follows is pretty much honey.  The 'Leyline' effect is good, and if there is a standard tempo decklist for standard, this card will demand some consideration for inclusion.

• Hydroid Krasis, illustrated by Jason Felix
So Simic - 'All the Creature Types!'.  We very much appreciate the 'when you cast' trigger to be able to still get the life gain and draw those cards, even should this be countered.  We do not think there is anything (yet) in standard which may kill this while on the stack.  This very much feels like a Mythic Card.

• Deputy of Detention, illustrated by G-host Lee
The Wizard creature type may be relevant here, and best served spicy with perhaps Naban, Dean of Iteration to have that the enters the battlefield effect fire twice.  Also, this is a serious threat against token-based strategy decklists.  It is nice to have a Detention Sphere on legs, but one bolt could end the fun rapidly.

• "Biomancer's Pet" (translation?), illustrated by Izzy
Creature — Mutant, Rare
Activated abilities of creatures you control cost up to {2} less to activate. This effect can’t reduce the amount of mana an ability costs to activate to less than one mana.
Tap : Until end of turn, the next time target creature adapts, it adapts as if it had no +1/+1 counters on it.
2/2


Did you like the Rise of the Eldrazi Card 'Training Grounds' ?  Within that set, not so much, but this new card is set to be pretty damn good when paired with the new 'Adapt' mechanic looks solid.  Although this cannot reduce the activated abilities less than 1, there may be a good chance that this will see popular play in standard.  There may be seveeral Merfolk (G/U - like Shapers of Nature) cards in Ixalan Block, or perhaps hooked in with a third colour - example - white with Dominaria's Shalai, Voice of Plenty.

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Gruul Mechanic - Riot

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

With Borbrorbygmobos nowhere to be seen, it is becoming apparent that Domri may now be large and in charge of the loosely affiliated Gruul Clans.  Enough of that for the moment, we are here to talk about the next Magic: the Gathering set,  Ravnica Allegiance, and the new Gruul Clans Mechanic.  Here are all of them to date :

Guildpact : Bloodthirst

Gatecrash : Bloodrush

Ravnica Allegiance : Riot

Our OCD is suggesting that perhaps we should be calling this Bloodriot, but as Wizards of the Coast may want to develop a new nomenclature, who are we to argue.  Riot is a keyword ability, which allows you to choose between +1/+1 counter or haste when a creature enters the battlefield.  The two new Ravnica Allegiance cards previewed as part of the unveiling of this new tech are -

• Gruul Spellbreaker, 1GR, Creature - Ogre Warrior, illustrated by Zoltan Boros

• Frenzied Arynx, 2RG, Creature - Cat Beast, Illustrated by Filip Burburan

Looks like someone has snuck an Arynx off Tarkir through Ravnica customs, and now the killer kitteh is full grown.  As for Grull Spellbreaker - WOW.  The Riot tech is already pretty damn good with the hasty critters, and then you add trample in the mix, you've got a winner.  The conditional hexproof puts this over the top and into our hearts - we want a deck-set.  Here are all the Ravnica Allegiance mechanics so far, and to say we're excited to see what Wizards has for Azorius, would be an understatement.

• Cult of Rakdos - Spectacle

• Orzhov Syndicate - Afterlife

• Simic Combine - Adapt

• Gruul Clans - Riot

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Simic Mechanic - Adapt

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We now have our third Magic: the Gathering mechanic for the new set, Ravnica Allegiance.  Here they are so far with the very handy Wizards of the Coast video links :

• Cult of Rakdos - Spectacle

• Orzhov Syndicate - Afterlife

• Simic Combine - Adapt

Adapt is a keyword action introduced in Ravnica Allegiance for the Simic Combine.  Adapt is 'adapted' version of Monstrous (Monstrosity), from Theros. It always appears as Adapt N. If a creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, you may pay the adapt cost to put N +1/+1 counters on that creature. In contrast to Monstrous, if a creature somehow loses its +1/+1 counters, it can adapt again and pick up more.

• Zegana, Utopian Speaker, 2GU. Legendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard, illustrated by Slawomir Maniak

• Aeromunculus, 1GU. Crreature - Homunculus Mutant, illustrated by Simon Dominic
"The absense of binocular vision imposes certain challenges for a flying creature, which are overcome via echolocation." - Simic research notes

Personally, we did very much enjoy the previous Simic mechanic 'Evolve' which was introducted in Gatecrash.  In this particular mechanic, a creature 'evolved' by gaining an additional +1/+1 counter whenever a larger creature (with greater power or toughness) entered the battlefield under your control.  Not only did this provide some Simic-accurate flavour to the card, we thought it played quite well in standard as you cast your creatures 'on-curve' thus beefing out your previously cast critters.  Adapt looks interesting but we are not completely sold until we start gaming with this.

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Ravnica Allegiance - Kaya

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We should like to yatter a bit about the very real possibility of the Planeswalker character Kaya appearing as a card in the next Magic: the Gathering set 'Ravnica Allegiance'.  This set features five of the bi-colored Ravnican guilds: Azorius (white / blue), Rakdos (black / red), Gruul (red / green), Simic (green / blue), and Orzhov (white / black) and is to release on January 25, 2019.

One of the first hints we saw was the cover of the 2019 Ravnica novel (to be published in April 2019), the first major paper novel in about eight years from author Greg Weisman.  The blurb describes the story of Chandra Nalaar, Jace Beleren, and Gideon Jura pitted against Bolas and his relentless army of Eternals.  The cover does show Gids and Chandra alongside an unkown (new) Planeswalker and what appears to be Kaya.

Our next hint was rather obvious.  This was from the recent Pro Tour in the form of a very lovely looking 'Top 16' playmat from Ultra PRO.  This shows quite undeniably Kaya, framed with the powerful upper echelon of the Orzhov Syndicate.  What is noticeably absent here are any of the members of the 'Ghost Council'.  From the Fiora storyline, we know her to be an Assassin of Ghosts - so not much stretch of the imagination as to what may have happened.

But how did we get here ?  This is pure speculation.

We know that a big showdown between the malevolent Bolas and the Gatewatch is to take place on Ravnica.  Bolas wants the Guilds to fall in line behind him, and those which do not, he needs to destroy or at least destabilize.  Ghosts, such as Brago (the King Eternal) are difficult to deal with or destroy, and the Orzhov do have a good number of these spirits. 

To this end, it does sound reasonable that Bolas employs Kaya to remove these bothersome spirits.  We assume that Kaya does this effectively and then perhaps realizes the evil despot that Bolas is and joins the Gatewatch crew as suggested by the novel cover.

As for the card itself, it is anyone's guess, but Kaya's
incorporeal powers suggest that one ability is to be able to exile the card (phased out from the game) and then return.  As for the other abilities, please do suggest with a comment below.
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Friday MTG Miscellany

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Today we have a mish-mash variety of Magic: the Gathering related items for your scrolling here at MTG Realm.  Kicking off today is the Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica in Atlanta, Georgia with a prize pool of $250,000 and the winner walking away with $50,000.  The format starts with booster draft and standard constructed following.  You may check out the coverage at this link.  

If you are heading out to your friendly local gaming store here in Central Ontario (and obviously other parts of Canada), do mind the weather / traffic - as it is heavily snowing right now.  If you find yourself in Barrie, Ontario, do drop over to OMG! Games tonight for Friday Night Magic for a chance to score an FNM promo card.

Now for some of the MTG Misc. via MTG Realm on Tumblr -

Dungeons & Dragons: Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica Dice (Fifth Edition) are releasing soon on November 20, 2018.  The container / tin  looks rather attractive and contains the following dice:

• 1 x D20
• 1 x D12
• 2 x D10s
• 1 x D8
• 4 x D6s
• 1 x D4
• 1 x Special Ravnica Guild die


Here is a closer look at the attractive, semi-translucent dice :

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MTG GORE ! :: Be Warned - A time long ago when card sleeves were not in use.

Magic: The Gathering commentator Marshall Sutcliffe had Pro Tour Historian Brian David-Marshall on his MTG Breakdown show back in the summer to show off an amazing piece of game history: video of a Magic tournament from Saturday, November 12, 1994 in the Ball Room at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.  Video linked right here.  One can see mullets, acid-wash jeans, and of course a large number of what is now rather rare and expensive cards.  The video was not only very entertaining but informative as well.

The ‘Gore’ starts around 16:45 with some riffle / bridge shuffles - THE GOLD - Marshall Sutcliffe‘s reaction … . considering that a Black Lotus may have fetched around $20 or $30 bucks back then (if that), now command a price of up to $8,000 (prices obviously very rough).

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Finally, for us, the amazing Magic: the Gathering card art that Wizards of the Coast commissions is almost as enjoyable as playing the game itself.  We were very happy to hear that Gallery 1988 in L.A. had a MTG group art exhibit, which feature numerous works.

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Dungeons and Dragons - Ravnica

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Although it has been years since we have played Dungeons & Dragons, we do credit our love of Magic: the Gathering as coming from such seeds in our youth.  Wizards of the Coast teams for both Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons literally work in the same hallowed building so it comes as a welcomed result that there has been a good degree of brand cross-over.  The latest such project is this very next DnD Guide to be released next month - details and blurb here -

Dungeons & Dragons Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica / D&D/Magic: The Gathering Adventure Book and Campaign Setting Hardcover – November 20, 2018
by Wizards RPG Team 

In Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica, the world's most popular roleplaying game meets the world's most popular trading card game. Released to coincide with the Magic set Guilds of Ravnica, it's the perfect blend of story from the creators of Magic: The Gathering, wrapped around the rules, monsters, and magic of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Details from the Amazon listing linked here.

In Chapter one, races detailed in the Guide include Centaur, Elf, Goblin, Human, Loxodon, Minotaur, Simic Hybrid and Vedalken with sub-classes of Cleric and Druid.  Chapter two provides backgrounds on the Guilds of Ravnica along with what it takes to be a member of a Guild.  Dungeon Masters are provided assistance in creating adventures in Chapter 4.

Some common complaints we have read from fans of the game is that there is a preference for more details, whether it may be a character stats (Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength and Wisdom), stats on a Monster (everyone loves thumbing through a Fiend Folio), or more information to move a party through a campaign.


Obviously this is a simple supplementary product to be used as a guide, but our limited and unexperienced opinion is that Wizards of the Coast would be well served in developing a Magic: the Gathering themed publication more heavily invested in the world of Dungeons and Dragons while addressing the fan community's wish list.

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Vraska unSEEN

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Some more Magic: the Gathering musings and miscellany for you today.  

First up, we should point you in the direction of Todd Stevens article today over at StarCityGames, where he makes some Bold Predictions for Pro Tour Kaladesh.  The TL/DR essentially is that although Smuggler's Copter has been one helluva card which dominated the first few weeks of the new standard format, the likelihood that the early success of this may not carry through as players bring on more sideboard hate or adjust strategies.  The adjusted strategy may take the form of a Humans-based decklist.  Good read and here at MTG Realm, we've already tuned a list with Thalia's Lieutenant and friends to (hopefully) unseat the Copter as the most successful list.

 

Righto - on to the title of today's post - Vraska Unseen.

If you are not quite getting why we are writing about this, then we strongly suggest popping on over to WotC staffer's Magic Story post today on the Wizards article page here.

Again, another great read.  The big twist for us today was the brief sideline from the Kaldesh storyline into Ravnica where Jace meets Ral Zarek.  Ral has a rather interesting and perhaps important report for Jace regarding Project Lightning Bug, a device that Ral (and the Izzet build team) designed that would deliver a small energetic pulse whenever it experienced a discontinuity, such as a planeswalk.  Here is the interaction -

"The detectors still trigger when someone planeswalks. I glance over the results from time to time, but mostly I keep them hidden from Niv-Mizzet and most of my guild. I reached out when I saw Vraska's planeswalk."

Jace was deeply un-thrilled to hear the gorgon's name.

"She left Ravnica," Ral thought, "with no destination."

"No destination?"

"She didn't planeswalk to a plane. Only from one."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Exactly."

"A flaw in the detectors?"

Ral gave an impatient flick of his hand. "The experiment performed perfectly. The pattern of the departure was authentic, but the endpoint recorded as anomalous. Vraska hasn't been seen since. It's like she planeswalked into a void."

Dang.  Just where did the Gorgon go ?

She could be lost in the Blind Eternities, or perhaps landed on Amonkhet (the next very kewl set) where perhaps Nicol Bolas has cast some dark spell to obfuscate the destination.  Anywhoos, rather ironic that she is known as the 'unseen'.

Please feel free to speculate away with us or comment below.

 

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Minotaur Tribal

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

For a while now (probally since we first heard that Theros would have a minor Minotaur theme) we wanted to do a piece on Minotaurs in Magic: the Gathering.  Well here it is - but first - let's get some flavor for those horned beasts currently in standard constructed.

Theros
Minotaurs are the barbaric, cave-dwelling raiders of Theros, barely sentient and certainly not sapient. Although they are among Theros's races, for all intents and purposes they are monsters, seeking only mayhem and meat, killing each other when they're not killing humanoids of other races. They have no high objective, no culture to speak of, and only the most rudimentary language. Most are found in the high mountains of Phoberos or Akros. Some have been known to frequent swamps, which has turned their hide and hair black with peat. Minotaurs will squat in any cave, cavern, or shaft they deem large enough and safe enough. Their lairs are littered with refuse, dung, and the bones of a wide variety of animals and other races, but especially with the bones from their favorite meat - human.  Only the mightiest and most ferocious of minotaurs can force the herd into compliance. Fights between minotaur alphas can be heard for miles and almost certainly end in a gory death. The victor claims dominance and fealty. 
 

Ravnica
Some minotaurs were affiliated with the Izzet League, though very little is known of them. They possessed an affectation for coating their horns with Mizzium.  The Ordruun minotaurs of Ravnica have vowed allegiance to the Boros Legion and the Wojeks. Orduun minotaurs perform the "Hammer Duty" and have a power band in the legion of 13. They are the peace keepers of the communities, by handling menial tasks, like domestic disturbances, transferring of prisoners, and upholding the Laws of Ravnica. 
 

Illustrations in order of appearence from Boros-Szikszai, Matthew Stewart, and Igor Kieryluk.
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We had a look at our collection earlier today and realise we'd need to get a few more cards from MTG Mint Card to throw together a standard casual Minotaur themed deck.  We do love our Boros Reckoners from Gatecrash but certainly want to expand and explore some of the choices available.  There are four multicolored critters in red / white, one black / red, four in black with the remaining seven all in red.  For tribal support, we can rely on the following 'Lord' cards -

Kragma Warcaller
• Minotaur creatures you control have haste.
• Whenever a Minotaur you control attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Rageblood Shaman
• Other Minotaur creatures you control get +1/+1 and have trample.

You can even drop a Door of Destinies or a Spear of Heliod for Minotaur pumps should you wish.  Beyond this, all we have to say is that standard legal would be way to limiting - essentially you would want just Boros Reckoner, Rageblood Shaman, perhaps Fanatic of Mogis (for red devotion burn) and maybe even Minotaur Aggressor at the top end of it.
To go full on kitchen table casual, you can open up your choices to Anaba Ancestor, Hurloon Wrangler (for the lulz!), Ruinous Minotaur, Anaba Spirit Crafter, Lord of Shatterskull Pass, Tahngarth, Talruum Hero, etc.  We think we'll need a full evening with all hands on deck and a lot of beverages to roll out a stack of sixty with this.  If we do get anywhere, we'll post again.
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Tumblr Tuesday

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Welcome to March, 2013.  Here in central Ontario (just north of Toronto), we are still in the grips of a winter and are looking forward to having all the snow and ice gone sooner than latter.  Remember to get out to your local card shop / gaming store for Friday Night Magic - the FNM foil promo this month is Farseek, which in our opinion is an excellent choice given a number of standard constructed builds relying on this to accelerate.  We've pick up a deck set from MTG Mint Card when the 2013 core set came out and are now looking to score these new promos.

Anywhoos - Today, we are again visiting our sister site, MTG Realm on Tumblr to see what's new and exciting.
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Photo

March 05, 2013

Magic: the Gathering - Art
‘Ruric Thar, The Unbowed’, by Tyler Jacobson

The leader of the Ghor clan, Ruric Thar, is a two-headed ogre who rules his clan with barbaric cruelty. He also claims to be the only Gruul warrior to face Borborygmos himself and live, although one of his heads is hideously deformed as a result of the battle. In the book by Doug Beyer, ‘Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two’, Jace Beleren must defeat Ruric to rediscover evidence to piece together the investigation he was working on.

The art above was submitted by artist Tyler Jacobsen and judged at The Spectrum 20 fantasy arts competition for which it was selected as a nominee in the institutional arts category.

There is a very slim chance that Ruric Thar may be a card in the next set ‘Dragon’s Maze’.

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Photo

March 04, 2013

68 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Silly Combo
Midnight Guard (Dark Ascension common) + Presence of Gond (Shadowmor common) = Elf Token LULZ. 
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Photoset

March 04, 2013

20 notes

 

Magic: the Gathering - 2013 Judge Gift Cards

The Judge Gift cards were handed out or mailed to judges for judging at magic tournaments and events. All of the cards are foil, and for some cards it’s the first available printing in foil. 

•  1/8 Judge Swords to Plowshares — 2013 Judge’s Reward Card (Alternate Art, illustrated by Sam Wolfe Connelly).
•  2/8 Judge Bribery — 2013 Judge’s Reward Card (Alternate Art, illustrated by Cynthia Sheppard).
•  3/8 Judge Imperial Recruiter — 2013 Judge’s Reward Card (New Foil, illustrated by Mitsuaki Sagiri).
•  4/8 Judge Crucible of Worlds — 2013 Judge’s Reward Card (Old Frame, illustrated by Ron Spencer).

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Photo

March 02, 2013

35 notes

Magic: the Gathering
Uncle Istvan, 4th Edition, The Dark, Time Spiral by artist Daniel Gelon

New digital rendition by Daniel Gelon to be featured in the book The Gathering: Reuniting Pioneering Artists of Magic, by Full Steam Press, now on Kickstarter.

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Photo

March 02, 2013

27 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Tokens !
Use an actual wolf kiddy toy to represent a Wolf Token in your next game.
To escalate this, you may wish to use real Wolves.

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Photo

March 01, 2013

38 notes

Magic: the Gathering - Critter Alts
Original - Huntmaster of the Fells and Ravager of the Fells, Art by Chris Rahn
Critter Alt - Hamster of the Fells and Rodent of the Fells, art by Hammy Hamster

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The Secretist Part 2

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

This is post number two of two (first one here) of our exploration of Doug Beyer's book series 'The Secretist' which provides Wizard of the Coast's literary back-drop to Magic: the Gathering's Return to Ravnica set.  Previously, WotC had published paperbacks to accompany select sets but have moved this to eBooks in keeping with the times.  The first book, 'Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One' sets the stage for a re-introduction of the plane of Ravnica and provides some components which resulted in printed cards found in the first set of the Return to Ravnica block. In this post we'll loook at 'Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two'.  Buy your eBooks online - these are significantly less expensive than previous paper copies, and you don't even require a eReader as you can read within a browser.  If you are like us here at MTG Realm, you will likely not only want to bathe in the flavour of the story line but have the actual game card as well.  Drop by MTG Mint Card to pick up Magic: the Gathering Singles from this set and others.
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Summary:
 
When we last left our telepathic protagonist Jace, he had discovered a code inscribed in ancient stone in Ravnica's historic Tenth District. It points at something called the Implicit Maze, and as Jace delves deeper, he finds that this mystery connects to the mysterious project of the brilliant dragon Niv-Mizzet and the Izzet guild the dragon commands.

This information is so dangerous, so likely to warp the equilibrium of the ten guilds in this post-Guildpact world, that Jace has taken extreme steps to extricate himself from the whole matter.
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Here are some notes from 'Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two'.  Read the eBook, and drop us a line in the comment thingy to discuss.

Chapter 1 - A Wanted MindJace and Emmara are confronted of Mirko Vosk who discovers that Jace had purged his mind of his research. Niv-Mizzet has Ral Zareck switch gears on the Maze project.  The demon Rakdos has the blood-wtich Exava initiate a riot. 
Chapter 2 - Unfamiliar Depths
Isperia, the Sphinx guild leader of the Azorius reassigns Officer Lavinia to a desk job.  The vampire Mirko Vosk is punished by the Dimir guild leader Lazav. 
Chapter 3 - Stirring Up the Past
Jace and Emmara meet Trostani, Jace makes no friends, especially with the Selesnya Elf Captain Calomir.  Ral Zarek and Skreeg piece together Jace's investigation at his destroyed study.  

Chapter 4 - Aid from an EnemyThe Rakdos, lead by Exava riot while Jace meets with Lavinia at New Prahv.  Ral's search dead-ends at the Forum of Azor, seeds of suspicion are sewn within Emarra and Jace needs help from the two headed Ogre Ruric Thar.

Chapter 5 - Changes of Heart
Selesnya prepares to march against the Rakdos, while Niv-Mizzet and Ral begin to understand the Implicit Maze. 

Chapter 6 - Armies in the Streets
Rakdos, Gruul, Selesnya and Boros clash in the streets.

Chapter 7 - Rough CrowdsJace is captured by Exava and then in turn by Captain Calomir while Niv-Mizzet makes an important announcement.

Chapter 8 - Unmasking
Lazav reveals himself to Jace and promptly imprisons him.

 - cliffhanger -
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