SOI Leak 3-08

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

You know what were are going to say already, don't you ?  'As it is Friday, why not go on down to your local gaming store and take in a Friday Night Magic Event'.  Yes - we say this pretty much with every Friday post.  This week however, you may start seeing some very cool Shadows Over Innistrad prerelease event marketing materials (Avacyn Standee) at your local gamery store.  If you are out-of-town visiting or just don't know where your closet LGS may be, use the handy-dandy Wizards Store and Event Locator.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it out to our favourite gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario because of work stuff - sad panda.

Anywhoos, onto today's post!

Something rather interesting happened on Monday 7th March.  The MTG Realm crew was surfing the interwebs and checking out content on the mothersite when, lo and behold, we saw product images for Shadows Over Innistrad - quite specifically, the Buy-A-Box promo and an image showing the Intro Packs being showed quite plainly on the site.  This of course is weird as WotC would typically make a preview article before posting.  MTG Realm jumped into action and realised that no-one else was talking about this - (what?!) we could not have been the first to see.

Apparently we were - so we posted it to our sister site MTG Realm on Tumblr and a few other places . . .

Photoset March 07, 2016 Magic: the Gathering - Shadows Over Innistrad

BUY-A-BOX - PROMOPurchase a Shadows Over Innistrad booster box in-store and receive an alternate art premium promotional card, limit one per customer, while supplies last.
Foil Alternate art Elusive Tormentor, illustrated by Anna Steinbauer with this very sweet flavour text - “Older vampires are usually more cautious than the newly-sired, calling upon ancient magic for which neonates lack patience.”

INTRO PACKSEverything you need in one ready-made deck. Includes 60 cards, a foil premium rare card, two sealed 15-card booster packs, a strategy insert, and a Magic learn-to-play guide.

All appear to be mono-coloured.White - Drogskol CavalryBlue - Nephalia MoondrakesBlack - Markov DreadKnightRed - Fireblade Angel Green - Soul Swallower

Not very long after, reddit had picked up on our post. . 

Fans love MTG newness and pretty soon everyone was looking including our Bro-Chaco Evan Erwin (@misterorange)

Then something very unusual happened the very next day on the mothersite - On the 'Daily Update' (which rocks by-the-way !!), Blake (and WotC) acknowledged the 'leak'.

In this article, Wizards admitted that some content was promoted and uploaded before its due time and Blake did a great job by not only addressing it head on (it was a WotC internal organisation error anyway), but even providing a challenge for MTG fans - "guessing card abilities from half-covered text is kind of fun for a lot of you".  

We've got Bro-Love for WotC again folks, not because MTG Realm was (sort of) mentioned, but because the company did a great job of bending like a reed in the wind and using the momentum of the fans to help push the brand even further.

Keep being awesome Blake and WotC !
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Shadows Over Innistrad - Thraben Cathedral

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Happy Friday (again) MTG peeps,

Wizards just let us into Thraben Cathedral on the Shadows Over Innistrad map.  To sort out the previous posts on the very fun interactive map, here is the linked list -

• Stitcher’s Lab
• Manor
• Cathedral

INTO THRABEN CATHEDRALA cathedral's broken doorway lies open. It appears the horrors have already touched this place. You should investigate...

You stand at the doorway to what was once a bastion of light against the many horrors of Innistrad. Clearly, something has gone wrong at Thraben Cathedral. Will you explore the haunting ruins?

THRABEN CATHEDRAL
You step through the grand doorway of the cathedral. As you walk through the space, the pews seem sinsiter and rotted in the shadowy light, and bloody feathers litter the ground. Something strange has happened here. Survive the horrors and dangers of Thraben Cathedral! Follow the clues throughout the weekend to unravel the madness on Innistrad.

Images delivered are two angels (one which appears definitely beyond the 'best before date' and gone bad) as well as one of Thraben's Clerics.

Flavour time for this Cathedral - The High city of Thraben, within the parish of the same name, lies in on the northern edge of the province of Gavony.  The eastern tip of the rock juts out over the waterfall itself, and it is on this dramatic pinnacle that the Cathedral of Avacyn stands.

The executioner's tree (Tree of Redemption), located in Thraben Cathedral, holds the power to absolve more than the souls of the hanged.  The Helvault is a huge silver mass that stands at the precipice inside the courtyard of the Cathedral of Avacyn in the city of Thraben. Its surface is rough and unrefined, and thin veins of dark mortar branch across its surface. 

The one card previewed on the map's Cathedral site is Relentless Dead, but we do now have the Shadows Over Innistrad card spoiled for that ghostly cleric as well -

Relentless Dead, BB
Creature - Zombie, Mythic Rare
Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
When Relentless Dead dies, you may pay B. If you do, return it to its owner's hand.
When Relentless Dead dies, you may pay x. If you do, return another target Zombie creature card with converted mana cost X from your graveyard to the battlefield.

2/2

Bygone Bishop, 2W
Creature - Spirit Cleric, Rare
Flying
Whenever you cast a creature spell with converted mana cost 3 or less, investigate. (Put a colorless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with "2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.")

2/3
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SoM Fat Pack

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Today just so happens to be October 1st which means the latest Magic the Gathering set, Scars of Mirrodin is hitting store shelves now. Based on the Pre-Release event we attended last weekend, we think that this set (and most likely this block) will rock your game.


As is our custom here on MTG Realm, we headed over to the local gamery store (OMG Games in Barrie, Ontario, Canada) and picked up a Fat Pack. We now present you with the video of the unboxing / dissection of said Fat Pack . . .

And here are the rares we pulled :
Argentum Armor, Cerebral Eruption, Grand Architect, Hand of the Praetors, Kuldotha Foregmaster, Putrefax, Sword of Body and Mind, and Venser's Journal.


We've taking quite a liking to the alternate win condition with the return of poison (via the new key work 'infect') so we rather happy with the Hand of the Praetors and Putrefax.

As for the Uncommons -
Abuna Acolyte, Carrion Call, Clone Shell, Contagion Clasp, Corrupted Harvester, Darksteel Myr (foil), Exsanguinate, Flesh Allergy, Golem's Heart (x2), Heavy Arbalest (x2), Ichor Rats, Liquimetal Coating, Necrogen Scudder (x2), Ogre Geargrabber (x2), Painsmith, Rust Tick, Slice in Twain, Trigon of Rage, Twisted Image, Vigil for the Lost, and Volition Reins.

Also - if you are new to the game, here is a quick run-down of what you get in a Fat Pack :

• Player's guide with complete visual encyclopedia
• Card box with panoramic art
• Eight Scars of Mirrodin 15-card booster packs
• 40-card basic land pack
• Special edition Scars of Mirrodin Spindown life counter, and
• A sample chapter of the new Planeswalker novel, Test of Metal.

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To wrap up today's post, we will repost the Top Ten sellers for September as reported by MTG Mint Card - Perhaps this may serve as an indication which direction your local meta-game is heading.

1. Memnite
2. Myr Reservoir
3. Hand of the Praetors
4. Ratchet Bomb
5. Myr Galvanizer
6. Mimic Vat
7. Palladium Myr
8. Putrefax
9. Memoricide
10. Molten-Tail Masticore

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Nerdcore

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Nerdcore . . . actually, Nerdcore Learning.

Nerdcore Learning is only place in the time-space continuum where medicine and geek culture intersect in one big red matter infused singularity. Nerdcore. Apply Directly to the Head.

For Dr. Arun Mathews and Dr. Francis Kong, teaching medical students is as much about sorcerers and science fiction as it is about textbooks and rounds. The two physicians are the founders of Nerdcore Learning, a gaming company geared toward creating study tools that combine two things they both enjoy: medical education and geek culture.


Nerdcore recently launched what it considers to be its signature product, "The Healing Blade." It is a role-playing card game that, like "Pokemon," "Yu-Gi-Oh" or "Magic: The Gathering," depicts sorcerers, creatures and heroines. But "The Healing Blade" teaches about infectious diseases. Nerdcore is developing an iPhone version of the game as well.

Similar ?
Ceftriaxone and Radha, Heir of Keld

Healing Blade, from Nerdcore Learning, is a Magic: The Gathering-like card game set in a fantasy world that teaches infectious diseases and therapeutics. Characters are divided into The Apothecary Healers, named after real-world antibiotics, and The Lords of Pestilence, named after actual bacterial agents. Players summon forth living manifestations of diseases, or counter-attack with antibiotics in the form of powerful warriors.

We guess that folks from all walks of life / career paths might enjoy collectible card / trading card gaming. Anywhoos - Apothecary Healer or a Lord of Pestilence? Choose your side Boils and Ghouls. Buy this game for your med-school buddies.

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Also of note :
I just realised that MTG Mint Card has a very kewl tool for magic the gathering players - something called 'Deck Central'. This is certainly a great place to start if you are looking for some great casual deck ideas.

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