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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Dominaria Playmats

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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 !

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Rivals of Ixalan from Ultra PRO

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

The kitten's out of the clutch.  We do love to speculate a bit as to what the next Magic: the Gathering set may hold, not really from a collector's financial point of view, but that of furthering the Magic story and inspiration to brew the night away with imaginary cards that have not yet come to be.  Mark Rosewater has been leaving little nuggets on Blogatog suggesting what players may expect - such as the almost obvious hint to expect a Merfolk Lord in the upcoming Rivals of Ixalan set.  We also have previews which suggest a partial colour cycle of elder dinosaurs, and from the Creative Team at Wizards of the Coast, the chance of some named secondary characters seeing print as legendary creatures.  

We do now have official images from gaming accessory supplier Ultra PRO of the products associated with Rivals of Ixalan.  The art is incredible and our imagination is fired up.  Here is the round-up now - 

Rivals of Ixalan Playmats for Magic - Playmats from Ultra PRO with premium fabric top to prevent damage to cards during game play. Dimensions are approximately 24" x 13-½". Rubber backing lets the playmat lay flat and prevents the mat from shifting during use.  Crazy Hydra-Dinosaur - count ‘em three heads.  Our friend Jay Annelli (Vorthos Jay) keenly pointed out a striking similarity to Ghidorah. Ixalan landscape with happy dinos and of course Captain Beckett Brass leading a Brazen Coalition charge.

Deck Protector sleeves with matte clear front finish, for a smoother, professional shuffle feel. Sized 66mm X 91mm to store and protect standard sized cards.  Looks to be legendary Merfolk creature (hinted to a 'Lord'), Angrath the angry Minotaur dad, and quite likely the fabled vampire Elenda (Saint Elenda, Elenda of Garrano).

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Rivals of Ixalan Spoiler 12-14

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Yesterday at around noon, Wil Blanks (@HairlessThoctar) shot out a tweet indicating that gaming stores had received a flyer from possibly from a gaming distribution company supplying Magic: the Gathering products advertising upcoming Rivals of Ixalan products from Ultra PRO.  This was followed with another post yesterday afternoon from redditor TacticalRangers with an image of the full product offering poster.

There are some Rivals of Ixalan images already previewed, and some which are new, so let's review -

Already previewed is the images of the Minotaur (in all certainty Angrath), as well as the vampire, thought to be the legendary character Elenda of Garrano, also known as Saint Elenda (a good second guess may be that of Queen Miralda).  New Rivals of Ixalan art spoiler is the image of the Merfolk - possibly the Merfolk Lord which MaRo alluded to on his blog earlier.

Matte Deck Protectors
86652 - Angrath Minotaur
86653 - Elenda Vampire
86654 - Merfolk

Pro 100+ Eck Boxes
86658 - Angrath Minotaur
86659 - Elenda Vampire
86660 - Merfolk

The first playmat shows what may very well be Admiral Beckett Brass leading a charge of pirates.  The second most epic of images shows a three-headed dinosaur.  The last image appears to be a lovely landscape on Ixalan.

Playmats
86661 - Admiral Brass and Pirates
86662 - Three-headed Dinosaur
86663 - Ixalan Landscape

Pro Binder
86664 - Sun Empire warrior / dinosaur, Merfolk

Table Mats
86666 - 8 feet Rivals of Ixalan key art

86665 - 6 feet Rivals of Ixalan key art

Here is the full image of the Rivals of Ixalan Ultra PRO advertisement -

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Magic Story - Jacefall

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Before you go further, if you have not read today's Magic Story, 'The Race, Part 2' posted over on the Wizards of the Coast Magic: the Gathering Page, please pop on over now at this link, because we will be talking about that amazing story by the R&D Narrative Team.

Firs up however, we should tell you that Magic: The Gathering - Unstable Land Playmats featuring artwork by the incredibly talented John Avon are to be available from Ultra PRO Gaming in the new year.  To see those aesthetically pleasing playmats, pop on over to our sister site, MTG Realm on Tumblr linked right over here.

Righto - back to the ongoing Magic: the Gathering Ixalan story !

Today's five-dollar words are "abscond" and "peregrination".  We are very impressed with the language skills from the Merfolk character Tishana.  We started hearing Spock's voice (or any other Star Trek Vulcan's voice) in our head as we read every line for Tishana.

We have to tell Wizards of the Coast that we are deeply disappointed with today's story.  We have to endure Vraksa's song and lyrics about the Golgari's Kingdom of Rot rising - BUT - we are toyed and teased about a song from the goblin Breeches.  We do understand that Breeches is s rude goblin with a rude song about figs and although it may not be appropriate for all readers, we need Wizards to send the lyrics to us.  Failing that, we will endeavour to 'fill in the blank' and produce the missing lyrics and post a song to the tune of Chris Tomlin's - 'Waterfall' (you know - the one with '. . . your love is like a waterfall".

Anywhoos, the long and short of the story is that everyone wants the compass in order to find Orazca and the Immortal Sun.  Although the reason is acquire this powerful relic is different for each individual, they are all united in that none of the parties know exactly what it does or how to use it.  There is an unwavering belief that the Immortal Sun is still in its original packaging and has the user manual intact.


Lastly, this is a story of Vraska falling in love with Jace, and Jace falling over a waterfall.  We will have to wait until the next Ixalan story to find out whether Angrath the Minotaur is able to make a friend or form a legendary league of planeswalkers.  

For now, here is a lovely piece of artwork from Wesley Burt showing Jace falling over a waterfall with Vraska looking on in helpless horror and no Lifesaver close at hand.

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Ixalan Spoilers Monday

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Unfortunately, not so happy for some, either recovering from Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, or marking the 16th Anniversary of the tragic terror attack.  Enough of that for now though as you are here for Magic: the Gathering news, spoilers, etc.  Anywhoos, since brevity is the soul of wit, let me wear briefs.

There is still some much Magic: the Gathering material to go through from the recent HASCON 2017 event.  One big piece of news is that they were drafting Iconic Masters over the weekend, and OH MY, does this look fun.  For the full list of all Iconic Masters cards coming out in November, pop on over to this link for the Iconic Masters Card Image Gallery.

Also of note, at HASCON 2017, the folks at Ultra PRO Gaming previewed a very lovely looking 'Relic Tokens', soon to be perhaps our favourite MTG gaming accessory.  The product release date is yet unknownm, but here is some info on this -

• 15 Collectible tokens in the set
• Dual dials to track Token Power & Toughness or other game mechanics (Loyalty, Energy, Poison, etc.)
• Pack of 3 Relic Tokens for an MSRP ~ $ 5.00
• Premium-Foil versions randomly inserted
Relic Tokens available - Dragon, Angel, Soldier, Beast, Goblin, Drake, Zombie, Cat, Snake, Insect, Wurm, Spirit, Tarmogoyf, Nicol Bolas, Gideon.

Next up - 
Lets get into some exciting Ixalan spoilers / previews.  As double-faced cards are the best vessel for a set's flavour / storyline, here are two of them now - 

Legion's Landing, W
Legendary Enchantment, Rare
When Legion's Landing enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink.
When you attack with three or more creatures, transform Legion's Landing.
"I claim this land in the name of the queen." —Adrian Adanto of Lujio
//
Adanto, the First Fort
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Legion's Landing.)
T: Add W to your mana pool.
2W, T: Create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink.
Illustrated by Svetlin Velinov

Dowsing Dagger, 2
Artifact - Equipment, Rare
When Dowsing Dagger enters the battlefield, target opponent creates two 0/2 green Plant creature tokens with defender.
Equipped creature gets +2/+1.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may transform Dowsing Dagger.
Equip 2
//
Lost Vale
Land
(Transforms from Dowsing Dagger.)
Tap: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.
The pirates had ventured into the interior for treasure. They found something far greater.
illus. Florian de Gesincourt

Other Ixalan previews out today include -
Snapping Sailback
Spell Swindle
Terror of the Skies

Trove of Temptation

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MTG News 7-28

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As it is Friday, do drop by your local store and get some Magic: the Gathering gaming in for Friday Night Magic.  We will be at OMG Games here in Barrie, Ontario this evening to do battle for glory and prizes.  If you are unable to get out (work, vacation, whatever), you could still fill your boots with Pro Tour Hour of Devastation coverage provided you have a connection to the internets.

For today's post to MTG Realm, we need to cover off a number of Magic: the Gathering spoilers / previews and news items, so strap yourself in for the ride -

First up - HASCON MTG spoilers -

Magic: The Gathering cards, inspired by other Hasbro series - featuring the following cards -

• Sword of Dungeons and Dragons

• Grimlock Dinobot Leader


• Nerf War

Grimlock had us locked in with Dinosaurs and Vehicles

Next - Commander 2017
We can expect official Wizards of the Coast previews sometime during the week of August 14th, 2017 as to which of the 4 Tribes will be featured.  For now however, we have previews from Ultra PRO.

Great looking graphics and smart design promises to rock your favourite game format with these playmats, deck boxes, and card protector sleeves.

Lastly - UNSTABLE 
Unstable is the third Magic: The Gathering booster-based set to be used outside of legal Magic tournaments. It will be released on December 8, 2017 as a standalone fun-set. This is the third of the silver bordered Un-sets and is designed to be drafted.  Updated with MaRo’s to post to Blogatog.

The Factions we can expect from this highly anticipated casual set - 

• Order of the Widget (White/Blue)
• Agents of S.N.E.A.K. (Blue/Black)
• Legion of Dastardly Doom (Black/Red)
• Goblin Explosioneers (Red/Green)

• Crossbreed Labs (Green/White)

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Modern Masters 2017 Ultra PRO

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

If you are a fashionable and hip Magic: the Gathering player at the game table, half the effort should be the bling, which includes perhaps the Commander's Arsenal life counter (or Ultra PRO's 'Realms of Havoc' Dayoote or ShadoΦte) and of course a sweet playmat and card sleeves.  You may have noticed we did not mention a tacky Crown Royal velvet dice bag.  

Anywhoos, if you are looking forward to the upcoming Modern Masters 2017 release, go all in with some sweet artwork featuring Snappy, Gobby Guide or the Ranger (folks round here call him Strider).  Here is the Ultra PRO line-up for Modern Masters 3 being released March 17, 2017.

Modern Masters 2017 Playmats
playmats are sized approximately 24" wide x 13.5" tall, and made with a premium fabric top for a smooth, protective playing surface. The back of the playmats are lined with non-slip, textured rubber material for added grip and padding.
• Snapcaster Mage, illustrated by Ryan Alexander Lee 
• Ranger of Eos, illustrated by Ryan Pancoas
• Goblin Guide, illustrated by Filip Burburan

Modern Masters 2017 Snapcaster Mage Deck Box, illustrated by Ryan Alexander Lee Deck Boxes hold approximately 80 sleeved cards, featuring our full-view design with clean artwork presentation and include a bonus deck divider.

Modern Masters 2017 Snapcaster Mage Deck Protector, illustrated by Ryan Alexander Lee.  Limited Print Deck Protector sleeves are produced with archival-safe polypropylene materials and sized 66mm X 91mm to store and protect standard sized gaming cards.

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Aether Revolt Ultra PRO Offering

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Some gamers in the Magic: the Gathering community are understandably salty with the recent Banned & Restricted update earlier this week.  After all, for a standard legal card to get hit by the Ban-Hammer is pretty much unheard of.  To this end, we want to draw your attention to the Exclusive Playmat being provided by StarCityGames.com Columbus Open event on Aether Revolt launch weekend of 21-22 January.  It features the art work of none other than Smuggler's Copter, aka the 'Looter Scooter'.  Unfortunate, and perhaps a bit awkward, but humourous to some none-the-less.

Anywhoos, moving on, we should summarise the very sharp looking Aether Revolt gaming accessories brought to you by Ultra PRO gaming.  Deck Boxes, Deck Protectors (card sleeves), binder and a wallop of play mats featuring aesthetic arts in this upcoming MTG set.

Magic Aether Revolt Playmats
The standard playmats are sized approximately 24" wide x 13.5" tall with the following six designs:
• Baral, Chief of Compliance
• Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
• Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• Sram, Senior Edificer

• Freejam Regent 

Also available are Aether Revolt 6ft and 8ft Playmat / some call this 'Table Play Mat' for Magic: the Gathering (approximately 72" X 30" or 96" X 30") featuring the Aether Revolt key art work.  

There are three Magic Aether Revolt Deck Protector Sleeves and Full-View Deck Boxes available as well.  Sleeves come in 80 to apack and fits perfectly in the Deck Boxes along with your sideboard and tokens.  The three arts to adorn this are:

• Ajani Unyielding, illustration by Kieran Yanner
• Tezzeret the Schemer, illustration by Ryan Alexander Lee

• Herald of Anguish, illustration by Vincent Proce

Magic Aether Revolt PRO-Binder, features Heart of Kiran, illustrated by Jaime Jones and holds 360 sleeved cards.  The black backing of the pages are textured for low friction and easier card insertion and removal, while an elastic strap holds the binder securely shut. 

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