Theros thread

[Nihil Credo]

Preview pictures from SDCC: http://imgur.com/a/PcrmD (except the Jace at the end, that's from FtV as you know)

Don't freak out about the Hero and hydra head cards, apparently those are merely tokens for a launch event minigame and not actual cards from the set.

MaRo puts the stuff in his blog: http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post...s-about-theros

- It is to Greek mythology what Innistrad was to gothic horror
- Top-down design
- First time I lead the design and Erik Lauer led the development since Innistrad
- the block has an enchantment theme somehow connected to the gods
- The set has gods, heroes and monsters. Each has a new mechanic tied to it
- Of the other two mechanics, one is a repeated mechanic brought back that strongly hits the flavor of Greek mythology; the second is a mechanic that we thought had potential but didn’t live up to it first time out - it has been mechanically retweaked and given a new name and flavor. The last mechanics is also tied to the gods
- There will be more legendary permanents than normal - not Kamigawa but above average
- The set’s tone is one of accomplishment and adventure
- Not a lot of tribal but minotaurs get some love
- Many nods to elements of the stories of Greek myth
- 3 planeswalkers - Elspeth and two new ones
- A few gold cards but mostly monocolored with a little monocolored theme
- A Future Sight card and the set does something we’ve never done before except on another Future Sight card.

My guesses:

- "the set does something we’ve never done before except on another Future Sight card": sounds a lot like Enchantment Creatures (done on Lucent Liminid which has been publicly acknowledged as a disappointment since it doesn't feel like an enchantment)
- "a repeated mechanic brought back that strongly hits the flavor of Greek mythology": I'm looking at Exalted which matches the theme of heroes very well, and Elspeth's presence might have something to do with it as well. Plus, if MaRo typed that sentence a bit strangely he might have been implying that it's been already brought back, which makes it a pretty short list.
- "a mechanic that we thought had potential but didn’t live up to it first time out - it has been mechanically retweaked and given a new name and flavor. The last mechanics is also tied to the gods": Splice onto * would be my guess, but if the gods are tied to the enchantment theme I don't quite see a spell mechanic to go with them. Otherwise it could be one of the zillion attempts at un-fucking Auras that they've tried over the years.


And the best news:

[HPB_Eggo]

I would assume Banding - unlikely because of how unpopular it was - or, more likely, Exalted or Battalion for the 'Hero' mechanic. I'd put most of my money on Exalted, though.

Could also see a retooling of Bushido as the previously 'disappointing' mechanic, which would be kind of cool.

Outside of that, you just gotta love more Minotaurs and new walkers. Plus, a plethora of legendary stuff for Commander people! What's not to like?

[Aggro_zombies]

Thunder Bluff shall rise again!

The art for this set is nice, but then what Magic art isn't these days.

Given that the set has an enchantment theme, I'm wondering if one of the themes brought back is the "Sleeper" theme from Saga - that is, enchantments that can become creatures under certain circumstances. It would be an interesting mechanic for the Gods - here's this intangible presence that can suddenly become real when it descends from the heavens - although that mechanic wasn't really named the first time around.

I'm not sure how Exalted hints at Greek mythology specifically, though.

EDIT: I guess the card frame for the gods has a power/toughness box, so maybe not on the Sleeper thing.

[HPB_Eggo]

I'm not sure how Exalted hints at Greek mythology specifically, though.

It's meant to capture the feel, which for Heroes could be either a 'one-on-one duel' or a 'band together for victory.' Looking through mechanics there really isn't anything that really hits upon anything specific in Greek mythology that I'm seeing, hence the suggestions for things that 'feel' correct.

I could also see Soulbond and a handful of other things, but unless I'm just being tired and/or stupid my money is currently still on Exalted.

[nedleeds]

"- Not a lot of tribal but minotaurs get some love"

Well we'll see what happens with these Didgeridoo's I'm sitting on.

[HammafistRoob]

Holy crap! Maro says the words minotaur and love in the same sentence and the card goes from a buck to almost ten at one point? If he was smart, he'd buy 2000 Steamflogger Boss' and then say the words "rigger" & "contraption". ( I know he's not supposed to do that, but he easily could)

[TsumiBand]

I'm guessing the "Future Sight mechanic redux" is Grandeur? Given the propensity of Legendaries, even with the new uniqueness rule in effect it still blows to draw nothing but Legendary Things, so having shit to do with them would be nice.

Some of that art is fucking sweet btw. I'm no art critic and usually by the time it's shrunk down to Magic card size a lot is lost in translation, but it is all very cool.

Also, not sure if it was explicitly spoiled on MaRo's page, but Random Horde Magic ftw at the prerelease (that whole Hydra boss fight thing)?? That sounds cool as shit.

[L0cke]

Holy crap! Maro says the words minotaur and love in the same sentence and the card goes from a buck to almost ten at one point? If he was smart, he'd buy 2000 Steamflogger Boss' and then say the words "rigger" & "contraption". ( I know he's not supposed to do that, but he easily could)

It actually first spiked around a month ago, which was a month before that post. For a couple weeks there were very few near mint 'Doos available anywhere, probably due to speculation, but buylist prices stayed at like a quarter. Probably just the fact that it is on the Reserved List, and the rumors of Minotaurs caused a lot of people to buy up what little stores had bothered to list.

[apple713]

Didgeridoo still wont be as good as Show and tell imo so im not sure who's wasting 5$ on these things....ofc id like a set just in case they print a minataur that happens to be better than emrakul or griselbrand but id find that really hard to believe.

[ESG]

<strike>Armageddon</strike>Agamemnon?

It would take some pretty unreal minotaurs to make that a playable tribe. Sell your Didgeridoos.

[apple713]

i just found the little artwork that was release. I'm a sucker for Mythology and stuff. I guess this is the set i've been waiting for. Hopefully it'll have a high power level too...(I can dream right)

The card that has caught my attention is that black card with the horns and the whip. The border on that card looks like something similar they did to the borders of miracle cards. It would be nice to have a really cool mechanic like miracles.

[Gheizen64]

After seeing the images for the cities, i'm pretty sure those are duals. Look:


Meletis
Island (Left side) - Plain (Right side)


Akris
Plain (Left side) - Mountain (Right side)


Setessa
Island (Left side) - Forest (Right side)

I'll go even more there and say that those will be Legendary duals but with full card art and with the type on the long side of the card, and no reminder text. This would make them feel more "legendary" even with no additional text, and will show nicely enough that they are "two" lands into one because of the Big art.

Brace yourselves guys, legenduals are comin.

p.s. those land types are in REVERSE order compared to normal duals. Trops are (in modern template) Forest Island, Plateau are Mountain Plain and Tundra'd be Plain Island. Maybe this hint at the fact that those are not exactly duals but something different? Like dual faced duals ? Please no.

[Aggro_zombies]

They could just be doing the thing they did with Lorwyn/Shadowmoor where every color combination had extended art split across that combination's two basics:

[Gheizen64]

They could just be doing the thing they did with Lorwyn/Shadowmoor where every color combination had extended art split across that combination's two basics:

LET A MAN DREAM!

Also i'd find that hard to be because those are pretty important cities for the Set, and especially with the legendary theme, i'm not seeing those being basic lands art.

EDIT: also they're a mix of Enemy and allies colors. So we will have duals over 3 sets, like old Ravnica.

EDIT2: The "something done in future sight" could be hinting at full art duals too (Future sight had full art cards)

EDIT3: that's an ugly mountain if i have ever seen one

[from Cairo]

The art on the cities is baller. I just hope that they are playables, be that basics or legendary duals. If they wind up being garbage bulk rares I would be disappointed.

In general the art in this set is looking cool.

[lyracian]

I am loving the art for the set. The 3 picturs of Elspeth with Halberd look great. I could see the Gods being done as Enchantment/Creatures.

Even if they do print Legend-Duals I do not see it having much effect on Legacy. Budget players save on buying a Duel or two; Surgical Extraction gets weaker as players mix there mana-base a little; a few decks will play five duals but with all the current options (Friend-Land, Fast-Land,Shocks) I do not see that making an impact.

If we are really lucky they will print some uber-powered God Creature that gets "Show n Tell" banned!
Beyond that I am not expecting anything from the set and will just wait to be presently surprised by what they do produce.

[Gheizen64]

I am loving the art for the set. The 3 picturs of Elspeth with Halberd look great. I could see the Gods being done as Enchantment/Creatures.

Even if they do print Legend-Duals I do not see it having much effect on Legacy. Budget players save on buying a Duel or two; Surgical Extraction gets weaker as players mix there mana-base a little; a few decks will play five duals but with all the current options (Friend-Land, Fast-Land,Shocks) I do not see that making an impact.

If we are really lucky they will print some uber-powered God Creature that gets "Show n Tell" banned!
Beyond that I am not expecting anything from the set and will just wait to be presently surprised by what they do produce.

Being able to save on one Sea, one Tundra in Esper for example is a pretty big deal monetary wise. But mostly, i think we'd see a lot more renewed interest in Legacy, and i'd love to see more tournaments, some more unbanned cards etc...

[lyracian]

Being able to save on one Sea, one Tundra in Esper for example is a pretty big deal monetary wise. But mostly, i think we'd see a lot more renewed interest in Legacy, and i'd love to see more tournaments, some more unbanned cards etc...

Sure you can shave $300-$400 off a decks value with a Legendry Tundra/Sea/Scrubland it does not help you get Jace, Delta or other cards to become a playable deck. I just do not see it making Legacy that much more appealing to start playing. (although it would be nice to be proved wrong)

[Barook]

Thunder Bluff is back, bitches!

- Top-down design

That's the nice way of saying that it's going to be boring crap.

Most of the legendaries are probably going to cater the Commander marktet. And Wizards is going to make mad cash with it.

[theBloody]

Can't wait to build didgeridoo + trinket mage awesomeness.