This is one of the most amazing times of the year. We’ve watched how Theros has unfolded, and then how Born of the Gods fits in with the broader scheme of things. Now, we get to see what the final piece of the puzzle, Journey into Nyx, is going to look like to start to round out the full block. We recently saw the art work get released and felt I needed to take a moment and chronicle my own reaction to what we have seen.
First off, let me start by saying some of the art work is breathtaking. I mean, those are some sweet looking Gods! I’ve seen some reaction on the internet where people are discouraged, but I wanted to take a glass half full approach to things.
The first God is Atheros, God of the Passage. Ok, if this is going to be the art used on his card then I may find myself a new colour combination as my favorite. He looks SOOOOOOO bad ass!! I actually really like the fact that you can’t see his face, leaving the imagination to figure out what is actually hidden behind the veil. And the colours! If there was a God of the Passage in actual Greek or Roman history, we didn’t do him enough justice because this guy looks amazing! I’m in…this guy looks sweet and I can’t wait to see what his abilities will be.
Iroas, God of Victory is standing there and baiting everyone to come get a big ol’ piece of his spear and shield…and I love it. The background of a peaceful hillside is a little underwhelming, but I like to think that they have positioned this guy over top of a giant battlefield down below where Planeswalkers are waging a ferocious battle and he’s just checking out the whole thing. Bring on the full spoiler because I want to take this shiny Red and White Ferrari out for a spin!
Keranos, God of Storms looks pissed! Now, when I envisioned the Red God, I hadn’t really figured he would look like Purphorous. Yeah, I get the whole God of the forge angle, but I was really hoping Red would get a god of lightning, storms, and full on craziness! Well, we got it! This guy looks pissed that he was based up and supplanted by Purphorous in Theros and is going to lay a mad beat down and all those who get in his way. Oh, and the art is sick too…just in case you hadn’t noticed.
Kruphix, God of Horizons. I don’t even know what a God of Horizons is, but let me tell you, his multi-armed silhouette looks AWESOME. The nice part with this one is that we are also left guessing at what this guy looks like and so our imagination takes over. The possibilities are endless and I really hope that this is the art used on the card and not some alternative piece to be used on a playmat or something. He looks amazing and leaves me wanting more.
Pharika, God of Affliction. Ah yes, the Giant Gorgon God. Well, she’s exactly what I had in mind as she looks like many of her minions ranging from Pharika’s Mender to any of the other Gorgons running around the set. I hope this block gets a good dose of G/B type cards to really make her and her minions something formidable because she has some cool art and I can only imagine what the corresponding abilities will be.
Elspeth. Are we seriously going to get a second Elspeth planeswalker in the Block? I doubt it, but what you might see is her ridiculously sweet looking staff making an appearance. The art work doesn’t reveal much , but it does highlight her weapon and by the way it’s glowing, I would suspect that it’s getting ready to do something absolutely BONKERS! I can’t wait!
Hero’s Trial. This one is a bit of a mystery. To date we’ve really had a pretty good idea about what the art work is showing us, but this seems a little less clear. It is also in a much different style compared to the other pieces shown. I like the style as I feel it is very flavourful and in keeping with the Theros Plane, but I want to know more. My only hope is that this is some sweet Rare spell and not some completely underwhelming uncommon. I can’t express how disappointed I was when all the promotional art for Theros started getting spilled and Arena Athlete was a playable, but underwhelming, uncommon. Let’s hope this one is cool.
Ajani Goldmane and Elspeth. So, I have 2 words. SHUT UP! These are two of my favorite planeswalkers and they get to TEAM UP! Please make it so! Wizards, please, please, please listen here…this would be MIND BLOWING! We know that Theros has Leonin and so to see Ajani make an appearance isn’t totally unheard of, but to pair Elspeth and Ajani, even if it is only a spell would be crazy cool. If this also means that there is another White Planeswalker going to get dropped, well, there goes the neighbourhood. Elspeth is an absolute powerhouse in the set and have her get a running buddy, in the same colour, would be like having your ice cream and your cake…and wash it down with your favorite beverage…and then have the restaurant hand you back all your money and tell you that it was on the house…that good.
So, I hope that you are as excited as I am for what looks to be an awesome spoiler season for Journey into Nyx. Lots of new things to come our way shortly, I’m sure, and I can hardly wait. Let me know what you think about the new spoilers and art from Journey into Nyx. Did you Dig it? Did you hate it? What do you hope to see?
So, until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
@bgray8791
My favorite Born of the Gods cards that have been spoiled
While all the spoilers were unrolling the last couple of weeks my friends and I were looking at the new treats we would get to play with. Everyone had their own favorite…apart from Brimaz (aka the Lion King), because he’ll be ridiculously good and a standard all-star soon enough. I will go through my pick for best card for Mythic, Rare, uncommon and common slots . You may not agree, but as with anything in Magic, anyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Mythic of choice:
The first card that caught my eye was one of the minor gods. Mogis is cool. Xenagos could make G/R monsters absolutely insane and power out bananas monsters that crush EVERYTHING. However, neither of these got me excited. One of the gods fit exactly into a deck I already have built, but is missing something…and the fact that she was staring right back, like an answer to a prayer, was tremendous. What caught my eye was Ephara, God of the Polis. While her ability looks a little underwhelming, for the casual player, she is a bomb and a can’t miss all star. Here’s what got me excited.
A little over a year ago I wrote an article detailing what is in essence an Azorius deck where I push the detain ability just about as far as I can go. The deck list is as follows:
Azorius Detain (casual)
Now, this deck list wants to do exactly what Ephara is looking for: play lots of dudes! And with this deck, everytime you do, you’ll be detaining a creature and slowing down your opponent. The problem that this deck runs into is the need to replenish your hand and while it has ways to this, Ephara is the perfect card draw engine to make things work for you even faster. You’ll cast your guys, slow down your opponent, and then refill your hand with new weapons to tie up your opponent.
Now, people will tell me “Wait! This deck isn’t standard! What are you doing!”. True…this is not a standard legal deck, but at its heart Magic is game designed to be fun and this casual deck is exactly that. It is also a deck that I routinely run in a multiplayer free-for-all environment and can be very effective and can shut down the whole table for turns on end. Also, it could certainly be adjusted to be Standard playable and the detain ability is still perfectly valid. So, for those Standard players out there, with little adjustment, Ephara could play a role for you too.
Basically, at its simplest, this becomes a solid addition to simple decks looking to drop lots of creatures to turn sideways and smash your opponent. However, it combos really well with Heliod in the Standard environment, or any Bant populate deck (which could totally become a thing with Advent of the Wurm still running around). The quiet ability of drawing extra cards for playing creatures is terrific. It rewards you for doing exactly what we all want to do: play dudes and let them fight.
Rare of choice:
So, while I was at excited, the sheer fact that this card is printed it amazing. However, couple it with Springleaf Drum now you are a) able to ramp b) tap your Pain Seer without combat and c) get yourself cards. Imagine this in a Mono-Black Devotion deck. Turn 1: play a Swamp, cast Springleaf Drum – Turn 2: play a Swamp, cast Pain Seer, tap Pain Seer, play Thoughtseize – Turn 3: untap Pain Seer, draw your card, play a Swamp, tap Pain Seer, tap your Swamps, cast Desecration Demon Turn 4: untap Pain Seer, draw your card, play a Swamp, tap Pain Seer, tap your Swamps, cast Gray Merchant…and you’re off to the races. I’m sorry…Mono-Black just got one more way to accelerate into stuff, draw more cards and frankly, be even scarier than it already was. If this excites me for the impact it could have in a game just imagine what someone who LIKES to play Black will do with it. One word comes to mind: Gross.
Uncommon of choice:
This fits nicely in G or G/R creature heavy decks and games where the board state has stalled a little. This can happen in a multiplayer game because people just can’t force through enough damage to finish off an opponent. Little Noble Quarry will quickly result in a blow out. Bestow it on your Sedge Scorpion, or some other innocuous creature (although Deathtouchers are always the most fun!) and watch the rest of your army punch through to your opponent and blow them out. Sadly, your Scorpion dies, but guess what? Noble Quarry, because it is now a creature allows you to untap, reload, and take out opponent number 2 with exactly the same maneuver. This cute little unicorn is a game breaker and I love it!
Common of choice:
We learned from Theros that cheap Heroic triggers are the way to go in order to take maximum advantage of the mechanic. So, Epiphany Storm being only one red mana is efficient and triggers Heroic on a creature. A great example is my Akroan Crusader that acts like a little mini Assemble the Legion in a aggressive W/R deck. I don’t REALLY want to attack with my Crusader, but I do want the tokens, so this is perfect and it can then be used to help me rummage through my deck to accelerate my aggressive deck.
The other ability is finding cheap ways to trigger the Inspired mechanic on…you guessed it…Pain Seer. In a Rakdos B/R build this is the perfect enabler on a Pain Seer to get him to tap without forcing combat. So, you’d rummage with the Epiphany Storm (to discard a card you don’t need), and then when Pain Seer untaps draw a card and then take your draw step. So, for little investment you’ve just dug three cards deeper in your deck and hopefully found the gas you needed to continue to beat down…or find an answer to slow down your opponent. Either way, this card is huge boon and something anyone looking to play Red should be looking to pick up in order to trigger Heroic or Inspired abilities.
Those are my picks for top cards for each of the four slots. You may have different picks on your own, but the bottom line is that Born of the Gods looks like it could a very interesting set with lots of neat new tricks, fun choices, and things that continue to make Magic enjoyable and fresh.
Thanks,
Bruce Gray
@bgray8791 on Twitter
Conspiracy is a special set designed for multiplayer and to be drafted. Released sometime this summer.
Plea for Guidance
Search your library for up to two enchantment cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Siren of Silent Song
Flying
Inspired – When Siren of Silent Song become untapped, each opponent discard a card and put a top card of their library into graveyard.
