Anthousa, Setessan Hero - Magic the Gathering

So, are the minotaurs supposed to be animated lands?

Anthousa is the ruler of Setessa, in that she manages everything for their patron goddess, Karametra. The Setessans are the Theros equivalent of the Amazons, an empire lead mostly by female warriors. Anthousa's other great claim to fame is that she decapitated a rock titan. Seriously, it's in the Planeswalker Guide.

So what ability does the leader of a group of female warriors get? She can make manlands. Seriously, what is the flavor here? Anthousa apparently has ties with the goddess of the earth, but when exactly and where exactly that Anthousa has the power to command the earth. At least Anax and Cymede had an ability that made them feel like leaders of a military empire, this is just weak though.

I have no idea how to judge the power of this card, since I don't know how to judge this type of effect. Turning your lands into an army can be a great finisher, but it also makes them all more vulnerable to removal. There is more creature removal and sweepers than there is land destruction. Kamahl, Fist of Krosa had a similar ability, but he also had an overrun like effect that was more dangerous and any lands you're lucky to animate actually become a threat thanks to it. This gives us none of that.

I'm still wondering about heroic. The two cards we've seen it on were both rare and legendary, so I have no idea if my theories about the mechanic are correct.

Ember Swallower - Magic the Gathering

Masticore Elemental?

This is a freakin Masticore! Not an elemental. It looks almost exactly the same as Molten-Tail Masticore. Is this leftover art from Scars block? My only other guess is that the art description for this guy was supposed to be a Manticore, but either the description had a typo or the artist misread it, resulting in this masticore. Masticores only exist in the Magic universe. There is nothing ancient Greek about them. So they changed the card to an elemental to cover their rears. This is pure speculation. I really would like someone from Wizards to give an official explanation, because I swear this isn't a coincidence.

Regarding the card itself, it's rather bleh. The ability doesn't excite me, and I have no idea how favorable turn seven land destruction is, especially since you're nuking yourself as well. Could be annoying in multiplayer though. Not necessarily fun, but annoying. Other than that, the stats are good, especially for red, whose creatures have a tendency to be glass cannons. The name also feels pretty generic. If my theory's correct, that could be because they had to scramble for it at the last minute.

Abhorrent Overlord - Magic the Gathering

Fly my pretties! Fly!

Hey, Chroma is back! For those too young to remember, chroma was a tagged keyword mechanic from Eventide. They were effects that counted the number of a certain mana symbol among a certain set of cards. Since Eventide was part of Shadowmoor block, it got in on the hybrid madness. And hybrid mana counted as both of its mana symbols, making it play nicely with chroma. This is a much more limited version of chroma, counting only mana symbols among permanents you control. However, among the nine chroma cards, four of them used the version that devotion went with: Heartlash Cinder, Outrage Shaman, Primalcrux, and Springjack Shephered.

I love the idea of Harpy tokens! I know they're just the Theros equivalent of Bat tokens, but it's just so flavorful and fits the setting perfectly. Plus, it adds more Harpy creatures to Magic. Current number of Harpies in Magic? Three. And they weren't even types as Harpies on their printed cards, and none of their cards have been reprinted. Theros seems to be the set centered on resurrecting seldom used creature types.

Other creature types in need of love that would fit perfectly in this set? Chimeras. Manticores. Sirens. (I already know they're getting support from the Planeswalker Guide) Cerberus. (Closest we've seem to have come is Hound of Griselbrand.)

Shipbreaker Kraken - Magic the Gathering

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

We have another monstrous creature, and this one's a kraken! I'm starting to get the impression Theros Limited is going to be a lot slower. The bestow costs we have seen are huge, and the monstrosity costs are equally huge. Neither mechanic will be any good if the game ends on turn five. Since the cost is big, the effects are equally big. Eight mana turns this guy into a 10/10 and taps down four creatures for as long as you got the kraken. That is some huge board advantage right there. That said, this won't see much constructed play. If a Standard game lasts long enough that you can cast this guy, odds are you're already doomed.

I really like the artistic design of this guy. Most of the time there is very little that distinguishes a kraken from a giant octopus. This though is really unique. This kraken has a bunch of claws and crab-like appendages. It's a blending of other marine life into a giant monster. It's certainly more interesting than the design that appeared in the film I quoted in the caption. A lot more colorful too. The pink claws and tentacles compliment the blue shell and exterior really nicely. It also helps it stand out in a background that's mostly blue.

One quick side note. If Gatherer is to be believed, this will be the seventh Kraken in Magic history (excluding any decommissioned krakens), just like how Celestial Archon is going to be the seventh Archon. Coincidence? Yes, but that doesn't make it any less neat. 

Celestial Archon - Magic the Gathering

Lucky Archon number 7!

A new week and five new preview cards, thank you Wizards. These are the Enchantment Creatures they have been teasing. Love the card frame by the way, so sparkly! The mechanic is one that's been sitting in the Magic pipeline for awhile, creatures that can enchant creatures. It was only a matter of time before this mechanic was fully released, it was only waiting for the right set. Several things I like already. The enchantment creature actually feels like both an enchantment and a creature. The first one we got from Future Sight, Lucent Liminid, was just a flyer with the type slapped on. This though actually has an enchantment like effect to justify the typing.

Another thing. I'm not certain I'm reading this correctly, but it seems that when the creature this is attached to is destroyed, this just becomes its creature form instead. This is a very good move. This will make people not afraid of using the bestow effect only for the enchanted creature to get nerfed, since the Aura will just become another creature.

I wonder if the mechanic could even be used to cheat high cost creatures into play. Design a creature with a lower bestow cost than its creature cost, so it comes into play attached to a creature. Then if the enchanted creature gets killed, your enchantment creature will become the high cost creature, with you spending less mana to get it. I can tell though that if there are plans to use the mechanic like that, it won't be in this set. Similar to bloodrush, the enchant effect seems to be gaining the creatures power and toughness and all effects they have. An Aura that gives say +5/+5 won't be a cheap card, so I doubt with this formula we'll be seeing high cost creatures with lower bestow costs, but we'll see.

I also wonder if the five gods of Theros are going to have bestow effects. Then again, I wonder if all the enchantment creatures will have bestow effects. My answers: Probably yes on both counts. The gods are definitely going to be mythic rare though, so we might see some more unique executions in their bestow effects. Also, will their weapons be enchantment artifacts? How will that work? So many questions, I can't wait!

Satyr Hedonist - Magic the Gathering

Please tell me he's wearing pants.

In the same way that Innistrad added a bunch of new Werewolves for the neglected creature type, Theros is adding a bunch of new satyrs. A search on Gatherer reveals two Satyrs in Magic history, Lumbering Satyr from Mercadian Masques (who looks nothing like a satyr), and Willow Satyr all the way back from Legends. Now we're getting a bunch more, and they seem to be green red and to have the mentality of goblins.

His flavor text sounds like something you would see on a Rakdos card, since Rakdos parties usually end with all the attendees dead. This makes me wince at the thought of what satyr parties will be like. And I do not want to know what he is doing sitting there. I'm pretty sure the art's meant to innocent, but given the reputation satyrs have, his pose seems rather suggestive. At least its not as bad as the new art for Skyknight Legionnaire. And it's a Satyr in a Greek mythology block, so points for style.

I seriously doubt this guy will see any play in any format. Red mana acceleration is weird in power level. When Seething Song was printed, it was really good. This guy... isn't. This type of mana acceleration has become severely weak. Burning-Tree Emissary was a nice nod to this type of effect, but it was good because it wasn't this effect. This guy will only see Limited play if your deck doesn't have enough good creatures and you need any body to hold things down. Again, this is pure speculation though. Maybe there are cards in the format that will make a drafting strategy where this can be good. Going on past experience though, expect to end up with a pile of this guys from last picks.

Destructive Revelry - Magic the Gathering

Only you can prevent satyr fires.

Okay, so I've actually read the first installment of the Planeswalker's Guide to Theros. Some new things I've learned. Cymede is the queen. I could have figured that out if I bothered to red the flavor text on Calvary Pegasus. There are at least five gods on the plane, each one aligned to a different color. It is said the gods are living enchantments, implying that Theros has an enchantment theme, which explains several cards from M14, and that there will either be enchantment creature, or enchantments that can animate into creatures.

If enchantments turns out to be a major theme, and if there are a bunch of creatures who are also enchantments, this card can be really good in limited. It would act the same way artifact removal behaved in both Mirrodin blocks. Until I actually see one of this enchantment creatures though, this card is going to be stuck in a sideboard.

Let's review what we can actually see. The art is a bunch of satyrs gathered around a fire and hurling a shield into it. It appears satyrs will be this plane's equivalent of goblins, not to bright beings who like to burn things. The card's multicolored, because the blocks that dovetail next to multicolor blocks tend to have some additional multicolor support. We also have a quote from Xenagos, the Reveler, a title that becomes much less impressive if you replace reveler with party animal.

One minor detail I'd like to point out is how this red green card actually aligns pretty well with the philosophy and practices of the red and green gods, Purphoros and Nylea. Purphoros likes to melt stuff down so he can forge it into something new, so the ability works with him. Nylea dislikes any man or anything man-made disturbing her natural order, so she also would support scrapping this junk. It's just a little flavor thing that works really well. Odds are, this card is part of an allied colors cycle, so we'll see if the other cards join the philosophies of their two gods.

Ordeal of Purphoros - Magic the Gathering

THIS... IS... THEROS!

Remember the Expedition cycle from Zendikar. This reminds me of it a lot, an enchantment you accumulate three counters for it to go off, unless you enchant it to a monstrous creature or something with more counters on it, in which case you can sac it the turn you play. I am fairly positive this is a cycle, the naming alone suggests its a cycle. It's not a cycle I'm particularly excited about, and its a cycle I doubt will see constructed play. It feels really complicated, and the ability forces you to sack it. I would have preferred an optional sack, that way you can keep it on to add even more counters. Predictions. Blue one will draw cards. Green one will fetch a land, probably Rampant Growth style. We'll see.

Concept wise, I like the idea of the card. Heroes go on epic journeys that make them stronger. That's part of why it reminds me of the Expeditions, it's another attempt at quest cards. The execution again though isn't exciting. I understand why this is set up the way it is though. Heroes need to fight monsters on their journeys, so the card makes you attack. And the sack ability also encourages you to take up the quest, since it rewards you in the end. Despite all that that flavor, I still don't like it.

Polukranos, World Eater - Magic the Gathering

The Ancient Greek Galactus.

In the same way that Innistrad had humans and monsters, Theros has heroes and monsters. So what's the monster mechanic this time. Monstrosity. First off, this uses +1/+1 counters, meaning another year without -1/-1 counters. This reminds me of unleash in terms of the concept. You can give your monster +1/+1 counters at the cost of giving them some negative trait. Unleash made them unable to block, while monstrosity makes them monstrous. Odds are, there are gonna be a lot of cards that interact with and/or punish monstrous creatures. I bet you there is going to be a white spell that kills monstrous creatures, and a black spell that kills non-monstrous ones. There will probably also be a white knight who's a monster slayer. Then again, with all the Innistrad parallels, maybe they'll tone it down.

And our preview is a hydra. I love hydras! This was probably an inevitable inclusion, this being the Greek myth block. Hydras use a bunch of +1/+1 counters, ever since Rock Hydra, and this one allows it to pseudo-fight a creature, multiple if you wish, since this guy has multiple heads. And again with the aggressive costing. The only downside is that its monstrous ability is very mana intensive. 3 mana makes a 6/6 and deals 1 damage. 5 mana a 7/7 and 2 damage. 7 mana an 8/8 and 3 damage. It won't stop me from playing it, but it will make people wait awhile before they trigger the monstrous effect, since they want to get real value. Also, can you technically pay G just to make it monstrous and nothing else? I think you can. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but you can. Maybe, probably, they'll be a monster lord of some sort.

By the way, I like the name of this guy. It sounds like they are taking real Greek names and words and then twisting them to make them more Magicky. Polu is similar to poly, which means many. And Kranos is one off from Kronos, the father of the gods who swallowed his own children. And Polukranos has the title of world eater.

Anax and Cymede - Magic the Gathering

And we return to multicolor with no guild symbols.

I was going to do the rare color hoser cycle from M14, but then Wizards dropped a bombshell, and by that I mean they did something everyone already expected them to do, Theros previews.

Theros is Greco-Roman inspired, and what is Greek mythology without some wise king and queen. At least, that's my assumption. For all I know they're just brother and sister. Also, which is Anax and which is Cymede. My gut instinct is Anax is the guy and Cymede the girl, just because they sound more masculine and feminine to me. The art however has the girl before the guy, so maybe its supposed to be the other way. It's like those movie posters where the picture shows the actors from left to right yet reading the top bill like you normally would, the names don't match the actors.

And heroic, the new pseudo-keyword. Because its psuedo, I'm not certain what it's meant to do. My future self will read this and laugh at me. It seems to be "Whenever you cast a spell that targets ~, this happens." Several questions though. The effect in the preview card benefits all creatures. Will all heroic effects be universal? That would match the idea of somebody doing something heroic, inspiring everyone else to do something, but universal effects can be narrow. Second, will heroic only be on legendary cards? I like it flavor wise if it does, the legends being the heroes after all. The heroic effect would then encourage players to use they're legendaries, and to target their legendaries with their spells. But that just opens up problems. Legendaries don't appear too much at lower rarities, partially because it feels weird. Meaning the effect you just tagged won't be showing up at common, which is very important for your set mechanic to do. Odds are, there will be non-legendary creatures with heroic. Still, I like this ability because it actually encourages you to play your instants, sorceries, and auras. Even if the ability isn't that good, it can still create a good upswing.

Design wise, this feels like a very aggressive costed card, and the effect makes them feel like rulers. The only things I find weird are very nitpicky. One is the heroic effect grants trample. Trample is in red, meaning its perfectly within colors to do, but giving an army of creatures trample feels more green than red or white. My other nitpick is that despite the card depicting two characters, the effect doesn't feel like two characters. I like the design of Sisters of Stone Death. That card depicts three separate characters, yet its effects make it feel like each sister is doing something individually. Tibor and Lumia does the same thing. This one doesn't.

Still, this card looks good and powerful, so who am I to complain.

Encroaching Wastes - Magic the Gathering

You can thank Nissa for this one.

Encroaching Wastes joins the ranks of lands that kill other lands. They're the children of Wasteland, the grandchildren of Strip Mine, and so forth, this type of land has been popular throughout Magic's history.

Flavor wise, this guy steps on Tectonic Edge's territory, with the molten fires and collapsing earth, a site familiar in many disaster movies. There's nothing wrong with this, it just feels very generic. Ghost Quarter's flavor was at least more quirky and unique, and Dust Bowl swallowed lands in a dust storm. Encoraching Wastes and Tectonic Edge though, you could probably swap their names and nobody would notice the difference.

Le demonstration.

Xathrid Necromancer - Magic the Gathering

Remember, only humans can become zombies.

Xathrid Necromancer is a simple concept that has been making waves in Standard. Human dies, resurrect it as a Zombie. Necromancer is a perfect fit for the Aristocrats-styled decks, who already love sacrificing Humans. Also continues another tradition introduced, or at least popularized, in Innistrad. Zombies are very slow, meaning they enter the battlefield tapped. Its a little piece of rules flavoring that they have been keeping alive ever since.

Another thing Xathrid Necromancer does is a bit more obscure: It adds another Magic card that starts with the letter X. Awhile back, Magic had one of its special tournaments where pro-players are forced to play variant formats. One of them was a deck auction, with players bidding on preconstructed fan-made decks. The theme of the submissions that year was you had to have cards starting with each letter of the alphabet. X proved a bit tricky, since their were only a handful of cards (4 or 5) that started with X. In recent times, Wizards seems to be trying to alleviate that problem. Within a short span of time, the number of cards starting with X has doubled.

And finally, the Necromancer once again brings up Xathrid. For those who don't know, Xathrid is the predominantly black region on the plane of Shandalar. Shandalar has never been featured in any Magic block, with only a few odd cards in core sets and Planechase. No, Shandalar's claim to fame comes from an old Microprose PC game based on Magic the Gathering, the game taking place on the above-named plane.

Burning Earth - Magic the Gathering

An inconvenient truth.

So, I am finally talking about M14 again, long after people have stopped caring. I've been combing recent decklists, seeing which cards are making an impact on Standard, because that and Limited are the extent of my competitive format following.

Burning Earth is a replacement for the classic Manabarbs, and there's debate over which one is better. Manabarbs affected all lands, which hurt your opponent more but also you more. Burning Earth limits the effect to nonbasic, which takes some of the heat off of you but also does less damage to your opponent. Also note both only work if they tap the land for mana. Activating a Moorland Haunt's ability won't trigger these guys, meaning you still get plenty of suffering from their effects.

Since this debate has been done to death over the internet, let's talk about something else, the flavor text. More specifically, the guy saying the flavor text, Shrazik the lavamancer. Shrazik is a new name, I checked Gatherer and the only card with Shrazik in their flavor text is this one. That yielding nothing, I looked up lavamancer. I know there is already one in existence, Grim Lavamancer,  but I was curious if there was more flavor text quoted by lavamancers. Turns out there is. Say hello to Matoc.

Back in the days of Odyssey (with a one-card extension into Onslaught), Matoc was the lavamancer the Magic press got quotes from, his words appearing on six cards total. After years of silence from the lavamancer community, Shrazik has decided to fill the old role of spokesman for the lavamancer community. For all we know, meaning I'm calling this canon until someone from Wizards contradicts me, Shrazik was trained by Matoc, or is his descendant. Here's hoping we hear from him again, as many times as we have heard from his master and/or father.

Gimmick Puppet Egg Head - Yu-Gi-Oh!

I refuse to stoop to making egg puns.

Besides printing previously OCG exclusive cards, the Number Hunters set printed new cards from the anime. And the TCG was going to be the first one to print them. A lot of the cards in Number Hunters were originally published in the TCG, and then later released for the OCG. Usually its Japan who gets the cards first before anyone in the states does.

So this guy was from the anime, used by the slightly psychotic IV (pronounced four, it's Roman numerals). The US version calls him Quattro, because they thought somebody with the name IV was stupid. Personally I find someone with the name Quattro more stupid, but that's me. Some changes from the original. The card in Japanese is Gimmick Puppet - Bomb Egg, but that had to be changed, because you can't have the word bomb in a game for children. Another change is the ability. You now have to discard a Gimmick Puppet monster instead of any card, in order to make sure you play the card with its archetype. Okay, no real complaints.

Also, you now have the ability to make it Level 8. This requires a bit of set up. In the anime, IV does make this guy Level 8, but that was due to another card, Level Cross, called Level Doubler in English because you can't have the word cross in a show for children. Rather than print that card, and to boost the power level of the first card, they gave the egg the Level 8 effect directly. This type of change I have less of an issue with, since it still pays attention to and acknowledges what happened in the anime.

Art wise, this guy is creepy, all the Gimmick Puppets are. Look into those soulless eyes, that emotionless expression. He also has appendages that remind me of a mannequin (and those wooden figures you pose in art class), with abnormally long arms that nearly touch its feet. The antique looking wig is also a nice little touch. Overall, this guy will haunt your nightmares.

Battle Warrior - Yu-Gi-Oh!

This caption needs three exclamations!!!

Battle Warrior, aka Grappling Warrior Ultimator, was one of the Japanese cards that was never printed in the TCG. Recently, this has changed. In the US, they decided to do another special set, five card packs with all foils, featuring cards previously unpublished in the TCG. That set was Number Hunters. For some reason, they decided to sneak this guy in the list and get it in print.This raises one big question: why?

A lot of the cards from the OCG that are missing from the TCG aren't printed because they are very weak in today's environment. Had they been printed much earlier, their inclusion would have been fine, but today they are woefully out of place. Players didn't seem to be asking for them, since nobody was going to play them. So what's changed? My guess is collectors have started asking for them. Collectors don't like knowing there's a card exclusive to the OCG that they'll never get in the states. Yes they know its weak, but they still feel like they're missing out on something. I am personally happy that this card is seeing print, then again I'm also happy when a card from the anime finally sees print. Twin-Tail Cat Lady! Somebody make it happen.

Back to the card itself. Battle Warrior appears in the art of two other cards, Sneak Exploder and Small Stopper. Those cards however only exist in the anime. This card has also made anime appearances, mostly in the second series (not GX, there was a Yu-Gi-Oh series before the Yu-Gi-Oh series that ran in the US), and usually under the command of Joey Wheeler, aka Jounouchi. In fact, one of the times Battle Warrior was reprinted in the OCG was in the Joey deck.

Art wise, this is just a blue guy with fists and an impractical visor. Not too much to critique there.

Throwstone Unit - Yu-Gi-Oh!

Missed the castle, but hit the sun up there.

So, what is there to say about this card? It's a catapult. Thank you Yu-Gi-Oh! wiki, I wouldn't have noticed that without you. Name wise, it's very lackluster. Is throwstone even a word? It sounds like someone who has never heard of a catapult trying to describe a catapult. Why not call it Rock Catapult or something?

Narrative wise, you see a group of soldiers attacking a castle, probably the same one that all the Decrees and Commands come from. This is a nice little scene, and a nice change from the usual art style. Most Yu-Gi-Oh art, particularly the monsters, are just the creatures posing slapped onto a prerendered background or pattern. You rarely get an entire scene in the monster art, but this one goes the extra mileage.

Ability wise, things start to make less sense. The previous catapult card was Catapult Turtle, and it was awesome. That effect required a tribute so you could inflict direct damage to an opponent. This card is something entirely different. You first need to tribute a Warrior, despite the art and name showing it throws rocks. Why don't you tribute Rock monsters? Are the rocks in the art supposed to be other warriors? Then you target a face up monster with less DEF than the Throwstone's ATK and kill it with the rock. The more ATK it has, the bigger the rocks it can throw. But since you also lost a monster for the effect, card advantage this is not.

House of Adhesive Tape - Yu-Gi-Oh!

I should be doing M14. It's out right now, meaning people are more interested. But I haven't played with the set yet (Norton deletes the patch from MWS, making me think they still have issues to iron out), and I haven't watched anyone else play with it. So we'll hold off a week or so.

Until then, enjoy this...

1 use for duct tape!

House of Adhesive Tape was a card from the English set Magic Ruler. When they did a worldwide reprint of the set though, they decided to call it Spell Ruler. Why the name change? There is a type of card in Yu-Gi-Oh! that was called Magic. With the English release of Magician's Force though, they decided to change the type to Spell. According to the wiki, this was to further separate Yu-Gi-Oh! from another gaming sensation, Magic: The Gathering. To reflect this change, they also changed the name of Magic Ruler to Spell Ruler. This decision was stupid on multiple levels. You don't change the entire name of a set unless you have good reasons for it. You don't see Magic the Gathering changing Fallen Empires to Our Bad. This confuses new players an annoys collectors. Plus, Yu-Gi-Oh has a serious problem with counterfeiters. Calling the set Spell Ruler makes it look like some Korean publisher is trying to capitalize with an idiot translation, meaning the packs stay on the shelves and nobody buys them because they seem fake.

But enough about that rant, here's another one. The card is very weak removal. The game already had better removal at this point, with cards like Fissure and Trap Hole. This is the same basic effect with an added restriction for no extra benefit. Mechanically, this card sucks, and that surprises no one.

The art though is very interesting, and very disturbing. You have the cartoonish nightmare house, like something out of a fairy tale, with a strip of tape rolling out the doorway like a tongue. You have little blue figures, struggling in vain to escape. The roof has this melting look to it, making it seem even more sticky. I like the concept, I love the art, that said I'm rarely going to play it.

House is also one of a few cards that were never reprinted in English. Not even the reprint sets, Dark Beginning 1 and 2 wanted to touch this guy. Not that anybody is complaining.