Theros Beyond Death preview

[hyalopterouslemur]

...monocolor (representing the gods) and graveyard (representing the underworld). What people don't understand about the original Theros, though, is that it was primarily an aura-themed set; mechanics like devotion work better with auras than with (traditional) equipment obviously, and heroic works with auras.

I suspect cycles like Linden, the Steadfast Queen and Fireborn Knight are intended to aid devotion.

People thought the same about Dominaria AAA cycle, but this time you may be right.
Also AABB Ravnica creatures.

MMNN is kinda weird in devotion. It's more useful for multicolor devotion, but not that good all around. Though I should mention, in Commander, hybrid is just better for devotion. (Plus, things like clones and reanimation are useful. In fact, there are a bunch of Rite of Replication combos out there based on tribal, why not have a few based on devotion as well?)

[onering]

Won't Ravnica still be in standard when Theros hits?

[hyalopterouslemur]

Won't Ravnica still be in standard when Theros hits?

And it wasn't last time? The themes are somewhat antagonistic, but not by much; remember, Ravnica tries to coax you into using exactly three colors, not five like Invasion block or three like Alara/Tarkir (and Conflux was basically a five-color set). The hybrid permanents are great for devotion.

Even the original Ravnica block had a cycle of cards that counted lands of a specific basic land type.

[theMarc]

Even the original Ravnica block had a cycle of cards that counted lands of a specific basic land type.

It had two: Flow of Ideas and Crash Landing. Not a cycle.