MTGNexus

Mothership link

Highlights: five schools corresponding to the five enemy-colored pairs, each led by an Elder Dragon (reminding me of Tarkir).



Mystical Archive: 63 alt-bordered / alt-art reprints, one in every pack (and three in each Collector Booster). Reprints include Demonic Tutor, Swords to Plowshares, and Opt. Compare the Timeshifted cards from Time Spiral and Masterpiece cards. (Legality not affected - you can run them in Limited if you draft them, but they're otherwise not Standard / Modern-legal unless they already were)

There will apparently also be something special for Japanese packs.

"Mana value" - finally retemplated converted mana cost?

GB one seems really good actually

I feel like all five could be instants. Witherbloom would just need to cost more (maybe 1BG or 2BG). Silverquill should be instant, but likely isn't due to the reanimation mode.

More from the article:
Each college will have a commander deck and theme booster pack. Deck names are:
Silverquill Statement
Prismari Performance
Witherbloom Witchcraft
Lorehold Legacies
Quantum Quandrix

Will and Rowan are going to be key players in this set, as they are featured on the draft and bundle box art.
Witherbloom's theme booster art depicts a bear mage, which is interesting.

Art for the three revealed Mystic Archive cards:

Yeah, I missed CMC becoming 'mana value' on first read. Definitely reads cleaner though.

I'm not sure if Witherbloom Command is actually playable - it would be amazing for eternal formats if it were Abrupt Decay for MV 2 or less, but adding 'noncreature' makes it really, really narrow. I guess it can pick off X/1s, which gives it a little more flexibility.

I'd actually consider Prismari Command to be the most playable - it shares two modes with Kolaghan's Command, swapping in Faithless Looting. Loses Snapcaster Mage recursion, but it does gain the secret instant-speed Mind Rot mode alongside Narset, Parter of Veils.

...I do wish Silverquill Command were an instant though.

Huh, the Lorehold command is pretty odd. The other commands are all "two abilities of one color, two abilities of the other color" like the DTK commands, but the Lorehold one is four RW abilities instead. Wonder why they did that?

I definitely wasn't expecting to see previews this soon, but it was a nice surprise. I'm happy that they're reprinting pricy cards, and making new command cycles. I think my favorite thing about these spoilers is the condensed wording for shuffle your library and converted mana cost. I know it doesn't seem like much, but as any custom card designer will attest, every word counts.

I think these changes will really be helpful and start to add up when you factor in every spell that no longer needs one to two extra words on its effect. The only downside is I'm going to have to alter a ton of my existing cards on MSE to reflect this change, but the space gained will be well worth it. I'm super excited to see what else is coming from Strixhaven.

I'm guessing we gonna see Will and Rowan on a MDFC which is a cool way to show the twin thing.

Sniffnoy wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Huh, the Lorehold command is pretty odd. The other commands are all "two abilities of one color, two abilities of the other color" like the DTK commands, but the Lorehold one is four RW abilities instead. Wonder why they did that?

I'd put the Lorehold abilities at white / gold / gold / red, personally. But yeah, most of these look like two of one color, two of the other.... except for Prismari Command, which could be mono-red (Shock / Faithless Looting / Wily Goblin / Shatter).

"Each of our Colleges was founded by the elder dragon whose name each school bears." *yawn* Even when they're ripping off Harry Potter they can't help but repeat themselves. Niv-Mizzet is some kind of god or whatever, so I guess we needed five more. Could one of them have been a minotaur, or maybe a golem, or like, interesting? Nope. Dragons.

Easy prediction: this year's Commander deck face cards will be lead by these old elder dragons.

EDIT: I didn't actually read the article before my sweet, sweet prediction. So....yeah, not that insightful.

Did Silverquill Command and Witherbloom Command really have to be sorceries? All the Commands from Tarkir were instants...

I'll probably slide Prismari Command into Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

So, there is two ways to read that, but are we going to get an Elder Dragon named Lorehold?

Venedrex wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I definitely wasn't expecting to see previews this soon, but it was a nice surprise. I'm happy that they're reprinting pricy cards, and making new command cycles. I think my favorite thing about these spoilers is the condensed wording for shuffle your library and converted mana cost. I know it doesn't seem like much, but as any custom card designer will attest, every word counts.

I think these changes will really be helpful and start to add up when you factor in every spell that no longer needs one to two extra words on its effect. The only downside is I'm going to have to alter a ton of my existing cards on MSE to reflect this change, but the space gained will be well worth it. I'm super excited to see what else is coming from Strixhaven.

The names and colors were leaked on Reddit at the beginning of the week, so I wasn't that surprised.

RxPhantom wrote: ↑

3 years ago

"Each of our Colleges was founded by the elder dragon whose name each school bears." *yawn* Even when they're ripping off Harry Potter they can't help but repeat themselves. Niv-Mizzet is some kind of god or whatever, so I guess we needed five more. Could one of them have been a minotaur, or maybe a golem, or like, interesting? Nope. Dragons.

Easy prediction: this year's Commander deck face cards will be lead by these old elder dragons.

EDIT: I didn't actually read the article before my sweet, sweet prediction. So....yeah, not that insightful.

Yes, because Harry Potter was the first example of the Magical School genre.

Harry Potter is just the most well known, but it is neither the first nor the best example of the genre, and to be honest, I am getting pretty tired of pointing this out. Heck, it's not even the best example from the year the first Harry Potter book was released. In western literature the genre started in 1939! And schools of wizardry and the like was mentioned as far back as the mid eighteenth century. Please, for the love of literature, read up on a subject before you call new entries in the genre a ripoff. Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

SecretInfiltrator wrote: ↑

3 years ago

So, there is two ways to read that, but are we going to get an Elder Dragon named Lorehold?

It's probably it's title or last name. It'll be something like "<name> Lorehold" or some such.

Edit: It's nice to see some new art from Mark Tedin.

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Yes, because Harry Potter was the first example of the Magical School genre.

Harry Potter is just the most well known, but it is neither the first nor the best example of the genre, and to be honest, I am getting pretty tired of pointing this out. Heck, it's not even the best example from the year the first Harry Potter book was released. In western literature the genre started in 1939! And schools of wizardry and the like was mentioned as far back as the mid eighteenth century. Please, for the love of literature, read up on a subject before you call new entries in the genre a ripoff. Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

How can I put this bluntly? I don't care. Harry Potter is the one most ingrained in the public consciousness and it's not even close. I also don't need the kind of smug, self-serving, "Well, actually..." responses like your quoted post, which don't do anything but show off your knowledge of literature and how much you love yourself for it. If I want to say that the Gatewatch is an Avengers ripoff, do you think that I (or anyone for that matter) care that the Avengers weren't the first superhero team? No. Why would I?

Strixhaven wouldn't exist without Harry Potter's cultural omnipresence, regardless of whether or not it's first in its genre.

RxPhantom wrote: ↑

3 years ago

If I want to say that the Gatewatch is an Avengers ripoff, do you think that I (or anyone for that matter) care that the Avengers weren't the first superhero team? No. Why would I?

Because it wasn't? The Justice Society of America have the Avengers beat by about over a decade, and I don't actually believe they were the first either. *shrug*

Incidentally, calling the Gatewatch an Avengers ripoff is very, very wrong. I know representatives WotC have compared the Gatewatch to a super hero team, but that was mostly because everyone was talking about Avengers at the time they were concepted and introduced. But it would be a lot more accurate to compare them to Fellowship of the Ring or another group of adventuring fantasy characters. Maro often compares things in MTG to things in popular media, but that is only so the general public will understand the comparison easier. He is just a big of a geek as the rest of us when it comes to media, so it's only natural.

Strixhaven would have happened eventually, regardless of Harry Potter's popularity or not. WotC are looking at all fantasy tropes for MTG, so that the game won't end up stale. Heck, it is not even the first magic academy in the game, it's like the sixth. (First was the School of the Unseen that was destroyed during the Ice Age, then the Tolarian Academy, then the Wizards' School of Ulgrotha, then the Riptide Project, and then Tolaria West from after the Rift Era.)

Calling it a ripoff of something that has literally existed for decades before Harry Potter is disingenuous at best. Besides, Harry Potter literally stole its main character from a comic miniseries that was released six years prior to the release of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone called The Books of Magic (which incidentally wasn't part of the Wizard School genre).

For those who did not see, the special anncouncement from the Japanese MTG team is special Mythic Archive alt-art versions for Japan: https://mtg-jp.com/reading/publicity/0034793/
Demonic Tutor:


Opt:


Swords to Plowshares:

Dusk wrote: ↑

3 years ago

For those who did not see, the special anncouncement from the Japanese MTG team is special Mythic Archive alt-art versions for Japan: https://mtg-jp.com/reading/publicity/0034793/

Wow, those look pretty epic.

Aw man, I love that StP flavor text. Reminds me of my father mellowing out in his retirement after spending the better half of his life at war with the general public through his work as a mail carrier. I wish I could get one with the japanese art in english though. Shame that they never really fancy alternate arts in the only nonenglish language I can read, spanish. But wotc regularly spits on their customer base in South America, so who would be surprised there?

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Incidentally, calling the Gatewatch an Avengers ripoff is very, very wrong. I know representatives WotC have compared the Gatewatch to a super hero team, but that was mostly because everyone was talking about Avengers at the time they were concepted and introduced. But it would be a lot more accurate to compare them to Fellowship of the Ring or another group of adventuring fantasy characters. Maro often compares things in MTG to things in popular media, but that is only so the general public will understand the comparison easier. He is just a big of a geek as the rest of us when it comes to media, so it's only natural..

It is either painfully naive or disingenuous to propose that the Gatewatch is just as inspired by the Fellowship as by the Avengers, simply because of the similarities in their broadest strokes. Look at how the Gatewatch were written, especially when they were first being established: insincere, quippy banter over setpiece action scenes. Answer in good faith whether that is more reminescent of Tolkien's novels or the MCU. There are other teams of heroes, but the Gatewatch was based off the Avengers.

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Calling it a ripoff of something that has literally existed for decades before Harry Potter is disingenuous at best. Besides, Harry Potter literally stole its main character from a comic miniseries that was released six years prior to the release of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone called The Books of Magic (which incidentally wasn't part of the Wizard School genre).

Likewise, ask yourself, once you get past the broadest strokes, which of those comparisons hold up. Does Strixhaven's tone seem to fit with the Taoistic mysteries of Earthsea? With the cosmic dread and watercolor madness of The Books of Magic? With the gritty, sardonic realism of The Magicians? Or with the flashy, rainbow-colored pastiche of Harry Potter and its YA descendants?

Finally, Elder Dragons with the most important thing that distinguishes them from lesser dragonkind: last names.

BeneTleilax wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Likewise, ask yourself, once you get past the broadest strokes, which of those comparisons hold up. Does Strixhaven's tone seem to fit with the Taoistic mysteries of Earthsea? With the cosmic dread and watercolor madness of The Books of Magic? With the gritty, sardonic realism of The Magicians? Or with the flashy, rainbow-colored pastice of Harry Potter and its YA descendants?

To early to tell, particularly considering the set isn't released yet. Which is my point.

void_nothing wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Finally, Elder Dragons with the most important thing that distinguishes them from lesser dragonkind: last names.

I didn't know the Bladewings were elder dragons?

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

BeneTleilax wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Likewise, ask yourself, once you get past the broadest strokes, which of those comparisons hold up. Does Strixhaven's tone seem to fit with the Taoistic mysteries of Earthsea? With the cosmic dread and watercolor madness of The Books of Magic? With the gritty, sardonic realism of The Magicians? Or with the flashy, rainbow-colored pastice of Harry Potter and its YA descendants?

To early to tell, particularly considering the set isn't released yet. Which is my point.

These weren't leaks, these were the deliberate first spoiler to establish tone. Look at the art, on these cards and the packaging. Look at the clumsy kennings. I think the predominant tone of the set is clear. If you still want to wait for more information, that's fine, but it's a bit rich to pretend that the obvious conclusions from the tone they've initially set are anything but. Personally, I'm still holding out for the Phyrexians or some other outside context problem to contrast the initial genre, but I'm not denying what we've seen here.

BeneTleilax wrote: ↑

3 years ago

These weren't leaks, these were the deliberate first spoiler to establish tone. Look at the art, on these cards and the packaging. Look at the clumsy kennings. I think the predominant tone of the set is clear. If you still want to wait for more information, that's fine, but it's a bit rich to pretend that the obvious conclusions from the tone they've initially set are anything but. Personally, I'm still holding out for the Phyrexians or some other outside context problem to contrast the initial genre, but I'm not denying what we've seen here.

No, WotC posted these several hours after their usual daily update, and it was without a doubt as a direct reaction to the leak on Reddit earlier this week of the house names and color combinations.

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

No, WotC posted these several hours after their usual daily update, and it was without a doubt as a direct reaction to the leak on Reddit earlier this week of the house names and color combinations.

Right, but this was still an official WotC spoiler, to set or control our expectations for the set. If they were doing something more akin to Earthsea, don't you think they would, you know, show us that? The names, the art, the flavor all point in one direction at present. Well, save for that black, oily substance on the Silverquill prerelease pack.

BeneTleilax wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Well, save for that black, oily substance on the Silverquill prerelease pack

It's called ink. You know, something you use with a quill to write. >.<

Krishnath wrote: ↑

3 years ago

BeneTleilax wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Well, save for that black, oily substance on the Silverquill prerelease pack

It's called ink. You know, something you use with a quill to write. >.<

Could be, but I think it turning out to be oil is more likely than Strixhaven turning out to be an original and well-rounded work of fantasy.