Overall, Theros Beyond Death is my favorite set in Magic. I really love some of the cards we saw added on the last day, namely Alirios, Chained to Memory and of course Medomai's Prophecy (from the leaks).
That said, it isn't without its flaws. We all know how vehemently opposed I am to the sore lack of lore and story for Return to Theros. We waited six years, and this is one of their most promising plot points, especially being self-contained and involving only Ajani from the Gatewatch. We needed a story like this after the Gatewatch fatigue, but we didn't get anything. No details, not even elaboration on Daxos and Elspeth's reunion or relationship or her motivations to depart the plane.
The set itself. I agree wholeheartedly that part of the set felt Bottom-up instead of Top-Down Greek Mythology. Especially Escape. I feel strongly opposed to Escape and more Graveyard mechanics. I really wish they had just let Theros Beyond Death be Top-Down Greek Mythology World and let this be more of a survey of Theros and its Underworld. Like a journey, the way Ixalan felt. It was just unnecessary to have Escape and all this mechanical baggage. I hate mechanics driven designs, or when sets are held back for a mechanic or because of limited and draft, etc.
That said, choosing to return Devotion and Constellation was absolutely the right call, as was delivering the mono-color gods, while depicting the other gods on various spells so they had a cameo. I loved the enchantment matters theme, getting Calix as an Enchantment Planeswalker, and getting a lot of Greek and Theros Myth flavor cards (such as Kiora Bests the Sea God, and Achilles, etc.). Personally, I would have skipped the Titans entirely and made Kruphix instead Uro, etc. though. Leave the Titans for a third visit. I know it was to have Escape, but again, I don't really approve of Escape and I wouldn't introduce something like the Titans only to make two cards for them. They probably should have canned Escape and saved the Titan concept for later.
Honestly, Theros deserves two sets to really be able to flesh out the story and the intentions. While I think the art and theme of this set is absolutely phenomenal, and truly my favorite set in the game thus far (will likely remain so until our third Theros visit), I did feel like this set felt a lot more dark and sinister. Our last visit to Theros felt idyllic, charming and vibrant. This set feels very somber and at times unnerving. Perhaps it's the Underworld and death depictions and the fact the gods are warring without buildup to that. Last Theros was introducing the plane and had more sets to build up to the conflict, whereas we drop right into the conflict with this one? And we also had a story that fleshed Theros out more before this. We had an opportunity to explore the world itself a bit more. This time Theros had a bit of sadness to it, not the bright balmy world I remember.
Heliod deserves punishment but I hope he doesn't die or fade away from lack of devotion. I really admire the Theros pantheon as it is, and while he does deserve to pay for his crimes, I'd like to see him on a third visit to Theros again. For the love of Thassa, don't bring Phyrexia to Theros. We have a very deep well of Greek Myth Legendary creatures we still need. Go wreck planes that lack a rich source material to mine from and just allow Theros to be Greece.
I think you have very poetically hit the nail on the head. Other than that as a devout fairy tales & myths guy Eldraine and Llorwyn trump Theros for me but that's a very personal decision.
A couple of times during spoiler season the team variously said (and I'm paraphrasing a little) "we f***ed up, wasted a bunch of time getting it wrong and then course corrected. The new set is gonna be, well, a set". (The Stygian mechanic, overly complicated cards that were caught late in the dev cycle and needed a quick fix).
They weren't wrong about that. This is 264 new cards alright. There are things to live about this set and there are some really weird things that seem to be the result of getting it wrong.
Building M:TG is a hard job, I'm glad it isn't mine. The R&D team put their heart and soul into it. This is going to be a fun set to play and there are cards I love at all rarities but there's those weird gaps.
Yeah, I think they deserve at least a little sympathy. Solidarity for the labor at MtG.
The lack of a developed story for Theros is the most unfortunate part. One of the main benefits of a set that returns to an established plane is that it gives you an opportunity to deepen the storyline, provide character development, and build a coherent plot through larger story arcs. These were issues they had when they kept on going to a new setting every block. After the presumed end of the Bolas arc with Ravnica, Theros was the first plane where old plot threads were present to be picked up. But the most we have to show for that is a synopsis, so the narrative is pretty much in limbo. That's something that I feel is especially critical to resolve since Bolas was honestly a terrible villain and we need to move on to something better asap.
I'm hoping that Ikoria brings us some delightful new story directions. I'd almost be happy to see the very early stages of a new phyrexian invasion, then leave that plane for like 2 years and come back to see it progressing.
A couple of times during spoiler season the team variously said (and I'm paraphrasing a little) "we f***ed up, wasted a bunch of time getting it wrong and then course corrected. The new set is gonna be, well, a set". (The Stygian mechanic, overly complicated cards that were caught late in the dev cycle and needed a quick fix).
They weren't wrong about that. This is 264 new cards alright. There are things to live about this set and there are some really weird things that seem to be the result of getting it wrong.
Building M:TG is a hard job, I'm glad it isn't mine. The R&D team put their heart and soul into it. This is going to be a fun set to play and there are cards I love at all rarities but there's those weird gaps.
With the netflix thing upcoming and integrating arena and dealing with kelly digges leaving and both novels and uncharted realms getting canned, mtg is in a lot more flux than I think they're being upfront about right now.
And I certainly don't blame them for keeping as much under cover as possible. Last thing any one wants is reputational damage. I was kind of surprised about how candid they were with disclosing that THB set didn't run exactly as planned.
A couple of times during spoiler season the team variously said (and I'm paraphrasing a little) "we f***ed up, wasted a bunch of time getting it wrong and then course corrected. The new set is gonna be, well, a set". (The Stygian mechanic, overly complicated cards that were caught late in the dev cycle and needed a quick fix).
They weren't wrong about that. This is 264 new cards alright. There are things to love about this set and there are some really weird things that seem to be the result of getting it wrong.
Building M:TG is a hard job, I'm glad it isn't mine. The R&D team put their heart and soul into it. This is going to be a fun set to play and there are cards I love at all rarities but there's those weird gaps.
While I don’t totally disagree with you,
I do feel like this set is at least less of an underpowered mess than original Theros was.
I remember being borderline horrified back then,
and I definitely like this set at least a little more.
I think that's a fair statement, but that's they way it should be. They played it very safe with original Theros - Heroic probably would have been fine if it saw abilities and the distribution of costs for Bestow and Monstrous seemed really unbalanced. I feel like overall this set is better balanced for power but still isn't on the same level of cohesion as the last few sets.
A couple of times during spoiler season the team variously said (and I'm paraphrasing a little) "we f***ed up, wasted a bunch of time getting it wrong and then course corrected. The new set is gonna be, well, a set". (The Stygian mechanic, overly complicated cards that were caught late in the dev cycle and needed a quick fix).
They weren't wrong about that. This is 264 new cards alright. There are things to live about this set and there are some really weird things that seem to be the result of getting it wrong.
Building M:TG is a hard job, I'm glad it isn't mine. The R&D team put their heart and soul into it. This is going to be a fun set to play and there are cards I love at all rarities but there's those weird gaps.
I think you have very poetically hit the nail on the head. Other than that as a devout fairy tales & myths guy Eldraine and Llorwyn trump Theros for me but that's a very personal decision.
I'm hoping that Ikoria brings us some delightful new story directions. I'd almost be happy to see the very early stages of a new phyrexian invasion, then leave that plane for like 2 years and come back to see it progressing.
And I certainly don't blame them for keeping as much under cover as possible. Last thing any one wants is reputational damage. I was kind of surprised about how candid they were with disclosing that THB set didn't run exactly as planned.
I think that's a fair statement, but that's they way it should be. They played it very safe with original Theros - Heroic probably would have been fine if it saw abilities and the distribution of costs for Bestow and Monstrous seemed really unbalanced. I feel like overall this set is better balanced for power but still isn't on the same level of cohesion as the last few sets.
They weren't wrong about that. This is 264 new cards alright. There are things to live about this set and there are some really weird things that seem to be the result of getting it wrong.
Building M:TG is a hard job, I'm glad it isn't mine. The R&D team put their heart and soul into it. This is going to be a fun set to play and there are cards I love at all rarities but there's those weird gaps.