I think we can rationalize Bolas's actions without going for the excuse that "he's a super ancient and powerful dragon so we mere humans can't comprehend him."
Nicol Bolas can no longer afford to ignore those bellow him. Now that he is weaker, those lowly mortals can actually present a threat to his plans. An old Bolas wouldn't need an army of eternals to get the job done, but now he does, and regular humans are able to put up a fight against them. Would Amonkhet win against the eternals and the three gods without Bolas's intervening? Highly unlikely, but they could kill a few, and Bolas likely needs a lot of them to accomplish whatever he has in mind.
Really like it for Commander. The Monarch mechanic seems like a great boon for monowhite decks who struggle with card draw but excel at board presence and flyers.
I couldn't help myself from picturing Adriana as Brienne of Tarth while I was reading and apparently I was right!
Thought this as well and am upset I was right. It feels like they were trying to make that connection rather than a unique character.
Her character is more of a mix between Brienne of Tarth and Barristan Selmy, with a splash of Ned Stark. She does feel very "Game of Thrones", but as far as MTG characters go, that's pretty unique.
MDT: I like the change. It might be confusing for new players, but it's a cool moment once they realize that it helps with delirium (and maybe even helps turn off opponent's vehicles in casual Constructed).
It was then edited to remove the part in parenthesis.
If it really was an unintentional spoiler, they would have edited it out afterwards like with the "vehicle" mechanic thing in the Choking Restraints discussion.
And if it was an intentional spoiler, then that is the most unceremonious way ever to start spoiling a set.
I have always wondered what the heck Ajani was doing on the picture.
Being too late to save her? All I know is that he was helping her and unfortunately didn't succeed, ultimately.
Ajani really is the Davos Seaworth of MTG. He was reckless in his youth but became lawful later. Now he just wants to help people he believes are good, but they get killed by some god while he is unable to save them...
Actually now that I think about it, if escalate is gonna be color conditional, why not make it just black and red? Why does white get to do everything that the others colors can do. I know white didn't get madness, but it got good madness enablers
Ignoring Transform that every colour gets, here is the keywords per colour breakdown for EMN:
White = 3 (Delirium, Escalate, Meld)
Blue = 3 (Emerge, Madness, Skulk)
Black = 6 (Delirium, Emerge, Escalate, Madness, Meld, Skulk)
Red = 3 (Escalate, Madness, Meld)
Green = 2 (Delirium, Emerge)
So yeah... There is one colour doing everything the others can, but it isn't white.
The user who first posted the picture on reddit (leakyfaucets123) also made some other posts. No picture though, so take them with a grain of salt!
Eldritch Evolution 1GG Sorcery
As an additional cost, sacrifice a creature you control. Search your library for a creature card with CMC equal to or less than the CMC of the sacrificed creature plus 2, and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Exile Eldritch Evolution.
"Emerge is a new keyword. You can sac a creature to help pay for the cost of an emerge guy. Colors don't count though."
"Some cards get better if more copies of it are in the yard. Like a burn spell that does one more for each copy in yard."
Graf Rats 1B Creature - Rat (C)
At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you both own and control Graf Rats and a creature named Midnight Scavenger, exile them, then meld them into Chittering Host.
2/1
Midnight Scavengers 4B Creature - Human Rogue
When Midnight Scavengers enters the battlefield, you may return target creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
The reddit user who first posted the picture also leaked other cards and mechanics, but without pictures. I won't post them until we get actual images, but feel free to look at the user's post history: /u/leakyfaucets123
Nicol Bolas can no longer afford to ignore those bellow him. Now that he is weaker, those lowly mortals can actually present a threat to his plans. An old Bolas wouldn't need an army of eternals to get the job done, but now he does, and regular humans are able to put up a fight against them. Would Amonkhet win against the eternals and the three gods without Bolas's intervening? Highly unlikely, but they could kill a few, and Bolas likely needs a lot of them to accomplish whatever he has in mind.
Source: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/benfriedman-08152016-nobody-expects/
It was then edited to remove the part in parenthesis.
And if it was an intentional spoiler, then that is the most unceremonious way ever to start spoiling a set.
White = 3 (Delirium, Escalate, Meld)
Blue = 3 (Emerge, Madness, Skulk)
Black = 6 (Delirium, Emerge, Escalate, Madness, Meld, Skulk)
Red = 3 (Escalate, Madness, Meld)
Green = 2 (Delirium, Emerge)
So yeah... There is one colour doing everything the others can, but it isn't white.
Instant (C)
Counter target spell that targets a permanent you control.
Source: Game Informer
Creature - Zombie (C)
When Wailing Ghoul enters the battlefield, put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.
1/3
Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/07/magic-the-gatheringeldritch-moon-preview-cards.html
Eldritch Evolution 1GG
Sorcery
As an additional cost, sacrifice a creature you control. Search your library for a creature card with CMC equal to or less than the CMC of the sacrificed creature plus 2, and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Exile Eldritch Evolution.
"Emerge is a new keyword. You can sac a creature to help pay for the cost of an emerge guy. Colors don't count though."
"Some cards get better if more copies of it are in the yard. Like a burn spell that does one more for each copy in yard."
Creature - Rat (C)
At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you both own and control Graf Rats and a creature named Midnight Scavenger, exile them, then meld them into Chittering Host.
2/1
Midnight Scavengers 4B
Creature - Human Rogue
When Midnight Scavengers enters the battlefield, you may return target creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
The reddit user who first posted the picture also leaked other cards and mechanics, but without pictures. I won't post them until we get actual images, but feel free to look at the user's post history: /u/leakyfaucets123