Its going to be very awkward if Theros is going to be the first set in a long time that hasn't had short stories attached to it. People sometimes forget, but the only magic set that hadn't had at least a comic attached to it was A/B/U/R/C and the numbered editions, that is until Garruk's M15. Even Arabian Nights and Homelands had extra reading material behind them. The only other one lacking a story was Battlebond which was literally "coliseum sports world".
It's just speculation. One of the theories is that The Wanderer is Elspeth which means that she has already escaped the underworld in WAR.
I did hear in the Forsaken novel that the wanderer wears a golden mask, but from the art in Theros beyond death she seems to have gotten better from... dying. Is the planeswalker from TBD supposed to be her Eidolon and the wanderer is supposed to be her returned? Or are people speculating that when she leaves Theros she becomes the wanderer and loses her ability to control her jumping because she's no longer on the plane?
We don't know the exact yet. Just hypotheticals regarding who The Wanderer is. And because of that we don't know if this set is set before or after WAR. The occam's razor would imply Elspeth as Wanderer and that this takes place in the past.
The shaky feature is Dack. If he doesn't show up in some story piece or card even as a cameo, then its safe to say it takes place after WAR and The Wanderer connection is weaker. If he does show-up then The Wanderer connection is stronger.
An easy way to compartmentalize Dack in this case is Schrodinger's Cat. He is simultaneously alive and dead for this set until the third planeswalker is known.
It seems awfully coincidental to me that Klothys has satyr horns...
...Did she always have satyr horns? Did the worshippers always think she was a satyr? Did she only get the horns because they're partially confusing her with Xenagos now? Worse, has Xenagos or his dead essence partially fused with her, and is that why she has the horns? They say she was chained up in the Underworld...was she there before Xenagos ascended? Did she even exist before Xenagos ascended? ...Is it possible that Klothys is made of discarded beliefs in Xenagos?
I do like the implications of an RG god handling destiny, including that destiny may be a whole bunch of unfixed hooey. (I'm personally not a believer in destiny myself.)
We don't know yet about Klothys. I would assume also that Xenagos's followers would direct their prayers to her without realizing it. That their beliefs and faith warp her. But if its not that, its another coincidence.
I’ve been wondering if the temple of abandon had been hinting at Klothys before as well. It’s strange to have a new god emerge like this. Was it always planned? Klothys was never mentioned, not even by Kruphix, although forgotten gods were. It’s confusing how she existed without devotion. As an enchantment I suppose...
Ashiok is carrying Kedarick’s crown. The former king of Iretis
thatdamnaussie asked: Was there a RG God before Xenagos' ascension? If so, who is it and what happened to them?
No red-green god recently existed in the pantheon; at the time of the Theros set, Theros had fourteen gods. If there had ever been a RG god before Xenagos, it was long ago.
(In reference to this, the Temple of Abandon was barely a temple at all, little more than a gathering place and an empty wooden throne. Its name implied that if such a god was ever to exist, its domain would be recklessness and immoderation — but it also hinted that the position was currently abandoned.)
We been told by Kruphx the mortals of Theros are "forgetful" and have cycled through gods in the past with Kruphix unsure if he was even the first god of horizons. I laos believe Klothys is or took over as the god of love Kruphix mentions. Love and destiny could easy be linked with a deity.
Klothys still being around is sure odd but we still don't fully understand now Nyx and the gods works still. Since it seems like she was chained in the underworld (the video as well as Warden of the Chained and the underworld basic lands screams) and it could be due to her power. In greek myth the gods still could be overpowered by two things, destiny and love, and thus I could see the rest of the pantheon locking away Klothys. Due to this power she was able to keep herself going or the dead in the underworld are able to worship her maybe hoping once free she can change their fates.
So the name of the temple is quiet literal due to the mortal's forgetfulness? Huh. I guess that makes sense.
As for the love goddess area, I guess that would make Xenagos a perversion of that. Also that Xenagos would just be purely coincidental as he wouldn't know of Klothys.
Also with the chains they only appear on Island and Mountain which seems like a correlation to Tartarus. Plains and Forest are depicting Elyisum. Swamp I would assume is the equivalent of Hades.
If the worshippers did exist, as some would still cling to their faith even if she can't answer them or meet them, how come no mention of them was made? Was Xenagos previously a worshipper of Klothys, who felt betrayed and tried to break of his fate/destiny? As his outfit in retrospect seems awfully similar to Klothys's. Or was that merely a coincidence with Xenagos's appearance and motivations?
Was the Temple of Abandon always known as the Temple of Abandon or was that due to a change in belief because the worshippers of Klothys believed that she had abandoned them? Would we get a different temple for her? If not and its still one of 'abandon', did her worshippers always feel like that she 'abandon' them or that one should 'abandon' their freewill to their destiny/fate as its an inevitability?
The other multicolored gods will be in their brawl decks I’m sure
No brawl decks announced for THB.
I wonder why. When they promoted the Brawl decks in Eldraine they talked as if they were putting full support behind them. Then this.
Hard to say. Initial guess might be a 'wait and see' approach if the Brawl decks actually panned out well from a financial standpoint. Which makes a degree of sense for trying to make a safe investment.
But on the flip side: They had the Thrones of Eldraine trailer feature MTG Arena instead of Magic: The Gathering. They put out the four brawl decks and wanted to have commander cards in a standard enviroment. MTG Arena also has the Brawl mode but the controversy with that is that it costs 2,000 gems (Equivalent: $15) or 10,000 gold to play it for just 30 days. So they do understandably want to milk Arena and Brawl for what its worth.
But then they swing the pendulum back to planeswalker decks for Theros, a product most people called 'noob-traps' and 'bad value'. Which makes the brawl decks look like a promotional stunt.
Theros Beyond Death's current promotional stunt, the Game Awards, and the after party on MTG Arena. The party is a special mode on MTG Arena of Elspeth Vs Ashiok in which they play premade decks that contain some vintage cards in them. Which while neat, its basically been described as a standalone brawl experience whose physical equivalent is lacking.
Sure, but that hardly requires Dack specifically. It doesn’t even necessarily require a Walker, though due to the nature of the story it would have to be. It seems Elspeth, if they go with that storyline (though given Ashiok was in War they could just have abandoned it) it would look like Elspeth is handling it.
Defintely seems that way. Especially with how hard they are pushing the Elspeth vs Ashiok angle.
That's a very disappointing Elspeth. The original nissa didn't work that well in zendikar let alone keep value after. I really hope this is the deck one.
The whole underworld leaking concept is unnecessary and overstated for the purpose of justifying a mechanic, which I find silly. It’s always been a theme to “escape from the underworld” or have thing play or cheat death in Greek myth.
Anyway, I am more interested in our promo constellation art of Thassa depicting her with the Bident once again. Purphoros or devotion must have granted her another one. Makes sense but I wonder which it was
I would wager devotion. As the followers of Thassa have always associated a bident with her. So a god without their iconic weapon would seem quiet absurd to them.
I mean, Dack isn’t the only walker who hasn’t had a Standard card. And if we start going a bit broader such as “been in more than one set in a noteworthy way” then it starts becoming an even larger pool. He also doesn’t really have much to do with Theros, and no, a plot line of him in Theros isn’t a compelling enough reason. Hoping it’s someone new or someone who feels a bit more like they’re from Theros as that’s currently an empty slot (and I would argue Gideon didn’t feel too strongly from there so empty since inception really).
I dunno that one plot point is actually kind of releveant.
Ashiok is causing nightmares to the denizens of Theros. Then harvesting thsese nightmares which they then tried to use to make a god named Cacophany, which was a warped version of a God of Polis. The newly born god was stopped by Ephara, the current God of Polis. But the thing about Ashiok is that they are invisible to all gods except Phenax who granted them their invisibility. All the while Ashiok is still harvesting nightmares on the denizens, mostly by causing the ones with magical aptitude to sleepwalk and cast destructive spells at fake enemies that the sleepwalker sees in their nightmare.
Dack wanted to stop this ^ and wanted to go to the underworld to do so to confront Ashiok. The comic ends on a cliff hanger as hes about to step into the underworld.
That whole storyline alone is enough fuel for a Torment version of Theros where there are nightmares, zombies, and other ghoulies running rampant. a Greeco-Roman Horror set if you would.
Elspeth, Undaunted Hero2WWW
Legendary Planeswalker - Elspeth (MR)
+2: Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to two target creatures.
-2: Search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Sunlit Hoplite and put it onto the battlefield. If you shuffle your library this way, shuffle it.
-8: Until end of turn, creatures you control gain flying and gain +X/+X, where X is your devotion to white. [5]
Ashiok, Sculptor of Fears4UB
Legendary Planeswalker - Ashiok (MR)
+2: Draw a card. Each player puts the top two cards of their library into their graveyard.
-5: Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
-11: Gain control of all creatures target opponent controls. [4]
I still don't get how the underworld is only now 'leaking'. Unless this is a soft-retcon.
Simple, things are retuning fully instead of the return with no soul or memories and/or more gates to the underworld are opening.
EDIT: Is it just me or does Ashiok walker deck art look like they have Heliods crown and sitting in a throne? O.o
I think its more column B, than A, as people have escaped without masks before in Theros.
No? The whole point is being a return was the only way to escape before.
As for the corwn, it does looks similar to Heliod's.
I'm wondering if Elspeth works for/tricked by Ashiok into killing Heliod (or its something they take advantage of after). Her spear looks like Ashioks horns and has been seen smoking at point similar to Ashioks magic.
The shaky feature is Dack. If he doesn't show up in some story piece or card even as a cameo, then its safe to say it takes place after WAR and The Wanderer connection is weaker. If he does show-up then The Wanderer connection is stronger.
An easy way to compartmentalize Dack in this case is Schrodinger's Cat. He is simultaneously alive and dead for this set until the third planeswalker is known.
https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?output=spoiler&method=visual&action=advanced&artist=["Steven Belledin"]
So the name of the temple is quiet literal due to the mortal's forgetfulness? Huh. I guess that makes sense.
As for the love goddess area, I guess that would make Xenagos a perversion of that. Also that Xenagos would just be purely coincidental as he wouldn't know of Klothys.
Also with the chains they only appear on Island and Mountain which seems like a correlation to Tartarus. Plains and Forest are depicting Elyisum. Swamp I would assume is the equivalent of Hades.
If the worshippers did exist, as some would still cling to their faith even if she can't answer them or meet them, how come no mention of them was made? Was Xenagos previously a worshipper of Klothys, who felt betrayed and tried to break of his fate/destiny? As his outfit in retrospect seems awfully similar to Klothys's. Or was that merely a coincidence with Xenagos's appearance and motivations?
Was the Temple of Abandon always known as the Temple of Abandon or was that due to a change in belief because the worshippers of Klothys believed that she had abandoned them? Would we get a different temple for her? If not and its still one of 'abandon', did her worshippers always feel like that she 'abandon' them or that one should 'abandon' their freewill to their destiny/fate as its an inevitability?
But on the flip side: They had the Thrones of Eldraine trailer feature MTG Arena instead of Magic: The Gathering. They put out the four brawl decks and wanted to have commander cards in a standard enviroment. MTG Arena also has the Brawl mode but the controversy with that is that it costs 2,000 gems (Equivalent: $15) or 10,000 gold to play it for just 30 days. So they do understandably want to milk Arena and Brawl for what its worth.
But then they swing the pendulum back to planeswalker decks for Theros, a product most people called 'noob-traps' and 'bad value'. Which makes the brawl decks look like a promotional stunt.
Theros Beyond Death's current promotional stunt, the Game Awards, and the after party on MTG Arena. The party is a special mode on MTG Arena of Elspeth Vs Ashiok in which they play premade decks that contain some vintage cards in them. Which while neat, its basically been described as a standalone brawl experience whose physical equivalent is lacking.
Ashiok is causing nightmares to the denizens of Theros. Then harvesting thsese nightmares which they then tried to use to make a god named Cacophany, which was a warped version of a God of Polis. The newly born god was stopped by Ephara, the current God of Polis. But the thing about Ashiok is that they are invisible to all gods except Phenax who granted them their invisibility. All the while Ashiok is still harvesting nightmares on the denizens, mostly by causing the ones with magical aptitude to sleepwalk and cast destructive spells at fake enemies that the sleepwalker sees in their nightmare.
Dack wanted to stop this ^ and wanted to go to the underworld to do so to confront Ashiok. The comic ends on a cliff hanger as hes about to step into the underworld.
That whole storyline alone is enough fuel for a Torment version of Theros where there are nightmares, zombies, and other ghoulies running rampant. a Greeco-Roman Horror set if you would.
https://twitter.com/Kensadi/status/1205578786768474112
As for the corwn, it does looks similar to Heliod's.