I do think Dreamscythe Druid, specifically caring about creatures being cheated into play, makes plenty of sense in green. Also, it seems like it works really well with Premonition.
I just found this podcast from the Reddit link. This is awesome, I plan to check out some of the earlier episodes later.
For now, one black/green theme I've actually been interested in for a long time is the notion of something being the strongest and that only the strongest survive. Essentially, Darwinism. Usually this is something we associate with red - that red/green only cares about brute strength and as a result its creatures are the most efficient of all the colors in terms of power/toughness. So, while it's true that red/green is most adept with the tangible and will usually focus itself towards the physical side of things, the desire to be the best/strongest in the group is not actually a red/green desire, it's a black/green desire. Black's quest for power meets green's understanding of natural limits and adjusts it's goal from omnipotence to maximizing it's own potential as then it will be able to rule over others of similar potential and it can easily crush those with lesser genetics than itself. This form of green/black was touched on in the Lorwyn elves.
So, first I'm creating a definition that makes my idea a little friendlier on the eyes, and the definition is this:
A creature is "Alpha" if it is the creature you control with greatest toughness or tied for the greatest toughness.
And it presents itself on cards like this:
CREATURE NAME has EFFECT as long as it is alpha. (A creature is "Alpha" if it is the creature you control with greatest toughness or tied for greatest toughness.)
So, here's a common guy.
Aspiring Brushwalker - 1 Creature - Orc Scout [C]
Aspiring Brushwalker gets +2/+1 as long as it is alpha.
1/2
(I think I kind of like orcs in black/green instead of black/red, they feel more primal to me than goblins)
and here's the uncommon build-around
Bayou Kingmaker - 3BG Creature - Hag Shaman [U]
Other creatures you control are indestructible as long as they are the creature with greatest toughness among creatures you control or tied for greatest. : Target creature gets +1/+1 or -1/-1 until end of turn. Activate this ability no more than twice each turn.
2/4
I think this effect is really interesting because it really gives a lot of focus to green and black's combat tricks that are usually worth nothing. Alpha allows them to have significantly change the board, or use them in ways you wouldn't usually expect. Bayou Kingmaker, for example, will frequently be using its anti-rootwalla effect on itself in response to removal. She also, of course, rewards you for playing in a way that your creatures all have the same toughness, which I don't think is a play style that has ever been emphasized before. The only problem about the effect I can think of is some confusing things can happen with static effects that shrink creatures, so things like, "this gets +2/-2 as long as its alpha" will never appear, at least not below mythic rare.
The hypothetical set this goes in will also contain instant speed flowstone effects in blue and red. White will have Great Defender as a reprint. Black will have finally received it's member of the Morphling cycle:
Morgueling - 3BB Creature - Shapeshifter [MR]
: Morgueling gains Swampwalk until end of turn. : Target land becomes a Swamp until end of turn. : Sacrifice Morgueling, then return Morgueling to the battlefield under its owner's control tapped. 1: Morgueling gets +1/-1 until end of turn. 1: Morgueling gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
Rakdos Electrolyze deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Draw a card.
The answer is, yes. Yes you would. Happily.
Returning a creature from your graveyard to your hand is almost always better than drawing a card. There's no chance of you bricking and drawing a land, or something you can't use.
And, if for whatever reason, either of those two modes aren't useful at the moment, you could blow up your opponent's Whip, or have them discard instead.
Notice the architecture of the buildings in the background. Compare it to the Island art revealed in Uncharted Realms, the "Ojutai" architecture is very cold and dispassionate.:
This Narset art is from Khans of Tarkir, not Dragons of Tarkir. If Narset is a planeswalker, she won't be using this art.
I don't think Doug is paying too much attention to the order in which the stories are being uploaded on the site. He knows what's going up, but not when. It wouldn't surprise me at all that there already having been an article since Ugin was saved simply slipped his mind.
Also, since Dragons of Tarkir is being released March 21st and large sets are typically allotted three weeks for previews, previews will probably begin March 3rd with Pax East. This means including tomorrow, we will only be getting two more Uncharted Realms from the time of Fate Reforged. Incidentally there are only two clans that haven't been touched on: Jeskai and Temur (yes, Yasova was in Sarkhan's story but the focus was not on her.) There simply won't be enough time to have a second story on Alesha and how the Mardu lost their white influence. And, I think it was desirable for creative to have a story on how each clan's life changed with the continued exposure to dragons. All of this combines to strongly suggest that Alesha's story took place in the altered timeline. After I finish writing this comment, I plan to check her story to see if there was any reference to any increased dragon activity.
Also, I think it's pretty silly not to think that these stories would be uploaded in chronological order, especially considering the significance of time to the overarching plot.
===
Edit: No explicit statement of dragonstorms. There is, however, an implication that "six dragons" was a lot. So this could be implying a greater rate of dragon growth.
I don't believe the unnamed orc isn't part of the "DTK preview" UR articles, though.
I'm not sure what you're saying here. The Mardu story was published after the story of Sarkhan saving Ugin. In one of the tublrs it was said that those stories are supposed to take place in the alternate timeline.
Might be. Or just it is the simple fact that the naga and rakshasa are possibly leaving the clan.
It's a little awkwardly presented, but from my understanding of green's philosophy a big part of it is the understanding that one is born into one's role in life. Paired with black, this would frequently yield dynasty-forming behavior as the ruling class claims power and the lower classes respect that claim. Notice that even the naga and rakshasha didn't attempt to seize control of the Sultai, they simply left. The act of offering the Sultai throne to Silumgar is probably symbolic of Tasigur and the rest of the Sultai surrendered their concept of birthright.
Interestingly, in each of these stories there has been a disfavored faction. In the Mardu there was the unnamed orc, In Abzan there are the older houses that wouldn't part with their ancestors, and in Sultai there were the naga and rakshasha. I suspect that in Dragons of Tarkir we will still be seeing these "rebel" factions taking the enemy pair from each clan and bearing the original clan watermark.
My first thought was actually prowl. Not sure quite how reasonable that would be. It is kind of like delve in that it allows you to cast expensive things cheaper by jumping through hoops, and it would be kind of cute for Dragons of Tarkir to mirror Khan's warrior tribal with rogue tribal. Unfortunately, there are only three rogues in Fate Reforged and two of them are red, so it doesn't seem likely.
Not positive this is quite enough information for the rumor mill, feel free to move to speculation if you deem necessary.
Two more Inside R&D videos were just uploaded on YouTube, and in one of these videos (The Crossroads of Fate Reforged), Ethan Fleicher says something kind of interesting when talking about Marang River Prowler: "I think you'll find that he'll work very well in Dragons of Tarkir, but in a different way."
Seems like a hint toward the blue/black mechanic for Dragons of Tarkir
Because this is a modern pro tour? Nobody expected it in modern. Anyway the only place it belongs in standard is mono-blue, or maybe blue-green. Neither of these are hot commodities yet.
Actually, if you read this thread you'll see a lot of people expected it in modern.
I can't help but notice not one Reality Shift has shown up yet in the Pro Tour, except for the one that was 7th picked in draft. How is that possible when the card is CLEARLY so busted?! [/sarcasm]
1. The art of Narset that we saw during the first teaser for Khans of Tarkir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHouiR3LnSU) still hasn't been used. We expected it to be some kind of promotional art, but as far as I know we haven't seen it anywhere since the teaser. Her pose in the teaser is appropriate for a planeswalker.
2. This text from The Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir: "Some say that Narset possesses a secret potential inside her, a power or calling that will drive her to a greater purpose, but she remains dedicated to leading her clan."
Between what we have seen from the "Ugin's Fate" cards with Surrak no longer being khan (Dragonclaw was an honorific surname for the khan of Temur), and the teaser art we've seen for Dragons of Tarkir, with what appear to be Mardu charging with a dragon. It seems like the clans may have dissolved somewhat in favor of factions led by the dragon broods. As a result, Narset will likely no longer be bound to a leadership position, which means she would be free to pursue this "power or calling" which seems most likely to be referring to a "spark".
I think Narset will likely have become a planeswalker when we see her in Dragons of Tarkir, and I think she will probably wind up using the art we saw in the teaser.
For now, one black/green theme I've actually been interested in for a long time is the notion of something being the strongest and that only the strongest survive. Essentially, Darwinism. Usually this is something we associate with red - that red/green only cares about brute strength and as a result its creatures are the most efficient of all the colors in terms of power/toughness. So, while it's true that red/green is most adept with the tangible and will usually focus itself towards the physical side of things, the desire to be the best/strongest in the group is not actually a red/green desire, it's a black/green desire. Black's quest for power meets green's understanding of natural limits and adjusts it's goal from omnipotence to maximizing it's own potential as then it will be able to rule over others of similar potential and it can easily crush those with lesser genetics than itself. This form of green/black was touched on in the Lorwyn elves.
So, first I'm creating a definition that makes my idea a little friendlier on the eyes, and the definition is this:
A creature is "Alpha" if it is the creature you control with greatest toughness or tied for the greatest toughness.
And it presents itself on cards like this:
CREATURE NAME has EFFECT as long as it is alpha. (A creature is "Alpha" if it is the creature you control with greatest toughness or tied for greatest toughness.)
So, here's a common guy.
Aspiring Brushwalker - 1
Creature - Orc Scout [C]
Aspiring Brushwalker gets +2/+1 as long as it is alpha.
1/2
(I think I kind of like orcs in black/green instead of black/red, they feel more primal to me than goblins)
and here's the uncommon build-around
Bayou Kingmaker - 3BG
Creature - Hag Shaman [U]
Other creatures you control are indestructible as long as they are the creature with greatest toughness among creatures you control or tied for greatest.
2/4
I think this effect is really interesting because it really gives a lot of focus to green and black's combat tricks that are usually worth nothing. Alpha allows them to have significantly change the board, or use them in ways you wouldn't usually expect. Bayou Kingmaker, for example, will frequently be using its anti-rootwalla effect on itself in response to removal. She also, of course, rewards you for playing in a way that your creatures all have the same toughness, which I don't think is a play style that has ever been emphasized before. The only problem about the effect I can think of is some confusing things can happen with static effects that shrink creatures, so things like, "this gets +2/-2 as long as its alpha" will never appear, at least not below mythic rare.
The hypothetical set this goes in will also contain instant speed flowstone effects in blue and red. White will have Great Defender as a reprint. Black will have finally received it's member of the Morphling cycle:
Morgueling - 3BB
Creature - Shapeshifter [MR]
1: Morgueling gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
1: Morgueling gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
3/3
It's much smaller. Less inertia.
Rakdos Electrolyze - 1BR
Instant
Rakdos Electrolyze deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Draw a card.
The answer is, yes. Yes you would. Happily.
Returning a creature from your graveyard to your hand is almost always better than drawing a card. There's no chance of you bricking and drawing a land, or something you can't use.
And, if for whatever reason, either of those two modes aren't useful at the moment, you could blow up your opponent's Whip, or have them discard instead.
Kolaghan's Command is a good card.
This Narset art is from Khans of Tarkir, not Dragons of Tarkir. If Narset is a planeswalker, she won't be using this art.
http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/109157926989/mr-beyer-when-will-shu-yun-receive-his-uncharted
I don't think Doug is paying too much attention to the order in which the stories are being uploaded on the site. He knows what's going up, but not when. It wouldn't surprise me at all that there already having been an article since Ugin was saved simply slipped his mind.
Also, since Dragons of Tarkir is being released March 21st and large sets are typically allotted three weeks for previews, previews will probably begin March 3rd with Pax East. This means including tomorrow, we will only be getting two more Uncharted Realms from the time of Fate Reforged. Incidentally there are only two clans that haven't been touched on: Jeskai and Temur (yes, Yasova was in Sarkhan's story but the focus was not on her.) There simply won't be enough time to have a second story on Alesha and how the Mardu lost their white influence. And, I think it was desirable for creative to have a story on how each clan's life changed with the continued exposure to dragons. All of this combines to strongly suggest that Alesha's story took place in the altered timeline. After I finish writing this comment, I plan to check her story to see if there was any reference to any increased dragon activity.
Also, I think it's pretty silly not to think that these stories would be uploaded in chronological order, especially considering the significance of time to the overarching plot.
===
Edit: No explicit statement of dragonstorms. There is, however, an implication that "six dragons" was a lot. So this could be implying a greater rate of dragon growth.
I'm not sure what you're saying here. The Mardu story was published after the story of Sarkhan saving Ugin. In one of the tublrs it was said that those stories are supposed to take place in the alternate timeline.
It's a little awkwardly presented, but from my understanding of green's philosophy a big part of it is the understanding that one is born into one's role in life. Paired with black, this would frequently yield dynasty-forming behavior as the ruling class claims power and the lower classes respect that claim. Notice that even the naga and rakshasha didn't attempt to seize control of the Sultai, they simply left. The act of offering the Sultai throne to Silumgar is probably symbolic of Tasigur and the rest of the Sultai surrendered their concept of birthright.
Interestingly, in each of these stories there has been a disfavored faction. In the Mardu there was the unnamed orc, In Abzan there are the older houses that wouldn't part with their ancestors, and in Sultai there were the naga and rakshasha. I suspect that in Dragons of Tarkir we will still be seeing these "rebel" factions taking the enemy pair from each clan and bearing the original clan watermark.
My first thought was actually prowl. Not sure quite how reasonable that would be. It is kind of like delve in that it allows you to cast expensive things cheaper by jumping through hoops, and it would be kind of cute for Dragons of Tarkir to mirror Khan's warrior tribal with rogue tribal. Unfortunately, there are only three rogues in Fate Reforged and two of them are red, so it doesn't seem likely.
Two more Inside R&D videos were just uploaded on YouTube, and in one of these videos (The Crossroads of Fate Reforged), Ethan Fleicher says something kind of interesting when talking about Marang River Prowler: "I think you'll find that he'll work very well in Dragons of Tarkir, but in a different way."
Seems like a hint toward the blue/black mechanic for Dragons of Tarkir
Moved to Speculation - Wildfire393
Actually, if you read this thread you'll see a lot of people expected it in modern.
1. The art of Narset that we saw during the first teaser for Khans of Tarkir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHouiR3LnSU) still hasn't been used. We expected it to be some kind of promotional art, but as far as I know we haven't seen it anywhere since the teaser. Her pose in the teaser is appropriate for a planeswalker.
2. This text from The Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir: "Some say that Narset possesses a secret potential inside her, a power or calling that will drive her to a greater purpose, but she remains dedicated to leading her clan."
Between what we have seen from the "Ugin's Fate" cards with Surrak no longer being khan (Dragonclaw was an honorific surname for the khan of Temur), and the teaser art we've seen for Dragons of Tarkir, with what appear to be Mardu charging with a dragon. It seems like the clans may have dissolved somewhat in favor of factions led by the dragon broods. As a result, Narset will likely no longer be bound to a leadership position, which means she would be free to pursue this "power or calling" which seems most likely to be referring to a "spark".
I think Narset will likely have become a planeswalker when we see her in Dragons of Tarkir, and I think she will probably wind up using the art we saw in the teaser.