Commander Spoiler 10-14

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

This week, we are expecting the newest Magic: the Gathering 'Commander 2013' spoilers to be hitting the mothersite as well as other preview sites.  The Commander 2013 product consists of five tri-color 'shard' decks, each 100 cards strong, that are ready-to-play commander decks right out of the box, with the option of choosing one of the three legendary tri-colored creatures each deck includes as the commander, each of which will also be represented as an oversized foil.  For only an suggested retail price of $30, we know some Commander / EDH fans wanted to get all five.

The five pre-con decks available are: 
• Evasive Maneuvers (bant - white / blue / green)
• Eternal Bargain (esper - white / blue / black)
• Mind Seize (grixis - blue / black / red)
• Power Hungry (jund - black / red / green)
• Nature of the Beast (naya - white / red / green)

Anywhoos - let's have a looky-loo at the fresh new cards out today !

 













Gahiji, Honored One, 2rgw
Legendary Creature — Beast, Mythic Rare
Whenever a creature attacks one of your opponents or a planeswalker an opponent controls, that creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
4/4

Nekusar, the Mindrazer, 2ubr
Legendary Creature — Zombie Wizard, Mythic Rare
At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player draws an additional card.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, Nekusar, the Mindrazer deals 1 damage to that player.
2/4

Baleful Force, 5bbb
Creature — Elemental, Rare
At the beginning of each upkeep, you draw a card and lose 1 life.
7/7

Curse of Chaos, 2r
Enchantment — Aura Curse, Uncommon
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked by one or more creatures, the attacking player may discard a card, then draw a card.

Bane of Progress, 4gg
Creature — Elemental, Rare
When Bane of Progress enters the battlefied, destroy all artifacts and enchantments. Put a +1/+1 counter on Bane of Progress for each permanent destroyed this way.
2/2

Gahiji looks to be our second Naya general or commander and Nekusar our Gixis  one.  We'll likely see the remaining commander general canidates and the remainder of the 51 unique new card spread out over the next two weeks, so stay tuned.  While we roll through the new builds, we suggest you start making a wishlist for MTG Mint Card for singles you may want to pick up to help personalize you new deck(s).
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Commander Spoiler 10-8

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

For today's post to the MTG Realm blog, we are continuing to roll with another Commander 2013 preview, this time from the mothersite. 

Available from your local gaming store, these five Commander 2013 preconstructed decks are perfect for those Magic: the Gathering players wanting to get into Commander (aka EDH / Elder Dragon Highlander).  The five new pre-cons being release next month feature the tri-colours most associated with the Shards from the Alara block (2008).  Specifically, Bant (White / Green / Blue), Esper (Blue / White / Black), Grixis ( Black / Blue / Red), Jund (Red / Black / Green), and Naya (Green / Red / White).

With the recent reveal of Marath on the mothersite today, we now have all five of the “face cards” appearing as the official leaders of the new Commander decks. These five creatures will be the basis for the rest of the decks behind them and you can very well speculate as to the strategy of each build extrapolated from each of these.  Anywhoos - let's have a looky-loo at today's new card . . .

~Marath, Will of the Wild, rgw
Legendary Creature - Elemental Beast, Mythic Rare

Marath, Will of the Wild enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the amount of mana spent to cast it.

X, Remove X +1/+1 counters from Marath: Choose one — Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature; or Marath deals X damage to target creature or player; or put an X/X green Elemental creature token onto the battlefield. X can’t be 0.

0/0 
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Of note is that Marath had received “day-zero” errata - essentially “X can’t be 0” had been added to the end of his activated ability. For those of you who read the MTG Realm blog regularly or perhaps have had a game or two with us, you certainly know we have a soft spot for creature token generating strategies.  Marath seems somewhat similar to a previously printed card, Ghave, Guru of Spores but upgraded with the ability to burn face.  This looks great and we can't wait until we see a pile of counters on this beast when we get down to gaming with it.
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Anywhoos - here's the corporate 4.1.1. -
For the MSRP of just $30 per deck, you too can acquire on November the first a new Commander deck.  A few players we know are getting all five new Commander decks.  Each contain two new three-color legendary creatures and 13 other never-before-printed cards.  There are 51 unique new cards spread across the five decks, with some cards appearing in multiple decks.  You are certainly encouraged to drop by MTG Mint Card to pick up additional singles to adjust your new tall stack to your personal taste.
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Commander Spoiler 10-07

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

EDIT - late day spoiler added - see below !

Today's post will be focusing on the new Commander 2013 product due to be released November 1st, 2013.  Commander (aka EDH / Elder Dragon Highlander), is a much loved casual singleton format consisting of 99 cards and 1 'general' or commander.  Since the release of the pre-constructed deck back in June 2011, a lot of players we know has climbed on board this fun and social game format.  We have to say that we're rather excited to go to the midnight prerelease at OMG! Games here in Barrie and will be following up with some singles purchased at MTG Mint Card to tweak the deck(s) we're getting to adjust for personal taste.

The five new pre-cons being release next month feature the tri-colours most associated with the Shards from the Alara block (2008).  Specifically, Bant (White / Green / Blue)
Esper (Blue / White / Black)
Grixis ( Black / Blue / Red)
Jund (Red / Black / Green)
Naya (Green / Red / White)

Two previews had been provided to date - Prossh, Skyraider of Kher (Jund), and Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge (Grixis) with the latest coming from the Commander 'mothersite' MTGCommander.Net - say hello to this bird from bant . . .Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, gwu
Legendary Creature — Bird Wizard, Mythic Rare
Flying
Whenever Derevi, Empyrial Tactician enters the battlefield or a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may tap or untap target permanent.
1{G}{W}{U}: Put Derevi onto the battlefield from the command zone.
2/3
~Derevi may not be the 'go-to' Bant general that many would rather see Rafiq of the Many (or perhaps Jenara) take but there are some very cool and relevant abilities on Derevi.  The basic stats of just one 'bant' (gwu) provides a 2/3 flyer.  The next conditional ability to tap or untap target permanent is very delicious.  Imagine being able to untap a Serra's Sanctum - for a Bant Enchant strategy or perhaps a Gaea's Cradle (for a creature-heavy build) . . . dang.

The last ability is the unique and honestly something we do not ever recall seeing before - a rules reference on a card to the command zone.  This essentially by-passes the additional and sometimes expensive recasting cost.  For those new to Commander, a player may cast his or her commander from the command zone for its normal costs plus an additional 2 Mana for each previous time it had been cast.
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Edit - late day spoiler

From Chris Kluwe (from YoMTG Taps) - the actual box!

Olora, Ageless Ascetic, 3WUB
Legendary Creature - Giant Soldier, Mythic Rare
At the Beginning of your upkeep, you gain 2 life.
Whenever you gain life, you may pay 1. If you do, draw a card and each opponent loses 1 life.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is in the Command Zone, you gain 2 life.
4/5

Here is yet another card rules reference to the Command Zone - and this one has a lovely trigger while in the Command Zone.  Although life gain in the Commander format is not the best strategy, we're likeing the possibility of some sweet 'n' repeatable card advantage here - Makes us want to incorporate life gain shenanigans in this Esper build with Exquisite Blood, etc.

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Anywhoos - here's the corporate 4.1.1. -
For the MSRP of just $30 per deck, you too can acquire on November the first a new Commander deck.  A few players we know are getting all five new Commander decks.  Each contain two new three-color legendary creatures and 13 other never-before-printed cards.  There are 51 unique new cards spread across the five decks, with some cards appearing in multiple decks.
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Theros PreRelease Packs

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering fans are gearing up for the big Theros pre-release party this weekend and we think game stores are gonna be packed.  Tonight, we here at MTG Realm will likely be finalising our singles pre-order to MTG Mint Card, with Friday Night Magic tomorrow, and then two solid days of Theros PreRelease.  We'll likely only be leaving OMG! Games & Collectibles here in Barrie, Ontario to shower and shave.

Some players we've talked to just cannot decide which Theros PreRelease pack to go with this weekend, while others want to play all the colors.  If you are still sitting on the fence as to which color to go with, here's a set of videos from Derium'ss CCGs in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio who has kindly presented a show 'n' tell of each - have a looky-loo.  Give 'em some link love to their Facebook page and their Twitter y'awll.
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EDIT - 7:00 PM EST 9.19.2013 - It appears that the videos have been removed or set to private now.  We suspect that Wizards may have directed correspondence to Derium.
Deriums Review: MTG Theros Path of Honor (White) prerelease pack


Deriums Review: MTG Theros Path of Battle (Red) prerelease pack



Deriums Review: MTG Theros Path of Might (Green) prerelease pack



Deriums Review: MTG Theros Path of Ambition (Black) prerelease pack



Deriums Review: MTG Theros Path of Wisdom prerelease pack


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All the seed packs seem to follow a similar pattern - - Each has 11 commons (5 off-color, and 6 on-color, one of which was the same in both pre-release packs of each color).  It has  3 uncommons. 1 on-color, 1 off-color, and 1 of either a multicolor or off-color and 1 rare/mythic, which can be multicolor.

Just a an additional note - Each prerelease seed booster has a playable promo. It has a primary color but isn't monocolor. Can open a God but no other mythic.
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Theros Intro Pack Decklists

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We have the entire Theros set now out in the open and Magic: the Gathering fans are downright giddy with excitement (us included) as we consider all the new cards soon available.  The prerelease event is this weekend (21st September), with the formal release the very following weekend (27th September).  After your review and evaluation, make sure to get your singles pre-orders in to MTG Mint Card - we're still working out a few deck ideas but will have new standard decks ready very soon.

Anywhoos - we now have Theros Intro Pack decklists unveiled on the mothersite.  This is the perfect start for both new and more seasoned players to get into the newest MTG set.  For the retail price of approximately $15, you get the following;
•  1 premium card
•  1 60-card deck
•  2 Theros booster packs
•  1 learn-to-play insert
•  1 strategy insert
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Favors from Nyx (white / black)
With the "Favors from Nyx" deck, bestow the gifts of the divine on your creatures, enhancing them with additional power and useful abilities.

25 Lands : 16 Plains, 9 Swamps

22 Creatures : 2 Hopeful Eidolon, 1 Yoked Ox, 2 Traveling Philosopher, 1 Baleful Eidolon, 1 Auramancer, 2 Lagonna-Band Elder, 2 Observant Alseid, 1 Scholar of Athreos, 1 Banisher Priest, 2 Heliod's Emissary, 1 Pillarfield Ox, 1 Blightcaster, 1 Cavern Lampad, 1 Erebos's Emissary, 1 Celestial Archon, 1 Sentry of the Underworld, 1 Minotaur Abomination
   
13 Other Spells : 2 Last Breath, 1 Ordeal of Heliod, 1 Pacifism, 1 Doom Blade, 2 Ordeal of Erebos, 2 Pharika's Cure, 1 Gift of Immortality, 1 Ray of Dissolution, 2 Vanquish the Foul

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Manipulative Monstrosities (Blue / Red)
With the "Manipulative Monstrosities" deck, you can command colossal Krakens, gargantuan Giants, and the forces of nature itself to smash your opponent into submission.

26 Lands : 16 Island, 10 Mountain

18 Creatures : 2 Coral Merfolk, 2 Omenspeaker, 1 Burnished Hart, 2 Crackling Triton, 1 Wall of Frost, 2 Ill-tempered Cyclops, 2 Archaomancer, 1 Water Servant, 2 Sealkock Monster, 2 Stoneshock Giant, 1 Shipbreaker Kraken

16 Other Spells : 1 Lost in a Labyrinth, 2 Shock, 1 Disperse, 2 Lightning Strike, 1 Magma Jet, 1 Ordeal of Purphoros, 1 Dissolve, 2 Griptide, 2 Rage of Purphuros, 1 Sea God's Revenge, 1 Curse of the Swine, 1 Volcanic Geyser

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Devotion to Darkness (Black / Blue)
With the "Devotion to Darkness" deck, your primary goal is to assemble many black permanents to increase your devotion to black—the number of black mana symbols in the mana costs of permanents you control.

25 Lands : 16 Swamp, 9 Island

20 creatures : 2 Child of Night, 2 Returned Phalanx, 2 Blood-Toll Harpy, 2 Mogis's Marauder, 2 Undead Minotaur, 2 Disciple of Phenax, 2 Insatiable Harpy, 2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel, 2 Horizon Scholar, 1 Minotaur Abomination, 1 Abhorrent Overlord

15 other spells : 1 Witches' Eye, 1 Boon of Erebos, 1 Ordeal of Thassa, 1 Voyage's End, 1 Pharika's Cure, 2 Glimpse the Future, 1 March of the Returned, 1 Griptide, 1 Whip of Erebos, 1 Lash of the Whip, 1 Rescue form the Underworld, 1 Sea God's Revenge, 2 Sip of Hemlock

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Blazing Beasts of Myth (Red / Green)
Monstrous terrors encroach into the territories of Theros's proud civilizations, threatening to crush their great cities into dust. The "Blazing Beasts of Myth" deck puts them at your command.

25 lands : 14 Mountain, 11 Forest

22 creatures : 2 Satyr Rambler, 2 Satyr Hedonist, 2 Voyaging Satyr, 2 Minotaur Skullcleaver, 1 Nessian Courser, 1 Rootwalla, 1 Satyr Piper, 1 Ill-tempered Cyclops, 2 Borderland Minotaur, 1 Ember Swallower, 1 Polis Crusher, 2 Nessian Asp, 2 Stoneshock Giant, 2 Nemesis of Mortals

13 other spells : 1 Dragon Mantle, 2 Lightning Strike, 2 Magma Jet, 1 Destructive Revelry, 1 Portent of Betrayal, 1 Artisan's Sorrow, 2 Rage of Purphoros, 1 Windstorm, 2 Volcanic Geyser

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Anthousa's Army (Green / White)
With the "Anthousa's Army" deck, use potent spells to help your heroes find their inner strength and defeat the enemy.

25 lands : 13 Forest, 12 Plains

20 creatures : 2 Elvish Mystic, 1 Favored Hoplite, 2 Deadly Recluse, 1 Setessan Battle Priest, 1 Phalanx Leader, 2 Wingsteed Rider, 2 Chronicler of Heroes, 2 Staunch-Hearted Warrior, 2 Rumbling Baloth, 1 Pheres-Band Centaurs, 1 Setessan Griffin, 1 Anthousa, Setessan Hero, 2 Centaur Battlemaster

15 other spells : 2 Giant Growth, 2 Warrior's Lesson, 2 Battlewise Valor, 2 Pacifism, 2 Time to Feed, 2 Dauntless Onslaught, 1 Bow of Nylea, 1 Artisan's Sorrow, 1 Vanquish the Soul

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Theros Tokens

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

This is our second post for today - the previous post here addressed new Theros previews so check that out too.  In this post, we wanted to catch up with all the tokens you can expect in Theros which was revealed by WotC Magic Arcana minion TJ over on the mothersite earlier.  We went a bit further and provided the spell which generates the given token as well - but we have to caution you that not all the Theros cards are yet previewed / spoiled, so you should expect an amendment or two to the list below.  By-the-way, if you haven't been with us since 2008 when we started blogging about Magic: the Gathering, you should know that we have a thingy for tokens.  Anywhoos - lets rip through the list . . .

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Heliod, God of the Sun - 2/1 white Cleric enchantment creature token.

Elspeth, Sun's Champion - 1/1 white Soldier creature token and emblem.

Akroan Horse - 1/1 whilte soldier creature token.

Swan Song - 2/2 blue Bird creature token with flying.

Curse of the Swine - 2/2 green Boar creature token.

Master of Waves - 1/0 blue Elemental creature token.

Abhorrent Overlord - 1/1 black Harpy creature token with flying.

Hammer of Purphoros - 3/3 colorless Golem enchantment artifact creature token.

Akroan Crusader - 1/1 red Soldier creature token with haste.

Xenagos, the Reveler - 2/2 red and green Satyr creature token with haste.

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Theros Preview Party

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

It is Saturday of the PAX Prime weekend and one of the hotest places to be for a Magic: the Gathering player is at the Showbox at The Market, in Seattle where the Theros Preview Party is now going on.  All images are credited to the very awesome MTGColorPie unless otherwise noted.


This post will be added upon ad-hoc so please tune in every few minutes as we check out all the new card previews.
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Elspeth, Sun's Champion, 4ww
Planeswalker - Elspeth, Mythic Rare
+1: Put three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield
-1: Destroy all creatures with power 4 or greater
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying" 

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Underworld Cerebus, 3br
Creature - Hound, Mythic Rare
Underworld Cerebus can't be blocked except by three or more creatures.
Cards in graveyards can't be the targets of spell or abilities.
When Underworld Cerebus dies, exile it and each player returns all creature cards from his or her graveyard to his or her hand.
6/6
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Nylea, God of the Hunt, 3g
Legendary Enchantment Creature — God, Mythic Rare
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to green is less than 5, Nylea isn't a creature. (Each {G} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts towards your devotion to green.)
Other creatures you control have trample.
6/6
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Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Legendary Land, Rare
T: Add 1 colorless to your mana pool.
2, T: Choose a color, Add to your mana pool an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color
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Hammer of Purphoros, 1rr
Legendary Enchantment Artifact, Rare
Creatures you control have haste.
2{R}, {T}, Sacrifice a land: Put a 3/3 colorless Golem enchantment artifact creature token onto the battlefield.
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Rageblood Shaman, 1rr
Creature - Minotaur Shaman, Rare
Trample
Other Minotaur creatures you control get +1/+1 and have trample
2/3
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Resuce from the Underworld, 4b
Instant, Uncommon
AS an additional cost to cast Rescue from the Underworld, sacrifice a create.
Choose target creature card in you graveyard. Return that card and the sacrificed card to the battlefield under you control at the beginning of your next upkeep.
Exile Rescue from the Underworld.
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Voyage's End, 1u
Instant, Common
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Scry 1.
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Commune with the Gods, 1g
Sorcery, Common
Reveal the top five cards of you library. You may put a crezature of enchantment card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
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Read the Bones, 2b
Sorcery, common
Scry 2, then draw two cards. YOu lose 2 life.

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Theros PW Guide 2

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Today marks the second of three installments of the Planeswalker's Guide to Theros on the mothersite.  If you are a Magic: the Gathering fan looking for some storyline / flavor from this fall's upcoming set Theros, you gotta get in here - once again, the Magic Creative Team has done a great job in providing a background canvas to this wondrous environment.   Due to be released on 27 September 2013, this large MTG set has an ancient Greek theme full of gods, heroes, and mythological monsters.

With today's second of three installments of 'Planeswalker's Guide to Theros', the MTG creative team provided some brief descriptions of the major poleis or cities of Theros — that of Meletis, Akros and Setessa.  Previously, the guide addressed the Plane of Theros, the land of Nyx, Enchantments, and Gods.  Look for the third and last installment of the PW guide next week which will look at the monsters and non-human inhabitants of Theros.  

Anywhoos - let's have a look at some select pieces of amazing art posted today -
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Finally, a note about the new 'Devotion' ability word in Theros, somewhat similar to the old Eventide 'Chroma' ability.  All we can say is you might want to drop over to MTG Mint Card and pick up some Return to Ravnica cards like Boros Reckoner which will help you make the new tech shine.
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Theros PW Guide 1

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Very exciting stuff over on the mothersite today if you are a Magic: the Gathering fan looking for some storyline / flavor from this fall's upcoming set Theros.  Due to be released on 27 September 2013, this large MTG set has an ancient Greek theme full of gods, heroes, and mythological monsters.

With today's first of three installments of 'Planeswalker's Guide to Theros', the MTG creative team provided some brief descriptions of the Plane of Theros, the land of Nyx, Enchantments, and Gods.  The second PW guide is to describe the major poleis or cities of Theros — that of Meletis, Akros and Setessa.  A very intriguing note about how these new 'god' cards may manifest themselves within game play - today's article describes the gods as living enchantments. With today's PW Guide installment, Wizards also provided artwork of possible legendary artifacts associated with each of the five gods of Theros.  Without speculating too much, we might suggest that you not trade away any Artificer's Hex from the Magic 2014 core set - in fact you may just want to pick us some extra singles from MTG Mint Card.

Anywhoos - let's have a look at some of the new Theros arts now . . .
Heliod, white-algined god of the sun with his spear Krushor.
Art by Jamie Jones / Yeong-Hao Han


Thessa, blue-aligned god of the sea with her spear Dekella.
Art by Jason Chan / Yeong-Hao Han


Erebos, black-aligned god of the underworld with his Whip Mastix.
Art by Peter Mohrbacher / Yeong-Hao Han


Purphoros, red-aligned god of fire / forge with his hammer Akmon.
Art by Eric Deschamps / Yeong-Hao Han


Nylea, green-aligned god of nature / hunt with her Bow Ephixis.
Art by Chris Rahn / Yeong-Hao Han

 
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