So now we speculate. Who remains? What colors are each aligned to? How does Xenagos fit in if he does in fact become a god? How will each work mechanically?
Also, please correct me if I've gotten anything wrong so .
There have been small mentions of the gods Pharika and Ephara. On Pharika, "Here, people make offerings to Pharika and to Erebos in hopes of sparing themselves grief or pain in old age, or in remembrance of someone who now walks in the Underworld." For Ephara, "The legend goes that the god Ephara granted magic to the humans to help them overthrow Agnomakhos, cast out the leonin, and free Meletis from tyranny." (Both from PW Guide pt 2)
I think we're fairly certain that Xenagos, in his goal to usurp Heliod, will ascend to godhood and fill in the RG spot. My best guess for Pharika would be BG or BW and for Ephara, UW.
Xanagos is not the RG god. There is a complete pantheon BEFORE Xanagos ascends. I also doubt that he will be RG as a god, as the whole idea of becoming a god is so black(ambition/lust for power at any cost), that he will have to become RB.
Pretty much confirmed RW Iroas. RB Mogis. RU Keranos. UG Kruphix GB Pharika
Very, very likelyy UW Ephera GW Karametra
Possibles profiles for other 4 gods BW Either Persephone or 3 Fates UB Trickster? Vengeance? RG Bacchus for sure. Satyrs, most wild color. Names?
Xanagos: Its essentially confirmed that Xanagos will become a god, whoever, I do not believe that he is part of the 15 God pantheon described by MaRo. Xanagos will be an additional god, and will be at least partly black, either RB or Jund
If you read the Uncharted Realms published on the Mothership tonight, Pharika is described by Elspeth as the god of potions and poisons, that her priests were snake-lovers and there's gorgon art right next to that section. I'm now 95% sure she's BG.
@ NicolBolasTM, Pan's already the name of a Greek god, who happens to be a satyr. Wizards would not use that name for the sake of not-confusing things, as well as showing that Theros is its own world and is inspired by Greek myth, not directly using it. Also, for Xenagos, we've seen art featuring a god (very large guy w/the Nyx starfield) who looks near exactly like Xenagos (spoiled images in this thread- http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=533878 ). We've also seen that Mogis portrays the most BR qualities of any gods mentioned thus far, and that chances anyone else is BR are very, very insignificant. Xenagos ascending to godhood does make sense in RG, not because of ambition, but in an accumulation of power (think super-ramp). He just wants to be the best, like no one ever was. In addition, I believe Maro said in one of his articles that there'd be a cycle of ten other multicolored gods, aside from the five monocolored gods in Theros, so we can't try to fit Xenagos in the same place as Mogis, and it's a two-colored cycle, eliminating the option of him being Jund colored. Also, nowhere in the lore and flavor has it been posted that there's a set number of gods at the point in the story to which we're entering. For these reasons, I'm certain beyond all reasonable doubt that Xenagos is our RG god. Ascending to godhood's very on-flavor btw, look at Herakles.
Could Xenagos next card be the first and only Planeswalker God?
Nah, that'd be way too complex. When Xenagos becomes a god, since he'll be of Nyx, he'll be an enchantment too, meaning his typeline would be "Enchantment Planeswalker - Xenagos God", plus printing two versions of the same planeswalker in one block is ridiculous. No, he'll get a Legendary Enchantment Creature card. The character of Xenagos will be like a mirror of Bolas and Venser in that he'll have a card for being a creature and a planeswalker too, but in the reverse order of Bolas and Venser.
If you read the Uncharted Realms published on the Mothership tonight, Pharika is described by Elspeth as the god of potions and poisons, that her priests were snake-lovers and there's gorgon art right next to that section. I'm now 95% sure she's BG.
@ NicolBolasTM, Pan's already the name of a Greek god, who happens to be a satyr. Wizards would not use that name for the sake of not-confusing things, as well as showing that Theros is its own world and is inspired by Greek myth, not directly using it. Also, for Xenagos, we've seen art featuring a god (very large guy w/the Nyx starfield) who looks near exactly like Xenagos (spoiled images in this thread- http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=533878 ). We've also seen that Mogis portrays the most BR qualities of any gods mentioned thus far, and that chances anyone else is BR are very, very insignificant. Xenagos ascending to godhood does make sense in RG, not because of ambition, but in an accumulation of power (think super-ramp). He just wants to be the best, like no one ever was. In addition, I believe Maro said in one of his articles that there'd be a cycle of ten other multicolored gods, aside from the five monocolored gods in Theros, so we can't try to fit Xenagos in the same place as Mogis, and it's a two-colored cycle, eliminating the option of him being Jund colored. Also, nowhere in the lore and flavor has it been posted that there's a set number of gods at the point in the story to which we're entering. For these reasons, I'm certain beyond all reasonable doubt that Xenagos is our RG god. Ascending to godhood's very on-flavor btw, look at Herakles.
Obviously I didn't mean it would be named Pan, I meant it would be representing Pan, though I actually meant Bacchus(it's late here). I'm aware of the 10 minor god cycle, but it's a pantheon, and Xanagos ascending is the point of the story, so the pantheon would likely exist BEFORE his ascension. Read MaRo's article about it, he decides to have the 15 gods as part of the Theros setting before they even started thinking about the story arc.
Simply put, I don't believe that Xanagos is part of the cycle. There are 15 gods before, then Xanagos joins them. Him being out of the cycle would also let him be Jund (which would be a way to avoid sharing colors Mogis or Bacchus), though I feel just RB is more likely.
Also, I never questioned that he would ascend or that it made sense, so the Hercules reference was kinda pointless, as well as being incorrect. Hercules had godhood awarded to him, where as in the Theros spoiler Heliod says that he is unaware of who the evil/dark force trying to usurp his power is. This tells us that he is bot being given godhood, he is somehow taking it. This is ambition, and likely fits the "power at any cost" mentality of black as well.
His motivation is not RG. He wants to become a god(and probably Gove up his status as a planeswalker) because when his spark ignited he realized that he was relatively weak and insignificant in comparison to the rest of the multiverse. For that reason, he decided to simply become one of the most powerful beings on Theros. If he were RG, he would not have that desire to be powerful instead of insignificant. G respects those larger/more powerful than themselves (think Sarkhan worshipping Bolas), they don't plot and seek to steal power. Therefore, Xanagos' s ascension is a black characteristic, leading me to assume he will be at least partly black. BG doesn't seem to make sense, leaving Jund and RB as two viable possibilities.
The information on Pharika is good, the article hadn't come out yet when I posted
After hearing of Erebos and Pharika got suspicion that Pharika is Persephone (Kora?) and hence, by family relations, is BG - and her relation to potions and poisons seem to confirm it.
Basing on greek mythology would also say WB may be a mix of Hypnos and Tanatos, who were brothers, but that's just a combination of gut feeling and not being able to remember other candidate.
Also forgot to mention, you linked a picture of Xanagos as a god, but still think he is RG? Look at that art, does he look in any way RG to you? Definitely RB or Jund
Weren't Hypnos/Tanatos the gods of sleep/dreams? That seems really off for WB, sleep is very typically in blue. It could be UB however, as a god of dream/nightmares. Perhaps Ashiok is a servant of his/hers?
I'm almost positive RG is Bacchus (Dionysus is the Greek version I think), he was associated with satyrs, and was also the God of wild parties. Given the description of the Satyrs in PWG P3, this is we're he would fit.
BW still feels like the Fates to me, but that's less sure.
For UB, we still don't have any kind of trickster god, so that is a possibility(as is the above God of sleep/nightmares). With Xanagos being the antagonist and Mogis being the God who is mostly harmful, UB doesn't need to be antagonistic. We will need to wait for some more information on this one
Heads up to OP, in the thread about The Harvester, the name "Disciple of Phenax" was found in the related video and is aligned with black. Sounds like Phenax could be the UB or BW god.
Obviously I didn't mean it would be named Pan, I meant it would be representing Pan, though I actually meant Bacchus(it's late here). I'm aware of the 10 minor god cycle, but it's a pantheon, and Xanagos ascending is the point of the story, so the pantheon would likely exist BEFORE his ascension. Read MaRo's article about it, he decides to have the 15 gods as part of the Theros setting before they even started thinking about the story arc.
Simply put, I don't believe that Xanagos is part of the cycle. There are 15 gods before, then Xanagos joins them. Him being out of the cycle would also let him be Jund (which would be a way to avoid sharing colors Mogis or Bacchus), though I feel just RB is more likely.
Also, I never questioned that he would ascend or that it made sense, so the Hercules reference was kinda pointless, as well as being incorrect. Hercules had godhood awarded to him, where as in the Theros spoiler Heliod says that he is unaware of who the evil/dark force trying to usurp his power is. This tells us that he is bot being given godhood, he is somehow taking it. This is ambition, and likely fits the "power at any cost" mentality of black as well.
His motivation is not RG. He wants to become a god(and probably Gove up his status as a planeswalker) because when his spark ignited he realized that he was relatively weak and insignificant in comparison to the rest of the multiverse. For that reason, he decided to simply become one of the most powerful beings on Theros. If he were RG, he would not have that desire to be powerful instead of insignificant. G respects those larger/more powerful than themselves (think Sarkhan worshipping Bolas), they don't plot and seek to steal power. Therefore, Xanagos' s ascension is a black characteristic, leading me to assume he will be at least partly black. BG doesn't seem to make sense, leaving Jund and RB as two viable possibilities.
The information on Pharika is good, the article hadn't come out yet when I posted
My apologies about the Pan thing, sometimes on here I can't tell when people are being super-literal or not.
The only article I can find mentioning the other ten gods is here. It doesn't mention that the fifteen gods have already been set out and ready to go flavorwise at the point in which we enter Theros, and I'm more inclined to think that Maro's talking about the cards themselves, which may mean that Xenagos as a god was already decided on and put into the RG god card slot. For all we know, at the point we enter the story of Theros, there're 14 gods and Xenagos ascends during the story to become #15, or perhaps he takes out the prior RG god.
The thing about him coming in as an extraneous god from the fifteen we'll definitely have is that we'll have to share some color space with at least one, making that one other god card less unique. If he's Jund-colored, there'd be three other gods there sharing design space, though I feel like that'd be more likely so that design could be spread around among those colors rather than having two RG or two RB gods being in the same space. If he does end up being #16 and I'm wrong, I'd put my bets on him being Jund.
I threw in the thing about Herakles (quick note, I just like using Herakles over Hercules since it's a Greek name over a Roman name) showing that it'd be flavorful for a character to ascend to the pantheon of the gods through personal achievement, as we think Xenagos will somehow get there, even if this personal achievement is something nasty and untasteful. I don't think he'll have it given to him, reward or otherwise.
True, his ambitions do show black tendencies, but then why wasn't he in some part black on his PW card? This is the satyr that just came back to his home plane to become the most dominant being on it, surely this is the point where his ambition's at its greatest? If anything, after he becomes a god, I'd think his ambition (blackness) would decrease because he just got what he wanted, now he's just going to smash everyone in his way. Even if he ends up becoming black though, I really don't see him giving up the green part of him for respecting other beings of great power. I offer the example of the Sister of Stone Death. Though they were green, they rebelled against Svogthir, a being much more powerful than them, to take control of the Golgari guild, ignoring the green ideal of respecting power. Using that as an example however does lead more speculation towards him being Jund-colored.
And np with the Pharika thing, that was directed to the OP.
All-in-all, I still think Xenagos will take the RG god spot, I don't think he'll lose his green at all, and that there's also a good chance of him being Jund-colored. I'm like 75/25ish on RG v Jund.
Phenax in Greek means "impostor" or "cheat" or "deception" . . . sounds like Phenax is the UB god.
This means that Athreos, the god who guides the souls of the dead, must be BW (as Pharika is most likely GB after that Uncharted Realms story).
Which means we have names now for everyone except the RG god, who we can assume is based on Dionysos/Bacchus . . . (unless Xenagos the Planeswalker does indeed become/replace the RG god . . .
Being an ursurper doesn't automatically change your mana identity to +black. Drastic mental/essence shifts are what changes a character's color alignment, not ambitions, I mean, look at Jeska/Phage, Glissa, Sarkan, Tezzeret, those characters basically died, went mad, or were corrupted by something else. Also, Xenagos surely would have been Jund on his planeswalker card, because that best represents his base essence, and planeswalkers are not tied to cycles, so there'd be no harm. They won't leave RG without a cycle god.
I really think Xenagos is the default RG god, who has been scheming for some time. Being a planeswalker probably gives him an edge sure, but being a 'walker means little more power these days.
How do we anticipate the Devotion mechanic will work on multicolor Gods? Will you have to get Devotion of each color up before they are a creature? That'll be pretty tough. Will it just be Devotion to either color? I'm very interested in this, as Wizards has not made it all that easy to play all the multicolored cards they've put in this block thus far. I would hope that the minor gods don't force you go heavy multicolor to make use of them.
Guys, Do you think the other gods could be hybrid? I mean, they made a point to make sure that the first five only had one colored mana symbol in their costs so as not to enable their own mechanic. Do you think they'll do the same thing with the others? If they do that would give us our first hybrid mythics (assuming they are mythic) and certain color combos their first hybrid legend.
Guys, Do you think the other gods could be hybrid? I mean, they made a point to make sure that the first five only had one colored mana symbol in their costs so as not to enable their own mechanic. Do you think they'll do the same thing with the others? If they do that would give us our first hybrid mythics (assuming they are mythic) and certain color combos their first hybrid legend.
I believe that it was mentioned in the rules article that there would be no hyrbid in Theros block.
How do we anticipate the Devotion mechanic will work on multicolor Gods? Will you have to get Devotion of each color up before they are a creature? That'll be pretty tough. Will it just be Devotion to either color? I'm very interested in this, as Wizards has not made it all that easy to play all the multicolored cards they've put in this block thus far. I would hope that the minor gods don't force you go heavy multicolor to make use of them.
Hmmmm
Interesting question
Maybe devotion 2 of each colour or something?
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W: Heliod
U: Thassa
B: Erebos
R: Purphoros
G: Nylea
WB: Athreos - Scholar of Athreos, Sentry of the Underworld
UW: Ephara - Ephara's Warden
RW: Iroas - Arena Athlete, Priest of Iroas
WG: Karametra - Setessan Battle Priest, Karametra's Acolyte, Bronze Sable
UR: Keranos - Lightning Strike, Steam Augury
GU: Kruphix - Agent of Horizons, Prophet of Kruphix
RB: Mogis - Mogis's Marauder, Borderland Minotaur, Deathbellow Raider, Fanatic of Mogis
BG: Pharika - Pharika's Cure, Pharika's Mender
BU: Phenax - Disciple of Phenax
GR: Xenagos - Annul, Destructive Revelry
So now we speculate. Who remains? What colors are each aligned to? How does Xenagos fit in if he does in fact become a god? How will each work mechanically?
Also, please correct me if I've gotten anything wrong so .
Unless wizards have anything to throw us off, Xenagos should be the Gruul God. He's the antagonist of the Theros story.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Noted, thanks
I think we're fairly certain that Xenagos, in his goal to usurp Heliod, will ascend to godhood and fill in the RG spot. My best guess for Pharika would be BG or BW and for Ephara, UW.
Pretty much confirmed
RW Iroas.
RB Mogis.
RU Keranos.
UG Kruphix
GB Pharika
Very, very likelyy
UW Ephera
GW Karametra
Possibles profiles for other 4 gods
BW Either Persephone or 3 Fates
UB Trickster? Vengeance?
RG Bacchus for sure. Satyrs, most wild color. Names?
Xanagos: Its essentially confirmed that Xanagos will become a god, whoever, I do not believe that he is part of the 15 God pantheon described by MaRo. Xanagos will be an additional god, and will be at least partly black, either RB or Jund
@ NicolBolasTM, Pan's already the name of a Greek god, who happens to be a satyr. Wizards would not use that name for the sake of not-confusing things, as well as showing that Theros is its own world and is inspired by Greek myth, not directly using it. Also, for Xenagos, we've seen art featuring a god (very large guy w/the Nyx starfield) who looks near exactly like Xenagos (spoiled images in this thread- http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=533878 ). We've also seen that Mogis portrays the most BR qualities of any gods mentioned thus far, and that chances anyone else is BR are very, very insignificant. Xenagos ascending to godhood does make sense in RG, not because of ambition, but in an accumulation of power (think super-ramp). He just wants to be the best, like no one ever was. In addition, I believe Maro said in one of his articles that there'd be a cycle of ten other multicolored gods, aside from the five monocolored gods in Theros, so we can't try to fit Xenagos in the same place as Mogis, and it's a two-colored cycle, eliminating the option of him being Jund colored. Also, nowhere in the lore and flavor has it been posted that there's a set number of gods at the point in the story to which we're entering. For these reasons, I'm certain beyond all reasonable doubt that Xenagos is our RG god. Ascending to godhood's very on-flavor btw, look at Herakles.
I was actually thinking the same thing, but that possibility raises so many questions...
Nah, that'd be way too complex. When Xenagos becomes a god, since he'll be of Nyx, he'll be an enchantment too, meaning his typeline would be "Enchantment Planeswalker - Xenagos God", plus printing two versions of the same planeswalker in one block is ridiculous. No, he'll get a Legendary Enchantment Creature card. The character of Xenagos will be like a mirror of Bolas and Venser in that he'll have a card for being a creature and a planeswalker too, but in the reverse order of Bolas and Venser.
Obviously I didn't mean it would be named Pan, I meant it would be representing Pan, though I actually meant Bacchus(it's late here). I'm aware of the 10 minor god cycle, but it's a pantheon, and Xanagos ascending is the point of the story, so the pantheon would likely exist BEFORE his ascension. Read MaRo's article about it, he decides to have the 15 gods as part of the Theros setting before they even started thinking about the story arc.
Simply put, I don't believe that Xanagos is part of the cycle. There are 15 gods before, then Xanagos joins them. Him being out of the cycle would also let him be Jund (which would be a way to avoid sharing colors Mogis or Bacchus), though I feel just RB is more likely.
Also, I never questioned that he would ascend or that it made sense, so the Hercules reference was kinda pointless, as well as being incorrect. Hercules had godhood awarded to him, where as in the Theros spoiler Heliod says that he is unaware of who the evil/dark force trying to usurp his power is. This tells us that he is bot being given godhood, he is somehow taking it. This is ambition, and likely fits the "power at any cost" mentality of black as well.
His motivation is not RG. He wants to become a god(and probably Gove up his status as a planeswalker) because when his spark ignited he realized that he was relatively weak and insignificant in comparison to the rest of the multiverse. For that reason, he decided to simply become one of the most powerful beings on Theros. If he were RG, he would not have that desire to be powerful instead of insignificant. G respects those larger/more powerful than themselves (think Sarkhan worshipping Bolas), they don't plot and seek to steal power. Therefore, Xanagos' s ascension is a black characteristic, leading me to assume he will be at least partly black. BG doesn't seem to make sense, leaving Jund and RB as two viable possibilities.
The information on Pharika is good, the article hadn't come out yet when I posted
Basing on greek mythology would also say WB may be a mix of Hypnos and Tanatos, who were brothers, but that's just a combination of gut feeling and not being able to remember other candidate.
Weren't Hypnos/Tanatos the gods of sleep/dreams? That seems really off for WB, sleep is very typically in blue. It could be UB however, as a god of dream/nightmares. Perhaps Ashiok is a servant of his/hers?
I'm almost positive RG is Bacchus (Dionysus is the Greek version I think), he was associated with satyrs, and was also the God of wild parties. Given the description of the Satyrs in PWG P3, this is we're he would fit.
BW still feels like the Fates to me, but that's less sure.
For UB, we still don't have any kind of trickster god, so that is a possibility(as is the above God of sleep/nightmares). With Xanagos being the antagonist and Mogis being the God who is mostly harmful, UB doesn't need to be antagonistic. We will need to wait for some more information on this one
My apologies about the Pan thing, sometimes on here I can't tell when people are being super-literal or not.
The only article I can find mentioning the other ten gods is here. It doesn't mention that the fifteen gods have already been set out and ready to go flavorwise at the point in which we enter Theros, and I'm more inclined to think that Maro's talking about the cards themselves, which may mean that Xenagos as a god was already decided on and put into the RG god card slot. For all we know, at the point we enter the story of Theros, there're 14 gods and Xenagos ascends during the story to become #15, or perhaps he takes out the prior RG god.
The thing about him coming in as an extraneous god from the fifteen we'll definitely have is that we'll have to share some color space with at least one, making that one other god card less unique. If he's Jund-colored, there'd be three other gods there sharing design space, though I feel like that'd be more likely so that design could be spread around among those colors rather than having two RG or two RB gods being in the same space. If he does end up being #16 and I'm wrong, I'd put my bets on him being Jund.
I threw in the thing about Herakles (quick note, I just like using Herakles over Hercules since it's a Greek name over a Roman name) showing that it'd be flavorful for a character to ascend to the pantheon of the gods through personal achievement, as we think Xenagos will somehow get there, even if this personal achievement is something nasty and untasteful. I don't think he'll have it given to him, reward or otherwise.
True, his ambitions do show black tendencies, but then why wasn't he in some part black on his PW card? This is the satyr that just came back to his home plane to become the most dominant being on it, surely this is the point where his ambition's at its greatest? If anything, after he becomes a god, I'd think his ambition (blackness) would decrease because he just got what he wanted, now he's just going to smash everyone in his way. Even if he ends up becoming black though, I really don't see him giving up the green part of him for respecting other beings of great power. I offer the example of the Sister of Stone Death. Though they were green, they rebelled against Svogthir, a being much more powerful than them, to take control of the Golgari guild, ignoring the green ideal of respecting power. Using that as an example however does lead more speculation towards him being Jund-colored.
And np with the Pharika thing, that was directed to the OP.
All-in-all, I still think Xenagos will take the RG god spot, I don't think he'll lose his green at all, and that there's also a good chance of him being Jund-colored. I'm like 75/25ish on RG v Jund.
This means that Athreos, the god who guides the souls of the dead, must be BW (as Pharika is most likely GB after that Uncharted Realms story).
Which means we have names now for everyone except the RG god, who we can assume is based on Dionysos/Bacchus . . . (unless Xenagos the Planeswalker does indeed become/replace the RG god . . .
I really think Xenagos is the default RG god, who has been scheming for some time. Being a planeswalker probably gives him an edge sure, but being a 'walker means little more power these days.
This rando got will never get a card !
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Yes.
5 each.
Level 1 Judge
I write flavor articles for RoxieCards.
I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
I believe that it was mentioned in the rules article that there would be no hyrbid in Theros block.
Ah, could I have a link, Mr. Link?
Hmmmm
Interesting question
Maybe devotion 2 of each colour or something?