It's been stated numerous times, there's limited design space for 3 color cards, Alara block wasn't a shards block either, conflux and alara reborn wern't shard sets. For that very reason, it makes sense for DTK to be a shard set.
How does that make sense? Just because Shards block wasn't allegedly a Shard block doesn't mean that a later set makes sense as a Shard set.
For the above reasons, it actually makes sense for this to be the "return set" of shards.
Again, how? The Shards allegedly no longer exist, so it makes sense for Shard colors to return in the block that finally gave us a Wedge set? What's the logic?
As for which shard gets which brod, lets dive into it:
UW: Esper - Bant: This brod in FRF "belongs" to the Jeskai wedge (UWR), it looses red, gets a new ability for DTK
GW: Bant - Naya: Ditto Abzan, looses black, It's DTK ability is bolster
RG: Naya - Jund: Temur, looses blue, will get a new ability for DTK
BR: Jund - Grixis: Mardu, looses white, it's DTK ability is Dash
UB: Grixis - Esper: Sultai, looses green, will get a new ability in DTK
The most obvious parallel between abilities it's ferocious -> Naya 5 power ability, so it makes sense that the temur brood slots into Naya, and from that pair, you can extrapolate the rest.
Some of them sound a little unusual, but it sort of makes sense, just a theory thou.
Again, you're making logical leaps. So Naya and Temur have similar mechanics; so what? How does anything Naya did in a block five to six years ago affect what happens in this block now? We don't even know what Atarka's ability will be, we certainly don't know that it will fit into white as well as red and green. The theory makes hardly any sense because it's founded on logical leaps of faith. A proper theory has to be founded on evidence, and evidence of what DTK will be about comes from FRF, not Shards, not any set outside KTK block. The evidence of what DTK will be about that we have so far is:
The Dragons are still alive.
The Dragons are separated into five Broods.
The Broods each have their own mechanic and leader.
The Broods are most likely Ally Colors based on their color distribution in FRF.
If the Broods were going to be Shard colored, you'd think they would hint at that in FRF like the Clans' Wedge identities. And if Shards were going to be DTK's thing to parallel KTK's Wedges, you would think that they would provide more parallels in FRF, like a cycle of Ally Colored Commons or even one card from the third color in each Brood.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Because it doesn't make sense to put shards any other place, yes Alara still exists, but and the shards are "regions" in the plane, but they all got mixed up... that's one of the reasons why Elspeth left Bant, because it wasn't Bant anymore, it was "invaded" by the other shards, MaRo even said in his blog that conflux was a 5 color set, and Alara reborn was a 2 color set, and that the state we left alara last time, so NO, there are no shard factions in Alara, anymore.
Given the above, if you want a Shard theme (or subtheme), Alara isn't likely, they are probably better off doing that in a different setting... a different multicolor setting perhaps? Like Tarkir?
As for "evidence", let me be clear THERE IS NONE, not for this hypothesis NOR ANY OTHER,OK? What do we know?
DTK isn't wedges, as it's been stated many times by MaRo.
DTK has 5 factions, again as stated by MaRo.
FRF has to be drafted with both sets, like this: FRF - KTK - KTK, and DTK - DTK - FRF.
As in the firs format you will draft FRF first, you need to be able to jump from whatever you draft in FRF into a wedge.
Conversely, in the second format, you will draft FRF last, so you have to jump from whatever you draft in DTK to FRF.
FRF has a cycle of enemy colored multicolor commons, notice that the enemy cycles in Alara are considered a mistake by MaRo.
FRF also has cycle of rare creatures (the clan leaders), playable as enemy pair and allied pair.
FRF has also a cycle of Mythic creatures (Soulfire grand master et al), playable as an ally and enemy pair.
FRF also has ALL 10 of the 2 color lands.
That to my understanding, is all the relevant draft information, lets dive into it, how each of those cycles slots in both proposed hypothesis'.
First lets go with allied pairs:
- The rare and mythic cycles can be played here as 2 color allied cards.
- The common enemy cycle is completely unplayable, as such combination doesn't exists in this draft enviroment.
- 5 of the 10 lands are also nearly unplayable, as they don't slot into any DTK faction.
Now lets go with shards:
- Again, as both the rare and mythic cycles function as allied and enemy cards, they are playable, not in one faction, but in 2 of them.
- The enemy common cycle, each slots in a single shard, not optimal, but useable.
- All 10 lands are useable, as you need to fix all 10 color combinations.
Remember, in this enviroment, FRF is the last pack you open, so by the time you get all of these, you are 2 packs into a DTK faction, in this hypotesis, you are more than likely drafting a shard, and you know which common slots into your deck.
Because it doesn't make sense to put shards any other place, yes Alara still exists, but and the shards are "regions" in the plane, but they all got mixed up... that's one of the reasons why Elspeth left Bant, because it wasn't Bant anymore, it was "invaded" by the other shards, MaRo even said in his blog that conflux was a 5 color set, and Alara reborn was a 2 color set, and that the state we left alara last time, so NO, there are no shard factions in Alara, anymore.
Given the above, if you want a Shard theme (or subtheme), Alara isn't likely, they are probably better off doing that in a different setting... a different multicolor setting perhaps? Like Tarkir?
As for "evidence", let me be clear THERE IS NONE, not for this hypothesis NOR ANY OTHER,OK? What do we know?
DTK isn't wedges, as it's been stated many times by MaRo.
DTK has 5 factions, again as stated by MaRo.
FRF has to be drafted with both sets, like this: FRF - KTK - KTK, and DTK - DTK - FRF.
As in the firs format you will draft FRF first, you need to be able to jump from whatever you draft in FRF into a wedge.
Conversely, in the second format, you will draft FRF last, so you have to jump from whatever you draft in DTK to FRF.
FRF has a cycle of enemy colored multicolor commons, notice that the enemy cycles in Alara are considered a mistake by MaRo.
FRF also has cycle of rare creatures (the clan leaders), playable as enemy pair and allied pair.
FRF has also a cycle of Mythic creatures (Soulfire grand master et al), playable as an ally and enemy pair.
FRF also has ALL 10 of the 2 color lands.
That to my understanding, is all the relevant draft information, lets dive into it, how each of those cycles slots in both proposed hypothesis'.
First lets go with allied pairs:
- The rare and mythic cycles can be played here as 2 color allied cards.
- The common enemy cycle is completely unplayable, as such combination doesn't exists in this draft enviroment.
- 5 of the 10 lands are also nearly unplayable, as they don't slot into any DTK faction.
Now lets go with shards:
- Again, as both the rare and mythic cycles function as allied and enemy cards, they are playable, not in one faction, but in 2 of them.
- The enemy common cycle, each slots in a single shard, not optimal, but useable.
- All 10 lands are useable, as you need to fix all 10 color combinations.
Remember, in this enviroment, FRF is the last pack you open, so by the time you get all of these, you are 2 packs into a DTK faction, in this hypotesis, you are more than likely drafting a shard, and you know which common slots into your deck.
So, since KTK was supposed to be drafted enemy pair first then add a third to make a wedge, do you think DTK will be the opposite with drafting allied pair first then add a third to make a shard? It would not be a shard set, but it would be drafted allied into shards. That seems reasonable to me. The factions could be allied dragon broods, enemy lands and common cycles would work, and the Khans/mythics could be played. The set itself could be allied factions with no to little multicolor themed, allied factions with higher multicolor themed, monocolor themed, colorless themed, or some combination of these without trampling on shards or wedges.
I think a lot of people are misrepresenting what Maro said.
Using the statement "Dragons of Tarkir is not a wedge set" as base.
They automatically assumes that, if DKT is not a wedge set, it will not have the wedge factions. Which doesn't necessarely is true.
FRF just showed us that we CAN have an set with NO WEDGE CARD that STILL HAVE WEDGE FACTIONS.
Also using common sense, what will wizards GAIN (from a commercial standpoint) from just undoing the identity they just made for the wedges? It would be totally, commercially speaking, stupid for wizards do undo that, and as a bonus, mess with the identity that they built for the shards.
Wizards wants each world to feel unique, because this is good for business, they will not mess things now for no real gain.
Some people here are going beyond speculationg, and going on totally daydreaming.
Let's not forget that Wizards likes there to be more than 5 colour-groupings to draft with.
In both sets that are mostly mono-coloured (eg. Innistrad) and sets that are mostly pairs (eg. Ravnica), they purposely build identities for all 10 ally and enemy pairs. And in sets that are tri-coloured (eg. KTK), they purposely build identities for the 5 trios plus options for some or all of the 10 ally and enemy pairs.
So even if they did build the story around Shards, or Ally pairs, or Enemy pairs, or 4-colour 'double-pair' factions... they'd still seed other options.
Because it doesn't make sense to put shards any other place, yes Alara still exists, but and the shards are "regions" in the plane, but they all got mixed up... that's one of the reasons why Elspeth left Bant, because it wasn't Bant anymore, it was "invaded" by the other shards, MaRo even said in his blog that conflux was a 5 color set, and Alara reborn was a 2 color set, and that the state we left alara last time, so NO, there are no shard factions in Alara, anymore.
Actually, the reason Elspeth left Bant was because Grixis' invading undead reminded her of Phyrexia. Just because Conflux pushed for 5 color and Alara Reborn focused more on color pairs does not mean Alara isn't still at its heart about the Shard factions. Tricolor cards still appeared in Alara Reborn at common; Conflux didn't have any, but neither did it have any five color commons, which makes it harder to sell as a five color set. And when we return to Alara, players will be expecting to see the Shard factions again, so YES, there are and will be three color factions when we go back. It's Alara's shtick.
Given the above, if you want a Shard theme (or subtheme), Alara isn't likely, they are probably better off doing that in a different setting... a different multicolor setting perhaps? Like Tarkir?
Alara is the best choice they have at the moment. Otherwise a new plane would be ideal.
DTK isn't wedges, as it's been stated many times by MaRo.
DTK has 5 factions, again as stated by MaRo.
FRF has to be drafted with both sets, like this: FRF - KTK - KTK, and DTK - DTK - FRF.
As in the firs format you will draft FRF first, you need to be able to jump from whatever you draft in FRF into a wedge.
Conversely, in the second format, you will draft FRF last, so you have to jump from whatever you draft in DTK to FRF.
FRF has a cycle of enemy colored multicolor commons, notice that the enemy cycles in Alara are considered a mistake by MaRo.
FRF also has cycle of rare creatures (the clan leaders), playable as enemy pair and allied pair.
FRF has also a cycle of Mythic creatures (Soulfire grand master et al), playable as an ally and enemy pair.
FRF also has ALL 10 of the 2 color lands.
That to my understanding, is all the relevant draft information, lets dive into it, how each of those cycles slots in both proposed hypothesis'.
First lets go with allied pairs:
- The rare and mythic cycles can be played here as 2 color allied cards.
- The common enemy cycle is completely unplayable, as such combination doesn't exists in this draft enviroment.
- 5 of the 10 lands are also nearly unplayable, as they don't slot into any DTK faction.
They'll be playable. You can always use enemy pairs to overlap between Broods, like a RW Dash/Bolster deck.
Now lets go with shards:
- Again, as both the rare and mythic cycles function as allied and enemy cards, they are playable, not in one faction, but in 2 of them.
- The enemy common cycle, each slots in a single shard, not optimal, but useable.
- All 10 lands are useable, as you need to fix all 10 color combinations.
Remember, in this enviroment, FRF is the last pack you open, so by the time you get all of these, you are 2 packs into a DTK faction, in this hypotesis, you are more than likely drafting a shard, and you know which common slots into your deck.
If the Broods are allied pair, then playing two of them together will be easy thanks to the very color fixing mentioned. Atarka doesn't need to be RGW when you can just play Atarka/Dromoka together. It's a similar deal for Wedges; you can always play colors from one Brood with a color from another Brood, like WU Ojutai with a dash of Kolaghan red.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I think a lot of people are misrepresenting what Maro said.
Using the statement "Dragons of Tarkir is not a wedge set" as base.
They automatically assumes that, if DKT is not a wedge set, it will not have the wedge factions. Which doesn't necessarely is true.
FRF just showed us that we CAN have an set with NO WEDGE CARD that STILL HAVE WEDGE FACTIONS.
Also using common sense, what will wizards GAIN (from a commercial standpoint) from just undoing the identity they just made for the wedges? It would be totally, commercially speaking, stupid for wizards do undo that, and as a bonus, mess with the identity that they built for the shards.
Wizards wants each world to feel unique, because this is good for business, they will not mess things now for no real gain.
Some people here are going beyond speculationg, and going on totally daydreaming.
Dragons of Tarkir is *very different* than Khans. It won't be very different if it still has wedge factions. DTK shows a different departure from Fate Reforged, one that is very different than Khans. This means that 1. it can't be the same thing as FRF, because 1280 years passed and the future is an evolution/departure and 2. it can't be the same thing as Khans, because it is an alternate future.
Khans has traditional wedges. Fate Reforged has monocolored cards with hybrid activations, with 3 colors that compose a wedge. In spirit, it still has wedge cards. Dragons of Tarkir will be different.
Heck, the one thing we know is that the DTK factions are not wedges.
Dragons of Tarkir is *very different* than Khans. It won't be very different if it still has wedge factions.
This is just an assumption that is not even true. FRF is VERY different from khans, and still have wedge factions.
People are so limited in their view of "different MUST BE opposite" that forget that there are many ways of doing a non-wedge set with wedge factions.
There is NOTHING that says that the factions on DTK aren't wedges other than pure speculation. They may be not wedges, but this assumption is baseless, not based on what was presented until now.
As for evidence, sure, there's none for this or any other hypothesis... because you know it's how it's suposed to be, this is a speculation forum, we can interpret what we see, make hypothesis and draw conclusions, but as long as WotC doesn't confirm any of it, they are just hypothesis.
As for the enemy coloured cards (both the lands and the commons) in FRF being playable, well... in most draft enviroments you draft 2 colors and you might splash a third, but these enviroments you normally don't get this much mana fixing, they are going out of their way to make sure these lands are avilable in the draft enviroment, so i doubt they put them there just in the off chance you splash a third color and that happends to be an enemy pair. Again, it's a theory, it makes sense, but it's a theory nontheless.
The thing that makes me think it won't be shards, as has been mentioned before, a big motivation to do wedges, was to name them, shards already have names, so renaming either the shards or the wedges doesn't sound too apealing.
As for evidence, sure, there's none for this or any other hypothesis... because you know it's how it's suposed to be, this is a speculation forum, we can interpret what we see, make hypothesis and draw conclusions, but as long as WotC doesn't confirm any of it, they are just hypothesis.
As for the enemy coloured cards (both the lands and the commons) in FRF being playable, well... in most draft enviroments you draft 2 colors and you might splash a third, but these enviroments you normally don't get this much mana fixing, they are going out of their way to make sure these lands are avilable in the draft enviroment, so i doubt they put them there just in the off chance you splash a third color and that happends to be an enemy pair. Again, it's a theory, it makes sense, but it's a theory nontheless.
The thing that makes me think it won't be shards, as has been mentioned before, a big motivation to do wedges, was to name them, shards already have names, so renaming either the shards or the wedges doesn't sound too apealing.
Except turning them into ally pairs or enemy pairs wouldn't make any more sense than shards as far as naming goes. I can't recall the exact phrase, but in a relatively recent post I remember MaRo seeming very doubtful of the clan names becoming the go-to name for the wedges, whereas he was originally (pre-KTK release) very hopeful that they would. I interpreted that change in his stance being because the names hadn't caught on yet, even with the popularity and success of KTK, long-time players and bloggers/article writers still refer to their decks as Junk or UWR or BUG. If the clans still had a wedge identity at all in DTK (even in the form of hybrid mana or shared mechanics or whatever tricks they could come up with) I feel like he would still be hopeful that the names would catch on. He's a pretty optimistic guy, after all.
I'm about 99% sure that the clans will not have a wedge identity in any way in DTK. Even so much as being primarily mono-colored with wedge themes like the hybrid activations on the khans or the wedge-color support cards like the runemark cycle. In FRF all of the wedge-supporting cards are done in a way that also makes them perfectly playable in either an enemy or ally two-color deck, but did not have to be in all three wedge colors. The dragons being ally color seems to make DTK lean more towards ally color pairs, since we know the dragons will be very important in DTK. The basic land art and the enemy colored common cycle seems to hint at enemy color pairs, especially since we know the block was built around a draft environment. Both of those arguments are valid points of speculation. The only way that both of them can be true with the set not having a wedge theme is the set having a shard theme (or a 4-color theme, but a whole large set built around 4-color seems extremely unlikely).
Of course, both points don't have to be true at all. Wizards can hint at things that aren't going to happen. They've done it before. It's good for marketing because it get's people talking, speculating, and just generally interested. I personally think that the cycle of enemy commons, the dragons (likely the focal points of the DTK clans/broods) being ally colors, and every FRF pack having a dual land hints at a shard theme more than anything else, but that's just my interpretation, and it could very well be wrong.
The problem with that, of course, is that the key art for Dragons of Tarkir has what are clearly Mardu descendants riding beneath a Kolaghan dragon. Integration is far more likely than extermination.
Given the depiction of the Mardu descendants, it also doesn't look like they'll be losing their third color. Triumphant, glorious, and orderly, backed by a golden glow. That doesn't exactly scream that they're dropping white and going full black-red.
The human species doesn't need to be exterminated for the clans to cease to exist. For the clans, integration into the dragons' broods is the same thing as extermination - either way, we'll get cards that are "Kolaghan X" instead of "Mardu X".
For color, you're drawing inferences from a single piece of art - which is clearly focusing on the huge dragon, not the humans. I don't think that's strong counterevidence.
I don't think wedge makes sense, even if you change the central color, as the one other thing we do know about DTK is that both Dash and Bolster are in, and the dash mechanic isn't remotely white, the only "mono white" card with haste is Boros Guildmage (and it even requires a red activation cost), other than that, only suspend cards have haste (that's why it was strictly RB in FRF). Bolster, you can argue, that it can be black, but dash definitely isn't white.
The conclusion, if Dash is in DTK (which we know it is), white is not in the same faction as that mechanic, so most likely there's not a RBW faction in DTK.
The problem with that, of course, is that the key art for Dragons of Tarkir has what are clearly Mardu descendants riding beneath a Kolaghan dragon. Integration is far more likely than extermination.
Given the depiction of the Mardu descendants, it also doesn't look like they'll be losing their third color. Triumphant, glorious, and orderly, backed by a golden glow. That doesn't exactly scream that they're dropping white and going full black-red.
The human species doesn't need to be exterminated for the clans to cease to exist. For the clans, integration into the dragons' broods is the same thing as extermination - either way, we'll get cards that are "Kolaghan X" instead of "Mardu X".
For color, you're drawing inferences from a single piece of art - which is clearly focusing on the huge dragon, not the humans. I don't think that's strong counterevidence.
First off, one piece of art was sufficient for people to correctly guess wedges in Khans. Besides, the dragon pictured has a lot of white in its palette--and they do pay attention to that kind of thing.
There are also other pieces of evidence. The Ugin's Fate version of Ainok Tracker has Surrak dismissing the ainok as "wild dogs" that are not fit to eat with the Temur. That is not a RG sentiment or even a mono-green sentiment. That betrays some blue--disgust at the wild and untamed.
Furthermore, the dragons themselves live in enemy terrains. Ojutai lives in the high peaks, Silumgar in the jungles and swamps, and Kolaghan in the rocky hills and steppes.
Finally, from a narrative perspective, it sells the world of Dragons of Tarkir as more whole than that of Khans. If the clans are missing something without the dragons, the dragons must be missing something without the clans for the unification of the two to have meaning.
This is just an assumption that is not even true. FRF is VERY different from khans, and still have wedge factions.
People are so limited in their view of "different MUST BE opposite" that forget that there are many ways of doing a non-wedge set with wedge factions.
There is NOTHING that says that the factions on DTK aren't wedges other than pure speculation. They may be not wedges, but this assumption is baseless, not based on what was presented until now.
"Khans of Tarkir was a wedge set with five factions. Dragons of Tarkir is going to be a [CENSORED] set with five factions."
"Okay, Fate Reforged had its five clan mechanics and its proto-morph variant. Next came the bigger challenge: figuring out how to make a set that played well with Khans of Tarkir but then played well with Dragons of Tarkir, but in a different way. Part of this was accomplished by the fact that each large set had its own theme and structure. Fate Reforged was going to have to figure out how to fit into both. Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set. Dragons of Tarkir is a…well, not a wedge set. How could we make a set that played nicely with a wedge set play nicely with something that isn't?"
Furthermore, the dragons themselves live in enemy terrains. Ojutai lives in the high peaks, Silumgar in the jungles and swamps, and Kolaghan in the rocky hills and steppes.
Except the dragons were "born" from the storms focused on ally lands. Blossoming Sands = Dromoka.
Provide a source on that? I was pulling my information from the Mothership, which specifically calls out those terrains in those terms, but I can't find anything on what you've said.
The problem with that, of course, is that the key art for Dragons of Tarkir has what are clearly Mardu descendants riding beneath a Kolaghan dragon. Integration is far more likely than extermination.
Given the depiction of the Mardu descendants, it also doesn't look like they'll be losing their third color. Triumphant, glorious, and orderly, backed by a golden glow. That doesn't exactly scream that they're dropping white and going full black-red.
The human species doesn't need to be exterminated for the clans to cease to exist. For the clans, integration into the dragons' broods is the same thing as extermination - either way, we'll get cards that are "Kolaghan X" instead of "Mardu X".
For color, you're drawing inferences from a single piece of art - which is clearly focusing on the huge dragon, not the humans. I don't think that's strong counterevidence.
First off, one piece of art was sufficient for people to correctly guess wedges in Khans. Besides, the dragon pictured has a lot of white in its palette--and they do pay attention to that kind of thing.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury has a lot of white in its palette, and yet is red-black. That dragon appears to be either Kolaghan or a close relative.
There are also other pieces of evidence. The Ugin's Fate version of Ainok Tracker has Surrak dismissing the ainok as "wild dogs" that are not fit to eat with the Temur. That is not a RG sentiment or even a mono-green sentiment. That betrays some blue--disgust at the wild and untamed.
That's not the point. I'm not saying Temur loses blue. I'm saying Temur stops being relevant in the actual printed cards. Temur can certainly be mentioned in flavor text and in the periphery, just like dragons are mentioned in many cards in Khans of Tarkir, without having any actual dragon cards.
Finally, from a narrative perspective, it sells the world of Dragons of Tarkir as more whole than that of Khans. If the clans are missing something without the dragons, the dragons must be missing something without the clans for the unification of the two to have meaning.
DTK isn't more whole. It's a parallel evolution diverging from FRF.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury has a lot of white in its palette, and yet is red-black. That dragon appears to be either Kolaghan or a close relative.
The fact that Kolaghan, Ojutai, Silumgar, and Dromoka all include the enemy colors in their palettes feels a lot like a setup to be executed on in Dragons of Tarkir. Over 1,280 years, there's no reason that they couldn't gain colors, or change colors. During visual design, you'd keep that in mind so that they looked appropriate in their "final" state.
That's not the point. I'm not saying Temur loses blue. I'm saying Temur stops being relevant in the actual printed cards. Temur can certainly be mentioned in flavor text and in the periphery, just like dragons are mentioned in many cards in Khans of Tarkir, without having any actual dragon cards.
I'm...not sure I understand your point, here. We have Surrak, in the world of Dragons of Tarkir, saying that the Ainok are like wild dogs and unfit to eat with them. Whether they're called Temur or Atarka, that heavily implies that they are not solely a RG group. The fact that Surrak is called "the Hunt Caller" informs us that this is, in fact, Surrak living in the "new" world, rather than a quote from his Khans of Tarkir variant.
DTK isn't more whole. It's a parallel evolution diverging from FRF.
One of the major conceits of the storyline has been Sarkhan "healing" the world. They went to great lengths to make the world in Khans of Tarkir feel empty and incomplete. Dragons is following through on that process, providing the missing pieces, and healing the world, making it whole once more.
4) We have seen dash appear in Red and Blaok but not White. Similarly, bolster has appeared in White and Green but not black. I don't think it will, even when fully spoiled, since it wouldn't fit with the appropriate "future shard" faction mechanics.
QFT.
And if not shards then I think dual colored tribes (the same as the legendary dragons in the set, that didn't go extinct and will live to become the inspiration for the 2.0 clans) will be there, but with a twist to make them different than the Ravnica Guilds. For example Mardu will be R/B but have hybrid colored activation costs that include white. Or maybe tri colored mana symbols? RWB?
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This is just an assumption that is not even true. FRF is VERY different from khans, and still have wedge factions.
People are so limited in their view of "different MUST BE opposite" that forget that there are many ways of doing a non-wedge set with wedge factions.
There is NOTHING that says that the factions on DTK aren't wedges other than pure speculation. They may be not wedges, but this assumption is baseless, not based on what was presented until now.
"Khans of Tarkir was a wedge set with five factions. Dragons of Tarkir is going to be a [CENSORED] set with five factions."
"Okay, Fate Reforged had its five clan mechanics and its proto-morph variant. Next came the bigger challenge: figuring out how to make a set that played well with Khans of Tarkir but then played well with Dragons of Tarkir, but in a different way. Part of this was accomplished by the fact that each large set had its own theme and structure. Fate Reforged was going to have to figure out how to fit into both. Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set. Dragons of Tarkir is a…well, not a wedge set. How could we make a set that played nicely with a wedge set play nicely with something that isn't?"
And all your bolds don't say nothing about the FACTIONS not being wedges..
FRF IS NOT A WEDGE SET. And guess what? It DO HAVE WEDGE FACTIONS.
Being a "wedge SET" is not about the color of the factions, but about the color of the cards on the set.
So, we CAN have a NOT WEDGE SET, with WEDGE FACTIONS. FRF just proved that.
You are assuming that "a 5 wedge faction only exist on a wedge set". This is the wrong assumption.
Yes, DKT is NOT a wedge set, but that does not automatically means that the factions are also not wedge.
Just look at Alara block, we had a 5 colors set (conflux), and a 2 colors set (alara reborn) and yet we had the shard factions. Both sets weren't "shard sets" (Maro words) but they had "shard factions".
The focus of the change on DTK compared to KTK is not the colors of factions, but the gameplay and structure of the set.
This is the message that Maro can send by saying "Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set. Dragons of Tarkir is a…well, not a wedge set", it's about the colors of cards and gameplay, not about the color of factions.
I'm...not sure I understand your point, here. We have Surrak, in the world of Dragons of Tarkir, saying that the Ainok are like wild dogs and unfit to eat with them. Whether they're called Temur or Atarka, that heavily implies that they are not solely a RG group. The fact that Surrak is called "the Hunt Caller" informs us that this is, in fact, Surrak living in the "new" world, rather than a quote from his Khans of Tarkir variant.
My larger point is that Surrak is quoted - that does not necessarily mean Surrak will actually have a card.
On a lesser note, I disagree with the premise that it "heavily implies" a blue sentiment. Insulting another group is perfectly approprite to RG (or even just R or G). Really, there's no color that couldn't refer to someone else as "wild dogs". It's a common, throwaway insult; and red and green do not have to be Gruul-smash-all-civilization.
I think you're relying very heavily on tenuous and ambiguous evidence, whereas the counterevidence is very specific statements - like the repeated explicit statements by Wizards that this is NOT a wedge set, and that it IS a pivot set, and that for some reason they HAD to change the colors of the FRF khans in order to work as commanders - and very specific, discrete, printed objects. Palette and word choice are a matter of interpretation and degree. Watermarks are not a matter of interpretation; we clearly see both Clans and Broods watermarks in FRF, and only Clans watermarks in KTK.
Watermarks are not a matter of interpretation; we clearly see both Clans and Broods watermarks in FRF, and only Clans watermarks in KTK.
One thing that i also forget to mention: we have the promotional art where Kolaghan (itself or one of her brood) fighting alongside Mardu soldier against Abzan soilders. Wich probably points that the clans were assimilated by the broods.
There is no way that Mardu would EVER become Grixis or Jund colored, it's foolish to belive that. So either the factions drops the third color or the dragons assimilates it.
And let nor forget this statement from MaRo:
We wanted the clan leaders to serve as commanders for decks built both around the Khans of Tarkir factions and the Dragons of Tarkir factions, but how could a card be both a wedge card and not a wedge card?
They wanted that the cards from both KTK and DTK to be able to be build around the commanders of their factions. How can someone build an Sultai Commander with Tasigur if the sultai on DTK are either Esper or Grixis? Also, it's absurd to belive the Sultai adding white or red instead of green.
We also should notice that for MaRo, a Monocolored card with off-color activation cost is not a wedge card, a wedge card is a gold card with the 3 wedge colors. This is what shows that "a non-wedge set CAN have wedge factions", since the factions can be represented without 3 colors cards.
So my bet is either on the dragons being 3 wedge colors or 2 colors with the third on a activation cost. And the set will be mostly monocolored, but with many off-color activation costs or maybe hybrid cards.
Provide a source on that? I was pulling my information from the Mothership, which specifically calls out those terrains in those terms, but I can't find anything on what you've said.
Enemy lands weren't related to the 5 Dragon broods, as far as I know, but rather ally lands. And what do you even mean by certain dragons having the enemy color in their "palette"? Where does Dromoka have Black in her design? Or Artaka have Blue in hers?
And let nor forget this statement from MaRo:
[quote]We wanted the clan leaders to serve as commanders for decks built both around the Khans of Tarkir factions and the Dragons of Tarkir factions, but how could a card be both a wedge card and not a wedge card?
They wanted that the cards from both KTK and DTK to be able to be build around the commanders of their factions. How can someone build an Sultai Commander with Tasigur if the sultai on DTK are either Esper or Grixis? Also, it's absurd to belive the Sultai adding white or red instead of green.
And that's just looking at the rares, which should be the least of our concerns when formulating hypothesis about a block built arrund a draft structure.
@tenzoku
It is not about card effects, but about the clan philosophy. Also, even if you imagine one or two fitting another combination, you can't see ALL of them changing.
Also you are talking about the dragons, not about the clans. I don't see the clans assuming other colors (it seems that the clans will be assimilated by the broods, or vice-versa as i posted here).
There is nothing white about the sultal, or black about the Jeskai (the only possible combinations for Esper).
Also if you assume Silumgar as Grixis, then Atarka is Naya, because Kolaghan would be automatically jund. (You can't have Silumgar Grixis and Atarka Jund ever).
So it is either:
- Silumgar/Sultai - Grixis, Ojutai/Jeskai - Esper , Kolaghan/Mardu - Jund, Dromoka/Abzan - Bant, Atarka/Temur - Naya.
- Silumgar/Sultai - Esper, Ojutai/Jeskai - Bant, Kolaghan/Mardu - Grixis, Dromoka/Abzan - Naya, Atarka/Temur - Jund.
Those combinations, while might work for one or another, wouldn't work for all of them at the same time.
How does that make sense? Just because Shards block wasn't allegedly a Shard block doesn't mean that a later set makes sense as a Shard set.
The plane may be reformed but the identity of the Shards as factions still remains; Bant, Esper, and such still exist as regions of Alara.
Again, how? The Shards allegedly no longer exist, so it makes sense for Shard colors to return in the block that finally gave us a Wedge set? What's the logic?
Again, you're making logical leaps. So Naya and Temur have similar mechanics; so what? How does anything Naya did in a block five to six years ago affect what happens in this block now? We don't even know what Atarka's ability will be, we certainly don't know that it will fit into white as well as red and green. The theory makes hardly any sense because it's founded on logical leaps of faith. A proper theory has to be founded on evidence, and evidence of what DTK will be about comes from FRF, not Shards, not any set outside KTK block. The evidence of what DTK will be about that we have so far is:
The Dragons are still alive.
The Dragons are separated into five Broods.
The Broods each have their own mechanic and leader.
The Broods are most likely Ally Colors based on their color distribution in FRF.
If the Broods were going to be Shard colored, you'd think they would hint at that in FRF like the Clans' Wedge identities. And if Shards were going to be DTK's thing to parallel KTK's Wedges, you would think that they would provide more parallels in FRF, like a cycle of Ally Colored Commons or even one card from the third color in each Brood.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Given the above, if you want a Shard theme (or subtheme), Alara isn't likely, they are probably better off doing that in a different setting... a different multicolor setting perhaps? Like Tarkir?
As for "evidence", let me be clear THERE IS NONE, not for this hypothesis NOR ANY OTHER,OK? What do we know?
DTK isn't wedges, as it's been stated many times by MaRo.
DTK has 5 factions, again as stated by MaRo.
FRF has to be drafted with both sets, like this: FRF - KTK - KTK, and DTK - DTK - FRF.
As in the firs format you will draft FRF first, you need to be able to jump from whatever you draft in FRF into a wedge.
Conversely, in the second format, you will draft FRF last, so you have to jump from whatever you draft in DTK to FRF.
FRF has a cycle of enemy colored multicolor commons, notice that the enemy cycles in Alara are considered a mistake by MaRo.
FRF also has cycle of rare creatures (the clan leaders), playable as enemy pair and allied pair.
FRF has also a cycle of Mythic creatures (Soulfire grand master et al), playable as an ally and enemy pair.
FRF also has ALL 10 of the 2 color lands.
That to my understanding, is all the relevant draft information, lets dive into it, how each of those cycles slots in both proposed hypothesis'.
First lets go with allied pairs:
- The rare and mythic cycles can be played here as 2 color allied cards.
- The common enemy cycle is completely unplayable, as such combination doesn't exists in this draft enviroment.
- 5 of the 10 lands are also nearly unplayable, as they don't slot into any DTK faction.
Now lets go with shards:
- Again, as both the rare and mythic cycles function as allied and enemy cards, they are playable, not in one faction, but in 2 of them.
- The enemy common cycle, each slots in a single shard, not optimal, but useable.
- All 10 lands are useable, as you need to fix all 10 color combinations.
Remember, in this enviroment, FRF is the last pack you open, so by the time you get all of these, you are 2 packs into a DTK faction, in this hypotesis, you are more than likely drafting a shard, and you know which common slots into your deck.
So, since KTK was supposed to be drafted enemy pair first then add a third to make a wedge, do you think DTK will be the opposite with drafting allied pair first then add a third to make a shard? It would not be a shard set, but it would be drafted allied into shards. That seems reasonable to me. The factions could be allied dragon broods, enemy lands and common cycles would work, and the Khans/mythics could be played. The set itself could be allied factions with no to little multicolor themed, allied factions with higher multicolor themed, monocolor themed, colorless themed, or some combination of these without trampling on shards or wedges.
Using the statement "Dragons of Tarkir is not a wedge set" as base.
They automatically assumes that, if DKT is not a wedge set, it will not have the wedge factions. Which doesn't necessarely is true.
FRF just showed us that we CAN have an set with NO WEDGE CARD that STILL HAVE WEDGE FACTIONS.
Also using common sense, what will wizards GAIN (from a commercial standpoint) from just undoing the identity they just made for the wedges? It would be totally, commercially speaking, stupid for wizards do undo that, and as a bonus, mess with the identity that they built for the shards.
Wizards wants each world to feel unique, because this is good for business, they will not mess things now for no real gain.
Some people here are going beyond speculationg, and going on totally daydreaming.
In both sets that are mostly mono-coloured (eg. Innistrad) and sets that are mostly pairs (eg. Ravnica), they purposely build identities for all 10 ally and enemy pairs. And in sets that are tri-coloured (eg. KTK), they purposely build identities for the 5 trios plus options for some or all of the 10 ally and enemy pairs.
So even if they did build the story around Shards, or Ally pairs, or Enemy pairs, or 4-colour 'double-pair' factions... they'd still seed other options.
Actually, the reason Elspeth left Bant was because Grixis' invading undead reminded her of Phyrexia. Just because Conflux pushed for 5 color and Alara Reborn focused more on color pairs does not mean Alara isn't still at its heart about the Shard factions. Tricolor cards still appeared in Alara Reborn at common; Conflux didn't have any, but neither did it have any five color commons, which makes it harder to sell as a five color set. And when we return to Alara, players will be expecting to see the Shard factions again, so YES, there are and will be three color factions when we go back. It's Alara's shtick.
Alara is the best choice they have at the moment. Otherwise a new plane would be ideal.
So you acknowledge there is absolutely zero evidence of Shards in DTK. Also, italics are generally a little better for emphasis than CAPS.
They'll be playable. You can always use enemy pairs to overlap between Broods, like a RW Dash/Bolster deck.
If the Broods are allied pair, then playing two of them together will be easy thanks to the very color fixing mentioned. Atarka doesn't need to be RGW when you can just play Atarka/Dromoka together. It's a similar deal for Wedges; you can always play colors from one Brood with a color from another Brood, like WU Ojutai with a dash of Kolaghan red.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Dragons of Tarkir is *very different* than Khans. It won't be very different if it still has wedge factions. DTK shows a different departure from Fate Reforged, one that is very different than Khans. This means that 1. it can't be the same thing as FRF, because 1280 years passed and the future is an evolution/departure and 2. it can't be the same thing as Khans, because it is an alternate future.
Khans has traditional wedges. Fate Reforged has monocolored cards with hybrid activations, with 3 colors that compose a wedge. In spirit, it still has wedge cards. Dragons of Tarkir will be different.
Heck, the one thing we know is that the DTK factions are not wedges.
People are so limited in their view of "different MUST BE opposite" that forget that there are many ways of doing a non-wedge set with wedge factions.
There is NOTHING that says that the factions on DTK aren't wedges other than pure speculation. They may be not wedges, but this assumption is baseless, not based on what was presented until now.
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/107461078948/you-dont-consider-conflux-and-alara-reborn-shard
As for evidence, sure, there's none for this or any other hypothesis... because you know it's how it's suposed to be, this is a speculation forum, we can interpret what we see, make hypothesis and draw conclusions, but as long as WotC doesn't confirm any of it, they are just hypothesis.
As for the enemy coloured cards (both the lands and the commons) in FRF being playable, well... in most draft enviroments you draft 2 colors and you might splash a third, but these enviroments you normally don't get this much mana fixing, they are going out of their way to make sure these lands are avilable in the draft enviroment, so i doubt they put them there just in the off chance you splash a third color and that happends to be an enemy pair. Again, it's a theory, it makes sense, but it's a theory nontheless.
The thing that makes me think it won't be shards, as has been mentioned before, a big motivation to do wedges, was to name them, shards already have names, so renaming either the shards or the wedges doesn't sound too apealing.
Except turning them into ally pairs or enemy pairs wouldn't make any more sense than shards as far as naming goes. I can't recall the exact phrase, but in a relatively recent post I remember MaRo seeming very doubtful of the clan names becoming the go-to name for the wedges, whereas he was originally (pre-KTK release) very hopeful that they would. I interpreted that change in his stance being because the names hadn't caught on yet, even with the popularity and success of KTK, long-time players and bloggers/article writers still refer to their decks as Junk or UWR or BUG. If the clans still had a wedge identity at all in DTK (even in the form of hybrid mana or shared mechanics or whatever tricks they could come up with) I feel like he would still be hopeful that the names would catch on. He's a pretty optimistic guy, after all.
I'm about 99% sure that the clans will not have a wedge identity in any way in DTK. Even so much as being primarily mono-colored with wedge themes like the hybrid activations on the khans or the wedge-color support cards like the runemark cycle. In FRF all of the wedge-supporting cards are done in a way that also makes them perfectly playable in either an enemy or ally two-color deck, but did not have to be in all three wedge colors. The dragons being ally color seems to make DTK lean more towards ally color pairs, since we know the dragons will be very important in DTK. The basic land art and the enemy colored common cycle seems to hint at enemy color pairs, especially since we know the block was built around a draft environment. Both of those arguments are valid points of speculation. The only way that both of them can be true with the set not having a wedge theme is the set having a shard theme (or a 4-color theme, but a whole large set built around 4-color seems extremely unlikely).
Of course, both points don't have to be true at all. Wizards can hint at things that aren't going to happen. They've done it before. It's good for marketing because it get's people talking, speculating, and just generally interested. I personally think that the cycle of enemy commons, the dragons (likely the focal points of the DTK clans/broods) being ally colors, and every FRF pack having a dual land hints at a shard theme more than anything else, but that's just my interpretation, and it could very well be wrong.
For color, you're drawing inferences from a single piece of art - which is clearly focusing on the huge dragon, not the humans. I don't think that's strong counterevidence.
The conclusion, if Dash is in DTK (which we know it is), white is not in the same faction as that mechanic, so most likely there's not a RBW faction in DTK.
First off, one piece of art was sufficient for people to correctly guess wedges in Khans. Besides, the dragon pictured has a lot of white in its palette--and they do pay attention to that kind of thing.
There are also other pieces of evidence. The Ugin's Fate version of Ainok Tracker has Surrak dismissing the ainok as "wild dogs" that are not fit to eat with the Temur. That is not a RG sentiment or even a mono-green sentiment. That betrays some blue--disgust at the wild and untamed.
Furthermore, the dragons themselves live in enemy terrains. Ojutai lives in the high peaks, Silumgar in the jungles and swamps, and Kolaghan in the rocky hills and steppes.
Finally, from a narrative perspective, it sells the world of Dragons of Tarkir as more whole than that of Khans. If the clans are missing something without the dragons, the dragons must be missing something without the clans for the unification of the two to have meaning.
"Khans of Tarkir was a wedge set with five factions. Dragons of Tarkir is going to be a [CENSORED] set with five factions."
"Okay, Fate Reforged had its five clan mechanics and its proto-morph variant. Next came the bigger challenge: figuring out how to make a set that played well with Khans of Tarkir but then played well with Dragons of Tarkir, but in a different way. Part of this was accomplished by the fact that each large set had its own theme and structure. Fate Reforged was going to have to figure out how to fit into both. Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set. Dragons of Tarkir is a…well, not a wedge set. How could we make a set that played nicely with a wedge set play nicely with something that isn't?"
From "Whims of Fate Reforged, Part 2":
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/whims-fate-reforged-part-2-2015-01-05
Except the dragons were "born" from the storms focused on ally lands. Blossoming Sands = Dromoka.
EDH: GWCaptain Sisay
The fact that Kolaghan, Ojutai, Silumgar, and Dromoka all include the enemy colors in their palettes feels a lot like a setup to be executed on in Dragons of Tarkir. Over 1,280 years, there's no reason that they couldn't gain colors, or change colors. During visual design, you'd keep that in mind so that they looked appropriate in their "final" state.
I'm...not sure I understand your point, here. We have Surrak, in the world of Dragons of Tarkir, saying that the Ainok are like wild dogs and unfit to eat with them. Whether they're called Temur or Atarka, that heavily implies that they are not solely a RG group. The fact that Surrak is called "the Hunt Caller" informs us that this is, in fact, Surrak living in the "new" world, rather than a quote from his Khans of Tarkir variant.
One of the major conceits of the storyline has been Sarkhan "healing" the world. They went to great lengths to make the world in Khans of Tarkir feel empty and incomplete. Dragons is following through on that process, providing the missing pieces, and healing the world, making it whole once more.
QFT.
And if not shards then I think dual colored tribes (the same as the legendary dragons in the set, that didn't go extinct and will live to become the inspiration for the 2.0 clans) will be there, but with a twist to make them different than the Ravnica Guilds. For example Mardu will be R/B but have hybrid colored activation costs that include white. Or maybe tri colored mana symbols? RWB?
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FRF IS NOT A WEDGE SET. And guess what? It DO HAVE WEDGE FACTIONS.
Being a "wedge SET" is not about the color of the factions, but about the color of the cards on the set.
So, we CAN have a NOT WEDGE SET, with WEDGE FACTIONS. FRF just proved that.
You are assuming that "a 5 wedge faction only exist on a wedge set". This is the wrong assumption.
Yes, DKT is NOT a wedge set, but that does not automatically means that the factions are also not wedge.
Just look at Alara block, we had a 5 colors set (conflux), and a 2 colors set (alara reborn) and yet we had the shard factions. Both sets weren't "shard sets" (Maro words) but they had "shard factions".
The focus of the change on DTK compared to KTK is not the colors of factions, but the gameplay and structure of the set.
This is the message that Maro can send by saying "Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set. Dragons of Tarkir is a…well, not a wedge set", it's about the colors of cards and gameplay, not about the color of factions.
On a lesser note, I disagree with the premise that it "heavily implies" a blue sentiment. Insulting another group is perfectly approprite to RG (or even just R or G). Really, there's no color that couldn't refer to someone else as "wild dogs". It's a common, throwaway insult; and red and green do not have to be Gruul-smash-all-civilization.
I think you're relying very heavily on tenuous and ambiguous evidence, whereas the counterevidence is very specific statements - like the repeated explicit statements by Wizards that this is NOT a wedge set, and that it IS a pivot set, and that for some reason they HAD to change the colors of the FRF khans in order to work as commanders - and very specific, discrete, printed objects. Palette and word choice are a matter of interpretation and degree. Watermarks are not a matter of interpretation; we clearly see both Clans and Broods watermarks in FRF, and only Clans watermarks in KTK.
There is no way that Mardu would EVER become Grixis or Jund colored, it's foolish to belive that. So either the factions drops the third color or the dragons assimilates it.
And let nor forget this statement from MaRo:
They wanted that the cards from both KTK and DTK to be able to be build around the commanders of their factions. How can someone build an Sultai Commander with Tasigur if the sultai on DTK are either Esper or Grixis? Also, it's absurd to belive the Sultai adding white or red instead of green.
We also should notice that for MaRo, a Monocolored card with off-color activation cost is not a wedge card, a wedge card is a gold card with the 3 wedge colors. This is what shows that "a non-wedge set CAN have wedge factions", since the factions can be represented without 3 colors cards.
So my bet is either on the dragons being 3 wedge colors or 2 colors with the third on a activation cost. And the set will be mostly monocolored, but with many off-color activation costs or maybe hybrid cards.
Enemy lands weren't related to the 5 Dragon broods, as far as I know, but rather ally lands. And what do you even mean by certain dragons having the enemy color in their "palette"? Where does Dromoka have Black in her design? Or Artaka have Blue in hers?
EDH: GWCaptain Sisay
Really? You don't see Silumgard becoming Grixis? Or Atarka becoming Jund? You don't see this:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&type= [%22Legendary%22]&subtype=+[%22Dragon%22]&set=+[%22Fate%20Reforged%22]
Becoming this?
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&format= [%22Invasion%20Block%22]&type=+[%22Legendary%22]&subtype=+[%22Dragon%22]
And that's just looking at the rares, which should be the least of our concerns when formulating hypothesis about a block built arrund a draft structure.
It is not about card effects, but about the clan philosophy. Also, even if you imagine one or two fitting another combination, you can't see ALL of them changing.
Also you are talking about the dragons, not about the clans. I don't see the clans assuming other colors (it seems that the clans will be assimilated by the broods, or vice-versa as i posted here).
There is nothing white about the sultal, or black about the Jeskai (the only possible combinations for Esper).
Also if you assume Silumgar as Grixis, then Atarka is Naya, because Kolaghan would be automatically jund. (You can't have Silumgar Grixis and Atarka Jund ever).
So it is either:
- Silumgar/Sultai - Grixis, Ojutai/Jeskai - Esper , Kolaghan/Mardu - Jund, Dromoka/Abzan - Bant, Atarka/Temur - Naya.
- Silumgar/Sultai - Esper, Ojutai/Jeskai - Bant, Kolaghan/Mardu - Grixis, Dromoka/Abzan - Naya, Atarka/Temur - Jund.
Those combinations, while might work for one or another, wouldn't work for all of them at the same time.