Currently, there is no indication that WotC shall be making a block with a world inspired by Viking culture and/or Norse mythology, which I find to be both odd and incredible, given that Norse mythology is almost as popular and as influential as Greek mythology in modern culture and fiction (or possibly even moreso, when using such media as The Lord of the Rings, Diablo, Warcraft, Forgotten Realms, and so forth as examples). Therefore, I wish to speculate about such a block; i.e., what elements it shall contain, the nature of the plain, and what manner of beings may inhabit it, and certainly invite others to do so, as well.
Since Norse mythology is also well-known for its awe-inspiring deities, remarkable heroes, and fearsome monsters, I expect that the god creature type and the i and monstrous mechanics shall be revisited, but used in different ways from how they were in the Theros block. It is not difficult to imagine deities inspired by Odin, Thor, and Loki (the original Norse versions of them, not the Marvel versions), nor a massive serpent and vicious wolf clearly modeled after Jormungandur and Fenrir. Since krakens originated in Norse mythology, there obviously will be krakens in such a block, as well.
In Greek mythology, the deities were truly immortal in every possible sense of the concept; they could not die, regardless of what horrible and vicious treatments they may have received (the best way to eliminate them was to imprison them in Tartarus). However, the deities of Norse mythology, although supernaturally powerful and tough compared to mortals, could be killed, although it would likely take another deity to accomplish such a spectacular feat. Therefore, the deities of a Norse mythology-themed set may not be indestructible, but may have some other factor to compensate, such as hexproof/protection, automatic regeneration (i.e., mossbridge troll), and/or very high toughness. In fact, because of the great focus on death in Norse mythology, I expect that there would be many cards that care about creatures dying, perhaps a revisiting of the morbid and fateful hour mechanics.
Although elves have now been absent from M:tG for two consecutive blocks (Theros and Tarkir), a rather bold and surprising move by WotC, there would definitely be elves in a Norse-themed set, considering that elves, as commonly portrayed in fiction today, originated from Norse mythology. In a similar idea, dwarves, long absent from this game, would also be present in such a block, since they, also, originated from that culture's folklore. Also on that subject, I expect that both fire giants and frost giants, led by figures inspired by Surtur and Thrym, would appear, since both beings are fairly major enemies to the deities (or the Aesir, more specifically) in Norse mythology.
There would very likely be valkyries in such a block, as well, likely portrayed as red/white angels. In the original Norse mythology, the valkyries were fearsome warriors (heavily red by this game's standards), but are often conflated with the angels of the Abrahamic faiths (which are usually white in this game), since the two types of beings perform similar functions and are both servants of deities.
As for the cosmology of such a plane, I doubt that WotC would have nine separate demiplanes, as is the case in the original Norse mythology, but I would not at all be surprised if there was a world tree that held the plane together and was the source of all life, and there certainly would be a mortal realm, an underworld, and a "heavenly" realm, as well.
What does everyone else have to say on this subject? What ideas do you have for a potential Norse mythology/Viking-themed block?
this actually sounds like a lot of fun, as long as they don't focus on plot at the expense of play (Theros). maybe a board wipe that destroys all creatures, then regenerates everything with haste for a last combat
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Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
If this type of block were made, I would personally love to see green land searching cards printed to go along with viking exploration. I would also like to see blue cards that depicted viking war ships. White could have viking spirits or valhalla. Red would have the ferocity of battle. Black could of course have the underworld.
My guess is that this has to be on the short list, given how well Theros sold. Different takes on the God type could include having to "sacrifice" creatures in order to bring powerful gods into play, which do not require devotion to attack or block. The block could be an equipment/artifact heavy block as great weapons, armor, and artifacts are common through Nordic myth. They could even bring back horsemanship!
Perhapse human creatures could have an ability called hero of legend or something which would beef up an other wise bland card?
BUT! What I really want to know is WHEN will we get a true Arabic set? I want my 1001 nights part 2!
Hammer of Storms 5
Legendary Artifact
Hammer of Storms deals 3 damage to target creature or player
That would be beyond awesome! A higher initial cost over rod of ruin for a free ability and higher damage is definitely an excellent and fair trade, in my mind.
BirdOParodise: I hope that WotC never revisits horsemanship, since the fact that it is rarer than flying make its more powerful, plus, if both mechanics existed in equal amounts, there could be very confusing interactions. Also, it would not make sense from a flavor perspective, since Scandinavia (as Greece, as well) is a rugged and rocky region, very poor for horses and cattle to live, since they require large open fields for grazing. However, it is well-suited for raising sheep and goats, so a goat-drawn chariot would not at all be out of place, there.
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Odin sacrificed his eye for wisdom/insight type stuff, so maybe his expy would be blue. That would be interesting, having a Blue leader of the Pantheon (such a role is typically White), and he's also kinda on the nicer side of blue at that, at least as far as mythological deities go (they tend to be pretty horrific on average, at least in terms of fridge horror).
Tyr expy would probably be white, and another 'nicer' one, or at least particularly honorable.
Thor expy is pretty clearly Red.
Unlike Erebos, Hel probably is an Black in philosophy, rather than just a forced association pulled out of WotC's ass due to black's association with zombies and demons.
Freyja is likely a good fit for Green.
I'd probably put Loki as Blue/Black or Blue/Red, probably the latter, as I think he's got more temper than ambition in the mythological version compared to the Marvel version.
I'd probably put the 3 fates Skuld, Urdor, and Veroandi as a single blue/white card, blue due to their domain over time, and white due to their ordering of fates. I'd also consider making them out to be a sort of set of subtle villains (or servants/victims of villains) of the set, not outright evil themselves, but working to maintain a harmful system of enforced and cruel fates for both mortal and immortal, which planeswalker meddling will screw up.
I'd probably go with 3 types of 'elves', one of which would be dwarves, and one of which would be the ljosalfar who are super pretty.
I'd consider having the Kraken(s) of this set actually be the one(s) that are/is useful for Kiora to face the Eldrazi with. I'd consider having the elves in the set be ones that teach Nissa some kind of magic to help her fight the Eldrazi. And because of this, I'd consider having Kiora and Nissa meet in this set, and realize each-other being native to Zendikar and seeking to fight the Eldrazi, and deciding on a team-up. I think I'd have Kiora as more of the main protagonist in this case, because the plane may not have merfolk, and she'd be wandering in a strange and hostile world, at least in terms of sapient beings she can actually communicate with.
I'd also consider making the Norse gods not use the indestructibility keyword, and use the devotion mechanic in a different way, because their divinity operates differently than the Theros gods, and they were relatively mortal compared to many pantheons. Instead, I'd consider having the apples of idun equivalent artifact/enchantment or something grant some kind of equivalent to indestructible effect, like regeneration.
Also, we'll probably need a sweeper outright called Ragnorok, probably a white/red one (around a 6-7 drop maybe?) which can't be countered and which exiles all permanents, then lets each player search their library for a number of basic lands equal to the number of lands they'd had in play and put those into play tapped, then shuffle their libraries. I'd then include in the set specifically a not quite counterspell that uses the 'exile spell' effect (probably as a 4 drop) that can effectively stop Ragnorok, for flavor reasons related to the set concluding in a way that breaks the cycle of fate and doom of Ragnorok.
AvalonAurora: I believe that Odin would be more likely to have some level of red, since he is the ruler of the Aesir (the warrior gods), who would definitely be red in this game (by contrast, the Vanir, the fertility gods, would be green or green/white). However, sacrificing a body part to gain either knowledge or power is definitely black in the philosophy of this game, although Odin himself does not demonstrate many traits of that color.
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Hmm... that sounds right, but I think that you could work it a different way for those elements of him.
The eye for wisdom thing could be a black spell with Odin expy on it, rather than related to Odin's own card, since it doesn't match his normal behavior patterns, merely a specific key incident.
The Aesir and Odin's leadership of them could be represented with a Red enchantment, perhaps some kind of 'might of the asesir' thing, which grants an additional benefit if you control the Odin expy?
Also, we have to remember that the setup isn't going to be a perfect mirror of mythology, they'll have to tweak lots of things to fit it into the context of the card game and keeping a balanced color pie.
While it makes a lot of sense,
I would expect such a thing to be at least five years off-
I doubt they consider mythology-based blocks any more repeatable than multicolor blocks,
or any other theme (in fact, I think they've specifically said that any theme needs ~5 years to regain its "freshness").
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Worth noting that Maro/Doug/etc. have made a point of mentioning that they tried to avoid direct expies/analogues of the Greek gods in Theros, so the same would likely be true in a Norse block - though, if my knowledge of Norse mythology is right (it might very well not be, I'm not nearly as up on it as I am Greek mythos), aren't Norse gods more characters in an ongoing story than representations of different aspects of nature? It might be more important to make sure the gods have a full lore around them than to focus on their representation, or...something.
In any case, the idea of a plane with a whole host of "classic" fantasy races - elves, dwarves, giants, angels, etc. - is definitely appealing. I'd certainly look forward to a Norse block. (I also really like the Kiora-Nissa feature 'walker pair idea: Kiora as a mono-U feature 'walker would be fun. More Kiora is always good, really.)
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"The true measure of all heroes is not what they achieve, but who they inspire." —Triumph of Gerrard
While it makes a lot of sense,
I would expect such a thing to be at least five years off-
I doubt they consider mythology-based blocks any more repeatable than multicolor blocks,
or any other theme (in fact, I think they've specifically said that any theme needs ~5 years to regain its "freshness").
we would have to go through 10 original magic fantasy flavor blocks to see a nordic one?
What I mean is that now with 2 flavor blocks per year, we will start seeing much more themes being repeated. as well as new ones.
Worth noting that Maro/Doug/etc. have made a point of mentioning that they tried to avoid direct expies/analogues of the Greek gods in Theros, so the same would likely be true in a Norse block - though, if my knowledge of Norse mythology is right (it might very well not be, I'm not nearly as up on it as I am Greek mythos), aren't Norse gods more characters in an ongoing story than representations of different aspects of nature? It might be more important to make sure the gods have a full lore around them than to focus on their representation, or...something.
They may have attempted to avoid direct analogues, but many of the Theran deities are nonetheless easily comparable to Greek deities; I shall not list the comparisons here, but I can do so, in another thread, is anyone wishes for me to do so.
I imagine that a red creature could deal direct damage to a target (i.e., "when [cardname] becomes monstrous, it deals X damage, divided as you choose, among any number of target creatures and/or players"), a blue creature that draws its controller cards when it becomes monstrous, a black creature that causes its controller's opponents to lose life when it becomes monstrous, or a white creature that causes its controller to gain life when it becomes monstrous. I have other ideas, still, but I shall allow other users to form their own ideas about this subject.
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
If such a block was to be printed, would it draw inspiration from, and be modeled after, strictly Norse mythology only (as Theros was strictly Greek in flavor, but not Roman), or might it include some elements of similar folklore, such as Celtic/Gaelic mythology (akin to how Tarkir is strongly Mongolian and Tibetan, but also includes inspiration from numerous other Asian cultures, as well)?
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
We already have two great planes lined up for potential use, Kaldheim and (more likely)Valla. Hopefully it'd bring back Dwarves. I'd be interested in seeing it, but I really really would like them to do a better job than Theros, the expies were waaaaaaay too explicit for me. It was just Greek Myth books with the names filed off; some worked, other were just... uh... Looking at you, King Micar and Akroan Horse =/
That is great news, Bobbilytus; a Viking-themed block has been one of my most-desired products in this game for many years, and seeing such a product become a reality would be almost too awesome for me!
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Berserk is a term from the viking age, the word could be the name of a mechanic/ability.
I could easily see Berserk being Unleash 2.0: Berserk (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. This creature attacks each turn if able as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) Of course, we already have a flavorful berserk ability like seen on Berserkers of Blood Ridge. Of course this means there must be bears in the block, for the ber serks must come from somewhere! For those unaware, berserk basically means "bear skin". Berserkers thought that wearing the skin of a bear would grant them all the strength and fury of the animal in battle.
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 could easily see Berserk being Unleash 2.0: Berserk (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. This creature attacks each turn if able as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) Of course, we already have a flavorful berserk ability like seen on Berserkers of Blood Ridge. Of course this means there must be bears in the block, for the ber serks must come from somewhere! For those unaware, berserk basically means "bear skin". Berserkers thought that wearing the skin of a bear would grant them all the strength and fury of the animal in battle.
I did not know that; that is a fascinating piece of trivia; thank you very much for the information.
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
I would throw out elves for plant elementals. I feel like there may be more logic in elementals having some knowledge about how to combat the Eldrazi as opposed to elves, or any other living race.
A top-down Viking/Norse block calls for elves, not plant elementals.
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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.
A top-down Viking/Norse block calls for elves, not plant elementals.
Do you have anything to support this, aside from devotion to source material? Elves, according the norse myth, are simply supernatural entities whose modern appearance has more to do with Tolkien's legacy than with actual mythology. A top-down set can still have elves: the humans refer to the creatures as being "elfin" or "elfs", while the actual creature typing is elemental, or plant elemental, or spirit. Or, taking inspiration from the akki, give the elves a more elemental, less flesh and blood appearance, and keep the typing "elf."
Since Norse mythology is also well-known for its awe-inspiring deities, remarkable heroes, and fearsome monsters, I expect that the god creature type and the i and monstrous mechanics shall be revisited, but used in different ways from how they were in the Theros block. It is not difficult to imagine deities inspired by Odin, Thor, and Loki (the original Norse versions of them, not the Marvel versions), nor a massive serpent and vicious wolf clearly modeled after Jormungandur and Fenrir. Since krakens originated in Norse mythology, there obviously will be krakens in such a block, as well.
In Greek mythology, the deities were truly immortal in every possible sense of the concept; they could not die, regardless of what horrible and vicious treatments they may have received (the best way to eliminate them was to imprison them in Tartarus). However, the deities of Norse mythology, although supernaturally powerful and tough compared to mortals, could be killed, although it would likely take another deity to accomplish such a spectacular feat. Therefore, the deities of a Norse mythology-themed set may not be indestructible, but may have some other factor to compensate, such as hexproof/protection, automatic regeneration (i.e., mossbridge troll), and/or very high toughness. In fact, because of the great focus on death in Norse mythology, I expect that there would be many cards that care about creatures dying, perhaps a revisiting of the morbid and fateful hour mechanics.
Although elves have now been absent from M:tG for two consecutive blocks (Theros and Tarkir), a rather bold and surprising move by WotC, there would definitely be elves in a Norse-themed set, considering that elves, as commonly portrayed in fiction today, originated from Norse mythology. In a similar idea, dwarves, long absent from this game, would also be present in such a block, since they, also, originated from that culture's folklore. Also on that subject, I expect that both fire giants and frost giants, led by figures inspired by Surtur and Thrym, would appear, since both beings are fairly major enemies to the deities (or the Aesir, more specifically) in Norse mythology.
There would very likely be valkyries in such a block, as well, likely portrayed as red/white angels. In the original Norse mythology, the valkyries were fearsome warriors (heavily red by this game's standards), but are often conflated with the angels of the Abrahamic faiths (which are usually white in this game), since the two types of beings perform similar functions and are both servants of deities.
As for the cosmology of such a plane, I doubt that WotC would have nine separate demiplanes, as is the case in the original Norse mythology, but I would not at all be surprised if there was a world tree that held the plane together and was the source of all life, and there certainly would be a mortal realm, an underworld, and a "heavenly" realm, as well.
What does everyone else have to say on this subject? What ideas do you have for a potential Norse mythology/Viking-themed block?
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
GBURThe EPIC StormRUBG
Legendary Artifact
Hammer of Storms deals 3 damage to target creature or player
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Perhapse human creatures could have an ability called hero of legend or something which would beef up an other wise bland card?
BUT! What I really want to know is WHEN will we get a true Arabic set? I want my 1001 nights part 2!
That would be beyond awesome! A higher initial cost over rod of ruin for a free ability and higher damage is definitely an excellent and fair trade, in my mind.
BirdOParodise: I hope that WotC never revisits horsemanship, since the fact that it is rarer than flying make its more powerful, plus, if both mechanics existed in equal amounts, there could be very confusing interactions. Also, it would not make sense from a flavor perspective, since Scandinavia (as Greece, as well) is a rugged and rocky region, very poor for horses and cattle to live, since they require large open fields for grazing. However, it is well-suited for raising sheep and goats, so a goat-drawn chariot would not at all be out of place, there.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
It must have a legendary Dragon referencing Nidhoog
Odin sacrificed his eye for wisdom/insight type stuff, so maybe his expy would be blue. That would be interesting, having a Blue leader of the Pantheon (such a role is typically White), and he's also kinda on the nicer side of blue at that, at least as far as mythological deities go (they tend to be pretty horrific on average, at least in terms of fridge horror).
Tyr expy would probably be white, and another 'nicer' one, or at least particularly honorable.
Thor expy is pretty clearly Red.
Unlike Erebos, Hel probably is an Black in philosophy, rather than just a forced association pulled out of WotC's ass due to black's association with zombies and demons.
Freyja is likely a good fit for Green.
I'd probably put Loki as Blue/Black or Blue/Red, probably the latter, as I think he's got more temper than ambition in the mythological version compared to the Marvel version.
I'd probably put the 3 fates Skuld, Urdor, and Veroandi as a single blue/white card, blue due to their domain over time, and white due to their ordering of fates. I'd also consider making them out to be a sort of set of subtle villains (or servants/victims of villains) of the set, not outright evil themselves, but working to maintain a harmful system of enforced and cruel fates for both mortal and immortal, which planeswalker meddling will screw up.
I'd probably go with 3 types of 'elves', one of which would be dwarves, and one of which would be the ljosalfar who are super pretty.
I'd consider having the Kraken(s) of this set actually be the one(s) that are/is useful for Kiora to face the Eldrazi with. I'd consider having the elves in the set be ones that teach Nissa some kind of magic to help her fight the Eldrazi. And because of this, I'd consider having Kiora and Nissa meet in this set, and realize each-other being native to Zendikar and seeking to fight the Eldrazi, and deciding on a team-up. I think I'd have Kiora as more of the main protagonist in this case, because the plane may not have merfolk, and she'd be wandering in a strange and hostile world, at least in terms of sapient beings she can actually communicate with.
I'd also consider making the Norse gods not use the indestructibility keyword, and use the devotion mechanic in a different way, because their divinity operates differently than the Theros gods, and they were relatively mortal compared to many pantheons. Instead, I'd consider having the apples of idun equivalent artifact/enchantment or something grant some kind of equivalent to indestructible effect, like regeneration.
Also, we'll probably need a sweeper outright called Ragnorok, probably a white/red one (around a 6-7 drop maybe?) which can't be countered and which exiles all permanents, then lets each player search their library for a number of basic lands equal to the number of lands they'd had in play and put those into play tapped, then shuffle their libraries. I'd then include in the set specifically a not quite counterspell that uses the 'exile spell' effect (probably as a 4 drop) that can effectively stop Ragnorok, for flavor reasons related to the set concluding in a way that breaks the cycle of fate and doom of Ragnorok.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
The eye for wisdom thing could be a black spell with Odin expy on it, rather than related to Odin's own card, since it doesn't match his normal behavior patterns, merely a specific key incident.
The Aesir and Odin's leadership of them could be represented with a Red enchantment, perhaps some kind of 'might of the asesir' thing, which grants an additional benefit if you control the Odin expy?
Also, we have to remember that the setup isn't going to be a perfect mirror of mythology, they'll have to tweak lots of things to fit it into the context of the card game and keeping a balanced color pie.
I would expect such a thing to be at least five years off-
I doubt they consider mythology-based blocks any more repeatable than multicolor blocks,
or any other theme (in fact, I think they've specifically said that any theme needs ~5 years to regain its "freshness").
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
In any case, the idea of a plane with a whole host of "classic" fantasy races - elves, dwarves, giants, angels, etc. - is definitely appealing. I'd certainly look forward to a Norse block. (I also really like the Kiora-Nissa feature 'walker pair idea: Kiora as a mono-U feature 'walker would be fun. More Kiora is always good, really.)
we would have to go through 10 original magic fantasy flavor blocks to see a nordic one?
What I mean is that now with 2 flavor blocks per year, we will start seeing much more themes being repeated. as well as new ones.
They may have attempted to avoid direct analogues, but many of the Theran deities are nonetheless easily comparable to Greek deities; I shall not list the comparisons here, but I can do so, in another thread, is anyone wishes for me to do so.
I imagine that a red creature could deal direct damage to a target (i.e., "when [cardname] becomes monstrous, it deals X damage, divided as you choose, among any number of target creatures and/or players"), a blue creature that draws its controller cards when it becomes monstrous, a black creature that causes its controller's opponents to lose life when it becomes monstrous, or a white creature that causes its controller to gain life when it becomes monstrous. I have other ideas, still, but I shall allow other users to form their own ideas about this subject.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
EDIT: From the mouth of babes
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/101230539923/people-want-dwarves-gods-seemed-like-a-pretty
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
For the Gods, i would prefer them to be more like the Myojin Gods from Kamigawa rather than the devotion and indestructible from theros.
Myojin of Night's Reach without the indestructible, instead of Mogis, God of Slaughter. It would be great if they were just solid value legendary creatures.
As for the hammer idea, it should probably be be 2RRW
tap 1RW destroy target permanent
it feels more like a destroy effect than straight up burn.
However i did like the legendary artifact cycle from theros and something similar would be nice.
Valkyries RW, Krakens/seamonsters U, Elves GU, Dwarves RW, Trolls (giants) BR, Titans UR, Wurms/Wyverns BGR, might also be fun to add in Weres RBG
I would love for them to add in cards to portray my favorite norse myth: Beowulf
My Decks:
All my Decks are budget
EDH:GRWHazezon TamarGRW, RKazuul, Tyrant of the CliffsR, BMikaeus, the UnhallowedB, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GRXenagos, God of RevelsGR, BGPharika, God of AfflictionBG
Standard:BMono Black Control(devotion)B- retired
Casual:UWHeroicUW, UGWall tribalUG, BPhylactery LichB
Modern:UBAbyssal PersecutorUB, WKnight TribalW
I could easily see Berserk being Unleash 2.0: Berserk (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. This creature attacks each turn if able as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) Of course, we already have a flavorful berserk ability like seen on Berserkers of Blood Ridge. Of course this means there must be bears in the block, for the ber serks must come from somewhere! For those unaware, berserk basically means "bear skin". Berserkers thought that wearing the skin of a bear would grant them all the strength and fury of the animal in battle.
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.
I did not know that; that is a fascinating piece of trivia; thank you very much for the information.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
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.
Do you have anything to support this, aside from devotion to source material? Elves, according the norse myth, are simply supernatural entities whose modern appearance has more to do with Tolkien's legacy than with actual mythology. A top-down set can still have elves: the humans refer to the creatures as being "elfin" or "elfs", while the actual creature typing is elemental, or plant elemental, or spirit. Or, taking inspiration from the akki, give the elves a more elemental, less flesh and blood appearance, and keep the typing "elf."