I could see a "decent" Rakdos member or ex-member seeking to destroy the demon and reform the cult into something more benevolent. Probably wouldn't last, but it'd be nice to see a nonmalicious, nonvillainous Rakdos member for once.
Crazy idea, but what if Vorel turned out to be the Simic rebel, not because he disagrees with the Combine's current philosophy but because he wants to push their ideals further? Say, to the point of being considered an extremist? And if not Vorel, it could be someone else.
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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.
I actually wouldn't be surprised to see the Simic having a split. They like making super soldiers along with Biological WMDs and the like so does Nicol Bolas so I could see them having a faction do some immoral research for Nicol Bolas easily.
I can easily see Commands. Sure there will be overlap, but the same would be true for Charms or anything else. And if they do Commands, they will stick to 4 modes and choose two. I can easily see them beeing WWUU or something like that to make them different to the Dragonlord Commands. Other option is to make Confluences?
If they do charms I am absolutey sure they just make reprints or they go another way and make them like Escalate (Blessed Alliance etc.) which would be cool also.
walker stuf......
I've been tinkering on the commands, the first guilds to make there apperance are Golgari, Simic, Izzet, Boros and Orzhov. Those color combinations have yet to recieve a command in the multicolored cycle. As a sultai player i have very high hopes for a modern playable Simic one Golgari i'm not sure about, that might push existing strategies to much.
A Golgari Command would have to be incredibly powerful for it to earn spots over other Jund cards. It could be at a power level where it’s playable but the pros don’t include it in their Jund lists.
Like, Abzan charm is modern playable, but doesn’t see play in Junk.
I agree, but depending on function there can be overlap or sideboard applications. like a very strong Golgari Charm which allready has a place in some boards.
Non red midrange decks like Sultai, GB Rock and Abzan decks would gain a significant boost from a card with similar power level as Kolaghan's Command. Then offcourse there can also be an orzhov collored command which could be a combat trick, makes tokens or removes some permanent(s).
To be fair what color pair wouldn't benefit from Kolaghan's Command. Granted its only in color for certain color pairs so GB could have all those abilities. Black can discard and do direct damage...Green can get a creature back and hate on artifacts. It works for WB as awell I guess. White to get creature back and kill artifacts and black to discard and direct damage. Yeah I hope we get guild Command's, versatility is key and Choose 2 from 4 is hard to beat.
Not likely. Fans hate when Wizards makes major changes to established worlds. See Rise of the Eldrazi, New Phyrexia, Avacyn Restored, Dragons of Tarkir, and Battle for Zendikar. Those all made major, divisive changes to their world, and what you're suggesting would be more divisive than any of those. Ravnica is the most popular plane in the game, and Wizards has learned their lessons from their past controversial changes.
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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.
Here's a weird speculation. What if guilds became sharded and wedged in the 3rd set?
then they wouldn't be the guilds, and Wizards would have an angry mob. What we COULD see is different guilds sharing one color having some interactions, get a cycle of cards that are one of the shared color and one hybrid of the other two. but Izzet isn't suddenly going to become Jeskai, because Jeskai is already a thing, and seriously, Wizards would have to be crazy to throw rocks at that wasp nest
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Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
Maro said "maybe" on his Tumblr which is basically confirmation for all practical purposes.
Yes, we saw that at the end of the Ixalan story arc but it does throw off the Balance if she is a Planeswalker and everyone else is a Creature.
Niv...no he is 15,000 if he was going to ascend he should have done it already. As for Bolas....Old Dragons don't seem to be friendly with each other so I am guessing this story ends with Niv struck down by BOlas.
Most popular guild's leader dead? I would be surprised if they did that. I mean Niv may lose, but I doubt they'll kill him.
Well they need to finally put some heroes in the ground for me to take this seriously. Both the Eldrazi Titans and Bolas going down with no significant kills is just pathetic.
Both Venser and Elspeth died, and they were widely popular. Others include: Freyalise, Jeska, Windgrace, Serra, Taysir, Urza (curse his name), and Leshrac.
WotC do not fear killing of characters, even popular ones. I fully expect several deaths in Rav3. Most obvious one is going to be Vraska, after a heel face turn, in a dying moment of awesome that prevents Bolas from winning. I also expect at least one other planeswalker death, probably one of the gatewatch. Possibly Gideon or Ajani (but I hope it is not the cat).
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Maro said "maybe" on his Tumblr which is basically confirmation for all practical purposes.
Yes, we saw that at the end of the Ixalan story arc but it does throw off the Balance if she is a Planeswalker and everyone else is a Creature.
Niv...no he is 15,000 if he was going to ascend he should have done it already. As for Bolas....Old Dragons don't seem to be friendly with each other so I am guessing this story ends with Niv struck down by BOlas.
Most popular guild's leader dead? I would be surprised if they did that. I mean Niv may lose, but I doubt they'll kill him.
Well they need to finally put some heroes in the ground for me to take this seriously. Both the Eldrazi Titans and Bolas going down with no significant kills is just pathetic.
Both Venser and Elspeth died, and they were widely popular. Others include: Freyalise, Jeska, Windgrace, Serra, Taysir, Urza (curse his name), and Leshrac.
WotC do not fear killing of characters, even popular ones. I fully expect several deaths in Rav3. Most obvious one is going to be Vraska, after a heel face turn, in a dying moment of awesome that prevents Bolas from winning. I also expect at least one other planeswalker death, probably one of the gatewatch. Possibly Gideon or Ajani (but I hope it is not the cat).
Elspeth isn't exactly dead she's in the underworld
Maro said "maybe" on his Tumblr which is basically confirmation for all practical purposes.
Yes, we saw that at the end of the Ixalan story arc but it does throw off the Balance if she is a Planeswalker and everyone else is a Creature.
Niv...no he is 15,000 if he was going to ascend he should have done it already. As for Bolas....Old Dragons don't seem to be friendly with each other so I am guessing this story ends with Niv struck down by BOlas.
Most popular guild's leader dead? I would be surprised if they did that. I mean Niv may lose, but I doubt they'll kill him.
Well they need to finally put some heroes in the ground for me to take this seriously. Both the Eldrazi Titans and Bolas going down with no significant kills is just pathetic.
Both Venser and Elspeth died, and they were widely popular. Others include: Freyalise, Jeska, Windgrace, Serra, Taysir, Urza (curse his name), and Leshrac.
WotC do not fear killing of characters, even popular ones. I fully expect several deaths in Rav3. Most obvious one is going to be Vraska, after a heel face turn, in a dying moment of awesome that prevents Bolas from winning. I also expect at least one other planeswalker death, probably one of the gatewatch. Possibly Gideon or Ajani (but I hope it is not the cat).
Elspeth isn't exactly dead she's in the underworld
She is very, very dead. She got murdered by Heliod. The reason she is in the Therosian underworld is because she is dead and the life cycle works differently on that plane. She is stuck there until she is released or she escapes. In the latter case she would wind up as a zombie. You should really read up on classical greek mythology as Theros is based off it. Just be aware that of the three main gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades), it is Hades that is the nicest one, but that does not necessarily mean that he is "good".
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Instead of charms I'd like to see guild leader commands instead. The charm thing has been done a lot so we can opt for a change this time and maintain their functional identity.
And to build on Neuroticneurok's post, they could do the guildgates as ruins instead of gates, so like
<title>
Land - Ruin
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a <X> or <Y> basic land. If you don't, sacrifice ~.
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
tap: Add 1
1, tap: Add XY, X or Y.
Like common versions of the filterlands with a bit of a cost attached.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Guildgates and Shocks got reprinted. Guildgate reprints would mean more Gates matter cards, so that deck could get a little more support.
Guild Leader Commands sound interesting. Vraska's Command I imagine involves deathtouch. And Borborygmos's Command would have to have modes referencing crushing and eating.
A cycle of mana rocks is practically a given, though what they'll do this time, I'm not certain. Maybe filter rocks that cost 2 and have "T: Add C" and "1, T: Add A or B"?
They've done hybrid guildmages and gold guildmages, so where they'll go from here is hard to say. I could see Guildbooks taking the place of Guildmages, where each book taps for A or B and has an activated ability requiring mana of the guild's colors, effectively making you a Guildmage. Actually, Guildbooks could be both the new mana rocks and a replacement for Guildmages. And hey, what if they happened to introduce Book as a new artifact subtype, with cards that care about Books, and updated past artifacts such as Spellbook, Venser's Journal, and Tamiyo's Journal to have the Book subtype?
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 guildmage cycle is a given, people would complain if we didn't get one. We will also get a cycle of common duals similar to the guildgates, it is possible that they either reprint he guildgates themselves, or we get the Woodland Stream cycle with Ravnica appropriate art.
Remember, it is currently Autumn on Ravnica, so it would be nice to see the various lands reference that season in their art.
Shocks are nearly a given by this point. There is a massive demand for them both in Modern and the various eternal formats (including commander). I am also expecting a number of lands that tap for colorless, for Brawl reasons. I doubt we will get Wastes, but a few utility lands that tap and activate for colorless are very likely.
I am expecting at least one new planeswalker in one of the three sets. It may be a planeswalker we know already, but one that has yet to get a card.
We will get a cycle of guildstone artifacts that tap for the guild colors. They will either be common or uncommon, as usual. We will also get at least one artifact or land that taps for one mana of any color. Possibly a reprint of Transguild Promenade, I'd like new art for it in Autumn Colors.
Since WotC don't want to overdo it on mechanics, each guild will have their own mechanical identity, but with some overlap to cover the color pairs not part of one of the guilds in each individual set. I.e. in Guilds of Ravnica some of the black cards in Golgari and Dimir will work well with some of the white cards in Selesnya and Boros, and so on. This is for limited reasons. The set will contain a total of seven non core mechanics: One for each guild, plus hybrid mana and split cards.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
I'd love to see the art be catered towards seasonal factors. The autumnal colours will be a sight to see especially on the basics. Maybe we'll see Lavinia in a shawl of some sort, same with Vraska in her sophisticated yet eerily sinister facade presently (based on that leaked artwork thsi week).
I'm more excited for this from an artistic standpoint than anything else.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
The set will contain five different planeswalkers, three in the set proper, and two in the planeswalker decks. It will be five different characters. At least two, possibly three will be members of the Gatewatch or allies thereof. One of the ones in the main set will be Vraska. The remainder could be nearly anyone.
There will be a cycle of charm spells, one for each guild. Each of the charm spells will have three modes (as usual), but they will only cost one hybrid mana (or one hybrid mana and one or two generic). They will all become staples of Standard, Modern, and Commander decks.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Commands would be nice. Maybe bump up the Guild Mages a bit in terms of CMC, otherwise I’m not sure what they’d do with them a third time around.
Commands are probably easier than charms, since you could just use two of each color. Ideally ones going with what that guild does, e.g. Selesnya or Boros would have Charge. The way it was handled in RTR was "color 1 ability, color 2 ability, hybrid or gold ability". Though remember, the dearth of green and white instants can be a problem.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I think Guild Leaders and Guild Champions are basically givens when it comes to returning cycles.
Guildmages are more tricky. They could make a new cycle, but they're sorta like modal spells in that they have precious little design space. Finding two repeatable abilities that complement each other and don't repeat anything from the two previous cycles for each of ten cards is quite the challenge. I could see Guildmages getting dropped for a cycle of something new.
Charms are the same deal. I don't expect to see them again because of how difficult it would be to design ten new ones.
Commands seem like a neat evolution of the Charms cycle, but there's a problem. We already have ally-colored Commands thanks to DTK. If they do Commands, they can't do only half, so they would need to make five new ally-colored Commands alongside the five enemy-colored ones. This, again, poses the same problem of being hard to find new designs for the second cycle, as well as making a lot of people frustrated that, yet again, ally-colors get special treatment. Overall, I don't see this going very well. It's not unlikely, but I forsee myself being disappointed if they do.
Shocklands seem perfectly safe. Last time we were on Ravnica, the mana base was really healthy with Shocks and Checks, and that's what we'll end up this time around too. They could break from tradition and try something new, though.
Uncommon/Common duals are most likely gonna show up, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another new cycle. Karoos are a tad powerful and Guildgates are theme-specific. They could just re-flavor the usual taplands that have been around since BFZ, or the Gainlands from KTK. I wouldn't complain about either.
The three Hybrid cycles (Common, Uncommon, and Rare) are also likely to return. I would hope for a new Mythic Hybrid cycle too, but that's probably not likely, given how many slots they have for mythics.
Split cards could return. There's still the modal spell problem, and it's arguably more severe with split cards, but they're generally more exciting than Charms and the like. We've seen them do "and" cards with Fuse (Far "and" Away), we've seen "to" cards with Aftermath (Spring "to" Mind), I could see a "vs" cycle with vanilla splits (Quantity GW double your tokens "vs" Quality GU double your counters) or more likely some new gimmick.
On the subject of Split cards, I could also see the reverse showing up. Maybe not Meld, exactly, but something more like Augment from Unstable, allowing you to pair monocolor cards in some way. But this is a topic for another conversation.
Beyond redoing old cycles, we could see straight up reprints, but I don't think that's very likely.
As for new cycles, I could see:
A Guild Ascendancy cycle, ala KTK,
A different variety of Modal spells, ala the Confluences from C15.
And that's pretty much all I can speculate about without going into new mechanic territory.
Im hoping for the mirage fetches as uncommons along with the shocks. Would that be too strong for standard? They have to do something to boost interest in the format, would this be enough?
Im hoping for the mirage fetches as uncommons along with the shocks. Would that be too strong for standard? They have to do something to boost interest in the format, would this be enough?
Any form of fetches with any form of fetchable duals would be too strong. Not to mention the amount of shuffling involved might just kill the game. They can do a lot more than just put broken card interactions into a set to boost interest.
Like, for example, Masterpieces, which I fully expect to see. It would have a very simple theme: Gold cards. A good Masterpiece series does a lot of good for a format, mostly by driving down card prices.
I actually hope they do the mirage fetches and an enemy cycle at uncommon. Though I think they'd do functional reprints so they have the guild names in them. I don't think it would be too broken as you are sacrificing at least one turn on tempo and losing 2 life in the process.
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Embrace the dark you call a home,
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
I actually hope they do the mirage fetches and an enemy cycle at uncommon. Though I think they'd do functional reprints so they have the guild names in them. I don't think it would be too broken as you are sacrificing at least one turn on tempo and losing 2 life in the process.
It wouldn't be about the pace of the game. If shocks and fetches are in standard together, even if one enters tapped, it's gonna be KTKxBFZ standard all over again. Four and five-color decks everywhere. I sincerely hope this DOESN'T happen.
I actually hope they do the mirage fetches and an enemy cycle at uncommon. Though I think they'd do functional reprints so they have the guild names in them. I don't think it would be too broken as you are sacrificing at least one turn on tempo and losing 2 life in the process.
As much as I would love to see the Mirage fetches reprinted, it's just not going to happen. Two cycles of fetchlands in Modern than can collect dual lands would break Modern in half. Not to mention putting fetchlands in the same standard as dual lands tend to lead to a degenerate play environment. We will get one or the other, but I would much rather have a shock lands reprint than a fetch lands cycle.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
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I could see a "decent" Rakdos member or ex-member seeking to destroy the demon and reform the cult into something more benevolent. Probably wouldn't last, but it'd be nice to see a nonmalicious, nonvillainous Rakdos member for once.
Crazy idea, but what if Vorel turned out to be the Simic rebel, not because he disagrees with the Combine's current philosophy but because he wants to push their ideals further? Say, to the point of being considered an extremist? And if not Vorel, it could be someone else.
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 agree, but depending on function there can be overlap or sideboard applications. like a very strong Golgari Charm which allready has a place in some boards.
Non red midrange decks like Sultai, GB Rock and Abzan decks would gain a significant boost from a card with similar power level as Kolaghan's Command. Then offcourse there can also be an orzhov collored command which could be a combat trick, makes tokens or removes some permanent(s).
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Yeah, Emmara Tandris definitely needs a new card. I wish that they'd kept her Voice of Resurgence ability.
Lymphoma Cancer Survivor!
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.
then they wouldn't be the guilds, and Wizards would have an angry mob. What we COULD see is different guilds sharing one color having some interactions, get a cycle of cards that are one of the shared color and one hybrid of the other two. but Izzet isn't suddenly going to become Jeskai, because Jeskai is already a thing, and seriously, Wizards would have to be crazy to throw rocks at that wasp nest
Both Venser and Elspeth died, and they were widely popular. Others include: Freyalise, Jeska, Windgrace, Serra, Taysir, Urza (curse his name), and Leshrac.
WotC do not fear killing of characters, even popular ones. I fully expect several deaths in Rav3. Most obvious one is going to be Vraska, after a heel face turn, in a dying moment of awesome that prevents Bolas from winning. I also expect at least one other planeswalker death, probably one of the gatewatch. Possibly Gideon or Ajani (but I hope it is not the cat).
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Elspeth isn't exactly dead she's in the underworld
She is very, very dead. She got murdered by Heliod. The reason she is in the Therosian underworld is because she is dead and the life cycle works differently on that plane. She is stuck there until she is released or she escapes. In the latter case she would wind up as a zombie. You should really read up on classical greek mythology as Theros is based off it. Just be aware that of the three main gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades), it is Hades that is the nicest one, but that does not necessarily mean that he is "good".
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Something like "Azorius Ruingate enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add [WU], then sacrifice it at the beginning of your next end step."
And to build on Neuroticneurok's post, they could do the guildgates as ruins instead of gates, so like
<title>
Land - Ruin
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a <X> or <Y> basic land. If you don't, sacrifice ~.
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
tap: Add 1
1, tap: Add XY, X or Y.
Like common versions of the filterlands with a bit of a cost attached.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Guild Leader Commands sound interesting. Vraska's Command I imagine involves deathtouch. And Borborygmos's Command would have to have modes referencing crushing and eating.
A cycle of mana rocks is practically a given, though what they'll do this time, I'm not certain. Maybe filter rocks that cost 2 and have "T: Add C" and "1, T: Add A or B"?
They've done hybrid guildmages and gold guildmages, so where they'll go from here is hard to say. I could see Guildbooks taking the place of Guildmages, where each book taps for A or B and has an activated ability requiring mana of the guild's colors, effectively making you a Guildmage. Actually, Guildbooks could be both the new mana rocks and a replacement for Guildmages. And hey, what if they happened to introduce Book as a new artifact subtype, with cards that care about Books, and updated past artifacts such as Spellbook, Venser's Journal, and Tamiyo's Journal to have the Book subtype?
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.
Remember, it is currently Autumn on Ravnica, so it would be nice to see the various lands reference that season in their art.
Shocks are nearly a given by this point. There is a massive demand for them both in Modern and the various eternal formats (including commander). I am also expecting a number of lands that tap for colorless, for Brawl reasons. I doubt we will get Wastes, but a few utility lands that tap and activate for colorless are very likely.
I am expecting at least one new planeswalker in one of the three sets. It may be a planeswalker we know already, but one that has yet to get a card.
We will get a cycle of guildstone artifacts that tap for the guild colors. They will either be common or uncommon, as usual. We will also get at least one artifact or land that taps for one mana of any color. Possibly a reprint of Transguild Promenade, I'd like new art for it in Autumn Colors.
Since WotC don't want to overdo it on mechanics, each guild will have their own mechanical identity, but with some overlap to cover the color pairs not part of one of the guilds in each individual set. I.e. in Guilds of Ravnica some of the black cards in Golgari and Dimir will work well with some of the white cards in Selesnya and Boros, and so on. This is for limited reasons. The set will contain a total of seven non core mechanics: One for each guild, plus hybrid mana and split cards.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
I'm more excited for this from an artistic standpoint than anything else.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
The set will contain five different planeswalkers, three in the set proper, and two in the planeswalker decks. It will be five different characters. At least two, possibly three will be members of the Gatewatch or allies thereof. One of the ones in the main set will be Vraska. The remainder could be nearly anyone.
There will be a cycle of charm spells, one for each guild. Each of the charm spells will have three modes (as usual), but they will only cost one hybrid mana (or one hybrid mana and one or two generic). They will all become staples of Standard, Modern, and Commander decks.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Commands are probably easier than charms, since you could just use two of each color. Ideally ones going with what that guild does, e.g. Selesnya or Boros would have Charge. The way it was handled in RTR was "color 1 ability, color 2 ability, hybrid or gold ability". Though remember, the dearth of green and white instants can be a problem.
On phasing:
Guildmages are more tricky. They could make a new cycle, but they're sorta like modal spells in that they have precious little design space. Finding two repeatable abilities that complement each other and don't repeat anything from the two previous cycles for each of ten cards is quite the challenge. I could see Guildmages getting dropped for a cycle of something new.
Charms are the same deal. I don't expect to see them again because of how difficult it would be to design ten new ones.
Commands seem like a neat evolution of the Charms cycle, but there's a problem. We already have ally-colored Commands thanks to DTK. If they do Commands, they can't do only half, so they would need to make five new ally-colored Commands alongside the five enemy-colored ones. This, again, poses the same problem of being hard to find new designs for the second cycle, as well as making a lot of people frustrated that, yet again, ally-colors get special treatment. Overall, I don't see this going very well. It's not unlikely, but I forsee myself being disappointed if they do.
Shocklands seem perfectly safe. Last time we were on Ravnica, the mana base was really healthy with Shocks and Checks, and that's what we'll end up this time around too. They could break from tradition and try something new, though.
Uncommon/Common duals are most likely gonna show up, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another new cycle. Karoos are a tad powerful and Guildgates are theme-specific. They could just re-flavor the usual taplands that have been around since BFZ, or the Gainlands from KTK. I wouldn't complain about either.
The three Hybrid cycles (Common, Uncommon, and Rare) are also likely to return. I would hope for a new Mythic Hybrid cycle too, but that's probably not likely, given how many slots they have for mythics.
Split cards could return. There's still the modal spell problem, and it's arguably more severe with split cards, but they're generally more exciting than Charms and the like. We've seen them do "and" cards with Fuse (Far "and" Away), we've seen "to" cards with Aftermath (Spring "to" Mind), I could see a "vs" cycle with vanilla splits (Quantity GW double your tokens "vs" Quality GU double your counters) or more likely some new gimmick.
On the subject of Split cards, I could also see the reverse showing up. Maybe not Meld, exactly, but something more like Augment from Unstable, allowing you to pair monocolor cards in some way. But this is a topic for another conversation.
Beyond redoing old cycles, we could see straight up reprints, but I don't think that's very likely.
As for new cycles, I could see:
A Guild Ascendancy cycle, ala KTK,
A different variety of Modal spells, ala the Confluences from C15.
And that's pretty much all I can speculate about without going into new mechanic territory.
Like, for example, Masterpieces, which I fully expect to see. It would have a very simple theme: Gold cards. A good Masterpiece series does a lot of good for a format, mostly by driving down card prices.
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
As much as I would love to see the Mirage fetches reprinted, it's just not going to happen. Two cycles of fetchlands in Modern than can collect dual lands would break Modern in half. Not to mention putting fetchlands in the same standard as dual lands tend to lead to a degenerate play environment. We will get one or the other, but I would much rather have a shock lands reprint than a fetch lands cycle.
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Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.