MTG Salvation

I can't imagine Greek Myth without Zeus throwing Lightning Bolts at monsters.

But, since shock was printed....

There are a lot of cards with lightning in the name. I expect to see one of them, with a god in the art.

With a different name, probably. Pandora's box is a story that is highly present in pop culture.

In the myth, Zeus ordered the creation of the first woman, Pandora, and gave her a box containing all the evils of the world. He ordered her not to open it. He did this to get vengeance upon Prometheus by bringing evil to mankind.

Pandora grew curious, and opened the box, unleashing evil upon humanity.


This myth should resonate with other well-known myths, such as Eve and the forbidden fruit. In these stories, women defy a god and bring evil into the world. (I do not think Wizards should emphasize the female aspect...). It is used to explain why man is imperfect, and has disease, toil, vices, etc. In the case of Eve, it explains why women must suffer childbirth.

So, maybe some kind of artifact, that when activated, unleashes all hell.

I now think Rachet Bomb should have been in Theros. But, "Pandora's Box" could do many different things, as long as the flavor is right. Maybe it will tutor enchantments that do things like Curse of Death's hold.

I dunno. But - I expect to see Pandora's box somewhere in this block.

Just a couple corrections, because I love Greek Myth:

Chaos is the first god, then Gaia, Tartarus and Eros. Chaos, interestingly, is the father of Erebus and Nyx (Darkness and Night).

Uranus was the child of Gaia, then wed her and sired the Titans.

I would love to see Cronus, especially with the iconic art of eating his children.

Prometheus also seems very important, as he is the creator of humans.

However, they are not doing Greek Myth. I think it likely that there be an older order of gods than the 5 we know will be in Theros, and that maybe they will be called Titans.

I think the three cities they previewed will have certain color associations. I hope that Minotaurs, Centaurs and Satyrs will be Red/Green. They are sex-crazed animals in mythology, not the wise or noble creatures of popular fiction. Maybe we will see both.

As I remember them (without going back and checking), there was an Athens-like city of philosophers (Blue/white), a Sparta-like city (Red/White), and an Amazonian-like city (Green/?).

That would allow many of the monsters to appear in the black/X color combinations. UB Kraken, WB Griffin, BG Gorgon, BR Demon (Cerberus?).... Though I expect most monsters to be monocolored.

Greek myth is depicted in a lot of art. We have the ancient Greek vase paintings. We have huge statues and temples (Parthenon, etc.).

Then we also have more recent depictions that are quite iconic (Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Children).

I love the new art we have been shown, but I really think they would do well to have Greek inspiration at every level.

I really hope to see some card art that are recreations of vase paintings. And, I hope that some of the art refers to famous art.

I really liked Slumbering Dragon's reference to Smaug (The Hobbit). This is an opportunity for more real-world references through art (as long as it's limited to a handful of cards).

Any other iconic works that would be cool to see mimicked on a card?

I love the idea of using the Dragon to make Spartoi. Good idea!

My favorite Greek 'Dragon' is Python, the dragon Apollo slew before making Delphi. (Delphi should also be featured in some way).
But Python didn't seem to have wings, so he may be inspiration for a big wurm. Especially since he is the quintessential Cthonic figure (cthonic = from the earth).

Fun fact, Python's mother is Gaia (Gaea). Nice time for a Gaea's cradle reprint :).

Quote from vexxillion

Please, oh please give us a magic equivalent to dionysus. I wouldn't play anything else for two years.

Sounds like an Un-card to me. I am picturing abilities that make people drink and take their clothes off.

Without knowing much about the 5 gods we are getting, we can probably figure out which gods correspond to which Olympians.

White: Heliod, god of the Sun --> Apollo (or possibly Helios or Hyperion)
Green: Nylea, goddess of the Hunt --> Artemis
Black: Erebos, god of death --> Hades
Blue: Athasa, goddess of the sea --> Poseidon (she holds a pitchfork which recalls Poseidon's Trident)
Red: Unknown --> Ares, God of war/bloodlust (almost certainly)

Notable Olympians Missing:
-Zeus, ruler of the Olympians, god of the sky and of thunder
-Hephaestus, God of the Forge
-Athena, goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare and of heroes
-Demeter, goddess of fertility/agriculture
-Hermes, god of merchants, thieves, travelers
-Dionysus, god of wine and partying
-Aphrodite, god of sexual desire, love
-Hera, goddess of marriage

There are many other well-known gods, but these are the primary Olympians. You could argue that they won't be represented... but I find it very hard to believe that Zeus will be absent. Add to that the emphasis on the Hero's journey, and I find Athena's absence quite odd.

I am speculating that Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx will have some gods, and that they will be gold. We have the 5 mono-colored gods in Theros, but nothing is said about the other sets.

I think it is hard to assign colors to these other gods. Hephaestus and Aphrodite are quite Red. Zeus and Athena are definitely multicolored.

Also note that Heracles (Hercules) became an Olympian after all of his heroic accomplishments. This may be part of the Hero's Path theme to the set.


Do you think we will see more gods in Born of the Gods and Journey in to Nyx?

I think fetches will pop up in M15. I think they want to have a few months of overlap with the Shocklands in standard, but not more than that... Similar to having Rancor in M13 to overlap with Infect briefly.

If there are dual lands in Theros, I expect them to be slightly better than the guildgates, but not much better. But, I think it is more probable that there will be no dual lands to push towards a less multicolor standard.

They will be expensive as they seem to be completely unique cards. A cycle of 5 unique cards will probably be expensive. Special Frames, unique mechanics, Mythic Rare.

I don't think they will be as groundbreaking as Planeswalkers were, but I also don't think they will be a new card type that will receive continued support.

Quote from Tezzeret94

This is irrelevant. It is not a preview card because it is a reprint. Putrefy was in Izzet vs. Golgari, and was not a preview card.

I actually think Mark's dance around the faulty question to be confirmation that Sun Titan is returning. Who knows about the others.

I personally don't want them, as much as I love Sun Titan. The Titans gave birth to the Olympians. The 5 gods we will see are 'Olympians'. The Titans should not be regular creatures with the 'Giant' subtype. Not to mention the problem of Grave Titan making zombies - a creature not found in Greek Myth.

I, personally, like 4x Crypt Ghast and diabolic revelation instead of diabolic tutor. I also do not think you need 1-thousand lashes. Crypt ghast is scarier. I'm playing a single copy of Debt to the Deathless and have won games with it and Crypt Ghast.

I made a favorable winds deck with cards I already had. I am planning on playing it at FNM this week for the first time. It has been testing well (against other low-budget decks), but I am concerned with games that go long. I want to be able to board in a large creature to help out.

Maindeck



I am concerned with Planeswalkers and angel of serenity, so I like o-ring. However, I would like to swap a card to bring in one of the following:

• Avacyn, Angel of Hope
  
• Bruna, light of alabaster
  
• sphinx of uthuun
  
• drogskol reaver
  
• archon of the triumvirate

The question: If you were to bring in one of those big flying creatures, which would you bring in with this kind of build?
Lately I have been beaten by turbo fog, golgari control, jund midrange. I like beating top-tier decks with my 50$ build. However, most of the decks I have been beating are aggro builds (which is why I have 4 mainboarded Pacifisms)

What is the weakest card?

That's a shame. I feel like a bum staying indoors when it is nice out.
Any out-of-the-box ideas are welcomed.

I want to be able to play Magic outside without my cards blowing away. I figured that there must be some weighted sleeves that would allow this, but I have not found anything.

Does anybody have any suggestions?