One thing about Sekki I'm surprised noone mentioned - he becomes very funny if you increase his toughness somehow. The way his effect is worded, the damage to him will be prevented and spirits will be made even if there are no +1/+1 counters to remove.
Some people got the idea that Wine of Blood and Iron requires you to sacrifice it at end of every turn, not just when the ability is activated. The line breaks in rancored_elf's post is really ambiguous, but the sacrifiate AEOT is most likely part of the activated ability. If it was separate ability, it would read "At end of turn, sacrifice ~this~."
Ascendant shows up TEN times in the orb - enough for five cards, each mentioning itself once in the text. Furthermore, there is five instances of "Essence" - perfect match. So it's safe to say that there will be indeed five ascendants, and the last one will have a condition that will use word "flipped" instead of "flip".
A quick ponder - if we look at the two epics known - Enduring Ideals and Endless Torment, might all the others also start with E? There's one instance of Eternal, right?
OK, after spending two hours to read EACH DAMNED POST in the last 40 pages (here's where speed-reading skills come in handy), I noticed that there is still one possibility not mentioned.
Let's suppose that the poster is, in fact, stolen. But maybe it's not from print run - maybe it's not the final version of the poster at all (which might explain the shortcomings pointed by Art Director).
If every keyword in a base set MUST have a reminder text, does this hold for every INSTANCE of the keyword? 8th Rukh Egg doesn't have reminder text for flying, for example. Note that this is not strictly for space reasons - it COULD have reminder text, if they eschewed the flavor text. If Rancor was selected on the base of its coolness instead of simplicity, there is a possibility that reminder text for trample doesn't fit there, and there are other tramplers in the set who DO have reminder text. I think Rukh Egg is the only card without reminder text for flying - why couldn't Rancor be the one card without reminder text for trample?
why would you ever play this card as a creature? What could the advantage to you possibly be?
"He can target himself" is the dumbest complaint I have ever heard.
Well, if I get him at Prerelease, I might be inclined to play him as a creature in certain situations. If my opponent has a lot of non-flying creatures, then Earthquake is obviously the way to go - but if it would hurt me more, then I will prefer him in the Heat Ray mode, to beat with him and get rid of any dangerous creatures opponent plays. That could slow him down.
Sakashima the Masked - <cost>
Legendary Creature - Human Shapeshifter
0/0
As Sakashima the Masked comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. If you do, Sakashima comes into play as a copy of that creature except for its name and gains “At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have Sakashima become a copy of target creature except for its name. If you do, Sakashima gains this ability.”
I used Vesuvan Doppelganger's Oracle text, modified to include Sakashima's name. If he doesn't change name, he can use Sakashima instead of "this". The number of Sakashimas fits. Retaining the name also makes him able to copy Legends without invoking Legendary rule.
Or, better yet, to avoid some clunky formulations:
1/1
<cost>: Sakashima the masked becomes a copy of target creature except for its name and gains this ability.
This, of course, only uses "Sakashima" once, so there would have to be some additional cards with Sakashima in name - I could imagine Mask of Sakashima as equipment, for example.
HOW can Jiwari kill himself? When you channel, he's not in play. You can theoretically use it to deal damage to itself, but that's not much of a drawback (save Mindslaver).
I repeat, he was able to disguise as samurai general and monk master - i.e. not just any random creatures, but individuals, Legends - and he could still fool people who KNEW the originals. This speaks to me of something more than just type-changing.
Descendant shows up 6 times.
Let's suppose that the poster is, in fact, stolen. But maybe it's not from print run - maybe it's not the final version of the poster at all (which might explain the shortcomings pointed by Art Director).
Well, if I get him at Prerelease, I might be inclined to play him as a creature in certain situations. If my opponent has a lot of non-flying creatures, then Earthquake is obviously the way to go - but if it would hurt me more, then I will prefer him in the Heat Ray mode, to beat with him and get rid of any dangerous creatures opponent plays. That could slow him down.
Sakashima the Masked - <cost>
Legendary Creature - Human Shapeshifter
0/0
As Sakashima the Masked comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. If you do, Sakashima comes into play as a copy of that creature except for its name and gains “At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have Sakashima become a copy of target creature except for its name. If you do, Sakashima gains this ability.”
I used Vesuvan Doppelganger's Oracle text, modified to include Sakashima's name. If he doesn't change name, he can use Sakashima instead of "this". The number of Sakashimas fits. Retaining the name also makes him able to copy Legends without invoking Legendary rule.
Or, better yet, to avoid some clunky formulations:
1/1
<cost>: Sakashima the masked becomes a copy of target creature except for its name and gains this ability.
This, of course, only uses "Sakashima" once, so there would have to be some additional cards with Sakashima in name - I could imagine Mask of Sakashima as equipment, for example.