I find the Grafdigger's Cage poster card to sound stodgy and boring instead of scary. As over-the-top and exaggerated as Dismember is (IMO, it's the second worst poster card in that Secret Lair, and Grafdigger's Cage is the worst), at least Dismember's text in the poster card looks slightly scary.
Part of me wonders whether the Stranger Things Secret Lair was released first, not just because it fits for Halloween, but also because its characters play Dungeons & Dragons as a pivotal plot point.
I honestly got the impression that Ghrin-Danu was as mythological as the goddess Danu IRL and therefore wouldn't get a card. Honestly, it feels pretty nice, at least to me, that worshippers in MTG can still be barking up the wrong tree (e.g. all that worship of Tourach).
Of the ones mentioned in the OP, I think the one most likely to get a card is the Drowned (sadly, I don't think the Coiled One will get a God card even though one of the stories proved it was real). But I think the Drowned will be a 1-of.
I'm not sure if Olivia is lying about needing the Moonsilver Key or it actually will genuinely help her in the wedding. I'm very prone to thinking she's lying, but then I'm reminded that Sorin secured the Moonsilver Key for decades for some reason. Sorin keeping the Moonsilver Key in Markov property, so it stayed safe even after House Markov got attacked, smacks even more of Snape being appointed headmaster of Hogwarts now - both now feel like last-ditch attempts to keep some core property or principle safe, even as darkness and terror conquers everything around it, by posting someone with connections to the bad guys to guard it. I'm not sure how much of Sorin keeping the Moonsilver Key was him trying to get back in some vampires' favour and how much was him preventing the other, greedy vampires from grabbing it.
It's quite possible that we'll learn more of the backstory of the Moonsilver Key in Crimson Vow. Maybe it was involved in the creation of Avacyn after all....
In particular, Wizards says that Liesa has reformed from mana and her own essence "Perhaps due to her demonic dealings, or perhaps because of the shared nature of angels and demons". The reforming process took centuries, though. Wizards leaving it completely ambiguous and open about whether Bruna and Gisela can return in a similar fashion yet again.
Ludevic's bio also leaves it ambiguous whether his "final creation" involves stitching himself into it and Ludevic becoming a skaab that way...but Olag's earlier bio does not - Ludevic does not become Olag. Shame; the Showcase art version of their shared card was really leaning into the direction of Ludevic becoming Olag.
I love this part of Rem Karolus's bio, though: "Rem does not wish for a glorious end in battle. Let's be clear: Rem very much enjoys living. After all, the longer he lives, the more fights he gets to have. He's just looking for a little challenge." I think a lot of blood knights in fiction think like Rem.
Interesting implication in the New Characters of Midnight Hunt article: since Warren Betzold's first name is spelled "Warren" in that article and "Worrin" in the latest story, the conclusion that comes easiest to me is that Arlinn cannot spell Warren's name correctly. (The article already admits that Gisa has never bothered to learn Wilhelt's name correctly, so presumably, Arlinn could be following suit.)
Aw, it was very easy for me to agree with the assumption that Olag was who Ludevic stitched himself into as he ended up euthanizing himself and becoming a zombie, not Ludevic's last project who he's still alive to manage.
With Florian's blurb, Wizards has successfully managed to make a blood bank for (less violent) vampires sound horrific (at least IMO). I'm impressed.
The more I think about Fateful Absence, the less I think it's Eternal-playable. Pioneer might consider it (I don't keep track of Pioneer, though), but Fateful Absence has stiff competition in Modern and higher with Solitude. Solitude makes you lose a decent card in hand (a white one) in order to cast it for cheap instead of making your opponent essentially gain a meh to bad card, but Solitude is free mana-wise while Fateful Absence costs 2 mana. In Modern, you can also realistically hardcast Solitude and get a creature, so you can then attack planeswalkers with it. Legacy has harsher mana denial than Modern, so Fateful Absence needing 2 mana can sting even more. (Yes, Solitude makes them gain life, but you might be shocked how little that often matters, even if Solitude is Evoked.)
Horrible deck and concept. They don't seem to realize just how hard having three creatures in play, with very specific specs, really is. That has to be one of the worst sweepers ever as welll.
Curse of Conformity is no one-sided Humility: it notably does not remove abilities, and it won't affect Legendaries. (It's time to blow it up with Outland Liberator yet again!)
My "Oh, so he's not a Stromkirk? Dang, did we guess wrong." crack was a reference to Florian's upper quarters and seat initially showing up in the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt image leaks and us guessing whether that was a picture of Runo Stromkirk or not. I remember saying that his image was of a "Stromkirk-looking vampire in the throne-looking seat" (might not be my exact words). I don't recall anyone in that thread guessing he was a Voldaren.
Tested Florian in Modern Bloodbraid Elf Jund (yes, that build has met a steep decline lately). Turns out that Florian was surprisingly good there even given that the only support he got there was removal, targeted discard, big friends, Haste friends, and Wrenn and Six. Shame he doesn't dig for any cards at all maybe around half the time, but he's happy digging 3 cards deep on an otherwise empty board, and digging 3 cards deep feels a lot better than drawing a card. Digging 6 or more cards deep with a fat enough Goyf wins the game pretty fast. Unfortunately, not only does he die to Bolt, he also feels a tad win-more. He might not even sufficiently get you out of trouble if you're losing the damage race but they graciously won't block (e.g. just Florian against two fliers). It does feel like aggro and creature-based midrange is on the downswing in Modern, so Florian feels surprisingly good in the current Modern meta.
Cathar Commando actually looks pretty playable, even in Modern and maybe even Legacy. Flash makes this Cathar's artifact/enchantment destruction one heck of a surprise, and it plays nice with Collected Company (Modern) and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (mainly Legacy). ...Oh, and it's a Human for Modern Humans.
I tried testing Suspicious Stowaway in Modern Humans. What that taught me is that switching between day and night is still surprisingly hard and will cause you to lose tempo if you opt to switch to night mode ASAP (especially if your opponent isn't cooperative). You basically cannot count on a switch to night mode until the opposing turn after the next turn after you play your day/night guy. (And, despite its similarity in looks to Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Suspicious Stowaway nonbos with Ragavan.)
...Which means that Obsessive Astronomer is not going to trigger digging for cards all that quickly.
Might Malevolent Hermit be playable in Lurrus of the Dream-Den-as-Companion decks, or will Lurrus's frailty bite it in the butt too often to take advantage of the synergy?
More than anything else the 3 casting cost prevents it from comboing with Lurrus as a commander.
Malevolent Hermit's converted mana cost is only 2. Lurrus-friendly, here we come!
Might Malevolent Hermit be playable in Lurrus of the Dream-Den-as-Companion decks, or will Lurrus's frailty bite it in the butt too often to take advantage of the synergy?
Punisher removal card... your opponent must willfully block your strangler, then your opponent will sac stuff you don't care about to keep their bomb. Not the removal you want.
...or they sac their bomb to prevent turning the Aura into sacrificing their board for them. No fun still.
I have some doubts that beaning planeswalkers, instant speed, and dodging Chalice of the Void for X = 1 compensate for costing 2 mana, but if Prismatic Ending continues to be so ungodly popular in Modern despite not hitting enough...I guess there might be room for a 5th Ending anyway.
I find the Grafdigger's Cage poster card to sound stodgy and boring instead of scary. As over-the-top and exaggerated as Dismember is (IMO, it's the second worst poster card in that Secret Lair, and Grafdigger's Cage is the worst), at least Dismember's text in the poster card looks slightly scary.
Part of me wonders whether the Stranger Things Secret Lair was released first, not just because it fits for Halloween, but also because its characters play Dungeons & Dragons as a pivotal plot point.
Of the ones mentioned in the OP, I think the one most likely to get a card is the Drowned (sadly, I don't think the Coiled One will get a God card even though one of the stories proved it was real). But I think the Drowned will be a 1-of.
I'm not sure if Olivia is lying about needing the Moonsilver Key or it actually will genuinely help her in the wedding. I'm very prone to thinking she's lying, but then I'm reminded that Sorin secured the Moonsilver Key for decades for some reason. Sorin keeping the Moonsilver Key in Markov property, so it stayed safe even after House Markov got attacked, smacks even more of Snape being appointed headmaster of Hogwarts now - both now feel like last-ditch attempts to keep some core property or principle safe, even as darkness and terror conquers everything around it, by posting someone with connections to the bad guys to guard it. I'm not sure how much of Sorin keeping the Moonsilver Key was him trying to get back in some vampires' favour and how much was him preventing the other, greedy vampires from grabbing it.
It's quite possible that we'll learn more of the backstory of the Moonsilver Key in Crimson Vow. Maybe it was involved in the creation of Avacyn after all....
In particular, Wizards says that Liesa has reformed from mana and her own essence "Perhaps due to her demonic dealings, or perhaps because of the shared nature of angels and demons". The reforming process took centuries, though. Wizards leaving it completely ambiguous and open about whether Bruna and Gisela can return in a similar fashion yet again.
Ludevic's bio also leaves it ambiguous whether his "final creation" involves stitching himself into it and Ludevic becoming a skaab that way...but Olag's earlier bio does not - Ludevic does not become Olag. Shame; the Showcase art version of their shared card was really leaning into the direction of Ludevic becoming Olag.
I love this part of Rem Karolus's bio, though: "Rem does not wish for a glorious end in battle. Let's be clear: Rem very much enjoys living. After all, the longer he lives, the more fights he gets to have. He's just looking for a little challenge." I think a lot of blood knights in fiction think like Rem.
Aw, it was very easy for me to agree with the assumption that Olag was who Ludevic stitched himself into as he ended up euthanizing himself and becoming a zombie, not Ludevic's last project who he's still alive to manage.
With Florian's blurb, Wizards has successfully managed to make a blood bank for (less violent) vampires sound horrific (at least IMO). I'm impressed.
Looks like the real 5th Path to Exile/Prismatic Ending/Swords to Plowshares has already been found, and it's not Fateful Absence, it's Solitude.
Having 3 creatures in play period is tough for a generic midrange or tempo deck (e.g. Jund, Delver), but for a creature-heavy enough aggro or midrange deck (e.g. Collected Company, Zoo), getting 3 creatures in play often means automatically getting Coven. Admittedly, tribal decks tend to have a tougher time getting Coven because of their relatively uniform size and their lords often pumping dudes out of Coven range (e.g. Spirits needs to jump through hoops with Supreme Phantom & Spell Queller/Skyclave Apparition/Selfless Spirit & Mausoleum Wanderer/Spectral Sailor in order to get Coven, Merfolk pretty much needs Svyelun of Sea and Sky/True-Name Nemesis & Silvergill Adept/Merfolk Trickster & lord/1-power 1-drop).
Curse of Conformity is no one-sided Humility: it notably does not remove abilities, and it won't affect Legendaries. (It's time to blow it up with Outland Liberator yet again!)
My "Oh, so he's not a Stromkirk? Dang, did we guess wrong." crack was a reference to Florian's upper quarters and seat initially showing up in the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt image leaks and us guessing whether that was a picture of Runo Stromkirk or not. I remember saying that his image was of a "Stromkirk-looking vampire in the throne-looking seat" (might not be my exact words). I don't recall anyone in that thread guessing he was a Voldaren.
Tested Florian in Modern Bloodbraid Elf Jund (yes, that build has met a steep decline lately). Turns out that Florian was surprisingly good there even given that the only support he got there was removal, targeted discard, big friends, Haste friends, and Wrenn and Six. Shame he doesn't dig for any cards at all maybe around half the time, but he's happy digging 3 cards deep on an otherwise empty board, and digging 3 cards deep feels a lot better than drawing a card. Digging 6 or more cards deep with a fat enough Goyf wins the game pretty fast. Unfortunately, not only does he die to Bolt, he also feels a tad win-more. He might not even sufficiently get you out of trouble if you're losing the damage race but they graciously won't block (e.g. just Florian against two fliers). It does feel like aggro and creature-based midrange is on the downswing in Modern, so Florian feels surprisingly good in the current Modern meta.
...Which means that Obsessive Astronomer is not going to trigger digging for cards all that quickly.
Malevolent Hermit's converted mana cost is only 2. Lurrus-friendly, here we come!
...or they sac their bomb to prevent turning the Aura into sacrificing their board for them. No fun still.
It's Nahiri's fault again!I have some doubts that beaning planeswalkers, instant speed, and dodging Chalice of the Void for X = 1 compensate for costing 2 mana, but if Prismatic Ending continues to be so ungodly popular in Modern despite not hitting enough...I guess there might be room for a 5th Ending anyway.