Theros Beyond Death Limited Archetypes and Signpost Uncommons

Magic: The Gathering‘s newest set, Theros: Beyond Death (THB), is about to hit Magic Arena. That means it’s a great time to review the set’s Limited archetypes and their top uncommon enablers.

Here’s everything you need to know to come out on top in THB Draft and Sealed.

Mono-colored decks in THB will definitely be a thing with the Devotion mechanic in pay. In Limited, however, there are two considerations you should make.

First, Sealed can’t support mono-colored decks. With only 90 cards, the odds of getting 23 or so playables all in one color are very low. Unless you really know what you’re doing, aim for a dual-color deck.

Second, aim for a mono-colored deck in black, white, or green. Red and blue only have one and two common or uncommon cards associated with them, respectively.

For White, go wide with Reverent Hoplite. Black’s big draw is a game-ending drain with Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Green, on the other hand, gets a faux-Overwhelm with Klothys’s Design.

UW Tempo

For those who remember Mono-Blue Tempo from last year, this deck plays out very similarly. You’ll want to cast out some cheap attackers like Hero of the Pride, then disrupt your opponent’s gameplan by bouncing or tapping down their creatures. Finally, generate card advantage with cards like Staggering Insight and you’ll have a clear path to victory.

UB Mill Yourself

Dimir decks this go around are all about putting cards from the library directly into the graveyard. Devourer of Memory and the Escape mechanic (on creatures like Underworld Charger) are the main reasons why. Mill yourself with enablers like Venomous Hierophant, then pull off graveyard shenanigans like Pharika’s Spawn, a recursive threat that eats an opponent’s creature every time you bring it back.

BR Sacrifice

The mantra of Rakdos is simple: get the most out of your creatures, even if that means killing them yourself. THB is packed with valuable reasons why, starting with sacrifice fodder like Discordant Piper and Careless Celebrant. Slaughter-Priest of Mogis turns those creatures into a major beating, while Soulreaper of Mogis turns them into card advantage.

Then, set up combos by sacrificing creatures that immediately come back to life thanks to Minion’s Return—or even sacrifice your opponent’s creatures with Portent of Betrayal...

- Source, Dotesports, read the full article here

Seven Theros Beyond Death Infinite Combos for Commander

The newest Magic: the Gathering set, Theros: Beyond Death, has brought with it a ton of new combos that are perfect for the Commander format. Let's break down seven new ways to go infinite with Theros: Beyond Death cards!

- Source, MTG Goldfish

Dust Off Your Deck, Planeswalker: Magic Legends Comes to Beta This Spring

Classic CCG Magic: The Gathering is about to get a major digital makeover with the top-down massively multiplayer online action RPG Magic: Legends. Due for an official launch on PC in 2020, Magic: Legends

Hover over the keyword to read more about the topic without leaving this page!

will see a beta test this coming spring. The game is set to release on PS4 and Xbox One in 2021.

The shift from the direct card game conversions of recent years shouldn't be much of a surprise; the franchise has seen many iterations over the years. Longtime fans may remember the original isometric single-player game launched on PC in 1997, as well as the ill-fated real-time strategy console game BattleMage. So venturing into the world of MMOs isn't terribly off-brand for the series.

So far Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment have revealed two classes for Magic: Legends.

Players can take up the role of the earth-magic focused Geomancer or the psychic Mind Mage while exploring the worlds of Benalia and Shiv.

Three more planes and additional player class options are still due to be announced ahead of launch.

Those wanting to get into the action as early as possible can sign up for the Magic: Legends Beta over here.

- Source, Game Skinny, read more here

Theros Film Festival: Contest Underway, Magic the Gathering

Yesterday, the company behind Magic: The Gathering and its derived games wrote an article detailing a contest they are holding known hereafter as the “Theros International Film Festival”. The base rules of the competition are fairly simple – contestants will shoot a fifteen-second-long movie (think TikTok, or Vine) with the theme of “Escape Your Fate” and send it to Wizards of the Coast for judging. 

The top four contestants get a beautiful statue of Ashiok, one of the key Planeswalkers from the newest Magic set, Theros: Beyond Death. The top ten contestants also receive prizes in the form of booster boxes, foil completed sets of Theros: Beyond Death, Collector’s Boosters, and codes for packs on Magic: The Gathering: Arena. How splendid!

DailyMTG, Wizards of the Coast’s official Magic news hub, details the contest in more detail:

"With Prerelease of Theros Beyond Death later this week, what better way to celebrate than another community contest? Which is why we are thrilled to announce the Theros International Film Festival!

Starting today, we will be accepting submissions for 15 second videos with the creative prompt of “escape your fate.” Just as Elspeth escaped her fate from the Underworld of Theros, show us how you escape yours! Whether that be something as mundane as refusing to refill the office coffee pot (sorry Steve!), or something far more serious, share it with us.

We have some incredible prizes lined up for this contest, including these really impressive Ashiok statues made by community artist Miss Monster Mel. The top four winners of this contest will each receive one of the four statues, and a total of ten winners will be named Official Selections for the Theros International Film Festival. Once all ten winners are selected, they will be debuted on our Instagram account as official selections to the world.

The first, second, third, and fourth place winners will receive the custom Ashiok statues. They will also receive a full foil set of Theros Beyond Death, a sealed booster box of Theros Beyond Death, ten Theros Beyond Death Collector Boosters and ten codes that can be redeemed for Theros Beyond Death booster packs on MTG Arena."

- Source, Bleeding Cool, read the full article here

Latest Modern Banning, Good or Bad for the Format? Oko Had it Coming?

Wizards of the Coast updated their banned and restricted list for the Modern format of Magic: The Gathering. The article stating so named Oko, along with Mox Opal and Mycosynth Lattice, as major contributors to degeneracy (and degenerate plays) in the Modern metagame. As of now, Oko is only legal in Legacy, Vintage, and Commander (among all of the sanctioned formats he is legal in). Oko is banned in five other sanctioned formats, by comparison.

From the article officially banning these cards, on DailyMTG.com:

"Over the last several weeks, base blue-green decks using Urza, Lord High Artificer have risen to the top of competitive Modern, earning the most 5-0 trophies in Magic Online league play and maintaining a non-mirror match win percentage of more than 55%. These decks also have a winning matchup against nine of the other ten most popular competitive decks, indicating an inability of the metagame to adjust on its own.

The cards most strongly contributing to the high win rate of these decks are Oko, Thief of Crowns and Mox Opal.

Oko, Thief of Crowns has become the most played card in competitive Modern, with an inclusion rate approaching 40% of decks in recent league play and tabletop tournaments. In additional to having a high overall power level, Oko has proven to reduce metagame diversity and diversity of game play patterns in Modern. In order to improve the health of game play and to weaken Urza decks and other top decks, Oko, Thief of Crowns is banned in Modern.

In addition to being an important part of blue-green Urza decks, Oko was also used by a number of other top Modern decks. Our data indicates that removing Oko alone would still leave Urza decks in a dominant position in the metagame. We considered options that would further weaken Urza-based artifact decks, while still allowing for decks based around that general strategy. Ultimately, we determined that banning Mox Opal was the correct option.

As a source of fast mana in the early game, Mox Opal has long contributed to strategies that seek to end the game quickly and suddenly, whether with explosive attacks, one-turn win combos, or by locking out the opponent with “prison” elements. While none of these decks previously warranted a ban of Mox Opal, it has historically been a part of decks that approached problematic impact on the metagame or did indeed necessitate other bans. As the strongest enabler in the recent Urza artifact decks, and a card that has been concerning in the past and would likely cause balance issues in the future, Mox Opal is banned in Modern.

Lastly, we’d like to take this opportunity to address another problematic interaction between Karn, the Great Creator and Mycosynth Lattice. This combination, popular in Eldrazi and other Tron decks, can completely lock the opponent out from casting further spells. While decks featuring this combination often win in other ways, the deckbuilding cost to include this interaction is low, causing it to show up more often than is fun in competitive play. As a result, we are banning Mycosynth Lattice in Modern."

- Source, Bleeding Cool, read the full article here

Magic: The Gathering Chandra Comic Book, By IDW

Now available from IDW, what did you guys think of the Chandra comic book series?

https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/magic-the-gathering-chandra/

Description:

"Ever in search of adventure, Chandra strikes out on her own, determined to protect the Multiverse and help those who cannot help themselves. 

But as new threats arise, she finds herself haunted by the failings of her past… and confronted by a sinister foe hoping to prey on her weakness. 

Plagued by demons—both figuratively AND literally—it’ll take more than fireballs for Chandra to win the day! How will she save those in peril… including herself?"

- Source

It's IMPOSSIBLE to Play Magic: The Gathering Perfectly?

Kyle discusses the impossibilities of Magic: The Gathering, responds to your comments, and more!

- Source, Because Science

Market Movements: Theros Collectors,Throne of Eldraine, Brawl

The 5 Best New Magic: The Gathering Cards For Pioneer From Theros Beyond

The Professor breaks down what he believes to be the best five cards coming out in the upcoming Theros Beyond Death set, that will impact the Pioneer meta game. 

Do you agree with these cards? What do you believe will shake up Pioneer and other formats the most?

- Video Source, Tolarian Community College

Tolarian Community College: How To Evaluate Your Commander Deck's Power Level

How strong is your Commander deck? Many Magic: The Gathering players ask the question, "How do I evaluate my deck's power level in relation to other decks?" For this Untitled MTG podcast, I am joined by Olivia Gobert-Hicks of the Commander Advisory Group to discuss how to evaluate your deck's strength and level, how to power it up or down, and how to deal with difficult players who may not see things the way you do.

- Source, Tolarian Community College