Our first Twitter giveaway is going on RIGHT NOW and we’re going to be giving away a number of copies of Sheoldred, Whispering One, a mythic rare from New Phyrexia.
All you have to do is “Like” us on Facebook, or “Follow” us on Twitter. We will use Random.org to choose one of our followers to receive a copy of Sheoldred when we reach the 200 Follower/Like threshold and at every 100 new Followers/Likes after that until we run out or the giveaway ends this Sunday.
We’ll be updating this post with the names of winners the arise, but for now, feel free to ogle the cards we’re giving away. We’ve got one normal copy of Sheoldred and FIVE Foil Pre-Release copies.
So, get out there and spread the news! The more follows, the more opportunities to win.
Best of luck!
P.S. This might sound crazy, but I’ll even throw in another bonus. If we reach the 500 Followers threshold on Twitter before WEDNESDAY, I will give away a FOIL Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, in addition to a Sheoldred.
Over the course of the set a lot of things have changed in Mirrodin. The Phyrexians, hidden within the core of the plane, have invaded and transformed it into New Phyrexia. The plane of Mirrodin has been corrupted and many of its inhabitants can be seen in these forms in the new sets. New Phyrexia in particular is pretty cool with the number of cards that go back to classic Mirrodin and Phyrexian cards. Here are a few of the cards that have their roots in previous Magic sets.
Compleated Elves
The Elves were the first to fall to the invasion and green has become one of the main colors of the Phyrexians. Many of the elves that have been compleated are reminiscent of the elves as seen in the previous set of Mirrodin. These elves were particularly good against artifacts and they retain that trait in their new forms. For some of these creatures the addition of Infect is the only major change.
Classic Phyrexian Designs
The Phyrexians that took over Mirrodin are not the same that served under Yawgmoth, but there are some designs still within their memory. The Phyrexian Hulk
Phyrexian Hulk is the most obvious example in this set, being a reprint. Mortis Dogs and Hollow Dogs are different cards but it is easy to see the inspiration. Cards like these show that there is some identity to Phyrexia even though it corrupts every other creature with its oil.
Perfected Phyrexians
There are some Phyrexian creatures that have returned to the new plane with some changes. The Priest of Urabrask
Priest of Urabrask is a red Priest of Gix
Priest of Gix. The priest in red will certainly be a welcome addition as a “free” creature that can keep a red deck burning. However the coolest creature that has been improved is sure to be the Phyrexian Obliterator. This new Phyrexian Negator has definitely reached perfection. No longer do you have to weigh risks when playing the Phyrexian Negator, for only 1 extra black mana you can have your opponents sacrificing permanents instead!
Corrupted Mirran Artifacts
The Phyrexian have lent their touch of perfection both to their own designs as well as classic Mirran artifacts. Golems have received a huge boost in power thanks to the splicers that are in white, green, and blue. These creatures come into play with some 3/3 golems and also power up all golems you control. These Phyrexians can further improve even one of their grandest artifacts: Blightsteel Colossus
Blightsteel Colossus. For specific cards that have been compleated in New Phyrexia, you can look toward the Etched Monstrosity. This guy has been beefed up from the uncommon Etched Oracle from Mirrodin into a card at the mythic rare level. What was once a little 4/4 at max that would probably die to draw 3 cards is now a 5/5 that can become a 10/10 if you use it to draw those 3 cards. The Phyrexians have added some awesome new twists to these antiquated Mirran artifacts.
Iconic Lands now Tainted
Remember the artifact lands from Mirrodin? Well now they’re back, but maybe not as you would have hoped. Now they’re back as basic lands corrupted by the Phyrexians. We have received new basic lands from each set in this block, showing us just how much the terrain has changed and the return to these unique lands show that even the great centers of power for the Mirrans have been lost to the Phyrexians. This corruption leads all the way to the very core of the plane. Mirrodin’s Core
Mirrodin’s Core was once a land that allowed you to charge up colored mana but the new Phyrexia’s Core instead eats artifacts for a bit of life. While it is a bit of an odd twist in its mechanics, the name Phyrexia’s Core
Phyrexia’s Core establishes that the plane has been forever changed.
These are some of the cards I found that go back into Magic’s past and bring back what we associated with the planes of both Mirrodin and Phyrexia. There are reimagined forms of these classic cards as well as some cool combinations of what both planes do best resulting from the invasion of Mirrodin. Try to look through your old collection of Mirran or Phyrexian cards and see if you can spot any links between then and now.
Players have always had a love/hate relationship with MTG’s ever-changing, yet reassuringly cyclical nature. I’ve heard from gamers who left MTG for Warhammer or D&D primarily on account of the ever-changing play environment of Standard and the necessity for keeping up with the latest expansions in order to have viable decks for FNM.
Even playgroups who stay away from Standard in favor of Legacy will periodically have to buy a playset of the latest and greatest in a series of spells that is central to a long-standing deck.
On the other hand, the rhythm Wizards has established of releasing an annual (since 2009) Core Set, one block with a stand-alone set and two smaller expansions, and a multiplayer product (Planechase, Archenemy) keeps the play environment fresh and gives players and event-organizing a lot to look forward to.
While, I may not be entirely on board with the increasing number of smaller products like Duels of the Planeswalkers, From the Vault, and the Premium Deck series which have been regularly released over the past couple years, I do like the way Wizards does marketing and I’m the type that loves following the rumors and spoilers as they appear. So, for those of you like me, who want the scoop on what’s coming, here’s a taste of the next few months in Magic*:
Commander: June 17, 2011
So, the first big debut of the summer is MTG:Commander. The Elder-Dragon Highlander format has become just popular enough that Wizards is ready to take their cut. In all seriousness though, it’s sometimes difficult for the casual player or newbie to get into a format like EDH due to a small card pool. These five, one-hundred card, tri-color decks will give you a great base for building a competitive EDH deck and will cost $29.99 each. You can also look forward to 15 new cards in each deck and 51 new cards total.
Each deck will showcase three legendary, over-sized commander cards with one of these in each box being part of the Legendary Dragon series from Planar Chaos. The three colors will be a “wedge” trio, meaning they will consist of two allied colors with one enemy color.
Also, if you’re a little bit confused about why it’s called Commander and not EDH, then you’re in good company. The choice is deliberate and explained, more or less, at the official EDH site: http://mtgcommander.net/questions.html
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about what cards will be reprinted in MTG:Commander and what new additions will be made. At any rate, we’re excited to get our hands on these decks and will be planning on finding a Release event to attend.
M12: July 15, 2011
As we mentioned on Monday’s podcast, the TCP crew hasn’t been terribly enthused by core set releases in the past. Of course, most of us started playing back in the day when core sets sported the horrible white-bordered cards that started looking “used” way too quickly and stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise aesthetically pleasing deck. However, the introduction of black-bordered core sets didn’t do nearly as much to change our minds as the introduction of titans in M11.
The titans were an incredible addition to the standard environment and did a lot to shake up the format. If M12 follows suit, I assume they’ll be a mythic-level incentive to buying the core set in every color – that is, an incentive in addition to the reprinted planeswalkers.
Earlier this week, Wizards released what is, by far, their best promo video to date. In it we find Gideon Jura recounting in brief his inter-planar struggles (especially his encounters with Liliana Vess) and hinting that there are big changes coming in the planeswalker storyline.
The tagline for M12 is “Gather Your Allies” and at the end of the video Gideon hints that he has somehow found a way to unite the planeswalkers (at least planeswalkers who aren’t Liliana) under a common banner. Is this actually storyline? Is this just a weird way to talk about the role of the player as a “controller of planeswalkers”? There is plenty here to speculate on, but we’ll save that for a later date.
If you haven’t already watched the video, check it out.
Duels of the Planeswalkers2012: Summer 2012
In addition to the reprinting of the planeswalkers in M12, there will be a new edition of Duels of the Planeswalkers appearing this summer. The announcement by Wizards indicated that the picture below is representative of the planeswalkers that we’ll see in both M12 and DoP. So, it looks like Liliana and Ajani have disappeared (though only temporarily) and been replaced by Sorin Markov and Gideon Jura.
Based on precedent, I doubt that the M12 planeswalkers will be anything but reprints, though they may have some new name-associated cards like Jace’s IngenuityJace’s Ingenuity or Chandra’s Spitfire
Jace’s Ingenuity.Either way, I hope beyond hope that we won’t be seeing Jace, the Mind Sculptor return to Standard for another year.
Innistrad: September 24, 2011
Finally, what interests us the most here at TCP is the announcement of the next block: Innistrad. There are several things to be excited about with Innistrad. First of all, it’s the first set that the game’s creator, Richard Garfield, has co-designed since Ravnica: City of Guilds. The tagline of the set is “Horror Lurks Within” and there is already some speculation that we may be returning to Ravnica in this block.
Whether or not we can look forward to a return to the city-plane, it does look like this set will have a flavor similar to that of Torment – the black-centric expansion to Odyssey.
There’s been some debate (though I don’t know why) about whether or not this is a picture of Liliana. Let me put your minds at ease – when I right-click saved it from the Wizards announcement, the picture’s default name was “liliana_innistrad”.
We have Liliana on the throne, a corpse with a smoking chest-wound in the background, a full moon (please reprint Bad Moon), and two zombie-like husks in the background. Also, the Game Day for Innistrad is October 29-30 – as close as can be to Halloween (please reprint All Hallow’s Eve).
While I would love to see mono-block come back in a big was in Innistrad my greatest hope is that Liliana, who seems to have been left out of M12, get a makeover in Innistrad. Especially as Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Jace, the Mind Sculptor leaves standard it would be great to have a new mega-mythic game-changing remake of a planeswalker.
*You might notice that we passed over the Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas duel decks. Right now there isn’t enough information on the decks to have much fruitful speculation. We’ll let you know when we know more.
We got more in depth with a discussion of NPH and handle some rumors about upcoming sets including when, where and why you’ll be paying attention to this lady:
Editor’s Note: Before you crazy kids head out to NPH Release parties and events this weekend, be sure to read this piece from TCP writer, Dj , on the flavor and content you should expect when you crack your first packs.
Hello everyone and welcome back to Mirrodin… well, I guess it’s Phyrexia now. As everyone has seen by now the Phyrexians have won the war for the plane and it has been greatly changed for this new set. While I’m a little disappointed that the Mirrans lost because I really liked their artifacts and abilities, I am definitely excited for the newest cards that will totally change the game. Here are a few of what I think are the coolest new things to find in New Phyrexia.
1. The Phyrexians have regained their status as the most terrifying force in the Magic multiverse. With a Phyrexia victory we once again have access to some devastating spells, some with awesome improvements. Infect is naturally a huge theme in this set and the Phyrexian penchant for distributing -1/-1 and demanding blood sacrifices are also in tons of cards, particularly black, for this set. I particularly like Grim Affliction
Grim Affliction, allowing you to pass out counters and also proliferate any that happen to be on the battlefield already. However one of the coolest new cards in this set is a huge improvement over a classic Magic card: the Phyrexian Negator. The Phyrexian Obliterator
Phyrexian Obliterator is something I want in every mono-black deck, forcing any opponent without removal in hand to sacrifice a few permanents to take out this guy.
2. Phyrexian leadership has been split along the 5 colors of mana. While black is a dominant force in New Phyrexia, the other colors get cool Phyrexian cards as well. With exposure to the five suns of Mirrodin, factions have emerged among the Phyrexians each with their own ideas of perfection. This leads us to some really cool cycles of cards to play with. Our article from last week goes over how cool the Praetors are but there is another neat cycle of chancellors to play with. These guys are all expensive but they make up for it with some cool abilities, one of which they do before the game even begins. Like the leylines, the chancellors can give you an advantage from the start of the game doing things like milling your opponent, countering spells, or draining life.
3. Colored artifacts return with a Phyrexian twist. Colored artifacts were a major mechanic of Esper in the Shards of Alara block. With the return to Mirrodin since then, it would seem strange if the artifact plane didn’t have some way to add color to their artifacts. It took a Phyrexian invasion but now they have a way to add colors to artifacts. These Phyrexian artifacts are unique by letting you pay for their colors with a payment of life. This mechanic give artifacts colors, but it doesn’t limit them to those colors in building a deck.
4. Phyrexian mana gives decks access to effects normally outside their colors. This new mechanic is probably going to cause the greatest changes in the game. Many spells in New Phyrexia can be paid with colorless mana and some life, allowing them to be put in any deck. Some of the most useful abilities of other colors can now be added to a deck if you are willing to pay life for it. We’ve talked about some awesome Phyrexian cards before but I don’t think we can talk enough about them. I find that the coolest of these cards are the answers such as Dismember and Act of Aggression that can surprise your opponent. Mutagenic Growth is going to cause all sorts of trouble, especially against burn decks. For 2 life you can pump your creatures in an emergency. Tapped out from playing Jin-Gitaxias
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur and about to lose him to a timely Dismember
Dismember? Not anymore! Just pay 2 life and he will be around to wreck your opponent’s hand. These kinds of surprises from Phyrexian spells are going to cause a lot of hesitation in your opponent.
5. Karn has been freed from Phyrexian control and regained his planeswalker spark. Ever since it was announced we were returning to Mirrodin
I was just waiting for Karn
Karn Liberated to return as a planeswalker card. It looks like he is definitely worth the wait. The first thing anyone will notice is that he’s colorless. While 7 is a little expensive for a planeswalker he will find a way to get out quick, especially with mana ramp. His abilities also look pretty expensive but they will certainly be worth it. They have some control aspects, exiling cards from a hand or the battlefield, so hopefully you can take out some threats while he is out. Like any proper planeswalker, his ultimate is one that can end the game (and make a new one). If you can force an opponent to discard something really cool or risk exiling one of your cards to start a new game with a guy that will make the new game end very fast.
A new set is always exciting and these are just quick overview of the coolest new things. As usual there is a good mix of cool new mechanics and awesome cards. The set is released today and I know I will be excited to see what new decks I can make with these cards. I’m certainly most excited for Karn, but what are you hoping to pull from your new packs?
Before I get to our experience at the NPH Pre-Release, let me just say that as casual players we are sorry to see the regional Pre-Releases go. Large casual events, unless sponsored by companies like StarCity Games are a thing of the past. For the player who loves the crackle of a thousand booster packs being opened by three hundred of his closest friends in a casual setting, the crack of doom has sounded.
That said, I would like to remind you of the words of an ancient philosopher: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” The upside of the end of regional Pre-Releases is that smaller local outfits will be able to make a bigger deal of their own events. This will give local store owners and local judges greater flexibility in deciding what an event looks like, allowing them to cater to their specific MTG crowd. The new system might also provide a critical opportunity for struggling stores to boost their sales on a quarterly basis.
So, having experienced our share of large-scale casual-play events like this, we’d like to share with you,for the benefit of your playgroup and your local store, some of our ideas for making your small-scale release events a BIG deal.
1. Start time is critical for the execution of a successful event. This is true from both the perspective of the player and the host. When TCP went to the last Pre-Release we attended we showed up about ten minutes after registration was supposed to begin. No big deal, right? Wrong. Even before we arrived they had run out of the promo cards and other swag.
After a fail like that we weren’t going to “get got” a second time. For NPH The Casual Planeswalker crew set their alarms for an ungodly hour, used two Reanimates and a Gravedigger to get ourselves out of bed, stopped by Starbucks for some even deeper and more ancient magicks, then piled in the car, spoilers in hand, for the hour drive to the event, planning to arrive well ahead of registration even if we ran into unexpected traffic.
And we did just that. We were there half an hour before registration was supposed to begin, money in hand, ready to go. We were the second group to arrive for Pete’s sake. BUT: There was no line. There was no logical place for a line to begin. There appeared to be no one running the thing…
More and more people filed in. Now it was 8:45 and there were probably a hundred people sitting around waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly someone, somewhere with an official looking t-shirt whispered: “line”. Having accidentally sat down on the wrong side of the room we were suddenly at the back of said line, which was okay until we realized…
2. People always forget their DCI cards… After making considerable progress through the line we found ourselves being shushed and shouted at as the irate hosts discovered that, wonder of wonders, not everyone had their DCI cards on them! We would have to start a new line to get our numbers, then head to the END of the registration line that we were already half way through, and besides that….
3. Nobody likes being yelled at. There were speakers and a microphone there, I saw them. Shouting does not make the experience “more personal”, nor is it more effective than instructions given in a calm voice over a speaker-system. More than that, being yelled at makes your customers feel like they are kindergarteners who have been eating paste, not grown men who are PAYING you for the privilege of being a captive audience, which reminds me…
4. Time is money. Not only are we a captive audience, but you, our hosts, have our favorite thing in the world, unopened packs of hot-off-the-press Magic cards. You earn your livelihood by selling these marvelous pieces of cardboard to us, and we are DYING to give you our money. Therefore: It should not take two hours from registration time to begin the first event. After recovering my DCI number and going through the main line (again), I didn’t get into pod 1 and so, by the time I finished my first match it was after noon and time for a lunch break.
With sufficient preparation we could have had two pods through at least two (if not three) rounds before lunch. Most players at a release don’t want to stick around in the tourney after they’ve missed out on the chance to win prizes. Most of us would, having lost, love to jump into another sealed event, open-dueling, or a draft.
If you are concerned, and you should be, that if there are too many cards in circulation before lunch…
5. People will cheat, then simply have us…
6.Register our deck. It takes five minutes and we really don’t mind. I know this is “casual play,” but fairness is a big deal. Also, if unregistered decks is what’s stopping you from starting drafts and open-dueling before lunch, then having players register their decks would allow you to make THAT MUCH MORE MONEY!
Similarly, if you’re…
7. Concerned about giving away too many prizes? Don’t be. If each individual event is profitable (and it should be), then the more events you have in a day, the more money you make. It’s frustrating for players and unprofitable for hosts when people are spending too much time sitting around waiting for something to happen. If you can figure out a way to have food on site – a great opportunity to partner with another local business – you can shorten the amount of time given for lunch and…
7. Maintain the excitement. We love Magic. We really do. And all we planned on doing today was buying cards and slinging cardboard. The more you make us feel loved (giveaways, posters on the walls, banners flying) the more excited we’ll be (and the more money we’ll bring) the next time you host an event.
We’re excited for the more personal, more local experience that we’ll have at local stores when M12 and Innistrad drop later this year. If you’re planning on hosting an event in the near future, my best and final advice is simply to…
8. Ask the players what they want. We really are an easy crowd. We want cards. We want Coke. We want fast food. We want a day with our friends doing what we love best. If you provide a welcoming environment and a customer-friendly structure we are more than willing to max out our MTG budgets with a smile on our faces. See you in July!
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Kiora Atua
Jace’s Ingenuity
As you all know, this past weekend was the Pre-Release event for New Phyrexia, and, sadly, the 
swag. 
If you are concerned, and you should be, that if there are too many cards in circulation before lunch…
