#mtgrpg

1. Isn’t It Iconic…

Found on Twitter

Our recent announcement from Wizards’ home base this past week was quite substantial, with the upcoming Commander 2017 products which feature an exciting new tribal theme! We also have the name of the fall set, Ixalan, which will rotate into Standard with and is currently rumored to have a Meso-American theme. Likely the largest and most anticipated of all was Iconic Masters, which will feature iconic cards from all over Magic history!

Commander 2017 is set to be released on August 25 and will be available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. The products will all be available in the United States for MSRP at $34.99. They will feature a tribal theme, supposedly with Magic’s most popular and interesting tribes. A total of 56 new cards will be legal as well in Legacy and Vintage at that, and the most notable detail, there will only be FOUR of these decks as opposed to the usual five. More information is available here.

Ixalan, the 2017 fall set to come, has quite a few rumors floating about for its theme. One very popular speculation is that it has a Meso-American theme as aforementioned. One interesting speculation came from Zurgo Helmsmasher @khanofthemardu​, with another one here from @vampire-hoe via @chelsea-beleren-vess​‘s inbox. Check out some other ones here:

http://sarpadianempiresvol-viii.tumblr.com/post/159728962689/helene-bergeot-confirmed-today-that-the-fall-set.

http://coincidencetheories.tumblr.com/post/159806978574/mtg-conspiracy-ixalan-is-a-return-to-new-phyrexia.

http://darth-daud.tumblr.com/post/159788985615/im-so-glad-that-they-basically-confirmed-in-my. 

However, let it be noted that the Inkmoth Nexus promo is not indicative of Ixalan being a return to New Phyrexia.

Iconic Masters is the next “Masters” set, which will be released on November 17 of this year. There is something very special about this set in particular: there will not be previews of this set! We are told that the set will feature new artwork on many cards, bringing in an array of Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras (each color’s iconic creatures!) along with some of the most memorable spells in the game’s history. Still in line with previous “Masters” sets, it will have 24 booster packs of 15 cards each, including one premium card. Undoubtedly the set will have a very engaging draft format as Modern Masters 2017 and Eternal Masters before it. This set will be released at HASCON along with additional announcements on Ixalan, so be sure to grab your ticket! Some speculative links below:

https://phyrexian-without-a-cause.tumblr.com/post/159800155534/iconic-legends-what-could-be.

https://island-delver-go.tumblr.com/post/159827828502/with-the-reveal-of-iconic-masters-some-people.

With these announcements in mind, several questions come to bare, many more than I can think of currently I’d bet, but tell us your theories and thoughts on Commander 2017, Ixalan, and Iconic Masters! Whatever the outcome of these will be I’m sure Wizards has quite a few surprises for us yet to come.

— Jesse F, @sorin-memekov​

2. This  Week’s Magic Story Review

Servants by Kelly Digges

Lliliana, Death’s Majesty | Original MTG art by Chris Rallis

As the cards for Amonkhet were revealed to us, piece by piece during the glorious scramble that was spoiler season, two very significant names were conspicuously absent. Nicol Bolas, the man everyone wanted to see, as well what some, if not most, thought of as the warm-up act, one Razaketh. In Servants, the latter of these mysteries deepens.

With Gideon carting his touche with Oketra, and Nissa and Chandra exploring the forbidden sarcophoguses down Hapatra’s part of town, Liliana has been making inquiries of her own. With zombies literally everywhere, she is reticent to use her necromanty injudiciously, so she has been sending shades to search for any news on Razaketh. Razaketh is the third of four Demons that Liliana made pacts with for the eternal youth and seeming immortality she craved so deeply. Two of her demons, Kothophed and Griselbrand we have met in story and in card, and more importantly, they have met their fate, at a Chain Veil augmented Liliana’s hand. Razaketh’s presence on Amonkhet was no small part of Liliana’s reasons in agreeing and advocating to come here. She harbors strong hopes of enlisting the Gatewatch’s considerable talents in helping her defeat a being even more formidable than Griselbrand. 

The ever present yet enigmatic Raven Man is with her, he chiding her for her seemingly tardy and lackadaisical attitude toward ridding herself of the demons, in his mind the tarrying on Ravnica and Kaladesh was time that could have been better spent, and that he feels she is weakening in resolve and allowing the Gatewatch’s upright and selfless ideals to soften her and dull her otherwise keen sense of self-interest. It is especially hinted on three or four visits from Jace back when they were still on Ravnica that went deep into the night might be more than simple machination and manipulation, something she protests vociferously.

With ears clearly burning Jace arrives just as a shade brings Liliana word of a place to investigate. Liliana invites Jace along, knowing if she didn’t he’d just come along anyway, just invisibly. They are led by Liliana’s agent down to a subterranean facility where scores of Anointed prepare and process the less successful initiates of the Trials 

Anointer Priest | Original MTG art by Lake Horwitz

A relief in the bowels of this place reveals to Jace that Liliana is not, in fact in pursuit of Bolas, but Razaketh. Having been betrayed in the past by Liliana, Jace is less than happy about the omission of this significant detail about the plane, while from Liliana’s point of view, the eyes of the Razaketh carving snap open, and the Anointed start chanting her name. What cannot be deinied is that the mummies begin to crowd threateningly around Jace and Liliana. Liliana’s powers over the undead are blunted by the cartouches worn by the Anointed, and Temmet arrives to find the newcomers where no newcomers should be. Jace is forced to take over Temmet’s mind in order to carve a path for he and LIliana through the throng, and leaves Temmet unconscious and defenseless in a room where the occupants have strict instructions as to what happens to inert, lifeless bodies under their care…

…perhaps?

— Liam, @coincidencetheories

3. A Brief History of Jace and Liliana

Liliana Vess Speedpaint | Art by @oddsbod

A long, winding road brought Jace Beleren and Liliana Vess together. Their journey started with Nicol Bolas, which seems to be where they are winding up now.

In Agents of Artifice, Liliana travels to Ravnica where she meets Jace and his best friend Kallist Rhoka. Jace Beleren joins an interplanar organization known as The Infinite Consortium. Tezzeret becomes Jace’s strong-handed mentor, in hopes of training him to become a more talented mage. Tezzeret undoubtedly hopes that Jace will join Nicol Bolas in his quest for power. However, Tezzeret’s tactics are abusive; they are not at all characteristics of a healthy mentor/mentee relationship.

Enter Liliana Vess, who has made four deals with demons, and then subsequently with Nicol Bolas. She has to turn the Consortium over to Bolas in exchange for his help in finding and destroying her demon masters. She then begins a relationship with Jace to do this, so that they can take the Consortium for themselves. Jace falls in love with Liliana, and Liliana returns the feelings. It is known that they care very deeply for each other. However, her feelings of love toward Jace are not enough to stave off her betrayal, and she reveals to Jace (disguised as the planeswalker Baltrice) her motives. Jace then subsequently leaves Liliana, but forgives her and makes a pact to help her rid herself of demons. At the end of the AoA, Jace states: Like a thousand suns will rise across a thousand world, he knew that he and Liliana would meet again. He would get to know her, beneath the disguise, the desperation and the lies. If he could love who he found, perhaps they could begin again.

Fast forward to Catching Up, where Liliana visits Jace on Ravnica to ask for help with her demons. However, they are interrupted by Gideon, who pulls Jace off to Zendikar for the events of Battle for Zendikar. When the Gatewatch disposes of Kozilek and Ulamog, Jace follows Emrakul’s trail to Innistrad, where he meets up  with Liliana and asks for her help. Liliana ultimately joins the Gatewatch and helps them trap Emrakul.

The Gatewatch then travels to Kaladesh at the urging of Dovin Baan, where they find that Tezzeret is a public figure. Tezzeret is still very much alive and causing harm, so the Gatewatch takes a stance against the Consulate.

After the events of Kaladesh, the Gatewatch travels to Amonkhet, though Liliana doesn’t tell them her true motives for going to the plane, which is her third demon, Razaketh.

— Haley D, @sunshine-spice

4. Fan-arts…

Free Dogs | Original art by @shutupismelldrawings

This week in the fan art corner, we have some absolutely wonderful pieces. It feels like I say that every week, but, hey, I’ll stop when y’all stop making absolutely wonderful pieces… Watching our Gates this week are the cutest pair, with @darkselia​ ‘s Liliana, and @jakaltimes ‘s depiction of Gideon’s complex yet simple develpoing relationship with a literal God 

@oddsbod chimes in with the early moments from last week’s story, The Writing on the Wall with Nissa’s Dream, and @zeico treats us with a sketch of Ravnica’s most electric experiment Ral Zarek 

@Isharton contintues to absolutely kill it with this drawing of Hipster Hazoret and Coffeshop Oketra 

— Liam W, @coincidencetheories​

…and Fan-Crafts!

Master Tinkerer | Original Magic Art by Matt Stewart

The week that leads up to pre-release, just after the full preview of the cards is a magic time where people get creative with all the new inspiration and the motivation of showing off at the LGS! Here are a few of the great cosplay and other creative endeavors that graced our feeds this week:

(Nissa’s Pilgramage by @eternal0aranel, more Nissa cosplay)

Liliana Vess, @mossybunni

Cardboard Carapace and Plague Doctor’s mask, Redditor Mayorse via @mtg-realm

Amonkhet God Buttons, @sticksandsharks

(Amonkhet and more Cookies, from @mtg-realm)

Yarn Gideon (Gideyarn?) of the Trials, @oketragodofyarn

Cartouche of Solidarity, @hirfael

—Compiled by Liam W, @coincidencetheories

5. Tumblr Magnet

Tumble Magnet | Original MTG art, Drew Baker

Here are a few longer form articles written this week or simply recently that you might have skipped over that are worth the time to go back and read… @akhonography writes on Egyptian influences relating to Amonkhet, and here she has a few small notes on Cleopatra, the inspiration behind Hapatra @sarpadianempiresvol-viii argues that Amonkhet’s top down design is a boon for new players to get a handle on Speaking of new players, @imakethecard​ explains why the power-level of intro and Planeswalker decks are kept so low.

@askkrenko gives their opinion on why colorless cards are the most damaging type of card to be overpowered

@krymsinviking and others discuss the merits of having full art lands if and when we return to Theros. 

@cameronlamcomposer brings us Abzan’s First Lady, The Foremost, in song form!

— Compiled by Liam W, @coincidencetheories

…and finally: Tap for Initiative

It’s always a wonderful moment when a labor of love comes to fruition, or at the very least makes it into beta. @yaldobaoth has been working on their Magic the Gathering RPG system for over nine months, and is proud to release it into the wild, looking for people to take it for a test run, really put it through it’s paces and help find out where the next improvements are to be found!

Thank you again for reading this week’s issue of the MTG Weekly Tumblr Recap. Hope to see you next week!

As the market closes, the merchant takes his cart to a series of storage lockers, and locks it, along with Yabolax, inside. Flint stays back to remove the protective enchantments from the locker and rescue Yabolax. Meanwhile, the others all continue pursuing the merchant. He heads toward the edge of town, and along the way casts a spell to change his clothing into robes bearing the cult’s sigil.

On the edge of town, the merchant meets with several hooded figures, all wearing similar robes as him. Among them is a being who is much larger than the rest. 

The main group calls Flint and Yabolax to tell them what they see. The duo decide to disguise themselves by snatching a cloak from a nearby tavern, and approach the cultists with Yabolax on Flint’s shoulders. Aradel is disturbed by this sight, and demands that Kiyoshi explain what they are doing. 

The large cultist sees Yabolax and Flint, and casts a deadly spell in their direction. In a panic, each member of the party attempts to react or save the pair from the spell, with it ultimately being countered by Aradel. 

The rest of the party swarms the area, facing off against the cultists. The large member commands the rest to attack. After the party kills several cultists, the large cultist uses necromancy to revive them. He tosses his cloak aside, revealing the demon Magog. 

The party continues to fight, with the demon reviving the fallen cultists quickly. Eventually, he stops doing this, and faces down the group. They attempt to speak to him, but he is short in his responses. The demon says that he does not remember them from their confrontation in Ardestan, and that he had no personal involvement in the fate of Naos. Tensions rise, and everyone in the area readies spells to use. 

Magog strikes first, causing the ground beneath Aradel to erupt. In the wake of his spell, the demon runs away. Aradel is gravely injured in the blast, though she is quickly stabilized by some of Kiyoshi’s healing magic. He carries her back to a safe house within Cebalrai, with the rest of the group following. 

The group, save Flint and Yabolax, contacts Damia. The gorgon wishes for Aradel to return to her mountain until she recovers fully. She arranges for some of her other agents to meet them in Cebalrai. They will bring the party their vehicle, and then they will hand over Aradel to them. 

Flint and Yabolax meanwhile call Cardinal Aldritch to inform him about the cult activity in Cebalrai. The cardinal says that he will have soldiers present in the town in the morning. 

The next day, The party attempts to investigate further before the Order soldiers arrive. They make their way to the storage locker used by the cultist, only to find that it has been overgrown with plant matter. After not reacting to a few probing spells by Flint, Aesir tosses a lightning bolt into the vegetation. It stirs and transforms into a plant-zombie amalgam, and attacks. Thoroughly outnumbered, it is quickly defeated.

Ena appears, and berates the party for ruining her trap. Occula asks her if she found the book that she was looking for yet. The faerie explains that she believes that the cult may know where it is, and she intended to trap the same merchant that the party had been following. Aesir again asks what the book is, only to illicit a hostile response from Ena. 

They attempt to have Ena join up with them again, but she declines, not wanting to work in a group. Kiyoshi tells her that Lesh is a hotbed of cult activity, and she departs for the city. 

Later in the day, three agents of Damia arrive on a floating mass of earth, bearing the party’s vehicle. They hand over Aradel, and the four agents depart back to Damia’s lair. The party decides to finally investigate Naos.

Aesir drives down to the ruined village, and the group happens upon an outpost run by the Order. A soldier there explains that Naos is not worth the manpower of purging, but if anything leaves the area, the numerous outposts will be ready to attack.

The party is stopped at the gate by a pair of soldiers, who demand to know what they want here. Kiyoshi requests that they see Cardinal Aldritch again. One of the guards calls another guard inside using a communication enchantment. The party is cleared to enter, though they are warned that they will be watched very closely. Flint is not happy to hear this, as the tower gives him a bad feeling. 

Inside the main chamber, Aldritch is giving directions to various members of the Order. He thanks the group once again for the part in driving Magog away. Kiyoshi and Occula field several questions to Aldritch. According to him, Magog is one of three known Ministers within the Cult of Xathrid. Another is Zuleika, and the third is only known to exist, with no other details about them known. Aldritch also states that there could potentially be more Ministers beyond the known three. 

Occula diverts the conversation to the topic of Elymas. Aldritch says that he has not returned yet from chasing Magog out of Ardestan, and that he was last known to be headed south. Kiyoshi and Flint take this to mean that the demon was heading towards the destroyed village Naos. They then ask what Elymas’ next stop was going to be, and Aldritch says that he was going to go to the village Cebalrai to warn them of avoiding the same fate as Naos. 

Naos was a small fishing village that allowed a small number of cultists to stop there for a night. Elymas warned them against this, saying that inviting in the cult would only lead to their end. The villagers decided to not antagonize the cult, and let them stay. According to Aldritch, the village was destroyed the following night, and no living thing resides there anymore. 

Having been told before that Elymas’ predictions have all been true, the party decides that Cebalrai is worth investigating. Even more so now that Elymas has been drawn away from his intention to go there. The party leaves the tower quickly, after Aldritch teaches Kiyoshi the communicator spell they use so that he can be contacted. Flint and Aesir are not amused by the use of magic over technology for this purpose. 

Once away from the tower, the group decides to contact Savyna. Yabolax snatches the sending stone, and uses it to call her. The gorgon is as cheerful as last time, even with the sounds of her murdering someone in the background. The group tells her of their decision to go to Cebalrai  to investigate. She agrees with the idea, and tells them that they can arrange another agent to meet them there. She says she will be sending Aradel, since the party has worked with her before.

The group joins with a small caravan of merchants who are on their way to Cebalrai. Flint, Aesir, and Yabolax ride in the cart, while discussing how slow it is compared to their usual transportation. Kiyoshi opts to walk since he does not tire as easily, and Occula flies overhead.

On the road at dusk, Occula is shot out of the sky by a magical arrow. A net surrounds her, and she falls to the ground. The party dismounts the caravan, and finds themselves facing a group of trolls. Though not intelligent, they announce their satisfaction at having trapped a meal. 

Flint attempts to reason with the trolls, only to find that they now plan on eating him as well. He and Occula, from her net, manage to use a few basic spells to trip the trolls up a bit as a distraction. Aesir and Yabolax begin to attack, while Kiyoshi uses a spell to make the net on Occula rot away. With her free, the entire group attacks the trolls, defeating them. 

Returning to the caravan, the party continues on their way, and arrives in Cebalrai late at night. They find a place to stay, and intend on beginning their investigating the next morning.

On that morning, Yabolax once again snatches the sending stone and uses it to call Aradel. Kiyoshi takes the opportunity to leave, and begins asking around the markets for any information that he can find. Aradel says that she has also arrived, but expresses her desire to speak to someone like Occula instead. 

The group minus Kiyoshi meet with Aradel in a bar, and tell her what they know about Magog, and their reasons for coming to Cebalrai. She instructs them to call her with any relevant information. 

The party meets back up with Kiyoshi in the markets. He has learned of a newly arrived merchant from another continent, who has a number of unusual items in stock. Upon looking at his wares, Aesir notices a box of rings, one of which is a Ring of Xathrid. He casually asks the merchant about the different rings, until he gets to the Ring of Xathrid. The merchant says that he bought it from another traveler along the route he took into town. Yabolax immediately accuses him of lying, only to be pulled away by Aesir for his lack of control. Occula uses a touch of mental magic to confirm that the merchant is in fact lying to them about the ring.