Khans of Tarkir Speculation

[Atifexe]

The article referred to:
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/Magazi ... ily/mm/191

Now, I don't think "Elspeth's story isn't over" means anything with regards to the new block. I think they were saying "I doubt we've seen the last of the Phyrexians" ever since Urza block and the next time they came back was Scars. If there ever is a Raturn to Theros block, a returned Elspeth brought back by Erebos and sporting black would seem like a nice masthead. But they do plan things out in the long run - the idea for a return to Ravnica was born pretty much while Ravnica was Standard legal.

I read an article not too long ago about Scars block. Did you know that it was originally going to begin with a set titled "Phyrexia Reborn", or something to that effect? A lot of work went into designing it, until finally the guy in charge said "I think we're approaching this the wrong way. Let's go back and tell the story of how this came about." With that, the block became Scars of Mirrodin, and instead of just starting with "By the way, this place we visited before is now completely destroyed", they explained what happened to it. I'm inclined to assume that they kept all the work they did on the block before the focus was shifted, so we'll be returning to the Phyrexians eventually.

In regards to Elspeth, in this article from back in June, it's stated that Elspeth is, in fact, currently in Theros' underworld, forging a golden mask with the dream of one day escaping.I'm pretty sure that in saying her story isn't over, they mean she will one day return, possibly forever changed.

In regards to Khans of Tarkir, I think it highly unlikely that dragons won't play a role. I'm loving all the speculation about unusual block formats, and I think a large set, small set, unrelated large set seems a little more likely to me than skipping a core set to do a four set block. I can't really say with any certainty, though; Innistrad marks my return to Magic after years of not being able to afford it, so I don't have the depth of historical knowledge that many others here do have.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more of the Eldrazi soon (possibly in the third set?). Rumor has it (and by rumor, I mean a single sentence in the article I linked above) that the Eldrazi titans may have left Zendikar for the Blind Eternities. The return of Nissa in M15, in addition to being the planeswalker representative of Zendikar, may be hinting at a continuation of that story in the near future. Who knows, maybe susu.exp and myself are both correct, and the third set will not only be unrelated to Tarkir, but feature the arrival of the Eldrazi on Mirrodin.

[Lurkon]

The article referred to:
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/Magazi ... ily/mm/191

Now, I don't think "Elspeth's story isn't over" means anything with regards to the new block. I think they were saying "I doubt we've seen the last of the Phyrexians" ever since Urza block and the next time they came back was Scars. If there ever is a Raturn to Theros block, a returned Elspeth brought back by Erebos and sporting black would seem like a nice masthead. But they do plan things out in the long run - the idea for a return to Ravnica was born pretty much while Ravnica was Standard legal.

I read an article not too long ago about Scars block. Did you know that it was originally going to begin with a set titled "Phyrexia Reborn", or something to that effect? A lot of work went into designing it, until finally the guy in charge said "I think we're approaching this the wrong way. Let's go back and tell the story of how this came about." With that, the block became Scars of Mirrodin, and instead of just starting with "By the way, this place we visited before is now completely destroyed", they explained what happened to it. I'm inclined to assume that they kept all the work they did on the block before the focus was shifted, so we'll be returning to the Phyrexians eventually.

In regards to Elspeth, in this article from back in June, it's stated that Elspeth is, in fact, currently in Theros' underworld, forging a golden mask with the dream of one day escaping.I'm pretty sure that in saying her story isn't over, they mean she will one day return, possibly forever changed.

In regards to Khans of Tarkir, I think it highly unlikely that dragons won't play a role. I'm loving all the speculation about unusual block formats, and I think a large set, small set, unrelated large set seems a little more likely to me than skipping a core set to do a four set block. I can't really say with any certainty, though; Innistrad marks my return to Magic after years of not being able to afford it, so I don't have the depth of historical knowledge that many others here do have.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more of the Eldrazi soon (possibly in the third set?). Rumor has it (and by rumor, I mean a single sentence in the article I linked above) that the Eldrazi titans may have left Zendikar for the Blind Eternities. The return of Nissa in M15, in addition to being the planeswalker representative of Zendikar, may be hinting at a continuation of that story in the near future. Who knows, maybe susu.exp and myself are both correct, and the third set will not only be unrelated to Tarkir, but feature the arrival of the Eldrazi on Mirrodin.

...phyrexian Eldrazi.


*vomits everywhere*

[Ricardo Anderson]

Phyrexian Eldrazi does sound...wow...
(Vomits just a bit. Faints. Gets up again)
Overpowered?
Plus, yawgmoth reborn with eldrazi like powers so he can finally achieve his long life goal of becoming a planeswalker?
(Vomits again. Faints. Knocked out for good this time)

[Volafortis]

There is speculation that the Eldrazi are too alien in nature to be compleated by the oil, although that may just apply to the titans, and not the brood lineages. Perhaps they can enslave a titan, or something like that, and hitchhike on it through the blind eternities? After all, the phyrexians need some way to leave New Phyrexia.

Actually, I'd like it if in some block, they have a plane that has come under attack from an unknown force, only to realize too late that they're the phyrexians (the second/third set reveal) and that they'd found some way to travel between planes.

[Ricardo Anderson]

Well, I think sooner or later the planes of the multiverse will have to deal with:
-A)The Phyrexians for Good.
-B)The Eldrazi.
-C) Bolas, The Magic Dragon.
Also I really think urza should somehow reappear as well as ugin and Glacian , and help solve all this mess.
Of course, if all this does happens, new threats to the multiverse will have to arise again.
And last but not least, not sure if urza and glacian could co-exist, seeming they are interlinked by the powerstones. (That are now in karn, and permit him to planeswalk, but contain both Glacians spark and the jump started spark of urza)

[jkefka]

Urza's well dead (end of Legacy saga), and I doubt they'll bring him back. The only character they have so much as referencee from the Urza era post-Time Spiral is Karn, the rest either being dead or sealed away in some rift (Come on Jhoira...). Ugin is the interesting wildcard, I suspect we will encounter him at some point, probably next time we run into a colorless-matters block (as his thing was Ghostfire).

[Volafortis]

One of the 3 might get dealt with in a soonish manner, most likely the Eldrazi first. If Khans brings back Ugin, I imagine they'll do something along the line of:
A block to bring back Ugin.
A block to find the Lithomancer.
A block to lure the Eldrazi back to Zendikar and reseal the Eye.

The thing is, just as WotC decided they needed recurring main characters, they felt they needed recurring villians as well. I just think it's been taking them too long to bring them back to give the idea that they are recurring villians. I think once they've come back once or twice, then we can go a bit longer between checking in on them, but they need to establish them as recurring villians properly first.

[Ricardo Anderson]

Hum. Urza is indeed well dead jkefka, but so is ugin and glacian for that matter.
But at least ugin has to come back.
And the lithomancer coming back too plus Sorin showing up, and all sealing the eldrazi again sounds awesome Volafortis!

Now, about the recurring villains, they do need to be properly established first indeed!
Besides Bolas, the phyrexians and the eldrazi, are there any others?

[AdmiralMemo]

Could Bolas team up with the Phyrexians?

[Ricardo Anderson]

I dought it. Unless he becomes infected. In that case, yes.
He did want to "aquire" there services, and sent tezzeret undercover to find out what they were doing in mirrodin.
But then if tezzeret reported back, or became a full fletched phyrexian is unknown.
He did how ever receive a injection with an "imunizer" for the phyrexian infection, from a vedalken bolas spy, but it is not known if it was effective or not.
Now, if bolas could control and make use of the phyrexians for his advantage, he would definitely do so Mister Memo.

[Atifexe]

The article I linked gives a brief blurb on each currently active planeswalker, including Tezzeret. Apparently, Bolas recalled him from Mirrodin and gave him another task after he became obsessed with the Phyrexian process.That doesn't mean he won't try to do something with the Phyrexians, only that Tezzeret is officially somewhere else, and Bolas has no openly stated active operatives in a position to contact them.

[MowDownJoe]

There is speculation that the Eldrazi are too alien in nature to be compleated by the oil, although that may just apply to the titans, and not the brood lineages. Perhaps they can enslave a titan, or something like that, and hitchhike on it through the blind eternities? After all, the phyrexians need some way to leave New Phyrexia.

Reanimate Venser's sparkless corpse, and enslave the poor artificer into making a device that could let them warp through the Blind Eternities? He was working on a teleportation device before his spark ignited and he learned that he had the power inside of him all along. Now that he doesn't, I could see Jin Gitaxias and Elesh Norn forcing him into completing his work and adding new features.

...But where I'd really like to see that plot line take us is back to Theros. Seriously, we could have the fall of Theros mirror the fall of Rome, revive Xenagos and Elspeth as characters, and bring back Yawgmoth as the Therosian God of Machines.

[Phosphatide]

I heard "Phyrexian Eldrazi" and started imagining a card with 9 CMC, but it's a colorless Phyrexian mana, so if you really feel ambitious you could pay 18 life to drop it on turn 1. Feels like Vintage.

Maybe there will be an expansion on the story of Garruk and Liliana with the Chain Veil that goes beyond the simple story that DotP 2015 told (Liliana just had an "encounter" in the game and no actual story relevance besides a brief mention, despite her link with the Chain Veil), or maybe going off what the post-credit scene gave us.

In case you care about spoilers:
Ob Nixilis, after having the hedron that was embedded in him ripped out by you the player for the purposes of saving Garruk then passing out, wakes up from a slumber and roars loudly. The scene fades to black.

[Ricardo Anderson]

Wait, how does Yawgmoth even show up in Theros MowDownJoe?
The only connection to the phyrexians, and therefore yawgmoth, in Theros is Elspeth, who was just born in a plane that was destroyed by the them.

[MowDownJoe]

Wait, how does Yawgmoth even show up in Theros MowDownJoe?
The only connection to the phyrexians, and therefore yawgmoth, in Theros is Elspeth, who was just born in a plane that was destroyed by the them.

The Theros gods only exist there because people believe in them. If the Phyrexians were to infect the minds of the natives and make them stop believing in the current pantheon and instead believe in one true god of machines...

[Ricardo Anderson]

OK,if you put it that way, it could work.
By power of suggestion they Could win.

[AdmiralMemo]

I heard "Phyrexian Eldrazi" and started imagining a card with 9 CMC, but it's a colorless Phyrexian mana, so if you really feel ambitious you could pay 18 life to drop it on turn 1. Feels like Vintage.

Yeah, and my first thought on hearing that was "In response, Lightning Bolt."

[Ricardo Anderson]

Yup,I thought about the lighting bolt too.
Or a shock.
Or even a grapeshot.

[Kapol]

Wedges confirmed.

[Can't Wear Hats]

Morph confirmed.

Bear-punching confirmed.

[Phosphatide]

I want a playmat or print of the bear punching.

Maybe both.

[Jamfalcon]

Morph, huh? That's unexpected.

[MowDownJoe]

Wedges confirmed.

Want to emphasize this: Wedge SET confirmed, but not wedge BLOCK. Wedge block DECONFIRMED. Interesting, but must tie into the time-travel aspect of the block.

Also, I like how the draft format is going to shape up...

[Kapol]

Right. When I posted, they hadn't specifically mentioned the 'block not set' thing.

[Asthanius]

Hypothesis:
First set is after the dragons are all dead. (this part is pretty much confirmed, anyway)
Second set has the re-emergence of dragons either a) through Sarkhan creating them in a manner reminiscent of Sorin and Avacyn, or b) because of a race of dragons who were hibernating underground ever since their populations were decimated.
Third set shows the dragons have completely re-populated Tarkir and aren't exactly welcoming to the clans.