#Rivals of Ixalan

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Bombard

"Want to sink a ship? Blow a hole in the hull. Want to kill a regisaur? Same answer." —Captain Brandis Thorn

Artist: Alex Konstad TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[incorrect-mtg]

Flavor Text Highlights - Rivals of Ixalan

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

Cool - Negate

“As one, nature lifts its voice to tell you this: ‘No.’”

Funny - Buccaneer's Bravado

Never underestimate the power of panache.

Worldbuilding - This nameless flavor text cycle

For the Legion of Dusk, the Immortal Sun is a source of eternal life. When they reclaim it, they will no longer be forced to subsist on the blood of the wicked.

For the River Heralds, the Immortal Sun is an object of terror and devastation. The idea that anyone would retrieve it for their own use is utterly abhorrent.

For the Sun Empire, the Immortal Sun is a symbol of national identity. When they reclaim it, the Empire will flourish once more.

No ancient lore ties the pirates of the Brazen Coalition to the Immortal Sun. But it’s a powerful ancient artifact in a city of gold—what’s not to covet?

Emotional - Gleaming Barrier

“Gold without freedom might as well be lead.” —Angrath

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

[5ecardaday]

Monster Popularity Contest– Ixalan

If you want to help make decisions on what content I make, get early access to all of my releases, and join my new patron-exclusive discord, you can do so by signing up to support me on Patreon!

Last week my supporters were treated to 5 new monsters, each one from the verdant islands of Magic: the Gathering’s Ixalan setting! Normally my first release of each month is just 3 creatures, but I went a little further this time since I was adhering to some rules about MtG’s color identities.

I’m particularly proud of Beckett Brass, who I think has the most interesting design; but Gishath also turned out really well, given how easy it can be to make a big stompy dinosaur into something boring in D&D. No problems with that here though.

[jasper-the-menace]

Some character text posts of the Ixalan crew, mainly centered on Lost Caverns.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Nezahal, Primal Tide by Sam Burley

[vaelyane]

🇬🇧 Earlier this year, I painted this fanart of Elenda, the Dusk Rose, a Magic the Gathering vampire, as depicted by Chris Rahn. I have to specify which version I referenced, because another artist painted an alternate art card of her for Double Masters 2022, and it looks absolutely NOTHING like her. My friends and I were so confused. It wasn’t our Elenda! D: So, I smeared all of my affection for her original card on a digital canvas. The second image features some extra touch-ups to the light. I kept feeling like the lighting was off on my initial version... But now that I’ve tried to brighten it, I don’t know if I like the sunny version better. My initial attempt is little darker, a little spookier. She’s a powerful orzhov vampire, after all. Perhaps that fits her more? I’m not sure. Ixalan vamps are often bathed in sunlight. I’ll ask you: which version do you like best? ~~~~~~~~~ 🇫🇷 Plus tôt dans l’année, j’ai peint ce fanart d’Elenda, la Rose du Crépuscule, une vampire de Magic the Gathering, d’après une peinture de Chris Rahn. Je précise de quelle version je parle, car un autre artiste de MTG a peint une carte alternative d’elle pour Double Masters 2022, qui ne lui ressemble pas DU TOUT. Mes amis et moi étions très confus. Ce n’était pas notre Elenda ! D: Alors j’ai étalé toute mon affection pour sa carte originale en une peinture numérique. La seconde image contient quelques ajustements de lumière. L’éclairage de ma version d’origine me perturbait depuis un moment, mais je ne sais pas si je préfère la version plus lumineuse. Ma tentative initiale était plus sombre, plus inquiétante. C’est une vampire orzhov très puissante, après tout. Peut-être que ça lui va mieux ? Je ne sais pas. Les vampires d’Ixalan sont souvent baignés de lumière. Et vous, qu’en pensez-vous ? Quelle version vous paraît mieux ?

[magicmalcolm]

Negate

“As one, nature lifts it's voice to tell you this: ‘No’.”

[overgrown-estate]

[goldstarknight]

Mavren Fein & Vona de Iedo (2022)

Mavren and Vona are my favourite dynamic duo from Ixalan. I kind of got Team Rocket vibes from them in the original story. Now they're bitter political rivals. I'm excited to see how this will play out.

[markrosewater]

Can you tell us about the role Ajani had in Conquest of Power (aka the old name of Rivals of Ixalan)? Years ago, art packaging with him was leaked. Thanks!

I assume that was early look and feel images (preliminary images trying to get a sense of what we want). No story was ever written to accompany that.

[lootthekey]

My “Shot in the Dark” Prediction for Magic’s Next Year of Story

Wilds of Eldraine

We already know this story, but its contents are worth revisiting in order to have context for the rest of the story. Ashiok has helped Eriette, seemingly the aunt of Rowan and Will and a truly devious witch, prolong the sleep curse that was used to put all the Phyrexians invading Eldraine to sleep. Now, the curse is spreading and the Kindly Lord of the fae, Talion, is enlisting the help of others to correct a mistake they made by brokering a deal with three witches to construct this curse.

Talion enlists Kellan, a half-fae child and one of the main protagonists of the next year of story at least, to defeat the three witches they worked with to construct the curse. Kellan wishes to know who his father is, so he accepts this quest. Meanwhile, Rowan has been deeply traumatized by the loss of her parents during the Phyrexian Invasion, and is slowly descending into a mad lust for power. And not just any power, but the power to change the world around her as she pleases. She hates how Will, a much bigger pacifist than her, is handling the whole situation, and has decided to take matters into her own hands.

Her quest eventually leads her to Eriette, who convinces Rowan to join her so that The Realm can live happily ever after in their dreams forever. After a climactic battle involving Rowan, Will, Eriette, Kellan, and Ashiok, The Realms are saved from the curse of slumber. Eriette is defeated by Kellan and Ruby, a companion Kellan met along the way who assisted him in defeating the various witches in his quest. Will plays as a game of Magic against Rowan, using a Control strategy to survive her Aggro strategy, so that he could stall until he had an opening to force Ashiok to flee by sending a bolt of ice at Ashiok’s chest. Rowan is then forced to flee.

Kellan, having completed his quest, eventually learns that his biological father is Oko, the bastard from the previous Eldraine set that famously turned King Kenrith (and most of Magic) into an elk. He then finds an Omenpath and unknowingly likely leaves Eldraine for a long time, having been transported to a different plane with no easy way to return. It is then implied that Eriette, after being broken out of jail by Ashiok, does the same.

Lost Caverns of Ixalan

Now we get into the realm of speculation as we venture into the next set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. We know little of this set except that it is a “Race to the Center of the Earth” style of story that will also have us meet various mythical figures from Ixalan’s mythology. However, there are three particular, currently unconfirmed characters I want to speak about appearing in Ixalan, as their presence is either very significant for the remaining story or was hinted at in earlier sets.

Vraska was last seen on Ravnica, recently compleated and sent off by Elesh Norn to do the same to the rest of Ravnica. However, she was defeated by Ral and then mysteriously vanished after having a vision of Jace flash within her mind. Seeing as Ixalan is where Jace and Vraska’s love for each other first blossomed, I believe it is likely the last remains of uncompleated Vraska’s instinctively planeswalked to Ixalan as she was defeated by Ral. Due to the fact that Phyrexian planeswalkers were compleated likely through corrupting their sparks, the loss of her spark could cause Vraska to revert back to her normal form on Ixalan. This is important as she has both a role to play later and a familiar enemy to face.

Azor, the one responsible for the Guildpact system of Ravnica, the creator of the Immortal Sun, and one of few characters who were once planeswalkers still alive to possibly rival Bolas as far as meddling goes, is currently still on Ixalan. However, with the appearance of Omenpaths, Azor has a new route to renew his meddling ways and potentially even return to Ravnica. Well, its a good thing the next set isn’t set on Ravnica yeah?

Finally, Quintorius was last seen on Arcavios defeating the Phyrexians who invaded Strixhaven. At the end of his own quest, Quint sparked. While his role is yet to be seen, a set themed entirely around diving down to uncover the lost history of Ixalan sounds right up Quint’s alley.

Murders at Karlov Manor

Oh would you look at that, the next set actually is on Ravnica. Someone has been murdered at Teysa’s manor, which, for a family most well known for turning into ghosts, isn’t particularly crazy sounding to me personally. However, it’s still a big deal as someone is going to get framed for these murders, and Ravnica is going to need a judge to decide who is guilty. Who could fill that role…

Oh right. I think it’s likely Azor and Vraska return to Ravnica, only for Azor to meddle and attempt to put the blame on those he sees as the most chaotic for Ravnica, being Vraska and our favorite demon…

…Rakdos. Whether they actually did it is meaningless, as this leads to the finale.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction

This is where fates collide. Vraska and Rakdos flee through an Omenpath to the wild west, where they meet Oko and, eventually, Kellan as well. After joining with two other individuals, the “Magnificent Six” will face off against the cruel face of corrupt law, Azor, and change all of their fates forever. Eventually, Azor will be defeated, and likely flee to his other unfinished business partner, Ugin. This leads to the next story arc: the Dragonstorm Arc.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Forest

Artist: Dimitar Marinski TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[nightmarist]

WIP Roundup

Tagged by @transprincecaspian

Post wip titles and let people ask about them to post excerpts !

(I also have a scene meme!)

oathbound

spidersilk

rival-of-ixalan

oathtower

st-sebastian

Tagging: @argyleheir , @0nelittlebirdtoldme , @the-anxious-youth , @adarlingmess

[kielakeet]

Alright so I'm up too late and the autism is flowing hard let's find out what the wordiest token is in mtg

During an insomnia fueled research session, I went through every creature token on scryfall and grabbed the ones that jumped out at me for wordiness. For the purposes of this madness, reminder text does not count, power/toughness text is one word when it is in the effect text, tap and mana symbols are not words, and hyphenated words count as several words. Conveniently, I ended up with exactly ten tokens. Let's run them down.

10th & 9th: Dragon Egg & Earthshaker Khenra - 23 words

The bottom of our loquacious barrel comes with these two. At 23 words each they're nothing to sneeze at, even if Khenra cheats by being an eternalized version of an existing card. The Egg hails from Nesting Dragon, a popular choice in dragons-matter decks wherever they may be found.

8th: Angel of Sanctions - 24 words

Just barely ahead is another Amonkhet token. This time the culprit is Embalm, which like Eternalize amounts to a sort of Flashback for creatures. This ability couldn't find a place outside of Nicol Bolas' schemes on the ancient Egypt-styled plane, likely saving the token printer a not-insigificant amount of black ink.

7th: Heart-Piercer Manticore - 28 words

Listen, there's not that much to say about these niche tokens printed to work with two keywords from a single block six years ago. It gets wordy because the token inherits the entire text of the creature minus Embalm or Eternalize itself. Let's move swiftly along.

6th, 5th & 4th: Elemental, Osgood, Operation Double & Fish- 29 words

Ah yes, here's something I can work with. The Elemental, understandably, is created by Rekindling Phoenix from Rivals of Ixalan. Protect the token until your turn comes round, and your phoenix is reborn. How flavorful. Osgood, however, steps into cheating territory by being a nigh-exact copy of a normal creature that simply copies itself on etb. At least the scarf is snazzy. What really steals the show for me is the Fish token created by the death trigger of Reef Worm. In a delightful depiction of the food chain (which ironically does not work at all with the card Food Chain), the worn is eaten by the fish, the Fish by the whale, and the whale by the kraken. Each card save for the last depicts the oncoming feaster in the background of its art, whereas the Kraken had to also be used by a Kiora planeswalker released alongside it in Masters 25.

3rd & 2nd: Elemental & Temet, Vizier of Naktamun - 31 words

This Elemental hails from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, created by the Sorcery Sieze the Storm. A single copy of the spell got you two of these electrifying friends thanks to Flashback, and with a properly built spellslinger deck, could make them a real game-ender. Temmet is another Embalm token, this time with the added curiosity that his typeline was so crowded his legendary status was evicted to the rules text, earning him a respectable tie for second.

1st: Vizier of Many Faces - 37 words

As we began, so shall we find the end of our journey with Amonkhet. Oddly enough, the three separate alterations to the copied creature only apply while the Vizier is embalmed, otherwise she's a slightly upcosted Clone. It may be unsatisfying to discover that the culprit behind the wordiest token is the result of the crossing between the famously clunky clone effect and a one off mechanic from 2017, but the knowledge is its own reward, and hey, it killed two hours of a likely sleepless night.

[vacantvisage]

Forgot about WIP Wednesday, here’s various fic wips under cut:

Oathbound Sequel to Oathsworn, various vignettes of Yuta (Tav) and Zevlor's relationship during Act 3

Yuta may not have the right words to describe his unease, but Zevlor knew it all too well. It was a shared feeling. Yuta had no comparison, so his tadpole sought it out in Zevlor. A hand reaching. Something beloved turned wretched. Betrayal. Grief. Yuta felt betrayed by his mother. Abandoned by her. She should have loved him. Cared for him. Protected him. The second sun of Elturel, the Companion, was a symbol of the protectors of the city, turned black as everything was dragged into the Styx. Yuta’s jaw trembled. Zevlor’s hands shivered. They met each other’s gaze. They shared something few ever could. Zevlor crawled to Yuta, whose gaze fell to the floor, frosty eyes brimmed red as they welled dewdrop tears, and pulled him into a tight, warm embrace. Yuta clung to him, claws digging into his tough soldier’s shoulders. Zevlor chewed his own cheek, face wet with tears hidden in Yuta’s soft, black hair. Their tadpoles nestled neatly, satisfied.

Oathtower Zevlor/Rolan - Zevlor tries to apologize for his transgressions. Rolan is quick to anger but his siblings convince him to help the disgraced Paladin.

“You were supposed to be a hero,” Rolan scorned. “And now? What, drink yourself to death out of guilt for your own damn mistakes? Can’t even be bothered to join the Watch or the Fist?” “I’m not a Rider, anymore, Rolan.” Zevlor didn’t look at him. His shoulders dropped, ever so slightly. His tail fell limp against the tile, half curled around his ankle. “Tch. So much for Hellrider for Life.” Zevlor’s gaze snapped up. His dejected frown deep-cut. “I didn’t just quit. I’m. Exiled. I can never be a Hellrider ever again. If I weren’t a tiefling, I still wouldn’t be welcome to Elturel. And no one here would ever take me as a soldier.” “As they should,” Rolan’s tail flicked angrily. Zevlor nodded in quiet agreement. “My superior broke the news to me. Not that I didn’t see it coming. We all did, didn’t we. Elturel from the ashes, bottles and words thrown at us in the streets. Devilkin. Foulblood. We were to be exiled from the city. Thrown to the wilderness. I told him it was inhumane.” Zevlor’s jaw tightened. “He told me I wasn’t human.”

St. Sebastian Astarion makes a pact with Raphael to kill Cazador. Raphael collects a prize from the dungeons: Sebastian. Mephistopheles is not amused.

[Sebastian] dried his hair, and tears, into a fine cloth towel, sniffling as he blinked away salt from his pale lashes. He spotted a painting, grandiose and tall. He paused to admire it, despite the devilish subject, with a morbid curiosity. A gorgeous work, the brush strokes so subtle they were nearly nonexistence depicting a fiend from the Hells and a crown of four horns. His savior. The Devil from the Dungeons. Sebastian touched the bottom of his lip. These were his chambers, then? The beautiful grate separating the bath and a red, jacquard bed adorned with a tonguing devil’s head, the roses and wine and perfumed oils, wardrobes of utmost finery, devil-sculptures and gilded pillars. The opulence was beyond words. He chose the plainest garb he could find in the boudoir. Which was still far too fine for his emaciated body. He smoothed them over his chest, the long, lilac noble robes with silver flowers embroidered into them, silver ropes trimming the hems and seams. His long-skirted doublet topped with a high collar hid the fine silk undershirt well, leaving room for the pretty, leafy stitching in the ruffles to show just beyond the sleeves. He realized it fit him perfectly. He paused, wondering for a brief moment if it was made for him. Tailored for him. He shook the thought away. How inconceivably narcissistic.

Rival of Ixalan Raphael takes Astarion to the plane of Ixalan where vampires are worshiped as saviors in attempt to convince him to make a deal. One vampire is enamored by the strange visitor, much to Raphael’s chagrin.

“I… don’t remember how to dance,” Astarion admitted. It had been too long since his lessons as a nobleman. Cazador had grand balls, but the spawn were hardly invited save for looking like pretty wallflowers. Rabble should not mingle with their betters, he would say. Among other, more colorfully demeaning things. Aurelio offered him a hand, anyway. “I will lead for you.” He said it with a smooth confidence that made Astarion quirk a small, genuine smile. He clasped his left hand into Astarion’s right, holding it outward. “Put your hand on my arm, up here,” he patted Astarion’s bicep gently. The Baldurian vampire held on to him with a false confidence, the one he always put up. “Good. Stand straight,” Aurelio’s hand held just under Astarion’s arm, into his back. He pulled Astarion against him, chest to chest, but not quite flush. Raphael scowled, leaning against an adobe wall.

Spidersilk Sequel to her Majesty's Favorite, Tav lies to Kar'niss, convincing it come with him to challenge Ketheric in the name of the Absolute.

Kar’niss yawped, crawling backwards trying to climb back up but finding no purchase as the mucous of the entryway slid him back down. “No!! No, no, no, no, nonono! My Queen, please! Please! Where is she? This isn’t right!” He panicked, skittering his legs, drow-half leaning against the sinews of the Mindflayer colony. He grimaced as an Intellect Devourer scuttled past, stopped, and seemed to stretch out its brain-body as though to examine him. A facsimile of a guard dog sniffing a friend or foe. “One of us,” it said polyphonically. “Descend. Assemble. Prepare!” Kar’niss’ lips twisted. He stabbed the Intellect Devourer, piercing it through with his legs. It screeched. They both did. “Kar'niss!” Tareth exclaimed, drawing his rapier, pink eyes wild as they cast a worried gaze out towards the ship’s muscled doorways.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Famished Paladin by Tommy Arnold