#mtg speculation

[pxper-cranes]

Something something what if for our return to arcavios during the *dragonstorm arc* the elder dragons of Tarkir try to invade other planes and the elder dragons of Arcavios are forced to fight against them? Based on colour combos, the strixhaven dragons would fight the tarkir lords based on the missing colours from the clans they took over

For example

- Ojutai (Jeskai) vs Beledros (Witherbloom)

- Silumgar (Sultai) vs Velomachus (Lorehold)

- Kolaghan (Mardu) vs Tazanir (Quandrix)

- Dromoka (Abzan) vs Galazeth (Prismari)

- Atarka (Temur) vs Shadrix (Silvarquill)

Honestly i wish it was a block formula to have one set on tarkir, one on arcavios and the final one being the end confrontation. Itd be funny if the strixhaven founders weaponised their students to fight to liberate Tarkir for extra credit or something and this could be a place to see Liliana again because im getting withdrawals

[pikagatogirltits]

Magic Set Speculation: Bloomburrow and Creature Types

So Bloomburrow is the set I'm most excited about this year and I saw someone on Reddit speculating about what sort of creature types we might see, so I chimed in on there with my speculation... but honestly I'm proud enough of my post that I'm copying it over here, partially in hopes of seeing what people over here think (well, with some tweaks to work better on here):

What we know for certain:

-the one piece of key art we've gotten shows a Mouse facing off against a giant fiery Wolf (perhaps it'll be an Elemental Wolf) There's also a firefly in the shot, so there might be some kind of Insect presence, although likely not major as per Mark Rosewater's comment on Blogatog here

-we've gotten another piece of art work showing a Squirrel using necromancy

-this WPN page specifically mentions Squirrels, Rats, Frogs and Rabbits

-this one borders on speculation, but I'm like 90% certain Tunnel Tipster from MKM is an Omenpath traveler from Bloomburrow. Ravnica does not have Mole people like that.

What we can speculate:

-Eldraine sure did give us several random Otters for no apparent reason, and also Bramble Familiar being a Raccoon stands out, as well as Ixalan's scientifically accurate classification of Coati Scavenger. Mark has spoken about how the Rats and Mice in Eldraine were a plant for Bloomburrow, so it's safe to say that they might not be the only ones.

-I've never actually read Redwall but I knew a guy who did, so as far as already existing Magic creature types, I think Badger, Ferret and/or Sable, Lizard, and Turtle are likely candidates for the more anthropomorphic creatures on the plane

-likewise, I can easily see Birds, Snakes, Foxes, and Cats taking on some kind of role, possibly similar to the fiery wolf we saw...and perhaps Bats as well

-as far as possible candidates for new creature types, I think Weasel and Hedgehog would be neat

[leafdrake-haven]

OK so based off the one picture

We know that Kolaghan gets compleated. I wonder how that will go with the dragon tempests and her flight in general. After she is compleated, will the tempests that make her brood make compleated dragons or are they completely unaffected by the dragon lords condition. If they aren’t connected at all, will her flight follow her or fight against her?

We see Atarka and Ojutai brood dragons fighting her and maaaaaybe Dromoka dragons? (The ones back and to the left are harder to see). Does that mean those two (three?) dragon clans are safe thus far?

OR maybe all 5 dragon lords get compleated and the humanoids and dragon broods finally work together as equals to topple their former dragon lords? That could be tasty and a way to get the khans and dragons scenario I always hope for for Tarkir. We’ve already got humanoids riding the dragons which previously I don’t think happened often (with except maybe the Ojutai and Dromoka, but definitely not the Atarka which we’re seeing now)

Anyway just some Tarkir rambling cause even if this isn’t necessarily how I wanted to revisit the plane, if it’s what I’m getting I’m gonna speculate about it 👀

[littjara-mirrorlake]

Principles of Asexual Heredity in the Phyrexian Organism

We know these things for sure about Phyrexian reproductive biology:

Phyrexians reproduce asexually; it is well known that one drop of oil, from one individual, is enough to birth a population of offspring (such as all of New Phyrexia) or convert a non-Phyrexian organism.

Phyrexians natively born of the oil ("core-born") inherit mnemonic and phenotypic (appearance) information from the oil that created them. For example, core-born Phyrexians of the Orthodoxy naturally develop porcelain metal; it is an inherited, lineage-specific trait. The oil also carries ancestral knowledge such as the Phyrexian language and echoes of history.

The five suns of Mirrodin somehow caused the originally mono-black lineage of Phyrexian oil to splinter into five colored lineages. They may have all arisen from one drop of oil, but they are phenotypically diverse.

(Little canon data is given about the genealogies of core-born newts, but it would most logically follow that Phyrexians descend from single-parent lines, a family tree with continually forking branches and no unions of mating as with sexually reproducing organisms.)

The mechanism I propose for the diversification of Phyrexians on Mirrodin is mana-induced mutagenesis. As a deeply magical material, it follows that Phyrexian oil is prone to being influenced by concentrated sources of mana, such as the suns of Mirrodin (which were trapped in the core, in close proximity to the progenitor oil, during the birth of New Phyrexia). Exposure to mana can thus cause de novo mutation in glistening oil that manifests as novel phenotypic traits in resulting Phyrexians. These mutations are not random, guiding phenotypes to align with the color causing the mutation.

Then there is the issue of inheritance via phyresis, or compleating another organism which was not originally Phyrexian by introducing Phyrexian genetic material into its body. To keep it simple I will begin with mono-color infections: an organism is infected with oil from a Phyrexian whose lineage traits (i.e. white-aligned Orthodoxy lineage, porcelain) may not match their own color identity.

Hypothesis: Phenotype (what color/type of Phyrexian an infected individual becomes) is determined solely by the color of infection, not the subject's own colors. Crucially this isn't the same as color identity; i.e. one can be a porcelain Phyrexian and still have a Boros identity by gaining red-aligned values or retaining them from a pre-compleation life, even though their phenotype is white only. (Much like how elves are associated with green mana, but Simic-identity elves exist.) This phenotype color, in turn, is also what would be passed down to any newts the turned individual creates, or subjects they themselves infect.

MOM corroborates this hypothesis. A mono-black-aligned human, upon exposure to Progress Engine oil, becomes a Phyrexian with a pure blue-aligned phenotype. The changes to their color identity are additive--they retain black alignment--but their phenotype is blue only. All the transforming creatures of MOM follow this pattern.

However, Planeswalkers in ONE did not. For example, Jace was infected by Vraska, who had both black color identity and a black/Thanes-aligned phenotype, but spontaneously developed eyestalks and other traits characteristic of blue Phyrexians from the Progress Engine.

New hypothesis: Individuals with a strong enough internal concentration of mana, i.e. Planeswalkers, cause oil to mutate in vivo to align with their own color, much like how the suns mutated oil in Mirrodin's core. This further shows that mana-induced mutagenesis is color-specific. This should however create a new blue lineage, independent of the Progress Engine, also spawned of blue mana but not necessarily identical. I do not have an explanation for Jace's resemblance to the Progress Engine besides convergent "evolution."

Proposed further study (not ethics-approved): Infect a colorless Planeswalker, i.e. Ugin, with colored oil to test whether a null color identity still has mutagenic effects.

To complicate this, though, we also have examples of Phyrexians who are chimeras of multiple colors, combining traits of different lineages. Vishgraz was assembled with material (genetic and otherwise) from a white, a green, and a black Phyrexian. It makes sense that Phyrexians put together in this patchwork way could have a combination phenotype. Atraxa was not assembled from scratch, but infected with four separate colors at once. Maybe there are just four types of oil circulating in her body?

I am, of course, interested in inheritance. If these Phyrexians show combined phenotypes, what colored trait(s) do they actually pass down? Do they have individual "cells" that are still only white, only green, only black, etc., or did the colors somehow combine on the most basic hereditary unit level? Thankfully, we actually do have an example of a "chimera" Phyrexian asexually producing core-born offspring: Ixhel.

Ixhel shares multiple colors with Atraxa, not only in her color identity but also apparent phenotype (she has both Orthodoxy porcelain and Swarm copper). Two possibilities here: 1) She truly inherited both genetically; Atraxa passes down multiple colors when she reproduces. 2) Her "core" physiology is still rooted in one color, i.e. white porcelain, and the green parts were added after the fact. I don't have an answer for this, but it's intriguing to consider.

Proposed further study: Attempt to isolate the smallest "unit" of Phyrexian heredity (one single nanobot of the oil) and test if it can only store information about one color, or multiple. See if a germ is formed from only one of these units, as with eukaryotic zygotes, or from multiple.

My theories of Phyrexian reproductive biology remain highly speculative, but every new piece of data adds fuel to this fire, and I have plenty to elaborate on in later posts. If only the interplanar ethics committee would stop delaying my research.

[mtg-talk]

Can we talk about this art for a second? Tinfoil hat conspiracy theory time: I think Nissa and Ajani were supposed to die in March of the Machines.

As it stands, the art is “people who are important to Chandra”, but it would make a lot of sense if it was originally supposed to be “people Chandra has lost”.

But that’s just a theory. A GAME theory.

[xantchaslegacy]

Another funny outcome for March of the Machines would be it turns out a plane as small as Mirrodin can't actually mount an invasion force large enough to feasibly and sustainably attack that many planes at once while also dealing with an internal rebellion and the disparate forces on the other planes (After mopping up the porcelain legion and friends) just march back into Mirrodin along realmbreaker's branches to give Norn what for

[balteus]

considering miyazaki knows meme culture well enough to re-enact the guys excitedly pointing at something from a couch image i wonder how much he follows what the souls fandom does. like. is he aware most people think he has a foot fetish. is he playing into it (side eyeing morgott and rennala here)

[theworldgate]

Guys, I think the Giant creatures from the (LCo)Ixalan story might be the Fomori.

Just a hunch.

(Source is the Planeswalker's Guide to LCI btw)

[berrywinkle]

Since we’re getting the official story in about two days, here are some things I want to happen in «March of the machine»

Basri Ket shows up (we know we’re getting stuff on Amonkhet, and he deserves to appear in a story)

New members get added to the Gatewatch, new oath cards. (My candidates are Garruk, Vivien, Basri, Elspeth, and Arlinn)

More compleated planeswalkers

Nahiri vs Sorin final showdown (please I’m begging)

Elspeth kills Elesh Norn

The compleated planeswalkers aren’t killed, but are pacified in some way. (Perhaps desparked and imprisoned until a potential cure can be made?)

Jace and Vraska get to be an evil power couple

Mirrodin is finally purified

[magicwithclass]

[beatsandskies]

Boxing up “Beyond the Box” reader’s comments on the Scars Block intros.

You can find Part 1 (old frame theme decks) here, and Part 2 (new frame theme decks) here. There may be a fourth part covering the small intro packs and duel decks: we’ll see. As mentioned before in those two links, Beyond the Box was a regular precon focused column written by Jay from Ertai’s Lament. I have used some of the comments on this articles in my “Compendium” posts, for instance for…

[pxper-cranes]

MTG sets I want to see in the future (Post Phyrexian Invasion)

Ok so something weird that's happened is that aside from the whole destruction in their wake' thing, I don't really buy the weight the phyrexians had on the greater multiverse. In Wilds of Eldraine, their presence only enacted to destabilise the courts and allow for a new villain to take the stage, and as of yet the level of influence in Lost Caverns of Ixalan isn't discernible. but when I saw the plans for the next couple years of Magic story, I was a bit sad to see some planes left out of the roster. So, I thought to just spit out some ideas I've seen or thought of myself that I would thing would be really good in showing off and giving weight to the destruction that phyrexia supposedly did, as well as more adequately exploring the concept of planes bridging with omenpaths.

#1, Theros rebuilding set.

From what we saw in march of the machine, Theros got absolutely RAILED by the phyrexian invasion, so much so that its oceans, cities and even most of its pantheon were decimated. I think that sucks because its a plane that I really like and think has a pot of potential. So, after all the dust settles, it would be cool to see surviving Therosian people pilgrimaging across the places to try to enlist other planar factions to help in their rebuilding of their society. It would be cool to see people from Kamigawa, Ravnica or Kaladesh to come and help clean the plane up and rebuild its society. I'd even like if a new pantheon was partially formed from the people that help the most, since we know that belief in a single person is enough to send mortals to godhood. perhaps that's where the set's conflict is again, as a diabolical group tries to establish themselves as a new pantheon to lead new Theros, but people from other planes step up to help and maybe even become gods. You could have double sided cards for the mortal and god sides, and then establish new gods for new domains. perhaps there is a split between the Theros people; some welcome help to fix the plane, while others are more xenophobic to interplanar visitors. I just want to see Theros get back on its feet.

#2, Innistrad's Mass Exodus

something that is able to happen now are sets that feature multiple planes, and while we've been to Innistrad pretty recently, it technically could still work. with the emergence of omenpaths, eventually some bleed is going to happen into Innistrad, and the humans of the plane can find out that there are other worlds that are in fact free of the nightmarish and terrible, life threatening horrors that are all over Innistrad. it would be interesting to essentially see a whole buttload of Innistradian people basically becoming refugees on another plane or multiple to escape the terror of living in their own plane. to balance it out, there might be swaths of people trying to get *into* Innistrad for all matter of reasons. the cabal from Sominaria might be a bit interested in their demon cults, Strixhaven's Witherbloom classes might fancy an excursion or exchange to learn more about necomancy, or monster hunters from Ikoria may take on a more 'Van Hellsing' type of vibe, and form a guild to hunt monsters and help the humans that choose to stay on the plane.

#3, Planar Wars

Its a bold move, and would probably take a mini-arc to build up to, but it would be cool to see two plane's forces to go at each other, or at least run a type of cold war against each other. idk what planes specifically it could fit, but it could even be cool to see single factions on different planes go against each other. that would the Simic combine mesh against the Mardu horde? what about the Cabretti trying to extort the dinosaurs of Ixalan and team up with the Legion of Dusk to smuggle dinos to Capenna from the sun empire's clutches. its a less baked idea than others but still something with a bit of potential.

#4, Return to Amonkhet

Amonkhet was my first real set that I played magic with, I remembered opening my first pack and seeing Ornery Kudu, but nevertheless, with the return to Ixalan in Lost Caverns, being the second plane I participated in, I hope we go back to Amonkhet, possibly able to see the reestablishment of a new society after healing from Bolas and now phyrexia. Perhaps a kind of dungeon delving themed set, where characters are searching the plane for remnants of their society before the hour of devastation, but also trying to uncover the plane's society and culture from before bolas ever reached the plane. they start exploring ancient necropolis across the deserts and searching deep tombs and pyramids.

But these are just some of my ideas, I hope that the changes and updates that have happened to magic's sotry and lore recently allow the writers of the story to create some really great stuff, but so far I'm keeling my hopes close to my chest. I promise I'll do a couple shorter posts of my opinions and preferences of current or ex-planeswalkers and where I want their story to go in the new arcs of the future, (some I really want to talk about being Calix, Nahiri and definitely Liliana) but until then that's all. I'm trying desperately to escape my mtg brainrot but its a really good basis for inspiring a lot of my personal dnd stories as of late, so we'll see where I go with it.

[simicmimic]

Unserious answer: there are Eldrazi Phyrexians, they’re all changelings, none are visibly Eldrazi or Phyrexian, meaning the processes cancel each other out

Okay: so phyraxians (sp) are cyborg-y and eldrazi-y are eldritch godz-y . Has an eldrazi ever got infected and turned cyborg-y/phyraxian?

My MTG lore knowledge peaked with Tempest when I was a little kid XD

im not very up on my lore so i dont know of any actual cases but from what i understand i think Eldrazi are more corrupting than phyrexians so i think it would go the other way?

im sure some of my smart magic mutuals would know the actual answer im just kinda guessing :3

[leafdrake-haven]

So do we think they’ll do planeswalker buddy-ups like they’re doing with legendary creatures? They did it once already with Will and Rowan, so there’s precedent.

I was trying to think of who would make sense and be cool and my first thought was honestly @bace-jeleren getting an official esper KaiWan card!

Tyvar and Kaito were also bro-ing out in the last set a lot, that could be a fun sultai card, but idk if they mesh mechanically. Or compleated Vraska/Jace card?

Just an idea to ponder 🤔

[littjara-mirrorlake]

would people be interested if i made a post dissecting the phyrexian hereditary principles demonstrated in ONE and MOM because i'm a biologist and unhinged

[mewvore]

It sucked seeing the commander format for Magic finally be taken over by WotC because MtG finance bros couldn't help but send death threats to the people in charge of bans

speculative aftermarkets are the equivalent of having an assistant manager inserted into your hobby. I'll begrudgingly accept management (the company making the thing) but middle management is were demons reside. all power and no real responsibility or consequences turns people into actual ghouls.