M15: "Wall of Fire" and "Waste Not" Confirmed; NEW Card Frame announced

The mothership has recently announced the upcoming products this year, and one of the things that cannot be missed is regarding M15. Not only is the core set back (obviously), it will sport a new card frame. This is big, the I will now witness three card frame changes since I've played back in Onslaught. Moreover, remember the the "You Make the Card" gig that WOTC had? Well, the readers have picked the options, and they have finally made it into a card. Waste Not will appear in M15, having the new card frame.

As you can see from the card, there are five new changes that will be introduced to M15. Four of them will stick from M15 to every set onwards, while while one feature will especially be for M15. These changes are just the start of something supposedly big, since the design team are going to implement the changes little by little. Here are the features as stated by Aaron Forsythe:

1) The fontSince its inception, Magic has used off-the-shelf fonts on its cards. As a brand, we feel that we'll be better served by having our own unique proprietary font—something with a little edge and character that is still very readable.In general, we liked the heaviness and shape of the "Matrix Bold" font we'd been using previously, so there are a lot of similarities between the old font and the new, named "Beleren," which should alleviate any jarring feeling when you mix the two together in decks. 

2) The holofoil stampYou'll notice a little silver oval in the bottom center of Waste Not. That's a new unique holofoil stamp that we're applying to all rares and mythic rares going forward. This stamp makes those cards feel more special, as well as guarantees authenticity.Commons, uncommons, and basic lands will not feature this stamp. 

3) The collector infoIn the lower left of the card is a series of letters and numbers that indicate the card's collector number (122/269), rarity (R), set (M15), and language (EN). The little dot between the set and the language will be a star on premium cards, so just about everything you'd ever need to know about a card's edition is in one easy-to-read place.Making the bottom of each card black to accommodate this information was not an easy decision, and may be the most disconcerting part of this frame update, but it was done with the best of intentions. This information is machine-readable by recognition software at our production plants. It will help eliminate the rare packaging error, like cards sneaking into the wrong expansion's boosters. 

4) Decreased border sizeIn order to fit all this cool new stuff on the cards, we've reduced the width of the black border by almost a millimeter all the way around. This reclaimed real estate allows us to have slightly bigger art and text boxes as well. 

5) The designer creditYou'll notice that we gave you all credit for making this card in the place normally occupied by flavor text—"Designed by the Magic community." This is the first time we've ever given credit for a specific card design on the card itself, and it's you! You should be very proud! While every card going forward won't feature a designer credit (kinda sad, really), there are a handful of others inMagic 2015, specifically, that will. (You'll have to wait on those details! It's cool, I promise!)Those are the main components of the card frame update. Here's another M15 card for comparison. This one isn't rare, so it has no stamp; is a creature, so it has a P/T box; and isn't black, so you can see the frame design more clearly. All in all, it is an impressive modernization of the card frame, one I'll be excited to get my hands on this summer with M15.

Moreover, the guys have also unveiled Wall of Fire for comparison regarding the changes. Aaron has stated that this is an exciting development as it gives a modern look to the cards.

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Born of the Gods Art featuring Iroas, Xenagos, centaurs, and minotaurs + Non-appearance of Ajani

These have been released for quite awhile now, but it does not mean that the interest has died down. Born of the Gods is right around the corner as 2014 brings in BNG and JIN. From the confimation that Ajani will not be making an appearance in BNG as planeswalker to possible reprints such as Ferocious charge and even a black version of Day of Judgement, Born of the Gods is shaping up to be an exciting second set of the gods. The following images include two of Xengos. The first one seems to be his birth as a god, and the next one seems to be his full-on god mode version. What's more exciting of course are those minotaurs. Personally, minotaurs have existed for such a long time in Magic, and have yet to find a home ni Block Constructed, Standard, or any other format other than perhaps casual play.

The horn/trumpet image, I'm definitely not familiar with it. I definitely do not have any idea if it's a reprint or not, but perhaps it could be a legendary or at least a very cool artifact. We don't know yet. The next two images are comprised of Iroas and some soldiers or pantheons or something. Iroas is, of course, the R/W god. It is still pretty unsure whether Karametra is the G/W god, but some are saying that she will be the only that would make sense to fit the title. Yes, it is indeed pretty weird to see a red/white centaur god since most centaurs can be found in green, with splashes in white for some. The last time I've seen centaurs was during Ravnica: City of Guilds, and that one was a 3/1 common with a three-mana casting cost of two colorless and a G/W hybrid mana. If my recollection is correct, it was Centaur Safeguard. Sure enough, Google has confirmed it Finally, it seems that the soldier-esque image is about to bring copies of himself, or maybe tokens of the same creature type.

Mark Rosewater has confirmed through his Tumblr that the planeswalker Ajani will not be in Born of the Gods. It seems pretty clear by now that he will be in Journey into Nyx, perhaps as a GW or W planeswalker. Speculation of Ajani being in BNG or JIN started because of the image released by WOTC regarding the upcoming two sets in the Theros block.

In addition, Mark Rosewater has stated that Kiora will be the only planeswalker in Born of the Gods. This seems pretty understandable since BNG is a small set and having two planeswalkers with a possibility of both having green colors might make it seem unbalanced. What colors will Ajani be in? We'v seen Ajani Goldmane and Ajani Vengeant, sporting white and W/R respectively, so will we finally see a G/W Ajani?

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[BNG] Mogis, God of Slaughter and a Black Boardwipe that's "strictly better than Infest"

UPDATE (January 7, 2014): 
According to a mod post in MTGS, there is indeed a legendary Kraken. However, it does not make more Krakens. Moreover, (sadly) there isn't a legendary Minotaur and Ferocious Charge will not be reprinted for BNG. Mogis is not the God of Violence but is actually the God of Slaughter (yay black). In addition, there is indeed a black boardwipe but not necessarily similar to Day of Judgement and is said to be "strictly better than Infest". Finally, the legendary land is not true.

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According to a thread, there was some information that was leaked regarding some possible cards in Born of the Gods. The cards were apparently listed in a thrown-out print sheet from Wizards of the Coast. Do take all the information with a grain of salt, but the cards seem plausible at this point in time. Without further adieu, here are the card information that user Master Moja has revealed for us:

- "A legendary blue Kraken that makes a 9/9 Kraken when it deals combat damage to a player." Let us note that is states combat damage, so perhaps it has trample? Or perhaps an ability that allows it to be unblockable or can only be blocked by two or more creatures. Or creatures with flying or has defender.

- "A legendary minotaur that makes an opponent discard two cardss at random." This one sounded like the least plausible BNG card when I first heard it. However, since the Theros block is about gods and is an ode to mythology, there are surely some space for creatures such as sphinxes, harpies, and minotaurs. A legendary minotaur that has a Hymn to Tourach ability seems nice.

- "Ferocious Charge was on the list." This is likely. Not only because its not an overpowered pump-card for green and and is easily splashable with other colors, but also because its scry abiltiy is also already much available in some Theros cards.

- "Mogis, God of Violence" is a card. Well, what can we say about this? A legendary god enchantment, similar to those of Theros, perhaps? A red card, or a black/red god. Let's see how violent this card can get and whether it can actually be used in serious play or stay in the casual format.

- "A black Day of Judgement." Take this with a grain of salt. Not because it's not plausible, because it is plausible, but because it's really exciting. The first Planar Chaos booster pack I actually bought had a foil Damnation along with Gaea's Anthem and a Numos dragon, and it still is my prized possession despite its worn-condition. Now, is it a black Day of Judgment or a black Wrath of God? If it's the latter, then we'll see Damnation back in standard. But WoG hasn't seen the light of day in standard, and it's brother Day of Judgement has seemingly replaced it for good. Will WOTC bring back the "can't be regenerated" mass removal card for black? Or will it stick with just destroying all the creatures in the battlefield?

- "A legendary land that taps for colorless and  can pay two mana of any color to return an enchantment from your graveyard to yoour hand (or top of library?). I think this was rare." Ah, yes, rare legendary lands. Rare lands seem to be those cards that still have a decent value even after they leave the Standard format. From the shocklands to the fetchlands, they are still widely used because they are good. What about this legendary card? Well, despite the fact that it produces colorless mana, its ability to return an enchantment card from your graveyard is pretty sweet. Theros seems swamped with loads of good enchanments and enchanments that are also creatures, so this card is entirely plausible.

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Godsend Part I, II, and III (Kindle Edition) Priced at $3.99 each in Amazon

The e-book that will tell the official story of the Theros block will be called Godsend, Part I and is authored by Jenna Helland. It is now available in Amazon for a price of $3.99. There are no available images for the ebook yet. The two follow-up novels to complete the official story of the Theros Block are now also in there. Born of the Gods: Godsend, Part II and Journey into Nyx: Godsend, Part III are available for pre-order.  Godsend Part II's publisher date by WOTC is April 22, 2014 while Godsend Part III has a May 13, 2014 date. Both novels, along with Theros: Godsend, Part I, are all written by Jenna Helland.

Amazon link to Part II and Part III.

The publish date is April 1, 2014, which is also April Fool's Day. This of course does not necessarily mean a joke by WOTC.

According to Doug Beyer, Jenna Helland also wrote a story about the last days of Elspeth on New Phyrexia as she goes to Theros. It will also be released soon as an Uncharted Realms story.

Moreover, according to the Mothership, Jenna works for WOTC in Seattle, Washington as a writer and a designer. She wrote "The Cloudbreaker" in The Shadowmoor Anthology, The Planeswalker's Guide to Alara (with Doug Beyer), Path of the Planeswalker (with Brady Dommermuth and Doug Beyer), and The Fanged Crown.

Moreover, this is the list of works (novels and short stories) done by Jenna Helland for WOTC:
- The Lost Confession
- Xathrid Gorgon
- The Seven Bells, Part 1 and 2
- The Azorius Ten Most Wanted
- In Praise of the Worldsoul, Part 1-3
- Epic Experiment
- The Shadows of Prahv, Part 1 and 2
- The Stonekiller, Part 1 and 2
- Talrand, Sky Summoner
- Threadbare
- Krenko, Mob Boss
- Chronomaton
- Xathrid Gorgon
- Odric, Master Tactician
- Consortium Report: "The Incident of the Eye"
- The Face of War
- The Soul of the World
- Running Wild
- Path of the Planeswalker 1 and 2
- A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara

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STOCKING TIGER - 2013 Holiday Promo Card + Temple of Enlightenment, of Malice, and of Plenty

The Mothership has officially began the Holidays with their 2013 Holiday Promo Card: STOCKING TIGER. While it is indeed a fun card, it doesn't seem playable at all if you don't have any booster packs. But if you do have any, it'd be awesome. In addition, A CAT CONSTRUCT! They have finally arrived.

The artwork was done by Terese Neilsen and here is the full version:

According to user Ceth from MTGS, the remaining two scry dual lands sporting the Azorius and Selesnya colors are included in Born of the Gods (BNG). The Azorius scry land's art shows merchants preparing for trade, while the Selesnya scry land's art has some grass and animal on it.

In addition, Ceth also stated that there were multicolored creatures in the expansion and that there were cards in BNG that are supposed to affect or even make Modern even better with two unmentioned specific tribal creatures being pinpointed out.

The mothership just released the traditional Oracle of Salvation for Born of the Gods, and the guys at MTGS are at it to look at some possible cards.

It seems obvious that dual-color lands will be in the set, and three "temples" have been supposedly identified so far:

Temple of Enlightenment
Land
Rare
Temple of Enlightenment enters the battlefield tapped. When Temple of Enlightenment enters the battlefield, scry 1.
Tap: Add W or U to your mana pool.

Temple of Malice
Land
Rare
Temple of Malice enters the battlefield tapped. When Temple of Malice enters the battlefield, scry 1.
Tap: Add B or R to your mana pool.

Temple of Plenty
Land
Rare
Temple of Plenty enters the battlefield tapped. When Temple of Plenty enters the battlefield, scry 1.
Tap: Add G or W to your mana pool.

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