Theros Block (Magic: The Gathering)

Last updated
Theros
Theros - Common Set Symbol.svg
ReleasedSeptember 27, 2013
Size249 cards (15 Mythic Rare, 53 Rare, 60 Uncommon, 101 Common, 20 Basic Land) [1]
Designers Mark Rosewater (lead), Ethan Fleischer, Ken Nagle, Zac Hill, and Jenna Helland
DevelopersErik Lauer (lead), Zac Hill, David Humpherys, Doug Beyer, Shawn Main, and Tom LaPille
Development code Friends
Expansion codeTHS
First [2] set in the Theros block
TherosBorn of the GodsJourney Into Nyx
Magic 2014 Born of the Gods
Return to Ravnica Block Khans Block
Born of the Gods
Born of the Gods - Common Set Symbol.svg
ReleasedFebruary 7, 2014
Size165 cards [3] (10 mythic rare, 35 rare, 60 uncommon, 60 common)
DesignersKen Nagle (lead), Ethan Fleischer, Billy Moreno, Mark Rosewater, Ryan Spain
DevelopersTom LaPille (lead), Chris Dupris, Mark Gottlieb, David Humpherys, Billy Moreno, Matt Tabak
Development code Romans
Expansion codeBNG
Second [3] set in the Theros block
TherosBorn of the GodsJourney Into Nyx
TherosJourney Into Nyx
Return to Ravnica Block Khans Block
Journey Into Nyx
Journey Into Nyx - Common Set Symbol.svg
ReleasedMay 2, 2014
Size165 cards [4] (10 mythic rare, 35 rare, 60 uncommon, 60 common)
DesignersEthan Fleischer (lead), Dan Emmons, Eric Lauer, Matt Tabak, and Mark Rosewater
DevelopersDave Humpherys (lead), Ian Duke, Tom Jenkot, Eric Lauer, and Ken Nagle
Development code Countrymen
Expansion codeJOU
Third [4] set in the Theros block
TherosBorn of the GodsJourney Into Nyx
Born of the Gods Conspiracy
Return to Ravnica Block Khans Block

Theros is a set of three expansions to the Magic: The Gathering game, consisting of the sets Theros (September 27, 2013), Born of the Gods (February 7, 2014) and Journey into Nyx (May 2, 2014). [2] The setting was later used for a Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook, Mythic Odysseys of Theros (2020). The lore and aesthetics of the game setting was based on Greek mythology.

Contents

Synopsis

Setting

Nyx is depicted as the land of night and home of the gods as believed by the inhabitants of Theros. As a result, dreams are believed to be messages from the gods. When the likenesses of the gods appear in the night sky, it's as though the gods are inhabiting both the mortal and spiritual world at the same time. Enchantments are gifts from the gods, and the gods themselves are Living Enchantments. Each color has its own god: Heliod, God of the Sun (white), Thassa, God of the Sea (blue), Erebos, God of the Dead (black), Purphoros, God of the Forge (red), and Nylea, God of the Hunt (green). [5] Each god also has their own signature weapon that shows up as a legendary artifact enchantment. [6] The pantheon is rounded out by ten lesser gods, one for each combination of colors.

There are three major cities, each known as the poleis (singular "polis"). They are Meletis, city of learning, magic, and progress sitting on the coast surrounded by rivers and grassland; Akros, city of die-hard warriors surrounded by mountains that restrict contact with the rest of the plane; and Setessa, a city close to nature that puts a lot of emphasis on families. [7]

Theros is a "top-down" design, meaning that its Design, Development and Creative teams consciously modeled the set on Greek mythology and its tropes; this is opposed to a bottom-up design, where the designers start with a gameplay experience and then layer a story on top of it. [8] As such, many cards allude to famous myths: Akroan Horse to the Trojan Horse, Chained to the Rocks to the fate of Prometheus, Rescue from the Underworld to the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, Labyrinth Champion to Theseus, and more. To quote Head Designer Mark Rosewater: "Here's a theme you're going to hear again and again. 'We were doing a Greek mythology set so we had to do X.'" [9]

Plot

The block's main protagonist is Elspeth Tirel, a White-wielding human planeswalker first introduced as a member of her adopted homeworld Bant in Shards of Alara, whose travels have brought her to Theros. It is actually not her first visit; some time in the past she had sojourned briefly there, witnessing a clash between Heliod and Purphoros and absconding with a sword that was dropped during the tumult. This sword, Godsend, was the property of Heliod, and when she returned to Theros he attempted to reclaim it by force. Of course, as a planeswalker, her magical powers were sufficient to resist him. Insecure in his powers, he transformed the sword into a spear and tasked Elspeth with traveling to his temple in Meletis. On her journey, she encountered Polukranos, World Eater, a giant hydra who had been released during the initial conflict between Heliod and Purphoros and which had terrorized the countryside ever since. By putting an end to this menace, she earned the approbation of Heliod and was declared Elspeth, Sun's Champion.

The block's primary antagonist is Xenagos, The Reveler. Once a satyr hedonist in the Skola Valley, his planeswalking turned him to nihilism, infusing him with the realization that, in the grand scheme of things, he mattered little and less. After returning to Theros, he decided to ascend to the Theran pantheon. To do this, he spread lies and rumors about Godsend, so that Elspeth was beset by many of the Theran gods during her journey to Meletis. He then gathered an army of savage creatures and attacked the city of Akros, forcing Elspeth to lead a hasty defense. Despite desperate odds, the Sun's Champion prevailed, and the city of Akros was consumed in celebration. Unbeknowest to all, though, the bacchanalia was the final ingredient Xenagos needed to deify himself. Ascended, he became Xenagos, God of Revels. Heliod, his wrath awakened by the undermining of the sacred Pantheon, blames Elspeth for Xenagos’s ascension and seeks to kill her. Elspeth is forced to flee into the wilderness, where she finds fellow planeswalker Ajani Goldmane and enlists his help. Ajani, who feels he owes a debt to Elspeth for her help on his home plane of Alara during the great Conflux, agrees to journey with Elspeth into the starry underworld of Nyx, where legend has it that somewhere hidden deep is the secret to killing a god.

Elspeth and Ajani find the temple of Kruphix, God of Horizons, thanks to the timely assistance of the mysterious merfolk planeswalker Kiora, the Crashing Wave, who is often mistaken for Thassa, God of the Sea. Kruphix grants them passage into Nyx, but Elspeth must first undergo an ordeal of one of the gods of her choosing. She selects Erebos, and the God of the Dead tempts her with a vision of a peaceful home – something she has sought after all her life – with the stipulation that she must lay down her sword and give up the fight against Xenagos. Elspeth refuses Erebos’s offer and presses on into Nyx. Elspeth and Ajani join the ongoing battle between the dark Returned that dwell in the underworld and the celestial beings that Xenagos has trapped there. Elspeth battles fiercely with Xenagos and finally succeeds in striking him down with Godsend, the god-forged weapon of Heliod, finishing the God of Revels off for good.

Despite Elspeth’s heroic efforts to undo the devastation that Xenagos wreaked on the plane, Heliod does not forgive her for enabling the satyr to ascend in the first place. He stops Elspeth and Ajani as they flee from Nyx and strikes Elspeth down with her own weapon. Heliod orders Ajani to bear Elspeth back to the mortal realm to die, where she may be taken away by Erebos to the Underworld. The storyline of Theros concludes as Ajani leaves Elspeth and is hurried away by his leonin kin back into the wilderness, and Erebos claims the Sun's Champion for his own at last.

While the main plot of the block unfolds, Ashiok, a hitherto unseen Planeswalker distinguished by their ability to control dreams and the replacement of their head from the nose up by a pair of smoking, curled horns, engages in a campaign of terror amongst the poleis of Theros. With the aid of a glamour from Phenax, the god of deception, Ashiok goes unseen across the city-states of the plane infiltrating the dreams of its inhabitants. Eventually, they succeed in their goal: raising a new god, Cacophony, God of Cities. Cacophony appears to briefly attack the inhabitants of an unknown city, before Ephara, God of the Polis, notices it and destroys it, promising to find the mortal who created it. Regardless, Ashiok considers the experiment successful. [10]

Set details

Theros

The first set of the block, Theros, was released on September 27, 2013. This large set consists of 249 cards, three of which are Planeswalkers: The white Elspeth, Sun's Champion; the blue/black Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver; and the red/green Xenagos, the Reveler. [1] The set contains five of the block's ten "scry lands," a cycle of dual lands that come into play tapped and allow its controller to Scry 1 when it enters the battlefield. This set also contained a notable reprint in Thoughtseize, previously seen in Lorwyn.

The block introduced several new mechanics and keywords, as well one returning keyword. The following mechanics appear in all sets of the Theros block:

The set also has a unique mechanic that did not appear in Born of the Gods but appears in Journey into Nyx:

Born of the Gods

The second set of the block, Born of the Gods, was released on February 7, 2014. Born of the Gods is a small set consisting of 165 cards; of those, one is a planeswalker, the blue/green Kiora, the Crashing Wave. The set also introduces the ten "demigods" of Theros's pantheon, which are dual-colored and care about their controller's devotion to two colors. Born of the Gods features five of them with allied-color combinations; Journey Into Nyx will feature the remaining five.

In addition to the block-wide mechanics, Born of the Gods features two unique mechanics:

In addition to more enchantment creatures, Born of the Gods also introduces cards that can create enchantment creature tokens; these tokens are also printed with the starry Nyx background.

Journey into Nyx

The third set of the block, Journey into Nyx, was released on May 2, 2014. It is a small set consisting of 165 cards. The set completed the cycle of ten dual-colored "demigod" cards that debuted in Born of the Gods, as well as the cycle of ten "scry lands" that premiered in the first set of Theros. The set also includes the first green/white Planeswalker, "Ajani, Mentor of Heroes." It was the last standard-legal set to be printed with the pre-M15 card frame.[ citation needed ]

In addition to the block-wide mechanics, Journey Into Nyx features two new mechanics. [12]

Use in Dungeons & Dragons

Theros was adapted as a campaign setting for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons with the publication of the sourcebook Mythic Odysseys of Theros in 2020. It was the second Magic setting adapted to D&D, after the release of Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica in 2018. [14]

Related Research Articles

The Multiverse is the shared fictional universe depicted on Magic: The Gathering cards, novels, comics, and other supplemental products. Though Magic is a strategy game, an intricate storyline underlies the cards released in each expansion. On the cards, elements of this multiverse are shown in the card art and through quotations and descriptions on the bottom of most cards. Novels and anthologies published by HarperPrism and Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), and the comic books published by Armada Comics expand upon the settings and characters hinted at on the cards. WOTC also publishes a weekly story in the Magic Fiction column, previously known as Official Magic Fiction and Uncharted Realms.

Mirrodin is the name of the Magic: The Gathering expert-level block containing the Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn expansion sets. The Mirrodin expansion set, as well as the rest of the block, is centered on artifacts and was only the second set to do so since Antiquities. The percentage of artifact cards is much higher than in any preceding set. Each of the expansion symbols in the Mirrodin block depicts a legendary artifact: Sword of Kaldra (Mirrodin), Shield of Kaldra (Darksteel) and Helm of Kaldra.

Dominaria is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. In celebration of Magic: The Gathering's 25th anniversary, the story returned to the plane of Dominaria. The expansion was released on April 27, 2018. Martha Wells was the head writer for the expansion.

Mirage was the first official block structure in Magic: The Gathering. This new block structure consisted of three expansion sets and would continue for nearly two decades, finally ending with Khans of Tarkir in 2014. The new block structure also set up the precedent that the first set in the block also became the name for the entire block. Mirage block consisted of three sets: Mirage, Visions and Weatherlight.

Time Spiral is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level block consisting of the expansion sets Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, and Future Sight. It is set on the plane of Dominaria, the first time that that plane had been visited since 8th Edition.

The Lorwyn block is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level block consisting of two sets: Lorwyn and Morningtide. A third set, codenamed "Jelly", was originally planned as part of the Lorwyn block, but partway into the design of Lorwyn, it was split into a two-set block. Jelly was revealed as Shadowmoor, the first set of the new two-set block. The two blocks were linked together and rotated through the official tournament formats as a single, four-expansion unit. The primary theme of the Lorwyn block is tribalism.

Shadowmoor is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of the expansion sets Shadowmoor and Eventide. The block was originally conceived as a single set that was to be released as the third in the Lorwyn block, but it was ultimately released as a semi-independent two-set block. Shadowmoor was linked thematically to Lorwyn, and the four sets comprising the two blocks rotated through official tournament formats together.

The Zendikar block is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of the sets Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi. The eponymous setting is a vast, untamed wilderness, whose few bastions of civilization exist primarily for outfitting treasure-seeking expeditions to distant locales. Colossal ancient octahedral stones called "hedrons" float in the sky. A phenomenon known as "the Roil" causes frequent geological upheaval as it sweeps across the land. Unlike the previous two blocks, there is no multicolored theme. Instead, the themes Zendikar and Worldwake revolve around lands, and a theme of an adventure or quest. Rise of the Eldrazi, while part of the Zendikar block creatively and for the sake of constructed tournament rules, is unique mechanically and is designed to be drafted on its own. Drafts in the Zendikar block are either ZEN-ZEN-WWK or ROE-ROE-ROE.

The rules of Magic: The Gathering were originally developed by the game's creator, Richard Garfield, and accompanied the first version of the game in 1993. The rules of Magic have been changed frequently over the years by the manufacturer, Wizards of the Coast, mostly in minor ways. However, major rules overhauls have also been done a few times.

The Innistrad block is a block of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, consisting of the expansion sets Innistrad, Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored. Innistrad is a "top-down" designed block based on Gothic horror. The set's mechanics and effects take mainly graveyard themes, with a minor focus on tribal themes. The tagline for the set is "Horror Lurks Within". It has 264 cards.

The Alara block is a Magic: The Gathering expert-level expansion block, consisting of the expansion sets Shards of Alara, Conflux and Alara Reborn. The Alara block focuses on multicolored cards, in particular cards with three or more colors.

Seven Magic: The Gathering core sets have been released since 2009: Magic 2010, Magic 2011, Magic 2012, Magic 2013, Magic 2014, Magic 2015, and Magic Origins. Unlike 10th Edition and previous core sets, roughly half of each core set was entirely new cards. Beginning with Magic 2010, Wizards decided to introduce new cards into the Core Set so that they could be relevant for both new players as well as veterans. Starting with Magic 2011, core sets have included "returning mechanics", or non-evergreen keywords with cards printed in just one core set. All of these core sets were released in the summer of the year prior to the year in the title - for example, Magic 2010 was released in 2009.

Khans of Tarkir is a Magic: The Gathering block consisting of Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, and Dragons of Tarkir. The block's setting is based on a mix of cultures of Central and East Asia.

Battle for Zendikar is a Magic: The Gathering expansion block consisting of the sets Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch. It sees the return of full-art basic lands, last seen in the Zendikar block. It is also the first block in Magic to use the new Two-Block Paradigm, wherein each block has two sets instead of the three that were previously used.

Amonkhet is a Magic: The Gathering expansion block consisting of the sets Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation. Amonkhet was released on April 28, 2017, and Hour of Devastation was released on July 14, 2017. The eponymous new plane has an ancient Egyptian theme, and features concepts like mummies and embalming.

Theros Beyond Death is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. It is not part of a block. It was released on January 24, 2020. The set's development codename is "Baseball", and its expansion code is THB.

Kaldheim is the 86th Magic: The Gathering expansion and is not part of a block. It is set on the plane of the same name. It was released on February 5, 2021. It also became available in MTG Arena on January 28, 2021.

War of the Spark is the 81st Magic: The Gathering expansion; while it is not part of a block, this set is functionally the third part of a Ravnica-focused storyline set on the plane of Ravnica. It was released on May 3, 2019. It also became available in MTG Arena on April 25, 2019.

Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is an expansion set for Magic: The Gathering (Magic) released in July 2021. The world of the Forgotten Realms was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a paracosm for his childhood stories and premiered as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1987). This expansion set is the third collaboration between Magic and D&D; both teams are part of Wizards of the Coast.

References

  1. 1 2 "MTG-Magic: the Gathering Theros Spoiler". Magic Spoiler. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Trick Jarrett. "Announcing Theros Block". Archived from the original on March 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Announcing Born of the Gods". Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Announcing Journey into Nyx". Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. The Magic Creative Team. "Planeswalker's Guide to Theros, Part 1". Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  6. "Theros Set Review – Gods and Weapons in Standard". October 1, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  7. The Magic Creative Team. "Planeswalker's Guide to Theros, Part 2". Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  8. Mark Rosewater (15 June 2009). "A View From the Top". Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  9. Mark Rosewater. "Theroses Are Red (and White, Blue, Black, and Green), Part 1". Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  10. "Dreams of the City". MAGIC: THE GATHERING. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  11. "Articles". Archived from the original on September 4, 2013.
  12. Kelly Digges (7 April 2014). "Mechanics of Journey into Nyx". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  13. Mark Rosewater (14 April 2014). "The Incredible Journey, Part I". Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  14. Peter Morics (February 28, 2020). "Dungeons and Dragons is Set to Crossover With Magic the Gathering AGAIN". Screen Rant . Retrieved June 8, 2020.

"Theros Product Information". Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014.