The Future is Now: Part II

We’re back at it again going down the list of future shifted cards this month. Before we continue I just want to say that all the creatures with Grandeur pretty much have the same score as Korlash from the last article, so I won’t be covering them specifically.

Without further ado, let’s keep this multiversal train rolling. (Remember the criteria: We rate the likelihood of the card seeing a reprint in Planar Set and what planes they might be from with possibilities on a scale of 1-10)
   

River of Tears

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 4
River of Tears is a weird card – unique and honestly pretty cool. The thing is, though… it’s pretty bad by modern standards. It’s a land that has a complicated mechanic at its base and seems pretty far away from what Magic does with their lands. It’s not impossible that we’ll see River of Tears again, but I seriously doubt it.
Possible Plane(s): Arkhos: 10
We actually have a confirmed plane for River of Tears and that is Arkhos. For those who don’t know, Arkhos was a Greek mythology-themed plane we first saw in Planechase and would eventually become Theros! The name was changed due to issues with clearance, but it has been confirmed that both Theros and Arkhos exist within the Multiverse  

Narcomoeba

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 8
Nacromeoba is a super safe card to see planar reprints. It’s great in sets with self mill strategies and we’ve seen it get one pretty recently, and thus it’s score of eight. This is definitely gonna get reprinted eventually.
Possible Plane(s): Iquatana: 10 Ravnica: 10
The planar score here is odd since we’ve seen a planar print on Ravnica in Guilds of Ravnica, but we also have evidence showing Narcomoebas elsewhere. On the Future Sight printing the flavor text references “The Iquati” and then in Planechase we saw a plane called Iquatana that featured Narcomoebas in the artwork. So yeah, we have two confirmed planes for this creature. Interesting.  

Nacatl War-Pride 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 4
This is not happening. The card is cool but it’s very Future Sight. It’s a mish mosh of awesome things that end up making the card over-complicated and chock full of stuff that can’t be done again. However...I could see this in like, a commander set or something and they’re making those planar now so y’know, never say never.
Possible Plane(s): Alara: 10
We have only ever seen catfolk referred to as Nacatl on Alara, thus I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s where this comes from. Interesting case of planar vernacular for sure.  

Muraganda Petroglyphs 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Cool card...also a pretty bad card. It’s something players would be down to see printed though, and it does benefit token strategies. I could see this being a draft uncommon if we ever visit Muraganda (See below)
Possible Plane(s): Muraganda: 10
Another card confirmed through Planechase. We’ve actually seen Muraganda and it’s pretty cool, looking like a sort of primal/prehistoric plane. I’d be down to see this place in the future.  

Steamflogger Boss 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 1
LMAO no. For those who don’t know, this card was created as a joke and somehow already saw a planar reprint, but I really doubt they’ll be doing that again.
Possible Plane(s): Bablovia: 10
Neat fact: the plane where Unstable took place is named Bablovia. The more you know.  

Aven Mindcensor 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 7
Aven Mindcensor is a really cool card that I’m sad to say is getting power crept on hard. With cards like Opposition Agent just flat out being better than Mindcensor. However, Mindcensor still has a place since it fits nicely into a lot of D&T shells plus it’s a flier and a bird, so it’ll always see some play. It’s a safe card to reprint and I think there’s no real reason not to.
Possible Plane(s): Amonkhet: 10
This card has a planar printing on Amonkhet. However the original Future Sight printing doesn’t seem to be from there. Tet without any flavor text or clear setting in the art, there’s no good guesses I can make towards where the original bird friend is from.  

Darksteel Garrison 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Darksteel Garrison will likely not see a planar print, but I’m hopeful. It’s got a cool and unique mechanic, but that’s kind of what dooms it. I can’t really see a set featuring Fortify coming out anytime soon. But if it does, I’ll be first in line for a box.
Possible Plane(s): Mirrodin: 8
We’ve only ever seen Darksteel on Mirrodin, but I can’t safely put this at a 10 since planeswalkers are kind of known for y’know… planeswalking. It’s not impossible someone like Tezzeret or Karn took some Darksteel and brought it elsewhere. Maybe we’ll get an answer someday, but for now my best guess is Mirrodin.  

Nix 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 4
Nix is a really solid sideboard piece, but we’ve seen enough cards that do similar things and are better to run. It’s such a niche effect that I don’t think Wizards will be giving this a planar print anytime soon, but it’s not broken so maybe one day.
Possible Plane(s): Mirrodin: 6; Rath: 7
The flavor text of Nix refers to “The Creators” as people who created whatever world this card comes from. Thus we can look to the multiverse's two favorite artificial planes, Mirrodin and Rath. I’m ranking Rath higher here because Mirrodin had a single creator and Rath, to my knowledge, was a group effort on the part of Phyrexia.  

Virulent Sliver (And all the other Slivers)

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 1 - 4
Poisonous is like a safer Infect, but it’s still never getting used again. The few Slivers from this set that have functional and good mechanics are more likely, but I mean… Absorb? Probably not. The only one I think might get one is Homing Sliver.
Possible Plane(s): Rath: 6  Dominaria: 5
Poisonous is a keyworded version of an ability that was often given to snakes in the early days of magic. Those snakes were only ever seen on Rath and Dominaria. We’ve also seen Slivers on both Rath and Dominaria (Rath had the Sliver Queen on it so it gets a higher rank.) We can say for sure it’s not on Shandalar, as those Slivers are more humanoid so the Future Sight slivers are definitely either Rathi or Dominarian.  

Seht's Tiger

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 2
I have no idea who Seht is but Magic doesn’t really do “Protection from X” anymore so even if we do see Seht, I doubt we’ll see their tiger.
Possible Plane(s): Amonkhet: 2 Ravnica: 1
Seht is similar to the name of the Egyptian god of chaos, but I mean Amonkhet is kinda in ruins right now so if Seht is there, they probably died. My only other real guess is Ravnica and it’s a huge stretch. There’s this card called Zarichi Tiger from Gatecrash that kind of looks like Seht’s Tiger. That’s it, that’s all my evidence.  

Imperial Mask

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 4
Imperial Mask is a super cool card, but also keyed heavily towards multiplayer. That doesn’t mean it won’t see a planar print, I just think it really tanks the chances of it.
Possible Plane(s): Fiora: 4
Fiora is a multiplayer-tilted plane where we know the rich have parties, I could see this being featured in a future Conspiracy set so it’s my best guess since we have no other real details to work off of.  

Grave Scrabbler 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 7
Not much to say, a decent card and it has Madness on it, a mechanic players love. We’ll probably see this guy at some point in the future.
Possible Plane(s): Innistrad: 8 Ulgrotha:1
Look at him and tell me that’s not Innistrad. LOOK AT HIM AND TELL ME THAT’S NOT INNISTRAD! 
Okay...I mean there are no Avacynian symbols on any of the graves which is unusual for an Innistrad graveyard, but like c’mon it’s not Ulgrotha...right?  

Shah of Naar Isle 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 2
Echo is never coming back, let it die. 
Possible Plane(s): Wildfire: 10
Planechase is at it again! Naar Isle is a featured location in Planechase on the plane of Wildfire. Fun fact, Wildefire is a really cool plane full of Djinn and is where the Emberwilde is located, so we actually just saw a creature from here in Commander Legends!  

Spin into Myth 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 3
Okay I really like Spin into Myth, but Fateseal is broken and we likely won’t see it again. Another cool card doomed by its keyworded mechanic.
Possible Plane(s): Theros: 6; Eldraine: 2; Kaldheim: 1
Okay so I actually wrote some of this article like two years ago and then forgot about it until recently. Originally I was sure this is a Theros card, I mean the flavor is on point for Greek mythos. But with Eldraine featuring living fables and Kaldheim having the Norse emphasis on legends and myths, there are other options but Theros is still definitely the most likely one here.  

Vedalken Aethermage 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 3
Wizardcycling… I mean if Homing Sliver ever gets its day in the sun why not this card.
Possible Plane(s): ???
So Vedalken Aethermage gives us too much to work with. We know it’s a Vedalken, but we’ve seen those on Alara, Mirrodin, Kaladesh, Dominaria, and even Rath. Now given that this mirrors Homing Sliver, I’d say it’s most likely to be Dominarian or Rathi, but there’s so little to support that I don’t even want to give it a ranking. 

That’s all for Part II, we’re about halfway done now! tune in next month for even more Future sighted goodness. Feel free to let me know what planes you think these cards might be from in the comments below! 

You also can find me on Twitter @East2Westmtg or email me at East2westmtg@gmail.com.
As always I’ve been East2West, your resident burnt out undergrad and planar detective, and I’ll see you guys on the battlefield!

Welcome to Winter Wonderland!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Winter is here and celebrations abound all around! This month we want everyone to have a wonderful time creating their visions of a winter wonderland as part of our Theme of the Month! Using Winter as the theme, make us some cards that harken to all of your winter favorites! If you need some inspiration, try one of these... Frost Breath, Arctic Foxes, Frostpeak Yeti.

If you want a chance to see your winter creation get Featured in between our Featured Cardsmiths this month, be sure to drop it off in the FORUMS!

We're constantly highlighting some of the Cardsmiths you've grown familiar with, and occasionally some that you might not know. These Featured Cardsmiths have all made a significant contribution to help make the site what it is today, with their card creations, their constructive advice or their participation in the Forums. Please take a minute to check out their cards and show them some love!

December 2021 finds our First Featured Cardsmith, and it's none other than Rayne-Lord, the Merciless! Okay, I added that last bit in but it sounds like it belongs there! We've brought you a small selection of cards to enjoy from this Cardsmith, but please feel free to check out ALL their cards and even drop a few favorites on the cards that YOU like!

Up next is our second Featured Cardsmith of the Month, Tonysparks! We're not sure if this Cardsmith is from Sparks, Nevada or if they are here to help spark your creativity, or if it's something we haven't even thought of yet, but either way stick around a bit and check out some of these fun creations!

Each month we're excited to highlight just a couple of Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!

What Fell With The Leaves...

November is here, and it's amazing how fast it snuck up on us! In fact, it snuck up so fast that we're not sure if we're ready for 2022 just yet. That's why we're going to try and put a big STOP to this month!

It's No-vember!

This month we want you all to say NO! Not with those horrible counterspells... Yuck! We don't want to completely stop November, we just want to slow it down a little, that's why we're looking for something with a little more finesse.

   

As you can see, there are many ways to deny things without resorting to one of the most hated spells in all the land! Bring us your most creative denial spells and help us say NO this No-vember!! Once you've created your entry, be sure to drop it off in the November 2021 thread on the Forums for a chance to earn a Feature or other cool rewards!

Featured Cardsmiths

Every month we try to Feature two Cardsmiths we think you'll enjoy. Show these people some love by giving their cards some favorites or make a custom card in their honor, or even still better... do both!

It's been a long time coming, but this month we'd like to feature a returning Cardsmith who should have been featured a while back, but we're glad we waited until now. cadstar369 has been coming around these parts for a long time and has been making killer cards straight out of the gate. We'd like to share a few of their cards below so you can enjoy them as much as we do!

You may know our second Cardsmith from their exploits in the Mystery Box Challenges or from the well loved MICROCHALLENGES forums challenge as it's Thread Runner. Either way, we've selected ShadowReign as our second Cardsmith for November because we think you'll enjoy this Cardsmith's work as much as we do. Below are a handful of cards for you to check out, but feel free to go and look at more!

Each month we're excited to highlight just a couple of Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!

The Future is Now: Part I

Ages and ages ago I promised that I’d do some articles running down the futureshifted cards featured in the Time Spiral block. Specifically, the likelihood that they might see print in a Planar Set (A set with a fixed location, not a Masters set) and what planes they might be from! I may have missed Time Spiral Remastered but I definitely keep my promises! So let’s get into it! (Possibilities on a scale of 1-10)
   

Tarmogoyf

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Tarmogoyf is an insanely good card (as we’ve seen in Modern and some eternal formats) so I doubt it’d be safe for a Standard legal set. However, in a set with the right makeup, as in less easy ways to fill your graveyard, it could be made into a more fair card. Fun sets such as Battlebond or Conspiracy could give Tarmogoyf a canonical home.

Possible Plane(s): Dominaria 8
Tarmogoyf belongs to the creature type Lhurgoyf which only has 8 total printed cards. All of the planar set printed ones belong to Dominaria over various sets with the first being printed in Ice Age (Poor Saffi) and additional ones being printed in Odyssey and Planar Chaos. This isn’t a 100% guarantee of Tarmogoyf being in Dominaria but it’s more than likely thus the high, but not definite, score.
   

Grove of the Burnwillows

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 6
Grove of the Burnwillows is a weird card but it’s not inherently game-breaking. It was good due to the interaction between it and Punishing Fire. Without a similar way to abuse it this would actually be pretty safe in limited. The main issue is that making your opponent gain life every tap isn’t a good effect, making it a feel-bad rare pull and it would likely need a cycle to go with it. This could be problematic in a flavor sense. Grove is already on shaky ground, Red gaining your opponent life isn’t normal. So what would a cycle of these even look like?

Possible Plane(s): Lorwyn: 5; Moag: 5
The art style and the fact that the flavor text mentions seasons in a poetic manner hint me towards Lorwyn (if you want justification read Bitterblossom). However, there’s nothing in the art, name, or text hinting at Lorwyn so it’s a 50/50 with Moag, a plane from Planechase. Moag is home to The Fields of Summer and the art on the plane card gives me a similar vibe to Grove, it’s not much but it’s enough for me to wonder.
   

Horizon Canopy 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Canopy is a good card, a pain land that has onboard cycling is a sweet deal. Canopy runs into a similar issue as Grove, a cycle would be necessary. That’s not inherently bad but it’s pretty damn good. I just don’t know if WOTC wants to risk it.

Possible Plane(s): Pyrulea: 10
We actually have full confirmation on this plane. Pyrulea is featured in Planechase and the art used on its card “Horizon Boughs” WINK WINK, is just an uncropped version of Horizon Canopy’s art.
   

Dryad Arbor

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 2
Do I even need to explain why this score is so low? Dryad Arbor is confusing and has caused controversy by its appearance. This is one of those cards that’s good in concept but in reality, doesn’t quite work out. The futureshifted frame made it stand out from other lands or creatures but From the Vault gave us a look at what it would be with a modern frame, and it’s a problem. It looks way too much like a land, which actually was used to a player’s advantage during an event a while back. People have been calling for a ban on the specific printing of Dryad Arbor. Thus a reprint is unlikely unless a new frame is made.

Possible Plane(s): Lorwyn: 4
There are no real hints to a solid plane here but the flavor text, the typing, and the art on both versions give me a Lorwyn vibe. It’s a low score but Lorwyn is the only plane I can think of that fits.
   

Bridge from Below 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Bridge from Below is a card that makes new players unhappy, an enchantment that does nothing when it’s on the battlefield is counterintuitive. However, it’s another card that’s not inherently broken.

Possible Plane(s): Alara: 4
The art from the original doesn’t give many hints and since there’s no flavor text we have no clues at all. The good news is that the newer art resembles (vaguely) The Maelstrom on Alara. This is by no means confirmation but the fact that Bridge from Below’s ability seems at home on Grixis helps this theory for me
   

Daybreak Coronet 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
While not a broken card it just doesn’t seem likely. Multiplayer sets don’t want this since it’s only really powerful one on one. However Standard might want this under some specific circumstances so I’m willing to give it a chance.

Possible Plane(s): Theros: 7 
The original art doesn’t offer us many clues but we lucked out here, Coronet has a solid planar tie. Both times it’s been reprinted the art and flavor text has featured Brimaz, a character we know heralds from Theros, thus we have solid reasoning to anchor this card to Theros.
   

Street Wraith 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 5
Cycling as a mechanic is pretty dang popular, the main reason this score isn’t higher is that we just saw it come back on Amonkhet. In the future, I fully expect if Cycling returns Street Wraith will be right there with it. The only hindrance though is that it has Swampwalk, an outdated mechanic. This is a big drawback since I can’t really imagine R&D bringing Landwalk back.

Possible Plane(s): Fiora: 6
The flavor of Street Wraith screams Fiora to me, everything from the art to the flavor text is very Paliano. There’s no real confirmation here though so for now this remains a guess.
   

Korlash, Heir to Blackblade 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 1
Poor Korlash. The name and flavor are so cool yet the ability is so unplayable and lame. Grandeur is cool in theory but it also shuts off this and other cards with it to the main players who would use it, EDH players. It’s still playable, it’s got solid stats in a mono-black deck, and regenerate is nice, but still it’s not gonna happen. Regenerate, Grandeur, and Legendary status basically seal Korlash’s fate as a never to be reprinted card.

Possible Plane(s): Dominaria: 10
The original blackblade canonically resided on Dominaria, in fact, the Blackblade itself (although reforged) was just picked up on Dominaria a few years back. There’s no discussion here, 100% Dominarian.
   

Graven Cairns 

Possibility of a Planar Reprint: 7
A similar score to any other filter land, they’re pretty powerful but also pretty safe. Filter lands don’t net you mana they just give you fixing and they’re not as good as other options. I think honestly it’s more than likely we’ll see Filter lands return in the future.

Possible Plane(s): Lorwyn:10 Zendikar:10 Ulgrotha:10
Graven Cairns is weird since we’ve canonically seen it on three planes. According to its original flavor text, it’s on Ulgrotha since it directly references the Sengir Vampire family. We’ve seen it on Lorwyn for its first planar print, thus solidifying its existence there. And on Zendikar it was printed as an expedition land with Zendikari art, so we know it exists there too. 

Well, that’s it for part one, tune in next month for the next selection of timeshifts!
Feel free to let me know what planes you think these cards might be from in the comments below! 
You also can find me on Twitter @East2Westmtg or email me at East2westmtg@gmail.com.
As always I’ve been East2West, your resident timeshifter and planar chaotic, and I’ll see you guys on the battlefield!

Spooktoberfest Returns

Spooktoberfest is back! This year we've got another amazing Earnable Avatar to give away! Cardsmith Artist @Globert-the-Martian created Gorvul, the Twisted for the 4th Annual Artful August, and we loved it so much we decided to award TWO Avatars from this years contest! That's right, if you want a little Gorvul in your life, head on over to @sorinjace's Halloween 2021 Contest and submit an entry. That's the only way to earn this amazing new Spooktober Avatar!

Featured Cardsmiths

This month's first Featured Cardsmith has been making cards, well, a lot of cards for a while and even though they don't visit the forums and join in on the challenges, we wanted to make sure everyone got an opportunity to take a look at what TreiberZ has been up to, so please go check out some of their cards and leave a few favorites on your favorites!

Dom_Rocks is up next as our second Featured Cardsmith this month! This Cardsmith joined the forums back in 2018 and has been a fixture on the forums ever since... and they have nearly amassed 400 cards! We put a few of our favorites down below, so feel free to check them out and stop by Dom_Rocks' main page to discover even more!

Each month we're excited to highlight just a couple of Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!