What do we know about the Theros block storyline
Lore forum
Posted on July 13, 2013, 1:41 a.m. by Goody
I haven't read up much on it, but what information do we have? Is a greek/roman mythology influence confirmed? We know Elspeth is coming back; anyone else? There was that guy on a ship, what's his name?
Epochalyptik says... #3
Dack Fayden is riding a trireme, and there's a giant, Zeus-esque celestial being towering over the landscape. I don't think it can be based on anything besides Greco-Roman mythology.
July 13, 2013 1:55 a.m.
10vernothin says... #4
Dack doesn't sound like a very cool planewalker card name, no Koth of the Hammer .
But he's Blue, maybe even Black for being a thief, here's to working non-mill standard strategy in the future!
July 13, 2013 2:09 a.m.
I can never take Dack Fayden too seriously. His name sounds too much like Duck...
But since Elspeth has also been semi-confirmed to be in Theros, it wouldn't be too hard to see Elspeth/Dack being that set's walkers. We don't even know where Dack is from, so his homeplane could be Theros.
July 13, 2013 2:25 a.m.
10vernothin says... #6
Dack Fayden, the Duck Thief 1UB
+1 target player draws a card and lose 1 life.
-2 whenever creatures you control deals damage this turn, draw a card.
-7 You get an emblem that says "For the rest of the game, creatures you control are unblockable and are ducks in addition to their creature types."
3
July 13, 2013 2:41 a.m.
Duck Fayden, Distraction Extraordinaire 2UR
+1: Durdle around in random setting with nameless love interest.
-2: Gain control of target artifact of assumed negligible plot value until big reveal.
-6: Have long, in depth ten page inner monologue about how your life is pointless and your existence is solely for the purpose of selling comic books.
Oh Dack...what has Wizards done to you :(
July 13, 2013 2:50 a.m.
10vernothin says... #10
damn.
those -2s... just take every goddamn Chrome Mox ... wait, oh no Chrome Mox was revealed to be a present for a Dimir agent... damn.
July 13, 2013 2:53 a.m.
Umm. I think I read somewhere that dack was born on ravnica and had a gift with artifacts. He found an extremely rare artifact but it was only half of the part. Research lead him to think the other half is on theros. This could also explain the black aura that destroys the creature an equipment is equipping!
July 13, 2013 3:43 a.m.
the3rdH0kage says... #12
@ Krayhaft Dack is from Fiora.
Sourcehttp://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Dack_Fayden
July 16, 2013 12:21 a.m.
I actually really hope that Dack Fayden isn't in Theros and doesn't get a card anytime soon. Everything about him bothers me for some reason.
I guess I'm just tired of all these human planeswalkers in magic. Planeswalker sparks are supposed to be equally occuring in all sentient, natural-born races, so why is it that 13/20 of the walkers that have cards are human?
This is why I really liked Vraska and Tamiyo when they were previewed, even though people trashed on Vraska for being a bad card and Tamiyo for being a moonfolk in Innistrad. They were interesting, because they were nonhuman.
-
Speaking of nonhuman walkers, I actually think it's possible (but unlikely) that Kiora Atua or Vraska could be in Theros. If Theros is Greco-Roman mythology based, that means there are gorgons (for Vraska) and leviathans/sea serpents (Kiora).
July 16, 2013 9:48 a.m.
Ajani's a cat. Did you like him? Sarkhan was half dragon...
July 16, 2013 11:21 a.m.
So far in printed cards... from what I can pick out, there are 8 non-humans:
Cat (Ajani),
Golem (Karn - but gained spark, not "born" with it),
Dragon (Nicol Bolas),
Half Dragon (Sarkhan),
Elf (Nissa),
Moonfolk (Tamiyo),
Devil? (Tibalt),
Gorgon (Vraska)
....The rest, from what I can tell, are all Human....
12 of them - Chandra, Domri, Elspeth, Garruk, Gideon, Jace, Koth, Lilliana, Ral, Sorin, Tezzeret, Venser
I could be wrong about some of these... I don't know for sure that they were of a natural human birth.
July 16, 2013 3:28 p.m.
sorin is a vampire. source
The rest are human I believe.
July 16, 2013 3:32 p.m.
True... but are Vampires "born" vampires, in Magic: The Gathering lore ?... or was he born human?
July 16, 2013 3:38 p.m.
and Sarkhan Vol
is human, just a shaman that worships dragons source.
July 16, 2013 3:40 p.m.
I just read that as well... I had only gone by Tempest's post to think he was half Dragon.
July 16, 2013 3:44 p.m.
Tibalt counts as human. His backstory confirms this. Also, Sarkhan is full human, he just has the power to turn into a dragon.
But for the rest of the non-human planeswalkers, they're all 1-of's. There's only one elven planeswalker and only one moonfolk planeswalker, but they're dwarfed by humans at a more than 10:1 ratio.
July 16, 2013 3:44 p.m.
Rayenous being older than every other planeswalker besides nicol bolas, combined, means to me he is a vampire and his home plane is innistrad. They do sire there, though this does not make him a human planeswalker,
"Thousands of years ago, Edgar Markov was an alchemist. Famine in the land that would become Stensia forced Edgar's hands and lead him into dark experiments, areas that he eagerly explored. Making a deal with the demon Shilgengar for the secrets of sangromancy, Edgar created a blood ritual which granted agelessness and the ability to subsist on blood. When Edgar anointed Sorin with the same vampiric state the trauma of the transformation caused Sorin's planeswalker spark to ignite.:" source
The last part says to me 'vampire planeswalker' not 'human turned vampire planeswalker'.
July 16, 2013 3:48 p.m.
Tibalt is human but merged with the essence of devils that he was cavorting with.
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Tibalt
July 16, 2013 3:50 p.m.
@gufymike, the wording of that wiki implies that Sorin was a human prior to being turned into a vampire by his grandfather.
July 16, 2013 3:51 p.m.
Krayhaft BUT, he didn't gain/access the spark till the transformation, without it he probably wouldn't have been a planeswalker. That is the difference to me.
July 16, 2013 3:52 p.m.
@gufymike, true, but then at that point it's just arguing semantics. The fact is that Sorin was born a human and the ritual that turned him into a vampire also ignited his spark. It can be interpreted however.
And you can't necessarily assume that Sorin would never have become a planeswalker if he hadn't gone through the ritual. Another traumatic event in an alternate reality might have triggered it instead, and we would have had a fully human Sorin PW running around.
July 16, 2013 3:56 p.m.
This tells me that Sorin was born Human. Although he was not aware of his Spark until he became a vampire, he was still a human born with the spark.
An updated list for non-human PW's with printed cards would be (6):
Cat (Ajani),
Golem (Karn - but gained spark, not "born" with it),
Dragon (Nicol Bolas),
Elf (Nissa),
Moonfolk (Tamiyo),
Gorgon (Vraska)
....The rest, from what I can tell, were all born Human....
14 of them - Chandra, Domri, Elspeth, Garruk, Gideon, Jace, Koth, Lilliana, Ral, Sarkhan, -Sorin-, Tezzeret, -Tibalt-, Venser.
-no longer fully human-
July 16, 2013 3:57 p.m.
Krayhaft, the problem with the second part, is that it didn't happen that way, so we'll never know. All we have is how it happened and that is all we can go by.
FTR this is MTG where arguing about the semantics for the purpose of resolving the stack,goes on daily... They are important :)
July 16, 2013 3:59 p.m.
Even though Sorin was born human, I would actually count him as a nonhuman PW, since he's human no longer. But like I said, either point is arguable. Canonically wizards treats him as a vampire.
July 16, 2013 3:59 p.m.
@gufymike, the only difference is that when discussing rules, there is always only one correct answer, whereas when talking about storyline, there are many different arguable positions, due to the differing levels of reliable canon.
July 16, 2013 4:01 p.m.
Also, if Planar Chaos 2 ever becomes a thing, full-human Sorin might very well not be farfetched.
July 16, 2013 4:02 p.m.
I know it would be a bit of a long shot to see in Theros but I personally would love to see a new Tamiyo, the Moon Sage card. One that was only 4 mana and new control functions and card advantage would be fantastic. Something related to her desire to study the effects of planetary bodies on the denizens of different planes could fit well into Theros Block. Especially with all the interactions with star constellations and Greco-Roman Mythology.
July 16, 2013 9:15 p.m.
@gufymike I definitely agree, because when discussing lore everyone has a different opinion. There isn't the same kind of POV flexibility when discussing rules or even when talking about game mechanics.
I would really really like to see a Kiora Atua or a new Vraska card. Both walkers being in Theros make sense.
Kiora reveres leviathans and sea creatures, which are everywhere in greek mythology.
Vraska I could only see being there because gorgons play a part in greek mythology. I know it's not a solid argument, but I really like Vraska as a walker and I wish she'd gotten a more playable card.
July 17, 2013 11:23 a.m.
The list I made is based on what they were when they "received the spark" (notably, for most, this is "at birth")... not when they "ascended" (became aware of the spark and got powers).
That is the premise for me classifying Sorin as "Human".
If you alter the list to be "when they ascended", Sorin would be classified as Vampire.
If you further alter the list to be "what they are now", Tibalt would be half Devil.
July 17, 2013 11:47 a.m.
Moving beyond planeswalkers, we have a consensus (mostly) on gorgons, minotaurs, dragons, hydra's (which was prevelant), the horses from hercules deeds (to go with Nightmare ), dire wolves (most likely), owls (from clash of the titans), artifacts of all kinds most likely, enchantments (god bestowed gifts).. But I'm hoping for a new creature type, demi-god vs hero.Something to relate to Zeus's love life. I don't think god will be a creature type, ever though. What else do you guys think?
Mechanics, do we see horsemanship coming back or a new version like charioteer.... D:
July 17, 2013 11:53 a.m.
Yygdrasill says... #37
I think they might bring back the old Hero sub-type also I hope they introduce legendary and non legendary shrines. I can see enchantments getting some love. Also I hope we get a little love in the terms of if the set is mono themed that we get some oldish mana ramp type cards back, "always loved High Tide "
August 17, 2013 2:17 p.m.
I would love to see a whole slew of gorgon's and goloms. Definately some new walls. Theros will be full of wonder and a darkness not unlike those we have seen before.
August 17, 2013 8:02 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #39
isn't thieving more of a red thing, i think he should be red.
Maybe red and black, if he's a murderin' thief
August 24, 2013 10:51 a.m.
TwentyFive_Shmeckles says... #40
if a human is turned into a vampire, then their spark ignites are they a human planeswalker or a vampire planeswalker?
also, if a human has their spark ignite and then that human planeswalker is is turned into a vampire, then are they a human planeswalker or a vampire planeswalker?
before we can decide about soirin, we need to answer these questions...
i personally think vampire for both therefore he would be a vampire, but i want to hear what you guys think
August 25, 2013 3:51 p.m.
Yygdrasill says... #41
Sorin was a human, but the ritual that gave him the vampiric affliction, turned him into a vampire. So he was human, but is currently a vampire, also as to the argument on his validity to being a human planeswalker, for a race tally, Is inaccurate in my eyes. He was introduced as a Vampire, in a slightly vampire oriented block, as far as synergy and mechanics go "Zendikar dished out the love to vampires", and a decent bit of his abilities have a vampiric flavor to them. My final statement to clarify my rantings, He was human, but he has been a Vampire for how long? Thousand of years, clearly overriding the amount of time he has been human.
August 25, 2013 6:18 p.m.
I've heard several different times that Dack will not be black or red as he is not an antagonist. And no reason for him to be green.......deductive reasoning would say.......
August 26, 2013 8:42 a.m.
There have been red protagonists before (Chandra especially, but others as well), and there was a black protagonist in Champions of Kamigawa, so it is not impossible. The Color Wheel is not about morality.
August 26, 2013 9:20 a.m.
What you talk about are exceptions to a STRONG trend, not the norm. I implied something I didn't state it as fact. :)
August 26, 2013 10:10 a.m.
Yygdrasill says... #45
I agree the color wheel is just a basic representation of the deeper meanings behind the colors. All of the colors have potential for good and bad. Amorality is not immorality. I'v got an interesting link that helped put the colors in a very neutral light for me. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/MagicTheGathering
August 26, 2013 1:48 p.m.
FaustHarbinger says... #46
Ajani Goldmane - Lionin
Nicol Bolas -(Elder) Dragon
Chandra Nalaar - Human
Domri Rade - Human
Elspeth Tirel - Human
Garruk Wildspeaker - Human
Gideon Jura - Human
Jace Beleren - Human
Karn - Golem
Kiora Atua - Merfolk
Koth - Volshock
Liliana Vess - Human
Nissa Revane - Elf
Ral Zarek - Human
Sarkhan Vol - Human
Sorin Markov- Vampire
Tezzeret - Human
Tibalt - Half- Devil Human
Tamiyo - Moonfolk (Soratami)
Venser- Human
Vraska - Gorgan
Others:
Sifa Grent - Human
Dack Fayden - Human
Formerly had a Planeswalker's Spark:
Glissa Sunseeker - Elf
Ob Nixilis - Demon
Radha - Elf
Teferi - Human
August 26, 2013 8:28 p.m.
Duck Fayden Pondmaster: 2UUBB 4 Planeswalker: Duck +1: Put 2 1/1 Duck tokens with flying onto the battlefield. -2: Destroy target non-duck creature. Its controller puts a 1/1 duck creature token with flying onto the battlefield under their control. -7: You get an emblem with 'Duck creatures you control become 5/5 and gain hexproof, double strike, trample, haste, indestructible, vigilance, and bands with other ducks.'
"QUAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!"
Jay says... #2
The marvelous Dack Fayden, of course
July 13, 2013 1:45 a.m.