Minor gods from Journey Into Nyx speculations

Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum

Posted on April 2, 2014, 4:10 a.m. by Tilwin

Hey guys,I'm sure you are all excited to see the new info posted on daily magic and love the great artwork. I'm curious what are you guys feeling the new gods in Journey Into Nyx might be like. I'm thinking Wizards will follow the same pattern they setup in Born of the Gods and we will have the following characteristics:
- Indestructible
- Creature when devotion to is greater than or equal to 7
- Have power between 4 and 7 and toughness between 5 and 7 (I am thinking Lash of the Whip protection and other minor -X/-X effects here)
- Some sort of passive ability

So here are my ideas of what they might look like (feel free to comment over/underpowerness, lack of flavor, unlikeliness etc.):

Athreos, God of Passage

P/T: 5/6
Cost: 2BW
Ability: Definitely triggered whenever a creature enters the graveyard (only yours or opponents or both). I would expect either you gain/opponent loses an amount of life equal to its tougness/power/CMC/something, or small drain effect.

Keranos, God of Storms

P/T: 6/5
Cost: 2UR
Ability: I would expect it's a triggered ability related to instants or sorceries. Perhaps something like "whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, Keranos deals 2 damage divided between up to two different creatures and/or players". Too similar to Guttersnipe?

Pharika, God of Affliction

P/T: 6/7
Cost: 3GB
Ability: Here I have absolutely no idea (green and black are definitely not my colors). Maybe something with deathtouch and/or regeneration?

Iroas, God of Victory

P/T: 7/5
Cost: 2RW
Ability: If it's your turn, creatures you control get +2/+0. Otherwise, creatures you control get +0/+2.

Kruphix, God of Horizons

P/T: 6/6
Cost: 3UG
Ability: Whenever you would draw one or more cards, first scry X, where X is the number of cards you would draw (too powerful and similar with Thassa?).

Infral says... #2

Can't wait to see what Pharika can do~ I love 'em Gorgons c:

April 2, 2014 4:16 a.m.

Bromjunaar says... #3

Kruphix as you have it would make Bant Control so powerful...

"I'll Sphinx's Revelation for 6, meaning that I Scry 6, then Draw 6, then gain 6 Life. Also, I have all the answers I thought I could ever want with no dead card draws from the Rev. Have fun."

I somewhat expect Pharika to have something to do with graveyard shenanigans. Possibly something along the lines of a damage or buff orientated version of your Athreos.

On the whole, they can't get much more disappointing than Karametra, God of Harvests or Phenax, God of Deception for constructed.

April 2, 2014 4:24 a.m.

Unforgivn_II says... #4

Jeez. By Athreos' art, he doesn't look White at all. Don't get me wrong, I really like the art. But its about as grim as can be, extremely Mono Black looking.

All I know is that I like the art for all of these (although Iroas is my least favorite. Pretty boring honestly). They're all better than Karametra, God of Harvests at least.

April 2, 2014 4:26 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #5

Keranos, God of Storms 2UR

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery you may pay 2. If you do you may copy it and choose new targets for the copy.

7/5

April 2, 2014 4:31 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #6

Pharika, God of Affliction 2GB

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever another creature is put into the graveyard from the battlefield, you may put a 0/1 green saproling token onto the battlefield and have target player lose 1 life

5/7

April 2, 2014 4:33 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #7

Iroas, God of Victory 2RW

If you devotion is less than 7...etc.

At the beginning of your precombat main phase you may put a 2/2 red and white centaur creature token with haste onto the battlefield, exile it at the end of combat.

6/5

April 2, 2014 4:35 a.m.

Infral says... #8

awesomeguy37: Is those guesses or their actual effects?

April 2, 2014 4:35 a.m.

Kre says... #9

Infral, they are all guesses. Nothing has been revealed yet.
Bromjunaar, I guess you have a point. I was thinking of Sphinx's Revelation as well. On the other hand setting both conditions up takes a bit of careful planning or all that. A scry 2 seems rather weak as well. Oh... I guess we'll have to see. I think Kruphix is probably the most elusive and difficult to predict of them all. I don't know what could be associated with "ancient knowledge" other than card draw and scry without being either too fringe or too powerful.
Unforgivn_II, I totally agree. I am quite disappointed by the artwork of Iroas and Athreos. For Iroas I kind of expected some of the Boros red/gold glamour.
awesomeguy37, I'm pretty sure repeated spell copying for 2 mana only on an indestructible enchantment might get quite crazy as well. I have American and Grixis control in mind here, with spells like Drown in Sorrow , Sphinx's Revelation and even Divination (draw 4 for 5 sounds neat).
Pharika will unlikely generate saprolings. I am looking at her description "She bears a potion cup from which she dispenses draughts that simultaneously strengthen her servants and slay her enemies." That brings up a lot of potential for much cooler effects.

April 2, 2014 4:55 a.m.

smash10101 says... #10

awesomeguy37: Your Pharika should say "Whenever a nontoken creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield..." unless you want it to combo with something like Viscera Seer or any other sac outlet for infinite triggers. That kind of thing usually takes three cards plus a source of damage (like Blood Artist ).

April 2, 2014 4:59 a.m.

Kruphix is by far the most intriguing mechanically, as two of her followers, the Prophet of Kruphix and the Courser of Kruphix both have extremely powerful effects, and effects that are radically different from each other.

I agree that Atheros will definitely have creature hitting the graveyard trigger, that seems way to flavourful to pass up. I like the idea of draining you opponent, although maybe only for your creatures OR your opponent's creature, or it would be possibly too powerful.

As Mogis, God of Slaughter and Iroas are twins, Iroas would logically have to be AT LEAST 7 power, in order to properly spar with his twin and I think his abilities will likely be combat related. Personally, i'd like to see an ability similar to Xenagos, God of Revels but smaller and for your whole team, such as:

"At the beginning of combat on your turn, creatures you control gain +1/+1 or +2/+2 and gain...(either first strike or lifelink or something) until end of turn."

April 2, 2014 5:04 a.m.

Just had a Kruphix though...what about something along the lines of:

"At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of your library face down. You may play cards exiled by Kruphix, God of Horizons"

Simple, "hidden knowledge" that even Thoughtseize can't take away and it's sort of like card draw. It also interacts well with scry, letting you scry something you really want, exile it away out of reach of discard, then get your draw for the turn.

April 2, 2014 5:14 a.m.

Tilwin says... #13

Protection from Hand Grinding. Now that is exciting BlueEyesRedMage. Though he does give unconditional card advantage every single turn... with no drawback other than losing him. I do like the idea... very Phyrexian Arena like.
What if non-land cards that would go to the graveyard from anywhere but your library could be shuffled back into your library? Library shuffle effects are always prized for being effective in modern, and being able to reuse your threats is kind of neat, thinning out bad draws. It's not a straightforward-powerful effect but it does open a lot of strategies and gives mill a bit of a headache (not that it's needed, since I have yet to see a competitive standard mill deck).

April 2, 2014 5:31 a.m.

RussischerZar says... #14

For Pharika I'm thinking something along the lines of distrubuting +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters.

E.g. Whenever a creature dies, you may put either a +1/+1 or a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

April 2, 2014 5:57 a.m.

Rhinowarrior says... #15

uh... this art. is not that good. what the hell.

April 2, 2014 6:31 a.m.

Rhinowarrior says... #16

i am referring to iroas btdubs

April 2, 2014 6:47 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #17

My ideas were just guesses.

April 2, 2014 7:14 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #18

Athreos, God of Passage 2WB

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever a nontoken creature is put into a graveyard from play, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain life equal to the total amount of life lost in this way

5/7

April 2, 2014 7:16 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #19

Kruphix, God of Horizons 2UG

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Skip your draw step

At the beginning of your upkeep you may reveal the top card of you library. If it is a creature, put it into your hand then draw a card, If it is a land card, put it onto the battlefield

6/6

April 2, 2014 7:18 a.m.

TexasDice says... #20

Pharika, almost like Sheoldred 4BG

At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature card from your graveyard into your Hand.

At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature.

April 2, 2014 7:59 a.m.

Tilwin says... #21

TexasDice now that's an idea and opens so many great opportunities, though she would probably be way overpowered this way. Maybe something like this would work?
Whenever a creature your opponent controls dies, return target creature from your graveyard back into your hand.
OR (and by or I mean another idea, not part of the same description)
Whenever a creature you control dies, destroy target creature an opponent controls.
Second suggestion is not as good as sacrifice, since it cannot hit indestructibles or hexproof/shroud creatures, but I figured something like Grave Pact would've been way overpowered.

April 2, 2014 8:07 a.m.

GooseNotts says... #22

Kruphix could be a combination of her followers abilities so something like:

3UG

devotion must be seven etc

in ur opponents up keep look at the top card of your library - if its a creature card put it into play.you gain 1 life for each creature that enters the battlefield

6/5

alternatively

2UGspells you control cast 1 colourless less to cast - spells your opponents control cost 1 colourless extra to cast

6/5

April 2, 2014 8:42 a.m.

meecht says... #23

For once, I don't think B/G will be associated with the graveyard because Pharika is the god of poisons and medicine, meaning causing and preventing unnatural death. She'll probably have something to do with some combination of regeneration, hexproof, protection, and deathtouch. The most likely is deathtouch and regeneration because those are within the color pies of both Green and Black, but I can see hexproof instead of regeneration due to Reaper of the Wilds . Maybe something like this:

Creatures you control have "1BG: This creature gains hexproof and deathtouch until end of turn."

Athreos is a dead ringer for Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx in Greek mythology. Before the Planeswalker's Guide, I thought he could easily have a Blood Artist effect, but the Guide doesn't paint him as a vengeful-type of god. Instead, he's described as "patient," he uses his own staff (which he is never without) to create a barge for the dead to enter the underworld, and clay masks are used so the can mark their "proper passage" (emphasis mine). He also "[eases] the passage from life to death," so he wants to make the transition as painless as possible.

His effect will definitely be graveyard-related, but I don't think it would be a pain effect.

April 2, 2014 8:54 a.m.

Servo_Token says... #24

Wow. So yeah, this art is kind of bad. like real bad... Pharika is reminiscent of like, kamigawa block, and why can you not even see keranos or kruphix?

Also, I totally called that Iroas would be a human top half, bull bottom half.

As for their abilities, I really wouldn't know where to start. You know that at least one of these is going to be absolute trash, and i'm calling Kruphix.

April 2, 2014 9:09 a.m.

Infral says... #25

Tilwin: Plus, there is already a few Grave Pact s on creatures, well sort of. Savra, Queen of the Golgari amd Butcher of Malakir

April 2, 2014 9:15 a.m.

thewyzman says... #26

The article with the info and lore is right here for anyone to read (this is where the poster got the info and pictures).

Here's a few quick guesses from me, even though some seem underpowered (playing it safe):

  • Athreos (B/W): At the beginning of your end step, you gain life equal to the number of creatures that died this turn. (although that does also sound kinda G/B'ish)

  • Keranos (R/U): Any time you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may draw a card, then discard a card.

  • Pharika (G/B): At the beginning of your upkeep, target creature gets +X/+0 and another target creature gets -X/-0 where X is the total number of gorgons and snakes you control.

  • Iroas (R/W): At the beginning of your end step, you gain 1 life for each enchantment you control.

  • Kruphix (G/B): Any time a creature enters the battlefield under your control, reveal the top X cards of your library where X is that creature's toughness. You may put all lands revealed this way into your hand, and put the rest on the bottom of your library.

April 2, 2014 9:33 a.m.

golffore297 says... #27

So Prophet of Kruphix , Agent of Horizons , and Courser of Kruphix are the only cards that generally relate to Kruphix, so it's safe to say he will do something with lands or creatures untapping/playing off the top of the library. I feel like it's more likely he will end up with land matters though, which would be disappointing because we saw how Karametra, God of Harvests turned out, but I'm no good at card design so I have no idea what it will actually be, just speculation as to what it will revolve around.

April 2, 2014 10 a.m.

thewyzman says... #28

Maybe as simple as:

Kruphix, God of Horizons: Whenever an opponent plays a land, you may tap target creature that player controls until end of turn. That creature untaps at the beginning of that player's end step... (and/or also) Whenever you play a land, target creature you control becomes unblockable until end of turn.

April 2, 2014 10:17 a.m.

NixTheThird says... #29

Cards like Scholar of Athreos and Sentry of the Underworld makes me think that Athreos will be leveraging the graveyard and lifegain. I think awesomeguy37 is on to something with his guess, but it's too similar to Scholar. The previous gods have shown that though the theme of the ability will be similar to the minions that came before them, but the actual ability will not be nearly so close or such a game changer. Imagine a creature heavy deck with creature hate and maybe a sac outlet? Just nasty.

But, while the lifegain may be debatable, it must be an "enter the graveyard" ability, right? I mean, god of passage (to the underworld) seems rather clear. But maybe that's too literal. It could be more along the lines of "don't mess with dead":

"Whenever a creature your graveyard is targeted by a spell or ability, target player loses two life."

I like the idea because it encourages working with the graveyard (keeping in flavor for Athreos' desire to keep the dead in the underworld), keeps the "life loss" effect that seems to be common with the other black colored gods, (Erebos, God of the Dead , Mogis, God of Slaughter , and works right in line with the "grind out the opponent" theme that w/b uses. While the meta is currently ignoring graveyard antics, this ability would create at least a niche for it, breathing new strategy into cards like Odunos River Trawler , Rescue from the Underworld or Erebos's Emissary .

April 2, 2014 1:40 p.m.

Ruric says... #30

i was thinking of

Kruphix, God of Horizons 2UG

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

At the beginning of your upkeep exile the top card of your library. you may play exiled cards with Kruphix, God of Horizons as thought they were in your hand

6/6

April 2, 2014 2:18 p.m.

NixTheThird says... #31

Sorry, the idea for Athreos was supposed to read: "Whenever a creature in your graveyard is the target of a spell or ability, target player lose two life and you gain two life." Altho the amount of life gained is probably debatable, but it really needs to be there to make up for how uncommon viable graveyard effecting cards are in this block.

April 2, 2014 2:30 p.m.

Ruric says... #32

since both keranos card Bolt of Keranos and Stormcaller of Keranos hanve Scry on it i will go that will have something related whenever you Scry, like doing some damage

Keranos, God of Storms 2UR

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever you scry , you may draw a card

7/5


Keranos, God of Storms 2UR

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever you scry , instants and sorceries you play cost 2 less

7/5


Keranos, God of Storms 2UR

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Whenever you play an instant or sorcery with scry you may copy that spell

7/5

April 2, 2014 2:38 p.m.

kintighd says... #33

They said the boros god is opposite of mogis, what about him being a token generator, with a soul sister ability attached?

April 2, 2014 2:43 p.m.

Ruric says... #34

playingonabudget you mean like

at the beginning of your upkeep you may put a token 2/2 white and red soldier into play or gain 2 life?

April 2, 2014 2:55 p.m.

kintighd says... #35

that was my first thought. My friend said:

At the beginning of your upkeep put a 1/1 soldier enchantment creature into play.

Whenever a creature enters the battlefield you may gain 1 life.

April 2, 2014 3:11 p.m.

Schuesseled says... #36

Atheros looks awesome, keranos and kruphix joint second. The bullman third, who i'll probably buy, and that snake pharkia looks shit.

April 2, 2014 3:29 p.m.

Dalektable says... #37

playingonabudget If that card was printed I would play the hell out of some modern Boros Soul Sisters.

April 2, 2014 3:31 p.m.

Schuesseled says... #38

The section of text describing the "godsend" weapon, sure sounds likes a new Sword of Kaldra to me. If it's strong, cheap, and can deal with indestructible stuff, guaranteed money card of the set.

Pharika definetly sounds like her ability will regen your guys and kill your opponents in some manner,

April 2, 2014 4:01 p.m.

kintighd says... #39

Dalektable i'm already playing the hell out of boros soul sisters, so i may be just wishful thinking.

April 2, 2014 4:50 p.m.

My homemade JOU gods...

Athreos


Iroas


Keranos


Kruphix


Pharika

April 2, 2014 5:33 p.m.

Tilwin says... #41

Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have the first spoiler of JTN minor gods. And he seems darn powerful.

Dear god, that's going to be insane and pose quite a problem in Naya, Boros and Chavest concoctions. And it only costs 4 mana! Damn!

April 7, 2014 2:31 a.m.

Hjaltrohir says... #42

Kill it with Lash of the Whip !!!

April 7, 2014 11:04 a.m.

Schuesseled says... #43

OMGERD

Going. in. my. deck.

Assemble the Legion. Then Kill People..

April 7, 2014 1:11 p.m.

Volsungz says... #44

Turn 3: Boros Reckoner , Turn 4: Iroas as a creature. Oh god.

April 7, 2014 3:12 p.m.

NixTheThird says... #45

Actually Volsungz made me think of a question: would Iroas cancel out the first ability of Boros Reckoner ? Since it prevents the damage.

April 7, 2014 4:10 p.m.

kintighd says... #46

yes it would, if boros reckoner was attacking. But having a 7/5 on turn 4 is worth the drawback.

April 7, 2014 4:13 p.m.

ImThatGuy says... #47

I've recently got into EDH and I'm playing an Obzedat, Ghost Council deck. I'm interested in seeing where they go with Athreos. I don't normally follow the new decks, but I'm happy to see a B/W god card for once. God generals are so common in EDH and as an Orzhov player I always feel like I'm missing out. I guess I'd like something like this...

Athreos, God of Passage 2WB

If your devotion is less than 7...etc.

Indestructible

Whenever a creature card enters an opponent's library, exile it instead.

WB, Pay 1 Life: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

4/7

But then again I'm not good at coming up with these sort of things. That's just something I'd like to go with my EDH deck.

April 8, 2014 4:08 a.m.

Tilwin says... #48

I don't know how Boros Reckoner could make Iroas a creature by itself. It only gives a devotion of 3. Each mana symbol contributes once to Iroas, even though it is both red and white. Hence you need 2 more devotion to either white or red. (Un)fortunately you need more than a Reckoner to make Iroas manifest.

April 8, 2014 6:12 a.m.

Tilwin says... #49

On a sidenote, we have another monster god up and ready:

Interesting mechanic to make both burn and card draw viable, while not making him overpowered. And coming out on turn 5 is more than fair. And it also fits the flavor of recent U/R mechanics, allowing interaction with the top card of the library (see Melek, Izzet Paragon ). We might actually see a nice synergy between the two.

April 8, 2014 6:17 a.m.

athreos, god of passage was spoiled at pax east

It reads

1WB

IndestructibleAs long as your devotion to white and black is less than seven, Athreos isn't a creature.Whenever another creature you own dies, return it to your hand unless target opponent pays 3 life.

April 13, 2014 6:34 a.m.

This discussion has been closed