WotC Check out Magic: the Gathering's Tiamat

We've known for a while that WotC is releasing D&D-themed Magic: the Gathering cards, as a set called Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Artist Chis Rahn has shared his Tiamat.

"Been looking forward to sharing this one for what seems like forever! Tiamat, for Mtg's D&D: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set. This was one of those assignments that I felt incredibly lucky to get. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed painting it!"

The MtG set comes out on July 23rd, 2021. The collector's sets have a beholder on the front. ICv2 has more information on the various set configurations. Bell of Lost Souls has some card images.

 

[Charlaquin]

How many rares will be in the set?

We don’t know for sure yet, but the standard set size is 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, and 15 mythic rares.

And are there multiple rarities within the rare category? (Back in the day, many games had "R2" and "R3" and so on.)

As others have explained, the rarities are common (10 per draft booster), uncommon (3 per draft booster), rare (1 per draft booster) and mythic rare (replaces the rare in the draft booster roughly one in 8 draft boosters).

It’s technically a bit more complicated than that thanks to all the premium frame treatments they do nowadays, but said treatments are just special versions of cards that exist at normal rarities, so those four are the ones that matter in terms of gameplay.

And how many rares do I get in a set booster box?

It’s difficult to say because unlike draft boosters, set boosters don’t have a fixed number of cards of each rarity, and their exact contents vary from set to set. But, very roughly speaking, a set booster box will probably contain in the ballpark of 180 commons, 90 uncommons, 36 rares, and 6 mythics, compared to a draft booster box, which will contain 360 commons, 108 uncommons, and 32 rares and 4 mythics.

Draft boosters can also be used to play draft or sealed, which are a ton of fun and I definitely recommend if you have a group to play with.

I dislike foil cards, but these are apparently more common in set boosters than in other booster types (except collector boosters). Would I usually be able to trade a foil rare for its non-foil counterpart?

Oh, sure. Foils are generally worth more, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone willing to make such a trade

Also, are they even doing theme boosters for FR? They're not present in the announcement, unless I've overlooked something.

I don’t think they’ve said yet. We should know more in the near future.

 

[Charlaquin]

Not many in Standard right now, though: vanishingly few, actually.

Sure, but I figured we weren’t talking about standard since there are no Eldrazi in standard right now.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The set itself contains 281 cards, I was hoping it would contain more. 20 of these are basic lands functional making the set even smaller. This doesn't include the Forgotten Realms cards in 4 Commander Decks.

Zendikar had 19 Legendary Creatures, Kaldheim had 36 I believe, and Strixhaven had I think 48.

I think AFR won't go as low as Zendikar which wasn't as Commander Focused, so I think it could be the midway between Kaldheim and Strixhaven, but it could have more, especially if they have say Volo at common. FR has tons of fameous characters.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I suspect that Dragonvorn might just have the Creature type "Dragon"...which would blast open the Mana curve for Dragon Tribal decks. At any rate, they stated in the Twitch stream that there will be a lot of Dragon cards in the Set.

Changelings would do that either way.

Oh and I was right about Dragon Tribal. I think even Gem Dragons and other none Chromatic/Metallic Dragons will make it into the set like Faerie Dragons, Turtle Dragons, Dracoliches, Shadow Dragons, and others.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Tiamat is definitely aimed for EDH/Commander, I don't think she's particularly playable in Limited or other Constructed formats. You can't even cheat her into play and get that tutor effect. But she'll be great in Commander. The 2017 Commander set included a 5-Colour Dragon Deck, she's perfect as an alternate commander or slotted into that deck.

Speaking of which, while they didn't show off any cards or other info, there are going to be 4 (!) Precon Commander Decks coming out with the set. Right now, all we have is the names to speculate on:

• Aura of Courage
• Dungeons of Death
• Draconic Rage
• Planar Portal

I doubt the Draconic Rage deck will be 5 colours, and can bet Tiamat won't be in the deck. I'm leaning Gruul (Red and Green), as most dragons are Red, and Green can give you the ramp to get there. Dungeons of Death screams Black, but I'm not sure what other colors might be there. Planar Portal is probably primarily Blue, but again, not sure what other colors, maybe White? Aura of Courage feels like a White enchantment deck, again, many options for other colors into the mix.

Tiamat will be very playable in Brawl and maybe Standard. Draft its hard to say because we don't know what AFR has for Ramp yet.

 

[Maxperson]

I dislike foil cards, but these are apparently more common in set boosters than in other booster types (except collector boosters). Would I usually be able to trade a foil rare for its non-foil counterpart?

Foil cards are worth significantly more than the non-foil versions. You could trade for the non-foil version plus a bunch more that you are missing.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Foil cards are worth significantly more than the non-foil versions. You could trade for the non-foil version plus a bunch more that you are missing.

Tawnos's Toolbox: Foil Curling

Tired of your foils curling? Tawnos shares his research into a potential cheap and easy solution to the problem that anyone can try easily at home!

www.mtggoldfish.com

Here is how you keep foil pringling to a minimum.

 

[Maxperson]

Tawnos's Toolbox: Foil Curling

Tired of your foils curling? Tawnos shares his research into a potential cheap and easy solution to the problem that anyone can try easily at home!

www.mtggoldfish.com

Here is how you keep foil pringling to a minimum.

Someone should let the Kellogg know about that. Every last Pringles of theirs is curled.

 

[Charlaquin]

The set itself contains 281 cards, I was hoping it would contain more. 20 of these are basic lands functional making the set even smaller.

That’s a little bigger than most sets these days.

 

[Ibrandul]

One more question (thanks to everyone who's answering these): Do the themed Commander decks typically include lots of reprints of cards from other sets?