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.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

The size of Sets is pretty standardized, so that's about as expected.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

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?

Most likely yes. Comparing it to Strixhaven Commander Decks which are the closest thing to compare too, 81 of the cards (split between 5 decks so 16-17 per deck) are new Strixhaven cards, and on top of that there are some reprints from the main Strixhaven set including any basic lands, the rest are reprints from elsewhere. AFR's Commander Decks could be different however as FR is not MtG canon setting so they might only reprint MtG cards that are already a thing in D&D like Fireball, Fire Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, etc..., and make the rest new cards. I mean when they start doing Universes Beyond Commander Decks they aren't going to fill them with MtG reprints are they? So AFR Commander Decks could be a test experience for Commander Decks that are almost entirely/totally new cards set in a none MtG setting.

For example the Universes Beyond Warhammer Commander Decks likely won't have MtG reprints at all, it would just be weird to have MtG reprints in it.

Either way you'll know before its time to decide to buy it or not, they will be previewed before launch.

 

[Charlaquin]

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?

Yes, they do. They tend to include a fair number of cards that are considered “staples” in the Commander format - that is to say, cards that are pretty much needed, or at least very heavily played, in commander. This is largely to keep those needed cards accessible so Commander doesn’t become prohibitively expensive to get into.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The size of Sets is pretty standardized, so that's about as expected.

Kaldeim was 285 cards and with MDFCs functionally even larger.

There are sooooo many creatures in D&D and spells and magic items and famous characters how will they decide what goes in?

Of course the Commander Decks could have an unusually large number new cards if they decide to treat them as a test case for Universes Beyond Commander Decks which likely will have few if any reprints in them. AFR is in this weird place of being simular to UB sets in not being MtG canon, but rather a separate Multiverse, but not UB so that the door is still open to merge things later. Some reprints of generic stuff that fits into D&D like Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Command Tower is possible.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Yes, they do. They tend to include a fair number of cards that are considered “staples” in the Commander format - that is to say, cards that are pretty much needed, or at least very heavily played, in commander. This is largely to keep those needed cards accessible so Commander doesn’t become prohibitively expensive to get into.

The AFR decks might be an exception to that, AFR is not MtG canon, but a seperate setting and as I've sad elsewhere it could be used as an experiment in mostly new card Commander Decks for Universes Beyond. Of course Command Tower and Arcane Signet are so generic that you could throw some FR art on them and call it a day.

 

[Charlaquin]

The AFR decks might be an exception to that, AFR is not MtG canon, but a seperate setting and as I've sad elsewhere it could be used as an experiment in mostly new card Commander Decks for Universes Beyond. Of course Command Tower and Arcane Signet are so generic that you could throw some FR art on them and call it a day.

Yeah, I think alternate arts of cards with suitably generic names are very likely.

 

[Parmandur]

Most likely yes. Comparing it to Strixhaven Commander Decks which are the closest thing to compare too, 81 of the cards (split between 5 decks so 16-17 per deck) are new Strixhaven cards, and on top of that there are some reprints from the main Strixhaven set including any basic lands, the rest are reprints from elsewhere. AFR's Commander Decks could be different however as FR is not MtG canon setting so they might only reprint MtG cards that are already a thing in D&D like Fireball, Fire Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, etc..., and make the rest new cards. I mean when they start doing Universes Beyond Commander Decks they aren't going to fill them with MtG reprints are they? So AFR Commander Decks could be a test experience for Commander Decks that are almost entirely/totally new cards set in a none MtG setting.

For example the Universes Beyond Warhammer Commander Decks likely won't have MtG reprints at all, it would just be weird to have MtG reprints in it.

Either way you'll know before its time to decide to buy it or not, they will be previewed before launch.

Do also note that when they do reprints, they have often done new art and new flavor text, so they could do a reprint of a Commander staple with a Realmsian picture and a quote from Eliminstar or Volo very easily, or a Warhammerized version of a card.

 

[Parmandur]

Kaldeim was 285 cards and with MDFCs functionally even larger.

There are sooooo many creatures in D&D and spells and magic items and famous characters how will they decide what goes in?

Of course the Commander Decks could have an unusually large number new cards if they decide to treat them as a test case for Universes Beyond Commander Decks which likely will have few if any reprints in them. AFR is in this weird place of being simular to UB sets in not being MtG canon, but rather a separate Multiverse, but not UB so that the door is still open to merge things later. Some reprints of generic stuff that fits into D&D like Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Command Tower is possible.

The 285 count for Kaldheim is actually because of the MDFCs, it inflates the count, plus the Dual Land cycle taking away from the Basic Lands column for Kaldheim and boosting the Commons column.

281 cards (including any double faces) is actually the third largest Set in recent time, after Core 2020 and Kaldheim.

 

[Charlaquin]

The 285 count for Kaldheim is actually because of the MDFCs, it inflates the count, plus the Dual Land cycle taking away from the Basic Lands column for Kaldheim and boosting the Commons column.

281 cards (including any double faces) is actually the third largest Set in recent time, after Core 2020 and Kaldheim.

Yep, standard set size is 249, or 269 counting basic lands. Obviously it varies a bit from set to set, but that’s the baseline.

 

[Parmandur]

@jeremypowell for some context, Sol Ring is one of the Commander staples that they reprint all the time in these decks, a magic ring which grants Mana, and this is what those reprints look like: