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.

 

[imagineGod]

Great that this Tiamat image actually follows the physical features guidance of the chromatic dragons presented in the Draconomicon.

 

[Vael]

So, yes, expect about half the deck to be reprints. 20ish new cards, either from the greater set or printed just for the deck itself, 20-30 basic lands, and 50-60 reprinted cards. Every deck will have Command Tower and Sol Ring, and likely Arcane Signet, as those are staples that are just included in every deck. Note that several DnD cards have MTG equivalents already, Fireball, or Bag of Holding (which I think could definitely be reprinted into the set)

Note that Portable Hole has been previewed, and if you put a Bag of Holding into a Portable Hole, anything in the Bag of Holding is lost forever ... which does tickle me. Unfortunately, the reverse doesn't.

 

[Parmandur]

So, yes, expect about half the deck to be reprints. 20ish new cards, either from the greater set or printed just for the deck itself, 20-30 basic lands, and 50-60 reprinted cards. Every deck will have Command Tower and Sol Ring, and likely Arcane Signet, as those are staples that are just included in every deck. Note that several DnD cards have MTG equivalents already, Fireball, or Bag of Holding (which I think could definitely be reprinted into the set)

Note that Portable Hole has been previewed, and if you put a Bag of Holding into a Portable Hole, anything in the Bag of Holding is lost forever ... which does tickle me. Unfortunately, the reverse doesn't.

Yeah, if there is something that already works as is, it works:

 

[Maxperson]

@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:

View attachment 136675

The original Sol Ring art is by far my favorite. I fell in love with it when I opened my first starter deck way back during the tail end of the Alpha run. It's still one of my all time favorite pieces of card art.

 

[Parmandur]

The original Sol Ring art is by far my favorite. I fell in love with it when I opened my first starter deck way back during the tail end of the Alpha run. It's still one of my all time favorite pieces of card art.

I like the Alpha art, and it's a pity I didn't get any when the getting was good when I first saw it in Disney Adventures...

 

[Maxperson]

I like the Alpha art, and it's a pity I didn't get any when the getting was good when I first saw it in Disney Adventures...

I went to a game convention and bought a single alpha started deck. I arrived late in the day and the sales room was closed, but all these people were playing this really cool new game. I talked one person into selling me one of his unopened starters. Due to the faulty Alpha run, I pulled 3 rares in that deck. A Force of Nature, A Birds of Paradise, and a Timetwister. Not having any idea about card rarities and recognizing the that 1) I needed a bunch of forests for the 8/8 beastie, and 2) that the Birds of Paradise were really easy to kill, I rather easily talked some guy into trading me a forest for it. My first trade. Go me! I won 5 straight games with that one starter deck and it took me a few weeks to talk my two buddies into buying the game. We went to the local game store and I bought a box and a half of beta, one buddy bought one box, and the third bought 3 boxes. Then we went home and started building decks, playing for ante.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

There is no one anywhere who said "I could take or leave MTG but I want to buy Ixalan products because I'm a huge fan of Ixalan."

This made me crack up, because actually, uh...I do. I'm debating grabbing Explorers of Ixalan because I really dig the setting, but I don't play any in-person magic. But that's just me; I'm the exception that proves your rule. Point well made though; I'm really hoping we see legitimate stuff to bridge the gap between D&D-only and M:TG-only interest levesl.

 

[Charlaquin]

So, yes, expect about half the deck to be reprints. 20ish new cards, either from the greater set or printed just for the deck itself, 20-30 basic lands, and 50-60 reprinted cards. Every deck will have Command Tower and Sol Ring, and likely Arcane Signet, as those are staples that are just included in every deck. Note that several DnD cards have MTG equivalents already, Fireball, or Bag of Holding (which I think could definitely be reprinted into the set)

Yeah, I would be astonished if Bag of Holding doesn’t get reprinted. There are a number of Zendikar cards that would be good candidates for reprinting as well.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

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.

The base line for the last few year going back 2019 seems to be 275 for none core sets, and 280 for Core Sets (including basic lands).

I really hope AFR has MDFCs or split Cards or Adventures mechanic from Eldraine. There is just so much to cover. Hundreds of Monsters/Spells/Characters/Sagas/Magic Items/Locations in D&D and FR. How do you deside what to leave out.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Yeah, I would be astonished if Bag of Holding doesn’t get reprinted. There are a number of Zendikar cards that would be good candidates for reprinting as well.

How many D&D things like bag of holding and fireball do you think already exist in MtG that could be included in the main set or as reprints in an AFR Commander Decks?