Friday, February 17, 2023

Putting Magic Flavor on the Table; Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (Working Draft)

Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is a Dungeons & Dragons crossover Magic: The Gathering set which replaced the core set of the 2021-2022 standard rotation. It is the 88th Magic expansion and was released on July 23, 2021. The set's name is often abbreviated to Adventures in the Forgotten Realms or Forgotten Realms.

Tokens, emblems, and dungeons

  • 3/3 Angel creature with flying, for The Book of Exalted Deeds.
  • Icingdeath, Frost Tongue, a legendary Equipment artifact with for Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant.
  • */* Dog Illusion creature with "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to twice the number of cards in your hand", for Mordenkainen.
  • 1/1 Faerie Dragon creature with flying, for Feywild Trickster.
  • The Atropal, a 4/4 legendary God Horror creature with deathtouch, for Tomb of Annihilation.
  • 1/1 Skeleton creature, for Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Death-Priest of Myrkul, and Skeletal Swarming.
  • 2/1 Spider creature with menace and reach, for Drider and Lolth, Spider Queen.
  • Vecna, a 8/8 legendary Zombie God creature with indestructible and all triggered abilities of the exiled cards, for The Book of Vile Darkness.
  • 2/2 Zombie creature, for Acererak the Archlich, The Book of Vile Darkness and Wight.
  • Boo, a 1/1 legendary Hamster creature with trample and haste, for Minsc, Beloved Ranger.
  • 1/1 Devil creature with "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to any target", for Zariel, Archduke of Avernus.
  • 1/1 Goblin creature, for Battle Cry Goblin, Den of the Bugbear, Goblin Morningstar, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Swarming Goblins, and You See a Pair of Goblins.
  • Guenhwyvar, a 4/1 legendary Cat creature with trample, for Drizzt Do'Urden.
  • 2/2 Wolf creature, for Elturgard Ranger, Ranger Class and Varis, Silverymoon Ranger.
  • Treasure artifact, for Deadly Dispute, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Forsworn Paladin, Grim Bounty, Herald of Hadar, Hoarding Ogre, Hoard Robber, Improvised Weaponry, Instrument of the Bards, Kalain, Reclusive Painter, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Old Gnawbone, Plundering Barbarian, Prosperous Innkeeper, Shambling Ghast, Skullport Merchant, Spiked Pit Trap, Thieves' Tools, Treasure Chest, Treasure Vault, Unexpected Windfall, Xorn, and You Find a Cursed Idol.
  • Emblem for Ellywick Tumblestrum.
  • Emblem for Lolth, Spider Queen.
  • Emblem for Mordenkainen.
  • Emblem for Zariel, Archduke of Avernus.
  • Dungeon of the Mad Mage is the backside of token #12.
  • Lost Mine of Phandelver is the backside of token #6.
  • Tomb of Annihilation is the backside of token #5.

Storyline

The planet Toril is shared by humans, dwarves, elves, goblins, orcs, and other peoples and creatures. Technologically, the world of the Forgotten Realms resembles the pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century. However, the presence of magic provides an additional element of power to societies. There are several nation-states and many independent cities, with loose alliances being formed for defense or conquest. Forgotten Realms centers on Faerûn, a sub-continent in the northern hemisphere of Toril.

  • In Scarlet Flames
  • The Hidden Page
  • A Verdant Tomb
  • Deepest Night
  • From Cyan Depths

Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms has no Story Spotlights, but a series of cards represent the adventures of a party composed by Ellywick, Hama, Nadaar and Varis.

  • You Hear Something on Watch
  • You See a Guard Approach
  • You See a Pair of Goblins
  • Choose Your Weapon
  • You're Ambushed on the Road
  • You Come to a River
  • You Come to the Gnoll Camp
  • You Happen On a Glade
  • You Find the Villains' Lair
  • You Find Some Prisoners
  • You Find a Cursed Idol
  • You Meet in a Tavern

Themes and mechanics

The set introduces the Dungeon card type.

A new mechanic is pack tactics, an ability word that causes an effect whenever creatures attack with a total power of 6 or greater.

Limited archetypes

  • Venture value (Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker)
  • Sneak attack (Krydle of Baldur's Gate)
  • Treasure matters (Kalain, Reclusive Painter)
  • Pack tactics (Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll)
  •  Life gain (Trelasarra, Moon Dancer)
  • Venture faster (Barrowin of Clan Undurr)
  • Roll a d20! (Farideh, Devil's Chosen)
  • Death matters (Shessra, Death’s Whisper)
  • Equip your heroes (Bruenor Battlehammer)
  • Ramp into abilities (Gretchen Titchwillow)

Card types

The set introduces the Class type

The set introduces the Bard, Beholder, Gnoll, Halfling, Hamster, and Tiefling creature types. Citizen appears for the first time as a printed black-bordered creature type (previously only appearing on tokens).

The Bahamut, Mordenkainen, Lolth, Zariel and Ellywick planeswalker types are introduced.

A curiosity occurring in this set in regards to creature types is that the class takes precedent over race in terms of color. For example, Orcs are majority Black and Red in Magic, but three of four Orcs printed in this set are a Blue Orc Rogue (Guild Thief), a Green Orc Ranger (Intrepid Outlander) and a White Orc Knight (Devoted Paladin). Smaller, humanoid, flightless Dragons appear as Dragonborn, holding classes as White Knights or Green Bards. Other oddly colored races appear also.

Cycles

  • Planeswalkers Grand Master of Flowers Mordenkainen Lolth, Spider Queen Zariel, Archduke of Avernus Ellywick Tumblestrum
  • Five mythic rare planeswalkers.
  • Legendary dragons Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant Iymrith, Desert Doom Ebondeath, Dracolich Inferno of the Star Mounts Old Gnawbone
  • Five mythic rare legendary Dragons.
  • Fast manlands Cave of the Frost Dragon Hall of Storm Giants Hive of the Eye Tyrant Den of the Bugbear Lair of the Hydra
  • Five rare lands that enter the battlefield tapped if the player controls two or more other lands. Each of them can turn into creatures until end of turn.
  • Color hosers Divine Smite ({B}) Ray of Frost ({R}) Ray of Enfeeblement ({W}) Burning Hands ({G}) Hunter's Mark ({U})
  • Five uncommon instant-speed spells that get more effective when targeting a permanent of a specific color. Unusual for a hoser cycle as the references do not follow a wheel; the red targets an allied color while white and black target each other.
  • Chromatic dragons White Dragon Blue Dragon Black Dragon Red Dragon Green Dragon
  • Five uncommon Dragons with a Breath flavor word representing a triggered ability.

Multicolored cycles

  • Gold legends Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker Krydle of Baldur's Gate Kalain, Reclusive Painter Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll Trelasarra, Moon Dancer Barrowin of Clan Undurr Farideh, Devil's Chosen Shessra, Death's Whisper Bruenor Battlehammer Gretchen Titchwillow
  • Ten uncommon gold legendary creature spells. Each is a signpost for a draft archetype.

Vertical cycles

  • Dragonborn Nadaar, Selfless Paladin Wandering Troubadour Jaded Sell-Sword
  • Three humanoid Dragons without flying.
  • Gnomes Oswald Fiddlebender Feywild Trickster Clever Conjurer
  • Three non-artifact Gnomes.

Mirrored Pairs

  • The Book of Exalted Deeds -The Book of Vile Darkness Two mythic rare legendary artifacts with MMM mana cost. Each of them has a life-related token creation triggered ability and activated ability. Each shares the name with a sourcebook published by Wizards of the Coast for D&D, and both are also powerful magic items often found across D&D's publication history.
  • Demilich -Flameskull  Two mythic rare skeletons that could come back after death or play other cards.
  • Instrument of the Bards -The Blackstaff of Waterdeep Two rare legendary artifacts with M mana cost, an activated ability and an effect applicable in the beginning phase.
  • Skullport Merchant - Prosperous Innkeeper Two uncommon Citizens that create a treasure when they enter the battlefield and have a creature-related ability.
  • Trickster's Talisman - Reaper's Talisman  Two uncommon Equipments with equip {2} costing M.
  • Dueling Rapier -Paladin’s Shield Two common Equipments with flash that attach themselves to a creature when they enter the battlefield. One gives +2/+0 and the other +0/+2.
  • Air-Cult Elemental -Earth-Cult Elemental Two common Elementals costing {4}MM and having a removal effect upon entering the battlefield. In D&D the elemental cults are tied to the Elemental Evil.
  • Armory Veteran - Dwarfhold Champion  Two common creatures with mana cost 1M and a static ability as long as they are equipped.

Reprinted cards

  • Bag of Holding, first printed in Core Set 2020 (rare to uncommon).
  • Charmed Sleep, first printed in Throne of Eldraine.
  • Evolving Wilds, first printed in Rise of the Eldrazi, last seen in Commander Legends
  • Plummet, first printed in Archenemy, last seen in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths.

Functional reprints

  • Scaled Herbalist is a functional reprint of Llanowar Scout, except for creature types.
  • Steadfast Paladin is a functional reprint of Bishop's Soldier, except for creature types.

Notable cards

  • Mimic is the first non-token treasure.
  • Vorpal Sword is an alternate-win or -loss card.
  • Soulknife Spy, Arcane Investigator, and Aberrant Mind Sorcerer are the first monoblue Elves. The last of these is the most unusual as neither Shaman nor Elf are primarily blue types, unlike Wizard or Rogue.
  • Both Delina, Wild Mage and The Book of Vile Darkness (as well as the Commander deck card Mantle of the Ancients) received errata before they were officially released.[32]

Banned and restricted cards

The Book of Exalted Deeds references Platinum Angel's anti-losing text,. Angels are not usually known for being cheap and resilient; however, in this Standard rotation, Faceless Haven allowed players a temporary Angel that would live on the board as a Land — the most resilient card type — for the rest of the game. Hence Wizards banned the Book for the preview-queue Standard 2022, since the only reasonable answer was Field of Ruin which had rotated. They emphasized that this would not be the case post-rotation due to Field of Ruin being reprinted in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Standard 2022's Best-of-One nature, much like Nexus of Fate in 2019-2020.

Preconstructed decks

  • Aura of Courage Galea, Kindler of Hope
  • Dungeons of Death Sefris of the Hidden Ways
  • Draconic Rage Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients
  • Planar Portal Prosper, Tome-Bound

Card Conversions

Card

Type

Conversion

Element

154

Instant

Magic Missile

Spell 1

161

Creature- Beast

Rust Monster

Aberration 3

193 

Sorcery

Rest and Relax

Kingdom Action

198

Creature- Bird Bear

Owlbear

Creature 4

245

Equipment

Greataxe

Equipment

Decks

Commander




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