Such a great one, the details of pillars being melded Phyrexians is great, and brings some of that old-school Phyrexian horror that got toned down on other cards in this set

Yeah my main feeling about these bans was “good riddance”

Yeah it feels like they really searched their archives for some old arts to use for the cards. Seems like they did the same thing for some of the characters, I’m so happy to see the Weaver King get a card, he was such a great antagonist in Planar Chaos

I remember playing it in Standard UW God-Pharoah’s Gift that was the scourge of my LGS. In my defense I told them to play more artifact destruction/graveyard hate. Made me really love this card for how good it was at hand filtering early game and how it became serious card advantage late game

Maular, the Next Evolution

Blor the Impervious

Meatsqueak, Hoard Lord

Autumn Willow, Harmony

Glava, Five-Advents Mage

Greensleeves

Balefang, the Unslayable

Chira, All In

Dragon’s Smile

Jabs, Mistress of Mockery

Matoc, Lavamancer

The Unluckiest Planeswalker

Valko Indorian

Boss Uramon, Shadow’s Reach

Istvan, Butcher of Eln

Kuroki, Thief of Talents

Miss Highwater

Olinda the Oblivious

Sahir, Visitor in Darkness

Thomil, the Destroyer

Dyfed, the Guiding Hand

Flitwing, Lyev Detective

Grandmother Goby

Gustha Ebbasdotter

Sash and Waistcoat, Unmen

Ekthi, Contaminator Priest

Grakk the Pacifist

Nivea, Beloved Battlemage

Seluma, Light of Aysen

Worzel, the Protector

Yume, Chronicler of Valor

Venser, Visionary Traveler

Tresserhorn’s Lord, Returned

Sifa Grent

Selenia, the Cursed Heart

Rikala, Homarid King (RIP the Homarid creature type)

Olag and Miau, New Friends

The Muckslinger Gang

Lyna, Veil of Vengeance

Grizzlegom, Hurloon Hero

Feroz, Ulgrotha’s Warden

Chief Magistrate of Mercadia

Tsagan, Raider Warlord (Technically only new to paper, this was originally made as a Magic Arena exclusive card for Alchemy)

Same, I’m totally obsessed with Duskmourn’s lore and wish there was more of it. Only wish they’d redesign some of the tackiness with the survivors/tech so that it makes more sense with the worldbuilding

All three of the in-universe sets for 2027 feel like absolute bangers, and given the focus on them with the trailers it feels like WotC is trying to apologize for all the UB lately. Of course, there’s still 3 UB sets planned next year so not like they’re actually gonna change anytime soon

So we’ve got the classic Craterhoof Behemoth

White has Moonshaker Cavalry

Red now has this

Does Cyberdrive Awakener count for Blue?

And I wonder what would Black’s version of this effect would be? Creatures in graveyard maybe?

Drawing 3 cards per turn cycle seems pretty good, feels like it was designed especially for Commander

This seems… good? I wonder if this plus the 2 mana Ajani and 1 mana Lili means we’ll see a Standard lifegain deck take off

Hmmm, Garruk’s Uprising that also creates a 4/4 Beast and untaps lands if it sticks around. Probably too slow for Standard but wonder if this can find a place in Commander

This such a fun little nod to Magic’s history. The ability seems pretty interesting too but I can see it does seem to lean towards “steal and sac” very easily

Was excited for this until I saw that it’s only available at events. Those 59 unique cards are going to be expensive as hell. And who knows when we’ll get another dedicated reprint set

I imagine it will depend on what boosters stores decide to use for the draft, since it sounds like Chaos Draft + Leyline of Anticipation

This was in their initial letter:

Layoff Protections: Employees currently live in fear of suddenly losing their jobs, with no warning and through no fault of their own. We have the opportunity to create strong layoff protections so that we can feel secure in creating long-term careers here at WOTC.

Remote Work Protections: Leadership is instituting a mandatory RTO, forcing numerous remote employees across the US to work from a physical office or be forced to resign. This painful choice is splitting our employees between their homes, communities, and the jobs they love. Based on company profits, we have demonstrated the ability to meet and exceed our product goals without the in office structure; workers should be able to continue working in the way that is best for them.

Generative AI Protections: Over the past few years, pressure has ramped up from leadership to adopt LLMs and Gen AI tools in various aspects of our work at WOTC, often over the explicit concerns of impacted employees. WOTC lacks a robust AI policy, leaving opportunities for abuse and communicating a level of disrespect for artists and other creatives. We want to establish clear guidelines around AI, emphasizing worker protections.

Sustainable Workload: Employees’ experiences with “crunch” (intense, mandatory unpaid overtime) to meet deadlines vary widely by team and project, with some teams crunching on a regular basis just to get planned work out the door. Increasing workload without matching headcount has led to many workers having unacceptable experiences with crunch. We need to take better care of our employees by enacting strong protections around workload expectations.

Defined Career Progression: Many workers at WOTC feel like they are prevented from advancing in their role, either because opportunities for advancement are sparse or because requirements and opportunities are poorly defined. Employees’ roles should be clearly defined, and they should be able to grow their careers through meaningful raises, role changes, and promotions.

Our Free Time is Our Own: Currently, if an employee makes anything creative in their free time, with their own resources, Hasbro may claim ownership. What we do in our free time should not be dictated by the company; neither should what we make in our free time be owned by the company.

We are Stewards of Magic: Our employees and players care about doing the right thing with, and for, the games we make. Short term, profit-driven decisions may be lucrative, but we want to focus on partnerships and products that grow our games sustainably, that inspire us as employees, that excite players, and continue to foster WOTC’s positive reputation.

All very reasonable demands imo