Over the course of last week, players got a look at a number of cards from Magic: The Gathering’s forthcoming Theros: Beyond Death set by way of a significant leak. These Theros: Beyond Death spoilers laid a solid foundation for what fans can expect from the set, showcasing its heavy emphasis on Enchantments and even revealing one of its Planeswalkers. Furthermore, the leaks confirmed a number of the mechanics that will be featured in Theors: Beyond Death, and those mechanics have all been collected below.
To note, a a small number of cards revealed in the Theros: Beyond Death leak have text that functions identically to old Magic: The Gathering mechanics, but they have not been presented with a keyword. For instance, Ilysian Caryatid, a green common, has text that is functionally identical to Ferocious, and Hero of the Nyxborn, a multi-color uncommon, essentially has Heroic. However, these mechanics are not included in this list due to the absence of a keyword.
Additionally, evergreen mechanics like Deathtouch, Flying, and Trample have not been outlined below, as most fans will already be expecting these types of keywords to show up in MTG’s Theros: Beyond Death set. That said, it is worth mentioning that Flash is seemingly central to this forthcoming MTG set, and it appears on a cycle of Enchantments, called “Omens,” and more.
Escape
Escape is a brand new mechanic being introduced in Theros: Beyond Death, and it can be found on creatures, such as the common Chainweb Aracnir, and even on Planeswalkers like Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis. Cards with the Escape mechanic can be played from the graveyard by exiling four other cards from the graveyard and paying a specified mana cost, which is higher than the card’s original casting cost in all instances revealed thus far. Furthermore, some cards will receive a bonus, such as +1/+1 counters, when they Escape.
Devotion
First introduced in Magic: The Gathering’s original Theros set, Devotion is confirmed to make a return in Theros: Beyond Death. A player’s Devotion to a color is determined by counting all of the pips of that color that are present on the permanents that they control, and cards with Devotion typically provide bigger payoffs as the count grows. For instance, Theros: Beyond Death’s Nylea’s Huntmaster, a green common, gives a creature +X/+0 when entering the battlefield, where X is the player’s Devotion to green.
Constellation
Constellation is another returning mechanic in Theros: Beyond Death, and it was first introduced in the Journey into Nyx set. Permanents with Constellation create an effect when an Enchantment enters the battlefield for the permanent’s controller, and it is not extremely surprising to see this mechanic make an appearance considering the set’s aforementioned emphasis on Enchantments. Notably, MTG’s Saga cards will be back in Theros: Beyond Death, giving players even more opportunities to trigger Constellation.
Theros: Beyond Death is scheduled to release on January 24, 2020, which means that it is likely to be a while before players get a look at all of the cards featuring these mechanics. That said, some will simply be pleased to see some keywords confirmed as they wait for this forthcoming set to shakeup Magic: The Gathering’s Standard format.
The Magic: The Gathering Throne of Eldraine expansion set is available now.
