From Mark Rosewater's blog:

"Now what planeswalkers would I like to see us do a second version of that we’ve only done one of? Obviously, my first choice would be Venser but he’s dead so that’s unlikely. Next, I think I’d like to see a second Ashiok. Tamiyo’s on my short list as is Tibalt."

Calling it here. The next two blocks will feature Venser, Ashiok, Tamiyo, and Tibalt.

From the other thread - we expect 1 PW in FRF and 2 in DOK due to size... but they may start to increase these because of the lack of core sets (usually 5 walkers).... I guess M16 (last core set) has the full 5.

The total number of Planeswalker cards per year (and the number legal in Standard) is supposed to remain the same. Normally we've got five 'walkers in each block plus the five in the Core set. If every Large set has 3 and every small set has 2, then we'll still be seeing 10 every year and 15 in Standard at once when the two-block paradigm is in full swing.

'Normalcy' is relative. 2 of the past 3 core sets have had 6. 5 doesn't seem so 'normal' anymore.

'Number per year' and 'Number legal in standard' are two wildly differing things. We've had 16 so far in 2015 (albeit only 10 of which are in Standard).

So that means at one point the Large and Small sets have to get +1 planeswalker each. I guess that starts AFTER M16.

I was about to say that in a normal Large-Small-Small block, the Large set already gets three Planeswalkers. But since Planeswalkers were first introduced, only Alara, Scars of Mirrodin and Theros have actually followed the Large-Small-Small format and only two of those actually follow that "rule". Meanwhile Zendikar, Innistrad, Return to Ravnica and Khans seem to have established that Large sets get two planeswalkers each. Huh.

Khans is large small large so it makes sense for it to follow 2-1-2 like most of the others of that type.

I just think it's funny that since the beginning of Planeswalkers we've only had Alara, Scars of Mirrodin and Theros following the "normal" block format, and Lorwyn, Zendikar, Innistrad, Return to Ravnica and Tarkir all doing odd variants.

I realize you said most but there is some precedence for having 6 walkers in a large small large (Zendikar block). Although 3 appeared in the first set but they could reverse it.

From today's Making Magic: It's only a matter of time now...

Speculation time!

By the looks of it, FRF is about the conflict between wedge-based Clans and Allied-colored Dragon broods. Ugin died, which made the Clans win and that led us to KTK. Now Sarkhan will save Ugin. I'm calling it now: DTK will be an allied-colored Set, showcasing the victory of the Dragon broods over the Clans.

I'm going to guess differently.

FRF will be about the conflict between mono-colored clans with hints of wedge stuff, leaning towards certain enemy colors that in the original timeline led to wedge based clans when they incorporated aspects of dead ally color dragons that matched their primary color.

Dragons of Tarkir future on the other hand, will have the older dragons be beaten by new generations of dragons spawned, and shift the dragons themselves to enemy color pairs, and the clans will now worship the dragons or be enslaved by them or oppressed by them, but basically the dragons being dominant, and the clans will have shifted to shards encapsulated by the enemy color dragons, but we won't actually have their original clan names, those will be wiped out, but names based on the new dragon lords, so that the wedge names are retained, although it won't be a full fledged shard set, most of the cards themselves will be mono-colored or hybrid outside of the dual-color enemy color dragons, and maybe some survivors of the original ally color dragon flights wandering around. Ugin's influence will be more cemented in a 6th human clan of sorts that is greater than the others who serve/follow/worship ugin and have a colorless focus.

there is no way Dragons is a Shard set. it's likely not even a multicolor set.

yeah there's no way fate reforged is shards.

from ken neagles feature on the mothership:


some pretty interesting names there... i hope Acidic Dragon is a dragon version of acidic slime.

Also paging user Cato here; it appears someone in R&D has been playing Dota 2 -> "Phantom Lancer"

I also believe Dragons of Tarkir will focus on allied color pairs.

****ing Azwraith pickers.

Anyone else notice the clan distribution of the Fate Reforged basic land art?

Abzan got a Plains and a Swamp, but no Forest.
Jeskai got an Island and a Mountain, but no Plains.
Sultai got a Swamp and a Forest, but no Island.
Mardu got a Mountain and a Plains, but no Swamp.
Temur got a Forest and an Island, but no Mountain.

Given that and MaRo's hint that the hybrid-activation clan leaders were designed to be viable commanders for both the Khans Clans and the factions for Dragons, I'm leaning towards the human groups being enemy-colored in Dragons, while the dragon groups will be allied-colored and dominant.

This seems pretty raisonable.

MaRo mentioned 5 factions in DTK, that are not wedges. I'm super confident about my speculations. DTK will be an allied-colored set focused on Dragon broods.