The official spoilers for the next Magic: The Gathering set, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths haven't surfaced yet, but Wizards of the Coast has been teasing us with more details from the upcoming expansion, including creature types, card text, how many different kinds of counters will be featured in the set, and crazy new mechanics.
Earlier today, we shared the list of new details that Magic lead designer Mark Rosewater teased from the upcoming set, confirming two new mechanics.
Mutate
The first mechanic Rosewater confirmed is Mutate, an official keyword first seen in the "Surgeon General Commander" card from the recently-released silver-bordered seet, Unsanctioned.
WotC hasn't revealed what Mutate actually does, but Rosewater confirmed that there's a card in Ikoria with the text: "X is the number of times this creature has mutated".
Keyword Counters
Rosewater also shared details suggesting a new mechanic may involve keyword counters, similar to the Mystery Booster card "Recycla-Bird".
According to the Wizards Play Network (WPN) distribution page for Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, prerelease packs will include a set of double-sided keyword counters. Keywords can include anything from Haste and Flying to Trample and Deathtouch. We might see creatures that trigger keyword counters when they die or active an ability. Maybe the Mutate mechanic can also affect keyword counters.
Ikoria set is also said to feature two other mechanics, one major and the other on the small side, according to a Wizards of the Coast team member Ben Finkel. "As an Arena developer, I've always counted four things that were a big deal for us. One of them is really small in the set though," Finkel said on Reddit.
On the same Reddit thread, another WotC memeber said that there are actually three crazy mechanics in Ikoria, "I'm actually surprised Mark thinks there are only two. IMO there are actually three crazy mechanics in Ikoria, and it's not obvious to me which two Mark is referring to."
This is in response to Rosewater's statement that there are two mechanics in Ikoria he considers crazy. Rosewater previously said that this set will let us build our own monsters, and it looks like these crazy mechanics will let us do that. Check out our 25 Things We Know About Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths So Far.
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths will officially be released on April 24, 2020. Prerelease events will take place from April 17-19.
Related:How Coronavirus Will Impact The Release of The Next MTG Set, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
Fandoms