Amonkhet
All questions will be answered during the Hour of Revelation.
In the Hour of Glory, the gods and the untested will prove their worth before the God-Pharaoh.
When the Hour of Promise arrives, the God-Pharaoh will tear down the Hekma, for its protection will be needed no longer.
When all doubts have melted away, the worthy will meet the Hour of Eternity and earn a place at the God-Pharaoh's side."
- – Accounting of Hours
- – Jack O'Neill, Stargate
Egypt ruled by Nicol Bolas. The setting for the Spring/Summer 2017 Amonkhet block, comprised of "Amonkhet" and "Hour of Devastation". One of Lili's demon friends lives there. The lottery cards for the block are called Invocations, and do not follow any mechanical theme.
The Egyptian-inspired plane is a giant desert with only one habitable city, protected from the desert by a shield. Nicol Bolas conquered it ages ago and created a religion based around training to become the best one can be under each of the five mana colors, dying, and coming back as a mummy that does pretty much everything that keeps the civilization continuing. When God-Pharaoh Bolas returns, the mummies will live on as his immortal servants in the afterlife. When he did come back, he took control of the mummies, now magic lapis lazuli-coated "Eternals", and destroyed everything else, having no more use for the city now that he got his zombie army.
Out of the five gods, only Hazoret survived. She gave her spear to Planeswalkers so they could kick Bolas’s ass. She was busy leading the survivors of the city in an exodus through the desert before looping back around and reclaiming the now ruined city.
What's going on in Amonkhet?[edit]
The first thing you see is not the desert sands, it's a pair of spiral horns. You know exactly who these horns belong to. The deserts are very very sandy, and sandstorms are frequent. The only shelter from these sands is the Hekma, a magical barrier protecting the lone city of Naktamun. Everyone in Naktamun is sorted into "crops" when they reach five years of age, alongside everyone else in the same birth year. The first thing they must do is to erect an obelisk, which they must figure out how to do before they reach the age of 12. On an appointed day, the Ceremony of Measurement takes place, where a vizier peers into the hearts of every crop. The worthy become Initiates, and are chosen to undertake the Trials of the Five Gods. The unworthy are banished. A select few are handpicked to be viziers of the Gods.
Initiates who die during the trials, viziers who die too soon, and the unworthy are embalmed by lazotep magic, mummified, and directed to perform a specific menial task until their flesh rots away. These white-aligned zombies are euphemistically called "anointed".
Is there a way out?[edit]
No. Everyone must live in obedience to the God-Pharaoh. Anyone who doubts his teachings or his decrees is swiftly grabbed by angels and shut in a Tomb of Disgrace with only their hands exposed. The unfortunate dissenter is paraded for an entire day of humiliation known as a Display of Doubt. After that, the angels toss the poor soul out of the Hekma.
Cartouches[edit]
Cartouches are a big part of Amonkhet, since what is Egypt without a cartouche? Those who ascend the trials or become a vizier receive one cartouche from their corresponding god. Those who have all five cartouches or complete their service as a vizier get to meet the God-Pharaoh in the afterlife. In the crunch, these cartouches are an aura-type enchantment, giving creatures a +1/+1 boost and a keyword.
There are other cartouches in the fluff, but they are used to control the "anointed" and keeping dissenters in check.
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The tickets to a golden afterlife with the big man
Trials of the Five Gods[edit]
The trials all take place in the temples of the Gods, with each god hosting a specific trial. The temples cost 3 mana and reduce the mana cost of creatures of the corresponding color. The cards for the gods cannot block or attack unless certain conditions are met, to represent how Bolas stunted the gods.
The first trial is the Trial of Solidarity, overseen by Oketra the True.
In this trial, Oketra shoots an arrow at the opposite end of the crop's Obelisk. The crop must defend their Obelisk from angels, mummies, and horned beasts while at the same time trying to find Oketra's arrow.
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Oketra
The second trial is the Trial of Knowledge, overseen by Kefnet the Mindful.
In this trial, Kefnet enchants the trial room with frightful illusions and several traps. The initiates must rely on the glyphs on the walls, since they form the spell required to pass the trial without drowning in the final room. The truly wise will not feel a single drop of water.
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Kefnet
The third trial is the Trial of Strength, overseen by Rhonas the Indomitable.
In this trial, Rhonas greets initiates who have already climbed poisonous vines to reach him. He informs them the poison has stopped their spellcasting, so they must brave the jungles and find the scale of a basilisk in order to cure themselves. They still have to make it out of the jungle too.
-
Rhonas
The fourth trial is the Trial of Ambition, overseen by Bontu the Glorified.
In this trial, Bontu demands 10 initiates to undergo an obstacle course of dark tunnels and poisonous creatures. The last part of this trial is a moat full of snakes, and one must sacrifice the heart of another initiate in order to pass.
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Bontu
The fifth trial is the Trial of Zeal, overseen by Hazoret the Fervent.
In this trial, Hazoret unleashes a powerful creature for the crop to fight. Initiates who survive must prove their faith by fighting dissenters, those who against the gods and the God-Pharaoh. When only one initiate is left, Hazoret kills the champion with her glaive.
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Hazoret
At the end, those who pass all five trials are deemed worthy of the Afterlife. However, this afterlife means service as an Eternal under Nicol Bolas.
Hour of Devastation[edit]
The whole schtick about the prophecy was a complete lie. On the day the Second Sun aligned with a suspicious pair of horns, all hell broke loose. Razaketh - one of Liliana's demonic contractors - emerged from the gate to the afterlife and brought the first plague of Egypt all over. Soon after, Nicol Bolas revealed himself as the God-Pharaoh. He unleashed the Scarab God, Locust God, and Scorpion God to kill the five gods. The plan mostly worked, but a rebellious youth named Samut rallied the Amonkhetu and saved Hazoret from getting killed by the Scorpion God. Meanwhile, Bolas pwns the Gatewatch so bad, the moment got immortalized in a card cycle.
Mechanics[edit]
Exert[edit]
Lets your attacking creature do something extra. If it does, it doesn't get to untap next turn. In Hour of Devastation, the second set in the block, exerting is also used on some abilities that require creatures to tap.
Embalm[edit]
Exile a creature from your graveyard to create a token that is an exact copy of it, except it's white and a zombie. (Amonkhet set only)
Eternalize[edit]
Exile a creature from your graveyard to create a token that is a nearly exact copy of it, except it's black, a zombie, and has 4/4 for power and toughness. Basically Megamorph 2.0, being a "better" (but not strictly better depending on your deck) version of Embalm. (Hour of Devastation only)
Afflict[edit]
Trample not enough direct damage for you? Any creature with afflict that gets blocked deals direct damage to the blocking opponent's life. The catch is that it does no damage to the thing that blocked it. (Hour of Devastation only)
-1/-1 Counters[edit]
Back from our brief return to them in Scars of Mirrodin block, these little suckers can be put on creatures to weaken them. Handy for taking out anything with Indestructible.
Brick Counters[edit]
Certain artifacts in the Amonkhet set need to be built up by putting brick counters on them. Once they have three or more bricks, their effects get more powerful. In Hour of Devastation, certain artifacts enter the battlefield with brick counters, which you can remove to activate more powerful effects than their ordinary ones.
Deserts[edit]
As expected of an Egyptian-themed plane, lots of lands have the Desert subtype. Only one card in Amonkhet (set) interacts with Deserts. There's a bit more in Hour of Devastation.
Cycling[edit]
Not able or willing to play a card right now? Pay a simple cost and discard it, and you get to draw a new card!
Notable Cards[edit]
"Gatewatch Defeat" cycle[edit]
Beyond the oldfags' rejoicing over the b8watch getting absolutely wrecked, with flavor text of extra disrespect. Each one of these cards is an absolutely ridiculous form of color hosing for the cost.
| Settings of Magic: The Gathering | |
|---|---|
| Multiverse: | Dominaria - Phyrexia - Blind Eternities |
| Pre-revisionist: | First Magic Sets - First Urza Block - Arabian Nights Legends - Homelands - Ice Age - Mirage |
| Weatherlight Saga: | Portal Starter Sets - Second Urza Block Tempest Block - Masques Block - Invasion Block |
| Post-Weatherlight: | Otaria Block - Mirrodin - Kamigawa - Ravnica - Time Spiral |
| After the Mending: | Lorwyn - Alara - Zendikar - New Phyrexia Innistrad - Return to Ravnica - Theros - Tarkir |
| Two-Block Paradigm: | Kaladesh - Amonkhet - Ixalan - War of the Spark |
| Post Two-Block Paradigm: | Eldraine - Ikoria - Kaldheim - Strixhaven - New Capenna |
| Omenpath Arc: | Thunder Junction - Bloomburrow - Duskmourn |
| Never in a standard set: | Fiora (Where the Conspiracy sets take place) - Kylem (Battlebond) |
Plane Shift: Amonkhet[edit]
On July 5th of 2017, Wizards of the Coast released Plane Shift: Amonkhet, which examined the mechanics of a pre-Hour of Devastation Amonkhet as one of the potential campaign settings for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. It converted the Aven, Khenra, Minotaurs and Nagas of Amonkhet to PC races, and featured four new Cleric Domains: Ambition, Solidarity, Strength and Zeal.
