Theros
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Magic: The Gathering's Greek plane. Imagine God of War with less sex, fewer QTEs (unless you count untapping your lands each turn), and Ajani Goldmane and Elspeth Tirel hanging around to show everyone how bro they are. Theros has a heavy focus on Gods and Goddesses, and how their machinations often meddle with the lives of mortals. All Enchantments are considered to be gifts from the Gods, and enchantment creatures are usually blessed by the Gods.
The Gods of Theros[edit]
The Gods depend on the beliefs of mortals, and their power comes downstream of the people's collective faith. If enough worshippers have a different idea of their god, the god's behavior will change as a result. This is because the gods were formed out of the collective need for something to believe in when the Titans still dominated the plane. These manifestations of belief sealed the Titans and became the rulers of Theros.
Major Gods[edit]
Heliod, the Sun God - The mono-white Helios stand-in, and kind of a massive dick. Dedicated to law, justice, and retribution, Heliod considers himself above all the other Gods and blankets the sky with his radiance to keep Nyx away from mortals. Though he grants boons to mortals, he is just as liable to stab those he blessed in the back if he feels that they're encroaching on his worship. He kind of got his ass handed to him in Theros Beyond Death after throwing a temper tantrum, and was placed under an impossibly heavy boulder to slowly starve him of Devotion. Blue Phyrexians sneak into his cult and compleat him, and he gets put down by Kaya Cassir.
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ϕ Compleat the faith, compleat the god
Thassa, the Sea Goddess - The mono-blue Poseidon stand-in, Thassa governs the sea and the things that live in it. Even those that live in lofty locations pay homage to Thassa, as she has a bad habit of drowning people who blasphemy her. She had a minor scuffle with Kiora when she showed up on Theros and used planeswalker magic to assemble an army to fight the Eldrazi. Though her feats, Kiora gained a following and people started worshipping her instead of Thassa, which pissed her off. Things escalated, and Thassa tried to smite her, but Kiora was quick, dodged the smite, and then stole Thassa's bident. She's still bitter about it.
Erebos, God of the Dead - The mono-black Thanatos stand-in, Erebos watches over the dead after being banished to the Underworld by Heliod. As one can imagine, Erebos was not exactly happy about this, and constantly seeks revenge against Heliod. He uses an impossibly long whip to ensnare those that would try and escape death. After Heliod had his temper tantrum, Erebos ramped up the hate and tried to undo Heliod even harder, which allowed lots of things to escape from the Underworld. He eventually got his wish, and was the one who trapped Heliod under the boulder after Elspeth beat him.
Purphoros, God of the Forge - The mono-red Hephaestus stand-in, Purphoros is an impassioned artisan with a bronze-fetish. Crafters of all types pay homage to Purphoros. Generally pretty chill, but has enough rage inside of him to smite those that upset him. He was once the lover of Nylea, and his passion for her inspired some of this best works.
Nylea, Goddess of the Hunt - The mono-green Artemis stand-in, Nylea is a protector of the wilds. Any who wish to till the land or cut down the forests face the wrath of Nylea. She governs predation and preservation but also dabbles in rebirth.
Minor Gods[edit]
Ephara, Goddess of the Polis - The white and blue Goddess of civilization. Industry, community, and progress are her domain and helps to ensure the smooth operation of cities (or poleis, singular polis). She's just like the stereotypical image of Athena as a goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens.
Phenax, God of Deception - The blue and black God of deception, lies, half-truths, and secrets. Phenax watches over the Returned, or Theros' undead. He revels in plots that undermine the other Gods, and gave Ashiok a boon to that end.
Mogis, God of Slaughter - The black and red-colored minotaur version of Ares. He is also about fightin' but he doesn't necessarily care about winnin' so long as he and his followers get to slaughter more people. To that end, he believes that wars should be fought simply to add more bodies to the graveyard, without fiddling about with honor. This is the cause of frequent disputes with Iroas.
Klothys, Goddess of Destiny - The red and green-colored Goddess of fate, destiny, and the thread. The half-naked Goddess chained herself to the Underworld willingly, in order to bind the Titans in place. During her internment in the Underworld, she didn't get many followers, and was eventually upstaged by Xenagos. This would eventually kickstart the events that would lead to Heliod's temper tantrum, which caused the dead to try and defy fate and return to the overworld. Klothys was pissed, and neglected her own duties to try and reel everyone back into the Underworld. She especially hated Elspeth, and created Calix to try and bind Elspeth to the Underworld. Elspeth eventually evaded death, and even got a pardon from Erebos to leave, which left her steaming mad.
Xenagos, God of Revels - The other red and green-colored God. Sort of. Xenagos was a planeswalker Satyr from Theros, who lived for nothing but partying and murder. One day, he partied too hard and activated his spark, allowing him to travel the planes. Faced with the reality of the multiverse, Xenagos grew jaded and fatalistic. What was the point of partying when there was an entire multiverse out there, uncaring of his jests and parties? Thus, he set forth a plot that would make him into a God, and maybe even the ONLY God on Theros. He ultimately succeeded, but his time was cut short after Elspeth and Ajani beat him up and smote his body back into the starry field of Nyx.
Karametra, Goddess of Harvests - The green and white-colored Goddess of the harvest. She has a rocky relationship with Nylea because cultivation and untamed wilds are kind of two polar opposites. Her Minotaur worshippers fondly remember a time where she was worshipped with blood rituals, and knowing how Theros works, this gives her a more sinister side...
Athreos, God of Passage - The white and black-colored Charon standee. While Erebos deals with the dead in general, Athreos is the one who ferries the recently deceased from Theros to the Underworld. Make sure to have the proper coinage before departure. He also got a three-headed doggo (wait, that's Hades' schtick!).
Keranos, God of Storms - A blue and red-colored God of storms. While Heliod inherited the uppity position of Zeus, Keranos got the LIGHTNING BOLT side of Zeus. He is also the god of sudden epiphanies ("brain"storms, geddit?) and rewards those who act with certainty and purpose.
Pharika, Goddess of Affliction - The black and green-colored Goddess of poisons, potions, and medicine. She created the Gorgons of Theros, and has knowledge of many cures lying in wait. Many people have died trying to gain cures from, for example, basilisk venom, and Pharika is not at all willing to divulge her knowledge.
Iroas, God of Victory - This red and white-colored centaur God cares about two things: Fightin' and winnin'. He often clashes with his brother Mogis, as he believes that wars should be about honor and victory rather than wanton slaughter. He's a rare example of Nike being separate from Athena (and also genderbent).
Kruphix, God of Horizons - The green blue-colored God, and technically the oldest God on Theros. He governs time and mysteries, and when trouble happens on Theros, he's usually the one who has to kick the other Gods into motion/hold them back before they make things worse. He also knows of Planeswalkers from before the time of the Gods on Theros, and is troubled by the potential of Planeswalking. If any multi-planar threats find Theros, he is sure that the entire plane would be doomed.
Demigods[edit]
Introduced in Theros Beyond Death, Heliod grew angry at the nature of mortals, and thus sought a way to wipe Meletis clean of the other gods. The other four major gods knew his goal and acted accordingly. All five of them raised their own demigods.
Daxos, Blessed by the Sun - The mono-white demigod, and the one who got raised first. He was considered deaf and mute as a child for his disinterest in life, so his mother Lidia thought Athreos snatched his soul too early. In a cave dedicated to Athreos, he uttered his first words: "Asphodel", the flower of his mother's necklace. This got the attention of Erebos, who told Athreos to claim the child. Lidia rushed Daxos to Karametra's temple, but she had to sacrifice herself to spare her son a one-way trip to the Underworld. In the Nessian Forest, he was the first native Elspeth met in the original Theros block, and they both slew the hydra Polukranos. After a few battles with Xenagos and his goons, Daxos and Elspeth realized their feelings for each other, but it was only a short time before Xenagos surprised them and puppeteered Elspeth to kill Daxos. Now dead, he bargained with Erebos to see Elspeth, but the God of the Dead only switched their places. He wandered as a Returned before Heliod snatched him and tasked him to be his personal iconoclast.
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Blessed by the Sun
Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea - The mono-blue demigod, whose journey is recounted in the Callaphea. She lived centuries before the events of the Theros block, so she was chilling with Erebos when the Satyr partied too hard. In life, she was the captain of The Monsoon, and the most skilled mariner of Meletis. Her first great feat was in deciphering wind patterns, which earned her the ire of Thassa. She snuck into Mount Velus and stole the tears of Purphoros. Her sense of trickery was so great, she wrote down the secrets of Phenax. Callaphe sailed the coastlines of Theros and explored the Dakra Isles, witnessing various creatures and peoples. Her crew faced cyclopes, tree spirits, and minotaurs of all temperaments. When The Monsoon arrived on the island of Ketaphos, an island that exists in Nyx at night and the mortal realm during the day. Thassa needed a demigod to stand up to Heliod, so she bestowed Callaphe with her power out of respect for the epic trickster.
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Beloved of the Sea
Tymaret, Chosen from Death - The mono-black demigod with a terrible reputation. When he was already dead, he witnessed Phenax escape the Underworld. Erebos knew of this, and tasked him with hunting down the escaped Phenax. Tymaret returned to the realm of the living wearing a death mask. Since Phenax is a shapeshifter, Tymaret gave no chances with anyone, so he cut up any mortal in his path. Alas, none of the mortals he slew was Phenax, and he soon realized this when the escapee ascended to godhood. This did not stop Tymaret from his indiscriminate killing, and he gained the title of Murder King. Erebos had to give Tymaret some extra power and some troops to defend against Heliod's power moves.
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Chosen from Death
Anax, Hardened in the Forge - The mono-red demigod expy of Leonidas. Like everyone in Akros, he worshipped Iroas, the god of victory. It was he who spearheaded Akros to becoming an empire, and caused the change in patronage to Purphoros instead. This change was visible in the aesthetic senses of the Akroans, where intricate patterns handed down through generations became more common. Weapons and decorations became more ornate but no less effective. When Xenagos returned to wreak havoc, Anax fought against Rhordon the Rageblood. Anax was just about to win when Mogis noticed Keranos was around, so the God of Slaughter boosted his oracle. Anax was miraculously saved by Elspeth, and Rhordon threw himself at a nearby river. Anax couldn't host the victory celebration as he was too injured, even though he got healed. Some time later, Purphoros turned him into a demigod, but the God of the Forge also made him a narrow-minded glory hound.
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Hardened in the Forge
Renata, Called to the Hunt - The mono-green demigod and Nylea's favorite mortal. She lived with a perfect win streak in every hunt, and some say she can land a hit from half a mile away. Keranos knew about her feats, so he devised a way to make her reconsider hunting. He took a lion, a ram, and a snake to make the first Chimera. Renata slew the beast without a second thought. Keranos was none too pleased with this, so he made a deadlier chimera, which Renata also hunted down. The god of storms and wild ideas unleashed deadlier teams of beasts, but that also was in vain. This somehow made Nylea aware of Renata's presence, and the huntress became a demigod when Heliod tried to go apeshit.
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Called to the Hunt
Mechanics[edit]
Enchantments - Mostly creatures that are also enchantments, but also some of the regular kinds you're used to from other planes. Enchantment creatures have a special sparkly frame so you can tell them apart. Ties into ...
Bestow - Some enchantment creatures can be cast as an Aura, in which case they give the enchanted creature benefits related to their own power and toughness and abilities. If a creature cast this way would be unattached from the enchanted creature (like if it dies), it stays in play and becomes a regular creature. Bestow plays well with...
Heroic - A keyword that rewards you for targeting your creature with your own spells.
Constellation - The obligatory "why the heck is this even a keyword/ability word?" moment that we tend to get about once a block. Cards with Constellation have a significant effect that triggers whenever an enchantment comes into play under your control.
Devotion - The power of belief is incredibly important to Theros, as the Gods themselves were made by the devotion of mortals. Several cards have an effect that is activated depending on the number of colored mana symbols on permanents you control that are on the battlefield (EX: If I have 2 creatures on the battlefield that have a total of 3 blue mana symbols on them, my devotion is 3).
Escape - A keyword that represents creatures and spells that have transcended the Underworld to return to the battlefield once more. If you have a card with escape in your graveyard, you can pay a certain amount of mana and exile a number of other cards to play that card again! Unlike Jump-Start or Flashback, they don't exile as they resolve, so as long as you have cards to spare, you can keep them coming all game long.
Sagas - Technically these were in Dominaria, but they show up here as well. Sagas are enchantments that capture important story moments and play them out on the battlefield. Every saga enters the battlefield with a lore counter, and gains another one on your upkeep. When a lore counter is placed on a Saga, an effect is triggered based upon what story they are trying to tell. When the final effect of a Saga is activated, the Saga blows up.
Notable Cards of Theros[edit]
- Anger of the Gods. For three mana you get a respectable board sweeper that also has a neat side effect. This sees a lot of play in control-style decks, especially in Modern.
- Dictate of Erebos. A black Commander staple. Flash this out when someone casts a sweeper targeting you and suddenly everyone is feeling the pain! This gets played mostly in Artistocrats style decks, where you kind of wanted to kill your dudes anyway.
- Chromanticore. A WUBRG card with Bestow that people really wanted to be errata'd into being legendary so they could use it as their commander. They're still waiting and will be likely to be waiting forever.
- Courser of Kruphix. A value engine! Lets you machine-gun lands off the top, gains you life for doing so, and helps you trigger Landfall. Sure, you're not going to be hiding any information anytime soon, but that is one small price to pay.
- Eidolon of the Great Revel. I heard you like Burn, so we stapled a Shock to your opponent's cheap spells so you can burn while you burn. Unless you deal with it early on, the Eidolon will rack up a lot of damage every time you try and cast your cantrips.
- Kroxa and Uro. Two slumbering titans that have awakened and have a very interesting design, given that they are both decent sorceries and big beaters all at once.
- Kyanios and Tiro. Technically this card wasn't in Theros proper, but the art and city mentioned are both in Theros. They're the only legal commander in those colors, and they make for a pretty good commander for a Group Hug-style deck. The card is inspired by the tale of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and both are stated to have a great love for each other and the city they built. This makes them one of the few same-sex partners in the game.
- Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Also known as Gary. Gary is an extremely popular commander staple for heavy Black decks, and he was a limited all-star in OG Theros when he was printed at common. He was so popular that he was reprinted in Theros Beyond Death at uncommon rarity with new art, where he is surprisingly not as good. As it turns out, it is much harder to chain Gary after Gary like in OG Theros when they are harder to find.
- Underworld Breach: As you might expect of an enchantment that only lasts for one turn and endlessly lets you recur your spells (assuming you got chaff in your graveyard and mana), this is a combo card in constructed. Banned in Pioneer and Legacy.
Mythic Odysseys of Theros[edit]
In March 2020, a website called "Penguin Random House" announced a new product due out in May 2020; titled Mythic Odysseys of Theros, it meant that Theros would be joining Ravnica as the second MtG plane to be converted to a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Not counting the Plane Shifts, obviously. The page was swiftly taken down, but /tg/ was confident that it was true. Sure enough, Amazon would follow soon after, although now claiming that the book would be due out in June 2020, and claiming that, in addition to the obvious new subclasses (citing the "College of Eloquence" Bard and the "Oath of Heroism" Paladin - but not, strangely, the "Circle of Stars" Druid, which many fans felt was a perfect fit) and new races (mentioning the obvious Satyr and not-so-obvious Leonin), the book would include new mechanics for "Supernatural Gifts", which are, quote, "abilities that give you remarkable powers that set you on the path to legend", and new "Mythic Monsters".
WotC finally confirmed that, yes, this was going to be real with an article in Dragon+ #30. In addition to providing a more in-depth reveal of the planned subclasses (reprinting the Forge and Grave Cleric Domains, Order of Eloquence Bard, Oath of Heroism Paladin) and races (reprinted Centaur and Minotaur, Triton stats reskinned as Merfolk, new Satyr and Leonin), this article explained that the Theros book would be based around converting the Devotion mechanic from the card-set, in the same way that Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica centered around Renown. It also provided a clearer definition of two teased mechanics; supernatural gifts - a background like "magical powerup" you choose at character creation, such as being immune to thought-reading attacks - and "mythic monsters", which are basically a new tier of uber-powerful "endgame boss" style monsters, kind of like 4e's Solos or Pathfinder's Mythical Tier monsters.
Reception to the book's announcement has been mixed. Many have asked what the point of a Greco-Roman inspired setting in D&D is when so many Greco-Roman monsters appear in base D&D already and not one but two third-party settings did it before. Of course, the presence of the outraged fans of Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer, who are sick and tired of WotC's "only 3 books per year!" rule screwing them out of an update, cannot be ignored in this debate either, especially considering that the other book was based on a podcast whose popularity WOTC wanted to cash in on.
All of which is setting aside that D&D already had a setting in previous editions themed around playing demigods in a world where all the monsters are unique, but I guess you gotta milk that cross-brand synergy to please the corporate masters, eh?
The plus side of the book is that the art is outstanding. Every single page is crammed with some of the very best art D&D has ever put to page, and the covers alone look better than the entirety of the Tyranny of Dragons books. The new Heroism rules do, at the least, succeed in making a playable and useful mechanism for increasing player visibility and profile in a pre-electricity world, and the new Mythic Monsters are Tarrasque-level scary to fight. Finally, the new Paladin subclass is perfect for people who want to roleplay their Pallies as being classical archetype heroes instead of religious types, gestapo, or eldritch knights. Overall, the book has seen the exact kind of controversy and division that damn near every book before it produced in the 5e line.
Settings of Magic: The Gathering | |
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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) |
Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Settings | |
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Basic D&D | Mystara (Blackmoor) • Pelinore • Red Sonja |
AD&D | Birthright • Council of Wyrms • Dark Sun • Diablo • Dragonlance • Forgotten Realms (Al-Qadim • The Horde • Icewind Dale • Kara-Tur • Malatra • Maztica) • Greyhawk • Jakandor • Mystara (Hollow World • Red Steel • Savage Coast) • Planescape • Ravenloft (Masque of the Red Death) • Spelljammer • Thunder Rift |
3.X Edition | Blackmoor • Diablo • Dragonlance • Dragon Fist • Eberron • Forgotten Realms • Ghostwalk • Greyhawk (Sundered Empire) • Ravenloft (Masque of the Red Death) • Rokugan |
4th Edition | Blackmoor • Dark Sun • Eberron • Forgotten Realms • Nentir Vale |
5th Edition | Dragonlance • Eberron • Exandria • Forgotten Realms • Greyhawk • Ravenloft • Ravnica • Theros • Spelljammer • Strixhaven • Radiant Citadel |