‘Journey Into Nyx’ previews and PAX East 2014 is finally here

Thursday, April 10th, 2014

It has been one heck of a week for me this week. Not only am I busy writing articles regarding the “Journey Into Nyx” previews, but I am also getting ready for PAX East which is coming up this Friday. I will be staying in the city because it makes things a lot easier for me. With that in mind I will be there Thursday night until Sunday. If any of you will be in the city Thursday night, then let me know so we can meet up. I would love to hang out if I have the time. One more thing, and I may have mentioned it before, but I will probably be at the Westin Hotel next to the BCEC for their second annual pre-PAX East board game night. Last year I met some people who were awesome enough to let me join them for a couple of games of “Dominion.” They were especially nice since they were playing with the expansions, and I, at the time, had not played with them yet.

“Journey Into Nyx” previews

This week DailyMTG.com began their previews for the third set in the Theros block, “Journey Into Nyx.” As of this posting, we’re on the fourth night and the set is looking like a lot of fun. Some of the biggest things to be announced were a new Ajani planeswalker as well as the Boros and Izzet gods. All three were pretty impressive in their own respects. I am particularly excited about the Izzet god and believe he will be one of the best things to come out of the set. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. However, if I’m right, I fully expect all of you to give me the praise I deserve (I’m just kidding).

Whether you like him or not, the new Ajani will be a house in any format he’s played in. The fact that he’s got green in him only makes things worse because now he can be accelerated into play without many drawbacks. I’ve seen some people saying that all three of his abilities are irrelevant to each other. In a way, I guess they are. Still they are all powerful on their own. When your opponent gains 100 life the only reason you’ll be complaining is because you’re not the one gaining the life.

Another card that people seem to be excited about is “Godsend.” It looks really impressive on paper, but I wonder how good it really will be when people begin to play it. It’s ability to exile blockers is pretty cool, but it’s not like it’s a hidden ability. What I mean is that if you block it or are prepared to be blocked by it, you go in knowing that you may lose a creature in the process whether or not it was going to survive the hits. An interesting point is that it’s not an enchantment in addition to its other types. Just something I would point out considering the entire block has been so enchantment oriented.

“Iroas, God of Victory” looks like it will be very annoying to play against. I can’t even imagine the struggles I’ll have when it gets turned “on.” It’s abilities alone are good enough to drive a player crazy. It still have some reservations about it, though. At four mana to cast, will there even be much of a game left when he hits the table? Boros decks are quick to the kill, and seem to make Iroas too slow to play. However, he just looks too good not to play.

Out of everything that has been spoiled so far, the lands have me excited the most. Having the UR and BG temples make those color combinations that much more playable. I feel their introduction will help round the Standard format nicely.

With all the excitement over these first few previews, I can only imagine what the rest of the set will be like. We still have yet to see what the other gods will be like. Many think that the BG god will be the best out of them all. You know what they say some times, “You have to save the best for last.” With how the two gods previewed look, this god might be out of this world.

PAX East schedule

My PAX East is pretty busy this year. I am pretty booked on Friday and Saturday. I purposefully left Sunday as wide open as I could with one meeting I couldn’t help. That meeting is with Ubisoft. They’re a pretty big video game company, so it’s something I couldn’t quite ignore. For those of you who are interested, here is a quick rundown of who I’ll be meeting with this weekend:

Friday –

• 505 Games
• WB/Turbine
• Logitech G
• Switchblade Monkeys
• 11 Bit Studios
• Wizards of the Coast
• EA/Dawngate MOBA

Saturday –

• Paradox Interactive
• Wizards of the Coast Panel
• Devolver Digital
• Blizzard

Sunday –

• Ubisoft

The biggest thing for me this weekend has to be the Wizards of the Coast panel. I’m going to do my very best to liveblog from it. So if you follow me on Examiner.com, that’s where I’ll be writing about the panel. Hopefully we’ll get more information regarding “Journey Into Nyx” as well as some of the upcoming sets like “Magic 2015” and “Conspiracy.”

On Friday and Saturday, the exhibition halls close at 6 PM, but the table top area stays open until midnight. You will most likely find me there when the exhibition halls close. Just look for the Battleground Games & Hobbies booth.

Well that’s all for this week. If you’re going to PAX East this year and you see me, then make sure you say hi. Also, let me know what you think of the previews so far from “Journey Into Nyx.” What’s your favorite card so far? Also, what are you most excited to see at PAX East this year? Thanks for reading!

About the author

Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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Tags: Journey into Nyx, Magic the Gathering, MTG, PAX East 2014, Wizards of the Coast
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