Khans of Tarkir (Speculations and Spoilers)

[Thetrufflehunter]

I'd just like to say the name "Chianul, Who Whispers Twice" is a forsaking BA name..

[Destore117]

So guys I am getting the flavor and whatnt for each wedge..

Jeskai are monks
Mardu are barbarian nomads
junk are like the line of royalty and tradition..
The RUG are animalistic and like mountain men

But what is the deal with BUG? They have next to no flavor it seems... Strictly forgetable imo

Are you nuts? Quite plain they are snake overlords creating undead for servants. Like some decadent Egyptian/Aztec empire.  You lack taste if you can't you can't see the flavour in sultai.

{From Dusk Til Dawn} anyone?...

[LordJanova]

So guys I am getting the flavor and whatnt for each wedge..

Jeskai are monks
Mardu are barbarian nomads
junk are like the line of royalty and tradition..
The RUG are animalistic and like mountain men

But what is the deal with BUG? They have next to no flavor it seems... Strictly forgetable imo

I was thinking that maybe the tribes represent groups of people who were conquerors or world powers in their times.
The abzan are the Persians. The flavor is all there you only have to look in order to see it, and if that three color land doesn't scream agrabah I don't know what does.
The jeskai are the Chinese. They're monks and martial artists. The flavor is also all over the cards so little explaination is needed here.
The sultai are a toss up to me. They are either Egyptian or Aztecs. I can't figure out which. Maybe a bit of both. Both cultures had a lot to do with using the dead and gave a lot of importance to death and corpses. The sultai just take that further. The three color land for them makes me feel like it's more Aztec than Egyptian and so does the fact that they use delve. The Aztecs would have used the dead and death as a resource or weapon more than the Egyptians would have, as they praised their dead and would not "exile them from the graveyard". That would be blasphemous.
The mardu are Mongolian. They conquer and destroy. The ability raid is very much representative of that. And the cards have key pieces of evidence towards that too. Mardu heart piercer is riding a horse and wielding a curved bow which was a big thing for the Mongolians. And the nomad outpost also screams Mongolian. They were nomads while they conquered under genghis khan(even the word khan points to that as well).
The temur are the Vikings. The heavy fur coats and big axes are very much Viking and of course there is snow in almost every card for their tribe.
That's just what I think. The theory could use some expanding but we also haven't seen every card yet so there might be more evidence spoiled for us pretty soon.

[Ekann1]

I want one of these SO MUCH!

[Destore117]

I want one of these SO MUCH!

Playmat? Why're people so obsessed with these?
They're coo and all but seem like a hassle.

[Ekann1]

They look really cool, especially this one. Plus they make picking up your cards and protecting sleeves easier. Also, they make you look like you're really good, cuz you have a playmat. XD

[Destore117]

MANTIS RIDER >.>

[rarehuntertay]

I want one of these SO MUCH!

Playmat? Why're people so obsessed with these?
They're coo and all but seem like a hassle.

I wish the M15 Game Day mat looked like this... 😢

[Spikepit]

So guys I am getting the flavor and whatnt for each wedge..

Jeskai are monks
Mardu are barbarian nomads
junk are like the line of royalty and tradition..
The RUG are animalistic and like mountain men

But what is the deal with BUG? They have next to no flavor it seems... Strictly forgetable imo

I was thinking that maybe the tribes represent groups of people who were conquerors or world powers in their times.
The abzan are the Persians. The flavor is all there you only have to look in order to see it, and if that three color land doesn't scream agrabah I don't know what does.
The jeskai are the Chinese. They're monks and martial artists. The flavor is also all over the cards so little explaination is needed here.
The sultai are a toss up to me. They are either Egyptian or Aztecs. I can't figure out which. Maybe a bit of both. Both cultures had a lot to do with using the dead and gave a lot of importance to death and corpses. The sultai just take that further. The three color land for them makes me feel like it's more Aztec than Egyptian and so does the fact that they use delve. The Aztecs would have used the dead and death as a resource or weapon more than the Egyptians would have, as they praised their dead and would not "exile them from the graveyard". That would be blasphemous.
The mardu are Mongolian. They conquer and destroy. The ability raid is very much representative of that. And the cards have key pieces of evidence towards that too. Mardu heart piercer is riding a horse and wielding a curved bow which was a big thing for the Mongolians. And the nomad outpost also screams Mongolian. They were nomads while they conquered under genghis khan(even the word khan points to that as well).
The temur are the Vikings. The heavy fur coats and big axes are very much Viking and of course there is snow in almost every card for their tribe.
That's just what I think. The theory could use some expanding but we also haven't seen every card yet so there might be more evidence spoiled for us pretty soon.

Took the word straight outta my head! Couldn't agree more! Especially with Sultai>Egyptian being having a Cat Demon.

[LordJanova]

So guys I am getting the flavor and whatnt for each wedge..

Jeskai are monks
Mardu are barbarian nomads
junk are like the line of royalty and tradition..
The RUG are animalistic and like mountain men

But what is the deal with BUG? They have next to no flavor it seems... Strictly forgetable imo

I was thinking that maybe the tribes represent groups of people who were conquerors or world powers in their times.
The abzan are the Persians. The flavor is all there you only have to look in order to see it, and if that three color land doesn't scream agrabah I don't know what does.
The jeskai are the Chinese. They're monks and martial artists. The flavor is also all over the cards so little explaination is needed here.
The sultai are a toss up to me. They are either Egyptian or Aztecs. I can't figure out which. Maybe a bit of both. Both cultures had a lot to do with using the dead and gave a lot of importance to death and corpses. The sultai just take that further. The three color land for them makes me feel like it's more Aztec than Egyptian and so does the fact that they use delve. The Aztecs would have used the dead and death as a resource or weapon more than the Egyptians would have, as they praised their dead and would not "exile them from the graveyard". That would be blasphemous.
The mardu are Mongolian. They conquer and destroy. The ability raid is very much representative of that. And the cards have key pieces of evidence towards that too. Mardu heart piercer is riding a horse and wielding a curved bow which was a big thing for the Mongolians. And the nomad outpost also screams Mongolian. They were nomads while they conquered under genghis khan(even the word khan points to that as well).
The temur are the Vikings. The heavy fur coats and big axes are very much Viking and of course there is snow in almost every card for their tribe.
That's just what I think. The theory could use some expanding but we also haven't seen every card yet so there might be more evidence spoiled for us pretty soon.

Took the word straight outta my head! Couldn't agree more! Especially with Sultai>Egyptian being having a Cat Demon.

The more I look at the few cards we have spoiled for the sultai the more I'm sure that it's not one or the other, but in fact both the Aztecs and Egyptians. The clothing on sidisi and the other tribesmen feels like a mix of both but I want to say it is more on the Aztec side. Snakes are often associated with Egypt, but are also present in Aztec and Mayan infrastructure. The necropolis fiend artwork is a big hint towards the Aztec definitely being a part of the sultai. He's sitting on top of a pyramid like structure, but it's more like a ziggurat than a pyramid. He has delve so when you use him you "sacrifice" the resources in your graveyard  to him at the top of the ziggurat the same way the Aztecs would sacrifice people to their gods at the top of the ziggurat. The entire mechanics of the sultai tribe only work if it's both Aztec and Egypt. It's resource manipulation. But Aztec and Egyptian can't fully manipulate resources by themselves. The Aztec part creates resources with the dredging aspect(the sacrifices to the gods) and the Egyptians use them to create zombies(mummies) and then the Aztecs go back and exile what's left in order to delve things in faster(it's pseudo mana creation in that you don't pay it, similar to the Aztecs sacrificing to the gods in order to prosper and grow food) which the Egyptians wouldn't do, they wouldn't defile the dead. Flavor wise the Egyptians would just create zombies and reanimate creatures by themselves, and the Aztecs would just sacrifice creatures and dredge, but by uniquely combining them and changing what they interact with you create the sultai who, instead of sacrificing creatures and reanimating them, dredging and creating zombies the way bug typically does, sacrifice their library by putting it into their graveyard and in the process create creatures and then further sacrifice their graveyard in order to create the effect of having produced mana. Forgive me if this makes no sense. I'm tired and BUG is by far my favorite color combination so I get very into it.

[Spikepit]

Man I love deep seeded flavour in sets like this! Abzan and Sulti all the way (... The only problem now is getting myself out of the habit of Junk and Bug...)

[InfinitiveDivinity]

So guys I am getting the flavor and whatnt for each wedge..

Jeskai are monks
Mardu are barbarian nomads
junk are like the line of royalty and tradition..
The RUG are animalistic and like mountain men

But what is the deal with BUG? They have next to no flavor it seems... Strictly forgetable imo

Are you nuts? Quite plain they are snake overlords creating undead for servants. Like some decadent Egyptian/Aztec empire.  You lack taste if you can't you can't see the flavour in sultai.

{From Dusk Til Dawn} anyone?...

Haha wth? I literally just watched that movie...

[Spikepit]

Don't watch the Netflix series anytime soon then.

[cltrn81]

Anyone notice the 4/4 for 3 mana?
And for {R} it gains haste?
{2}{G} it can get +2/+2 until end of turn
And something else
Holy crap that's gonna hurt

His other ability is {2}{U}: return to your hand.  This guy is going to do some work.

[Destore117]

Don't watch the Netflix series anytime soon then.

Is it that bad?

No but the movie doesn't follow the book as much and doesn't fill out all the characters as much.

The show does. And the creatures weren't vampires, they were snake demons.