Mark Rosewater, head designer of Magic: The Gathering for Wizards of the Coast, released teasers for the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set. This set is scheduled to release on July 23 (see "Wizards of the Coast Reveals Product Line for 'Magic: The Gathering' 'D&D' Set").

Rosewater occasionally releases text previews of upcoming cards and mechanics, old school Duelist magazine-style, on his blog. The partial information revealed gave players a few hints as to what's in store for them as spoiler season kicks off. He started off by listing some mechanics and features on cards in this set:

  • a new enchantment subtype
  • a card granting -11/-11
  • a creature with a death trigger that make an equipment token
  • a legendary creature that makes a legendary Hamster creature token
  • something only seen previously in Un-sets comes to black border
  • an artifact that’s a musical instrument that creates harmony counters
  • a card that can keep your opponent from winning the game
  • an ability that cares about attacking with a certain amount of power of creatures
  • cards that let you decide where the story goes
  • a card that creates a legendary creature token named Vecna

Of note, the creature that makes Hamster creature tokens may refer to either Minsc, Boo, or both (see "Funko, Inc. Unveils 'Dungeons & Dragons' Pop! Figures"), as they are the most notorious mention of hamsters in D&D to date and Minsc is from Forgotten Realms. Rosewater went on to spoil some of the text on cards:

  • “Enchanted permanent is a Treasure artifact”
  • “Ward – discard a card.”
  • “Exchange your hand and library”
  • “Skeletons, Vampires and Zombies”
  • “Spend this mana only to cast Dragon spells or activate abilities of Dragons.”
  • “for each different mana value among nonland cards in your graveyard.”
  • “Then if you have fewer than three cards in hand, draw cards equal to the difference.”
  • “Whenever you cast a creature spell that doesn’t share a creature type with a creature you control or a creature card in your graveyard,”
  • “You may cast [THIS CREATURE’S NAME] from your graveyard if a creature not named [THIS CREATURE’S NAME] died this turn.”
  • “When its power become 20 this way,”

There are a few points of interest from these text excerpts. The mention of mana that can only be spent to cast Dragon spells or activate abilities likely alludes to a card or group of cards that make it easier to cast Tiamat, a five-color dragon that was previously spoiled (see "Wizards of the Coast Reveals Product Line for 'Magic: The Gathering' 'D&D' Set"). Also, Ward is specifically mentioned as a returning mechanic from Strixhaven, which is a toned down version of Hexproof and an earlier mechanic, Shroud.

As for the creature types, Rosewater mentioned the following:

  • Creature – Dwarf Citizen
  • Creature – Tiefling Wizard
  • Creature – Human Elf Monk
  • Creature – Elf Spider
  • Creature – Gnome Warlock
  • Creature – Halfling Rogue
  • Creature – Bird Bear
  • Legendary Creature – Dragon Knight
  • Legendary Creature – Devil God
  • Legendary Creature – Beholder

It was clear, from the art on the Collectors Booster Box, that there was going to be at least one beholder in the set. However, now that the beholder is identified as a legendary creature, the boss of the Thieves Guild in Skullport, Xanathar (see "Record Broken at WotC"), is on the table as a possible card. Also, Rosewater mentions a Bird Bear, which sounds like an awkward creature type at first glance. However, an owl is a bird, and there were definitely owlbears in Forgotten Realms (see "Proudly Display A 'Dungeons & Dragons: Owlbear Trophy Figure' In The Gaming Room").

Additionally, WotC released a few new cards from this set via their news site. This spoiler included the first glimpse of what Dungeon cards look like and do. Dungeons are new card types that start outside the game in the Command Zone, and can be triggered by cards with the keyword "venture". Each venture trigger moves players through a room in the Dungeon, starting with first, till it is completed. Once a Dungeon is completed, it is removed from the game, but completing a Dungeon may provide additional benefits to certain creatures. Players can have access up to three Dungeons, but only be in one Dungeon at time. 

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