Released less than a month ago, we are knee deep in Zendikar and will be for two more years (before it rotates out of Standard). Vampire decks and allies are invading our casual games and even sneaking into competitive play. Day of Judgment seems to herald a new age of mono-white control, especially with Luminarch Ascension. Meanwhile Sorin Markov has done the same for mono-black, with help from Mind Sludge this time. The point? We are firmly entrenched in Zendikar. However that doesn't mean we aren't looking off towards the horizon known as Worldwake. Before concrete information begins trickling out from the MTG community, we here at Gathering Magic like to make a few predictions regarding any upcoming set. In this case the predictions have been broken into three groups. First the 'Well, yeah. . .' predictions. These are basically locks. Second is the 'Bold Predictions' group, or guesses that take a little faith. The third section, 'Hopes and Dreams' is self-titled.

[caption id="attachment_5202" align="alignright" width="255" caption="the original Jace was a mill deck card, that will most certainly change. especially while the mill-Jace remains legal in the same standard format. instead it is likely to include other basic 'blue' abilities."][/caption]

Well, yeah. . .

Jace Beleren will be back. Much like Chandra, WotC foreshadowed Jace's return at the end of this web-comic. And much like Chandra we can expect a slightly transformed Jace to make an appearance in Worldwake. He will be the only walker in the expansion. There will be no Ob Nixilis yet, especially since we had red and black planeswalkers in Zendikar. While there are similar signs pointing to a return by Elspeth, Knight Errant it seems unlikely. Besides, Jace is often recognized as the face of Magic. Don't believe me? Just follow this link to the MTG.com homepage. Like Chandra before him, Jace will have new abilities and most likely have a higher CMC. For an (obviously mock) preview of the new Jace check out the sidebar to the right.

More Eldrazi remnants and still no sign of the Eldrazi themselves. If message boards are to be believed, the third and final Zendikar expansion will be titled 'Rise of the Eldrazi'. Of course if they aren't rising until the next set then Worldwake will be without these enigmatic beings. That does not mean however that signs of the ancient race will not show up in abundance. Eldrazi Monument was only the tip of the iceberg. Legendary lands, equipment and other artifacts bearing the Eldrazi mark will be sprinkled in throughout Worldwake.

Textless lands are the new standard. Regardless of the type of basic lands we saw in Zendikar, we will see the same in Worldwake. New basic lands simply do not come out each expansion. However, it is worth noting that textless lands should be included in every new set moving forward. They are too fan-friendly to stop printing, and there hasn't been any text on basic lands since 1996. That was the year they changed with Portals and we haven't looked back since. This is merely the next step.

Bold Predictions. . .

A touch of gold. You read that correctly. After swearing off multi-colored cards for all of two sets (M10 and Zendikar) they're back. Not in droves like Shards of Alara, or as a gimmick like Alara Reborn, but as a way to emphasize certain legendary creatures.

[caption id="attachment_5228" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="color-pie be damned"][/caption]

The same way it was always done from Tempest through Lorwyn. There will probably be two, but perhaps only one. Because the planeswalker is Jace, and Jace Beleren will assuredly be mono-blue, don't look for any gold planeswalkers here. Only bit characters from the Zendikar-Worldwake story line. For those of you not ready to tread back into gold waters - too bad. One core set and one expansion have taken place with zero multi-chromatic colors. For the color-wheel athiests at Wotc, that was more than enough time.

The land will come alive. Remember Dryad Arbor, the quirky little forest/creature from the Future Sight expansion? It will be one of a full cycle of creature lands to be included in Worldwake. Whispers of new types of land, and mana being produced in unique ways have been haunting Zendikar since its announcement. Here we have a great example of both. Of course just because it was time-shifted doesn't mean it has to show up later, but in this case it makes too much sense.

[caption id="attachment_5220" align="alignright" width="184" caption="remember me?"][/caption]

Few if any vampires, and a return of elf tokens. From time to time we at Gathering Magic are forced to directly refute something we just wrote. In this case, Three Up and Three Down: Zendikar included Vampires over Elves as the third pair. While that is certainly the case now, elves are merely biding time before the tribal spotlight is theirs again. WotC won't stand by and let Elvish Archdruid rot and Nissa Revane still needs to be developed as a character, and a playable card. Without a single elf token generator in standard Nissa is running at half-speed. For those of you thinking the flavor of Zendikar precludes tribal groups (and tokens especially) remember this, Vampires have their own city! Besides there are already plenty of utility vampires and some serious vamp-bombs within Zendikar.

Hopes and Dreams. . .

No more dual/fetch lands. Make no mistake, the fetch lands are as popular with us as they are anywhere else. Pulling $15-$20 cards is always awesome. But please no more WotC! We beg of you. Including Alara there are now four cycles of dual+ lands in standard. Not to mention additional special lands like Exotic Orchard. Remember when mana-fixing was hard? That is the way it should be. At this rate we'll being seeing Five-Color-Control come back by March. No allied fetch lands, no enemy CIPT lands, no lands that generate additional colors in Worldwake period.

Better or more complete allies. The idea of allies is certainly cool. A non-sliver tribe that brings something from each color of the wheel. Great, but how about a little effort on the abilities Wizards? With the exception of the rares Zendikar allies basically read 'creatures get +1/+1 counters whenever a creature of the same type enters the battlefield'. Useful but very boring. We need some more unique abilities. Allies you control gain flying until end of turn, or trample, or any other ability. How about allies that give huge benefits, but only if two or more allies entered play this turn. The surface has only been scratched and its time we go deeper.

[caption id="attachment_5223" align="alignleft" width="266" caption="too much to ask?"][/caption]

A true sweep for black. Before you shout about how Infest and Marsh Casualties are both legal in Standard, please take the time to re-read the opening line. These are not true sweeps. They are cards meant to achieve slight card advantage, not decimate an army. What black needs, or deserves depending on your point of view, is a good old fashioned board clearer. Even if it is unplayable like Plague Wind, at least the spirit is there. Vampires are heating up the competitive Magic scene. But until there is true sweep for mono-black the future of these decks is hazy at best.

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Keep checking the Worldwake spoiler page for news, rumors, and the latest releases. And the chance to call me a liar of course.