That wasn’t the first song to come to mind actually. I thought of ‘Joker and thief’ by Wolfmother but, if this SPOILER is true, this is no joke. Hey ya, Vothos Voyeurs! We’re back with yet another leak…spoiler. Hmmm. Does it seem to you that someone, I’m not saying who (Wotc) is leaking these blurry pics just to drive us crazy? Nah, couldn’t be right? Heh, whatever the case we have yet another pic that gives us just enough details to have the MTG internet abuzz with speculation.
And, oh, yeah, if you don’t to be spoiled, you need to leave!
Merry Christmas, Vouyers…or should I be saying Merry Krampus? As the title suggests, we may be getting our own devilish planeswalker in the next set aka Kaldheim. The pic below has been ciriculating Reddit, Youtube among other internet hotspots and it has all of the little Magic playing boys and girls going to sleep with visions of devils and torture devices filling their dreams.
Yep, it looks like Tibalt may be heading to Kaldheim (not confirmed) along with the afore spoiled Kaya. Looking at the grainy pic, you can make out the red skinned, emo hair and horned devil, Kaya maybe in the middle and one other armored warrior(?). The armored warrior looks to be wearing ‘boob armor’ and may be a POC. And, upon further investigation of the close up (as best I could see) it looks like the third character has their hands up in a spellcasting stance.
FOLLOW THE PAIN
We find ourselves asking some of the same questions we asked when Kaya was spoiled. WHY? Well, looking at what motivates Tibalt, it’s simple: PAIN. His origin spark story is so similar and yet so different than most others. He was tester of the limits of the pain threshold of creatures. The abuse and torture Tibalt inflicted caught the attention of two entities: the authorities and devils themselves. If fact, both were involved in the igniting of his spark. Upon the arrival of the law to put a stop to Tibalt, bring him to trial in order to have him executed for his heinous crimes, the torturing devil (who was human at the time) wove a dangerous spell learned from his time with the infernal admirers who surrounded him. Something went wrong. Drawing power from the imps around him actually drew them into himself; fusing to their essence. AND his spark ignited.
Ever since, he has traveled the planes inflicting pain on anyone he can. He is, after all, a masochist which feeds off the pain of others. He proved his most sinister tormenting Chandra over her inability to save Gideon. Last we saw of him, he had failed to completely paralyze her, Chandra overcominb her pain and aiding in his imprisonment in a ‘anti=planeswalking’, rune covered prison cell in Kaldesh.
SO, why Kaldheim? Or better yet HOW Kaldheim?
When Kaldheim? IDK. The fact is that it looked like Tibalt was there to stay in Kaldesh. How he got out of the ‘rune covered’ security and decided, ‘Hey, I need a colder climate’ is anybody’s guess. Is it the agents of BOLAS doing a prison break? Did Ramaz jump in and spring him? Does all of this have something to do with the return of the big horned, dragon menace god thing? Personally, I say, “TOO SOON”
But, to be honest, if you’re a prick that gets off to others pain, Kaldheim isn’t a bad choice. Every time someone’s described it officially, it includes phrases like ‘hanging onto life’ or ‘desolate, unforgiven land’ and the likes. Tibalt would just have to have a seat and enjoy the pain of the kind of life the people of Kaldheim endure from day to day. But, I bet there’s more to it. Looks like the story for Kaldheim may be driven by the self-serving actions of the horned planeswalker. But is he working alone? IF the rumor mill is to be taken seriously, maybe not.
I’M OK, YOU’RE OKO?
We’re still not in a position to say, “we told you so” just yet, but the spoiler-mill is ripe with OKO. Yep, Oko. Now, I have no blurry pictures with this speculation, but that ‘spoiled’ card, OKO Winter’s Leige, is gaining more and more traction. If Oko is involved, what is HE up to and has he sprung Tibalt to pull the biggest prank of his young career? We know he’s a trickster like another lovable rogue we know, but is he down right sinister? I mean, if he’s involved with Tibalt, it may be a devilish turn for the elk-making fey.
One thing’s for sure, Oko isn’t on any of the packs unless they’re adding a third pic to the artwork. Because the image seen in the blowup above that ISN’T Kaya or Tibalt is DEFINITELY NOT Oko. Quite possibly, they are keeping Oko under wraps for a bonus surprise or, perhaps it’s because he draws such heat. You see, there is no middle ground with Oko. You either love him or hate him. The fact is that if you love Vorthos, you probably love Oko. He brings that little bit of chaos we all crave. Meyhem drives stories. BUT, if you’re a ‘I only play the game’ kind of guy, you probably hate him either because he hurt you in some way back in Eldraine (Show us on the bear where he hurt you) or you were wiping out elks like scute bugs and are angry he was banned. That’s probably too simple, but it seems to be the way.
WHO THE HELL IS THE THIRD FIGURE?
Which brings us to ‘contestant number three’: the unknown figure on the third pack that NO ONE is talking about.
Just taking it for what it is, the figure, as stated before, looks to be in a casting stance. Unless my eyes deceive me, the figure is wearing ‘boob armor’ suggesting a female. AND unless the lighting is off, she looks to be a person of color (One of Kaya’s relatives?). First of all, WOTC, you’re taking this irrational fear of ‘don’t feed the racists’ too far. I think it would have been appropriate on your first Viking inspired set to have ONE bearded white dude with a maniacal look on his face wielding a weapon. BUT that is irrelevant. As she casts, it looks like there are whitish globulars floating around her. SNOW? Do we have not only snow lands or permanents, but a SNOW LEGENDARY WIZARD of some sort?
Not only that, but is this some sort of new planeswalker as recently only the planeswalkers are getting on the pack art? Now, I love Oko and even getting Tibalt and Kaya is interesting, isn’t it time for a brand new Planeswalker? The OKO ‘spoiled card’ listed ‘Elk snow creature tokens’ and ‘snow permanents’ which fuels the fans constant clamor for snow anything right now. But, WHAT IF they have a brand knew Snow Permanent Planeswalker coming? I mean, it would be appropriate. Introducing a new Planeswalker in the first ever, debut of Kaldheim as a set? Aw, HELL yeah!
Now, with OKO that would make four planeswalkers which, although isn’t unheard of, isn’t the current MO of MTG. SO, it may be highly possible that the third figure on the packs may not even be a planeswalker. It is quite possibly one of the leadership figures of Kaldheim. No wings so it’s not Reidane, goddess of Justice (see our article on the released Kaldheim figures/SPECULATION SPOILERS: GODS OF KALDHEIM) but it could be any number of godlike beings we haven’t seen yet. It may also just be an authority figure, a cheiftan, king/queen or warlord.
Whatever it is, we’re stoked and, by the looks of your responses to the other articles, you are too. Leave your own personal speculations down below because your ideas are as valid and interesting as ours.
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