Amonkhet finally arrives in Magic: the Gathering - Puzzle Quest!
Featuring 155 new cards, this new expansion is filled with new card combinations and abilities to try out.
The set features three new card abilities: Embalm, Exert and Cycling. We are also introducing the concept of the Exile stack and Exiling cards to provide more strategic elements to the game.
When a card has the Embalm keyword, it is always accompanied with a number (ie. Embalm 2). Embalm is only available on creatures.
When a creature with Embalm is destroyed, gems are activated (like activated abilities). The number of activated gems is equal to the number next to the Embalm keyword (Embalm 2 will activate 2 gems). When you match one of these activated gems, the creature with Embalm is Exiled then a token copy of the creature with Embalm is placed on the battlefield, with two modifications: it loses its Embalm ability and gains the Zombie subtype. There are multiple cards that synergize well with both Zombies and Tokens in the set, so this ability is very strong. It also essentially gives you two copies of these cards for the price of one.
The Exert keyword is always associated with a number (ie. Exert 3).
A creature with Exert will activate a gem that counts down by 1 at the start of each of your turns. When the gem’s countdown hits zero, it automatically activated. You can manually activate the gem by matching it at any moment, however.
When the gem activates, the ability listed next to the keyword executes. For example, “Exert 3: This creature gains Double Strike until the end of your turn” will give Double Strike to the creature until the end of your turn either when you match the gem or it will automatically trigger every 3 rounds.
The Cycling keyword is also always associated with a number (ie. Cycling 2)
Cycling is a unique ability that only applies to cards in your hand. To use the ability, you must manually Exile the card with the keyword by dragging it to the trash icon. The ability will only trigger if you have the listed number’s worth of mana in your cards - if you do, that much mana is drained from your cards, from top to bottom in your hand, then the card is Exiled and you draw 1 card. The drained mana does not need to be from a single card - for example, if your top card has 1 mana and your 2nd card has 2 mana, 1 will be drained from your top and 2 from your 2nd.
Cycling is very useful as it lets you get rid of certain cards quickly to refresh your hand. There are also several cards that trigger off Cycling other cards, and certain cards with Cycling also have an additional effect when you Cycle them.
Some cards now have the ability to Exile other cards. When a card is Exiled, it is removed from the battlefield and put in a special stack that cannot be accessed. Exiled cards are not considered Destroyed and any effects from Destroyed cards will not trigger.
Exiling a card is a great way to bypass many immunities and to remove creatures from the battlefield without triggering their “When this creature is Destroyed” effects.
A new Planeswalker is introduced with the release of Amonkhet: Gideon of the Trials!
This version of Gideon is especially well-suited to the Amonkhet set. He has the following abilities:
Ability 1: Oketra’s Initiates. Summons 1 (up to 4 at rank 4) 1/1 Initiate of Oketra tokens with Reach. This ability will not only help you defensively with tokens that have Reach, but will also greatly help in fulfilling Oketra’s goal of 3 creatures on the battlefield!
Ability 2: Forged by Might. This ability lets you target one of your creatures, exile it, then give your other creatures Power and Toughness equal to the exiled creature’s Power and Toughness. This ability is incredibly strong and makes your creatures much stronger quickly! At ranks 2/3/4, the ability gives an extra +1/+1 (+3/+3 at rank 4) to your creatures, strengthening them further.
Ability 3: Return from Exile. This ability is incredibly strong: at rank 1, it returns the last Exiled creature to your hand, but at ranks 2 and up it returns those creatures to the battlefield. At rank 4, it returns the last 3 Exiled creatures to the battlefield, making it a very strong ability. It also only costs 18, which is a very low cost for such a powerful ability. It’s especially strong with Embalm creatures, which Exile themselves - you can keep bringing them back after their tokens have entered the battlefield!
His mana gains are +5 White and +4 Green at level 60, giving him very high mana gains! The other colors are at +0, so concentrating on White and Green is a great idea.
As for his deck restrictions, he starts at 4 creatures, 3 spells and 3 supports at level 1 and ends with 5 in each at level 60, giving you a lot of leeway in how to build your decks.
Starting with the release of Amonkhet, all the events in the game will now have new rules in effect that limit the card sets available to participate in the event.
PvP Events from Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet can now only use cards from Origins, Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet combined. This means that Fate is Rarely Fair, for example, can now only be played with cards from Origins as well as the Kaladesh and Amonkhet blocks.
Note that events from prior sets as well as current PvE events have no restrictions on card sets, and you can build decks using any card in your collection.
While we realize that this change can be somewhat controversial, we also believe it is crucial to the game’s health going forward, for several reasons:
This release also brings new events!
Two new weekend events have been added: *New Update*
Trial of Zeal, a new PvE Coalition Challenge where you face off against the Gods of Amonkhet. Similar to previous Coalition Challenges, your Coalition will work together to defeat the Gods of Amonkhet by winning encounters and completing objectives. (This event is an exception to the PvE rule, and will follow PVP event deck restrictions.)
Trial of Strength, a new PvP Coalition Challenge that is tied to the release of new Planeswalkers. One node is locked to a newly released Planeswalker and the other 2 are open!
A new weekday PvP event has also been added - the Trial of Ambition. This new PvP event is centered around the Amonkhet set, and has Amonkhet-based objectives. It also features a Coalition leaderboard with Coalition rewards, so make sure you participate to prove your Coalition is the strongest!
Here is the list of objectives/rewards for the events for the first month:
Trial of Strength: Runs for 72 hours.
Restricted Planeswalker: Gideon of the Trials
Top end rewards: Climb the leaderboards to win great prizes! The top five players in Platinum will win 300 Mana Jewels, 150 Mana Crystals and a Rare Amonkhet Card. In addition, each member in the top two coalitions will win 80 Mana Jewels, 120 Mana Crystals and a Rare Amonkhet Card. Check out the rewards in-game for full details!
Node Objectives:
Trial of Ambition: Runs for 48 hours.
Restricted Colors: White, Black, Green, Blue
Top end rewards: Win an Amonkhet Booster and up to 55 Mana Crystals by collecting Event Ribbons. In addition, the most ambitious players can win 60 Mana Crystals, an extra Amonkhet Booster and an Amonkhet Rare Card on the leaderboard. Fight with your coalition for bonus rewards, including Mana Jewels!
In addition, each member in the top two coalitions will win 25 Mana Jewels, 1 Rare Amonkhet Card, and an Amonkhet Booster. Check out the rewards in-game for full details!
Trial of Zeal: Runs until the boss is defeated.
Top end rewards: Members of the top coalitions can win 50 Mana Jewels, 120 Mana Crystals and an Amonkhet Rare.
(This event is an exception to the PvE rule, and will follow PVP event deck restrictions.) *New Update*
Fate is Rarely Fair and Emergency Ordinances will now cycle every weekend on Monday and Tuesday. The events runs for 48 hours instead of 24. Each event also now has a 4th node.
Fate is Rarely Fair: Runs for 48 hours.
Restricted colors: White (new!), Blue, Green, Red
Updated Rewards: We’ve increased the number of Mana Crystals you can win in progression rewards. Win up to 55 Mana Crystals in Platinum.
Emergency Ordinances: Runs for 48 hours.
Restricted colors: Red (new!), White, Black, Blue
We have also added a new rule when determining event winners: ties will now award the highest possible reward, as opposed to splitting players into a time-based ranking.
For example, starting now, if 4 players are tied for first place, all 4 of them will receive the first place prize. The 5th player will receive the fifth place prize.
This change was made due to the fact that the time-based ranking felt unfair to players in multiple timezones and those who were unable to finish earlier. There is no longer a time constraint when it comes to attaining the highest score first, so we hope that this will slightly reduce pressure and let players play at their own pace.
With this release, we are also upping the amount of events that run, as well as making slight modifications to the current events.
There are now always concurrent PvP and PvE events running at all times during the week.
Weekday PvP events now run for 2 days instead of 1, and have had their rewards adjusted accordingly.
Now there is also a PvE event running from Monday to Thursday - we are starting with retooled versions of Revolt against the Consulate and Fateful Showdown. Every Monday to Thursday, one of the two events will be available to play. The events have been reworked so they no longer are coalition challenges, but instead are in a similar vein to the Oath of the Gatewatch event.
Rewards have also been reallocated. The goal is to make PvP events more competitive and to contain the bulk of Mana Crystals and Mana Jewels, while weekly PvE events focus on Mana Runes and card packs. Our goal with this change is to ensure that newer players can focus on the PvE events to get Mana Runes and boosters, while our more competitive players focus on PvP, where the rewards are more substantial.
We have made several changes to how cards are played, as well as their sequencing. These changes are mostly under the hood, but there are many small adjustments that were made to improve the consistency and the predictability of cards and effects. Look for a detailed forum post once the patch releases for the details regarding this change.
We will offer a brand new selection of special offers, such as new Planeswalkers, exclusive cards and new offers for Mana Crystals. On day one of the Amonkhet release, be ready to welcome Gideon of the Trials in the very first Planeswalker bundle we’re releasing for you to master. Check in every week for new limited-time offers!
We plan to release two expansions of new Amonkhet cards into the Vault at a later date, so that the game remains fresh for both PVP and your collection. Stay tuned!
In PvP events from Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet, you can now only create decks with cards from Origins, Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet combined.
In PvE events (outside of the new Coalition Challenge that runs on the weekends), you can create decks using any cards in your collection.
voodoo_gremlin said: "In PvP events from Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet, you can now only create decks with cards from Origins, Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet combined."This just seems like another headache for players, forcing us to buy deck slots. Personally, I was looking forward to getting away from energy and vehicles and now we're going to be stuck with them! Also, how come there wasn't an event based around fabricate?I hope that you'll have at least three types of events for Ammonkhet. Embalm, Exert and cycling.When will the list of cards go up?
LakeStone said: Embalm lets you return creatures as token copies of their original creature when you match an activated gem after they have been destroyed
LakeStone said: Exert is linked to an activated gem that counts down by 1 at the start of each of your turns. When you either match it or its count gets to zero, the ability is activated.
LakeStone said: New Event RulesStarting with the release of Amonkhet, all the events in the game will now have new rules in effect that limit the card sets available to participate in the event.In PvP events from Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet, you can now only create decks with cards from Origins, Kaladesh, Aether Revolt and Amonkhet combined.In PvE events (outside of the new Coalition Challenge that runs on the weekends), you can create decks using any cards in your collection.
Dropspot said: Ok, I have just spent all my hard earned jewels in 2 mithycs that are now worthless...
LakeStone said: Card changes/balancingOrnithopter now has Vigilance
LakeStone said:We are also introducing the concept of the Exile stack and Exiling cards to provide more strategic elements to the game.