Galactic Illusionary Gaming would like to welcome back our players and collectors to our preview series. Following on from Clans of the Resol'nare and the mini set of Rise of the Machines, the design team at the company have circled back to the eternal conflict between the Jedi Order and the Sith Order. While both sect of Force users had a presence in the Great Struggle set, much of that was focused on representing the struggles of the Second Great Hyperspace War, while the Ancient Cycle pulls on events and personages new, old, and positively ancient.
To start off this preview, the design team have slightly modified how they approach designing a set. In previous sets, not much focus was put towards creating a draftable environment with a higher focus on flavor leading how cards were designed. This philosophy began to shift during Clans of the Resol'nare and Rise of the Machines and has fully solidified as the modern approach to set design for the company. The team decided to build out how color pairings work by creating ten gold dual color uncommon cards that are meant to represent what each pairing, and a player designing a deck or drafting, should focus on if they get into those colors. That is not to say other strategies might not exist within those colors, but these signpost uncommons are meant to be a guide more than anything else. Today we will be focusing on the first five of these signposts:
The pairing of White/Blue has the theme of Frontline Heroes with a particular focus on Jedi Guardians and Sentinels and the new mechanic Heroic Choice. Whenever a condition is met, you would make a heroic choice for some sort of additional benefit whether that be adding counters to a card you control or drawing a card or any other benefit that progresses your board state. Other cards in this pairing will gain an additional ability if another card you control triggers a heroic choice, symbolizing the inspiration such heroes have on those around them.
The pairing of Blue/Black has the theme of Tempting Artifacts with a particular focus on Jedi and Sith cards that focus on Artifact cards in your deck or Netherworld. The new Tempt mechanic is found mostly on the Sith cards within this coloring pairing, for when you play a card, you may tempt an opponent with something specified on the card. If they are tempted, you gain an additional effect from that card, typically a more powerful version of the card's normal ability or effect. The pairing of Blue/Black also has a secondary theme of Sith Cultists centered on the recent Wonosa Cult and its mysterious masked leader Darth Strosius while Jedi Shadows and Sentinels lurk to stop exile and otherwise stop the dangerous artifacts trying to be unleashed.
The pairing of Black/Red has the theme of Scheming Villains with a particular focus on Sith cards that center around a new mechanic with Villainous Choice and a new keyword with Exploit. For villainous choice, whenever you meet the condition to trigger one, you target an opponent, and they must make a choice that either harms their board or enhances your own position. This can range from sacrificing something they control to allowing you to create tokens on your field or drawing cards while they discard or mill cards from their deck as some examples. Exploit allows you to sacrifice a Being or Creature you control when a card with Exploit enters the field or attacks. If you do, they gain an additional effect or ability.
The pairing of Red/Green has the theme of Power and Enhancement with a heavy focus on Jedi and Sith cards that are designed to enhance themselves in some way, either through gaining keywords and abilities or adding +1/+1 counters. This color pairing is designed to be a more aggressive pairing, especially with the new keyword Frenzy, which allows a card when it enters the field to either enter with a +1/+1 counter or with Haste.
The pairing of Green/White has the theme of Master and Apprentice with a heavier focus on Jedi Teachers and students such as Padawans and Younglings. Many of the Teacher cards have a newly reworked Instruct ability that allows them to "teach" an Acolyte, Apprentice, Padawan, or Youngling an ability on the Teacher card permanently. In addition, many of the Padawan and Youngling cards in this pairing have abilities that activate while you control a Teacher or Master, giving them a slight boost.
We look forward to sharing the other five signposts and details about their pairings in the coming days and are happy to reveal that the Ancient Cycle is expected to launch this Life Day for all markets and regions in the galaxy.
