Robin Russell
3/28/2008
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The Orb of Insight

One of the fun parts of living here on the left coast is that many “daily” websites update at midnight eastern time. That is only 9:00pm here on the best coast. This means I can get a sneak peak at these sites without staying up past my (depressingly early) bedtime of 10:30. Happily, the Wizards of the Coast mothership is one these midnight update sites. On Sundays I try to take a quick Peek at the Wizards site and check out the theme for the next week. This can sometimes be relevant to my writing, but more often is just for fun. This past Sunday I loaded up the Wizards page and just seconds later posted my topic for this week in the writer's forum here on My.TCGplayer:

“w00t! They brought back the Orb of Insight on the MTGO page.

For my article this week I'm definitely going to do a tour of the race/class numbers and run the numbers on some classic abilities, as well as some of the much speculated future-shifted abilities.”

Not the most eloquent communiqué of my life, but so it went. My previous (half conceived, mostly tested) column concept was thrown out the window thanks to one glance at the Wizards web page.


In case you are not familiar with the Orb of Insight I'll briefly describe its powers. It lets you check one word at a time to see if, and how often, it shows up in the Oracle text of a set (flavor text is not checked). You cannot successfully search for “Mistmeadow Skulk” however you may be able to determine whether that card is present or not by searching for “Mistmeadow” and “Skulk” individually. As it turns out Mistmeadow Skulk is in this set.

The Orb will then tell you how many times a word shows up. Note that the number the Orb spits out represents each instance of a word, not the total number of cards that word appears on.

For example, the Demigod of Revenge pre-preview card has three separate instances of “Demigod” within its name and text.


Upon consultation the Orb reveals that there are four total instances of “Demigod” in the set which means there is just one other mention of “Demigod” out there. Is it another Demigod, or perhaps a removal spell specifically targeting avatars or spirits with a name like “Demigod's Bane?” It is tough to say at this point, but it is fun to Ponder.

Hopefully the following is a useful and more easily accessible summary of much of the information that I, and many many other avid Orb users, have dug up on this set over the past week. This summary draws on first hand searches of the Orb as well as confirmed searches here, and at the Wizards thread. Just remember, as powerful as the Orb is, it often generates as many questions as it does answers.

What is Shadowmoor?

Before we truly stare into the depths of the Orb it helps to understand something about Shadowmoor itself. The community has long had an inkling that Shadowmoor and Lorwyn were connected. Ever since the surprise four part / double mini block was announced as Peanut Butter / Jelly Doughnut individuals have speculated about the connection thanks to the Butter / Jelly “bridge.” Once Lorwyn was released speculation was rampant about various gateways that may connect the two planes. The Dolem Gate, Door of Destinies, even Baron Sengir's Planar Portal from Homelands all entered into the speculation. In the end however, the “solution” was much simpler. Wizards recently revealed that Shadowmoor is not a parallel or mirror plane to Lorwyn. Shadowmoor is Lorwyn.

“Rhys, the elf renegade with broken horns, was poised to regain his position in elf society. The flamekin Ashling was poised to accept the destiny thrust upon her by an elemental entity. The sapling grown from Colfenor's seedcone was poised to make the old treefolk's plans a reality. At the moment they all saw their plans coming to fruition, everything changed.

Darkness fell. The Great Aurora swept across the plane, transforming it into an eerie world of permanent Gloom, and wiping away almost all traces of its former nature. The denizens of the plane have transformed along with it, memories and all, and now only a precious few still remember the name Lorwyn.

All others know the world by its new name: Shadowmoor.”

Card Type Breakdown

The Orb Says:
Enchantment: 39
Aura: 17
Instant: 36
Creature: 350
Sorcery: 40
Artifact: 29
Equipment: 3
Land: 42

Shadowmoor is another “big” set, so we can expect it to contain 301 cards just like Lorwyn. With that in mind these distributions look approximately normal for a large set. It certainly isn't a Legions, or anti-Legions set. Keep in mind that the above are not card numbers, but instances each word appears. Numerous cards will reference creatures (destroy, target, return, choose, etc…) but as usual creatures will definitely make up the bulk of the set.

The most notable numbers here are the Aura and Land numbers. Both are relatively high, even for a large set. The U/W theme deck for Shadowmoor is called “Aura Mastery,” so perhaps that accounts for the many auras in the set? It appears that the aura swap mechanic that debuted in Future Sight is not making a return, so we may be getting a different type of aura specific mechanic. Of course it is always possible that “Aura Mastery” has a less literal meaning as well.

“Land” always appears at least twenty times in a large expansion, representing the four versions of each basic land, everything beyond that is fodder for speculation. Since “Graven” and “Cairns” each show up as “one ofs” in the Orb it looks like the speculation that we will get a cycle of allied colored “Cairn lands” is correct. This seemed pretty likely once the allied color hybrid nature of the set was revealed, but the confirmation is great. Allied color decks (R/G in particular) have been looking for more effective duals to supplement their painlands ever since Ravnica block rotated out. These duals will make an excellent complement to another land the community has been able to confirm:

The Orb Says:
Refecting: 1
Pool: 25


While twenty five occurrences of the word “pool” is… interesting, it does seem to confirm that the art Mark Rosewater revealed in his Shaman Week column is indeed our old friend Reflecting Pool. With just a couple of duals in play (or a Primal Beyond) Reflecting Pool becomes a virtual rainbow land with no drawback.

Adding the Pool and Cairns cycle to our basic land we are filling 26 of the 42 “land” slots. Recent history suggests that we will see at least one other cycle of lands, and possibly two. Two more cycles (similar to Lorwyn's Vivids and Hideways) seem likely as that would leave six more references for the usual land search and Stone Rain clones. A more interesting possibility, that would link the high “aura” and “land” counts, would be a cycle similar to the Genju of the Spires cycle in Kamigawa block.

What is not in Shadowmoor?

Because Shadowmoor is the Lorwyn plane this shoots down some of the most popular theories about Shadowmoor. It is not a gothic world of vampires and werewolves, nor is it a darker return to a world of spirits and arcane spells. Spirits are present, but at least five of them are part of a cycle of Avatars, a la the Demigod of Revenge.

The Orb Says:
Vampire: 0
Sengir: 0
Spirit: 10
Avatar: 5
Arcane: 0
Ghost: 0

An exhaustive search of previous keyword mechanics shows that while the usual suspects (flying, first strike etc.) are around, we won't be revisiting any block specific mechanics OR any of the “future shifted” mechanics this time around. Some of the mechanics that have been most heavily speculated about are listed below. This also won't be the block where we get to play with riggers or assemble contraptions.

The Orb Says:
First strike: 5
Double strike: 2
Trample: 10
Flying: 41
Shroud: 3
Lifelink: 3
Fear: 4
Haste: 14
Flash: 6
Delve: 0
Morph: 0
Transfigure: 0
Transmute: 0
Gravestorm: 0
Flip: 0
Dredge: 0
Storm: 0
Threshold: 0
Convoke: 0
Suspend: 0
Flashback: 0
Hellbent: 0
Hideaway: 0
Kinship: 0
Evoke: 0
Riggers: 0
Contraption: 0

There is at least one plainswalker still left in Shadowmoor! Unfortunately, there are no Planeswalkers:

The Orb Says:
Plainswalk: 1
Planeswalker: 0

Is Shadowmoor still Tribal?

Wizards have said Shadowmoor is not a tribal set, and indeed no “tribal” (goblin instant) spells are revealed by the Orb. In actuality every set they interacts with a tribal heavy block inevitably has tribal relevance. While Shadowmoor does not actively support cross tribal synergy with changelings this time around (they seem to have disappeared entirely), nearly every creature now follows the race/class model. Just following that model has produced substantial tribal overlap. Look at how many Elves, Warriors, Shaman, and Elementals are still in the picture. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there is much help for those Great Bow Doyen or Assassin decks that you were hoping to build.

The Orb Says:
Giant: 16
Treefolk: 4
Elf: 23
Faerie: 17
Kithkin: 21
Merfolk: 15
Goblin: 19
Elemental: 27
Shapeshifter: 1
Changeling: 0
Wizard: 14
Rogue: 14
Warrior: 33
Shaman: 22
Soldier: 13
Knight: 10
Assassin: 1
Druid: 5
Archer: 0
Cleric: 6

There is at least one major newcomer to tribe-land, fans of Tim Burton may be excited. It seems like the Reaper King may have quite a few minions.


The Orb Says:
Scarecrow: 38

I am Legend

Speaking of the Reaper King: several of our old friends from Lorwyn join the ‘King in Shadowmoor. Mark Rosewater recently mentioned the “new” Wort, and several individuals who follow the Magic novels were able to help root out some additional names.

The Orb Says:
Legendary: 6
The Reaper King (Reaper: 1, King :1)
Rosheen Meanderer (Rosheen: 1, Meanderer: 1)
Wort, the Raidmother (Wort: 2, Raidmother: 2) – She likely references herself in her rules text.
Oona, Queen of the Fae (Oona: 1, Queen: 2, Fae: 2)
Sygg (Sygg: 1)
Rhys (Rhys: 1)

The above characters account for all six instances of “legendary,” so we won't be seeing a new version of Doran, the Siege Tower. It also looks like we won't find out what Colfenor's stats would have been. As a whole the Treefolk did not fair very well in the post-Aurora world getting only four mentions in the entire set.

Thematic Elements: Graveyard

Thanks to the dark flavor of Shadowmoor, which has been apparent dating back to at least the official release of the name and logo, it has frequently been speculated that Shadowmoor is the next “graveyard” block. Odyssey block set the standard for using the graveyard as a resource. Since then it has been tapped as a minor theme a few times but not used again as major theme. So what does the Orb reveal?

The Orb Says:
Graveyard: 41

We already saw that none of the previously used graveyard mechanics are being recycled. This isn't too surprising, as nearly all of them were touched on (or introduced!) in last year's Time Spiral block. Does this alone rule out the graveyard as a major thematic element? Not at all. In fact, I am of the opinion that Wizards R&D is much more likely to break new ground when it came time for another “graveyard matters” set, than rehash flashback and threshold.

When you consider that the 41 instances of “graveyard” in this set include increasingly stock phrases like “when ~this~ goes to the graveyard” and “return target permanent from the graveyard to your hand” it seems more like the graveyard will be more of a minor theme than the major thematic element. Also remember that the Orb searches the full oracle text for cards (including reminder text) so even if a new keyword would take some instances of “graveyard” off of the actual card the Orb should still find it. Finally, there nearly 130 (!!) cards (not instances) with “graveyard” printed on them in Odyssey. To me that settles it, the graveyard simply is not a major element with only 41 instances.

Thematic Elements: The mysterious “Q”

Way back last summer Mark Rosewater cryptically mentioned the letter “Q” for the first time. He said that it was to be used in an upcoming set and stood in for a more logical letter because that letter that was already in use. What Q could be has been a topic of conversation ever since on the speculation boards. Obvious letters already in use were the color series: WUBRG; T for tap; and X in X spells like Fireball.

This Monday 3/24 Mark Rosewater confirmed that Q would first be used in Shadowmoor:

“And the introduction of "Q"; never has something so simple been so brain Melting (one more hint: Q's a thing, but not a keyword mechanic)”

The Orb Says:
Q: 22

Remember, “Q” would not turn up in the Orb unless it was used alone, as a symbol or stand in like T or X. The Orb only reveals whole words or symbols. A card name starting in or containing Q (ex: Quicksliver) would not show up when Q is searched for in the Orb.

Some of the heaviest speculation surrounding Q is that it stands for a reversed tap symbol that means “untap.” And would be used something like this “untap (Q): add G to your mana pool. There is some logic to this, as U is already the abbreviation for the color blue. Being “key-symboled” is naturally not the same as being “keyworded,” since no words are involved so the Q = untap concept doesn't matches up with that part of Rosewater's statement as well. Since these cards would find themselves in the same block as tap enablers Mothdust Changeling and Heritage Druid it seems pretty likely that activation costs will also be attached to all “Q” effects. At least they better be.

Thematic Elements: Counter Revolution

One of the major elements in Morningtide was “counters matter,” and not just to the blue mage anymore. The cycle of neo-lords (like Bramblewood Paragon) grant +1/+1 counters and abilities to any creature that happens to have a +1/+1 counter on it. Having multiple types of these “lords” in play allows you to have overlap their bonuses, creating powerful Voltron-like effects. It looks like Shadowmoor may take this concept in a different direction:

The Orb Says:
-1/-1: 86
+1/+1: 36
Counter: 51
Wither: 22

That's right 86 instances of -1/-1, and 51 instances of counter. To put that in perspective, in the history of magic there are currently only about 120 cards that have “-1/-1” in their oracle text, and a large percentage of those are flankers. In Morningtide there are only 28 cards with the word “counter” on them. To be fair, it is always possible that a new mechanic lists “-1/-1” multiple times on each card, but even then this looks like it is definitely the major thematic element of Shadowmoor.

What does “wither” have to do with anything? Well, wither sounds an awful lot like it could be the opposite of the Fortify mechanic, distributing the weakening -1/-1 counters. It would be pretty odd for such a word to repeatedly pop up without having some mechanical significance. At this point it looks like it may operate in a different manner though, since “discard” (a part of the Fortify reminder text) only appears nine times in the set.

Fun with Numbers

I'll leave you with a great list compiled on the WOTC message boards that lists all the numbers of creatures with P/T between 0/1 and 10/10, and at the end there are a pair of pieces of Orb related wit that tickled my funny bone during the time I spent compiling this information.

The Orb Says:
Power and Toughness:

0/1 = 2
0/2 = 1
0/4 = 1

1/1 = 39 (Lorwyn = 38)
1/2 = 3
1/3 = 6
1/4 = 2

2/1 = 12
2/2 = 24 (Lorwyn = 38)
2/3 = 2
2/4 = 3

3/2 = 5
3/3 = 19 (Lorwyn = 16)
3/4 = 2
3/5 = 1
3/6 = 2

4/1 = 2
4/3 = 3
4/4 = 13 (Lorwyn = 12)
4/8 = 1

5/2 = 1
5/3 = 1
5/4 = 3
5/5 = 7
5/7 = 1

6/4 = 2
6/6 = 4

7/5 = 1
7/6 = 2
7/7 = 1

8/8 = 1

9/9 = 1

*/* = 5 (Lorwyn = 3)

x/x = 0
-From forum member Mindfire on the Wizards Boards (I did not personally confirm all these numbers)

For Laughs

Shadowmoor goes 0-1 drop:

The Orb Says:
Lose: 1
Win: 0

This clearly reveals an obvious retail bias on the part of Wizards of the Coast:

The Orb Says:
Target: 125
Walmart: 0

I hope you all enjoyed this and are looking forward to the previews starting next week. In the meantime I strongly encourage you to check out our Orb thread, as well as Wizards' (links at the top of this article) or just run a few queries in the Orb yourself. While I hope I've hit the major themes here, the community has run hundreds of search for corner cases and personal interests and just paging through may reveal some very interesting and surprising finds.

Happy Hunting!

Robin Russell
RoninX in the Forums
rwildernessr at yahoo dot com