Theros/Intro packs

Theros has five bicolored intro packs.

Favors from Nyx
Favors from Nyx is a white/black intro pack centering around the Bestow mechanic. With the "Favors from Nyx" deck, bestow the gifts of the divine on your creatures, enhancing them with additional power and useful abilities.

A creature with bestow, such as Hopeful Eidolon, can be cast as a creature when you need one or as an Aura to enchant a creature you already have, including another bestow card that you cast as a creature. The best thing about bestow is that even if your opponent kills your enchanted creature, all of your bestow Auras will remain on the battlefield and revert back to creature form.

Celestial Archon is an especially awesome bestow creature because it is a potent threat on its own. If you are patient and wait to bestow your Celestial Archon on another creature, you make your opponent deal with it twice: once as an Aura and again as a creature.

The other spells in the deck will help you counter your opponent's strategy while building up your own. Save your kill spells, like Doom Blade and Vanquish the Foul, for creatures that are hard to block or for particularly large creatures. Gift of Immortality can buy you lots of time by creating a nigh-unkillable blocker.

If you enjoy playing with bestow creatures, consider Nighthowler from the Theros™ set, which grows in power as more creatures hit the graveyard. Fabled Hero is one of the most powerful Theros creatures to enchant because of the heroic ability and double strike. Ajani's Chosen from Magic 2014 grants you a free 2/2 Cat creature token for every enchantment you cast, including enchantment creatures with bestow — whether you cast them as Auras or as creatures.

 Lands 16 Plains 9 Swamp

Creatures 1 Auramancer 1 Baleful Eidolon 1 Banisher Priest 1 Blightcaster 1 Cavern Lampad 1 Celestial Archon 1 Erebos's Emissary 2 Heliod's Emissary 2 Hopeful Eidolon 2 Lagonna-Band Elder 1 Minotaur Abomination 2 Observant Alseid 1 Pillarfield Ox 1 Scholar of Athreos 1 Sentry of the Underworld 2 Traveling Philosopher 1 Yoked Ox

Instants 1 Doom Blade 2 Last Breath 2 Pharika's Cure 1 Ray of Dissolution

Sorceries 2 Vanquish the Foul

Enchantments 1 Gift of Immortality 2 Ordeal of Erebos 1 Ordeal of Heliod 1 Pacifism

Manipulative Monstrosities
Manipulative Monstrosities is a blue/red intro pack centering around the Monstrosity mechanic. With the "Manipulative Monstrosities" deck, you can command colossal Krakens, gargantuan Giants, and the forces of nature itself to smash your opponent into submission.

This deck aims to control the early game with defensive spells until it can crush the opponent with powerful monsters. Red direct-damage spells like Shock and Lightning Strike will zap early creatures, while tricky blue spells like Griptide and Dissolve will throw off your opponent's plans. Many of your spells feature the scry mechanic, which will help you find your creatures or the lands to cast them.

Later in the game, your Giants and sea monsters will dominate the battlefield with the monstrosity ability. Once your creatures become monstrous, they'll be positively enormous, often with a one-time additional bonus. Stoneshock Giant sets up a big attack, and the mighty Shipbreaker Kraken grabs up to four of your opponent's best creatures in its tentacles. If you have two or more big creatures in your hand, it's a good idea to cast them all before you start activating their monstrous abilities. That way your strategy won't rely on just a single creature, in case your opponent has a kill spell or a trick.

Krakens and sea monsters aren't the only wonders you'll uncover in the Theros set. You'll also find potent spells like Steam Augury and Anger of the Gods, which will help you control the game. You may even encounter the elusive Prognostic Sphinx, a powerful flier that lets you scry whenever it attacks. And if you devote yourself to Thassa, God of the Sea, she can aid your cause herself by guiding your fate and drowning your enemies.

 Lands 16 Island 10 Mountain

Creatures 2 Archaeomancer 1 Burnished Hart 2 Coral Merfolk 2 Crackling Triton 2 Ill-Tempered Cyclops 2 Omenspeaker 2 Sealock Monster 1 Shipbreaker Kraken 2 Stoneshock Giant 1 Wall of Frost 1 Water Servant

Instants 1 Disperse 1 Dissolve 2 Griptide 2 Lightning Strike 1 Lost in a Labyrinth 1 Magma Jet 2 Shock 1 Volcanic Geyser

Sorceries 1 Curse of the Swine 2 Rage of Purphoros 1 Sea God's Revenge

Enchantments 1 Ordeal of Purphoros

Devotion to Darkness
Devotion to Darkness is a blue/black intro pack centering around the Devotion mechanic. With the "Devotion to Darkness" deck, your primary goal is to assemble many black permanents to increase your devotion to black—the number of black mana symbols (Black Mana) in the mana costs of permanents you control.

You'll want to play defensively in the early game to keep your creatures alive and counting toward your devotion. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is one of the most powerful devotion effects in the deck, so it's a good strategy to hold it until you have many other black permanents on the battlefield. Abhorrent Overlord is a powerful way to turn your devotion into a game-winning army of fliers all by itself.

Since many of your creatures are good at playing defense, you have the luxury of saving your creature-removal spells for only the biggest threats. You'll be able to gain life along the way with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Pharika's Cure, and Insatiable Harpy. Lots of your creatures have abilities that trigger when they enter the battlefield, so cards that let you reuse them, like March of the Returned and Rescue from the Underworld, are especially potent.

Your devotion to dark magic will lead you to discover other powerful spells throughout the Theros set and beyond. Magic 2014 offers the enchantment Dark Prophecy, which adds to your devotion to black and lets you draw cards if your opponent kills your minions. Erebos, God of the Dead is an awesome addition to this deck, helping you draw more cards and shutting off your opponent's life gain. Even better, you'll often have enough devotion for him to manifest as a huge, indestructible creature!

 Lands 9 Island 16 Swamp

Creatures 1 Abhorrent Overlord 2 Blood-Toll Harpy 2 Child of Night 2 Disciple of Phenax 2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel 2 Horizon Scholar 2 Insatiable Harpy 1 Minotaur Abomination 2 Mogis's Marauder 2 Returned Phalanx 2 Undead Minotaur

Instants 1 Boon of Erebos 1 Griptide 1 Lash of the Whip 1 Pharika's Cure 1 Rescue from the Underworld 1 Voyage's End

Sorceries 2 Glimpse the Future 1 March of the Returned 1 Sea God's Revenge 2 Sip of Hemlock

Enchantments 1 Ordeal of Thassa

Artifacts 1 Whip of Erebos 1 Witches' Eye

Blazing Beasts of Myth
Blazing Beasts of Myth is a red/green intro pack and the second one centering around the Monstrosity mechanic. Monstrous terrors encroach into the territories of Theros's proud civilizations, threatening to crush their great cities into dust. The "Blazing Beasts of Myth" deck puts them at your command.

This deck's goal in the early game is to buy time. Block with less expensive creatures like Satyr Rambler and Minotaur Skullcleaver if they can take down enemy attackers, even if you lose creatures in the process. Use your damage-dealing spells early and often to kill your opponent's creatures. Other decks might save Volcanic Geyser until it can deal maximum damage, but this deck has creatures to spend its mana on later. It's especially important to use these damage spells against creatures with flying that can soar over your defenses.

After your large creatures are on the battlefield and attacking, it's time to shift gears. Start using your damage-dealing spells to take down the creatures your opponent left back to block, clearing the way for your much larger creatures to take chunks out of your opponent's life total. You should also consider saving Portent of Betrayal or the monstrosity ability of Stoneshock Giant until it's time for one final attack.

If you're looking for more monstrosities to add to your deck, you might consider Stormbreath Dragon and Arbor Colossus from the Theros set. Both of them start large and get larger, and they both help defend against opposing aerial assaults. You might also consider Sylvan Caryatid and the Magic 2014 card Elvish Mystic, both of which help you get your monstrous creatures onto the battlefield faster.

 Lands 11 Forest 14 Mountain

Creatures 2 Borderland Minotaur 1 Ember Swallower 1 Ill-Tempered Cyclops 2 Minotaur Skullcleaver 2 Nemesis of Mortals 2 Nessian Asp 1 Nessian Courser 1 Polis Crusher 1 Rootwalla 2 Satyr Hedonist 1 Satyr Piper 2 Satyr Rambler 2 Stoneshock Giant 2 Voyaging Satyr

Instants 1 Artisan's Sorrow 1 Destructive Revelry 2 Lightning Strike 2 Magma Jet 2 Volcanic Geyser 1 Windstorm

Sorceries 1 Portent of Betrayal 2 Rage of Purphoros

Enchantments 1 Dragon Mantle

Anthousa's Army
Anthousa's Army is a green/white intro pack centering around the Heroic mechanic. With the "Anthousa's Army" deck, use potent spells to help your heroes find their inner strength and defeat the enemy.

You'll begin the game by attacking with efficient early creatures, like Favored Hoplite and Wingsteed Rider. When your opponent begins to mount a defense, you can cast an instant, sorcery, or Aura spell that targets one of your heroic creatures and give it an extra boost on top of whatever your spell does. Instant spells like Giant Growth and Battlewise Valor are especially potent, because you can wait until the middle of combat to cast them on your heroes.

Aggressively boost your heroes early in the game so that you'll be able to take advantage of their permanent increase in size. You can use support cards like Pacifism and Vanquish the Foul offensively on enemy blockers to keep up the assault.

At the head of your army is Anthousa, Setessan Hero, who can turn your lands into additional attackers when you target her with a spell. Once you have five or six lands on the battlefield, you can usually afford to lose some to deliver a crippling assault.

If you enjoy commanding an army of heroes, the Theros set has more great cards in store for you. The planeswalker Elspeth, Sun's Champion will certainly inspire courage in your troops, summoning soldiers to the battlefield and boosting them with her powerful emblem. Polukranos, World Eater makes a monstrous support unit for your army, clearing the battlefield of several enemies at once. The enchantment creature Boon Satyr can boost your assault by bestowing its strength onto one of your heroes at a crucial moment of the battle.

 Lands 13 Forest 12 Plains

Creatures 1 Anthousa, Setessan Hero 2 Centaur Battlemaster 2 Chronicler of Heroes 2 Deadly Recluse 2 Elvish Mystic 1 Favored Hoplite 1 Phalanx Leader 1 Pheres-Band Centaurs 2 Rumbling Baloth 1 Setessan Battle Priest 1 Setessan Griffin 2 Staunch-Hearted Warrior 2 Wingsteed Rider

Instants 1 Artisan's Sorrow 2 Battlewise Valor 2 Dauntless Onslaught 2 Giant Growth 2 Warriors' Lesson

Sorceries 2 Time to Feed 1 Vanquish the Foul

Enchantments 2 Pacifism

Artifacts 1 Bow of Nylea