Theros Beyond Death

Theros Beyond Death is the 83rd Magic expansion. It was released on January 24, 2020.

Set details
Escape Your Fate Like its predecessors Theros Beyond Death has an ancient Greek themed top-down design, making use of many mythological tropes (Heroes, Monsters, and Gods).

The main set contains 254 cards (5 basic lands, 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Additional cards are found in the set's Theme Boosters and planeswalker decks. A unique Buy-a-Box promotional card is also considered to be part of the set. Cards with an alternate card frames have another card number than the original version. Borderless planeswalkers are numbered #255-257, Showcase cards are numbered #258-268, the Buy-a-Box is #269, planeswalker deck cards are numbered #270-277, non-constellation basic lands are numbered #278-287, Theme Booster rares are #288-297 and extended artwork cards are numbered #298-351. The Bundle promo is numbered #352. Finally, there are FNM-treatment cards from the Universal promo pack numbered #353-357. Both regular and foil versions of these cards may be found in the collector boosters.

The set features five special Nyx-inspired full-art constellation basic lands (one per pack). The non-constellation basic lands are only found in supplemental products. These regular-border lands depict the "Above and Below" of Theros and its underworld. Besides the five basic lands, there are 11 constellation showcase cards. These are all the gods and demigods.

The set's expansion symbol is a Mask of the Returned.

Storyline
There is no ebook for Theros Beyond Death, nor were there weekly updates for Magic Story. It was revealed that the blowback from War of the Spark: Forsaken caused the Theros Beyond Death fiction to be delayed. The Franchise Team is trying to find the correct time and channel to release it at a later point in time.

The set focuses on the Underworld of Theros over the normal world of the plane, with a major plot point being the return of Klothys, the Therosian god of destiny. It features the planeswalker Elspeth Tirel and her torturer Ashiok.

The Gods are at war, and they bring their champions to fight. Elspeth breaks free and defeats Heliod with. Klothys finds out about Elspeth escaping the Underworld so she is sending someone to bring her back to the Underworld or capture her.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Theros Beyond Death are:

Marketing
Theros Beyond Death is sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), mono-colored Theme Boosters, two planeswalker decks, the Theros Beyond Death bundle and a Deck Builder's Toolkit. The set also features Collector Boosters. For the first time, the Theme Boosters contained two out of a possible 10 rare cards that were not part of the regular set and thus were not available in regular Draft Boosters. The Promo Pack also features some non-Standard rares that are focused on Commander.

The Draft Boosters feature artwork from Elspeth Tirel (key art), Kunoros, Hound of Athreos and Calix, Destiny's Hand. The Theme Boosters feature art from Transcendent Envoy, Witness of Tomorrows , Tymaret, Chosen from Death , Dreamshaper Shaman , and Hydra's Growth. The Collector Boosters feature Klothys, God of Destiny.

Events



 * Tabletop Prerelease: January 17–19, 2020
 * Friday Night Magic begins: January 24, 2020
 * Draft Weekend: January 25–26, 2020
 * Magic Weekend: Pioneer: February 22–23, 2020

Promotional cards

 * Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Theros Beyond Death.
 * Other events: cards from the Throne of Eldraine universal promo pack.
 * The seasonal dark-frame promos are:, , , and.
 * Buy-a-Box: foil Athreos, Shroud-Veiled</c> and a foil full-art "Nyx" Land.
 * Bundle promo: foil alternate art

Tokens
The sixteenth card in the boosters is a token, with advertisements on the back side.


 * 1) 0/1 Goat creature, created by Discordant Piper</c> and Woe Strider</c>.
 * 2) 1/1 Human Soldier creature, created by Commanding Presence</c>, Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis</c>, Hero of the Nyxborn</c>, Omen of the Sun</c>, Reverent Hoplite</c>, Siona, Captain of the Pyleas</c>, and The First Iroan Games</c>.
 * 3) 2/2 Pegasus creature with flying, created by Archon of Sun's Grace</c>.
 * 4) 8/8 Kraken creature with hexproof, created by Kiora Bests the Sea God</c>.
 * 5) 3/2 Reflection creature, created by Alirios, Enraptured</c>.
 * 6) 1/1 Tentacle creature, created by Nadir Kraken</c>.
 * 7) 2/2 Zombie creature, created by Aphemia, the Cacophony</c> and Tymaret Calls the Dead</c>.
 * 8) */1 Elemental creature with trample and haste, created by <c>Purphoros's Intervention</c>.
 * 9) 1/1 Satyr creature with "This creature can't block," created by <c>Anax, Hardened in the Forge</c>, <c>Heroes of the Revel</c> and <c>Satyr's Cunning</c>.
 * 10) 1/2 Spider creature with reach, created by <c>Arasta of the Endless Web</c>.
 * 11) 2/2 Wolf creature, created by <c>Mantle of the Wolf</c> and <c>Wolfwillow Haven</c>.
 * 12) 2/3 Nightmare creature with "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, each opponent exiles the top two cards of their library," created by <c>Ashiok, Nightmare Muse</c>.
 * 13) Gold artifact, created by <c>The First Iroan Games</c>.
 * 14) 0/4 Wall artifact creature with defender, created by <c>The Birth of Meletis</c>.

Themes and mechanics
Theros Beyond Death introduces the keyword ability Escape; spells with escape can be cast from the graveyard for their escape cost. The cost includes exiling a number of other cards from the graveyard. Certain creatures receive an additional bonus as they escape.

Returning mechanics from the Theros block are Constellation and Devotion. Constellation now also appears on non-enchantment cards, and only on non-enchantment cards.

<c>Heroes of the Revel</c>, <c>Hero of the Games</c>, <c>Hero of the Nyxborn</c>, <c>Hero of the Pride</c> and <c>Hero of the Winds</c> effectively have heroic, without the actual ability word.

Theros Beyond Death features the following limited archetypes:


 * Tempo (<c>Staggering Insight</c>)
 * Self-mill (<c>Devourer of Memory</c>)
 * Sacrifice (<c>Slaughter-Priest of Mogis</c>)
 * "Ferocious" (<c>Warden of the Chained</c>)
 * Auras (<c>Siona, Captain of the Pyleas</c>)
 * Reanimator (<c>Rise to Glory</c>)
 * Casting spells on opponent's turns (<c>Mischievous Chimera</c>)
 * Escape (<c>Acolyte of Affliction</c>)
 * Go wide "heroic" (<c>Hero of the Nyxborn</c>)
 * Constellation (<c>Eutropia the Twice-Favored</c>)

Card types
The set sees the return of the enchantment subtype Saga, first used in Dominaria. It also sees the return of enchantment creatures, first used in Future Sight and later in the Theros block.

The set introduces the Demigod and Tentacle creature types, and the Calix planeswalker type. It also introduces the Gold artifact type.

Cycles
Theros Beyond Death has twelve cycles, including one double cycle.

Pairs
Theros Beyond Death has one mirrored pair.

Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted:


 * , first printed in Journey into Nyx, last seen in Commander Anthology Volume II.
 * , first printed in Ixalan.
 * , first printed in Hour of Devastation, last seen in Ravnica Allegiance.
 * , first printed in Magic 2015, last seen in Ultimate Masters.
 * , first printed in Morningtide.
 * , first printed in Champions of Kamigawa.
 * , first printed in Core Set 2020.
 * , first printed in Archenemy, last seen in Core Set 2020.
 * , first printed in Theros.
 * , first printed in War of the Spark, last seen in Throne of Eldraine.
 * , first printed in Scars of Mirrodin, last seen in Born of the Gods.
 * , first printed in Throne of Eldraine.
 * , first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Rivals of Ixalan.
 * , first printed in Legends, last seen in Magic 2010.
 * , first printed in Theros, last seen in Ixalan.
 * , first printed in Rise of the Eldrazi, last seen in Battlebond.
 * The ally-colored temples, first printed in Theros and Born of the Gods.

Common to uncommon

 * , first printed in Theros, last seen in Mystery Booster.

Functional reprints

 * is a functional reprint of <c>Mageta's Boon</c>.
 * is a functional reprint of the Mystery Booster test card <c>Enchantmentize</c>
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Final Reward</c>.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Shambling Goblin</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Sedge Scorpion</c>, except for creature types.
 * is a functional reprint of <c>Shimmering Grotto</c>.

Planeswalker decks
Theros Beyond Death is the last expansion to feature Planeswalker decks.

Notable cards

 * <c>Dryad of the Ilysian Grove</c> has seen play in the Modern Amulet Titan deck, among other things enabling <c>Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle</c> as an additional win condition.
 * <c> Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger</c> is one of two flagship mythics for Escape and was pushed out due to playing extremely badly against Uro, especially in Standard. It has since experienced a resurgence in both Standard, Historic, and Modern in various Rakdos decks with Uro's ban in 2021.

Banned and Restricted cards

 * <c>Underworld Breach</c> bears many semblances to <c>Yawgmoth's Will</c>, but with the further advantage in allowing the same spell to be cast multiple times, which allows for more deterministic kills. Legacy's <c>Brain Freeze</c> nearly kills by itself, and so it was banned in March 2020, one of the fastest bans for the format. Pioneer had the <c>Lotus Field</c> Breach combo that used untapping spells for mana and milling spells to fuel them. While not unbeatable - the structure of the deck is not flexible enough to counter-sideboard easily - it was removed from the format with three other combo pieces in August 2020. It is still often seen in competitive commander decks in a combo with Lion's Eye Diamond.
 * <c>Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath</c> was the other flagship mythic showcasing the Escape mechanic, alongside strong flavor and interesting design space of being a "spell" because it required Escaping to stay in play. However, the "spell" of <c>Explore</c> with life gain made it easy to churn through one's deck and find interactive spells for the escape cost, making Uro one of the most ubiquitous Mythics in multiple formats. Standard was the first to ban Uro in September 2020, as the life gain buffer, ramp payoff, and anti-midrange inevitability made it difficult to control, aggressively race, or go over the top of - effectively beating all the strategies in a typical metagame. Historic, Pioneer, and Modern all had banned Uro in February 2021, largely on the same logic; a secondary concern was that the Simic Uro decks in all formats started to look the same.
 * <c>Thassa's Oracle</c> is an alternate-win card in the vein of <c>Laboratory Maniac</c>, but generally superior. It's seen play in numerous formats, most notably in the Pioneer combo deck utilizing it and <c>Inverter of Truth</c>, as well as in optimized Commander decks alongside <c>Demonic Consultation</c>. It finally ran afoul of the ban list when <c>Tainted Pact</c> was released in Historic, a card not legal in Modern-forward, which gave it a four-mana, two-card combo in a format without free countermagic. It was banned in Historic in May 2021.