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Rise of the Titans Themes & Mechanics

Rise of the Titans is about a world that is ruled by super beings--Titans--and their effect on the world is great.

Cycling + Madness

Specifically, the creatures of this realm are bound to their powerful Titans and are given special powers thanks to their presence. The primary one is that they can easily find more of their own--i.e. the Cycling themes of the set. This allows Minotaurs to find other Minotaurs, Warriors to align with others, and so on.

Also, the power of the Titans do not come without a cost, and that cost is Madness. While driven insane by power, these creatures can both find AND enter play due to the power of their rulers. Here are a few cards that best illustrate these powerful searching and discard-based mechanics:

This ability to search, play, or do both is very exciting to both the deckbuilder and the card designer. This way you can string cards together to create a powerful sequence of play.

Rescind

The first new mechanic of the block is Rescind, an ability that is only on creature cards. This mechanic is only playable while the creature is in play. Rescind allows you to replace drawing a card by paying a cost or performing an action and returning the creature to its owner's hand. Rescind has the following rules text:

Rescind - "Cost or Action" (If you would draw a card you may "pay Cost or Action" instead. If you do, return ~ to its owner's hand.)

  • Please note that this is a replacement effect just like Dredge.

    Here are some examples of the Rescind mechanic:

    • Hunt

    The next mechanic to debut is Hunt. This could also be called the "Panglacial Wurm" mechanic, as it debuted in Coldsnap but on no other cards. I believe the ability to play creatures and/or spells while searching your library brings another dynamic to looking through your deck, and as such is another strategic outlet not yet being utilized.

    Here are a few good examples of the Hunt mechanic:

    Hunt allows you to synergize with your Cycling (and Madness!) abilities to surprise your opponent with blockers, spells, or game-changing plays. Pretty fun stuff.

    Fate

    Fate is another biggie. This one is only on Instant and Sorcery spells, and only affects play while it is in the graveyard. Fate has the following rules text:

    Fate - "Game Action or State" (If ~ is in the graveyard and "Game Action occurs or Game State", copy ~ and remove it from the game.)

    This allows you to control the outcome of certain situations by triggering your Fate spells correctly. There aren't too many Fate spells in the set, as this mechanic is very memory intensive. Rather, there are a handful that are powerful enough to pay attention to and whose triggers can happen often enough to be mindful of them.

    Here are a few examples:

    So the Fate mechanic allows those Spikes to get the gamestates they want, and it allows others to simply get a Flashback-esque double play out of their cards. Two removal spells in one? Can't beat that.

    Let's move on and look at the rest of the Mechanics and Themes of Rise of the Titans.

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