Key Art for Battle for Zendikar!

Okay, so this picture was circulating around facebook. I was really amazed to see this beautiful art and several details caught my eye upon seeing this art.

Key art for Battle for Zendikar Expansion

Based on the picture alone, there are 3 things I would like to cover. There's a lot of details to cover, so let's jump in!

• Emrakul, Kozilek and Ulamog

The very first thing that caught my eye is the 3 Eldrazi titans. With that being the most significant feature of the image, I can very safely assume that the 3 Titans will make a return in the new expansion. Of course, this is really a no brainer as we all expect them to return. It's their world now! 

Now, the question is everyone's mind is this; will the Eldrazis return as a reprint or as a new card with new abilities altogether? I personal stand is that the Eldrazis would make a return as a new card. Note that the art here shows them in a form like statues. Coloured in pale greyish white and not like their original art. It is unlikely to see them in this colour as the new art for them. Also, note that the landscape doesn't seem to have rocks falling off or trembling, which is a sign of them moving or arriving to the scene. It just sits there with these beings on them. This hence make me think that these are statues rather than the actual Eldrazi titans.  

Furthermore, take a look at this picture:

It's a little pixelated but I think it serves its purpose. We obviously see Gideon here. I'll talk more about him later. I'm focusing the background at the moment. What it seems to be is there are 2 Eldrazis. It seems to be either one of the lesser Eldrazi titans like Spawnsire, Crusher, etc, and the other being Ulamog in another pose and angle. The features of it matches Ulamog more than the other 2 titans. The image above can be easily split into 2 cards. One probably being Gideon's new Planeswalker picture and the other being an instant or sorcery. Of course, it's all just a guess. 

A more cleaned up version of the picture. But I don't think this is an original artwork by Wizards.

So as to what is the deal with the picture? Look at the Hedrons. Unlike the key art, there is some hedrons present in the art, but they aren't any circling around Ulamog himself as shown in the first picture.

• Planeswalkers

Sorin, Ugin are rather familiar planeswalkers after appearing in the recent sets. If you missed the boat in Commander 2014 or if you are not up to date with the storyline, you may have overlooked Nahiri, the Lithomancer. These 3 planeswalkers form "the three", whom decided to get rid of the Eldrazis. I won't go too indepth with the lore here. You can go read it up in the links I've posted around in this post.

So based on the few pictures I have looked around, we know there will be the following planeswalkers in the storyline and possibly in this expansion:

1. Ugin
2. Sorin
3. Nahiri
4. Gideon

It would seem unlikely that we have two versions of Ugins and Gideons in the same Standard season, but take note that this happens before! Throughout M14-RTR, and even in the most recent KTK-DTK expansions have different versions of Sarkan in the same Expansion Block. (Okay, that was time travel... but my point is made.)

There will be definitely new planeswalkers being introduced. As mentioned, I won't delve too deep into the lore (no cards in graveyard..) and just by the artworks that are circulating around, those four planeswalkers will definitely be seen in the new expansion. 

• Landscape

Somehow the landscape subtly reminds me of Celestial colonnade, Raging Ravine and Dread Sanctuary. Hey, maybe. Just maybe, we have new manlands that are shaped of the Eldrazi Titans?  Either that or Fetchlands are highly likely to be back due to the nature of the theme of this plane.

I'm really curious to know what are your thoughts? What interpretations can you draw from this key art? More to come soon!