Exclusive Cards and Art Pages from Magic: The Gathering Expansion Amonkhet
Last year saw the reveal and release of Kaladesh, a world that resembled an almost-India, but that also had weird magical energy, unfettered invention, and helicopters that were so strong that they needed to be banned from the game almost immediately. In a few weeks, Wizards of the Coast is following that set up with another magical world that is inspired by real-world ideas.
If Kaladesh was a sort of “what if?” question paired with historical India, then Amonkhet is a similar “what if?” paired with ancient Egypt. There are giant statues. There are pyramids. There are embalmings, and there are weird zombies covered in ceremonial wrappings. Things really amp up on Amonkhet, though, because there gods walk among people there.
As best I can tell, the gods walk among the people of Amonkhet to bully them. This entire world is dedicated to something called The Trials. They’re a way of proving yourself worthy to the gods: You run around, do heroic and difficult stuff, and then you’re either acknowledged as good or you die because you’re bad. The gods are there to check that out, and the god that I have some specific information on is Hazoret.
As this card demonstrates, Hazoret is definitely a jerk. Would a god who is good pump you full of Rage Juice and then throw you into an enemy? Even worse, if the creature survives, it will burn out and have to be sacrificed. Was Neil Young singing about Hazoret when he told us it was better to burn out with favor than it is to rust? Only time will tell.
