Theros Beyond Death/Trivia

Theros Beyond Death/Trivia

 

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Trivia

 

Cards throughout Theros Beyond Death heavily reference Greek mythology. There are also some throwbacks to the art and flavor of the Theros block.

Greek mythology

• The Akroan War is the equivalent of the ancient Greek Trojan War.
• Alirios, Enraptured is a reference to Narcissus.
• Allure of the Unknown is a gender-flipped version of Pandora's box, with the name Pantor bearing phonetic similarities to Pandora.
• Athreos, Shroud-Veiled uses coin counters, thematically representing the Ancient Greek practice of placing coins in with the deceased for payment to be carried to the afterlife.
• Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths, is likely a perversion of the oracle at Delphi.
• The Binding of the Titans mirrors a similar event in Greek mythology when the Olympian gods imprisoned the older Titans in Tartarus after the Titanomachy.
• The Birth of Meletis is a reference to the legendary birth of Athens founded by the goddess Athena.
• Bronzehide Lion is a reference to the Nemean lion. This is the second Nemean lion after Fleecemane Lion (and is also a 3/3), but this time taking on the aspect of the myth in which Heracles skinned it and gained an indestructible pelt.
• The Callapheia (found in flavor texts), recounting the adventures of Callaphe, is a take on the Odyssey.
• Dalakos, Crafter of Wonders is a reference to Daedalus. He grants flying and haste to the Icarus analogue in Impetuous Sunchaser.
• The Entrancing Lyre is a common attribute of the Greek god Apollo.
• The First Iroan Games is a reference to the Ancient Olympic Games.
• The Fruit of Tizerus references the Pomegranate, which was known as the "fruit of the dead" in ancient Greece.
• The mono-colored gods are named with Homeric epithets.
• Haktos the Unscarred is a reference to Achilles.
• Heliod's Punishment alludes to Atlas securing the heavens.
• Ilysia (Ilysian Caryatid) mirrors Elysium or the Elysian Fields, the abode of the blessed in the lower world.
• Impending Doom is a reference to the Sword of Damocles
• Klothys, God of Destiny, is a take on Clotho, one of the Greek Fates.
• The art of Klothys's Design references the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.
• Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger is similar to the titan Cronus who devoured all his children.
• Kunoros, Hound of Athreos is a take on Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld. Mechanically, it prevents creatures from escaping the graveyard, nor players from casting spells from it, which mirrors the myth.
• The Labyrinth of Skophos is a play on the Labyrinth of Knossos.
  • The Skophos Maze-Warden references the Minotaur in that labyrinth, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus.
• The Mirror Shield references the story of Perseus and the gorgon Medusa.
• The Nessian Boar is a reference to the Calydonian Boar. Renata, Called to the Hunt is a take on on the huntress Atalanta, who slew it, though the story slightly diverges as Artemis sent the boar as revenge and did not help the hunters.
• The Ox of Agonas is a reference to the Cretan Bull.
• Phylias (Dreadful Apathy) mirrors the Asphodel Meadows, a place for ordinary or indifferent souls who did not commit any significant crimes.
• Mount Velus, where the forge of Purphoros burns, is similar to Greek accounts of Mount Etna.
• Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath's name recalls Uranus, father of the titans.
• Voracious Typhon references Typhon, a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology.
• Wings of Hubris is an allusion to Icarus
• The ability of the Woe Strider to scry after sacrificing a goat is reminiscent to the ancient Greek practice of haruspicy.

Throwbacks

• Daxos, Blessed by the Sun wears the mask of Daxos the Returned on his arm
• Grasping Giant is a Hundred-Handed One
• Rumbling Sentry is an updated and improved Silent Artisan
• The flavor text of Revoke Existence (Theros Beyond Death) references Revoke Existence (Born of the Gods).
• The art of Taranika, Akroan Veteran features the statue of Gideon Jura in the background. She creates an indestructible creature with base power and toughness 4/4, like Gideon Blackblade and Gideon, Battle-Forged.
• Kiora Bests the Sea God references the fight between Kiora and Thassa, with the summoning of krakens and the theft of the Bident of Thassa.
• The two printed titans have the "titan trigger" from M11.
• Thundering Chariot sums the casting and equip costs of Chariot of Victory and has all its granted abilities as a 3/3 Vehicle.
• Bronzehide Lion is similar to bestow but with a death trigger.
• Return to Nature depicts the end of the Spear of Heliod and mentions it in its' flavour text.
• Shadowspear seems to have a corrupted visual design of Spear of Heliod. Linked to the storyline, it makes it full of meanings.
• Dream Trawler is a 3/5 Flying Sphinx with an attack trigger that can discard a card to gain Hexproof, like Prognostic Sphinx. Both were designed as control finishers, but the Prognostic Sphinx made less of an impact than desired.
• Elspeth Conquers Death shares many similarities to The Eldest Reborn, which had recently rotated from Standard.
• The eight extant Theros gods without a card in the set are all referred to at least once in flavor text or card titles.

Miscellaneous

• The name Tycthis in the flavor text of Ichthyomorphosis is a sort of anagram of the name card and the "flop" is a pun on the sound of something anticlimactically hitting the ground (such as a fish falling or trying to move after being transformed from an imposing human soldier). Some people add that "Tycthis" can be understood as "Did You See This?" (T-Y-C-this).
• Captivating Unicorn is the fourth monowhite common creature ever to have more than three power, coming 9 years after New Phyrexia's Loxodon Convert, an explicit color pie bend; the other two were Lorwyn's Lairwatch Giant (needing a larger size for / Giant tribal design) and Shards of Alara's Yoked Plowbeast (to assist with 5-power matters). Makindi Ox and Master Skald seeing print over the next Standard cycle shows a more permanent change in philosophy.