The Vorthos Cast

For our last episode of 2024, we have a holiday D&D adventure by Jay! Te'Grimaal (Loreley) and Bob the mailman (Chris) are caught in a Ravnican inn during a snowstorm when some very unusual elves attack. Will they defeat the source of this incursion, or will they be just a couple more names crossed off the naughty list? Thank you for another year of listening to and supporting our podcast! If you'...

With the release of Foundations and inspiration from a recent video by Rhystic Studies about the Seventh Edition core set, we decided we'd look at the entire history of Magic's core sets, from the very first set in Alpha all the way to this year's Foundations, to understand how depicting the lore and story of Magic has changed over 31 years. Watch "The New Iconic" by Rhystic Studies here: https://...

We've made it to the end step of the year! Now it's time to cleanup with our thoughts and feelings about all things Vorthos in the year 2024. This year saw murders, cowboys, fluffy little bunnies, and elder demons feasting on our fears. We'll be here in 2025 for a year of racing dragons in space! Thank you all so much for your support over the year! If you'd like to support us with money, you can...

It's time for week two of the Flavor Gems of Foundations, and this week it's all legends! There are so many new legendary creatures and new cards for returning legends in Foundations, between the main set and the accompanying products, that we had to dedicate an entire hour long episode to talking about them! And we didn't even cover all of the reprinted legends! If you'd like to support the podca...

We're getting back to our Foundations with the flavor gems of Foundations! There's five years worth of tasty cards in this set, so we're going to spend two weeks covering all of them we think are worth serving! This week we're covering cards from all of the Foundations products, including the main set, Beginner's Box, Starter Collection, and Jumpstart! Next week we'll cover the legendary cards. If...

While players experience the Foundations of Magic this weekend, we're returning to the foundations of the House and chatting with Annie Sardelis and Emily Teng from Wizards of the Coast about how their teams built the plane of Duskmourn in the story and cards. We talk about everything from the very inception of an entirely interior plane to the reason why Rooms couldn't be Lands. If you'd like to...

This week's episode is a bit different from our usual deep-dives and story summaries. We're tackling one of the biggest questions new fans of Magic might have: What is Magic's story? We want someone who might be encountering Magic through Foundations for the very first time to know what Magic story is, where you can read it, and what to expect from future sets. This is a very high-level overview,...

For Halloween, we've decided to delve into a spooky one-shot adventure set in the halls of Duskmourn! Jay and Brian are joined by a special (returning?) guest as they open some doors and find themselves in a malicious escape room designed by a maniacal clown. Will they make it out alive? Probably! Will they make it out unharmed? Definitely not. If you'd like to support the podcast and get access t...

Did you know this year was a special anniversary for Magic? It's the 30th anniversary of the Magic novel line, which began with Magic, the Gathering: Arena (not the digital game client) in 1994. For this episode, we're exploring the history of Magic novels, their rise and fall, and some of the surrounding circumstances that led to the world of web fiction as we know it today. If you'd like to supp...

This week we're joined by the #1 Fan of Jace Beleren, Radley! He's here to talk to us about the enigmatic wielder of mysteries, including delving into some of his current motivations in the story and some larger themes that surround one of Magic's longest running characters. If you don't follow Radley online, you can find him at @SpaceBeleren on Twitter, or follow his Vorthos blog at wielderofmyst...

Duskmourn is one giant, flavorful homage to horror movies of the modern age. This week we're diving into our favorite flavor gems of the set, including the very clever designs of the story's main characters and the best references to the horror movies we all love (except for Chris, who is on record for not really loving horror movies). If you'd like to support the podcast and get access to our Dis...

It's time to welcome Seanan McGuire home to the podcast for another interview to discuss all things Duskmourn. We cover character choices, world building, and influences for this terrifying House. Come step into the parlor, take a seat, and enjoy listening to our conversation. Pay no attention to the way the chair won't let you go... Please go read the Magic story! You can find all episodes of Dus...

The twisting halls of Duskmourn contain many cautionary tales and grim nightmares, and today we're talking about these side stories that help flesh out the walls of the House. Children born into a world with no dawn or dusk, lost travelers who find no comfort in a moment of respite, elves who can only watch as their world is enclosed in eternal night, and even the miracle of kindness among the mon...

We conclude the main story of Duskmourn this week with our heroes coming face to facade with the elder demon of the house, Valgavoth. Do they all escape the House? And if they do escape, at what cost? Also, we discuss what it means for the narrative of Magic to have planeswalkers when there are paths between planes for non-planeswalkers to walk. As always, please click through and read the stories...

We slip once more through the halls of the House this week as our survivors face their greatest fears and terrible monsters. Not all of them do a very good job of surviving these episodes... Duskmourn story can be read for free on the Magic website at magic.wizards.com/en/story and you can find Mira Grant's DVD Extras on Seanan McGuire's blog at seananmcguire.com/blog/. If you like our show, consi...

On August 27th, 2014, the first official Magic Story web fiction was published: The Madness of Sarkhan by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. This story was the first chapter in the Khans of Tarkir story, which would be the first time the main story for a Magic set was published entirely online and for anyone to read it. This year, to mark it's 10th anniversary, The Vorthos Cast has created a mini episode loo...

It's time for our journey into the House to begin. The story for Duskmourn gave us a jumpscare with a release a full week earlier than anticipated, so we're going to start our coverage a full week early, too! But we haven't forgotten our promise of worldbuilding details, so every week we will also include a little bit of the Planeswalker Guide for you to keep you comfortable in the reassuring wall...

This week we've activated the special interests of Jay and Loreley to talk about horror movies, and specifically how Duskmourn is informed by the rich history of scares on the screen! We're breaking down the big subgenres, the movies you may want to be familiar with, and how they play into the world design of Duskmourn. If you like our show, consider subscribing to our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVo...

The world of Bloomburrow is vast, colorful, and furry. This week we're looking at the worldbuilding of this brand new plane, from the landscapes of the valley to the people who inhabit those lands and to the history they all share. If y'all like this kind of worldbuilding episode, let us know! We cover a lot of the basics of the plane in this episode, but you can learn more through the three Plane...

It's time to dig into the many treats on offer from Bloomburrow! We're talking legends, baguettes, and fistfighting giant pandas on this installment of our flavor gems series! I promise it all makes sense if you listen! If you like our show, consider subscribing to our Patreon at Patreon.com/TheVorthosCast, where $1 a month gets you access to our Discord server, and $3 a month means you can listen...

We're welcoming back Valerie Valdes this week to talk about her work on writing the Bloomburrow set story! Valerie has been on the show before to talk about writing the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and this week she's back to talk about the very different experience in writing Bloomburrow, including her influences for the story that combines epic quests with wholesome family dynamics. If you...

The story of Bloomburrow is only five episodes long, but they're five great episodes and give us a lot to talk about! This week we're wrapping up the set's story and sharing our thoughts on this start of a new arc, the world of Bloomburrow in a wider Magic context, and where things might go from here. You can find all episodes of the Bloomburrow story right now on the Magic website for free! Just...

We're back from our vacation to start talking all things Bloomburrow story! This week we're covering the first three episodes of the story by Valerie Valdes, what we think about the first glimpse of this new world, and what animalfolk we think the Lorwyn Five and friends would be on this plane! You can find all episodes of the Bloomburrow story right now on the Magic website for free! Just go to h...

Thank you Wizards of the Coast for our free preview cards for Bloomburrow! We're happy to introduce the world to our two all-star uncommons, Mabel's Mettle and Quaketusk Boar! You can find full images of the cards and art on our Twitter at Twitter.com/TheVorthosCast

We have our resident Assassin's Creed expert, Jay Annelli, here to tell us all about the flavor gems of the Universes Beyond: Assassin's Creed set! Who better to tell us the ins and outs of this special booster release than a loremaster who worked on the creative text team for the set and also has a long, documented history as a sociopathic murderer. My lawyers are telling me that I cannot call Ja...