Six new heroes, two new mechanics and a handful of cards were revealed in a preview article for Skybound Odyssey, the fourth set, releasing Oct. 3. Similar to the Golden Boosters that were a Kickstarter collector’s goal, Special Boosters full of rare and unique cards will debut this set. Prerelease kits have also been updated with a guaranteed unique and additional tokens. New token cards for Axiom and Muna were also revealed, joining Halua for Bravos.

New heroes

Building on the first look post earlier in July that revealed Sol & Halua, the remaining five heroes and their abilities have been shared, as follows:

• Axiom – Isaree & Pebble, who, if you are the first player, creates an Aerolith permanent token in Landmarks which can be sacrificed to resupply
• Lyra – Nadir & Bubbles, who has three single-terrain markers that can be placed throughout the game to change region terrains
• Muna – Kauri & Puff, who, if you are the first player, gives the opponent a 1/1/1 Woollyback token, then draws a card
• Ordis – Zhen & Zephyr, whose Hero expedition ascends, a new mechanic that allows expeditions to progress even if they just tie in stats
• Yzmir – Moyo & Silk, who can create a Mana Moth when playing a spell with a hand cost of 4 or more

Moyo in particular might look familiar, as he first showed up in the Whispers from the Maze set as the Yzmir Mothbreeder, named in the card’s lore. Our team has built a guide to Sol’s ability, connecting it to current cards that would play well with her.

“Rush” is another new mechanic that encourages quick, risky plays in trade for a payoff. When “rushing,” another card may be immediately played (paying the appropriate mana cost) to gain an additional effect. If the Bravos Harpooner rushes, they also get to sabotage the opponent. That has an obvious link to Sol’s hero ability, which benefits from passing before the opponent, but there could be additional rewards to be had there. A unique shown in an image farther down in the post has the ability “From reserve: You may immediately pass. If you do: Sabotage.” Being able to get your cards out quickly might surprise an opponent who was hoping to pass suddenly to score an extra action.

The new tokens each relate to one of the heroes, starting with Sol’s Halua, a 2/2/2 token created in the Companion expedition with “If your Hero has 5 or more Quest counters, I am Gigantic.” Over in Axiom, Isaree generates an Aerolith permanent token each time as first player with “When I’m sacrificed, resupply. Exhaust, pay 1 mana to sacrifice me.” Kauri creates a Woollyback 1/1/1 token in the opponent’s Companion expedition in trade for an additional card each turn as first player.

Zhen’s “ascending” is one of two new mechanics in the set. An expedition that’s ascended can move forward even if matched in its region’s terrains by the opponent’s expedition, meaning that when stats are equal in a region’s terrains, the ascended expedition breaks the tie to continue forward. This gives another way to progress despite insufficient stats, like Grand Endeavor and Small Step, Giant Leap (which was removed from the watchlist in the WFM season patch).

Special Boosters and prerelease kits

Special Boosters, which include six rare cards, six unique cards and one foiler, will be showing up in SKY displays at a rate of about 1:200. That’s near the same odds as the community-cherished Golden Boosters from the Kickstarter displays (1:250). The feature has been a player request since the earliest Equinox AMAs.

The set’s prerelease kits will also be upgraded, another step up from the brand-new kits available with WFM. Each SKY prerelease kit will guarantee one unique card and include an acrylic first player token along with a punch-out market card, making it even easier to pick up a kit and play without any other outside materials. It’s also still possible for one of the seven boosters inside the kit to have additional uniques. A set of premium adventure cards designed for the new regions is also included, as well as a deckbuilding guide for new players.

While not much else has been officially shared about the new set, several points are likely based on the card numbering for the cards that have been revealed. Noting that these are assumptions based on previous card numbering, it’s possible that SKY includes:

• six heroes, with no reprint heroes
• 17 non-hero cards per faction
• 312 cards total, not counting tokens.

These assumptions may change as more of the set is revealed.

Prerelease events for SKY begin Sept. 26.