Speculating on the Mysterious Gothic Set and Beyond!
- J Rose
- Jun 28
- 18 min read
An article by Jeff Rosado - Guest Author and Competitive Game Player
Introduction
Welcome back to another back-to-back article everyone! Today’s article will cover various artworks, spoilers, as well as theoretical cards that could be featured in the upcoming Gothic set and possibly a future set yet to be spoken of.
Before we begin, please understand that this article is merely speculation backed up with evidence throughout all Sorcery platforms. Also, please understand that I’m “reaching” deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Not everything shared in this article is confirmed; however, I’m merely providing my perspective and insight into the possibilities of this mysterious set. Please enjoy, let’s begin!
Gothic
Gothic was announced at Sorcery Con 2024 showcasing this brilliant artwork by Drew Tucker. It was then that players, collectors, and artists alike received their first glimpse at the new Gothic set. Although this artwork provided new themes and concepts, there may have been trails of breadcrumbs that were right under our noses this entire time..
There have only been a handful of Demons, and even less Angels released thus far for Sorcery. The image above gives us a clue about the theme of this set. It appears to show two figures in the distance surrounded by numerous Angelic-like beings. But are they really Angels? The winged figure at the bottom right corner gives us the clearest depiction of these beings up close. In fact, it is the most detailed figure in the painting. If we look closer, we can see that this particular being has horns. Not saying Angels can’t have horns however this isn’t a common feature in many depictions of Angels. Making this feature an exciting creative touch! Also, these figures do have wings! So, they must be Angels…. Right? Well, nothing is certain yet. The more I look at this artwork, the more I wonder “what is truly going on?” I’d like to share what I see with you.
Please draw your attention to these highlighted figures. We see the horned figure to the right. In the very center of the artwork, we see two mysterious figures. At the bottom we can see what looks like a bird-like figure with a beak. To the bottom left we see a being with fair facial features. Finally, we see a figure who doesn’t reveal a head at all. Drew Tucker has created a fantastic and mysterious masterpiece. His style of art is a magnificent union of grotesquerie and beauty. The figures in this artwork are a perfect representation of this union. At a quick glance, these could very well be Angels… but look deeper, and perhaps something isn’t quite right… This set IS called Gothic after all. The Gothic genre is characterized by its dark, romantic atmosphere and frequent incorporation of suspense, horror, and supernatural themes. Nothing is off the table, and what may seem friendly or beautiful might actually be something more sinister…
Confirmed so Far
There have been seventeen cards revealed so far for the upcoming Gothic set and four confirmed artworks as well. Each card shares new mechanics as well as more clues for the set.
Cursed Iron created by Mattias Frisk is a fantastic Aura card with an ability that prevents Artifacts from being dropped. Each artifact causes its bearer to lose one life at the end of EACH turn, making this card a very powerful one. Imagine that your opponent’s avatar is carrying four “Core” artifacts, you play Cursed Iron effecting two of your opponent’s sites. One thing to note is that only players can lose life, not minions. So, you could always have your minions carry your artifacts. This is great for carrying weapons or “Core” artifacts while still making great use of your artifacts.
From a players perspective, you could always drop artifacts at the end of your turn to prevent Cursed Iron from surprising you. Although you may not want to drop “Core” artifacts, it could be a safe practice to drop a Philosopher Stone or Ring of Morrigan at the end of your turn to prevent Cursed Iron from causing too much life loss. This is a familiar strategy used if you are worried about Just a Rock banishing a carried artifact. If no artifacts are being carried, Cursed Iron and Just a Rock could miss out on their greater potential. That being said, this doesn’t really stop Cursed Iron much. Cursed Iron can always be played without any cause, and it would still influence a player’s decisions.
For example:
In this very hypothetically situational scenario, Deathspeaker played a total of four “Core” artifacts, and passes the turn. Enchantress plays a site, then casts Cursed Iron. Enchantress passes the turn and causes Deathspeaker to lose four life.
Deathspeaker, in a desperate attempt, spends a turn taking a step. Without an answer to Cursed Iron (Dispel or Disenchant), Deathspeaker would have to pass the turn and lose four more life (8 in total).
Of course, this is just an example of how much life loss Cursed Iron could deliver. A powerful card with lots of potential.
Swap created by Drew Tucker is a very exciting card with an interesting mechanic. It allows you to swap the location of a target minion or artifact with another target minion or artifact. Swapping a powerful minion with your opponent’s Ring of Morrigan could be meta defining! A sweet card with very interesting interactions.
Another spoiled card that is also a promo is Day of Judgment! Created by Aronja-Art (Raffaela Lerch-Cech) and Caio Calazans, Day of Judgment is a powerful magic spell. It allows you to place a cross anywhere in the realm as an area of effect. This allows the cross to deal damage to each unit at the affected squares. Meaning it can deal damage to minions in different regions! Day of Judgment also… Banishes all… Evil? What is “Evil”? Could this be a new Subtype? Or perhaps a cluster, meaning different subtypes?
Willing Tribute is another card that raises a few questions. Created by Zohn Dee, Willing Tribute has amazing artwork, and it allows you to sacrifice it to untap an adjacent “Evil” ally. But what does “Evil” mean exactly?
Dormant Monstrosity is an exciting elite created by Elwira Pawlikowska. It has Voidwalk but can cost 2 mana less for each unit in an adjacent square. This may prove to be an interesting card if we receive more support for this ability. The artwork is awesome as well!
Consecrated Ground is another card created by the talented Caio Calazans. This earth site is absolutely stunning! It’s ability is also quite interesting… “Evil has no power here.” I imagine this ability could be powerful depending on what is considered “Evil”. That being said, the next three cards might give us the final clues we need to understanding what “Evil” actually means…
Horrible Hybrids, Hellhounds, and Ghoul don’t have any abilities. Each costs 3 mana and has 3 power and they are each created by legendary artists! Ian Miller, Mattias Frisk, and Brom! After considering these cards, I thought these cards must have some other hidden relevance to them… What could “Evil” mean? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is confirmed that “Evil” is in fact a cluster of subtypes meaning Monsters, Demons, and Undead!
Carrion Beetles is a card recently confirmed for Gothic, and a good one at that! This ordinary beast, created by Elwira Pawlikowska, has a genesis ability that banishes three cards from one cemetery. There are plenty of cemetery interactions at the moment so having something that can be searched with Common Sense or Assorted Animals that can disrupt those strategies might prove to be very useful!
Stitched Abomination is quite an interesting card. Created by Doug Kovacs, this elite undead minion has a genesis ability that can banish up to three minions from one cemetery and… stitch them together!? The abomination then has their combined power but each part may be damaged and destroyed separately. A very interesting ability that raises a few questions. How does this functionally work, and more importantly, how does this work with split power? I assume that each “part” will be represented by each of the banished minions power separately. So for example:
Assuming this is correct, lets say Stitched Abomination banishes Morgana Le Fay, Ruler of Thul, and Sir Bedivere. Stiched Abomination’s attack power will be nine with a defense power of ten. Now let’s say your opponent decides to cast a Firebolts, dealing three damage to your Stitched Abomination. Since each “part” can be damaged or destroyed separately, lets assume your opponent can choose to deal three damage to the “Morgana Le Fay part” resulting in the Stitched Abomination to now have a combined attack power of six and a defense power of seven.
It isn’t quite clear how this effect works and we certainly need more clarification on this. But regardless if I’m correct or not, Stitched Abomination could very well be a card worth experimenting with. Especially when combined with this next card:
Carrionette is a card with powerful potential. Created by Scott Kirschner, this powerful three mana cost exceptional spell can summon an undead minion from a cemetery to a nearby location…
With the release of Gothic, and with many powerful undead minions to choose from, Carrionette might be one of the most powerful cards we see in this set.
Another fantastic card done by Scott Kirschner, is Plague Pits! This is a fantastic card to counteract the controversial Archimago strategies. If there are three or more dead minions, Plague Pits' genesis ability banishes ALL cemeteries! While not a game winning effect against cemetery strategies, Plague Pits still offers a powerful effect that can help aid against those powerful strategies. Producing fire threshold is also a plus for some strategies making this card an excellent card inclusion to most decks.
Second Wind is a card created by Emill Idzikowski that could add some extra movement to your minions. I can certainly see this card working well with aggro strategies to guarantee successive attacks. You can even cast this spell from your cemetery! Allowing you to cast this spell twice and for just 1 mana, I’d say that’s a sweet deal!
Next on our list is Return to Nature by Heidi Taillefer! This artwork is stunning and has a very useful effect: “Return up to three cards from a cemetery to the bottom of their decks. Draw a Spell.” This effect is an excellent way to counter cemetery interactions while also adding consistency to your strategy.
Search Party, created by Mattias Frisk, is an interesting card. It is a Mortal that has plus one power for each Search Party in your cemetery. In all honesty, I wonder how this card will be effective but it raises some interesting controversy.
Sorcery has already announced another deck increase with players having to use sixty cards for their spellbook and forty cards for their atlas. This increase significantly diminishes the consistency of most strategies. If a player wanted to play a strategy around Search Party it would be very unlikely to see this card at its full potential. In other words, a player would have to somehow get three copies of Search Party in their cemetery in order for a singular Search Party to have six power. It seems like an unlikely strategy let alone one worth investing in… unless… maybe… just maybe… Sorcery planned this and they may just release strategies that will allow players to place cards from their spellbook into their cemetery. This is far stretched I admit, but it would absolutely be a powerful play from the company.
Think about it for a moment… we have seen cards that summon minions from the cemetery, banish cards from cemeteries, but not many cards to consistently place other cards in the cemetery. If such resources are available it could glue everything together for cemetery reanimation strategies. Only time will tell but I’m willing the bet Search Party is another clue for what’s to come.
Sorcery had a few videos released showcasing new artwork for the upcoming Gothic set. Although their effects haven’t been realized, they showcased four fantastic artworks. This second artwork depicts three men that each look as if they came from different locations. We can see a mirror behind them, each mirror reflecting what appears to be different watchtowers. These “watchtowers” appear to connect to one another. The artwork is very mysterious and doesn’t give us many clues however it is an awesome artwork nevertheless.
The third artwork revealed was the art for “Holy Warrior” created by Elwira Pawlikowska. In Sorcery’s video, Chase states that “with a set like Gothic you have the evil forces etc and sometimes there’s some rays of hope.” Erik also states, “this image also encapsulates a lot of the Gothic feel.”
Holy Warrior stands as a symbol of what’s to come in the upcoming Sorcery set. Monsters, a horde of evil forces, and a ray of hope.
The rest of this article is merely speculation with very little evidence, nevertheless I hope you enjoy!
Books
Book of Kells was a card showcased as a pre-Alpha set card. We have both a digital image version and only one ever discovered sample card version that was auctions in the Sorcery Community Facebook Group. It has found its way in this article because I believe Gothic has a very clear theme of good and evil.
The image above shows Pnakotic Manuscript, a card with a powerful draw ability. Book of Kells is not only created by the same artist, Francesca Baerald, but it also appears to be a “good” version of Pnakotic Manuscript. If the manuscript allows the bearer to draw a card and take damage to that card’s cost, you can see that Book of Kells does the exact opposite! Both versions allow the bearer to draw a card and gain life in some way. Although Book of Kells isn’t confirmed, I believe it has a fair chance of being in the upcoming Gothic set.
Crows
I absolutely love Sorcery for leaving trails of breadcrumbs. One interesting theme that we don’t see plainly are crows. The cards shown above make me wonder if we will receive some sort of crow support in the future. Although very unlikely that we will receive crow support specifically, the symbolism of crows has appeared in every set so far. We have even received a curio in the form of Murder of Crows. Crows are also very symbolic and are commonly referenced in Gothic horror/ literature. So, it may not be out of the realm of impossibility that we may see some Crows in the future of Sorcery.
Frogs
Another common theme we see in Sorcery is frogs. Gift of the Frog is a card spoiled for the upcoming Gothic set. Created by Pedro Ferreira, Gift of the Frog allows you to summon a Frog token to another ally and draw a spell. A fantastic ability with brilliant artwork from our new artist.
We have also seen the frog dragon sorcerer, “Frosc Draconis” created by the legendary Ed Beard Jr. Although it isn’t certain if Frosc Draconis will be developed as a card but regardless it is a fantastic character worth noting.
The last card I wanted to discuss is Hex. Created by Dan Seagrave, this artwork was actually used for Wicked Witch. However, we can see that the original concept was meant to be an avatar that turns a minion into a Frog token. This is what Frog enthusiasts crave! The only problem is that Hex can only use this ability once per game. Perhaps this avatar couldn’t compete during test-playing and perhaps that’s why it was never realized as an official avatar. Or… maybe… just maybe… we might have an early look at what’s to come. There are a lot of attractions towards frogs. WHY? I have no idea, but hey we all love them nevertheless!
No Cost
Spells with no mana cost have been a controversial topic for quite some time. So far, Sorcery has only printed two cards with no mana cost:
Dodge Roll & Valor
I suspect that this won’t be the last time we see zero cost cards.
“Counterspells” were cards released as pre-Alpha cards with an ability most may not find appealing. Counter target spell… This ability is notorious in other TCGs, rendering your opponents’ cards useless as soon as they play them. Even though these abilities seem powerful, I do like how Sorcery brilliantly incorporated an inherent side effect to these cards. That being the fact that these counterspells can only counter spells with the same rarity. Due to the rarity restriction, these counterspells can only be utilized if they match the corresponding spell being cast and you would have to have these cards at very specific times in order to use them properly. Since you can only have one Unique in a deck, it would be very rare to have a Unique Counterspell in your hand ready to counter another unique card. These cards have yet to be printed, and it could be for good reason. We may not know how powerful these spells were during test-playing and the time may not be right to release them.
One thing to note is that the artwork for Elite Counterspell, created by Margaret Organ-Kean, has now been officially announced as the new artwork for the Dispel promo. Could this mean that we are getting new artworks for Counterspells in the future? Or perhaps, Counterspells may never become a set of official cards.
Spell Block and Near Miss are also zero cost spells that counter or deflect cards that target your cards. These abilities seem to be more versatile when compared to their Counterspell counterparts.
Alchemical Hack feels like an incomplete card, allowing you to permanently change the text of a card from one element to another. One example given is changing “Waterbound” to “Firebound”. Although, we have only seen “Waterbound” and “Landbound” abilities printed so far, Alchemical Hack could be a clue for future abilities. There are various ideas for zero cost cards, whether or not they will be released as originally intended is unknown.
The sample cards of these pre-Alpha card versions are extremely rare and can be seen in the Sorcery Community Facebook Group where they were auctioned or featured from the many extremely rare sample pack live openings at Collector Arthouse YouTube.
Power Creep
The next cards I want to showcase are cards that are pre-alpha sample cards, or even pre-Sorcery cards. While I won’t go in depth about each one, it is important to note that the artwork for these cards fit very closely to the theme of Gothic. I believe these cards are very powerful and could very well warp the dynamic of Sorcery gameplay if they are printed as shown. Please take your time examining each card for their abilities, their unique characteristics, and amazing artwork.
These cards have only been discovered and showcased at the Collector Arthouse website in articles featuring Curio card speculation and an interview and art reveal with Jeff Menges, and on Collector Arthouse YouTube in the Spellcraft videos.
Hopefully at this point, you can agree that these cards are powerful in their own way at least to some degree. You may have also recognized some of these cards featured across Collector Arthouse platforms.
There was one card I wanted to talk about amongst these. That being the Holy Grail by Tony Sczcudlo. This original artwork was showcased on every Arthurian Legends booster box. Fitting for the theme of the set. We received the legend of King Arthur and his fellow Knights of The Round Table, and we were on a quest to seek the iconic Holy Grail. There was just… one thing… that seemed odd… There was no Holy Grail card… Well, there was a curio of the Holy Grail, created by Elvira Shakirova. But it wasn’t the same art created by Tony Sczcudlo and the curio didn’t present a card effect.
Why was this card never printed with a card effect? Why print the artwork all over a booster box? And why make a curio with no card effect and with a different artwork?... The answer might be more obvious than we think… We might very well receive a printing of the Holy Grail in Gothic. As much as the Holy Grail fits with Arthurian Legends lore… it’s safe to say that it also fits with the theme of Gothic as well.
Sites
I’ve discussed the symbolism of crows earlier. From my understanding, there are a few curio cards that haven’t been officially released as playable cards yet. Murder of Crows, The Holy Grail, even River Styx created by Elwira Pawlikowska and Water Castle created by Aronja-Art (Raffaela Lerch-Cech) are all cards showcased as curios but haven’t been printed as official playing cards. I suspect that these curios might eventually be printed as cards with functional mechanics but only time will tell.
Krakatoa, another card created by Aronja-Art (Raffaela Lerch-Cech), was a card showcased before Alpha but has not received a printing as well. Collector Arthouse showcased a Spellcraft version of the card. The artwork is awesome, and the ability could be a very useful mechanic for gameplay.
Another card showcased before Alpha is Shifting Sands created by Caio Calazans. No, I’m not talking about the Shifting Sands created by Vasiliy Ermolaev for Alpha/Beta. Although, it is quite interesting that Shifting sands received a completely different artwork and ability. I suspect that this artwork could be used as a fourth Desert card. In Arthurian Legends, we received a fourth Village card in the form of Common Village. Although it has the same effect as the other Village cards in Alpha and Beta, it is interesting that we received a fourth variant of a Village in another set. In the Alpha booster box, you would also receive a copy of a foil Winter River. This card represented the fourth variant of the River cards and hasn’t been reprinted since. Not even in Beta. I believe this will be a continuous trend until all of the original ordinary basic sites have a complete fourth variant. This would mean that we could receive a fourth Desert or fourth Tower card. I want to believe that Caio Calazans' Shifting Sands could be the artwork for our fourth Desert. No evidence is given for this notion, but a man can dream.
Speaking of dreams, I wanted to go over one last theory for this section. I want you to turn your attention to this:
This is a screenshot found on https://sorcerytcg.com/. The image above shows a friendly game being played by Sorcerers in the realm, highlighted “FIND A STORE”.
The bottom however… highlighted “FIND AN EVENT” shows something very interesting that I can’t find anywhere else… look closely:
It could just be me… Actually, I fully believe it’s honestly just me at this point that sees this. But… this unknown artwork… looks like an artwork for a site… and the art style… seems very familiar… I feel like I might have seen it somewhere before…
No? Just me? Yeah, probably just me… I don’t have any confirmation on this one, but this is a perspective I wanted to share with you.
Rise of The Undead
There was one other card officially spoiled for gothic. In fact, it was the first card revealed for the set:
Death Knight
Created by Dan Seagrave, Death Knight offers interesting insight. Revealing support for undead minions by giving those nearby minions plus one power. Another thing to note about this card is that it’s also a KNIGHT! Linking an interesting synergy with the avatar Templar created by Andrea Modesti. This synergy may not be as big as we think, but it is interesting to share, nevertheless. Another hidden fact about Death Knight is the mysterious handsome face behind it. Our very own Mike Servati discovered the fourth artwork’s identity as “The Void” created by Ian Miller himself! A fantastic discovery that sheds light on this masterpiece!
We do not have an official card for this artwork, but the message is clear. Ian Miller’s artwork will return for the upcoming Gothic set, and I couldn’t be more excited!
On the topic of Ian Miller, I’d like to share some hope with you all. Relentless Crowd is an extremely rare promo card. Only one hundred copies were made... with this particular art… but look closely at this:
According to Sorcery, “There might be other ways to get the Relentless Crowd promo card later on.” It could be possible for us to get our own version of Relentless Crowd in the future. Possibly with new artwork. What better time than to release a reprint this card in Gothic?
A Special Thank You
I wanted to take the time to thank each of you for taking the time to read this article. I’ve always strived to provide fun and interesting content, not for clout, or for any sort of gain, but to sincerely take the time to thank those who show support for this awesome project. Without further ado… I present you with
SORCERY’S NEXT SET RELEASE:
Chroma Chaos
Ok… maybe I was getting ahead of myself… No, THIS IS NOT A CONFIRMED SET sadly... But I still wanted to share this amazing photo with you all. If it wasn’t obvious, these are all cards and various artworks created by members of the community for Sorcery’s Art Contest. To me, I think this is a wonderful way to say thank you and pay homage to the people who shape the community of this fantastic game:
Aqua Rite - Pietro Desiro
Aqua Salamander - Chris Ong
Archives of the Realm - Rudy Asaurus
Aurora Blast - Jeff Grasso
Beastmaster - Benjamin Tang
Bifrost - Niklas Morgenstjerne
Brisingamen- Sofie Heiburg Plovdrup
Chronovisor - Heather Manelski
Colloseum Ruins - Kevmo
Cryomancer - Tim Kaloostian
Dense Forest - Jens Heiburg Plovdrup
Disciples of Uhr - Caden Callie Hall
Exhausted Fields - Josh DuBois
Flying Fish - Justin Reine
Frog King - Sam Alpert
Frog Mage - Bryant Delano
Frog Master - Dan Mitchum
Garlic- Mattias Frisk
Glacial Break - Nich Ochoa
Hammurabi's Mirror - Michael Anthony
Hole to Hell - Joshua Clark
Imperious Hooter - Jarrett Messing
Lich - Elliot Doedens
Luna Zemi - Luis Silva
Magic Gust - Elijah Vanaver
Maurits Compass - Sam Zeid
Painted Realm - David Rottenberg
Patient Vulture - Ash Pi
Pillars of Binseki - Shannon Nelson
Pools of Reflection - Kevin Chen
Quicksand - Drew Holmes
Realmeater - Erik Oloffson
Rocky Outcrop - Chris Huffman
Shangri-La, Kunlun Mountains - Zhang Zewen
Spirit Absorption - Andrew Paul Haught
The Grandmaster's Owl - Noah Gradian
Totality - Mike Servati
Trixter - Justin Tracey
Voidwell - Ken Falkson
Yeongno - James Boo
Collector - Jeff Rosado
Some of these names you may recognize. Content Creators, Players, Artists, even members from the Erik’s Curiosa team. All of which are a part of this fantastic community. I may have missed a few names sadly. But I want everyone to know that you are appreciated, and I wanted to thank you personally for all your contributions to Sorcery: Contested Realm.
I remember a time when Magic the Gathering had a set that was never officially released called Spectral Chaos. Members of the community even banded together and created digital representations of this set, and the cards were realized through their vision on their website. It seemed like a waste of potential, not making Spectral Chaos a real set.
That being said, even if these cards are never actually printed as Sorcery cards, I always wanted a playing card designed after me or my art. I’m sure we’ve all shared this similar dream, and I believe this was the closest thing to that dream. I even made new friends because of it, and I couldn’t have asked for more.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone for everything!
Conclusion
With very little evidence, Gothic continues to be a mysterious set. Promising hordes of monsters, forces of evil, and a ray of hope to endure the darkness that is to come. I hope some of my speculations are correct. Regardless, I’m excited for the release of this set and I’m more excited for what happens afterwards. I hope you all enjoyed this article.
I invite you to check out my YouTube channel for all forms of Sorcery entertainment (link provided above).
If you enjoyed reading this article, please consider joining the many Collector Arthouse platforms entirely dedicated to Sorcery TCG, its incredible artists, and playing, collecting, and discovering the history behind this amazing project!
I hope you enjoyed today’s article. Please stay tuned for more content, and as always, have an awesome week!
References
Please support all things Sorcery, The Artists as well as The Collector Arthouse platforms. Provided below are links to websites where you can follow upcoming sets, support future projects, and contribute to the growth of this amazing game and its vibrant community.
Comments