Riddles of Revio

Riddles of Revio is the 2nd set in the Empireverse by Queen Emily. It was released in May 2021. It is not part of a block. It is set on the plane of Revio.

Set Details
Riddles of Revio contains 271 cards (5 basic lands, 101 commons, 79 uncommons, 55 rares, 16 mythic rares, and 15 specials).

Riddles of Revio introduced the following mechanics:

Cryptic (Artifacts, enchantments, and modal spells are cryptic.)

Foresight — Whenever you draw your second card each turn, [effect].

Align N (Choose modes with total ⭐ less than or equal to N. You may choose modes multiple times.)

Riddles — Riddles are a supertype that indicates that a card does "weird" things, and can be "solved" by one or more other cards in the set by combining their effects.

Riddles of Revio also returned the following mechanic:

Mentor (Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature with lesser power.)

Storyline
Hundreds of years after the Great Calamity, there is a degree of peace on Revio. However, remnants of the Calamity still haunt the plane in the form of duneborn, zombies found in the vast deserts between cities. Darna, the second in command of the largest city in Revio, Alratha, decided to conduct experiments on duneborn to revive them. He worked under the orders of the Alrathan king Roland. However, after the king discovered the true nature of Darna's experiments, he was banished.

Over ten years later, unusual signs start to indicate the start of a second Great Calamity. The adventurer Reytha breaks into Maktali, the great library of Revio, and they discover that the royals have known about the coming Calamity and have done nothing to stop it. Reytha enlists the help of the princess Tara in seeking out the mythical sphinx Sethis in the hope he can stop the Calamity. As they try to escape the city, they were caught by the mysterious girl Belle and her peculiar cat, Eve. After being informed of the danger to the city, the four take off out of Alratha.

As they are traveling the deserts of Revio, the group is separated after an encounter with Dthan, the prince of a desert tribe, who was also sent to locate Sethis. Tara, alone from the group, nearly dies in quicksand before her planeswalker spark ignites. Soon after, she planeswalks back to Revio, to her friends, who have settled their differences with Dthan. They continue on their way to find the sphinx.

When they reach the inner sanctum of Sethis' palace, the four are asked a riddle by the sphinx, a test to prove the worth of humanity. To the surprise of Tara, Reytha, and Belle, it is the cat Eve who responds, answering the riddle. Granted her one act of assistance by Sethis, she asks "Where is Kella Rakevan." The sphinx answers "Belvov," before the cat planeswalks away. However, after learning of the hardships the trio have encountered to find him, Sethis decides to use the authority he has as the oldest sphinx to command the sphinxes of Revio to help stop the Calamity. Afterwards, Tara returns to the city of Alratha, and is welcomed back by the city and her father as a great heroine. As she does, the great Alrathan Oasis, devastated in the first Calamity, is magically restored as a symbol of the new peace upon the plane.

Themes and mechanics
Riddles of Revio attempts to capture the feeling of mysteries, secrets, and discoveries through gameplay.

Archetypes
Riddles of Revio features 10 two-colored signpost uncommons, all of which are Sphinx enchantment creatures.

/: Flying

/: Foresight

/: Control

/: Enchanted or Equipped

/: Enchantments

/: Lifegain

/: Artifacts

/: Reanimator

/: Aggro

/: Saboteurs

Featured planeswalkers

 * Tara
 * Eve
 * Ciel
 * Naiala

Notable Cards

 * Calamity cycle, utilizing the align mechanic.

Trivia

 * Mentor, returning from Guilds of Ravnica, now utilizes triggers that trigger whenever a creature with mentor puts a +1/+1 counter on another creature.
 * The Foresight keyword used to be called Foretold, before the introduction of the Foretell keyword to MSEM by Quest for the Roseblade.