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Jonna Mannion called out several of her castmates from The Challenge: All Stars for details they gave her on the Rivals season.

On the show, cast members partner with castmates who have a rivalry or feud with them. Some of these castmates are individuals they never wanted to see again.

That was Beth Stolarczyk for Jonna due to her putting Jonna’s alleged infidelity on blast during a previous All Stars season.

Despite their differences, the two-time All Stars winner wanted to try to work with Beth to win a third season of the spinoff.

In a spoiler alert, things didn’t go well for them. They were the first team eliminated, losing to Adam Larson and Steve Meinke.

Jonna recently explained that she had no idea Beth would participate in All Stars 5 due to a few castmates.

Jonna said she thought Beth wasn’t part of All Stars 5

According to Jonna,...

The Los Angeles bureau of CNN. (Photo by Matthew Keys for The Desk)

Warner Bros Discovery’s (Wbd) cable news channel CNN is laying off around 200 workers as the network reorients its editorial and programming operations around digital platforms and products.

The layoffs represent around 6 percent of CNN’s global workforce of nearly 3,500 employees. Some of those who receive pink slips will be given the opportunity to apply to new positions that are expected to be created in the coming weeks. CNN laid off around 100 newsroom employees last year.

The network has struggled with low post-election ratings that have solidified its position in third place among major cable news channels, behind Fox News and MSNBC but slightly ahead of NewsNation and Newsmax.

In a memo to employees on Thursday, CNN CEO Mark Thompson said the network was working to revamp its operations in order to meet audiences on digital platforms...

The logo of cable network CNN.

CNN is moving Wolf Blitzer’s show “The Situation Room” to late mornings and expanding “The Lead with Jake Tapper” to two hours, part of a broader refresh of the network’s weekday programming line-up, executives announced on Thursday.

The new schedule affects the domestic CNN channel as well as some programs that are simulcast on CNN International, which is expected to have its own weekday programming refresh in the coming weeks. Additionally, CNN executives say new shows will be announced in the near future.

The new schedule for CNN’s U.S. channel follows below (all times Eastern):

5 a.m.: “5 Things” with Rahel Solomon 6 a.m.: “CNN This Morning” 7 a.m. : “CNN News Central” 10 a.m.: “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer 12 p.m.: “Inside Politics” with Dana Bash 1 p.m.: “CNN News Central” 4 p.m.

CNN is making major changes to its daily lineup. The network announced its new plans on Thursday, January 23, with changes in time slots and programming affecting its well-known journalists. Former NPR host and CNN podcast host Audie Cornish will take over CNN This Morning in the 6 a.m. time slot. The show was previously hosted by Kasie Hunt, who will now host a show called The Arena, which airs at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, Jake Tapper will be moving time slots. The Lead With Jake Tapper will now air from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., a one-hour shift from its previous spot at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. As previously speculated, Wolf Blitzer is also up for a big change. He will now host a show at 10 a.m. with Pamela Brown, as opposed to the early evening spot he held on CNN for 20 years. At 5 a.m., CNN correspondent Rahel Solomon...

CNN unveiled details of changes to its daytime and afternoon lineup Thursday, with Wolf Blitzer moving to mornings to anchor The Situation Room with Pamela Brown, Jake Tapper getting a new time slot, and Kasie Hunt shifting to afternoons.

There is no word on what will happen to Jim Acosta, as Blitzer and Brown’s The Situation Room will take his place in the 10 a.m. Et slot.

Tapper’s show will move to 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Et, with a new show hosted by Hunt, called The Arena, getting the 4 p.m. Et slot.

Audie Cornish will take over CNN This Morning at 6 a.m. Et, and Rahel Solomon will host 5 Things at 5 a.m. Et.

CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson unveiled further plans earlier today to shift the network’s focus to digital, with layoffs of about 200 employees from its workforce but with plans to hire 100 in digital roles.

CNN is getting a revamped lineup, with a number of familiar faces moving to new roles or time periods. Eric Sherling, CNN’s executive vp of programming, announced the changes in a memo to CNN staff Thursday.

The new lineup was unveiled just hours after CNN CEO Mark Thompson outlined job cuts and a digital-first strategy for the venerable cable news channel.

Among the changes: The Lead anchor Jake Tapper will move to 5-7 p.m., filling a critical early primetime period for news; Kasie Hunt will host The Arena at 4 p.m.; Audie Cornish will join CNN This Morning at 6 a.m.; Rahel Solomon will host 5 Things at 5 a.m.; and Wolf Blitzer and Pamala Brown will move to the 10 a.m. timeslot with a new version of The Situation Room.

There is no word on what will happen to Jim Acosta, the current 10 a.m. anchor who, according to multiple reports,...

CNN is shaking up its TV schedule yet again as the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet grapples with significant declines in audience and a need to control costs in an era when more viewers are migrating to streaming media.

Under a series of changes unveiled Thursday, Audie Cornish, the former NPR host will take over the 6 a.m. “CNN This Morning,” while Rahel Solomon will lead a new 5 a.m. concept called “5 Things.” Jake Tapper’s late-day program will move to a two hour slot between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., setting up audiences for the primetime lineup, and Kasie Hunt will move from mornings to a 4 p.m. program called “The Arena.”

Wolf Blitzer will move out of the early evening slot he had held for years, paired instead with Pamela Brown at 10 a.m. CNN did not specify a new role for Jim Acosta, the no-nonsense anchor who has...

Jenny West was one of three winners of MTV’s The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, but some fans weren’t happy she even reached the final.

The Total Madness winner returned after several years away from the competition series and performed impressively in her second-straight final.

Due to a Karma Vote twist, which many fans disagreed with, she finished in a tie for first place with her friend and ally, Rachel Robinson.

However, she also won several daily challenges to gain safety from eliminations or power in the game.

One of those daily challenges caused controversy, as Jordan Wiseley and fans pointed out that she hadn’t finished her puzzle correctly after MTV aired Episode 17.

Despite that, host Tj Lavin announced her as the winner. It meant she was safe from consideration for elimination. It also gave Jenny the power to choose who faced the daily challenge loser, Tori Deal,...

Gladiator II's Digital release date is fast approaching, and ScreenRant is excited to present an exclusive clip of two stars breaking down one of the movie's crucial scenes. A direct continuation of Ridley Scott's 2000 box-office hit (and Best Picture winner) Gladiator, the sequel follows the son of Maximus. Lucius Verus Aurelius, who returns to Rome as a captive of war and is forced to fight in the Coliseum. Paul Mescal leads the cast of Gladiator II, channeling Russell Crowe's veritas, and he is joined by Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger as new characters in the familiar world of Ancient Rome.

Though Gladiator II takes place only a few short decades after the original, Connie Nielsen is the only actor to reprise a major role from the original. She plays Lucius's mother Lucilla, whose romance with Maximus was a major plot point in Gladiator,...

If you’ve been holding out to watch Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II at home, you won’t have long to wait. Per Deadline, Gladiator II will be released on digital on December 24th, just in time for the holidays. The outlet also states that the film will be released on 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray on March 4, 2025, complete with over 100 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

The 4K Ultra HD and Digital releases of Gladiator II will include the following special features:

A Dream That Was Rome: Origins—Scott and producers delve into the history behind Gladiator II and how the story developed over many years before coming to the screen. What We Do In Life Echoes In Eternity: The Cast—An inside look into Scott’s casting process. In The Arena: Filmmakers—Behind the scenes shoot in Malta, Morocco, and the UK. To Those About To Die, We...

On The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, host Tj Lavin told the cast that their relationships with others would impact them in the game.

That immediately came into play after the Eras Invitational, in which one man and one woman from each team got eliminated.

They remained in The Arena following their elimination losses, as the rest of their castmates exited.

Tj indicated that they would distribute points or scores for castmates based on their relationships with them. The most points they could award was five to a person, while they could give a lower score to someone they didn’t like.

That’s when viewers immediately saw the repercussions for some individuals’ relationships with others. For example, Amanda gave a lower score to her rival, Tori Deal, while giving a better score to Cara Maria Sorbello, with whom she patched up differences.

That was Episode 2, but in the eliminations...

Oprah Winfrey’s surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention, in which she made the case for Kamala Harris and against Donald Trump, certainly electrified the United Center, but one moment from the third evening stood out in particular.

That was when Tim Walz spoke about he and his wife’s long challenges with infertility, and then about his family, and his son Gus stood up and said, “That’s my Dad!” It quickly became one of the night’s viral moments.

For the third night in a row, the convention went into overtime in the Et, potentially losing the TV audience, but the campaign is suggesting that it may not matter all that much.

The convention has so far drawn a larger audience than the same time periods of the Republican National Convention.

“We’ve outpaced them every night so far this convention,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said this morning.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus opened a panel featuring eight women Democratic governors Wednesday with a few quips about Donald Trump and Jd Vance, while saying she was among those filled with “new hope and joy” over the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket.

The event in downtown Chicago was for the Democratic Governors Association and the DGA’s Women Governors Fund and came at the event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention.

“This is so cool,” Louis-Dreyfus said at the outset. “We are very honored to have eight highly intelligent, highly capable women leaders for the 21st century with us — or what Jd Vance might call a coven of semi menstruating witches.”

The panel included Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly.

Louis-Dreyfus called the Harris-Walz campaign “contagious.

Exclusive: More than 50 of Broadway’s biggest names, including actors, directors, producers, writers and others, are organizing to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election.

The volunteer coalition Broadway for Harris will work to to elect Harris, Walz and down ballot Democratic candidates this November. The organization plans to increase voter participation in key swing districts, produce fundraising events featuring the talents of the Broadway community and “work together toward a brighter, more hopeful, more equitable future for the country under the historic leadership of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Among those who have signed on to the initial organizing committee are Adrienne Warren, Alex Edelman, Audra McDonald, Billy Porter, George C. Wolfe, Idina Menzel, Jeremy O. Harris, Lachanze, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Leguizamo, Sara Bareilles, Sarah Paulson, Shaina Taub and Tony Kushner. (See the full list as of August 19 below.)

Related: Democratic National Convention: What To Expect...

Sixteen years after working together on Wanted, director Timur Bekmambetov and actor Chris Pratt are re-teaming for a sci-fi thriller called Mercy, which just started filming this week – and Bekmambetov has celebrated the start of filming by sharing a picture from the set! You can check it out right here:

Day 1 pic.twitter.com/MZ4AwbIzBp

— Timur Bekmambetov (@Bekmambetov) April 16, 2024

This image reveals that the film is taking advantage of the virtual production method known as The Volume, which uses LED panels as backdrops.

Sporting a screenplay written by Marco Van Belle (Arthur & Merlin), Mercy will be telling a story that is “set in the near future when capital crime has increased” and follows “a detective (Pratt] who is accused of a violent crime and forced to prove his innocence.”

Pratt is joined in the cast by Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Annabelle Wallis (Malignant), and World Boxing Council middleweight champ Kali Reis,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook.Newsa Different Man.IATSE, Teamsters, and the Hollywood Basic Crafts unions began bargaining jointly with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a thousands-strong rally in Los Angeles. In Variety, IATSE president Matthew Loeb discusses the union’s priorities and the threat of another strike after the current contract expires on July 31.In an open letter, Carlo Chatrian, the outgoing artistic director of the Berlinale, and Mark Peranson, the festival’s head of programming, respond to the backlash that followed the closing ceremony, at which a number of award recipients called for a ceasefire in Gaza: “This year’s festival was a place for dialogue and exchange for ten days; yet once the films stopped rolling, another form of communication...

With the finale just around the corner, the 10 remaining players can already smell the money. But not everyone’s going to make it to next week’s Challenge: USA season finale. No, sir. Because on Thursday’s episode, the competitors had to survive one last challenge and a double elimination!

Needless to say, emotions are running high. Josh waters up telling us he wants to give the prize money to his parents, while Chanelle details the imposter syndrome she’s endured as a result of her mid Survivor 42 finish. And with an episode titled, “The Treason for the Season,” someone...

In Wednesday’s episode of The Challenge: USA, one player’s gameplay was so erratic, it even had Messy Fessy’s head spinning.

But before we get to all of that mayhem, Sebastian and Tori continue getting closer, and Fessy, for some reason, feels the need to chime in saying that a showmance isn’t good for either of their games. Fessy, who had a showmance with Haleigh Broucher on BB20, and who… actually, I don’t have enough time in this recap to review his laundry list of Challenge hook-ups. Back to your glass house, Fes!

More from TVLineJulie...

No one in The Challenge: USA saw that coming!

A huge twist has shaken up the game in a major way, but before we get to that, another round of applause for our man Wes here! After returning to the house, Cassidy and Wes hug it out and declare a cease-fire, but when Wes walks away, Cassidy gives the camera a nasty look. Guess she didn’t buy Wes’ “I just want to play fair” speech that he made a meal of. (Honestly, if she’s seen any of the show’s past seasons, she’s right to not trust him.

The success of Ridley Scott's 2000 battle epic "Gladiator" might be seen as a little baffling. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards in the early months of 2001, and would win Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costumes, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. This was in spite of the film receiving only vaguely positive reviews from most critics (it currently holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Stephen Hunter, in his review in the Washington Post, called the film a disappointment, and the L.A. Weekly's Manhola Dargis called it "ultimately pointless." Roger Ebert gave the film a mere two stars. Overall, "Gladiator" is something of a slog, featuring a dishwater-dull color palette and a perfunctory story that offers little drama and no surprises. These days, "Gladiator" occasionally pops up on lists of the worst Best Picture winners. 

"Gladiator" was, however, a massive hit, so it clearly tapped into a...

Survivor star Danny McCray has his wife Kiki rooting for him in The Challenge: USA. Pic credit: MTV’s The Challenge/YouTube

The Challenge: USA daily events have featured tall buildings, water, and even cars in a demolition derby. For Episode 10, it’s time to bring in the big trucks.

In some sneak peek footage for the latest installment of the CBS spinoff show, host Tj Lavin introduces the competitors to Code Crossing as their latest daily challenge.

The competitors will be on the sides of moving trucks attempting to place pegs and build themselves a bridge. The objective is to use their bridge to move from the back to the front of the truck.

Once they’re at the front, they’ll climb to the top of the truck and pull a cord, which will signal that they’ve completed the mission.

The man and woman who accomplish...

Big Brother star Angela Rummans appears in The Challenge: USA promotional video. Pic credit: MTV’s The Challenge/YouTube

The competition is becoming more intense with each episode of The Challenge: USA, as cast members try to win, strategize, plot, and scheme their ways to Tj Lavin’s final.

They’ll be working harder than ever in those areas, as The Algorithm is now out of the picture, and it’s become an individual game. Having solid allies becomes extra essential.

Ahead of the ninth episode, all but one of the remaining competitors had qualified for the final by earning 5,000 in their personal bank accounts. That’s Survivor star Sarah Lacina, who appears to be looking to eliminate one specific castmate from the game.

Viewers saw a deal set in motion in Episode 8 of the spinoff show after Big Brother star Angela Rummans was the women’s winner in the daily challenge.

Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center is venturing into TV history. Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds (open Oct. 7 through Feb. 20, 2022) features rare props and costumes from 55 years of the seminal sci-fi series.

In addition to costumes worn by stars Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols, there’s a phaser from the original series (just one of two known to exist); a model of a Borg cube; and the head of the alien Gorn, the lizard-creature William Shatner’s Kirk fought in the classic 1967 episode “The Arena.” The exhibit spans work new and old, featuring ...

Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center is venturing into TV history. Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds (open Oct. 7 through Feb. 20, 2022) features rare props and costumes from 55 years of the seminal sci-fi series.

In addition to costumes worn by stars Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols, there’s a phaser from the original series (just one of two known to exist); a model of a Borg cube; and the head of the alien Gorn, the lizard-creature William Shatner’s Kirk fought in the classic 1967 episode “The Arena.” The exhibit spans work new and old, featuring both the ...

Arissa’s explosive Challenge: All Stars exit last week seemed like an impossible act to follow. That is, until host Tj Lavin pulled off the reality TV-equivalent of “hold my beer.”

Just when we thought we knew how this game would play out, some major changes were unleashed in Thursday’s episode that shook the house to its core. For starters, the Lifesaver was eliminated, but that’s nowhere near as crazy as the game-changing elimination twist that dropped jaws and caused absolute pandemonium. How’d it all go down? Read on for the highlights.

More from TVLineYounger Video: 'Love...

If explosive fights and soapy drama are elements you miss from Challenge seasons of yore, then look no further than this week’s The Challenge: All Stars.

Thursday’s second episode shined the spotlight aaaaall over spicy vets Katie and Trishelle, and as old wounds resurfaced for the women, it didn’t take long for the F-bombs to fly and the nasty insults to be slung. Were the two legends able to make amends, and which female booked a return flight home? Let’s break it all down.

More from TVLineThe Challenge: All Stars Premiere: The OGs Are Back — Who Got Cut First?...

Steve Carver, a director of action films whose portfolio included An Eye for an Eye and Lone Wolf McQuade, both starring Chuck Norris, and Big Bad Mama, starring Angie Dickinson, has died. He was 75.

Carver died Friday of a heart attack in Los Angeles, writer-producer Rob Word told The Hollywood Reporter.

Carver’s first feature was Pam Grier’s The Arena (1974), a gladiator movie set in ancient Rome that marked his initial collaboration with producer Roger Corman, and he also guided Ben Gazzara in Capone (1975), Warren Oates and Ken Norton in Drum (1976) and Lee Majors in Steel (1979).

Carver’s first love was photography,...

Steve Carver, a director of action films whose portfolio included An Eye for an Eye and Lone Wolf McQuade, both starring Chuck Norris, and Big Bad Mama, starring Angie Dickinson, has died. He was 75.

Carver died Friday of a heart attack in Los Angeles, writer-producer Rob Word told The Hollywood Reporter.

Carver’s first feature was Pam Grier’s The Arena (1974), a gladiator movie set in ancient Rome that marked his initial collaboration with producer Roger Corman, and he also guided Ben Gazzara in Capone (1975), Warren Oates and Ken Norton in Drum (1976) and Lee Majors in Steel (1979).

Carver’s first love was photography,...

Preview season for Magic: The Gathering set Kaldheim is now in full swing and Wizards of Coast has decided to get the ball rolling, so to speak, in spectacular style this time around.

While fans have seen but a minuscule sample of what the Nordic-inspired set will have to offer when it arrives early next year, initial teasers have already lifted the curtain on two brand new Planeswalkers, Tyvar Kell and Niko Aris. While both of these additions are noteworthy for their unique abilities, the latter is distinguished further as the first non-binary Planeswalker. You can read more about their backstory as a Therosian escapee through here if you wish.

In addition to those, Kaldheim also sees the return of Saga cards first introduced with Dominaria back in 2018, one of which – Showdown of the Skalds – has already been revealed. The red/white Boros enchantment will no doubt be joined over...

This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 6 heads for the Mexican border for a No Holds Barred tournament that has been teased all season long. Apart from Ah Toy’s (Olivia Cheng) trips to Nellie’s (Miranda Raison) Sonoma winery in the previous episode, Warrior seldom leaves San Francisco except for one notable exception – Season 1 Episode 5: “The Blood and the Sh*t.” That was an outlier tale where Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) and Young Jun (Jason Tobin) were transporting a coffin and got trapped by bandits in a desert saloon with several bystanders.

With undertones of The Seven Samurai, it was an homage to spaghetti westerns, complete with a classic ride into the sunset and even a “The End” credit. It was one of the best episodes of Season 1, almost a standalone story because it did nothing to advance the overarching tale, while this new episode is pivotal...

As a relatively young addition to the family, Magic: The Gathering Arena has had a lot of catching up to do in terms of set releases. Indeed, the digital version of Wizards’ extremely popular card game has only been in active service (beta excluded) since 2018. That being the case, every expansion prior to 2017’s Ixalan has, until very recently, been outside the realms of availability. Beginning with Amonkhet Remastered earlier this year, however, the developer has finally figured out the means in which it can reintroduce older sets.

It remains to be seen just how far back through the history books it intends to go, of course, but for now, at least, there’s plenty of nostalgia-filled content slated to come throughout the remainder of 2020 and beyond. As outlined in a previous live stream for Zendikar Rising, Kaladesh Remastered is locked in to follow Amonkhet and arrives next week, November 12th.

Magic: The Gathering Arena players hoping to use their card collections on the go in the near future will need to temper those expectations for a bit.

On the company’s latest quarterly earnings call, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner confirmed that the digital version of Magic, already a smash hit on desktop and, more recently, Mac, won’t be making its originally projected 2020 release date on iOS and Android. While Goldner stops short of providing a revised release date for the port, he goes on to specify that Wizards of the Coast is aiming for an early 2021 launch. Whether that window will be kept to is anyone’s guess, of course, as it certainly doesn’t seem set in stone.

While surely disappointing news for mobile gamers, Wizards has warned in the past that moving Arena over to the more compact platform that is mobile would be a mammoth undertaking,...

Ithaca Season 1 Chapters 1 – 4 Available Now Ithaca: The Miniseries is from Man In The Arena Films, Everything’s Fire, and “The Blair Witch Project” Director Eduardo Sanchez. Season 1 of Ithaca is available now and can be watched for Free at Man In The Arena Films YouTube Channel. Synopsis: Ithaca is an adventure …

The post Ithaca Season 1 Chapters 1 – 4 Available Now appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

While tabletop players of Magic: The Gathering still have a few days to wait until the final Standard-legal set of 2020 releases, folks over on the collectible card game’s digital counterpart, Arena, have had full access to the expansion since last week. Boasting hundreds of cards (reprints and new additions) as well as keywords such as Landfall, Party and Modal Double-Faced Cards, Zendikar Rising marks a long-awaited return to one of the most popular locations in Magic‘s multiverse and, so far at least, reception to the product appears to have been predominantly positive.

As has become standard in recent years, however, many fans continue to freely criticize Wizards of the Coast for continuing to raise the cost of assembling a competitive-worthy deck, especially in Arena, where no secondary market exists, meaning cards therefore have no resale value. The disquiet is particularly prominent this time around, of course, as Zendikar...

Brian Eno has collected highlights from his soundtrack work over the past 40 years — some familiar, some hard-to-find — for the producer and ambient music pioneer’s new collection Film Music 1976-2020.

The compilation is a sequel of sorts to Eno’s 1978 EP Music for Films — as well as its follow-up installments in 1983 and 1988 — and bridges his film work from 1976’s Sebastiane (“Final Sunset”) through 2020’s Stewart Brand documentary We Are As Gods.

While some of the Film Music 1976-2020 selections are well-known (Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks’ “Deep Blue Day” and “An Ending...

Magic: The Gathering players have already been introduced to a record number of new products in 2020, but Wizards of the Coast still has one more to share with fans of the Ccg before the year is out. Beginning with Zendikar Rising later this month – and continuing for all subsequent Standard releases, assuming the experiment proves successful – so-called Set Boosters will be available to buy alongside the usual draft and collector’s boxes and feature contents not available anywhere else.

The target audience for these mid-range packs, so to speak, is fans with either no interest in Limited (sealed) or premium-priced bundles (collector’s editions) first printed with last year’s Throne of Eldraine and unlike the former, Set Boosters come with a trimmed down 12 playable Magic cards and 14 in total. One of these, as previously revealed, is an art card similar to those seen in Modern Horizons, while the latter,...

Despite laying out its plans for the next 12 months of Magic: The Gathering set releases, Wizards of the Coast is clearly still a long way from done with 2020.

As revealed by the company in its latest State of the Game post earlier today, in fact, Zendikar Rising and Commander Legends aren’t the only two expansions still on the cards (pun intended) before the New Year comes knocking. As has become increasingly common over the last several months, however, this particular update will be exclusive to Arena and, what’s more, will bring back yet another set from years gone by.

Beginning with Amonkhet Remastered earlier this year, the collectible card game’s digital counterpart is now set to receive several rejigged versions of older tabletop releases as part of Arena‘s relatively new Historic format – a unique spin on Pioneer that allows the use of every card, independent of its legality in Standard.

Given the absurd number of formats and cards that exist for Magic: The Gathering, achieving perfect game balance between every color and deck archetype is impossible.

Wizards of the Coast is well aware of that fact, of course, and while it certainly isn’t content to throw caution to the wind and let power discrepancies get way out of control, the developer isn’t afraid to try new and often experimental ideas. As any longtime player will know, each of the five colors in Mtg have their own baked-in strengths and weaknesses that counter each other.

White decks traditionally excel at removing their opponent’s threats with efficient spells and typically outlast aggro via easy access to self-healing creatures and Sorceries. To counteract these strong control tools, Wizards has traditionally refrained from making card draw or mana ramp readily available to white, two of the most powerful and important abilities to have in Commander.

Wizards of the Coast has revealed yet another batch of cards for Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming Zendikar Rising set, this time with an emphasis on some of the abundantly available cards that players are likely to find in packs. Common and uncommons might make up the bulk of a booster’s 16-card (token included) contents and while some are almost certainly filler, many are just as integral to constructing a top-tier deck as the generally more powerful and scarce Mythic rares.

A prime example of that is newly-revealed mono black card Feed the Swarm, which not only serves as a potent single-target creature removal spell (similarly to staple sorceries such as Murder) but another, more sought-after secondary ability that the archetype traditionally has restricted access to. Feed the Swarm can completely remove enchantment effects from the battlefield as well as creatures for just two mana (1 black; 1 of any type...

Magic: The Gathering‘s final Standard set release of 2020 is just weeks away and, as usual, Wizards of the Coast is building hype ahead of launch with a slew of card previews.

As the name suggests, Zendikar Rising will see players return to the plane’s ever-shifting landscape and, due to its overtly magical nature, they can expect to get their hands on a ton of devastating new Sorceries and lands, some of which will feature brand new keywords. As for today’s reveals, however, all three of these monstrously powerful Mythic Rares come printed with mechanics that longtime fans will be immediately familiar with. Blue and white decks are the focus of these particular spoilers and you can find all of the relevant information on each down below.

Sea Gate Stormcaller Angel of Destiny Emeria’s Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave Magic: The Gathering Reveals New Mythic Rares For Zendikar...

Magic: The Gathering has started rolling out a new set, and along with new cards and mechanics coming in Zendikar Rising, they also laid out their plans for 2021. In those plans: an official in-game crossover with Dungeons and Dragons.

Magic’s story bounces across multiple “planes” – worlds of the multiverse with different themes, stories, characters and in-game mechanics. The four releases scheduled for 2021 are winter’s Kaldheim, a viking themed set; spring’s Strixhaven, a set built around an elite multiversal university; Adventures in the Forgotten Realms coming out in the Summer; and a dual set focusing on the werewolves and vampires of Innistrad in fall of 2021.

Additionally, details on Zendikar Rising started to hit. The set, which releases on September 17th, returns to the wild plane full of shifting and living lands, and as such, it brings some familiar game mechanics back around that idea.

Landfall, an ability that...

One of Magic: The Gathering‘s most problematic cards finds itself banned from yet another format today.

Introduced with last year’s Core 2020 expansion, Field of the Dead, quickly rose to become a prominent part of many decks in the Standard meta. As is often the case whenever a single card becomes too prevalent, however, Wizards permanently banned the powerhouse a few weeks later from multiple formats. Since then, of course, the collectable card game’s digital counterpart, Arena, has received its own bespoke format in the form of Historic, which allows the use of any cards ever released.

Potent new combos made possible with the inclusion of cards such as Cultivate, Explore and Hour of Promise in recent set releases, however, have indirectly buffed Field of the Dead, to the extent that Wizards no longer considers it to be a healthy part of the Historic metagame. A heavy blow...

This Star Trek: Lower Decks review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 3

If one of the unspoken goals of Lower Decks was to make Galaxy Quest-style jokes, but more on-the-nose, the third episode of the show, “Temporal Edict,” succeeds. In Galaxy Quest, when Tim Allen’s Commander Taggart gets his shirt ripped unnecessarily, the Trek people in the audience get that this is a joke about Captain Kirk. In Galaxy Quest, the joke worked without having to say the name “Kirk,” but, in Lower Decks, making jokes about Kirk’s shirtless machismo comes with name-checking. As a series, Lower Decks is both on-the-nose and oddly subtle. So far, “Temporal Edict” is the best example of how that balance works. The story also does something the previous episodes did not do: Create stakes that felt like an old-school Star Trek adventure.

I can’t prove that the writers of...

Popular streamer Dr DisRespect has revealed his final 3D design for “The Arena,” the map he created for the free-to-play multiplayer shooter Rogue Company. The streamer, who made his comeback on YouTube earlier this month after being permanently banned from Twitch in June, has been working on the new map for the past few days as part of a partnership with the game, which is currently in a closed beta.

Check out the video below:

Here's the final design @RogueCompany.

Do we have a deal?#RoguePartner pic.twitter.com/hpi8OtsOm0

— Dr Disrespect (@drdisrespect) August 17, 2020

Dr DisRespect’s campaign to promote the shooter on his streams was staged as “a challenge” to the streamer, who previously had a career in the games industry as a map designer. Among his credits include work on the multiplayer maps for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. So when Dr DisRespect “asked” developer First Watch...

Yet another sizable content drop for Magic: The Gathering Arena is due to go live later this week.

Amonkhet Remastered, a compilation set consisting of cards not only from the original Egypt-inspired expansion but Hour of Devastation and numerous others, releases on August 13th, bringing with it hundreds of new cards for players to collect and use in Arena’s popular Historic format. For folks unaware of the rules: Historic, unlike Standard, allows for the use of every card ever released for Arena, including those from the recently released Jumpstart and various bite-sized Anthologies released over the last several months.

Two of these cards, Collected Company and Hornet Queen, have just been revealed by Destructoid, both of which feature brand new illustrations provided by Lake Hurwitz and Jonathan Kuo respectively. Check them out for yourselves in the gallery down below.

Magic: The Gathering Reveals New Art And Cards For Amonkhet...

Following on from the short taster provided earlier this year for Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming Double Masters expansion, Wizards of the Coast has today officially kicked off preview season by revealing two additions to the set.

We’ll refrain from labelling either of these powerful Planeswalkers as new, however, as both are reprints from past releases, though you’d be hard pushed to find anyone bemoaning either character’s return. Sentient artefact Karn and the incredibly powerful mind-mage, Jace, are both confirmed to be making their long-awaited return and will surely be a welcome sight for those perturbed by the high price both cards fetch on the secondary market. And without further ado, you can check out the reprints of both for yourselves in the gallery down below.

Magic: The Gathering Reveals Returning Planeswalkers For Double Masters 1 of 4

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While tabletop Magic: The Gathering continues to suffer in the Us due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, Wizards of the Coast is doing what it can to provide all players of the collectable card game the means to engage in competitive play while staying safe at the same time. Indeed, the company confirmed last week it had taken the decision to suspend all in-store Magic play until September at the absolute earliest, at the same time highlighting that both digital versions, Arena and Online, would operate as normal.

In this case, it’s the former serving as the staging ground for a new Open tournament due to kick off next month. Wizards says it’ll have more details to share in July’s State of the Game post but for now, we know that the championship’s format will be Historic and is due to follow a similar...

While much of the information shared by Wizards of the Coast in its latest State of the Game update for Magic: The Gathering simply retreads information fans have already learned over the last few weeks or so, the developer did manage to sneak in a few big surprises for Arena players. Besides revealing that the Ccg’s popular Brawl mode is finally becoming a permanent fixture (you can find more details about that over here), Wizards also took the opportunity to unveil the next big content update headed to Arena‘s Historic format.

Planned for release sometime in August, Amonkhet Remastered will introduce over 300 new cards to Arena‘s tailor-made legacy component taken directly from the original tabletop set of the same name. As is frequently the case, however, Wizards is keen to stress that there’ll be a few key differences between digital and physical versions, not least the...

As any longtime Magic: The Gathering player can surely attest to, downtime isn’t part of the game’s vocabulary. Even more so than the Og tabletop version, Wizards of the Coast has been pumping out new expansions, features and modes for the card game’s digital variants, most notably with Arena, which continues to expand at an impressive rate. This week, of course, marks the arrival of new set Core 2021, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

In the latest of its monthly State of the Game updates, the developer has outlined several key events and changes to look out for, starting with one announcement that you’ll likely already have caught wind of. Launching concurrently with Core 2021 later this week, MacOs users eager to give Arena a spin will finally be able to do so by downloading the free client via Epic Games Store. Not the...

Magic: The Gathering Arena recently published its latest State of the Game article, and it’s chock full of updates and brand new content set to be released over the next two months. There’s a lot to cover from their announcement, so here’s everything you need to know about what’s coming to Arena in June and July.

First up, Arena players had better mark June 25th on their calendars, because this is a huge day for content. We previously reported that Arena is finally set to release on MacOs on Thursday and Apple users will be able to access Arena via the Epic Games Store in a matter of days without resorting to workarounds.

June 25th is also the online release date for Core 2021, Magic: The Gathering’s latest Standard-legal booster set. Players who bought Prerelease Bundles will receive their boosters, cosmetics and most importantly, the adorable new Pack Leader Pet.