Magics Most Mysterious Planeswalker - Who/What Exactly Is Grist, The Hunger Tide?

[@jean-paulpitman2172]

Grist reducing to a single insect each time it plainswalkes through the blind eternities is also very cool. Only the one with a spark can survive, then the replication starts again on the new plain, Phenomenal!

[@Fistminer]

So their +1 is rebuilding their form? Neat!

[@EnnocK]

The artist responsible for the other art of Grist, Victor Minguez, said on tweeter that Grist is the larger insect inside the eye socket of the skull in that art. Give it a look!

[@rootregis]

Keep in mind that a planeswalker spark usually ignites as a result of an extreme trauma or a near death experience. Makes you think how Grist ascended… Imagine squishing a mosquito and boom, it becomes this all powerful hunger tide! Yikes!

[@brianshanahan5274]

Grist looks like a Dark Souls boss and I'm all for it.

[@allenridenour1826]

Oh! I just remembered that we discussed this during a livestream on having planeswalkers who weren't humanoids. Its awesome to see wotc is expanding on them now.......also, sliver planeswalker when?

[@robseal3470]

I am hoping for a sliver planeswalker too

[@ryanjones_rheios]

I'm super interested in Grist, although I'm not quite sure how I'd utilize him yet. What's interesting is: Does Grist collect different plane's insects one after another? Like can he stop by Amonkhet and pick up scarabs and locusts before he heads off to Dominaria or something? If so that's interesting because then its a mass of insects from *multiple* planes, possibly breeding and creating new strange bugs.

[@Shoyro]

Magic Historian: Grist is a guy. Me: *sees Grist's butterfly made dress, hourglass figure and insect connection.* Umm...think Grist is not only a girl, but is a queen of a hive.

[@FiShOuToFbOnGwAtEr]

All insects hives are led by females, and the lore on her confirms this.

[@Shoyro]

@@FiShOuToFbOnGwAtEr *EXACTLY!*

[@sagethegreat4680]

Grist is actually pretty gross in interactions because he is a 1/1 creature in your hand , library and graveyard . So if have cards that say play 1\1 from your hand ,library or grave you can easily summon or resurrect him and you can do it far easier than any other plainswalker

[@jameshill2450]

Grist is an insect swarm; they're not technically powerful at all, most of them die in the process of swarming. The power only comes in the hive mind aspect and the fact that they all follow each other. It seems like Grist has figured out how to "consolidate"/"store" the hive mind in a single 1/1 insect, travel to a new plane, and recruit a whole new swarm to follow it. Is it even the same insect each time, or can any member of the swarm take it on?

[@doodlehumper3529]

If anyone has read it, there’s a version of Spider-Man known as Spiders-man. He came to be after scientists started to experiment with a spider hive mind and started fighting crime after Peter Parker fell into the hive mind as was consumed. The hive mind gain the intellect of Peter Parker. That’s my head cannon for grist, the idea that an insect ate a planeswalker and gained not only their spark, but also their intelligence.

[@LegacyKricketune111]

Hell yeah, my favourite card from this set. Unfortunately the Wizards article doesn't really clear things up about what Grist is about. But if I had to guess, I would say it's simply a higher intelligence insect (wouldn't be the first we've had) from an unknown plane that had a spark. Planeswalking probably only carries the singular insect across the blind eternities, so they need to assemble a new swarm every time like how Wren needs to find a new tree everytime they do so.

[@EnnocK]

The artist that did the other art for Grist said that the actual planeswalker is the larger insect in the eye socket in that art. So, that corroborates with your idea.

[@geoffreythomas2022]

Maybe Grist is the insect guy from the first “Men in Black”....”I’ll take some sugar water”

[@TheEvilProfessorMonoCulture]

Legion from Constantine - "Should have minded your own business Excorsist"

[@martinkarlsson1456]

I pulled a Grist, the Hunger Tide in my pre-release bundle. I think it will be pretty cool in a insect-commander deck with cards to pull back stuff from the graveyard as well.

[@ronniepooch]

Remember the movie "The Thing"? The creature in that film was an imitating one-celled organism that would disguise itself as the hosts it consumes. To me, the insects are the individual cells (which make up the "collective"), and collectively they overcome any host it wants. If you look at the Full Frame Art version, they're actually emulating creatures they've once previously destroyed... like the head of a dragon, or the arm of a sliver. The two humans attacking it have also been consumed and imitated. The wings of the insects make up a beautiful dress (imitating a queen). The one bug sitting in the dragon skull looks to be the queen bee commanding it's bug army. So there's intelligence. It's beautiful and horrific at the same time.

[@jameshill2450]

They knew exactly what they were doing releasing an insect swarm planeswalker right now ...

[@joostbrons2892]

This planeswalker seems to be based on "the worm that walks". Which can be really cool if Grist is an old planeswalker that died in a bad way. Now returned in this broken form in an effort to reconstitute itself. Source: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2 "When a powerful spellcaster with a strong personality, a lust for life, and a remorselessly evil soul dies and is buried in a graveyard infused with eldritch magic, a strange phenomenon sometimes occurs. The flesh of the decaying body fats and instructs the very worms that gnaw, and these graveworms quicken not only on corruption but upon the spellcaster’s memories and magical power. The spellcaster’s very soul is consumed in this vile process, only to be split apart to inhabit each of the individual chewing worms in so many fragments. The result is a hideous hive mind of slithering life known as a worm that walks-a mass of worms that clings to the vague shape of the body that granted it this new existence, and can wield the powers and magic the spellcaster had in life. A worm that walks retains memories of its life as a spellcaster before its death, but is not undead-it is a hideous new form of undulant life."

[@TheBlitzgundam]

I want an Eldrazi planeswalker! And Grist is a really cool planeswalker! I believe that Grist starts as a 1/1 insect because it's like the Borg in Star Trek.

[@saadbadat]

Not sure if it's actually possible to have an Eldrazi planeswalker. Technically, they already are, since they LIVE in the Blind Eternities, but at the same time, that's where they come from. So they're similar to Planeswalkers where they can traverse the Eternities, they are different in the sense that they aren't from any plane. Not that we really know much about them though.

[@TheBlitzgundam]

@@saadbadat hopefully wizards would expand the lore on Eldrazis... like in a Blind Eternities set

[@Darth_Sithis]

Doesn't make sense for them to do that lore wise. As they already travel around to other planes.

[@spidergeist1]

Now I can't ever not see the ultimate ability of every Planeswalker as me getting them to mow my lawn.

[@XarianTheElf]

The + - lotalty explanation was great

[@XarianTheElf]

Grist, to me. A sing, magically poweful insect, capable of controlling both dead and alive insects. Dead ones fuel its magic. Live ones make the hive more movable. +1 creating a token and giving him loyalty means he becomes more mobile and powerful. The -2 means he sends one of his insects to explode into pestilence and murder a living being. The -5 means he uses all the magic created by the dead insects at its disposal and sending it as a massive feeding frenzy devouring the enemies.

[@xxphantomboomxx244]

Forget Grist, we need a card for Billy, the Barbeque Beast. Cost : (3)(White)(Green). [+2] : Create a food token, then you may sacrifice a food token. If you do, put a loyalty counter on Billy. [-3] : Place a Maintenance Counter on target artifact you control, then you gain an emblem with "If an artifact you control with a Maintenance Counter would leave the battlefield, return it to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step." [-7] : You may sacrifice an artifact. If you do, you gain an emblem with "Lands and Artifacts you control gain (tap) : (G)(G)" Very basic, but from the description we had, I felt like some of the abilities kinda fit. Give me your input!

[@CanadianBaconPwnage]

I was always under the impression that this was a swarm of insects that reanimates the corpses of dead Planeswalkers, absorbing what's left of the spark in the corpse.

[@Xildatin_ethan]

I see Grist as a hidden plague being that travels planes hidden as a small insect that will bring a swarm with it when it feels ready to strike. Edit: This is how I see it from a flavor standpoint personally

[@coltonthomas7666]

I think he has that first ability is because you have only killed a few of the bugs that make up grist so there is 1 left also why does he have a skull? Are the bugs sitting on the skeleton or?

[@Xildatin_ethan]

@@coltonthomas7666 Idk, time for me to look at the art for an hour (when I have the time) and contemplate that.

[@Xildatin_ethan]

@@coltonthomas7666 Maybe cus he's a planeswalker and he's using his true form? Idk, that's an initial guess

[@coltonthomas7666]

@@Xildatin_ethan and what is that thing in the background a huge bettle or just trees?

[@coltonthomas7666]

@@Xildatin_ethan and what if grist has no body maybe he's just a huge swarm of bugs as you see in the art bugs are crawling over what seems to be a skeleton maybe they are just eating the flesh and skin left or maybe that's his actual body

[@Theobromiine]

Laughed so hard when you put the dots on your head during your very relatable Deep Space 9 metaphor.

[@bwahchannel9746]

>insect has a Planeswalker spark He obviously has a stand

[@uristmcstout-horn]

THE STAND USER COULD BE ANYONE

[@cliftondavis7011]

I'm totally using Hornet's Nest and Hornet Queen in this build when I get my hands on this Planeswalker

[@ronniepooch]

What up, purp! Grist is my favorite card from Modern Horizons 2. Super cool design!

[@kingginger3335]

I want WOTC to do a Bible themed set where Jesus and Satan are planeswalkers battling for control of heaven lol

[@maz031]

Universes Beyond Secret Lair?

[@Nouxatar]

honestly a plane based on Abrahamic religion as a whole sounds really neat...

[@Sentient.A.I.]

He is an insect when not on the battlefield so if you mill another copy of him it increases his loyalty.

[@Sentient.A.I.]

Also he counts as an insect creature if xopies of himself are in the graveyard for the ultimate.

[@cuttlefish6839]

@@Sentient.A.I. he can also be grabbed with collected company, grapple with the past, gather the pack, counts for 2 for delirium, etc its super awesome.

[@glennconnelly4924]

That’s an amazingly clear explanation of planeswalker loyalty abilities.

[@parkerdellinger01]

"it doesn't just stop at the crops" Idk why that made me laugh so hard

[@blevenox1916]

I always figured it’s all the bugs coming together that allow the planeswalking. When it’s anywhere else, it’s just one bug, but on the field, it brings up a ton of other bugs and amplifies it’s power

[@jlankford]

I love the way you explain things. Thanks.

[@Rizso1]

Grist, is very small you see it in alt art, Grist is in the eyesocket of the skull. Grist seem to be able to makes insects able to reanimated dead and becoming the muscels for the skeleton as you can see in the art.

[@summermermaidstar756]

The rulings say you can have this as a commander Now to fill the deck with plenty of insects (Changelings here are honorary insects) to create a whole hive of destruction upon foes

[@grinreaperoftrolls7528]

I can just imagine a scene where a planeswalker comes across an entirely desolate plane. like imagine if jace went to ravnica only to find nobody. All the gates empty. Utter silence aside from the sound of his own breath and footsteps.

[@foolishswami.]

My bones hurt.

[@Darth_Sithis]

to me he's just the Boogey man from Night mare before Christmas without the sac he lives in... As for the spark.. personally I don't care too much on what has a spark. Because they already have an excuse for non human things. I mean dragons, demons, a golem. If a dragon can be a walker why not a sentient tree lord? Or flying cloud spirit. I'm excited to build a deck for him. He's awesome.

[@jacobtroxel2387]

If you remember back. Bolas killed a leviathan planeswalker on dominaria in the lore that wasn't mentioned again

[@Kattywagon29]

My first thought when I saw this card was that Griat was originally a mage or necromancer of if some sort that got cursed or was transformed by a spell gone awry.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Grist: I am legion I want to put Grist and Hogaak in the same EDH deck :P

[@zeehansen3011]

I think it's not just 'an insect' I think its a hivemind creature whose core is an insect. Its presence isn't confined to the insect, it just provides a solid vessel to contain its spark and soul. This is referenced by the fact that the card is only a creature when not on the battlefield (i.e while travelling through the blind eternities or its corpse.) The bodies it leaves behind are just what they look like, insects, and it needs a physical host to travel from plane to plane, but anywhere it actually is, it isn't just an insect. I imagine a gate opening and a fly buzzing through, but as soon as it touches the ground a swarm of bugs coalesce into a vaguely human form, in an instant crops wilt and animals are drained of blood. Hoards of dark wings spiral into tendrils that blot out the sky. Even if you found that original fly and squashed it, it would do nothing to slow Grist. He is not a fly, he is a force, a wave, a tide. And he hungers

[@0321Dave]

The BBQ explanation of planeswalkers was hilarious and astute.

[@joshtyree7755]

I had a thought about it, it could be a parasite that took the body of a planeswalker and now uses it powers of the planewalker.

[@jessewhite1679]

All that remained was the largest stinkiest trail of insect poop...

[@travismcarthur8320]

I want to see phelddagrif as a planeswalker

[@TheDarkElder]

I miss the "My bones hurt" :( :D

[@absolutnykokot1133]

Me not! It was extremely annoying. I am super happy that I don't have to skip that intro anymore!

[@doublekoseki]

I miss it to v.v

[@parkerdellinger01]

I thought it was dumb at first but I've come to miss it too lol

[@korrafey1044]

I imagine its similar to ren and sixx in that they probably gather new insects as they enter new planes,like how ren posseses a new tree.

[@raptorstryke92]

Head cannon: grist was a planeswalker of a different species but somehow was consumed by a swarm of insects, though due to the magical nature of Planeswalkers and sparks it somehow transferred consciousness to the swarm

[@cookiecreep9204]

I feel like its more the case of a hive mind created upon gathering of insects, where they are just 1/1s alone, but when summoned they gather and form Grist, which is not just one insect but their entire swarm. That is my canon, nothing else i'll accept. Grist is a personified Hive Mind.

[@geoffreythomas2022]

I wish I could make a planeswalker mow my lawn.🤣

[@Morrodin-WH40K]

Don't ask Chandra ... you won't have a lawn left >.>

[@diobrando5896]

Grist has the ultimate strategy he gets more food by making everybody lose their appetite.

[@joshtyree7755]

I would love to learn more about the Wander Planeswalker myself

[@user-vg6sg7kh1q]

There was a duck planeswalker in the mystery booster playtest cards.

[@pyrefox]

Hey man, good to know your bones are not hurting anymore!

[@jairovsleon]

5:19 yay, so ob Nixilis, Tibalt, Nicol Bolas, Ashiok, and Grist may be the most dangerous beings in all multiverse but they can share frienship and trust with you also, Grist having a spark may be becuase it ate a planeswalker and somehow absorbed the spark, i mean, if it happened before, why it can't happen with a swarm of endless hungry insects?, at least is an interesting theory

[@bastianrhone9390]

Insects tearing through space and time sounds like the plot to men in black

[@ericcartmanofborg8669]

Didn't they do a dryad-treefolk planswalker before?

[@TheEvilProfessorMonoCulture]

Wren & Sixx

[@asteiner274]

I loved the barbeque analogy 😂

[@TheEasyMck]

Grist, the Hunger Tide + Conspiracy = Good times (and Modern playable)

[@noehonegger4624]

Do ashes of the fallen 3 mana cheaper and conspiracy is a bit old for modern isnt it

[@CanadianBaconPwnage]

@@noehonegger4624 It was a Timeshifted card in the original Time Spiral block, making it Modern legal.

[@andrewsparkes8829]

@@noehonegger4624 I don't think Ashes works. Mills means "put a card from the top of your library into your graveyard". And an Insect card would not have been put from your library into your graveyard; a non-Insect would have been put from your library into the graveyard, where it then becomes an Insect after the milling action has been completed.

[@noehonegger4624]

@@andrewsparkes8829 so far everybody i asked said it should work, since tecnically you dont reveal anything until the action is completed and cards in libraries are unknown unless someone is looking at them. as far as i am aware it checks once the card is in a graveyard. but official rulings shall clear everything up. And even if this combo doesnt work the tree that gives everything changeling will work

[@JoeNeutrino]

I miss hearing about how your bones hurt.

[@mizzogames]

Same here

[@Bluhbear]

Depending on the types of insects... maybe they _do_ consume the buildings. 👀

[@jewboy4207]

My bones hurt

[@ivorymantis1026]

Easiest PW by far to recur. Hilarious to use Unearth for B and play Grist from Yard. I have had people attack her nonstop only for me to Phyrexian Reclaimation to avoid any and all commander tax after the first go in the command zone. Takenuma, Genesis, Gravesifter, Phyrexian reclaimation, Strands of Night, etc etc. All of it works on Grist. Best commander sniper in Golgari. Every turn you can take down someone elses commander or PW commander if they aren't untargetable or indestructible. Also Ashes of the Fallen naming 'insect' apparently works if you wanna just play Grist as a good Golgari engine (mill 1 and make a sac token? Sure thing!) Probably my favorite Golgari commander next to Dina and Slimefoot and I play a LOT of Golgari.

[@ellisfriedman7563]

I think they are smarter than the insect tag seeing as they choose to have a skull to represent a face, and form thus a desire to have form in general right?

[@oneof13forestpeople97]

Love this card I can’t wait to get my hands on mine 😭

[@NeoJester23]

"I'm going hungry.."

[@turdferguson3091]

HE'S GOIN HUNGRAAAAAAAAAY YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH

[@bastianrhone9390]

This comment is underrated

[@WillYazdani]

I don’t mind stealin bread

[@uponhorizonspast]

Definitely the most intriguing planeswalker I can remember in a long time. I hope they decide to take lore in a more interesting direction featuring characters like Grist. The ‘main’ group of planeswalkers like Liliana, Jace, etc are all sooooo boring.

[@zachmaharaj240]

Mountain Planeswalker stuff rocks

[@bradensorensen966]

Looks like a 1/1 insect to me.

[@thewaffler43]

Lol you're hilarious man love the vid.

[@jlankford]

Grist is like Oogie Boogie on Nightmare Before Christmas.

[@aaronruiz2896]

We just need a TRANSFORMERS set in the future.

[@MunchKING]

0:30 Yes. And her name is "The Wanderer". :p

[@T4N7]

Ants n bees r actually crazy smart n some ants have even passed the blue dot test (I believe the only arthropod that has)

[@cleanartcollective]

what's to stop a tree from being a planeswalker, ask Wrenn and Six

[@CherubEros]

An insect with more sentience when it has more of a hivemind.

[@brickgolem]

All I see is Kumoko the Planeswalker..... and if you're not familiar with "So I'm a Spider, So What?", you need to check that out

[@robseal3470]

I hope this leads to a sliver planeswalker.

[@thomaswaldhier6853]

i'm glad your bones are fine now

[@AnimeCrackDealer]

Im glad your bones don't hurt anymore

[@thatlittletrainguy8678]

Why does grist have a skeleton, also grist Is female apparently.

[@rydermiller9426]

What about the Wanderer?

[@jamesgordon5864]

So if grist is in the graveyard, netheroi mutates can bring grist to the battlefield.

[@noehonegger4624]

Yes, you can also cast animate dead on it and necrotic ooze gets its abilities

[@santyricon]

what about The Wanderer?

[@unbreakablelag]

You got a point. Most planeswalkers are humanoid. Leviathan planeswalker when?

[@markcarr154]

I love the energy

[@suhleap]

BBQ legendary confirmed

[@ryancole4015]

Anyone think of that rick and North superhero. Million and one ants or something

[@gozolve]

Now planeswalkers are discount avengers....

[@e-man5344]

He seems very Grist-ly.... : D

[@soth5971]

gris is oogie boogie from nightmare before christmas

[@deadboyindrag2518]

Moder horizons 3 planeswalking tree! Not a treefolk just a TREE 🌲

[@grandmasterrodimus1480]

Target him in the graveyard with zombify.....

[@Bluhbear]

Doggo planeswalker when?

[@jessewhite1679]

Let's get a treefolk Planeswalker up in this bitch

[@ryanpoulos8232]

Well clearly he’s a 1/1 creature with lots of extra abilities.

[@d3ath18]

should of been a 0/0 with p/t = to his loyalty count

[@bluefett1784]

Lol what if Gist was a planeswalker that was transformed into an insect? 🤔

[@tcs007]

Wheres the new intro that makes me laugh?

[@georgeblair3894]

I guess your bones don't hurt anymore?