As of this writing, 19 cards from Mirrodin Besieged have been spoiled. Official previews are just about to start up, and soon we will have new spoilers to discuss everywhere we turn.

But what can we take from what we do know about the set to temper our expectations?

In a recent interview, Mark Rosewater stated that this set is 'the war', and each side is now fully aware of the other, and have begun instituting 'countermeasures' of sorts. There are obvious examples of that in the rare Crusaders, who have protection from each faction's (at least as defined in Scars) colors.

A less in-your-face example would be the recently spoiled Melira's Keepers. This creature basically says 'Protection from Infect'. There may be other cards that combat infect in the set, but none will remove poison counters, a fact repeated often by Mark Rosewater. Mirrans might get even more obvious answers to -1/-1 counters than Glint Hawk and Glimmerpoint Stag.

An obvious motif the set has been showcasing is playing up the factions through 'mirror' cards. The Crusaders and Striders are the currently spoiled examples of this. I predict we see at least 3 more sets of mirror cards in the set. The mirror cards help define the factions nicely, so long as there aren't too many of them.

The mechanics in the first set will be continued, and in some cases, further explored. Some Phyrexian cards will get bonuses if the opponent has at least one Poison counter, or is 'poisoned'. Infect is likely going to show up in every color. It has already shown up on a white card, Priests of Norn. Proliferate is going to be on some more cards, and has already shown up for the first time on a black card. Metalcraft is likely to not be as pervasive as it was in Scars, to make room for Battle Cry and the increased amount of Phyrexian cards. There will be some imprint cards, to be sure.

The new keywords of the set, Battle Cry and Living Weapon, will show up at every rarity, probably about 6 times each. Why six? This set has six mechanics in it, three for each faction. Regularly a second set keyword is on about 12 cards but most keywords aren't in a set with 5 others that are also trying to get printed in relevant numbers. Given that the mechanics are split into the factions, it means we have seen likely seen the majority of Battle Cry cards. Another interesting thing to note is that Knights are getting a more-than-obvious push in playability in this set, almost like Vampires did with Zendikar. Phyrexian mechainc 'Living Weapon' allows 'boring' equipment to be printed by guaranteeing a creature for it. In doing so providing a bit of card advantage which pads the creature count of the Phyrexian side at the same time.

Tezzeret is the only card in the set that is not aligned to Mirrodin or Phyrexia. The set is 155 cards. That does not divide by 2. 154 certainly does. The recently released booster pack images show a booster for Phyrexia, Mirrodin, and Tezzeret. At the prerelease, with the faction packs, Tezzeret can show up in either of them. (It also makes splitting mythics between the packs less awkward. One pack doesn't get more than the other) Tezzeret costs 2UB to cast, but we don't know anything else about him at this point. Well, besides the fact that he isn't the next Jace. (Gold planeswalkers don't have the best history)

Finally, also thanks to a Rosewater interview, we can expect the next Mythic Sword of __ and ___ to be printed in MBS. Many believe the sword that is included in this set is fully dependent on who 'wins' the war in the third set. Therefore, If the third set is New Phyrexia, the sword in MBS is the R/W one. If the third set is Mirrodin Pure,  the sword in MBS is the G/B one. The reasoning behind this is that the third set of the block is rumored to be split 20%/80%, much like Scars of Mirrodin was, and having one of the 20%'s cards be the sword would be rather strange. Naturally, WoTC could do either, so I wouldn't put all my chips on what the third set is going to be after seeing what sword we get in Besieged.

What do you think will be in the set? Let us know in the comments!