They started spoiling commons, which are really going to tell us how the rest of the set will play, so let’s take a peak.
Desperate Stand- The aggressive R/W Heroic decks in draft are going to gobble this one up. For a white and red you get an instant with Strive that says any number of target creatures get +2/+0, first strike, and Vigilance until end of turn. You may pay 1 red and 1 white for each additional target beyond the first. This could be a massive combat trick to enable a massive blowout, trigger a whole load of Heroic triggers, and then just make combat a nightmare. +2/+0, vigilance AND first strike is very powerful. I like the card and can’t wait to try it out for myself.
Disciple of Deceit- Here’s something pretty neat. For 2 mana (a blue and a black) you get a 1/3 gold creature with Inspired that says whenever Disciple untaps you may discard a card, you may then search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost, reveal it, and put it in your hand. I think this ability is deceptively powerful to allow to discard cards you no longer need or want and dig up the stuff you want. I’m still not sold on the Inspired trigger because it feels like a lot of work in order to reap the benefit, but maybe it could finally prove to pay off with this card.
Font Cycle- There are 5 fonts that were spoiled, one for each colour. The one that will get the most attention is Font of Fertility which will prove to be similar in net effect as Farseek was. It is a one mana enchantment and pay 1 green and 1 colourless and sacrifice it to search your library for a basic land and put into play, tapped. This is exactly the sort of mana ramp and acceleration decks have been looking for since Farseek rotated out. Yes, the net cost is three mana by the time you sacrifice it, but I bet there will be decks that would love nothing more than to play this on turn 1 and search for land later. If nothing else, limited players will love this for fixing, and I can even see EDH players putting this to use to fetch basic lands. All in all, this is a very good card at the common slot. The other ones are all interesting and the Blue one catches my eye as well, but the green Font will certainly get the attention of everyone.
Godhunter Octopus- a 6 mana 5/5 limited star. He’ll block for days, and with all the enchantments in play, his drawback should be fairly negligible. That’s all this guy does, but some cards are built solely for limited. This is a fine card that fits in nicely with the rest of the set.
Golden Hind- Well HELLO more mana ramp. If you are in Green you are getting all sorts of ramp abilities across this block and the Hind just adds to it. This is a 2 mana 2/1 that taps to add 1 green mana to your mana pool. He’s quiet, unassuming, makes you mana to ramp out bigger creatures, and in a pinch can take down a “bear” if you need him to play some D. This is another solid card.
Harness by Force- Mass threaten effect? Wow…add in Battlefield Thaumaturge and this could be broken…HARD. I can’t imagine this making an appearance at Standard, but this could be a fun addition to a draft deck. I don’t think it’s quite first pick-able, but he will likely be relatively early in the pack.
We had some new cards spoiled over night and some of them look pretty interesting. Let’s take a closer look.
Aegis of the Gods- A 2/1 Enchantment Creature Human Soldier for 2 mana (1 white, 1 colourless), this is a pretty cool card. It grants you, the player, hexproof. Well, that’s pretty spiffy! My first reaction is that this was merely a speed bump for burn decks that now must target the Aegis first before burning you out to the dome, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this little guy could save your bacon from a few other nasty treats. The biggest one is Thoughtseize, but there could be other really nasty spells that this helps you to avoid. Now, here’s the drawback. He’s too slow, too small, and can’t protect himself. He’s totally in reach for any burn spell…so he dies. He’s not hexproof so he dies to doom blade or ultimate price. He’s too little and gets run over by…well…basically everything…and dies. Basically, this guy dies. At a casting cost of 2 he’s already missed the first Thoughtseize and is really only holding off a second one. Not usefuI. If he had flash and could play the role of a counterspell to foil something then he’d have more hope, but basically this guy is kind of groovy, but you would need a pretty significant way to protect this guy to reap the benefit, and I don’t see that happening. He’s getting a C from me.
Battlefield Thaumaturge- A 2/1 Blue creature for 2 mana (1 Blue, 1 White) you get a Human Wizard that makes instants and sorcery spells cost 1 colourless less for each additional target AND has Heroic so that when you target it with a spell it gains Hexproof. At first I thought this was just a poor copy of Goblin Electromancer, but then scrolling through some of the other cards spoiled I saw that this was really designed to enable Strive cards. One in particular jumped out. The U/W Heroic deck that plays lots of guys would LOVE to cast Launch the Fleet and target EVERYTHING for FREE! So, Heroic triggers abound, a whole load of creature tokens pop up…and things get gross from there. The Heroic trigger on this guy is also cute and allows you to protect him a turn or two if your opponent is frustrated with him. This could be a very fun card and might be broken by deck running tons of Strive cards. I’ll give this guy a B- and will be watching closely to see if he I was right.
Bearer of the Heavens- This is super flavourful and clearly drawn from the story of Atlas. For 8 mana (1 red and 7 colourless) you get a 10/10 creature that says when Bearer of Heavens dies, destroy all permanents at the beginning of the next end step. Fun, flavourful and playable at draft with a MASSIVE sweeper ability (that you may be super wary of), I can’t really get behind this guy. First, this feels like an ability for a White creature, not Red. Second, the fact that ALL permanents (including your land) are destroyed makes me nervous and hesitant to run him. Third, 8 mana is very expensive…in any format…except maybe EDH where it seems like mana is plentiful and wild spells abound. This just might be the landmine everyone plays around allowing you to smash face…but it could just as easily be your undoing. I’m not a huge fan…so again, another C from me.
Daring Thief- A 3 mana (1 blue, 2 colourless) 2/3 creature with Inspired that says whenever Daring Thief becomes untapped, exchange control of target non-land permanent you control with permanent your opponent controls that shares a card type with it. This will be a fine limited or casual card where the ability to steal something from your opponent is fun and cool, but the set up cost to get him there is pretty steep. Once again, Inspired has largely underperformed, and while the ability on this guy is powerful I don’t see it getting there. Another C.
Dictate of Heliod- Ok, so I was down on the Dictate cycle before, but I’m really down on it now. This is a 5 mana (2 white,3 colourless) enchantment with Flash that gives all your creatures +2/+2. In my opinion 5 mana is WAY too expensive to play for this sort of boost. Spear of Heliod and Hall of Triumph both exist and offer similar benefits for cheaper. Sure, the Flash ability could be a nasty combat trick to pump your team for the win, but if you are in any other situation you would rather see almost any other 5 drop. I hope that I’m wrong because I love the art on this, but I think this ability, while powerful, is a trap and that you can get similar abilities for cheaper.
Eidolon of Rhetoric- This is a 3 mana (1 white, 2 colourless) 1/4 enchantment creature spirit. The neat ability here is that each player may only play 1 spell each turn. I’m not sure what to think of this guy. The body is serviceable and is largely out of range of burn spells and can block reasonably well. The ability is extremely stifling, particularly to aggro decks that want to toss their whole hand on the table and attack. It feels very controlling and limiting, so if you like that style of deck, you may have a new best friend. Pair him with Spirit of the Labyrinth and suddenly your opponent is looking across the table and wants to cry. I think this could be quite useful in a number of formats, so I’ll give this guy a B.
Riddle of Lightning A 5 mana (2 red, 3 colourless) Red burn spell that allows you to Scry 3, then reveal the top card of your library and Riddle of Lightning deals damage to target creature or player equal to the converted mana cost of the card revealed. I think this is fun and interesting and I love to scry 3 but I find it tough to justify spending 5 mana for this. I’m hoping I pack my deck with Colossus of Akros just in case. I feel like this will draw dead more often than not and if you need to spend 5 to scry 3 then you are likely in trouble. I’ll give this a C.
Riptide Chimera- Hmmm… three mana (1 blue, 2 colourless) for a 3/4 flying enchantment creature Chimera that requires you to return an enchantment to your hand during your upkeep. This will be a staple in limited environments because a 3/4 flier, even with the drawback, is nothing to sniff at. Also, there are enough inexpensive enchantments with upside that it shouldn’t be hard to cram something in your deck so you can reap the benefits again (I’m looking at you fate foretold!). Oh, and I love this art…a shark head at a piranha head…on a scaly lion body? Why not? It looks awesome…and if Kiora wants one, so do I.
Star-Woolen Sheep- Another story from mythology with the tale of the Golden Fleece, this card is a 2 mana (1 white, 1 colourless) for a 0/5 enchantment creature sheep that gives you 1 life at the beginning of your upkeep. I like the ability, because gaining even 1 life a turn is pretty good. The casting cost feels pretty good for what is essentially a 0/5 wall. I think this is very playable in a number of different types of decks…although I don’t think Standard is one of them. I’ll give this flavourful, fun card a B and hope that it sees significant play.
Yet some more sweet goodness was spoiled, including the last of the Gods…so let’s see what we find today!
Master of the Feast- Whoa! Now, here we have something pretty crazy that I haven’t seen in a while. This is a 5/5 flying Demon for 1 colourless and 2 black. Yup, you heard me, 3 mana for 5/5 flier. I’m sorry…but that’s huge! Yes, there is a drawback, but this casting cost reminds me of Juzam Djinn in that you get a ridiculously overpowered creature for cheap. Now, with any creature that is overpowered to such a degree, there is a drawback and it is that during your upkeep each opponent draws a card. Now, let’s be honest, if you see this card in a draft it is a first pick bomb, no questions asked. However, will this see play in Constructed? At this point, I don’t think so, but you may see some Mono-Black decks experiment with it instead of Desecration Demon because it doesn’t get tapped down, and Master of the Feast still contributes 2 to your devotion. Now, once rotation comes in the Fall I can see this card getting played to restore some of the loss of the giant demon from Return to Ravnica, but I think right now it is on the outside looking in. I’m still not crazy about the drawback because that extra card could be exactly what my opponent needed, but it’s a trade off I may be prepared to make to get a 5/5 flier on Turn 3. So, for being a first pick in Draft and having some serious potential in Constructed I figure this gets a A.
Pharika, God of Affliction- I thought that 1 God for 3 mana was good, here’s yet ANOTHER one! Pharika is a 5/5 indestructible Legendary Enchantment Creature God with the same devotion mechanic we have come to expect. Her ability is that for a black and a green you can exile a creature card from target players graveyard and put a 1/1 snake token with death touch under the control of the owner of the card exiled. Notice that she doesn’t need to tapand can do it and instant speed in order to churn through a graveyard and could exile all the creatures in very short order. A super aggressively costed God, she will likely see play and will totally result in ridiculous graveyard shenanigans. With B/G “dredge” starting to pop up all over the place place, this just might be the tool it needed to take control and push it into a very serious contender. Like with any of the Gods, she’s awesome in Draft…and could be really cool in Constructed. So, for yet another awesome God, she’s getting an A.
Prophetic Flamespeaker- Another Mythic rare is spoiled and it is super interesting. A 3 mana (1 colourless and 2 red) for 1/3 with double strike and trample. Whenever Prophetic Flamespeaker deals damage to an opponent exile your top card of your deck, you may cast that card this turn. I think this is super fun and very interesting for the fact that it can generate extra card advantage for a red deck that usually struggles to draw cards. The issue I have is that it is a 1/3 and in order to get it to the point where it can likely deal damage to reap the benefit of the ability, I’ll need to at least bestow or enchant something on it because a 1/3 isn’t getting there (even with Double Strike and Trample) in most situations. That extra set up cost makes it a hard sell to Constructed games, but it would be pretty useful in draft where you may find yourself bestowing more frequently. I think that this is fun card, very interesting and could be useful in draft, but the set up is too high for Constructed, so I feel like this is a B even if it is a Mythic Rare.
Twinflame- Here we have a something that could be wild if you are playing a creature heavy deck. A 2 mana (1 red, 1 colourless) sorcery that says you may make put a token that is a copy of one of your creatures. The token gains haste and is sacrificed at the beginning of your end step. That could give you an extra attacker to rush your opponent, and if the creature you are attacking with is a real menace, then you have twice the firepower coming. What makes this potentially back breaking is the strive ability where for each additional 3 mana (2 colourless and a red) you may choose another target creature. So, this could totally allow you to flood the board and overwhelm an opponent and just crush them with tokens that essentially double up your board state. This will absolutely see draft play because creatures play a very prominent role there, and I would love to see a Constructed deck emerge that could utilize it. I doubt it will see constructed, in no small part to fact that it also takes some heavy set up in order to pull it off, but I can dream. I feel like this is a C+ because in the right draft deck it could be pretty powerful, but may end up drawing dead more often than not.
There were a few new treats that got spoiled and figured it would be a good time to go over them as well. Here we go.
Athreos, God of Passage- Wow…here we have a really aggressively costed God. For 3 mana (1 black, 1 white, 1 colourless) you get a 5/4 indestructible enchantment creature God with the same devotion mechanic as the other minor Gods. Whenever a creature you own dies, return it to your hand unless your opponent pays 3 life. At the mana cost of 3 this is very aggressively costed and will most assuredly see play in Constructed formats. Orzhov Mid-range has already proven that it can hang with the big boys of Standard, but this has pushed it into a whole new stratosphere. The ability that basically ensures your creatures continue to threats even after they have died is huge or you opponent can punish himself in order to keep it dead. That’s potent stuff. I really like the art, the cost is super aggressive, and the ability makes your creatures very resilient to removal…it’s safe to say that this is probably an A+ bomb that will really shake some things up.
Forgeborn Oreads- a 4 mana 4/2 creature…well, that’s fairly reasonable for an uncommon. What is neat about this little guy is the Constellation ability that says whenever Forgeborn Oreads or another enchantment enter the battlefield it deals 1 damage t target creature or player. This gives Red yet another threat to burn out their opponents without ever having actually fight them . The more I read through Red the more in appears as if Red Mage’s are going to have to consider very carefully how they want to proceed to burn out their opponent. Do they want to go the route of spells like lightning strike or bolt of Keranos to go straight to the dome? Or with they opt for the Purphorous/Eidolon of the Great Revel/Forgeborn Oreads to light them up. The choices will be plentiful and this is just another option. I see this being a solid B in limited environments where the body is very serviceable, but you may not have enough enchantments to trigger the Constellation ability enough to really see a huge benefit, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it caught on a little at Constructed as someone dabbles with a burn deck featuring some of these new treat.
Hydra Broodmaster-A 6 mana 7/7 hydra. We’ve already see one massive hydra, and this one is better, but still not good enough. What makes this guy interesting is the Monstrous ability where for xx and a green it gets +X/+X and puts X hydra tokens at the X/X where X is equal to the mana spent in the ability. So, you could absolutely flood the board with Hydra tokens and have them run amuck of everyone. At least the creation of tokens allows you to rush your opponent and overwhelm them to seal the win, but again, the lack of trample is what sets this guy back. I want something this large to punish my opponent, but it will get chump blocked by a 1/1 every time meaning I can’t get through to smash face. It’ll be a bomb in limited, but a 6 mana and no trample, it will likely sit out Constructed games. He gets a B+ from me.
King Macar, the Gold-Cursed- This is a super flavourful card obviously stemming from the story of King Midas. For 4 mana you get a 2/3 legendary Human with inspired that says whenever King Macar untaps you may exile target creature and place a Gold token on the battlefield. We’ve seen the Gold token before and it allows you to sacrifice it to produce 1 mana of any colour. This is a super fun card and I could see the Inspired trigger being very powerful. The problem with Inspired is that it just hasn’t lived up to the hype. If Pain Seer, and the quasi “bob” like effect can’t see Constructed play, I doubt that this card will see play. The exiling ability is very powerful and might just be enough to push someone down the road to try this guy out, but I doubt it. Now, the fact that it is Legendary might make it appealing to EDH players as I bet someone out there could do something nutty with him, but otherwise he’s just a cool card that won’t see much play. B-
Kruphix’s Insight- This is a three mana sorcery that allows you to reveal the top 6 cards of your library and place 3 enchantments into your hand and the rest in your graveyard. This is actually quite solid because the ability to burn through your library and dig up 3 enchantments, including enchantment creatures, is very powerful. It plays perfectly with the emerging B/G dredge style deck that is popping up and has far more reach to dig deep into your deck than Commune with the Gods or Satyr Wayfinder. Not every deck will be looking for this ability, but those that do now have another terrific weapon to dig deep into their deck and find the tools they need. I give this guy a C because of the somewhat narrow scope of the ability, but don’t be deceived, decks that want this guy will consider it a soild B or maybe even a B+ and decks that don’t want him will treat him like a D. So, the middle road is a C.
Polymorphus Rush- This 3 mana instant is going to take combat tricks to a whole new level in limited. This Instant allows you to change target creature and have it become a copy of another target creature until the end of turn. That’s cool, because when you attack with your biggest bomb and a little guy, you can suddenly have a pair of big ol’ critters bearing down on your opponent. But you know what makes this even better folks? It’s the Strive ability! For each additional 1 blue and 1 colourless you get to pick an additional target for this spell. So, what’s better than attacking with 2 Nessian Asps (or fill in your favorite big, scary monster)? The answer is attacking with LOTS of Nessian Asps thanks to this spell. It won’t be super useful in the early game, and will usually be a dead card, but when you need, my GOD will it mess up combat. I’ll give it a C+ because when it’s good, it’s REALLY good, but when it’s bad…well…it’s REALLY bad
Pheres-Band Warchief- So, Centaurs now got a lord, huh? For 4 mana (3 colourless and a Green) you get a 3/3 Centaur with Vigilance and Trample and gives other centaurs you control +1/+1 and vigilance and trample. It’s a fun flavourful card, and will assuredly see play in limited, but this is mostly casual card to entice someone to play a Centaur themed tribal deck. The abilities are all super relevant because Vigilance let’s him play Offence and Defence, and trample can just be punishing, but Standard won’t run enough Centaurs to make his other abilities matter. Now, Voltron this guy up with some Bestow guys and your limited game just swung around in your direction, for sure. He’s a solid B and very playable but won’t break anything.
It’s like the 5th day of Christmas again…let’s see what Santa left us under the tree today!
Dictate of Karametra- So, it appears as if my prediction on the Dictate cycle is coming to fruition, this one is green. So, for 5 mana (3 colourless and 2 green) whenever a player taps a land for mana, that player adds one mana of any type that the land can produce. Like the other Dictates it comes in with Flash, which is kind of neat, but the real appeal of this is the mana ramp. This ensures that you land makes its regular mana, but then gives you an additional boost. This is a cool effect that reminds me very much of Mana Flare in its global effect. I don’t know if there is a Standard deck that is screaming out for this, but it will be a terrific casual and EDH card to allow players to ramp into all sorts of silly shenanigans. I’ll give it a C, much in line with my view on the other Dictates in the cycle, but at least this one I think is fun and cute to play.
Hypnotic Siren- a 1/1 flier for 1 Blue and had this stopped there it would be very playable in Limited. A 1 drop with evasion in Blue is super good and will automatically get consideration over a number of 1 drops elsewhere in the Block. The real treat is the Bestow ability that is in essence a Control Magic type effect. So, in the late game if you are being smacked around by some big beat stick , or you see an opportunity to take a particularly valuable asset from your opponent, this little guy could be your ticket. Now, the Bestow cost is very steep at a 7 mana (5 colourless, 2 Blue), but the effect is very powerful and not overlooked. I’ll give this a B+ because the efficient 1 drop with evasion is very valuable, and late game can turn the tide of battle by permanently stealing a creature from your opponent.
Kiora’s Dismissal– This is yet another Strive card and it is kind of interesting. For 1 Blue you get to return target enchantment to their owner’s hand. The Strive cost for additional targets is 1 Blue for each additional target. Now, ordinarily I would be down on this card because in many set enchantments just aren’t that prevalent. Furthermore, you are only returning it to their hand, not eliminating it permanently. However, in this set, with all the Enchantment Creatures with Bestow circulating around this is getting close to being an unsummon effect. Notice I say “close”. It isn’t an unsummon or even retraction helix, but it is cheap and can significantly impact a board with multiple enchantments at instant speed. I still think the fact that it limits you to targeting enchantments will be the reason players pass it over in favor of other things, if you are in dire straight for some sort of quasi removal effect in your draft or sealed deck then this could see play. Otherwise, I think this is just too limiting and will be set aside as an interesting but seldom played card. This is getting a C from me because of the conditions on it.
Launch the Fleet– A 1 White sorcery with Strive that says “Whenever this creature attacks, put a 1/1 white soldier token into play” and can target multiple creatures by adding a mere 1 colourless for each additional target. This is a Heroic triggering nightmare for decks playing against any base white Heroic deck in limited. This will basically ramp out a whole load of 1/1 soldier tokens, trigger Heroic on the whole team, and then allow for the White Weenie beat down to begin in earnest. I think this could be a very valuable and potent draft card because we’ve seen the value of inexpensive Heroic triggers, and this not only is a massive trigger, but also nets you extra value in the form of creatures. The value decreases significantly if you aren’t the Heroic deck, but adding extra, inexpensive chump blockers is also quite useful, so I can see it get a reasonable amount of play at draft. I figure this will be a B- because not every deck will want this type of effect, but when it goes off it could be very powerful and flood the board to put you well ahead of the race.
Mana Confluence- This Rare land allows you to tap it, pay one life to add one mana of any colour to your mana pool. This sort of damage land used to be the norm with lands that produced multiple mana types and they have all proven to be very good. Adarkar Wastes, Battlefield Forge and the lands of that ilk did at least allow you to tap for colourless without taking damage, but that doesn’t mean Mana Confluence won’t see play. This basically opens the door to splash all sorts of fun and interesting spells without the need to worry too much about trying to find the required fixing to make it work . So, no Sprinleaf drum, no Traveler’s Amulet, heck, no Sylvan Caryatid (unless you really want to), you can just put Mana Confluence in and off you go to Splash-ville. It will absolutely get played at Draft, of that there is no doubt, but the flexibility in terms of play at Constructed formats could allow this to sneak in to help decks splash new options and liven up the format with fun new spells that decks didn’t have available to them. I think this is a solid B for having a range of possibilities, but the drawback of taking damage will still deter some players from playing this overly aggressively.
Ritual of the Returned- This 4 mana Black instant allows you to exile target creature from your graveyard and put a zombie token into play that is the has the power and toughness of the exiled creature. Ok, first off, I love this spell. The G/B reanimator deck will gobble this up all day because it could very well allow them to cheat their big fatties into play for a modest price. Yes, 4 is a significant price to pay, the fact that this can be done at instant speed is really what makes this appealing. You can cast this on their end step, bring back your big fatty that you put in your yard with a Grisly Salvage, Commune with the Gods, or Satyr Wayfinder, and then it will be all ready to attack and smash face when you untap. Solid card…and at uncommon is EXACTLY what reanimator decks are looking for to make this a viable strategy again. This gets a B+ from me.
Worst Fears- A 8 mana sorcery that says control target player during that player’s next turn. Ok, there is trend with Mythic Rare cards and that is the ability is either absolutely crushing, or hilarious, and sometimes both. This one fits the bill for both. The problem is really in the casting cost…8 mana is very expensive. It won’t see play in Constructed. I doubt that it will see play in limited. The only place I see this fitting is in EDH decks (and incidentally, wouldn’t that be a riot to play at a multiplayer EDH game!) or by Casual players who want to see if they build some wacky deck. In all the games I’ve played, I have yet to see someone else actually control an opponent for a turn, but it is something I’d like to see and this just might open that possibility. I still can only give this a D+ because I can conceive of very few situations where I ever really want to draw this card…but some Johnny out there is going to love this spell and will break it wide open, I’m sure.
Well, that’s it for today. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back with more spoilers as soon we get them!
Bruce Gray
@bgray8791
Day 4 of spoilers and we got some sweet new goodies. Let’s check them out.
Eidolon of the Great Revel- Ok, so earlier this week I may have been a tad mistaken about Keranos. He’s an awesome bomb for an emerging R/W/U control deck that seems to be taking shape. Once I considered him from that angle, this card becomes an unbelievable bomb to pair with Keranos. Once you have taken control of the board state, this 2 mana 2/2 will start to lock things down with Keranos to simply crush your opponent. His ability punishes players who play spells with a converted mana cost of 3 or less and deals 2 damage to them. Ok, so it is a sysmetrical ability, but once you’ve set up the board state with an indestructible Keranos, wipe the board state clean with a supreme verdict and then follow up with this guy. You won’t need to cast spells because Keranos will reveal cards and deal damage without the need for a spell, and this guy will punish your opponent for having to play spells to try and get back into the game. Also add in the fact that the Eidolon is a Devotion generating field day and you have a real winner here. I’ll give him an A for an efficient body, and devastating ability, and the potential to help re-shape standard as Keranos’ sidekick.
Interpret the signs- This is a fun looking draw spell where for 6 mana you get to Scry 3, then reveal your top card and draw cards equal to the converted mana cost of the card revealed. I love the ability and the Scry 3 almost assuredly allows you to find something with an expensive casting cost to draw a bunch of cards, but I wonder if 6 is too high to pay for this. I suppose if Opportunity can see play in a G/U flash deck like it did in the fall, this could see play, but I get the sense this is a card that EDH players will love. I think it is extremely flavourful, and I love to scry, so I’ll give it a try, but it may not see a whole of competitive play. I’ll give a B because I like the card more than I probably should.
Kruphix, God of Horizons- Ok, another of minor Gods is revealed and this one leaves me scratching my head. For 5 mana (1 green, 1 blue, and 3 colourless) you get a 4/7 indestructible legendary enchantment creature God with the same devotion mechanic we have come to know. His pair of abilities are interesting and while one I really like, the other leaves me confused. The first one is that you have no maximum hand size, which I always appreciate, so if you fire off a huge Sphinx’s Revelation you get to keep all your cards and not concern yourself with discarding. The second ability is what leaves me shaking my head because if you have unused mana in your mana pool, that mana becomes colourless. It’s extremely interesting, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that colourless mana. I love the card…but I’m a little baffled what I’m doing with the second ability. I’ll pass on giving him a grade because I just don’t know what to do with him.
Setessan Tactics- Another example of Strive, as it has been pointed out elsewhere looks and feels alot like multi-kicker, Setessan Tactics is a 1 mana instant that gives target creature +1/+1 and the ability to tap it and fight target creature. The Strive cost lets you pay one mana for each additional target and each new target is granted the same ability. This is super cheap to play, triggers Heroic on potentially numerous targets for an equally inexpensive amount, and then is as close to mass removal as I’ve ever seen in Green. With this being at instant speed it could prove to be a back breaking combat trick in any limited game. I’ll hold off on Constructed formats, but perhaps it could be sided into a monsters deck as a sideboard card to clear the road to bring the pain. All in all, this is a sweet removal card and an excellent and inexpensive example of Strive. I’ll give this a B+.
Silence the Believers- Wow…Black got MORE removal…and this time things don’t even die, they get EXILED instead. Oh, and the spell has Strive just in case one target wasn’t enough. OH MY GOD! So for 4 mana you get to exile a creature and all Auras attached to it and you can spend another 3 mana to target additional creatures. This is yet more awesome removal for Black, and the fact that it exiles creatures means that even indestructible cards aren’t immune. I can assure you that this will be played in Constructed, even if only in the side board as a one or two of, but there is no doubt that this is very powerful. Watch out, Black got more toys to take for a spin. This has got to be an easy A even if it could be a tad expensive to cast.
Spite of Mogis- A 1 mana sorcery that deals damage to target creature equal to the number of instants and sorceries in your graveyard. This is going to be fine removal and is very reasonably costed provided you set your deck up to play enough other spells to make it truly relevant. My only issue with this card is that I don’t feel like this is a Mogis-like ability. Mogis is B/R, but this ability is very reminiscent of abilities attributed to R/U (like Spellheart Chimera), so while I like the card, I feel like it’s a little off in terms of where it fits from a flavour perspective. So, if my only real quibble is with the flavour this guy is packing, I have no doubt that the card will be just fine. It’ll get a B- because it’s a tad narrow in the sense that it needs the right deck, but once it finds a home will be a very solid addition and pull its own weight for sure.
Prerelease Promos and Hero Cards:
Forged in Glory
Forged in Intellect
Forged in Tyrrany
Forged in War
Forged in Pursuit
Launch Weekend Promo
Journey into Nyx Game Day – May 24-25, 2014
Top 8
1st-place winner of Journey into Nyx Game Day
Buy a Box Promo
