Unreleased and New Card Discussion

[Crazy Monkey]

The Stormchaser Drake continues the type of effect from Goldspan Dragon for upgraded heroic triggers. Copied spells triggering the ability, and it only being 2 MV has me excited. Archmage Emeritus being the RCotD recently actually has a bit of competition for copy-storm based draw engines. I expect it to be just about as good as the archmage in my Krarkashima build with Zada and Orvar.

[pokken]

I don't understand why they made a drake instead of a featured card type in the set for such a cool card as Stormchaser Drake Could it not have been a spirit?

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

I don't understand why they made a drake instead of a featured card type in the set for such a cool card as Stormchaser Drake Could it not have been a spirit?

Ah, but as soon as I saw the art I knew it was referencing Nephalia Moondrakes (especially the Chris Rahn art), so maybe that's why.

Copied spells triggering the ability, and it only being 2 MV has me excited.

I'm actually starting to wonder if this thing is also going to be given errata and was actually meant to be mana value 3.

[Mookie]

Faithbound Judge is... interesting. Slow Serra Angel is meh, but the curse making a player outright lose the game after three turns is quite nasty. Of course, that player is going to be gunning for you the entire time, so.....

Eruth, Tormented Prophet is generic but sweet. Turning every card you draw into a Light Up the Stage seems solid.

Old Rutstein is amusing. No idea how to build him, but random tokens are fun.

[BeneTleilax]

Faithbound Judge seems extremely annoying. Just a flat out "oh, you didn't draw enchantment removal? Ok you lose". Just a big old middle finger to the idea of playing red-black, or not jamming a bunch of multi-permanent-type spot removal in general. Alt-wincons/player removal has been getting stronger and blander quick.

[Sharpened]

Faithbound Judge is not strong. It's slow. This card is not going to see much play or be problematic.
Eruth, Tormented Prophet is no Light Up the Stage. You have to play the cards that turn. And its not a may. If you had to play the cards by the end of your next turn it would be good. As is, it seems pretty bad.

Wash Away is a card I expect to be seeing a lot of. - Counter Target Commander, with a Cancel as a fallback mode seems really potent.

[Hawk]

Wash Away is going to crack "top five counters in MTG" I suspect. It loses out to Mana Drain, Counterspell, and Arcane Denial but from there? If you are hyper-competitive in some sort of cEDH environment, I suppose Force of Will wins out, and I don't know that I'd replace Negate (or Force of Negation or Fierce Guardianship if I owned them) even though they do different things. But this is way up there, as a 1 CMC counter to Commanders that's also a Cancel is amazing. Given how much worse the OG staple 3 CMC counters (Hinder and Spell Crumple) got without tucking, I'd say no 3 CMC counter is truly amazing these days and that upshot of countering commanders for U is awesome. If that was all it'd be worthy of merit - but given the popularity of Prosper, Tome-Bound, Kess, Dissident Mage, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, and the Cascade mechanic in EDH, this does a lot of other stuff.

[pokken]

Faithbound Judge seems extremely annoying. Just a flat out "oh, you didn't draw enchantment removal? Ok you lose". Just a big old middle finger to the idea of playing red-black, or not jamming a bunch of multi-permanent-type spot removal in general. Alt-wincons/player removal has been getting stronger and blander quick.

I mean you didn't draw enchantment removal after a 7 drop resolved and you got 3 turns. Unless someone is combining it with proliferate enablers I think it's fine

Mana Reflection seems like a lot more dangerous enchantment to let sit for 3 turns

[Sharpened]

I mean you didn't draw enchantment removal after a 7 drop resolved and you got 3 turns. Unless someone is combining it with proliferate enablers I think it's fine

Proliferate will let you shave 1 turn, but that's it. You need the first counter on it, and the lose the game trigger is part of the upkeep trigger, so getting the third counter on early does nothing for you.

[bobthefunny]

Fun note with Hive-Heart Shaman - Wastes has no land type, so cannot share a land type with other lands. Don't know if this footnote to his ability will ever rank higher than just 'cute,' but it's worth noting, at the least.

A kind of reverse of the Myriad Landscape problem.

I mean you didn't draw enchantment removal after a 7 drop resolved and you got 3 turns. Unless someone is combining it with proliferate enablers I think it's fine

Proliferate will let you shave 1 turn, but that's it. You need the first counter on it, and the lose the game trigger is part of the upkeep trigger, so getting the third counter on early does nothing for you.

You could Giant Fan the counter from another geist!

[Hermes_]

Fun note with Hive-Heart Shaman - Wastes has no land type, so cannot share a land type with other lands. Don't know if this footnote to his ability will ever rank higher than just 'cute,' but it's worth noting, at the least.

A kind of reverse of the Myriad Landscape problem.

I mean you didn't draw enchantment removal after a 7 drop resolved and you got 3 turns. Unless someone is combining it with proliferate enablers I think it's fine

Proliferate will let you shave 1 turn, but that's it. You need the first counter on it, and the lose the game trigger is part of the upkeep trigger, so getting the third counter on early does nothing for you.

You could Giant Fan the counter from another geist!

They really need to print a black boarder version of giant fan

[bobthefunny]

They really need to print a black boarder version of giant fan

Like Nesting Grounds? =D

[Dunharrow]

Stormchaser Drake should be good in my Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest deck. Works so well with Hidden Strings which is already one of the best cards in the deck.

I think this set is mostly giving me a case of 'I don't know where I would play this card but it is cool'.

[Serenade]

Winged Portent looks so weird and neat. Fable of Wolf and Owl will love it?

[Cyberium]

Faithbound Judge seems extremely annoying. Just a flat out "oh, you didn't draw enchantment removal? Ok you lose". Just a big old middle finger to the idea of playing red-black, or not jamming a bunch of multi-permanent-type spot removal in general. Alt-wincons/player removal has been getting stronger and blander quick.

On that day, B/R players received a grim reminder. They still need colorless removal like in 1993. And why not? nongreen players still need colorless ramp, and white players still need colorless draw. I like white alt-wins are base on life gain and enchantment.

We can also kill the Judge and empty their graveyard, or reanimate the judge right after. There's also Praetor's Grasp et al to remove it ahead of time. Other players at the table would probably be willing to help remove it to save their own hide.

[duducrash]

Kessig Flamebreather is nice redudancy for spellslinger decks. Firebrand Archer , Electrostatic Field Thermo-Alchemist Guttersnipe . iy may be the final slot for this effect

[Mookie]

A few more items. Looks like we're finally reaching the end of preview season.

• Cartographer's Survey is interesting - less consistent than Explosive Vegetation, but it can get nonbasics. Looks like if you have 38 lands in a 99 card deck, the probability you'll get 2+ lands is... 83%? Probably a bit lower in practice if you're fetching out other lands.
• Optimistic Initiate looks quite nice. Disenchant-on-legs is a slot that white needs more of, and this is much easier to pull off than Devout Chaplain. It does still need some support, but seems like a strong include for +1/+1 counter-based decks.
• Wash Away looks quite solid - countering commanders for a single mana is a very good deal. That said, Cancel for most other spells may end up being a bit clunky. Still, worth testing - the more commander-centric your opponents' decks are, the better it is.
• RIP Katilda. Continuing Mikaeus, the Lunarch's role of dying after their first appearance on Innistrad.

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Finally realized what the hubbub is about Wash Away.

Great design, cleave effect means it's never a dead card. I'm thinking it's going to be just as valuable against foretell and flashback and all those wacky commanders who cast from the graveyard/exile. Too bad in EDH we only get one.

A few more items. Looks like we're finally reaching the end of preview season.

This suddenly made me realize that the MID/VOW plot is basically a rehashed sped-up Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, except far more people are taking a proactive role. (Day/night would also be a great fit for Lorwyn/Shadowmoor methinks.)

[onering]

For the Judge and Curse, RB actually has a solid number of answers to it. Black has gy hate, which can just get rid of it before it can be disturbed, as well as creature exile which also solves the issue if the player is actually casting the judge. Red also gets burn that exiles. But further, the two colors now have a suite of enchantment removal available! Chaos Warp is a staple, and belongs in any deck that can run it. Feed the Swarm straight up removes enchantments in addition to creatures, and because the curse is the back half of a disturb card you don't even lose life! Yeah, its a mediocre removal spell because of the life loss combined with sorcery speed, but if you see a ton of problem enchantments in your meta its absolutely worth it. Lastly, if the curse is the only enchantment they control there are also a few edicts in black that hit enchantments.

[pokken]

For the Judge and Curse, RB actually has a solid number of answers to it. Black has gy hate, which can just get rid of it before it can be disturbed, as well as creature exile which also solves the issue if the player is actually casting the judge. Red also gets burn that exiles. But further, the two colors now have a suite of enchantment removal available! Chaos Warp is a staple, and belongs in any deck that can run it. Feed the Swarm straight up removes enchantments in addition to creatures, and because the curse is the back half of a disturb card you don't even lose life! Yeah, its a mediocre removal spell because of the life loss combined with sorcery speed, but if you see a ton of problem enchantments in your meta its absolutely worth it. Lastly, if the curse is the only enchantment they control there are also a few edicts in black that hit enchantments.

Player removal also as always remains an option that curse reads "If you can't kill me in 3 turns you lose" which feels like a challenge to me.

[maeos]

edgar, charmed groom seems pretty fun. kinda sad that the vampire deck is rb instead of rwb. i kinda dont wanna get any of the wb vampires from this set cause of it >.>

[5colorsrainbow]

because the curse is the back half of a disturb card you don't even lose life!

Just a quick note, they changed DFC to have the mana value of the front half even transformed so you will be 3 life still.

[pokken]

Man cemetery illuminator seems likely to be the $40 mythic of this set and that's a bummer :p

[BeneTleilax]

Maybe it'll make Necroduality cheaper. It seems like a really generic value engine to me, so I can't say I have much interest, even though I see why it will be chase.

[Hawk]

I dunno on illuminator - it can't hit lands (or rather, it can exile lands if you want but not play them off the top), which makes it a much more awkward Future Sight / Magus of the Future. The benefit is that it is the same statline as Magus + flying for 1U less which is obviously a big deal (as is the relevant typing and incidental graveyard hate). Given that Azorius and Bant Spirits are already a modern and pioneer archetype, it is for sure going to be a valuable card. But I'm not totally convinced that it's that amazing or that it's going to go for that much more than, say, Vizier of the Menagerie.