- First, I will not be discussing any of the Legendary Creature cards in the set. For a full review of all the new potential Commanders, scroll down to check out Uncle Landdrops review right here on the blog.
- Second, I am only going to be discussing the cards that I think will be making an appearance in Commander. If it isn't relevant to that format, you won't see it here. If you believe a case can be made for a card that I leave out, make sure to share your opinion in the comments!
- Third, no reprints! If a card already exists, we should already be aware of its place in Commander, so a reprint isn't going to do much to change a card's playability.
- Last, the review will be broken down into different parts based on what position the cards play on the field of battle. Today we will be talking about threats.
THREATS
A threat is something that you use to win the game. Creatures, Planeswalkers, combos, sometimes other things: a threat puts pressure on your opponents and promises eventual victory. The best threats also generate a resource advantage or protect themselves, but the main criterion for determining how good a threat is? Time. If it kills quickly the less chance your opponent has to remove it. Let's see how JIN stacks up; time to dig in!
I always like to start off on a positive note, but it is not often that I get to start things off with a Q. I moved Aegis of the Gods to the next part of the review though, so this is what I get. This card is playing directly on the success of last year's Unexpectedly Absent. Which was pretty incredible and made a big splash in eternal Magic. This card will likely see some play, but a 5/6 with no ability to protect itself is unlikely to kill your opponent. This is, however, great removal for an opposing commander or active god card. I don't think this is going to become as popular as Luminate Primordial, but it should definitely see some play based solely on the power of 'tuck' effects in the format.
This is a strong token enabler that will easily replace currently played cards like Conqueror's Pledge. This provides more tokens for fewer mana and they get to attack immediately which can provide the last few crucial points of damage to seal a game. For swarm decks, you are often trying to vomit tokens onto the table and win with a 'surprise' Overrun or Anthem. Launch the Fleet doesn't resist any of this archetype's current weaknesses, but it is just a more efficient package to buy something you already wanted. It is hard to say no to that.
This is what you might call, a "combat trick." I dont normally endorse shenanigans like this in the land of fat stacks, but this actually has potential to create card advantage, so I will indulge for a moment. The ability to copy a Titan and net multiple attack trigger would be pretty sweet.I am always a little let down when R&D reveals a 'new' mechanic that is actually just a more restrictive version of an old mechanic. Inspired was already a little lame, but asking me to buy ANOTHER version of Kicker is asking too much. Perhaps R&D should strive to come up with more original ideas.
I used to play a lot of Kederekt Leviathan, and Scourge compares favorably. This requires commitment to mono Blue, but also leaves your board intact. You also get a 6/6 instead of a 5/5 and it costs one less mana. Sounds good enough for me. Expect to see a fair amount of this guy around the tables.Side note: Is the Journey Into Nyx symbol supposed to be a boat? It looks like a boat. I thought we were going to space, not the bottom of the ocean. Where is my spaceship? Why isn't this kraken living inside an asteroid field? Also:
IMMMMGONNNNAAAAAEEEEEEEAAAAATTTTYOUUUUUUUUUUNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!
This card is interesting to me. I do not believe for a second that there is a way to use this on the pure 'high risk, high reward' strategy. Cards are just better than life points in Commander. I am prepared to offer a new angle however: Black group hug. I don't understand it, but the group hug niche has grown in the last few years. Black hasn't really ever had much to contribute though. I suspect that this also has some playability in Nekusar builds.
I am digging the idea that reanimation effects are starting to edge their way into being Instants. The surprise value on cards like this can be very powerful. To keep this from getting out of hand we have to give up something, especially given that this is an uncommon and not some super-snapped rare. Only being able to target your graveyard shouldn't really be a problem, but not getting any of the text box on your Creature is a let down. That, combined with the exceedingly 'fair' cost makes me less than optimistic about this card's chances.
I am going to go ahead and assume everyone reading this is familiar with Mindslaver and how you are supposed to win with it. This has a few problems that will prevent it from seeing the same kind of play. You can't repeat it. Also, you can't repeat it. Additionally, it isn't Blue, but also you can't repeat it. I have never seen, even once, someone play Mindslaver just for value. Mostly because it isn't that great. Getting ahead by a few cards is sweet, but not worth eight mana. The way that this is worded you can't even Fork it for value. Panoptic Mirror is banned, Eye of the Storm is tantamount to insanity. Leave this one at home kids, there are much cheaper ways to get some value.
I am interested in this card. It is a big threat, but it has the right amount of terrorism to make it dominate a multiplayer game. No one is going to want to lose all their junk. No one is going to want to make their friends mad. Meanwhile you get to go on a rampage forcing chumps blocks, eating into life totals, and generally causing a ruckus. I used to have a five-color Child of Alara deck that tried to capitalize on this same concept. Invest very little on the board and force the opponents to expend resources in unfavorable trades. This card isn't fantastic, but it is better than it looks and will be underplayed in the format.
Despite the fact that Commander has no Mono Burn deck, I am really digging on this card. It is a direct callback to Pyrostatic Pillar, a card that is underplayed in all corners of Magic. This is great in a 'Big Red' style deck that is looking to go over the top with board sweepers and swingy effects. I could see Eidolon and Bearer of the Heavens in the same deck. Sticking this card on the play is going to mean a lot of damage getting distributed around the table. If they kill it, no big loss. You forced them to spend a removal spell on your two drop so they are less likely to have one left for your 6-8 mana beaters.
We have an interesting design question here: If Mass Mutiny exists and is fair, albeit expensive - and Act of Treason has been established as the new standard fare for Threaten effects (it has been printed each year from 2009 to 2013) - is this card 'good'? Is it aggressively costed? It is Rare, so is it stronger than its Common comparables: Act of Treason and Traitorous Blood? Is it both cheaper and less splashy than Insurrection? Here are my thoughts: it doesn't give Trample, which was a big, but unexpected boost on Traitorous Blood. It is good in single and multiplayer. It is capable of ending the game or putting it out of reach by forcing some uncomfortable blocks. I can dig this. I don't think it is snapped. I think the Strive could cost one less and it would still be safe, but this card can be worth it for sure
Whoa buddy! They finally figured out how to print a Red Ophidian...and it doesn't suck! I don't think I have to say too much about this card. Just pay attention to Standard over the next year. You are going to be hearing plenty about how powerful this is. In casual formats the impact will be even bigger. The potential to snag two cards a turn is crazy. Can you imagine this with a Madcap Skills on it? Why do we do this to ourselves? This isn't fun. They won't even reprint Thieving Magpie, but they will make this?
Since this card is a big/stupid dragon people will play it. Since this card is bad I am going to decline to talk about its playability. Instead: I wonder how the creative department decides on what characters/creatures to LEAVE OUT of a set. There are always a few of the 'heroes' sprinkled in as Legendary Creatures. The planeswalkers and main characters are mentioned in card titles and flavor texts, but there are also some characters that go missing. Thraxes is, apparently, the dragon that lives inside Purphporos' volcanco. So we have a card that represents a child of Thraxes, but no Thraxes card. I always wonder why that is. Sometimes, if a set is popular enough to be revisited down the line, we get to see some of these unsung heroes receive their own card. E.g. Jhoira of the Ghitu in Time Spiral block. Perhaps Theros will receive the same treatment.
Unlike Harness by Force, I have zero interest in this card. It is far too safe to be a game winner. It is hard to generate value by pointing things at your own Creatures; there is just too much spot removal to make that a sound plan. Lastly, it is hard to blitz your opponent with a fast aggro plan in Commander, so a card that just punches through a few extra damage in one turn isn't as good as say, just having a better threat.
How many hydras is this block going to have? Seriously, Greek mythology is figuratively overflowing with crazy beast that would be perfect for a game like Magic, but only maybe a half dozen or so made it into the set that weren't already staples of the game. I am loving the satyrs. I am loving the minotaurs and chimeras, but Magic had too many hydras to begin with...and we just got ten more shipments. Yay!This compares easily with Chameleon Colossus, an awesome and underplayed card. Colossus was so powerful because it was essentially immune to both Black and Red removal. There are some pros and some cons here, but all-in-all I would rather have Protection from Black than permanent counters. Not to mention, Colossus is under the radar because it is under the power curve nowadays; there just isn't room for a worse version.
What's that? There is another Hydra? Oh....and wait what?! It makes even more Hydras?! What is going on here! Did R&D get a Groupon for multi-headed monsters or something? This is ridiculous.This isn't so bad, they basically have one turn to answer it before it turns into a bunch of little guys. Wrath of God shuts the whole show down though. If I am going to spend 13 total mana on something I expect it to be able to beat a four mana card that is in LITERALLY every White deck. And some Red decks. And basically every Black deck. Don't even get me started on Blue. This card is stone unplayable against Blue.
And now...the moment you have all been waiting for! You finally have a centaur lord. Dust off those Centaur Groves! We ride to victory! I mean gallop, nobody rides a centaur.Sidenote: did you know that in the original Greek myths centaurs were like boogie-men that abducted and raped women who strayed into the forest? Well, they have certainly cleaned up their bad boy image in the last couple millennia.
Last, but certainly not least, we arrive at our old pal Ajani. One of the original five Planeswalkers to see print in Lorwyn, AJ has seen a few iterations and some constructed playability. His abilities seem awesome. He can generate card advantage. He has the infamous distinction of having no minus abilities. I dig the total package here and expect it to see play in multiple formats. It is always nice to hear about an old friend that is still doing well.Interesting sidenote here: Ajani was a White card in his original form, but in the story he is from the Shard of Naya on the plane of Alara, which is made up of Green, White, and Red mana. His second iteration was White/Red. In this instance he is a Green/White card that has come to Theros to defend his kitty cat brethen from the oppressive rule of the Green/Red Xenagos. Apparently there is some trouble in the jungle paradise of Naya colors. A lot of internal strife going on there. The Heroes and villains of the block are centered on Green, which is something you don't see often in Magic.
Thanks for reading guys, make sure you stay tuned to the blog this week as we roll out new segments of the review! As always, feel free to leave your thoughts on the review and the new cards in the comments below. Next time we will be talking about Answers! See you then.
-GG
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