Card Corner: Sunscorch Regent

Happy Day of Thor, Zoners!

We're ankles deep into spoilers, and I hope you're feeling wondrously overwhelmed by the influx of the biggest, baddest tribal in the Multiverse.

Today on Card Corner, we're gonna take a look at the CommanderCast preview card I got to check out a few weeks ahead of time, which was a pretty awesome experience.

So after sitting on my thoughts for a week and a half, I get to do some analyzing and postulating, and I hope you'll join me as we talk about the White Dragon Regent!

THE FLAVOR

Although there are Dragons scattered across every color in Magic History, the most compelling part about this block's theme was the sort of "future flavor," if you will, in design. While Red, Black, and even Blue have that innate "enemy" color persona, Green and White have never really been able to reproduce the same kind of reverence when it comes to making a Dragon feel like a Dragon.

The sneak peek in Fate Reforged did little-to-nothing for me in terms of mapping out how they were going to demonstrate this, and I have to admit I felt a little cheated. For starters, Dromoka didn't feel complete as a Dragon (or a Legendary Creature, in my opinion), and the two cards we did get (Wardscale Dragon and Destructor Dragon) barely seemed to communicate a precedent for this design space.

In all fairness, these colors pose a challenge. With Green, Flying is a static ability left almost exclusively to small bugs and bees, while White has the opposite problem- too many creatures with Flying, and not enough space to separate their feel from Angels or Birds.

Relating to Sunscorch Regent, it's pretty clear that the Tarkir flavor REALLY overpowers the essence of this card as a Dragon, which is fine, but it's not aligned with my personal impressions and expectations as a marketed product. While I won't say it was a let down, because I understand what Design and Development had to do to make this work, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. I'm still not sure what a White Dragon looks like, and even though it's a foolish human impulse to use one card to demonstrate the whole, it was clear that Sunscorch Regent wasn't going to be that card, and we were still in the hunt.

THE MECHANICS

Mechanically, I think this card is pretty nice. This is probably attributed to the fact that they really went what they call "Bottoms Up," designing cards with rules and stats before giving it a name and all that.

As it relates to Tarkir, and what we understand of Dragons, and the underlying motivations of the Dragon Broods, it does this well. A reactionary, opponent contingent trigger provides balance while maintaining the power of that old green Forgotten Ancient made by the Magic Community a long time ago. Infused with the afterthought of incremental life gain, we're reminded that this is in fact a card we're gonna pay Plains mana to play, while also giving us additional value driven incentive.

Here in Commander, this card is playable, simply because a 5-Cost creature with evasion and a reason to remove it provides enough incentive for our opponent(s) to think about it. There is going to be a drastic difference between its value in multiplayer versus 1v1, but I think it will be fine for either.

THE ART

The last thing I want to talk about is the artwork, so I've posted it at again. I find it both cool and strange. The colors and scaliness of the dragon itself are typical of what we understand to be the differentiation between the kinds of Dragons on the plane- almost a regional phenotype. Much like desert lizards, these dragons are dry, scaly things that are easily distinguishable.

What I don't like is the color palette. It's just too beige to distinguish the dragon from the background. It's almost like camouflage, which could be an arguable flavor point, but I'm not sure that's really Dromoka brood thing.

Which leads us to the part I both like and dislike- the beam of light coming from Sunscorch Regent's mouth. This is where our eyes are drawn, and I like this eerie, glowing quality. Immediately, I thought Sunscorch Regent was abducting two small people, and I found this notion to be fairly charming, for no real reason.

The thing I dislike is that the more I've been thinking about this, the more I realize that it doesn't make sense when you think about what the card ACTUALLY does. We don't know whether or not Sunscorch Regent is helping or hurting these people. Regardless, how does that relate to the flavor? If he is using it to "sunscorch," that doesn't sound like a good thing. And his reactive, triggered ability suggests that this is a creature more incentivized by hitting back than hitting first. This art doesn't convey these things clearly, based on what I know about the story of Tarkir and the innate-ness of the card.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I think this card is pretty average for us. I like the weirdness, and am really happy, regardless of whether or not it slides into any deck I make, that I had the privilege of getting to see it before everyone else.

Let me know what you think about my thoughts here in the comments below, or on Twitter, where you can now FOLLOW ME @UncleLanddrops! I'm anxious to hear your thoughts!

Pass.
-UL

In General: More Juice than Zeus!

Hello and welcome back to In General. The first preview week for Khans of Tarkir is over and we have had some incredible official spoilers already. This set definitely received the juice. More power than M15, more power than Theros. This could very well end up being one of the most format warping set releases for Standard and Modern that we have ever seen.

This week I want to do a quick round up of some of the cards that I am most excited about from the new set. There is certainly a lot to look forward to. Fetch lands, tri lands, new wedge commanders, and more. Here are a few of my favorites so far:

I love Pauper. Everyone knows that. I have to give some love to the commons, because the low rarity cards in this set are still very competitive. There really isn't a common Creature that can just grow unbounded. You can use this ability to add a +1 counter as many times as you want.

You should absolutely be able to use Outlast as an Instant, but I understand that raises the complexity of the play experience. However, I don't think that any set with the Morph mechanic is going to be what you would call 'simple'. The fact that you get all this long term upside on a cheap, aggressive body though makes for one tight little package.



This is just crazy! The new gold (orange) standard for Clone effects. Everyone runs Phyrexian Metamorph in Commander because the extra flexibility just adds so much utility to the card. Adding the ability to copy Enchantments and Paneswalkers is just bonkers. This card is a brick house and it is going to be ending quite a few games over the next couple of months.



It's a Spelljack stapled onto a Hill Giant...but it is actually better than both of those cards individually. You can cast the spell you steal whenever you want and it sticks around forever. As a Creature you can get a 2/2 for three OR a 3/3 for four. This card must have been doing yoga while it was in design because it is FLEXIBLE.




I love cheap value Creatures. I love enter the battlefield effects that generate card advantage. I love conditional riders that are easy to set up. So, no surprise, I love this card. It is a two drop to fill out your curve in limited, but in constructed you can easily set up an attack with a one-drop to trigger the Raid ability. I think that is enough value for Pauper, maybe even enough for Standard. Maybe mono Black won't be dead after the rotation....







Everyone likes a good deal. Look at the savings! You spend six mana to get a fatty Creature off the top of your library and that amount of selection is nothing to sneeze at, but if you already have a fatty in play you get to snag TWO Creatures? Sign me up. 25% percent discount for an empty board...or the buy one get two free sale! I can dig it. I am officially dubbing this card, See the Savings.



The last card I am looking at for today is a spicy dish indeed. I have been waiting for a solid decade for this card to come out. Morph cards are so tricky and annoying to play against in limited. They are real skill testers and I love the mechanic, but with so many of them running around it can become impossible to play around them all.

Morph is featured prominently in my Pauper cube. There are only a handful of Morph cards, but they are the most powerful ones available and knowing which one you are dealing with can mean the difference between winning and losing. I just wish that this card offered something more. As is, it is too weak to justify including in a deck, even as sideboard material. If it just had that magical phrase though..."Draw a card." That would push this into the realm of possibility.



That's all for this week. The new set is shaping up to be pretty awesome. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the best limited environments ever as well, so look forward to plenty of draft videos on Ill-Gotten Games.

If you haven't already, make plans to attend your local prerelease for Khans of Tarkir. You are not going to want to miss out on all the action this set has to offer.

Izzet vs. Golgari Full Spoiler!

They spoiled the rest of the deck, and let me say, I'm pretty excited.

Aside from getting new art for Niv-Mizzet a fresh guild leader in Jarrad, and the Korozda Guildmage I mentioned the day before, they're also adding some great EDH stuff.

Like Eternal Witness.
Like Life From The Loam.
Like new art Brainstorm,
and Isochron Scepter. I found a full spoiler here, if you wanna look at the rest. http://www.gatheringmagic.com/duel-decks-izzet-vs-golgari-spoilers/   

If this isn't enough to get you pumped, well, then I'm super sorry for you. Witness, Loam, and Scepter are great value, practically covering the $19.99 MSRP even without the historically expensive Izzet Guildmage.        

Seriously, though. You should look to grab this monster at dawn on the first light of September 7th. 

If not, I'm gonna come to your town and buy up every last one so I can sell all the singles for double the price. I'll control the market and have infinite copies of green staples and Niv-Mizzets.
 
Just kidding. But seriously, I love me some Life From the Loam. And some Eternal Witness. 
Cause they're great. 

Pass Turn.

-Uncle Landdrops