Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re delving into the new set, looking at what gets us all excited and what secret chase rares may be lurking under the surface. I’ll also detail the Large Prereleases heading to a big city near you this weekend, and how you can play against me this Saturday in Nashville. Let’s go!
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Conflux Capacitor
As I predicted last week, the full Conflux spoiler has hit the interwebs, and we now know the contents of this set. Let’s get started on some kickass rares.
Up first is Knight of the Reliquary:
Knight of the Reliquary
1GW
Rare
Creature — Human Knight
Knight of the Reliquary gets +1/+1 for each land card in your graveyard.
T, Sacrifice a Forest or Plains: Search your library for a land card, put it into play, then shuffle your library.
2/2
Wow. Now that’s a card with value and potential. It’s one thing to say this guy is ‘decent.’ It’s another to realize how synergistic his abilities are together, and how they give you an almost unstoppable advantage if left unchecked.
First, until he gets to about a 5/5 or 6/6, this guy has one job: To find Treetop Villages and Mutavaults, thinning your deck and giving you an incredible tempo advantage in creature threats. And the best part is, when they kill these lands with removal spells or trades, the Knight just gets bigger as a result! This is one of the ‘mid-range’ rares right now, and I suggest you pick up yours this instant before they reach double-digit prices. Knight is the real deal and will be impacting Standard. He’s no Terravore, but what is? The Knight is good enough that you need to consider him both a wise investment in terms of money and smart positioning in the upcoming metagame.
Next up we have the Mike Flores approved Noble Hierarch:
Noble Hierarch
G
Rare
Creature — Human Druid
Exalted
T: Add G, W or U to your mana pool.
0/1
Oh yeah, that’s one insane mana elf right there. I’m not going to try to out-write Mike on his own preview, I’ll just say this card is everything he says it is and then some. Much like Path to Exile, it’s tough to overhype a better-than-Birds card when you aren’t playing Red or Black spells. He impacts the board late, he still gets in for one, and he helps you cast the Blue Wrath of God. Doesn’t get much better than that. Pick these up before they reach Birds of Paradise prices. They will be a staple in virtually any Green-based strategies over the next year.
Up next is an underrated rare. These are my favorite kind. Say hello to the Wizards’ approved Meglonoth.
Meglonoth 3RGW
Creature — Beast (r)
Vigilance, trample
Whenever Meglonoth blocks a creature, Meglonoth deals damage to that creature’s controller equal to Meglonoth’s power.
6/6
I know, it’s a huge dork. But that ability is just insane. It may not ‘appear’ to be a Constructed-ready creature, in fact it looks downright bonkers in any game with more than two players, but in a one-on-one match, when you play Meglonoth, they either have Path to Exile, or they’re not attacking with non-fliers. And no Bitterblossom chump-blocking will save you here, as Meglonoth gets to smash with Trample and stay untapped. So delicious. I loves me a fatty, and there ain’t no fatty like a big Naya fatty cause a big Naya fatty don’t stop… or something. Just saying, try him out.
Another underrated rare is Soul’s Majesty, a poor man’s Tidings:
Soul’s Majesty 4G
Sorcery (r)
Draw cards equal to the power of target creature you control.
Very simple, and very powerful. Think of it this way: Harmonize was an popular card when it was legal in Standard. And yes, being four mana is important, but take a look at the new mana elf in the set, Noble Hierarch. Not only will Noble Hierarch power this out on Turn 4 as you would expect, but it should be pumping up your creature to give you an additional card to boot. This is a card that can turn a tit-for-tat game into I Just Got An Overwhelming Advantage I Guess I’ll Crush You Now. I like how few recognize the power of fatty-based card drawing, but this one may create a few believers out of the many skeptics.
Another card not getting the respect it deserves is Kederekt Parasite:
Kederekt Parasite B
Creature — Horror (r)
When an opponent draws a card, if you control a red permanent, you may have Kederekt Parasite deal 1 damage to that player.
1/1
Last week I was going on about Nyxathid and failed to mention the other awesome card they gave that deck. This card allows you to put Underworld Dreams down on Turn 1, or what is most likely happening, dropping a Turn 1 Mogg Fanatic and following it up with Kederekt Parasite. Feel free to live the dream by playing that Mogg Fanatic with Sulfurous Springs on Turn 1 then playing two Kederekt Parasites on Turn 2. Now that is disgusting. You can continue the draw-some-cards-have-some-pain theme by going to Spiteful Visions, a card that has seen tournament play in the past, or the alternate route with Blightning. Dress this wicked pain salad with some Banefire and Flame Javelin, sprinkle a little Demigod of Revenge on there, and top it off with some fresh Incinerate. Bon appetit!
Up next, I want to go through a little series I like to call How Wizards Is Trying To Kill Faeries With Conflux. Let us count the myriad of ways, shall we? Leading up to the most over-the-top Anti-Faeries creature that it must’ve come from the ramblings of some rabid fanboy fantasy… Let’s begin.
Last week I began by talking about Banefire and Volcanic Fallout. There is no doubt that Red is the antithesis to the Fae anyway, and these uncounterable monsters try to firmly put the nail in that coffin. But Wizards wasn’t done there. Nope, we need more! The first card to screw over Bitterblossom after those is Cumber Stone:
Cumber Stone 3U
Artifact (u)
Creatures your opponents control get -1/-0.
If only it said “Faerie Rogue tokens your opponents control get -1/-0” would we have gotten the hint stronger. Next up, the anti-Fae Naturalize, Filigree Fracture:
Filigree Fracture 2G
Instant (u)
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. If that permanent’s controller controls a blue or black permanent, draw a card.
Filigree Fracture? I don’t think so. I would just call this Destroy Target Bitterblossom. If only it let you draw two cards instead, just to really make them squirm. Nice Rogue Token, thanks for the cantrip.
But no, not even those four cards were enough to stop them. Wizards had to keep going. They had to give us an Elf. And not just any Elf, but a one-drop Elf, happily fetched with Ranger of Eos, with an above-the-curve and out of Peppersmoke range 1/2 power and toughness, then… well, then it packs an ability that is just devastating. Take a look at Scattershot Archer:
Scattershot Archer G
Creature — Elf Archer (c)
T: Scattershot Archer deals 1 damage to each creature with flying.
1/2
Oh yeah baby, that is the sickness. The Fae player has two options on Turn 1 against this fella: Either you have the Agony Warp / Terror, or you play draw-go for awhile. This guy is the boogeyman for every Fae player out there. There isn’t one Faerie worth playing that either isn’t one toughness or relies on other one toughness to be awesome. Okay, Glen Elendra Archmage is a 2/2, but that’s it. In the meantime, the Fae won’t be flying the friendly skies for long while Scattershot is out there. And take a look at that rarity. Oh yeah, it’s a common, so feel free to get your playset on the cheap and ruin your favorite Faerie player’s day with a wink and a smile on Turn 1.
How about another kickass uncommon, one that is probably quickly dismissed, Scarland Thrinax:
Scarland Thrinax BRG
Creature — Lizard (u)
Sacrifice a creature: Put a +1/+1 counter on Scarland Thrinax.
2/2
This is Spitting Thrinax’s second cousin removed on his mother’s side, but does the job well enough. I want to take you back in time to a day of horrible sets and painful R&D mistakes, back during the days of Saviors of Kamigawa. Yes, we suffered through this time together, remembering that even through the cold and harshness of bad metagames and diseased mechanics, we too would get through this. And though it took a while, players eventually figured out the most powerful combo in Standard, and no it wasn’t Umezawa’s Jitte and Paladin en-Vec, though that was a close second. No, the most powerful combo was Nantuko Husk and a card called Promise of Bunrei. This allowed your Nantuko Husk to instantly grow to +10/+10, using the creature to trigger Promise and the four 1/1 Spirit tokens that resulted. This quickly made games turn into Can-I-Stop-The-Husk, and even if they did the tokens would do them in if left unchecked.
Now compare this to Scarland Thrinax. He turns into a 6/6 with just one creature, you know, second cousin removed, mom’s side, etcetera, but he also makes the Jund Token strategy have a sacrifice outlet for all sorts of situations. The obvious is when its tokens from Bitterblossom are blocked, or when those Goblin Assault tokens are doing nothing but their best impression of a Lemming each turn. But that’s not all, of course. Sarkhan Vol just loves to steal things that aren’t his, and Scarland Thrinax will be there to eat it after it gets in the red zone. Free sacrifice outlets have always been powerful, whether they’re used in infinite combo engines or to overwhelm the opponent with different interactions. This is the creature that could, much like Lebowski’s rug for his living room, tie the whole thing together and give us another powerful archetype to consider in Standard.
Lastly I want to highlight what may be the most inappropriate name for a card that I’ve seen in a while. Say hi to Super Howling Mine, Font of Mythos:
Font of Mythos 4
Artifact (r)
At the beginning of each player’s draw step, that player draws two additional cards.
Yes, Font of Mythos. Font. As in the typesetting for the words on your screen. And yes, thank you dictionary.com for cluing me in on the other things that are Fonts, such as the receptacle of water used in baptisms in churches and so on. But this is the twenty-first century and I’m afraid no matter how many times I see that I will be thinking of Times New Roman of Mythos or, god forbid, Comic Sans of Mythos. Puke. [Seriously? Is the religious use of the word “Font” that archaic? — Craig, feeling old.]
I await the six mana version of this artifact that lets players draw three cards each turn. Its title? Command Prompt of Mythos. Look for it in a few years. It’ll be a big hit.
So those are the cards I’m most excited about from Conflux. There are a ton I couldn’t include for time reasons of course, but I think I touched on a lot of really interesting and powerful cards coming your way in just a few weeks. And now, since everyone loves lists, here are my Top 10 cards from Conflux:
I know this was my very own spoiler and all, but it really is quite the beating. Plus, who doesn’t love the picture of Figure of Destiny riding on the back of it? Any chance to put that in there, I’ll take.
Incredibly Timmy, incredibly fun, and incredibly cool. This Planeswalker is a complete badass and comes packaged with a soul-crushing ultimate.
Faeries die now. That’s what this guy says.
I’m serious, there is nothing better than playing this against a player with counterspells or board sweepers that aren’t named… well…
Yeah, this is the card that makes, to quote the great Patrick Chapin, “three the new four” as the magical toughness in Standard. Let’s just hope it’s enough to stop the Fae menace.
#5 Knight of Reliquary
Yes, I will certainly put this guy right up there. If you’re still scratching your head, go test with him already. He’s bonkers. You heard it here first.
A card that will live in Sideboards for years and occasionally creeping its way into the maindeck.
#3 Banefire
Better than Demonfire, better than Ghitu Fire… hell, it’s probably better than fire itself at burning things. Can’t we just call this Trogdor’s Fire? It burninates the countryside, man. That’s what it does.
Better than Birds of Paradise in decks without Red and Black. There really isn’t a better argument for this card, but putting Exalted on it is just so fantastic. It also doesn’t get killed by Scattershot Archer, another bonus.
Yup, this is the best card in the set by a country mile. Get your set now. I don’t care if they’re four bucks, you will play them for as long as you play Magic. White once again rules the roost at ‘solving’ creatures. The best trick with this card is to Path to Exile your own creature when you need to hit Domain, or when you are Evoking something and want to get ahead. This is the real deal folks.
Overall, Conflux has really impressed me. This set as a ton of depth, capitalizes on the themes began in Shards of Alara, and thankfully did not go the way I expected Wizards to go by focusing on the Enemy Shards or ‘Wedges’ as some called them. That would’ve been… awkward in such a small set. Instead they super-charged themes, ideas, and I love having a hard time choosing what cards I want to talk about, and I’ve had no shortage this go around.
Remember, this weekend is the Conflux Prerelease, so get yourself to a Big Prerelease near you. Why road trip it to a Big Prerelease? Well, let’s just say it starts with “d” and ends with “raft.” Yes, you can draft at large prereleases. But that’s not all! Large Prereleases will have the staff, product, artists, and special events that you’ll find nowhere else. For example, would you like to Gunsling against popular and professional Magic players? Large Prereleases are the only place to find this. In Boston you’ll have the option of throwing down against Hall of Famers Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle, in Denver you’ll have the option of playing against Patrick Chapin or Manuel Bucher, and in Nashville you’ll find myself ready to kick some butt and take some names. These aren’t the only gunslingers ready to do battle this weekend of course, but you get the idea. Show up, play against players you know and have read about, and have fun like you can’t have anywhere else. I’ll see you guys in Nashville and hope everyone has a kickass prerelease.
Until next time, Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards… so you don’t have to.
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
eerwin +at+ them gmails +dot+ com
dubs x3 TheMagicShow dot tee-vee
Go listen to Cloud Cult’s “Feel Good Ghosts.” You won’t be disappointed.