As you read this, Magic Game Day will be just three days away. Magic Game Day is the equivalent of a prerelease for Tenth Edition, and a lot of stores will have special events. It’s more widespread than official prereleases — almost any store that runs FNM may well have Magic Game Day events. These stores will have special foils, etc — but the main reason to attend is because the cards look good.
Yes, I mean that both ways. Tenth is printed with black borders — no more ugly white borders on the base set — at least not this time around. More importantly, Tenth is full of interesting cards. The set is not the traditional “home of Honor Guard, Final Punishment, and Flight” — it is much more like a first set in an Expert level expansion.
The question is which expansion. It is definitely not an Urza’s Saga or Mirrodin — it is not full of broken cards. It is also not an Odyssey — it is not totally driven by a very few mechanics. It’s not Invasion or Ravnica — a massively cool multicolored set. On the flip side, it’s not look like a Mercadian Masques — it is not crammed full of marginal cards and Grey Ogres. It’s a nice mix — more akin to Ice Ages or Mirage.
Since but 1% of StarCityGames.com readers may remember playing with those blocks, let me try another analogy. A new base set is like Christmas. Mirrodin and Urza’s Saga were like that Christmas where you got Barfing Elmo —the absolute must-have gift – only to find out that it really isn’t that fun. Mercadian Masques was like getting socks and a sweater. Odyssey was like the year you got a couple model cars — fun for a while, but they only went together one way. Ice Ages and Mirage were like getting a whole bunch of random Lego kits. You spent your time figuring out what cool stuff you could build with them.
Tenth Edition has a lot of parts — some 383 parts, if the spoilers* are correct. That’s a lot of parts. I’m going to look at just a fraction of them, and talk about what they say about the future of Magic.
Angelic Chorus
Let’s start right at the beginning, alphabetically at least. This card tells me three things about the set.
First of all, Wizards is now willing to touch Urza’s Saga rares once again. For years, the old OMGWTF itz so BROKKEN seemed to keep anything but the most vanilla Saga cards ever got reprinted. It’s not because of the reprint policy — the reprint policy is here. A lost of Saga block rares are not on that list. (Reading that list, now, with hindsight, is strange. Sure, Tolarian Academy is on the restricted list, but cards like Back to Basics, Crater Hellion, Mishra’s Helix, etc are not. Citanul Centaurs, Opal Archangel, and Zephid are on the list. Go Figure.)
Actually, reading through the list of Saga rares shows that a lot of Saga rares have been reprinted — and not just the vanilla ones. Base set reprints that were originally in Saga include Greater Good, Wildfire, Pariah, Persecute, Worship, and, of course, Wildfire. I guess a reasonable number of Saga block has been reprinted — but you can never have too much Saga block. I mean, sure, the free spell mechanic was busted, and Yawgmoth’s Will, and Masticore, and Replenish, and Academy, and Yawgmoth’s Will, and, well, about half the set was busted. The other half was pretty cool, though.
Moving on — better late than never — the second thing that the card tells me is that Wizards is willing to live down past mistakes. Those people that do remember Angelic Chorus probably remember it because of a printing mistake. A number of Urza’s Sage tournament packs had both Angelic Chorus and Phyrexian Processor. Still, that mistake is a long time past.
Hmmm — checking the list, Phyrexian Processor is not reserved. It could be reprinted. Still, it won’t be in the same pack for Sealed play, so that’s all right.
The final thing this card tells me is that, although Wizards is still going to be printing big, expensive life gain cards in the base set, just like in every expansion, at least they are willing to make them interesting. This slot could have been filled by Blessed Wind.
Aura of Silence
I think this card is a message from Wizards of the Coast. The message reads something like this:
Dear Player:
We realize that you contracted a serious case of Affinity recently, and that you suffered badly as a result. We are very sorry. We also know that the upcoming Extended rotation may cause a relapse, and we are sorry about that too.
This may help ease the symptoms.
Again, we are sorry. Please keep playing, and don’t hate us.
Sincerely,
Wizards of the Coast
At least, that’s how I read it.
The other thing this card says is that Wizards realizes that the “destroy all or none” concept sucks as badly for White as for Green. Years ago, I wrote about how much of a problem Green had as a result of having Tranquility, but not Disenchant. Then Wizards redefined the color pie, and made Disenchant Green, and I wrote about how White would have a problem killing enchantments and artifacts without Disenchant — and Disenchant came back.
The simple fact is that Constructed decks need access to targeted answers to problems enchantments and artifacts. Red has speed and burn, Black has discard, Green has Naturalize, Blue has bounce — and now White has Aura of Silence.
It doesn’t hurt that I love this card, and have been playing it continuously (in casual decks, at last) for a decade.
Beacon of Immortality
I love the Beacon cycle. Beacon of Immortality is still broken in online Two-Headed Giant games, but it is the other Beacons that really shine (I’m so punny.) I’m just pissed that they, if the spoilers are right, didn’t reprint the Green one. Beacon of Dudes was a personal favorite. It also looks like the Blue Beacon — Beacon of Extra Turns — also did not make the cut. Blue got Time Stretch instead. That seems fair — if Green can’t play its Beacon, Blue’s replacement should also be unplayable.
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
Trample is back in the main set. That means we have to have protection, so that players can answer all those trample / prevention questions at a base set level, rather than waiting for expert level sets.
Cho-Manno is the first of the White Legends. Each color, and artifacts, all get signature Legends. I think that’s a cool idea. Legendary is a simple concept to grasp (assuming you do not remember how it used to work) and having some legends in the base set provides more flavor and interest to the set. Making one Legend Cho-Manno shows that Lowryn, the next set (which is supposed to be all about tribes), will feature Rebels. Making the Legend Cho-Manno also reminds everyone how much Masques block sucked.
Condemn
Putting tournament staples into the core set is a good move. Putting them in at uncommon, where they will impact, but not distort, Limited play is even better. Putting in the right ones (actually, this line belongs after Treetop Village): priceless.
Glorious Anthem
Some day, somewhere, maybe this will be good again. Maybe in a The Hive deck? No — but somewhere. However, this shows exactly why White needs targeted enchantment removal. White Weenie can power out a bunch of little fliers, pump them with an Anthem, then get totally screwed by a Worship (for a couple weeks) or Pariah on Stuffy Doll (coming soon to an event near you.)
At least Glorious Anthem is decent in Limited.
Hail of Arrows
Wow, is this a beating in Limited. This may be about the only way to beat the mass of Blue fliers. This is, again, one of those tournament tools that it’s nice to have available. It is like some of the pivoting connector pieces in Legos — most of the time it is useless, but sometimes it is just what you need.
High Ground
It is good to see that Mark Rosewater had some input on this set. We need skill testers — cards that are so bad that even blind people in comas can spot it immediately. On the other hand, I am so going to build the following deck, just for annoyance purposes.
4 Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
4 Stuffy Doll
4 Epochrasite
4 High Ground
4 Pariah
4 Wrath of God
4 Pyrohemia
4 Faith’s Fetters
3 Retether
3 Pacifism
Some Mana
Or maybe I’ll add Firemane Angels — but this deck is mainly designed for online, where I will beat people and get lots of “WTF nOOb — that deck is so stoopid!!”
Reya Dawnbringer
This was the most expensive online card that was not a tournament staple. Nice. It is also a ton of fun in a lot of decks — and I don’t see Reanimator being that big a problem at the moment, so tournament play should not be mucked up. Getting a foil one will be cool.
Righteousness
Why? Seriously, why does Wizards do this to my rare slot set after set? I have drafted a ton of Eighth and Ninth online. I’m a savage raredrafter, I routinely draft U/W in those formats, and I keep all the rares I draft until I have a playset. And I own ZERO. I wouldn’t take this if it were the last card in the pack — instead I’d let the timer run out and force MTGO to give me the card. I ain’t clicking on that thing.
Dear Player:
We are also sorry about storm. One of these will cure the problem. We even made it an uncommon.
Warning: taking more than one per turn can lead to rare, but serious, side effects.
Sincerely,
Wizards of the Coast
Treasure Hunter
I keep wondering if Wizards will recreate this guy as a Rebel. Treasure Hunter is like Monk Idealist — a very useful one- of, provided you can hunt for him. He is quite powerful, when you consider the types of artifacts that he could possibly let you reuse. Back in the day, he fetched Nev’s Disks for me.
True Believer
Making Ivory Mask and Blood Moon and other enchantment effects like that into 2/2s is interesting, but somehow I don’t like it. Wrath of God and Damnation should not be able to solve all your problems.
Voice of All
As we move out of Ravnica and back into a world of single- or two-color decks, this guy will be very good. That said — why make her a rare? It was not that much of a bomb in Limited. (Well — not in Invasion Limited, but that had a lot more colors, too.)
Academy Researchers
I keep wondering if Lorwyn will have some amazing auras. We keep getting cards (this, Aura Graft, Arcanum Wings, Mesa Enchantress, etc. etc.) that allow us to play around with Auras, but I can’t find out what we are supposed to do with those tools. Maybe we will get some, soon. Maybe, once cards like Remand rotate out, Auras won’t suck quite so badly. Or maybe this is a larger, more elaborate version of the whole “If a rigger would assemble a contraption…” joke.
Ambassador Laquatus
As a dedicated Whetstone player, I like having Laquatus around. I don’t quite know what the infinite mana engine will be, but I like having both the Ambassador and Shivan Hellkite around to use that mana.
Arcanis the Omnipotent
I love seeing Archivist rotate out, and be replaced with something that 1) requires a major color commitment and 2) might see play outside of Limited. This is a sweet legend, especially in Limited. Speaking of Tenth Limited, draft Blue. Look at the Blue commons with evasion, or otherwise really good abilities: Aven Fisher, Aven Windreader, Boomerang, Cancel, Cloud Elemental, Cloud Sprite, Counsel of the Soratami, Dehydration, Merfolk Looter, Remove Soul, Sift, Snapping Drake, Spiketail Hatchling, and Unsummon
The uncommons aren’t bad, either: Air Elemental, Deluge, Fog Elemental, Persuasion, Phantom Warrior, Puppeteer, Telling Time, Thieving Magpie, and Tidings.
Blue looks really strong.
Denizen of the Deep
This one pushes my button. Why does Blue always get the biggest, fattest creatures? Okay, technically, Green’s Scion of the Wild or Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer could, in some sort of Magic-the-Puzzling scenario, be larger, and Denizen is probably not playable anywhere in anything, but it’s the concept that irks me. For years, the biggest creature was Polar Kraken, or Leviathan, or Marjhan, or whatever. Blue also had the biggest wall — Glacial Wall, and the biggest common in many sets was Sea Monster. I understand that Green does not get the biggest or the best — just the most – but why not spread the biggest creatures around? Why are they always Blue?
One possible reason — because Blue was once the color of sea creatures, and sea creatures tend to be bigger than land creatures. If that is the concept, then maybe we really see a return of Merfolk. We will see — but I would not bet upon the presence of a lot of Merfolk in Tenth.
Horseshoe Crab
So far, the combo element is not yet present, but here’s half of the engine. On the other hand, it is still nice in limited, if you can drop a Arcane Teachings on it. Like that white on black T-shirt says: Got Machinegun?
Dear Player:
We are really, really sorry about Affinity. It was a very bad thing to do, and we really regret it.
Have some Hurkyl’s recall – it should help. And how about March of the Machines — would that make you feel better? Take this Shatterstorm, too.
Thank you for your loyalty.
Sincerely,
Wizards of the Coast
Scalpelexis
Oh, gawd, I hate this card. It is such a stupid bomb in Limited. It triggers on lands, so, combined with you draw phase, this eats your library in about four hits. If it cannot connect, if is a frikken big flying wall.
The worst part is that I never open it, but my opponents always do.
Time Stop
Okay, this is not a combo to build a new deck around, but I have wet dreams about casting Time Stretch against an opponent with a half dozen creatures in play. In my dream, I attack with Nacatl War Pride on my first turn, then cast Time Stop after all the War Pride copies have appeared. On my next turn, I attack with all seven War Prides, and get 42 more copies.
Of course it’s never going to happen, but that’s true of a lot of my other fantasies, too.
Agonizing Memories
Getting hit with Persecute was never fun, but at least your opponent might choose incorrectly. Agonizing Memories is often worse, especially if you are trying to draw an answer. This, plus Augur of Skulls and so forth, may well make Black Rack playable. The Mindlash Sliver / Call to the Netherworld versions are already quite close.
Ascendant Evincar
I have been looking for this card / effect for quite a while. It is like a super Sulfur Elemental / Bad Moon cross — although the Legendary status makes it more like Night of Souls’ Betrayal. Still, you can search for it with Living Wish (in Extended, only for a couple months) and it is actually useful otherwise. Hey, it’s a flying Hill Giant. Since all of my favorite decks are G/B, I am very glad to see this back.
Distress
This replaces Blackmail. Blackmail was bad. That makes this a perfect replacement.
I so wanted Duress back.
Doomed Necromancer
Like Blood Moon and all the others, Zombify is now a 2/2 creature. That has a lot of problems, but since I never liked Reanimator decks anyway, I have no problem with that. If Zombify were still legal, Hidden Horror would be more problematic, and it is not as if we are short of Zombify clones. The clones are just less splashable.
Mortal Combat
Okay, having alternative win conditions are great. Having this legal at the same time as Dredge could be a problem. I just hope they tested this in the Future-Future league.
No Rest for the Wicked
This is a nice little trick. It just starts with No Rest turn 2, Rain of Tears on turn 3, Avalanche Riders turn 4, turn 5 skip playing echo, blow No Rest, recast Riders. Obviously, better combos are possible.
Phage the Untouchable
I look forward to winning some games when people combo this and Doomed Necromancer. On the other hand, this is a cool card. A lot of players love it.
It is also a combo with Vesuvan Shapeshifter. Just saying.
Flamewave Invoker
Look, another card to hook to an infinite mana engine. The more of these cards I see, the more certain that we will not see the engine anytime soon.
Goblin Lore
This Red card draws four cards on turn 2. How broken is that? Yes, random discard is tough, but we are in the middle of a block with lots of Madness cards. I see this being very good in aggro Red decks that can hold their extra lands, in Reanimator decks, and in R/B madness decks.
It really will be good.
Manabarbs
Urza’s Factory much? Yes, it is a four-mana enchantment, but maybe in sideboards in certain matchups? If nothing else, it would be a painless discard for Goblin Lore.
Incinerate & Mogg Fanatic & Siege-Gang Commander
Yes, yes, what everyone else said, except that I hate the Commander. Stupid frikken goblins. I hate them all…
Squee, Goblin Nabob
… Okay, with exceptions. Squee is my favorite goblin. I have played him in a ton of decks, from Survival of the Fittest onward. He is so good.
Survival will be reprinted in Lowryn. Count on it.
Scoria Wurm
Scoria Wurm comes into play. Pandemonium triggers. Norrin runs away.
Truly stupid combos for the win!
Avatar of Might
Turn 1 Chromatic Sphere, turn 2 Tarmogoyf, turn 3 Hunted Phantasm, turn 4 Avatar of Might — win.
Well, the first two turns make some sense.
Llanowar Sentinel
I played this card years ago. It has some very limited use in Constructed. It is better in Limited. Once we have official numbers on the breakdown of colors and rarities, I’ll have to do the math. It looks like triple Tenth drafts would have about eight copies in the pool. If you can get even half of those, that could be some nice card advantage.
Overrun
Wizards, no matter how hard you push it, Thallids will never be a Constructed-quality concept. On the other hand, this could easily show up in sliver decks.
Quirion Dryad
Just in case Tarmogoyf isn’t a good enough two-drop in Green — and it looks like this triggers from suspended spells. The only saving grace is that Winter Orb is not legal, so we will not see a return of Super-Gro.
Quirion Dryad is another card I’m hoping to open in my sealed decks next weekend.
Recollect
Reprint Eternal Witness or Recollect? And I was feeling so good, too.
*sob*
Root Maze
White gets Karma. Blue gets Frozen Aether. Green gets the same effect — but gets to share the pain. Yet one more example of why “sharing” is a stupid mechanic.
Rushwood Dryad
Wasn’t this Zodiac Monkey a minute ago? If this isn’t evidence that the Lowryn is all about Tribal, then it makes no sense at all.
Troll Ascetic
Remember when Wizards had the “you choose Tenth Edition” votes? Remember how Green mages chose the possibly tournament playable card over the splashy-but-useless alternatives? Remember how surprised the Wizards folks were? Remember how the “you votes” ended shortly thereafter?
That might not be the exact sequence, but I’m in the mood to spawn conspiracy theories.
If you look closely, you can see Elvis riding the Loch Ness Monster in the Zapruder film.
Upwelling
Here’s another urban myth / conspiracy theory: people actually like coin flip cards, and Green’s sharing mechanic isn’t just plain trash.
That Wizards is deliberately shafting Green, that is.
Tarmogoyf and Quirion Dryad is proof, obv.
No, don’t debate this in the forums.
Been there, done that, Tarmogoyf stole my T-shirt.
Colossus of Sardia
No, that’s Colossus of Sardia
I love trampling 9/9s.
I think it still sucks, but this was one of the first cards I ever owned, and it killed a lot of opponents. Back then, I didn’t even have Voltaic Keys. Those didn’t arrive for a couple years — but when they did, they untapped my Colossus.
Colossus of Sardia, now on MTGO!
Sweet.
So, is Serra’s Blessing still legal? No? Bummer.
Crucible of Worlds
What to use this with? Horizon Canopy? Edge of Autumn? Quicksand? Ghost Quarter? Tolaria West? The list is endless. (No, you cannot Transmute Tolaria West from the graveyard with Crucible. You can only put lands into play.)
I could never get one of these online. I had it on my wish list, but the price kept going up. Now I have a second chance.
Legacy Weapon
This, plus Coalition Relic, in five-color Slivers. Nice. It’s a shame that Ravnica duals, bounce lands, and signets are rotating so soon — they would be so good with this.
Mind Stone
A quick note — Five-Color players have know how good this is for years. Play it, unless your colored mana demands are really harsh.
I just love this set. Mind Stone! This set is full of cards that are just good. Not bombs, not broken, just highly playable in a lot of formats.
Pithing Needle
Combine my comments on Crucible of Worlds and Mind Stone: a really good card I did not get the first time around. Now I get a second chance.
Sweet! In black borders, too!
Platinum Angel
This one I am not happy about. This is basically a splashable Worship — and a 4/4 flier as well. This is just stupid in Limited: if you cannot kill it, you are decked. It is too good for this format. Online, in leagues, expect a dozen or so decks to pack these — and those will be the decks playing for tiebreakers. Main-deck your Naturalizes.
Razormane Masticore
With Squee! Woot!
I even have some online.
It’s Christmas in July.
Steel Golem
On the one hand, this is a very good method of stalling while you set up other wins, or to force the opponent to over-commit and walk into a Wrath. On the other hand, that was also true of Phyrexian Ironfoot.
Adarkar Wastes
I stopped buying these online while waiting to see if these, or the duals, will be reprinted. Now I’m glad I didn’t complete all my playsets; I will be drafting Tenth online a lot.
Treetop Village
After playing out the Ultimate Extended Tournament, I started carrying around my old G/B Survival deck and playing it in casual and multiplayer games. It is so good, and so much fun, that I keep it almost exactly as originally listed. I made just one change. Two Forests became Treetop Villages.
Woot!
WOOT!! WOOT!!!
*PRJ is doing the happy nerd dance*
(No, you really don’t want to see that.)
I can play them again in just a couple days.
I can’t wait.
PRJ
* I’m basing these speculations off the spoiler lists on various other websites. We won’t know the official contents until next week.