Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re taking a long, hard look at all of the numerous Future Sight Spoilers. With only two weeks to go a plethora of new, interesting cards are coming, so let’s get started.
[The following is a transcript of the show. You may want to read up on the Future Sight Spoiler to catch all the references.]
Back In Black
I don’t think there’s much question on this one: Black is going to be a force in Future Sight.
I guess the first card we should take a look at is Bitter Ordeal. This introduces us to one of the many new keywords in the set, Gravestorm.
Bitter Ordeal
2B
Sorcery
Search target player’s library for a card and remove that card from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Gravestorm (When you play this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard from play this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Now I’ll be honest, I think this card is awful. But many have disagreed with me, as it can be incredibly powerful with something like Nantuko Husk or Greater Gargadon. However, past Black spells that remove cards from the library usually include the hand and graveyard, such as Cranial Extraction, which this one does not. I actually think this would be a much stronger card if you could choose the zone from which to remove the card. i.e. “Search target player’s library, hand or graveyard for a card…”
For right now I’ll hold off judgment until I see something that enable Gravestorm a hell of a lot better than what we currently have.
On the other hand, the prerelease card, Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, is an absolute bomb. Take a look:
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
2BB
Legendary Creature – Zombie Warrior
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of swamps you control.
1B: Regenerate Korlash.
Grandeur – Discard another card named Korlash, Heir to Blackblade: Search your library for up to two Swamp cards, put them into play tapped, then shuffle your library.
*/*
When this was initially spoiled it didn’t have the regeneration ability and I thought it was mediocre. However, upon rethinking – with or without the regeneration – this guy is really, really fantastic. Not only can he regenerate, not only is he extremely huge extremely fast when you have another copy in your hand, he doesn’t even need to search for basic Swamps! Yes, that means your Blood Crypts and Godless Shrines are going to be joining the party soon after, and a Recollect lets you go get more of those lands to make this guy nigh unstoppable.
I honestly think that Korlash, by himself, will bring back a new Mono Black Control build. He’s such a fantastic finisher, only a few key spells and a good build separate this guy from Top Tier play. This is one I can’t wait to get my hands on.
Now, in terms of incredible Black cards, I think Tombstalker is very much up there. The ability to power this guy out on Turn 3 via Llanowar Mentor and some Dredging is No Joke. The Delve mechanic is only on one card, but it’s a damn good one. I love the Delve mechanic personally and again, this guy is just another reason Dredge is going Tier 1 the instant Future Sight is legal.
Speaking of graveyard-based problems, let’s look at Yixlid Jailer, the antithesis to the Dredge madness on its way. Wow, what a badass. He hoses entire archetypes and will be fantastic in both aggro and control builds. I assure this guy will be making waves in Standard and Extended. The graveyard is quite the popular place these days, and Yixlid hoses them in just the right way. Who needs that silly graveyard, anyway?
Best of the Rest
Moving on to other colors, let’s look at some monster bombs set to debut for them.
Thunderblade Charge doth not play. It is everything Hammer of Bogardan wanted to be but couldn’t, and its funny wording – you can only “Flashback” the spell if you deal combat damage – means that Radha is getting better and better. With Incinerate plus Thunderblade Charge plus the new Hellbent land, Radha is not only getting there, she’s reaching for the top of the fast aggro/burn decks.
That hellbent land, by the way, is called Keldon Megaliths. This will be a much sought after uncommon and could very well mean that Boros or Red will have a creation called “Deck Wins” on the end of it at the top tables. This powers Gruul, Boros, and mono Red in a way we haven’t seen and, honestly, is the only Hellbent spell this side of Demonfire that seems like it’s worth a damn.
Regarding those uncommon lands, I’ll tell you I’m in no way happy about Tolaria West. This card is unfair in a myriad of ways. An uncounterable Sylvan Scrying in a Tron deck is beyond silly, it’s ludicrous. People have told me that it’s “too slow” for Tron. Yeah, okay, sure. If transmuting Tolaria West gives me my final Tron piece for when I untap, I’m probably winning the game from that point on.
There’s a fantastic quote from Billy Moreno Magic Academy article from a few weeks ago. He said, “Control decks, and I’m not kidding at all when I say this, actually plan to take damage until they stop taking damage, at which point they may win providing they don’t start taking damage again.”
Tolaria West is one of those cards that will cost you a lot of damage when you Transmute it, but untapping after using it is probably going to be good game. I officially hate this card.
On to more positive things, White got The Cheese Stands Alone and I instantly conferred with my buddy Chris Romeo who may or may not be doing an article on how awesome it is. But I’ll leave that for Chris to work on.
The free Pact spells gave white Intervention Pact, which is a free Reverse Damage. Many people have told me this is a good card, and I’m slightly inclined to agree with them only because I believe U/W Tron is going to be everywhere, and after tapping out to use Tolaria West they’ll happily use this to stay alive. I for one still think this is a crap rare, as it’s a narrow card that has a lot of risk in it. Control decks rarely brush that close to such risk.
Judge Unworthy marks the first time White has gotten a good Scry spell, and I think this will be another one of those U/W control cards. It allows you to sift through your deck at instant speed, both setting up your draw and destroying a threat. Craziness.
If you ever wondered how you can spot a crap rare, take a look at Daybreak Coronet:
Daybreak Coronet
WW
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature with another Aura attached to it
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 and has first strike, vigilance, and lifelink.
Lifelink, by the way, is the keyword for the Spirit Link ability. Anyway, the reason this sucks is that it sets you up for a 3-for-1, and that simply will not fly in Constructed Magic. I’m sure it’ll be hella fun for those casual Enchantress / Auratog decks, but this won’t be anywhere near the top tables.
Lastly for the exciting White cards, I must say I’m in love with Hobbes. You don’t know who Hobbes is? Why, it’s Calvin’s Tiger – er, I mean, Seht’s Tiger!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this could be the best Flash creature picture ever, but I gotta put Hobbes in there instead. This guy took something I thought was incredibly exciting from the Designer Search a few months ago, which included cards that gave “you” protection, and simply improved on it. Now it’s a threat, it’s an answer, and it’s wonderful. This will be a chase rare for a myriad of reasons. Not only does it hose Aggro and Combo, it swings for three and makes Momentary Blink damn near insane.
Speaking of official previews, Teferi and Venser are going to be absolutely, positively the most annoying set of creatures ever. And I mean ever. Tweedledum and Tweedledee are going to be searched via Mystical Teachings, they’re going to be bounced, and they’re going to make U/B Dralnu that much worse. However, as I said before, I believe U/W Tron is the way to go post-Future Sight, so we’ll see what Dralnu has to offer. Venser is a perfect answer to a Hellbent Demonfire, either putting the Demonfire back in their hand or bouncing another permanent to counter it.
Either way, Venser is a chase rare, and don’t let them go for cheap at the prerelease. This guy is ze nuts.
New Card Types, Oh My!
Wow, I must say of all the things I expected in Future Sight, this wasn’t one of them. Two brand new card types? Not just “Supertypes” like Snow permanents, but actual new types never before seen? Wow, this is some big news in Magic, folks. We’ve got the new types of Tribal and Planeswalker. Currently, the only Tribal card has been a “Tribal Enchantment – Rebel Aura” which doesn’t really show us what the card type Tribal can do.
Now for those who point at this card and say that Tribal is simply a Supertype instead of a full-blown new card type, take a look at Tarmogoyf. This confirms that there will be cards that are simply “Tribal –“ and not “Tribal Land” or “Tribal Enchantment,” and I can’t wait to see them. Tribal themes have been big in Magic ever since there was Magic, and I fully expect to see a lot of Tribal goodies in Lorwyn.
As for Planeswalkers, it’s in the air right now. We don’t know how they work, but the general consensus is that they are Vanguard type abilities that may or may not require a life payment upon playing them. And when you think of Vanguard enhancements, the sky is the limit. Of course you won’t have any Momir Vig type Planeswalker cards, but there should still be plenty of design space and fun in this new card type.
The conundrum is this: You, as one of the players of Magic, are a Planeswalker. How can you “cast” a Planeswalker when you are one? This is why the thinking is that they’ll need both a mana and a life payment. You need to “give up a part of yourself” in order to play them.
We’ll definitely be looking harder at Tribal and Planeswalking as the weeks roll on.
Sealing Your Fate
Lastly I’d like to talk about Fateseal. Now it’s easy to pass judgment when you’ve never actually played with the card(s) in question, but I’ll go ahead and say it: I think Fateseal is a hugely unfun mechanic. It takes a page from the Plow Under School Of Thinking: This is a ton of fun for the person playing it, but the guy on the receiving end now hates the fact that Fateseal 2 will, for most intents and purposes, give their opponent at least one free turn. Either you deny them their answer, or you get lucky and they’re stuck with two lands for the next two turns.
Either way, it’s annoying, it’s not fun, and it bugs the hell out of me. This is one of those cases where I hope I’m really, really wrong and it doesn’t end up like that at all. But I’ve got my doubts, and it’s not like blue needs another punishing mechanic for their opponent.
And unfortunately that’s all of our time this week. Join me next week when we’ll go over more cool stuff from Future Sight and take a look at what’s going on in the community.
Until next time, this is Evan Erwin, tapping the cards so you don’t have to.
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
dubya dubya dubya dot misterorange dot com
eerwin +at+ gmail +dot+ com
Written while listening to awful pop music