With just over a third of Alara Reborn known, it’s hard to know for sure how things will look once it’s all been revealed, but with everyone regularly hitting refresh on their rumor site of choice hoping for another piece of the puzzle (I assume everyone does that), now seems like the ideal time for wild predictions and speculation. This is to say that I assume it’s obligatory for me as a writer to add what fuel I can to the excitement of watching a new set unfold, and imagining what it may do to the formats we play.
As the last set before rotation in Standard, it is expected to have a relatively small impact on the format, since it represents a very small percentage of cards being added. However, Standard is at a place right now where there are an enormous number of viable and near viable decks, and one or two cards can easily make a Tier 2 deck rise to the top.
Standard is in an interesting place right now, in that the format seems to be shifting somewhat substantially despite not gaining any new cards. I haven’t been playing a lot of Standard online lately, but what I’ve seen has featured a lot of creature decks and the Turbo Mill deck Bill Stark wrote about. I’ve been seeing less Faeries and Five-Color Control than I was before. Between intensive color requirements which can be too much of a strain on Five-Color Control’s mana, and the counter-resistant Cascade mechanic, I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see this trend continue. Blue actually might be on the decline.
As for Block Constructed, a third set can always be counted on to substantially shake things up, which it seems to me Block desperately needs. I understand that there are other decks, but Elspeth and Ajani are completely dominant in the format at the moment. I’m really hoping for some good countermagic or a way to kill them with value (kill them while netting some kind of card or mana advantage). There’s some chance that evasive threats are the best way to deal with the problem.
Now to talk about the actual cards we’ve seen so far.
Ardent Plea
1WU
Enchantment
Exalted, Cascade
I mention this card to show what we’re not looking for in the cascade mechanic. While the mechanic is exciting and powerful, it is not so broken that every card with it will see Constructed play. There are very few cards that are worth paying an extra mana for to get Exalted, and when you don’t get to choose what card it gets even worse. I like this card in fine in an Exalted draft deck, but we need cascade cards to do more than this (or, notable to cost less so that they can reliably find free suspend cards in Extended, but I doubt we’ll see any of that).
Bolt of Intimidation
1RW
Instant
Bolt of Intimidation deals 3 damage to target creature. Other creatures can’t attack this turn.
This is an interesting card. For a control deck this is often a Lightning Helix for one more mana that gains a lot more life. This card is also excellent at protecting planeswalkers for a turn. Also good with evasion in race situations, but for a Red/White card that’s less relevant. If there is a Scepter of Dominance/Ajani Vengeant deck in Standard, this is a very reasonable card for it to include, if not, it will probably be relegated to Block, where I would expect it to be played in the more controlling R/W or Naya decks.
Colossal Might
RG
Instant
Target creature gets +4/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
I would love to see pump spells get played in Constructed, and this seems like one to do it. This is a great way to kill a planeswalker or just to do a huge amount of damage to a player. Predator’s Strike didn’t see Constructed play, but an extra damage is a big incentive. Add playable Double Strike creatures, a lot of token chump blockers, and planeswalkers that need to be dealt with, and this may end up being one of the most played pump spells ever.
Fieldmist Borderpost
1WU
Artifact
You may pay 1 and return a basic land you control its owner’s hand rather than pay Fieldmist Borderpost’s mana cost.
Fieldmist Borderpost comes into play tapped.
T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
These cards won’t see play in the current Standard format because there are too many nonbasic lands already, so the requirement to return a basic will eliminate these from consideration. In Block, I think they’re much more interesting. I’m specifically intrigued by the Esper ones as I’ve wanted to play Obelisks with Etherium Sculptor to accelerate good artifact creatures, but I don’t want to play enough mana sources to include these in addition to a reasonable number of lands. The fact that these can be played by returning a land allows them to be played over lands while still allowing an accelerated start if you draw more lands. Combine that with the fact that they function like artifact lands for Glaze Fiend and Master of Etherium, and they really show some potential. Aside from that, there’s a possibility of running them in other big mana decks in this format, due to the striking lack of acceleration and abundance of powerful spells, but considering how poorly they play with other nonbasic lands and that those decks don’t really want to cut lands for accelerators because they need more mana sources, regular Obelisks might just be better.
I’m happy to see this card reprinted, as I think it gives players another answer. It’s skill intensive and not dangerous… basically, it only makes formats better, but I don’t think it’s format defining, and I’m not sure how good it is. When it was around before, it was an average sized body with a good ability. These days, the ability is the same, but the size is quite a bit less impressive against the other creatures that will be in play.
Time Sieve
UB
Artifact
T, Sacrifice five artifacts: Take an extra turn after this one.
This card isn’t trying to play fair, but I’m pretty sure it’s too much work for Standard or Block. The most realistic way to use it there is probably to take infinite turns while attacking with Sharding Sphinx, but that seems fragile and unnecessary. In Extended there are other options for making a lot of artifacts, like Myr Incubator, but ultimately I think this is just an extra piece that adds a step to a board that should already win, or at least doesn’t combo easily enough to take fewer steps that other combos. I expect this card to take too much setup to be worthwhile, but it is a potential combo piece.
Bituminous Blast
3RB
Instant
Cascade Bituminous Blast deals 4 damage to target creature.
Five is a lot of mana to kill a creature, but this card is capable of playing very powerful cards for free while it’s doing it. I think it’s too random to make it in Constructed, but I could easily be wrong about that. The fact that it’s an instant is huge, and it’s one of the best things to do with five mana against Faeries, but with Blue decks on the decline and tokens on the rise, paying five mana to kill one creature is getting worse and worse, and the fact that it resists counters and can be played at instant speed just doesn’t matter much against a lot of the decks we’re seeing right now.
Igneous Pouncer
4RB
Creature — Elemental
Haste
Swampcycling 2, Mountaincycling 2
5/1
These creatures have really unimpressive bodies, but playing one of these that fetches two light colors might be a better way to fix mana in a domain deck in Block than playing a basic landcycler of a deck’s primary color. That means it’s possible that any of them could end up seeing play as mana fixers that occasionally come down as terrible creatures when the deck has enough mana.
Passed Prosperity*
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land has shroud.
Whenever enchanted land is tapped for mana, you may add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
This is an excellent Fertile Ground upgrade, as it stops you from getting really blown out. This is one of the best accelerators in Block because it’s so much less fragile than Noble Hierarch, and it should see substantial play. In Standard, it might help revitalize mana ramp decks.
Putrid Leach
GB
Creature — Leech
Pay 2 life: Putrid Leech gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Play this ability only once each turn
2/2
This is a respectable aggressive creature. G/B Elves has been missing a 2 drop since Tarmogoyf rotated out, and this actually might be able to fill that role. 2 life a turn is a tall order, but the deck may be aggressive enough to get away with it. Leech is a pretty terrible creature type, but then again, so is Lhurgoyf. I’m not saying this is the next Tarmogoyf or that it will be heavily played. I’m saying it might be what the G/B deck has been missing as a 2 drop to fight alongside Wren’s Run Vanquisher.
Soul Manipulation
1UB
Instant
Choose one or both — Counter target creature spell; and/or return target creature card in your graveyard to your hand.
Not exactly the countermagic I was looking for in Block because it doesn’t help fight planeswalkers, but three-mana counterspells that convey card advantage are certainly worth paying attention to. The trick is consistently getting a creature in the graveyard in time for this card to help in the early game, and the new land cyclers are the best way I can think of to do that. I think a better approach is to try to use other counters early and this later in the game. This card is obviously a fan of Mulldrifter. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a few find their way into some Five-Color Control lists.
This card is really good. It will encourage any control deck to have access to Red and Black mana consistently, and it will make R/B aggro decks a lot better. Extended Zoo will also be happy to get this card back.
Thought Hemorrhage
2BR
Sorcery
Name a nonland card. Target player reveals his or her hand. Thought Hemorrhage deals 3 damage to that player for each card with that name revealed this way. Search that player’s graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with that name and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Cranial Extraction that can punish people even more. This card is awesome against Ranger of Eos, and a great way to follow a Thoughtseize. This will see play primarily in sideboards in the decks that are playing Terminate.
Blitz Hellion
3RG
Creature — Hellion
Trample, haste
At end of turn, Blitz Hellion’s owner shuffles it into his or her library
7/7
Seven is a lot of damage. This has kind of a Beacon of Destruction feel. Not really my kind of card, but I could see it at the top of a R/G aggro deck’s curve.
Bloodbraid Elf
2RG
Creature — Elf
Haste, Cascade
3/2
This is my kind of card. Well, that’s not really true. I never play decks that would use this guy, but he looks awesome to me. It’s like a Ranger of Eos that plays a spell instead of putting a second spell into your hand, only it also has haste, and the trigger resolves even if it doesn’t. You get a random card instead of a search, but that might be a lot better than a one-mana creature. This is the perfect kind of card advantage for an aggressive deck, and I think it might be a better way to fight countermagic for four mana than Spellbreaker Behemoth. If I test R/G extensively, it will be to take advantage of this card.
Spellbreaker Behemoth
1RGG
Creature — Beast
Spellbreaker Behemoth can’t be countered
Creature spells you control with power 5 or greater can’t be countered
5/5
I’m pretty sure Bloodbraid Elf is just better than this card, which means this only gets played if you have room for another four mana spell or if you want more sideboard cards against counters. Given the number of tokens in the format, I just don’t think a four mana 5/5 without evasion is going to get it done.
Knight of New Alara
2GW
Creature — Human Knight
Each other multicolored creature you control gets +1/+1 for each of its colors.
2/2
Maybe I’m unfairly harsh on four mana creatures that don’t come with built in card advantage, but this guy looks like a fragile Wilt-Leaf Liege to me. Sometimes it will make a few of your creatures a bit bigger than the liege would, but I don’t think that’s worth being half the size on his own, to say nothing of the discard ability.
Mycoid Shepherd
1GGW
Creature — Fungus
Whenever Mycoid Shepherd or another creature you control with power 5 or greater is put into a graveyard from play, you may gain 5 life.
5/4
This probably isn’t good enough, since it’s easy enough for decks that care about the lifegain to stop you from ever actually gaining it with cards like Path to Exile, Bant Charm, and Oblivion ring, or just killing though him without killing him, but for some reason I still kind of like this guy more than the four mana guys above him. Probably not good enough though.
Qasali Pridemage
GW
Creature — Cat
Exalted
1, Sacrifice Qasali Pridemage: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2/2
I love this guy. A good body, utility, an answer to Bitterblossom, Glorious Anthem, Loxodon Warhammer, and Obelisk of Alara that can be played maindeck. I’m afraid that it might not find a home, but I only have that fear because it would be such a crime if it didn’t.
Maelstrom Pulse
1BG
Sorcery
Destroy target nonland permanent and each permanent that shares a name with that permanent.
An obviously good utility card. Sorcery speed means this card would prefer to go in an actual Green/Black deck rather than a Five-Color Control type deck that would like to have mana open on its opponent’s turn.
Madrush Cyclops
1BRG
Creature – Cyclops Warrior
Creatures you control have haste.
3/4
This is hard to cast, but four-toughness Black creatures gain a bit of stock and his ability is very good. It will be hard to find a home for it, and its ability is awkwardly competing with Sarkhan Vol, but he’s not a bad man.
Jenara, Asura of War
GWU
Legendary Creature — Angel
Flying
1W: Put a +1/+1 counter on Jenara, Asura of War.
3/3
Comparing this card to Rhox War Monk is interesting. Flying is probably worse than Lifelink most of the time, and the pump ability is really different to the extra toughness. This card is a lot more mana intensive and a lot more likely to get Agony Warped the turn it comes into play, which means I like it less in a Doran style deck, but it’s extremely powerful later in the game while still being a relevant early threat. I think I see this as a one- or two-of in decks that were playing Rhox War Monk, noting that I don’t think it’s a great card for Five-Color Control; 5CC only considers Rhox War Monk due to its ability to block well, its mana efficiency, and its life gain, which this card really doesn’t have.
Jund Hackblade
{B/G}R
Creature – Goblin Berserker
As long as you control another multicolored permanent, Jund Hackblade gets +1/+1 and has haste.
2/1
I think this guy is overrated. I could be wrong, but it looks like too much has to be going right to me. Scabclan Mauler saw play, and this guy’s in a similar position, so maybe he’ll make it. Playing him on turn 3 after playing a Putrid Leech on turn 2 isn’t that much worse than playing him on turn 2 after a Figure of Destiny on turn 1, but I know that when I think about playing Faeries against this card, I feel like I’ll get to Peppersmoke him pretty often after using a removal spell on their other creature, and that makes me feel pretty good.
Overall, I feel like this set looks really powerful, which should be expected for an entirely gold set. Still, I had something to say about a huge number of cards considering there are still almost 90 cards I haven’t seen. For the last set of a Standard format, this might do an impressive amount to shake up an already interesting format. Testing for Barcelona, Seattle, Honolulu, and Sao Paulo is going to be a lot of work.
Sam