I’m very excited about M10. I’m excited because I love what seems to be going on with the set from a flavor and design standpoint. As such, this article is going to focus mostly on what’s going on over in that side of things, so it might be a little light strategically. To help make up for that, I’ll include a list of what I consider the most significant gains and losses for Standard at the end.
There seems to be a common misconception that competitive players don’t care about flavor. I know for a fact that it is not universally true, as I’m a competitive player who does care about flavor, but I would guess it is almost never true. I think there is a stigma against saying, “I enjoy Magic because wizards and dragons are awesome” and toward, “I enjoy intellectual competition and find Magic to be an extremely deep and interesting strategy game.” The latter may be more important for most of us, but it in no way precludes the former.
In order to seriously compete in Magic, one needs to devote a huge amount of time and energy to the game. For that to happen, I posit that the game has to really capture a person’s imagination. This set focuses on doing that in a way Magic sets haven’t in a long time, particularly core sets. I think this is an extremely important step for Magic to take to get new players into the game, and I’m just delighted about it. Allow me to explain further.
I started playing Magic around May-June of 1994. Revised was the first set with which I played, The Dark hadn’t been released, and I was 11 or 12 (I once talked to my friend who taught me the game, who remembered us as starting in June based on what was going on in his life at the time, but my birthday is June 1st and I remember starting when I was 11, so it would have had to have been before that.) I strongly remember learning new cards, and thinking about how the mechanics represented the flavor, and delighting in the minutia of what was going on with the cards.
“The pestilence ends when all the creatures are dead because there are no more carriers for the disease… Cool!”
“Of course black and artifact creatures don’t get scared; they’re mostly dead or robots.”
The differences between Fireball and Disintegrate made perfect sense. Rock Hydra specifically said on the card that you could make it grow another head. Flavor just dripped from every card, and that, I think, was essential to Magic’s early success.
I may be on an extreme in terms of people who think and care about that stuff. I lived in a Science Fiction and Fantasy special interest house in college. I really think it touches everyone far more than we really realize or talk about.
This set in general does a wonderful job of capturing that, both in reprints and new cards. Sleep is perfect. They finally made a Hydra that fights just like a Hydra, and combined it with Magic’s tradition of X mana hydras. There’s a Djinn that gives you three wishes. The hunter hunts, there’s a cleric that kills undead stuff… It’s full of generic fantasy imagery in card form, which is exactly what the base set should be.
White is especially exciting to me. I love the direction they’ve taken it. Unlike the other colors, at the time of writing this article it’s fully spoiled at MTGSalvation, and I think it’s exactly what White should be.
Wrath of God is gone. White got rid of it because it stopped White from being White. The color wants to represent teamwork, and you just can’t have a bunch of creatures working together as a successful strategy when there’s a four mana Wrath in the format. This means White is no longer defined by a single card. It’s now defined by awesome cheap creatures backed by powerful reactive spells.
Savannah Lions is an uncommon soldier, Mistral Charger is a common, Serra Angel is uncommon again. These are good changes. Yes, they’re all awesome for Limited, but it means you really see White’s themes as having the best fliers and the best cheap creatures. There are 4 different soldiers that refer to all other soldiers, which really pushes White’s teamwork theme.
Another theme for the set is that the rares are just unbelievable. “Power creep” barely begins to describe what’s happening in this set, and honestly, it’s a little scary. Who cares that Serra Angel’s uncommon when it’s so savagely outclassed by the rare angels? We have Air Elemental at uncommon, and then the exact same card with bonus at rare. Yes, that’s always happened (Granite Gargoyle versus Grey Ogre from Alpha), but it’s a little more jarring when it’s a first pick uncommon getting outclassed. “Why did you pass Air Elemental, were you trying to avoid Blue?” “No, I just took this strictly better card.”
That’s one of my few complaints about the set. The other is where they took iconic cards with good flavor and arbitrarily gave them different names when reprinting them. At least Grizzly Bears is still a Bear, but what was wrong with Remove Soul? And the new Terror variant is enough less flavorful that it can’t have been worth changing for the small mechanical difference, I’m really not grabbed by “Doomblade” – I don’t even know why it’s an instant rather than an artifact, let alone why it doesn’t kill Black creatures.
Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent. I’m not actually done discussing White cards. Crusade is back with a huge upgrade. It’s going to be sick in Constructed, whatever, that’s not really what I’m focusing on here, that just gets lumped into the rares that are off the charts on power level. The card I’m really excited about is Harm’s Way.
You’re worried about needing to play your tricks before damage is on the stack? Well, what if, in exchange, your tricks are unbelievably powerful. It’s a good thing this has to be played before damage, because it gives the opponent some small hope to counter-blow-you-out with a removal spell or something. This card is just unbelievable when everything goes according to plan, which is usually will. That said, it’s the perfect card to push as aggressively as it is. It’s essentially purely reactive. Your opponent HAS to do something that you can’t force them to do for it to have any effect. If your opponent is just trying to counter your threats and play Cruel Ultimatums, this card won’t do anything. On the other hand, if your opponent is trying to damage your creatures, this card will seriously punish them. It just perfectly demonstrates White’s Judo flavor, and does so in a way that’s aggressive enough that it might actually see play. This is hard, as reactive aggressive cards are really tricky to get people to put in their decks, but it’s exactly what White should be doing. I honestly think this is one of the best designed cards ever, and that it perfectly showcases everything about the new White.
Safe Passage is the exact same kind of blowout, and I’ve always wanted to see one of these in Limited. Solemn Offering is the perfect direction to take White artifact and enchantment removal while giving Green Naturalize.
And then we have the new Blue, which seems to be defined by being more or less unplayable. That statement isn’t really fair. We only really lost Boomerang and Tidings as far as I can tell, and the set contains Ponder, Jace, and Mind Spring to make up for it, and there are still 8 cards coming that I don’t know about. We’ve kept the exact same counter suite. Essentially, nothing’s changed, that just feels like a blow to Blue when you compare it to what’s going on with White. White at least had to give up Wrath of God to get there. For Limited, Sleep, Wall of Frost, and Mind Control are all pretty exciting.
Black is still very much Black, no major changes. Looking over the list, I feel like every card other than Doomblade has good, strong, clear flavor. Vampires have become a core Black creature, and Child of Night represents a bit of a paradigm shift from the D&D style “Vampires are powerful undead creatures” to more of a Buffy style interpretation of Vampires, which, given their mythology really makes more sense. If a Vampire can turn a person into a Vampire by biting them, they probably aren’t all badass ancient nobles. Also, Lifelink is an interesting flavor twist on Vampires that works. It’s not perfect, but at least it makes a little more sense than trying to understand what in the world was supposed to be happening with El-Hajjaj (the first lifelinker).
The new Zombie lord is perfect: he brings things back as zombies, and it doesn’t matter what they originally were, they’re just zombies now, which is exactly how zombies are supposed to work. Disentomb is a little less flavorful than Raise Dead, but a little more interesting (as an answer to reanimator), so I’m okay with it. I love the Flavor of Vampire Nocturnus, who’s better at night, and I think they found a good way of determining when it’s night. I’m disappointed that Wanderlust was moved to Black as is, rather than upgraded. I wish it had been 2 life or cost less mana so that it could be considered in Limited, but I accept that there are always going to be some bad cards. Also I really wish they’d print Paralyze instead of Weakness at some point, since I think it’s a really interesting removal spell. It’s difficult to evaluate and creates interesting decisions in games where it’s involved. I think it’s one of the most interesting and skill intensive removal spells ever printed, and I really wish it had been a staple of every core set.
Red. The big news of course is the return of Lightning Bolt. I think this is entirely justified and appropriate, and I’m very pleased that Wizards realized this and made it happen. As creatures have gotten better, trying to kill them with damage as gotten less effective because they have more toughness for their casting cost. It’s too hard to get value out of Shock these days, and it just hasn’t been good in forever. Red needs cheap playable burn, it’s one of its primary defining features. Yes, the card is good enough that I’m almost thinking about splashing it in Faeries (unlikely), but that’s more Great Sable Stag’s fault than Lightning Bolt. Beyond that, Fireball and Earthquake have returned. They weren’t crazy enough to bring Fireball back to common, but that’s probably for the best (though honestly, I think it might be interesting to try it as a common again sometime). I’m happy about all of this because all the cards are great iconic cards with a lot of flavor behind them that won’t in any way break the game, they just make Red Red.
Dragon Whelp is another delightful return, and I really hope that whatever artwork they use can live up to the original (the original itself would of course be fine with me). Goblin Chieftain is pretty shocking, but ultimately, I think it’s about on par with Goblin Warchief. +1/+1 is huge, but I think it’s less swingy than -1 casting cost, which is a good thing. Land destruction is gone, and Yawning Fissure is just there to rub that in.
Given the way the rares in this set have been going, I’m a little surprised that Shivan Dragon isn’t entirely outclassed by a Mythic Rare dragon, but I guess Bogardan Hellkite took that role.
Green has several new good cards with great flavor. I love Acidic Slime since I’ve always had a soft spot for comes-into-play effects. Ant Queen is a perfect Green monster with very clear flavor. The same can be said of Master or the Wild Hunt and Protean Hydra. Windstorm is the Hurricane variant that Green has always deserved. Less powerful than Hurricane, but better at doing what it’s supposed to do, and not able to do what Green shouldn’t be able to do. I love the new Elf Lord. I know from the bit of work that I’ve done selling cards that Priest of Titania is one of the casual favorites among the elves (a group with a lot of casual favorites) and paying one more mana to pump all its friends should be exactly what those players are looking to do.
Great Sable Stag (1GG, Creature — Elk, Rare, Great Sable Stag can’t be countered. Protection from Blue and from Black) is going to be absolutely infuriating for Blue and Black decks. This thing is way ahead of Paladin En-Vec, who’s always been excellent at doing what he does. The only saving grace for Blue/Black players might be that he’s so effect that he doesn’t need to be maindecked to get the job done, and Trained Armodon is pretty unimpressive against other decks. Unfortunately, he still might have enough incidental utility to be played main anyway. As I’ve mentioned before, every set brings some new card that “spells the end for Faeries,” and, in general, the cards don’t really scare me. They’re fine, but not unbeatable, and they just make people worry less about Faeries. This one’s different. This one might actually be unbeatable. I’ve been extremely excited about playing Faeries in Nationals, since Treetop Village and Caves of Koilos leaving seemed to take away most of the biggest problems, but between this card and Red decks with Lightning Bolt, it’s looking like enough of an uphill battle that I plan to seriously consider my other options.
Lurking Predators seems like one of the most fun Multiplayer cards in a long time. That just seems like a ridiculous number of free creatures. I expect casual players to love it.
The artifacts don’t really do anything for me. I guess it’s cool that Darksteel Colossus is back, but I’m not sure that it has any real application at the moment. I wish they had included an artifact creature somewhere between Ornithopter and Platinum Angel.
I like the lands. I think it’s good to rotate between having and not having off color duals, and I think Magic probably needs to swing back to a time when mana is a little more restrictive. As for the duals we do have, I think they’re pretty good. They do a good job of rewarding basics (and putting a check on the total number of nonbasics you want to play). I love the Blue/Black one for Faeries, particularly since I hated Underground River.
Bonus Section: Most substantial gains and losses to Standard from 10th Edition by color (cards that are currently in Standard do not count as gains even if they are about to rotate out) in rough order of significance. I’m also not counting a name change or commonality as a different card:
White:
Out:
Wrath of God
Paladin en-Vec
Glorious Anthem (would be higher if it weren’t being replaced by Honor of the Pure)
Condemn
Story Circle
In:
Honor of the Pure – 1W
Enchantment (Rare)
White creatures you control get +1/+1.
Harm’s Way – W
Instant (Uncommon)
The next 2 damage that a source of your choice would deal to you or a permanent you control this turn is dealt to target creature or player instead.
Baneslayer Angel – 3WW
Creature – Angel (Mythic Rare
)
Flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from Demons and from Dragons.
5/5
Planar Cleansing – 3WWW
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy all nonland permanents.
Guardian Seraph – 2WW
Creature – Angel (Rare)
Flying
If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you, prevent 1 of that damage.
3/4
– It hurts to chose only five cards here.
Blue:
Out:
Tidings
Boomerang
Evacuation
Hurkyl’s Recall
Cephalid Constable
In:
Merfolk Sovereign – 1UU
Creature – Merfolk (Rare)
Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1.
{T}: Target Merfolk creature is unblockable this turn.
2/2
Wall of Frost – 1UU
Creature – Wall (Uncommon)
Defender (This creature can’t attack.)
Whenever Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
0/7
Sleep – 2UU
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Tap all creatures target opponent controls. Creatures that player controls don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
Djinn of Wishes – 3UU
Creature – Djinn (Rare)
Flying
Djinn of Wishes enters the battlefield with three wish counters on it.
2UU, Remove a wish counter from Djinn of Wishes: Reveal the top card of your library. You may play that card without paying its mana cost. If you don’t, exile it.
4/4
– I doubt the last two will see Constructed play
Black:
Out:
Rain of Tears
Cruel Edict
Gravepact
Nekrataal
Graveborn Muse
– This will be an embarrassing list if I actually missed a card people play. I consider the Terror to Doomblade change cosmetic enough not to list either.
In:
Duress
Haunting Echoes
Tendrils of Corruption
Black Knight
Xathrid Demon — 3BBB
Creature – Demon (Mythic Rare)
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature other than Xathrid Demon, then each opponent loses life equal to the sacrificed creature’s power. If you can’t sacrifice a creature, tap Xathrid Demon and you lose 7 life.
7/7
Red:
Out:
Seismic Assault
Mogg Fanatic
Incinerate
Cryoclasm
Threaten
In:
Goblin Chieftain – 1RR
Creature – Goblin (Rare)
Haste
Other Goblin creatures you control get +1/+1 and have haste.
2/2
Earthquake
Ball Lightning
Bogardan Hellkite
Green:
Out:
Civic Wayfinder
Troll Ascetic
Quirion Dryad
Seedborn Muse
Hurricane
In:
Great Sable Stag – 1GG
Creature – Elk (Rare)
Great Sable Stag can’t be countered.
Protection from blue and from black (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or black.)
3/3
Elvish Archdruid – 1GG
Creature – Elf Druid (Rare)
Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1.
{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool for each Elf you control.
2/2
Great Sable Stag – 1GG
Creature – Elk (Rare)
Great Sable Stag can’t be countered.
Protection from blue and from black (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or black.)
3/3
Acidic Slime – 3GG
Creature – Ooze (Uncommon)
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can divide this creature’s combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or blocked by it.)
When Acidic Slime enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
2/2
Great Sable Stag – 1GG
Creature – Elk (Rare)
Great Sable Stag can’t be countered.
Protection from blue and from black (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or black.)
3/3
[Seems like Sam is reaaaaaly scared of the Great Sable Stag — Craig, amused.]
Artifact:
Out:
Loxodon Warhammer
Mind Stone
Razormane Masticore
Sculpting Steel
Bottle Gnomes
In:
Nothing… booo!
All of this is based on current information, which is to say that there are still 29 cards I don’t know about, but as mentioned, I’m already very excited for M10. I’ll be Gunslinging in Minneapolis for the prerelease on July 11th where I look forward to hearing about how people are enjoying the new cards.
Thanks for reading…
Sam