I’m sure you’ll be hearing this for the next few weeks or so, but Planar Chaos is going to open some doors in Time Spiral Draft.
Archetypes like U/W, which I considered to be barely playable in TTT, are now given a real chance with the additions of removal in both White and Blue. I also believe that U/G will be a real contender in the new format, though it’s still too early to tell. Having only played seven rounds of Sealed and one Draft at the time of this writing, I have a lot thoughts on certain cards that I’d like to share. It will definitely take a few weeks to figure out which archetypes gained the most from Planar Chaos, but you can be sure that I’ll be drafting a lot and sharing that information as soon as I figure it out.
Before I jump into specific cards, here is the Sealed deck with which I posted a 6-1 result at the prerelease.
Keldon Halberdier
Ivory Giant
2 Saltfield Recluse
Slipstream Serpent
Amrou Seekers
Skirk Shaman
Icatian Criers
Celestial Crusader
2 Needlepeak Spider
Lightning Angel
Chronozoa
2 Ghost Tactician
Stormfront Riders
Jedit’s Dragoons
Sudden Shock
Grapeshot
Prismatic Lens
Undying Rage
Empty the Warrens
Word of Seizing
8 Mountain
7 Plains
1 Island
Calciform Pools
Quite underwhelming, and many people who looked at it agreed that it was downright bad.
Ghost Tactician is extremely unexciting, but I really had no better options. The only playable cards in these colors in my sideboard were Magus of the Tabernacle, Sinew Sliver, and Aetherflame Wall. I didn’t run Magus simply because I had lots of token generation, but I did board it in against Rebel decks or other decks with lots of utility. I also boarded in Sinew Sliver for Slipstream Serpent when it looked like my opponent couldn’t benefit from the Sliver. The rest of the card pool was very weak, with none of the other colors being very deep and a Damnation I couldn’t play. Chronozoa is absolutely amazing though, and usually will at least “spawn” once. This is usually plenty to win the game. Another thing I learned from this deck is that the White guys with the pseudo Gating ability are great for setting up a Storm turn with Empty or Grapeshot after you’ve already played out your hand.
Now, on to some cards that improved with the addition of Planar Chaos, as well as some early thoughts on the new cards.
Jhoira’s Timebug
I’m still unsure about this one, though it definitely did get a significant jump in power. I think some people may be overvaluing it at this point, though I haven’t had the chance to build around it or play against it enough to be sure.
There are plenty of cheap creatures with Vanishing that can be abused with the Timebug. The first that comes to mind is Waning Wurm, which seems like it was built for the bug. Aven Riftwatcher and Keldon Marauders aren’t too shabby either.
Clockspinning
Like the Timebug, this has similar (albeit more expensive) applications. The only thing that may make this worthwhile is that you can also kill opposing Vanishing creatures, as well as abusing the usual tricks. Remember that it can add any kind of counters… With the addition of Vanishing, this may be borderline playable in the maindeck if you have nothing else.
Momentary Blink
In TTT, this was the only reason I’d ever want to be in White (barring the occasional rare).
Guess what? It just got even better.
From what I’ve seen so far, a lot of the format is about getting the most out of your “comes into play” (CIP) effects. I don’t know any better way to do that than Blink. Blinking the Aven Riftwatcher when it’s faded down to one counter is quite spicy, as are normal things like blinking the new Man-O’-War. I would advise now actively looking to splash this card if you can cast one half of it in your main colors already, as most of the cards with CIP abilities also have “leaves play” abilities, and they are broken with Blink.
Grapeshot
As I said earlier, the White cards provide lots of ways to set up a strong Storm turn. There are also some new Suspend monsters to add to the mix.
Tolarian Sentinel & Dream Stalker
Yeah, I know I write about these guys constantly. I also say that I write about them constantly, yet still I do it again. The reason is that they just keep getting better. Even bouncing a Keldon Marauders repeatedly with Sentinel is really strong, and both parts of the combo aren’t very hard to get. These guys reset Vanishing, abuse comes into play, and remove Utopia Vow, Melancholy, and Temporal Isolation. Please move them up in your pick orders.
Cradle to the Grave
At the prerelease people were ranting about this card, saying that it is better than Premature Burial, which is straight up wrong. The first thing you have to realize is that Premature Burial is almost always playable, but rarely better than mediocre. I promise you that this version of the card is worse because you have to keep mana up in order to use it. Burial was already situational enough. This version is not only situational; it’s reactive. Not cool at all, and it makes me cringe to call it barely playable.
Stormfront Riders
I really liked this guy in my Sealed deck, as he serves a lot of functions. He can make a bunch of dudes, abuse a CIP ability repeatedly (noticing a pattern here?), and he’s also a 4/3 flier for five mana. Oh, and he wrecks a Melancholy like no other, as I did multiple times in Sealed.
Charms
These are all very strong. I’d have to say my favorite is probably the Green one, as Raise Dead and Lay of the Land are two awesome abilities to have on the same card. I think the Black charm is merely passable, but the Red one is awesome. I guess White is the worst by far, and a sideboard card at best. The only thing that really matters about Dawn Charm is that you are aware that it exists. Once you do, don’t go all in when you can lose to the Fog portion. It’s a common, and people will be putting it in their decks regardless of whether it’s good enough.
Saltfield Recluse
I’m curious to see how good this card will be in Draft, because it was absolutely nuts for me all day in Sealed. It stops evasion and makes combat a living nightmare for your opponent. The threat is far better than the action activation here, even though it doesn’t cost anything to activate anyway, and the only real question that remains is whether or not this is too slow in Draft. My guess is that it’s strong in any type of control deck or, obviously, Rebels, but not that great in an aggressive build.
Ridged Kusite
I saw plenty of Black decks in the prerelease that had this guy residing in the sideboard. I don’t really get this at all, because this guy is very good at what he does. First off, he’s a one-drop – there really aren’t many of in this format (with the exception of Suspending something). This means that he’ll get in for a few damage if made early. After that, he will make it very hard for your opponent to engage in any sort of combat, due mainly to the first strike. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten that Black is the Madness color in this format, and this guy is as cheap an outlet as they come (with the exception of Trespasser Il-Vec).
Veiling Oddity
I don’t think this is unplayable, but it was definitely being played in far too many decks. It clearly belongs in an aggressive strategy, but it’s also not exactly quick and it sucks if you have to hardcast it. A few people had multiples in their decks, which definitely wasn’t optimal.
Utopia Vow
I’m keeping an eye on this one in the coming weeks, as I’m not sure how to evaluate it. On one hand, I can see it shutting down a bomb quite often. On the other, the two times it was played against me it actually fixed my mana, and it may even have won the game for me. I’m sure it will be awesome in G/R or U/G aggro, but it could be a liability in a slower deck where they have time to make use of the mana.
Keldon Marauder
This guy sucks in Sealed. However, I had a number of conversations with competent players about whether or not he is viable in G/R aggro in Draft, or in combination with Tolarian Sentinel. I think that he will likely be the case, as he is always a Lava Axe if you play him on turn 2, and you can build your deck to take advantage of him with Momentary Blink, Timebug, Sentinel, etc. The good thing here is that he’s in pack 3 and you’ll know if you can abuse him or not when you get there, instead of having to pick him in the dark and hope.
Blightspeaker
This could be my favorite card in the new set so far. Having multiples of this guy is absurd, as you can find a friend and start draining your opponent quickly. There are tons of good Rebels now, including the new Master Decoy, and this guy is an extremely high pick.
Aven Riftwatcher
I had a firm standpoint on Saturday morning that I didn’t really like this guy. Then I realized it was a Rebel, and that you could manage the Vanishing in your favor through a number of means that I’ve already mentioned. So I guess now I’ve changed my tune on him and although he’s not amazing, he’s certainly annoying to play against if they search him into play, and he’s far better than I initially anticipated.
I definitely will have a much better idea where the format is headed when next week rolls around, as I have three full days of drafting ahead of me. Hopefully then I’ll have some thoughts on archetypes and some other hidden gems in Planar Chaos. Until then, let me leave you with my deck from the one draft I’ve done so far.
Blightspeaker
Amrou Scout
Deathspore Thallid
Big Game Hunter
Outrider en-Kor
Riftmarked Knight
Trespasser il-Vec
Icatian Crier
Weathered Bodyguards
Mana Skimmer
Mirri the Cursed
Pallid Mycoderm
Clockwork Hydra
Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore
Oros, the Avenger
Jedit’s Dragoons
Mindstab
Grapeshot
2 Tendrils of Corruption
Dark Withering
Serrated Arrows
Null Profusion
Big Game Hunter is absolutely amazing. He’s a Rebel, he has Madness, and he kills freaking bombs. Definitely pick him high if you have Rebel searchers, and I think he’s still awesome even if you only plan to Madness him out. It looks like B/W Rebels may be strong with the addition of all of the new Rebels and another searcher.
See you next week.
Nick Eisel
[email protected]
Soooooo & ThatsGameBoys on MTGO