M11 previews are in full swing, and that means there are all kinds of questions for gamers to debate. What new cards will have the biggest impact on Standard — or the new Extended? What old cards will be missed the most? Is there a new Baneslayer Angel waiting to be found?
I want to talk about the new cards, but I feel like there’s another subject I should touch on first. The biggest buzz around M11 isn’t about a new powerhouse Mythic rare, but rather about a reprinted common (uncommon?) – Mana Leak. When the images first appeared online (in German!), my Facebook and Twitter feeds lit up with chatter about the implications of Mana Leak in Standard. Players have been complaining about the lack of quality countermagic in Standard since Lorwyn block rotated out, and Mana Leak is literally exactly what many of them have been asking for.
While the existence of Mana Leak will clearly have an impact on Standard, I’m not sure it’s going to be as format changing as many seem to be suggesting. Yes, it gives control decks a way to play maindeck countermagic that can handle Knight of the Reliquary as well as it can deal with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and that’s a big deal. But even control decks have a lot of proactive ways to spend their mana in the early game these days.
Let’s look at a pretty typical U/W Control deck:
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
Brad’s championship deck from Grand Prix: DC is a fine example of what control decks look like these days. Look at all those ways the deck spends mana on its own turn in the early going of the game. Wall of Omens, Spreading Seas, Everflowing Chalice, Oblivion Ring, planeswalkers — even just playing multiple lands that enter the battlefield tapped can make holding up Mana Leak challenging. What can we even reasonably cut to fit Mana Leak?
Even with Mana Leak in the mix, we’re a long way removed from the days when control players could just sit back with untapped mana and feel safe. There’s no Plumeveil to cast if your opponent doesn’t play into your countermagic, no Cryptic Command to put the your opponent in a no-win situation whether they cast a spell or not. Yes, there’s Jace’s Ingenuity to generate some advantage, but it faces stiff competition for card draw power from Jace and Mind Spring, and doesn’t do anything to generate board presence. Without instant speed ways to develop your board position, if you pass the turn with Mana Leak up and your opponent doesn’t play a spell, you haven’t really gained much, and it doesn’t take long for Mana Leak to lose value as the game progresses.
If you’re not building to some kind of overpowering end game or putting immediate pressure on your opponent, your opponent can often just play carefully around Mana Leak and leave it dead in your hand. This is especially true in a world where so many decks have creature lands to give them profitable ways to spend their turns without casting spells. I actually think the impact of Mana Leak may be bigger in aggro-control style decks than in true control for this reason. The ability for a beatdown deck to stop a single Day of Judgment after establishing a board presence is much more powerful than for a control deck to stop a single threat, and Mana Leak is much better suited to a role as an early game counter to support pressure than anything else.
Okay, enough about that — let’s get on to the new cards!
The most exciting new cards, in my mind, are the cycle of mythic rare titans — one for each color. We got our first glimpse of the titans a few weeks back, when Sun Titan was spoiled as the (release celebration?) promo card. Since it was the first we saw, let’s start there:
Sun Titan is a card that appeals to all types of players, from Johnny to Timmy to Spike. A 6/6 Vigilance creature for six mana is no slouch, although these days we expect a lot more from our creatures. Sun Titan delivers, with an enters-the-battlefield and attack trigger that is sure to have everyone trying to figure out the best way to abuse it.
The most obvious place to look is anything with a sacrifice effect. Fetch lands or Tectonic Edges make a nice target to gain incremental value, the new Ember Hauler gives you a Shock every turn, and Dauntless Escort is a cute cohort to help keep the Titan coming back for more! Once you venture into the new Extended there’s even Fulminator Mage to make things truly unpleasant for your opponent.
Cards with enters-the-battlefield triggers of their own are also good candidates to bring back. I’ve obviously already had visions of returning a Sea Gate Oracle or Wall of Omens with every attack, and Oblivion Ring or Journey to Nowhere aren’t too shabby either. Let’s not even get into recurring Jace Beleren…
The thing about Sun Titan is that you really don’t have to do that much to make him good. In most games of Magic, things go to the graveyard, and generally speaking you’re in good shape if you get to bring one of those things back every turn. Sun Titan is the perfect card to follow up an opposing wrath effect — or even your own!
The design of the Titan cycle reminds me of something we found making utility creatures in the World of Warcraft TCG, which is that if you want your utility creatures to be good you have to make it likely that they get to have their effect on the game. We had a lot of “start of turn” triggers initially and transitioned into more “end of your turn” effects to make the creatures more likely to impact the game before they got killed. Granted, creatures in WoW were more vulnerable in Magic because they could be attacked by other creatures, but the idea behind the design is the same. In a world of great creatures — and that’s the world we live in nowadays — creature removal is so prevalent that expensive creatures have to either win the game on their own if unchecked or impact the game right away.
That’s something important to keep in mind about Sun Titan, and all of the rest of the Titans – you’re always going to get some kind of value out of them. Unlike a Baneslayer Angel which can just die to a Terminate or Maelstrom Pulse before getting a chance to attack (but will win the game itself unchecked!), the Titans leave their mark on the game unless they get countered. Even Jace, the bane of big creatures everywhere, is a terrible solution to the better Titans, since your opponent gets value every time he replays them.
Speaking of awkward Titans to bounce with Jace:
And/or players or planeswalkers, that is. Inferno Titan isn’t as Johnny-esque as Sun Titan is, but it sure gives a good answer to an opposing Jace — shooting him in the face or three. It can also alternately sweep your opponent’s board of mana creatures, kill any number of other meddling pests, or just dome your opponent for three. Arc Lightning is a powerful effect, and certainly one that anyone would be happy to have every single turn.
I think Inferno Titan is clearly less exciting on the face than his Sun brethren, since he doesn’t lead to dreaming about best case scenarios like a graveyard full of Oblivion Rings, but I’m not convinced he’s not up there in power level. The Arc Lightning attack trigger does wonders for clearing away potential chump blockers, and a 6/6 firebreather sure does end the game quickly. I’m not quite sure what deck wants this guy, exactly, but I can certainly see him having an impact.
Now THIS guy is exciting, immediately generating ten power for six mana and four more every time he attacks. He’s great at threatening planeswalkers because of the team he brings with him and powers through an Elspeth-based defense very quickly. Deathtouch is largely irrelevant on a 6/6, but in a world of giant Knights of the Reliquary and Eldrazi Conscriptioned creatures, that can actually be meaningful a surprising amount of the time — as can the total toughness of blockers he puts into play immediately. Being able to tap out for a creature on turn six and not worry about dying to a Sovereigns-fueled attack seems like a nice warm fuzzy feeling to have.
Grave Titan does a lot of the same work that Broodmate Dragon did during its stint in Five Color Control, serving as an effective defensive measure that can’t be removed by a single spell as well as a way to win the game in short order. Grave Titan seems even better than Broodmate at doing that same role, especially in a world of Vengevines, where a 6/6 body to block is far more meaningful than a measely 4/4. Flying is certainly relevant, but so is expanding your army every time you attack! It doesn’t take long before Grave Titan’s zombie minions completely overwhelm your opponent once he starts going to work.
Okay, I’m even more excited than I was before. One important thing to note on this fellow is the fact that he says “land”, and not “basic land”. What block did we just come from again? The land block? This guys has so many possibilities my mind is just blown. Turboland style decks can use this guy to build up their mana while fetching Halimar Depths and Khalni Gardens for value every turn. Eldrazi ramp decks can dig up a pair of Eldrazi Temples and ramp immediately from six mana to casting Ulamog the following turn. Even Jund decks could fetch a pair of Raging Ravines and nearly have enough mana to attack with them. And that’s before this guy even gets a single attack step in!
Consider if one of the Titans had “Draw two cards” as its enters the battlefield trigger. How powerful would that be? What about the ability to tutor? It’s important to recognize that Primeval Titan’s ability is incredibly close to these two effects, with the added benefit of accelerating your mana! There are so many powerful lands in Standard that this isn’t just Explosive Vegetation every turn. You’ll have to attack several times before you run out of ways to get added value from the lands you’re fetching with this guy, and if you haven’t won the game by then — well, you still have TEN EXTRA MANA to finish things off with!
And lastly, the best Titan of them all…
Really? Seriously? All the rest of the cycle are downright bombs, and Blue gets TWIDDLE TITAN?! You could at least have the decency to give him Flying, or Shroud! I guess something has to give for Wizards to give Blue Mana Leak, eh?
That’s all I’ve got for now. This time next week I’ll be on an island somewhere in Georgian Bay in Canada, and I’m not quite sure if I’ll be able to access the internet, but if I can I’ll have that article I promised you all about sideboarding — if not, you’ll just have to wait until I get back…
Until next time…
bmk