Over the past week we have been spoiled with some previews of new cards that will be released in Eldritch Moon. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with what I’ve seen and I hope to see some more awesome cards in the near future. I’m getting bored with a Standard format that seems to circle around G/W Tokens and Collected Company. I’m excited for this Eldritch Moon spoiler to get rolling out so I can get my head wrapped around a brand new Standard format. From what I’ve seen out of Eldritch Moon so far, I think Standard is bound to change. The most notable of the cards we’ve seen were three legendary creatures. Let’s check them out.
I saw a lot of mixed reviews about this card initially. Some people were surprisingly unimpressed. On my first glance, however, I didn’t see one thing disappointing about Emrakul, the Promised End. Emrakul, the Promised End brings us a huge flying threat that is much more reasonable to cast than her older version. The cast trigger is absolutely insane, as it’s comparable to Mindslaver, a card that on its own costs us ten total mana to get the same effect without leaving us a 13/13 body behind.
The one difference is they get to take a second turn after the “Mindslaver,” but after you use all of their resources, it will likely not be a very good turn for them anyway. I guess the one disappointing result that could come from Emrakul, the Promised End is that we see it in every midrange and control deck in Standard. I don’t think that will necessarily be the case, but if the rest of Eldritch Moon can facilitate a cheaper casting cost on Emrakul, the Promised End, it’s certainly possible to see it in multiple archetypes throughout Eldritch Moon Standard.
Here is an example of a pretty all-in Emrakul, the Promised End decklist:
Creatures (12)
- 1 Dragonlord Silumgar
- 1 Den Protector
- 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
- 3 Hangarback Walker
- 4 Deathcap Cultivator
- 2 Emrakul, the Promised End
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (23)
Spells (21)
Obviously Nahiri, the Harbinger is a natural fit for Emrakul, the Promised End, and Patrick Chapin wrote last week about a bunch of different versions of Emrakul, the Promised End decks, many of which included the Boros planeswalker. This is a very rough version of a potential Sultai build for Emrakul, the Promised End. Full disclosure: this deck is probably not ideal. That said, we’re missing almost every other card in Eldritch Moon, and this is a way to explore just how powerful Emrakul, the Promised End could be in a deck that’s focused heavily on casting it as its primary goal and win condition.
Traverse the Ulvenwald and Emrakul, the Promised End are two cards I’d expect to see a lot of together. Delirium is going to happen naturally when we try to fill up our graveyard with a variety of card types to cast Emrakul, and Traverse the Ulvenwald can go get Emrakul, the Promised End when it’s time for her to party.
Hangarback Walker acts as a speed bump, plays well with Languish, and also can be cast for zero, putting both a creature and an artifact into the graveyard. This interaction acts as a Dark Ritual for Emrakul, the Promised End.
The card I’m most excited to try with Emrakul, the Promised End is Kiora, Master of the Depths. Kiora, Master of the Depths finds us Emrakul, the Promised End while also allowing us to hit land drops in the process, all the while filling up our graveyard with a variety of card types.
This build is filled out with some removal spells and card draw to hit our enchantment, sorcery, and instant requirements. It’s also possible to play a card like Vessel of Nascency in this style of deck; it seems relatively slow to me but is certainly worth giving a try.
I fully expect Emrakul, the Promised End to be a contender in Eldritch Moon Standard and would encourage you to get a jump on trying to find the best shell for it.
The next card that was spoiled for us was Ulrich of the Krallenhorde. My initial reactions to this card are pretty lukewarm. A five mana 4/4 is nothing to write home about, and +4/+4 is quite a big bonus when it enters the battlefield, but in a format full of Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, chump blocking is a pretty normal occurrence.
One huge upside to the card is that it’s extremely difficult for an opponent to cast a smaller creature during their own turn after you’ve already cast Ulrich of the Kallenhorde. If they do so, we can simply just pass the turn back and eat their creature with a “flip and fight.” It’s also pretty difficult to cast Collected Company at instant speed in the face of Ulrich of the Krallenhorde because it will just enable a flip and fight. Unfortunately, Ulrich is unable to fight a Lambholt Pacifist or Duskwatch Recruit, so there’ll be some situations where it flips and does not get to fight anyway.
One problem with Ulrich of the Krallenhorde is that we need trample or flying to make the “enters the battlefield” bonus relevant in the face of chump blockers. If we rewind to Shadows over Innistrad, there was another Gruul mythic rare that got a lot of hype but didn’t end up living up to the hype.
Arlinn, Kord immediately enters the battlefield, creates a 2/2 Wolf token, and then becomes Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon. Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon’s plus ability grants +1+1 and trample to all of your creatures, allowing us to get the Wolf token we made through a Knight token and potentially kill a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I could see this relationship working out pretty well for both Ulrich of the Krallenhorde and Arlinn Kord, especially if there is some additional support coming out of Eldritch Moon.
Evasive creatures benefit greatly from the +4+4 granted by Ulrich of the Krallenhorde as well. Unfortunately, red and green happen to be pretty light on flying creatures. Some options we have are cards like Thopter Engineer and Pia and Kiran Nalaar. These creatures curve naturally with Ulrich of the Krallenhorde and give a Thopter the power to take out a planeswalker like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar or Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. Alternatively, we also get Den Protector out of green. Den Protector when boosted by Ulrich of the Krallenhorde is nearly unblockable, again allowing us to hit for a huge chunk of damage or taking out a planeswalker in one attack.
Here’s an R/G Tokens list that I expect to be a decent starting point for Ulrich of the Krallenhorde:
Creatures (19)
- 4 Den Protector
- 4 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
- 4 Hangarback Walker
- 4 Thopter Engineer
- 3 Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
The last card I want to talk about is Thalia, Heretic Cathar. This card is exceptional to say the least. The problem with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, not that it was a bad card by any means, was that it had a global effect; both players were affected by the card, restricting how you could build your deck with it. Thalia, Heretic Cathar only impacts the opponent. We don’t have the Guardian version’s problem with Thalia, Heretic Cathar in deckbuilding, so I expect to see a lot of her when Eldritch Moon is released.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar has an appropriately sized body for Standard. We’ve seen a bunch of three-toughness creatures defining Standard of late: Eldrazi Displacer, Sylvan Advocate, and Reflector Mage, to name a few. At three power with first strike, Thalia will block and attack efficiently through these creatures, making her a solid creature for combat.
The initial chatter I saw about Thalia, Heretic Cathar was in relation to the ability to tap opponent’s nonbasic lands as they enter the battlefield. This is certainly a powerful effect, especially in Standard, where we want to use all of our mana every turn and can often fall to far behind when we don’t. Spells in Standard are generally more expensive than those in other formats, so it’s much more punishing to miss a single mana for a turn.
Having access to one less mana on a specific turn can be the difference between a win and a loss in a game, and I expect Thalia, Heretic Cathar to facilitate some of those wins. In fact, players will have to play all Standard games with Thalia, Heretic Cathar in mind, making sure to sequence lands in a specific order, which is already a nightmare with Shadow lands and Battle lands to worry about.
The ability that really excites me, or, as a GW Tokens player, really scares me, is the ability to tap all of the opponent’s creatures as they enter the battlefield. Think about this from the perspective of a G/W Tokens player. My perfect curve starting on turn 3 consists of a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar that is followed up the next turn by a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. Thalia, Heretic Cathar forces the tokens made by these planeswalkers to enter the battlefield tapped, allowing a free pass at the planeswalkers. Think Archangel Avacyn is going to help you on turn 5? Nope. Archangel Avacyn is going to enter the battlefield tapped as well. So if we pass the nonbasic land test and get to sequence our lands in such a way that we don’t miss out on casting our cards on-curve, Thalia, Heretic Cathar is still going to make it extremely difficult for us to keep our planeswalkers on the battlefield anyway.
Now what about the other defining archetypes of current Standard? Most of them rely heavily on the card Collected Company. Thalia, Heretic Cathar seems like a great Collected Company hit, right? Well, that’s certainly true, but Thalia also allows us to not worry about an ambush of creatures coming down on the battlefield from an opposing Collected Company to block our smaller creatures in combat. Sure, Thalia, Heretic Cathar can be bounced by Reflector Mage, but that isn’t a permanent solution to the problem, and the Reflector Mage will still enter the battlefield tapped, allowing you to punch through some damage in the meantime.
I could post some Thalia, Heretic Cathar decklists, but I expect Thalia, Heretic Cathar to be included in almost every white aggressive or tempo deck in Standard, at least initially. Find a Bant Humans or Bant Company list you like; cut a couple of three-drops; add two or three Thalia, Heretic Cathar; and you’re well on your way.
Sometimes a card is just good. I think Thalia, Heretic Cathar is going to be just that, especially if the metagame sticks to its current status of all Dromoka’s Commands all the time. G/W Tokens and Collected Company decks are all light on removal and heavy on threats. Thalia, Heretic Cathar makes it extremely difficult for G/W Tokens to protect their planeswalkers while also taking something away from an opponent’s instant-speed Collected Company.
Legendary Impact
Do I expect all three of these legendary creatures to make a huge impact on Standard? I think two of them will. I think Emrakul, the Promised End has potential to be the defining card in Standard, but realistically it will likely just be the centerpiece of one top-tier deck designed around it. We really have to wait and see what kind of cards are in Eldritch Moon that can surround her before we make that determination.
I expect Thalia, Heretic Cathar to be included in a lot of decks early in the format, and she eventually could be removed or relegated to sideboards once the metagame shapes in a way that is hostile to creatures without abilities when they enter the battlefield.
I expect Ulrich of the Krallenhorde to be a fringe playable at best, but I have certainly been wrong before, and wouldn’t be surprised if I’m wrong again.
That’s my opinion. What do you think?