Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. In the first of a two-part episode, this week we’re going to be diving headfirst into Magic 2010: The set’s fully spoiled, some huge revelations have arrived, and our power curve has jumped significantly. Are you ready to see how Magic is going to change forever? Let’s go!
NOTE: Stay tuned after the scripted portion of the show for more on Magic 2010’s “resonance” factor from R&D’s Ken Nagle!
M10 Incoming!
So the Rumor Mills have gone bonkers and Magic 2010 is almost completely spoiled by the time of this writing. There are dozens of cards to chatter about, losses and additions and more. Let’s get started.
First of all, the biggest bombshell of them all: Wrath of God will no longer be in Standard. Yes, you heard me: Wrath of God is gone. Not in Magic 2010. They didn’t replace it with Damnation, instead they gave you an alternate of another popular sweeper, Akroma’s Vengeance. Say hello to Planar Cleansing:
Planar Cleansing — 3WWW
Sorcery — Rare
Destroy all nonland permanents
Yep, that’s Akroma’s Vengeance 2.0, with a much more difficult casting cost than Wrath of God and still allows the caveat of regeneration.
How do I feel about this? Well, it’s the end of an era. Wrath of God was, for many, a game-defining spell that has been with us so long it’s going to be absolutely disorienting for awhile adjusting to its absence. What, sixteen years of gameplay that featured 2WW Destroy All Creatures They Can’t Be Regenerated? Wow. I’m not going to complain about such a move, I welcome a differing environment where my dudes can crash into the red zone with even less fear of a Turn 4 Reset Button. Also, just think of how it’s exciting it’s going to be when they reprint it! I mean, look how pleased we are with Lightning Bolt. I can only imagine how we’d cream our jeans to get Wrath of God back in four or five years.
Anyway, Magic 2010 does a very peculiar thing with its ‘new cards.’ Some of them, best I can tell, is a valiant attempt to remove the Real World from Magic. This means that Savannah Lions are out, replaced by a Human Soldier called Elite Vanguard who is uncommon. Yup, now you can get your 2/1 first turn beats on even cheaper. Grizzly Bears, another staple since the game’s inception, and also present in the real world, are now ‘Runeclaw Bear.’ Continuing on, many are the ‘new cards’ are simply functional reprints, and by that I mean the exact same card except it’s changed the name and sometimes the rarity and creature types of a card. Threaten is now ‘Act of Treason.’ Raise Dead is now ‘Disentomb’. In some cases, I can very much understand the need for these. The mixing of traditional fantasy with block-based themes is sometimes jarring. So when Counsel of the Soratami is renamed ‘Divination.’ that’s cool. I’m even okay with ‘Neck Snap’ being renamed ‘Divine Verdict’ to fit White better. Same goes with Essence Scatter sounding more like a counterspell than ‘Remove Soul.’ But c’mon, did Persuasion really need a name change to ‘Mind Control’…? How about ‘Mistral Charger’ being renamed ‘Stormfront Pegasus’ and dropping a rarity level? Some of these just boggle the mind.
Either way, while many of the ‘new cards’ really are reprints, the ones that aren’t are frickin incredible. White seemed to get most of the goodies. Check out what could be my favorite card of the set, Captain of the Watch:
Captain of the Watch — 4WW
Creature — Human Soldier (Rare)
Vigilance
Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance.
When Captain of the Watch enters the battlefield, put three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
3/3
I don’t know if you realize how good nine power of dudes is for a mere six mana, but think about the turn before, when you’re playing Cloudgoat Ranger. Who makes Kithkin Soldiers, who are then subsequently pumped and provided Vigilance thanks to the Captain here.
Yes, Captain of the Watch fails the ‘Lightning Bolt test.’ But I say again: Don’t deny the power of four dudes and nine damage from one card. Pound for pound, compare this bad boy to Broodmate Dragon. Eight power for six mana… or nine? Which do you prefer? Better yet, you needed to do something important on turn 2 anyway, which was drop this incredible enchantment. And you thought Crusade was good?
Honor of the Pure — 1W
Enchantment — Rare
White creatures you control get +1/+1.
Helloooo power creep! Yes, Crusade is a bit annoying in that it pumps both your and other player’s creatures, an aspect sometimes overlooked particularly by new players. So why not simply, I dunno, make it only affect your creatures… and make it easier to play to boot? Expect to see the Soldier deck near the top tables, because Wizards has all but assured aggressively costed White dudes will be making their way into the end zones. I could imagine that Cedric ‘Enlisted Ultimatum’ Phillips is all but jumping for joy over the power of White in Magic 2010.
However, the other card that gets me is Harm’s Way. Just… wow.
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.
This card is actually nuts. Yes, nuts, insane, pick some hyperbole and go nuts. Keeping your guys out of Harm’s Way means that Red mages of all kinds will be going nuts trying to play around this killer trick. It’s better than White Shock, it’s the Shining Shoal That Could, the redirect spell we’ve all been waiting for. With the new ‘ordered blockers’ rule changing combat, this spell shines in ways it never could while stacking combat damage. Suddenly the order of blockers is much more important, and your opponent’s ability to get completely boned by a Harm’s Way — or, God forbid, two of them – will suddenly be a huge factor. Love, love, love this card.
The next card I’m covering I’m convinced will change. Sure, the Rumor Mill says the spoiler is 100%, but until I see the cardboard, I just don’t believe it. Look at Baneslayer Angel.
Baneslayer Angel — 3WW
Creature — Angel (Mythic)
Flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from Demons and from Dragons.
5/5
C’mon Wizards, I mean Come. On. You can’t actually think that in the same set as Serra Angel you outclass her in no fewer than four ways. Sure, Serra Angel has vigilance, while this angel has… everything else. Mythic or not, this is a straight-up power curve hemorrhage of massive proportions. Nothing on this creature seems remotely fair, and I guarantee it’s going to see plenty of play at the top tournament tables. It’s one thing to have flying… but Lifelink plus First Strike is good times all around, while protection from Demons and Dragons keeps it safe from the returning monster of Bogardan Hellkite and at the same time trumps our friend Chameleon Colossus in one go. Again, a 5/5 flier for 5 mana and. it has almost a half dozen awesome abilities? I’m still in shock. Pics or didn’t happen.
Moving on to Blue, the Rosewater-spoiled Djinn of Wishes is really fantastic. I think most recognize that this Super Air Elemental has potential, but with Ponder guaranteed to stay past October and Liliana Vess there as well, the Djinn has plenty of ways of making sure you get that Cruel Ultimatum off just when you want it. Keep a close on eye on this one, which I’m sure will be making waves in the casual realm but could very well power a nasty control deck in the future.
And hey, how about Time Warp coming back? Hell yeah, I love me some Time Warp, and this Tempest favorite will finally be gracing tournament tables soon enough. I’m not sure in what capacity, but free turns are free turns, and Time Warp is just about the safest they can cost such a powerful ability. With that said, the real tournament contender is Polymorph. The deck practically builds itself: Play Counterspells, Bitterblossom, Mutavault, Polymorph, and a copy or two of Progenitus. Cook for thirty minutes, and voila! Instant mondo combo that is very dangerous if Polymorph successfully resolves.
Another card that Patrick Chapin warmed up to, and I have as well, is Sleep:
Sleep — 2UU
Sorcery — Uncommon
Tap all creatures target opponent controls. Creatures that player controls don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
This card, by itself, could bring back U/W Fish decks. Well, okay, maybe not by itself. But with the Lord cycle, you never know. Oh, you don’t know about the Lord cycle? Take a look at the blue one, Merfolk Sovereign:
Merfolk Sovereign — 1UU
Creature — Merfolk (Rare)
Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1.
Tap: Target Merfolk creature is unblockable this turn.
2/2
Until October at least, mix in your favorite Merfolk Reejereys; Sygg, River Guides; and Silvergill Adepts, and go nuts. U/W builds get Chris Pikula masquerading as a black woman in Meddling Mage, along with all of White’s awesome spells. But that’s not the best tribal Lord, not by a longshot. Have you seen Elvish Archdruid?
Elvish Archdruid — 1GG
Creature — Elf Druid (Rare)
Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1.
Tap: Add G to your mana pool for each Elf you control.
2/2
Oh. Mah. God. Yes, that is not only an Elf Lord… that’s a Priest of Titania Elf Lord. You know, one special night Priest of Titania was just sitting all by her lonesome… then walks in Elvish Champion and… well, you know the rest. Wow. All I gotta say is, this will be one hell of a rare for both tournament ramp decks and kitchen table Elf decks the world over. This guy does everything you want it to do in an Elf deck, including ramping up to ridiculous spells in Elf Combo decks or just letting you flop Primalcrux down as early as possible. I would suggest picking up a set of these quickly, and never letting them go.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What goodies does Black have in store? Quite a few. The first is the return of Duress to Standard and Extended, something that should help greatly in both formats when faced with combo and/or debilitating control matchups. I for one welcome our new Duress overlords. How sexy is running the 8-card discard package in Faeries again? Even if its just from the sideboard, 4x Thoughtseize and 4x Duress sounds awfully nasty in the mirror. Nice. Bitterblossom.
Haunting Echoes is returning, and that is good times right there. This lets your Broken Ambitions do more than merely Power Sink your opponent while sometimes milling them, and further powers up Thoughtseize and Duress. I never got to play with this card in Standard before it rotated out and I’m anxious to see if it makes an impact.
So how about some new cards? Okay, let’s rock out with Doom Blade first.
Doom Blade — 1B
Instant — Common
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Coolest. Name. Ever. Doom Blade? Really? Super duper sexy right there boys. Terror got even nastier as Wizards gives us an awesome removal spell should Esper beats get out of control. Terror was and has been a staple of tournament play, and I don’t expect this strictly upgraded version to be any less utilized. Get your foily set soon, as you’ll be using them forever.
This next card is for those who have hungered many an evening for Night’s Whisper. It’s back, and it’s better than ever. Check out Sign in Blood:
Sign in Blood — BB
Sorcery — Common
Target player draws two cards and loses two life.
Wonderful! Now Night’s Whisper can target! That means Black decks, or if we’re speaking of the current metagame, Faeries decks, can now Shock you for your last two points of life. I for one was a huge, huge fan of Night’s Whisper and always though it had a place in core sets. Now they’ve made it a bit tougher to cast, but it’s more powerful and versatile to boot. You just can’t beat that flexibility.
We’re running out of time here, but one more creature to highlight before we go.
Have you seen Great Sable Stag? Talk about your development-driven cards:
Great Sable Stag — 1GG
Creature — Elk (Rare)
Great Sable Stag can’t be countered.
Protection from Blue and Black.
3/3
Awesome card. Insanely powerful against a Blue or Black deck, whose combination just so happens to be one of the best decks in the format, and one of the most dominating decks ever around the time of this set’s design and development. This, as Patrick Chapin rightly noted, looks like a card created solely for the decimation of Faeries. Sure, Volcanic Fallout was supposed to be the coffin nail, and so was Scattershot Archer. But no my friends, this is the nail in the coffin of Faeries. Dropping this on turn 2 after a first turn Noble Hierarch is good game, Faeries. There is no Damnation to save you, there is no Control Magic ever printed that will take control of it, the clock has arrived and you have exactly seven turns to win. Mutavaults may jump in its way, but that’s the only thing that can block it, let alone take it down. Great Sable Stag isn’t a metagame definer or a card we’ll be talking about years from now. But it fills a very important role, will rock your sideboard until October at the least, and is a kick ass and welcome rare.
Okay, that’s all I have time for this week. Join me next week as we go over the rest of the awesome reprints, such as the returning Bogardan Hellkite and Darksteel-frickin-Colossus, as well as what our new Magic 2010-fueled decks may look like going into next week’s prerelease. Until next time Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards… so you don’t have to.
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
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