Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’ve got an incredible number of M11 spoilers and not a lot of time to go over ‘em. You ready to check out the most badass core set ever made? Let’s go!
M11 Spoilers Unleashed!
So this past week has been one hell of an exciting week in Magic. We’ve seen, bit by bit, just how incredible M11 can be.
Let’s start with last week: My preview Time Reversal went kasplooey all over the playing populace and reactions were definitely mixed. Many saw this as an overrated card that won’t hold its value…and a card that StarCityGames.com sold out of in less than a week. Yes, you can call me crazy or overhyping this one, but the fact is it will be a chase Mythic and it won’t take long to break it.
But that wasn’t even the most amazing blue spoiler that came out on the same day! Can you say Mana Leak? I knew ya could! Holy crap, they brought back Mana Leak! Well, we can officially say blue is the best color again — they have the best Planeswalker, amazing countermagic, ridiculous card draw and the tools to defeat just about everything and then some. Rest assured, Mana Leak will be a force for the next year and a half in Standard, so get used to getting blown out by it or playing around it very soon.
But we’re not done with the amazing blue cards, and speaking of Time Reversal, Wizards already gave us the perfect card in M11 to abuse with it. Can you believe they’re bringing back, of all the rare cycles… Leylines?!
Leyline of Anticipation
2UU
Enchantment
Rare
If Leyline of Anticipation is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
You may cast nonland cards as though they had flash.
Whaaaaa? Leylines? Now I foresaw a lot of cycles possible in M11, but Leylines was not one of them. This card… man, this card does incredibly unfair things if you can get it out early. If you didn’t play during Time Spiral, Teferi was often the key to winning the control wars. But that was a five-mana creature that had to resolve. This could, perhaps by itself, determine the winner of a control-on-control matchup before the game even starts. Let that sink in for a second.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to make this thing completely ridiculous. End of your turn, Jace, the Mind Sculptor? End of your turn, Wall of Omens? How about Mind Spring? Hell, how about end of your turn Divination? This turns any “tap out” deck into an “End of Your Turn” deck, and that is crazy unfair in a variety of matchups…okay, all matchups.
But every amazing card needs a great answer, and this one includes what is probably my favorite name of the set: War Priest of Thune
War Priest of Thune
1W
Uncommon
Creature – Human Cleric
When War Priest of Thune enters the battlefield, you may destroy target enchantment.
2/2
Yes, that is a strictly-better Monk Realist, and I love it. I know many a fine Magic player has slung with a Kami of Ancient Law, and this gives you the bear you’re looking for and the effect you need in one tight package. And again, he’s a friggin’ War Priest. How cool is that?!
Moving on, the hits kept on coming. One of the coolest cycles in M11 has to be the Mythic Titans. Last week we went over the impressive Sun Titan and at this point they’re all revealed. Let’s get the two bad ones out of the way first. Inferno Titan and Frost Titan could be sick in a lot of metagames, but I don’t feel this one is it. Let’s check out some incredibly nutty Mythic Giants. We’ll start with Grave Titan. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s back up here a second and take a quick gander for what four colorless and two Black mana has purchased us in the past…
To begin, there have only been 57 cards in all of Magic with this cost. But let’s further it down a bit. How about just rares and Mythic creatures? Now we’re down to 28. What could you possibly compare this to? The best options are probably Kokusho, the Evening Star and Ink Eyes, Servant of Oni. Both of these were incredibly powerful creatures, one of which could be snuck out for just five mana. But Grave Titan? This guy redefines what you get for a mere six mana. Whereas Broodmate Dragon gave you two 4/4 fliers, this time we’ve got a 6/6 Deathtouch that makes two 2/2 s when it comes into play? AKA 10 power for six mana? That’s Mono-Black? Is this guy real? An incredible reanimation target, he gives you fourteen power of dudes after swinging? Unreal!
But even Grave Titan can’t compare to the Green Titan…let’s get Primeval, ladies and gentlemen…
Primeval Titan
4GG
Mythic
Creature – Giant
Trample
Whenever Primeval Titan enters the battlefield or attacks, you may search your library for up to two land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
6/6
If you wanted to know what a chase Mythic looks like, feast your eyes peeps because this is how it’s done. This guy is ruh-dic-you-luss. There is no question. Getting a 6/6 trampling beatstick is one thing, but searching up dual Sejiri Steppes, two Eldrazi Temples and/or an Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin, two manlands, two Tectonic Edges, the list of amazing plays this guy makes is ridiculous. The only ‘drawback’ is they enter the battlefield tapped, and with the manlands and Steppes that’s something that was going to happen anyway.
To give you some perspective, look back at Reap and Sow, a card that saw serious standard play back in Mirrodin Standard in Tooth and Nail decks. This card cost 4GG entwined, put only one land in play with the bonus of destroying another. Now this was a fine card to find Urzatron pieces, but never did it give you a 6/6 trampler and two lands, whether they enter the battlefield tapped or not. Primeval Titan is already one of the most expensive cards in the set for a reason, and if you’re looking for incredible green cards, this is where I’d start.
But that’s not all. Green is completely stacked in this set. Last week I messed up the Garruk’s Companion plus Boar Umbra being a 6/5 instead of a 5/4. But that’s nothing. We’ve got Kodama’s Reach coming back as Cultivate, we’ve got the sickest Borderland Ranger ever in Elf form as Sylvan Ranger, and now we’ve got, as a rare and not a Mythic, the nuttiest two-drop this side of Lotus Cobra. Have you seen Fauna Shaman?
Fauna Shaman
1G
Rare
Creature – Elf Shaman
Discard a creature card: Search your library for a creature card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
2/2
You better be thanking your lucky stars this Survival of the Fittest on a stick isn’t Mythic, because this thing would be stupidly, stupidly expensive. Even as a rare, this thing will be sought after for years – yes, years – as the ability to do stupidly unfair things is pretty much guaranteed. For those unfamiliar with Survival of the Fittest, let me assure you, stupid things happened with that card and Recurring Nightmare in Standard, and they don’t give Flores bad previews. This card will see play and will impact your metagame. How about discarding Bloodghast to get, hell, I dunno, Grave Titan and then play a land and put Bloodghast onto the battlefield. But that’s just the beginning. Just look at how it interacts with Bill Stark preview, Squadron Hawk.
Oh man, if this thing doesn’t get the juices flowing, then you might want to check your pulse. There are all sorts of unfair things this card does, whether they’re simply using it to bring back Vengevine, playing it with Fauna Shaman on the battlefield in order to have three discardable creatures, or take a look at this play: Let’s say you’ve got Jace the Mind Sculptor in play. You Brainstorm and then play Squadron Hawk and get the other three copies, shuffling your deck. You Brainstorm again, put two of them back on top, play #3 and get the other two copies back and shuffle again, allowing you to see three more new cards.
Seriously, this innocuous common is insane and the possibilities are just incredible.
But are we done? Of course not! This core set is knocking them out of the park, and we’ve still got heavy hitters to come.
Next up is Temple Bell, a.k.a. The Card That Replaced Howling Mine. I for one think this card is brilliant. It “fixes” the problem with Howling Mine: Giving your opponent the first draw. Now you can instead just use it during their End Step, giving you and your opponent a card, but on your terms and allowing you to use the extra card first. Sure it’s Jace Beleren’s first ability, but what an ability it is! Mikokoro, Center of the Sea saw serious play a few years ago, and this one requires no activation cost and isn’t Legendary! I love this card and everyone who plays multiplayer will adore this card – finally, it won’t be destroyed before your next turn after everyone else gets a free card! Just wonderful design.
I can’t go over the spoilers from the past week without mentioning Mitotic Slime. Wow, another great Green card? I think so! This card is basically four power, guaranteed, and will remain that way until it dies…a lot. Yes, Path to Exile is still in the format, but I think it needs to be said that with Bloodthrone Vampire this is a five mana +14/+14 spell. Yeah, chew on that for a second. Or simply using Day of Judgment still gives you four power of guys on the field, devour creatures obviously love this guy, and he blocks like a champion all day long. Not a chase rare, but definitely a casual powerhouse, a Johnnies delight, and could see Constructed play. My kind of card.
How about an awesome card with some of the best flavor in the set? Say hello to Crystal Ball. I love this card and how it is basically the sickest Darksteel Pendant of all time. Going to just go ahead and call this now: This card will see constructed play. Just imagine the U/W Control mirror – he who has the Crystal Ball is going to win that game, I assure you. Now it may have to live in sideboards due to the speed of Standard, but this innocuous little artifact will be impacting metagames. It also goes along perfectly with Conundrum Sphinx. Awesome art and a hell of an ability. Some are calling this the most badass blue flier since Keiga or Meloku. While I don’t think it’s quite that good, you can imagine with Crystal Ball, Preordain, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor it won’t take much to make this guy say “attack and draw a card” while also seeing your opponent’s top card. Very nice.
Lastly, we gotta give some space to Phylactery Lich. Aw yeah, Liches! It’s on now! This Lich is straight from the streets, and requires a little pimpin’ setup. Would you say he has a pimp chalice? You could. What about a pimp rod – I mean, cane? But what’s a pimp cane without a pimp chain? Awww yeah. This Lich is straight gangster, and you need to know about it. Much like Vampire Nocturnus he won’t be good until Scars of Mirrodin when he’ll have plenty of targets to put his Phylactery counters on, but when he does…it’ll be pimpin’, I assure you.
So that’s the spoilers for this week, everybody… I hope you are having as much fun with ‘em as I am. This set has already bypassed M10 as my favorite core set of all time, and remember you can pre-order all of the cards I’ve mentioned this week on StarCityGames.com.
Until next time, Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards… so you don’t have to!
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
Community Manager, StarCityGames.com