In less than one week, we will all have Alara Reborn in our grubby little mitts. Hundreds of thousands – probably millions – of packs of all-gold goodness will have been cracked, processed, and built into forty-card decks, and battle will have been waged on tabletops across the world. There is, I think, literally no other pair of days that have more Magic being played.
It’s an exciting thought – to think about the number of people who are playing the same creature, attacking their opponent, winning their match at the same time you are. Magic truly is a global game.
The Clamps Are On
As I’ve mentioned before, it looks like there’s another possible “excitement” aspect for Alara Reborn – the unknown. Wizards is clamped down solidly on the rumors and spoiled cards in a way unlike any set before it. Right now, under half of the set is known, and most of those have been through official Wizards channels.
Luckily, while the first portion of the leaked cards were mostly mythics and rares, now we’re starting to get a glimpse at some of the commons and uncommons that will make up the bulk of the set. And Wizards appears to be continuing to push the power envelope, even with the commons and uncommons.
Which I think is exactly what everyone was hoping for.
So let’s have a look at some of the big-impact commons that have been spoiled so far!
Ronom Unicorn Is So Overrated
The common that I think will see the most play right out of the box is Qasali Pridemage. Maindeckable enchantment and artifact removal in bear form has been played before, with both Viridian Zealot and Ronom Unicorn, but mostly from the sideboard. So what makes Qasali Pridemage so special?
Qasali Pridemage — GW
Creature – Cat Shaman (C)
Exalted
1: Sacrifice Qasali Pridemage: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
An elder in one pride, of the Sigiled caste in another.
2/2
The downside to siding in Ronom Unicorn or Viridian Zealot is, what happens if your opponent never draws their backbreaking enchantment? Against Faeries, for example: Is Ronom Unicorn anything special when your opponent doesn’t play a turn 2 Bitterblossom? Swinging him in increases the likelihood that your opponent will block when advantageous, killing him immediately before dropping the enchantment that he would have killed.
Qasali Pridemage is useful beyond his ability to blow up enchantments and artifacts (something Ronom Unicorn couldn’t do in any case), and beyond his mad combat skillz on his own. That Exalted keyword has proven to be very beneficial on creatures like Noble Hierarch, turning a “utility” creature into a benevolent participant in combat. So even if your opponent has no enchantments or artifacts, but DOES have a beefy blocker, your Pridemage will add his strength to the biggest attacker you have.
Of course, there will be other Exalted creatures in this set, like this rumored big boy:
Sigiled Behemoth – 4GW
Creature – Beast (C)
Exalted
5/4
(All rumors courtesy of MTGsalvation.)
Alara Reborn looks to be doubling up the Shard themes, which means this guy fits into a nice Bant Exalted curve just as well as he does a Naya 5-Matters deck. He’ll be a nice addition to Limited, and appears to certainly be playable. Similarly, the 1/3 Ethercaste Knight for UW combines the Bant Exalted mechanic with the artifact-creature theme from Esper. Alara Reborn has not only figured out how to combine the Shards, but also how to get their mechanics to interact.
Cycles Reborn
Alara Reborn appears to be relying heavily on cycles for the common slots. The mothership recently previewed the cycle of Borderposts, which are sort of like taplands that you can use to accelerate yourself out to five or six mana if you pulled them later.
Wildfield Borderpost – 1GW
Artifact (C)
You may pay 1 and return a basic land you control to its owner’s hand rather than pay Wildfield Borderpost’s mana cost.
Wildfield Borderpost comes into play tapped.
T: Add G or W to your mana pool.
There’s a cycle of these, one for each allied-color pair. It’s a clever way to get around the all-gold gimmick to include “land-ish” cards. Obviously they’re not actual LANDS, but they’ll work in that capacity for your Limited decks.
And, you know, I’m not entirely convinced they won’t see some Constructed play. Much in the same way that the Ravnica bouncelands helped to ensure you hit land drops, the Borderposts will let you “skip” your first land drop without shorting your mana production. Sure, the bouncelands give you two mana, but the Borderposts give you the option of using them as “not a land” in the middle stages of the game, letting you cheat the “one land per turn” rule a little bit.
Artifact mana acceleration has been around for a long time, but I like this take on it. It probably won’t replace Mind Stone as the go-to choice until we see if it’s still around after Magic 2010, but the fact that they’re commons will give budget players some more options when building two- and three-color decks.
But that’s not the only cycle that’s contained in Alara Reborn. The mothership has also given us a look at two of the double-land-cyclers, and I think that’s probably a cycle (no pun intended) with three more cards in it.
Igneous Pouncer – 4BR
Creature – Elemental (C)
Haste
Swampcycling 2, mountaincycling 2
5/1
Another set of solid Limited guys that keep giving you options, which is what Limited is really all about. The nice thing is that the cycling cost is all generic – they’re kind of like the opposite of the Conflux land cyclers; rather than a colored cycling cost for any basic land, these guys have colorless cycling cost for specific lands. It may be important to keep in mind that this does NOT have to be a basic land when building with these in Constructed; if you want to use this guy to fetch a Leechridden Swamp, that works. And it may become more important when we see what Magic 2010’s rumored “dual lands” look like.
Enemy of the Cycle
Another cycle that looks possible is a complement to the enemy-color uncommon cycle from Shards that included Tidehollow Sculler, Necrogenesis, and Swerve – only these are commons. Again, the focus is on showcasing how enemy color’s signature mechanics work together.
Cerodon Yearling – RW
Creature – Beast (C)
Haste, vigilance
2/2
I really like this guy. 2/2 for 2 is much more aggressive than his big Bull brother. I’m trying to think if I’d like him in a budget version of Boat Brew in place of those expensive Figures; he attacks for the same damage on turn 2, and you’ve still gotten a mana to spend on something relevant, like a Mogg Fanatic or a Tattermunge Maniac.
Putrid Leech – BG
Creature – Leech (C)
Pay 2 life: Putrid Leech gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Play this ability only once each turn.
2/2
Here’s another undercosted “bear” with a great ability. Two-casting-cost creatures with power that can become greater than their casting cost are generally welcomed in aggressive decks (see entries Goyf, Tarmo and Mongrel, Wild) – and while it may seem that the ability offers some form of parity (2 life for 2 of your opponent’s life), the ability to bulk up in critter-on-critter combat or in response to damage-based removal makes him a hard guy to kill. (Especially since he’s black and immune to Terror.)
I’m looking forward to seeing the cards that finish out this cycle, as these two guys are great and will occupy potential spots in my decks in the immediate future.
It’s Not All About Creatures
Alara Reborn doesn’t appear to be all about efficient creatures, though – Wizards is pushing the power level of the spells too. Before I look at the less-rare spells, did you SEE that Echoing Vindicate, Maelstrom Purge? Absolutely ridiculous. Denver PTQ player and consummate Elf pilot Jon Dorsey must be foaming at the mouth to get a hold of these. I wonder how many times players will mistakenly play two of the same creature, only to see them washed away in the Maelstrom, before they start playing around it?
Here’s some more spells you’re a little more likely to see in your Sealed pool this weekend.
Colossal Might – RG
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +4/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
A solid combination of Red and Green’s contributions to pump spells. Trample is a good shared ability, and the power pump being bigger than the toughness pump is clearly red’s contribution to this guy. I see this and I think about Sigil Blessing and how it always seems to wreck what I think is “fair combat” – and I expect this will do the same. Interesting to note that I actually think I’d prefer this over Might of Alara, were I building a deck that took advantage of the double-strikers in the format – it means it’s less likely that you’re foiled by a stream of chump blockers.
Bolt of intimidation – 1RW
Instant (U)
Bolt of Intimidation deals 3 damage to target creature. Other creatures can’t attack this turn.
Back when I played Legend of the Five Rings, there were two cards that pretty much dominated combat: Counterattack and Rallying Cry. In L5R, you don’t tap all your attacking creatures until the end of combat. If you attacked with a large military force, Counterattack could prove your downfall, as it allowed your opponent to have an immediate attack phase back at you. Rallying Cry prevented your troops from tapping at the end of combat, thereby making it less likely that you’d be attacked back – and also meaning you’d be less likely to commit to an all-out attack without a Rallying Cry in your hand.
Bolt of Intimidation works in a similar way, I think, and will probably function the same way out of the sideboard for aggro mirror matches. Bolt of Intimidation means that you can’t be alpha-striked back after you commit a large force to attacking – but it also might mean that you’ll become less adventurous without that Bolt in your hand.
I think it’s interesting to note, too, that as currently spoiled, it doesn’t prevent the targeted creature from attacking, so if you have some way to save it (like, say, by that Colossal Might from above), it at least can still attack.
Brainbite – 2UB
Sorcery (C)
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a card from it. That player discards that card.
Draw a card.
Sort of a Probe Light, without the option of not paying the kicker. Okay, not really. It’s like a Coercion with “Kicker U – draw a card.” I mean, if you were going to play Kicker Coercion, you’d always pay the kicker, so it’s sort of like that.
The only problem is that we play Thoughtseize now instead of Coercion, and even if I was picking a discard card to replace Thoughtseize for budget reasons, I’d go to Distress at two mana before I hit Brainbite for four mana.
Crystallization – {g/u}W
Enchantment – Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can’t attack or block.
When enchanted creature is the target of a spell or ability, remove it from the game.
An interesting Pacifism variant that allows, ultimately, for complete removal at some future point. The triggered execution is available through a number of cards that see play in these colors – Scepter of Dominance-based control decks will probably love it, as it acts as another tool to keep creatures out of combat that doubles as actual removal for creatures with abilities that make trouble away from combat.
Soul Manipulation
1UB
Instant – Common
Choose one or both — Counter target creature spell; and/or return target creature card in your graveyard to your hand.
I think this is actually a tool Faeries might use. MIGHT. I am a hater of Faeries, but it seems like countering a guy and getting back even a Vendilion Clique might be worth three mana – never mind recurring Mistbind Cliques or Sowers.
Get Out There And Reborn Yourself
That’s all you get from me before this weekend’s big Prerelease events. As you know, I am a huge believer that the Prerelease is the funnest event Wizards has on its schedule all year long. Yeah, I said “funnest.” It’s a word. So I of course think each and every one of you should get out there and experience Alara Reborn this weekend, whether it’s at your local shop, or one of the big PTO-run events like the one StarCityGames.com is running. The set looks like a blast, and we know less than half of the cards.
I’ll be attending the event run by Front Range Magic up in Denver. Level 4 judge Scott Marshall runs an excellent event, and this will give me an excuse to get out with the guys and have some Mongolian BBQ after the fact. If you’re heading in to the Mile High City, feel free to come up and introduce yourself!
Until next week…
Dave
dave dot massive at gmail and facebook and twitter