Greetings from hot and sunny Virginia Beach! The wife, kids, and I are down here for the week, the first time the chirrun’ have seen the ocean and… well, let’s just say all that water and waves makes them very nervous. Aaron just turned six, and when the surf first started sucking back out to the ocean and he lost his footing and fell, he was not at all impressed. He’s spent the last two days at the very edge of where the water washes up the beach. He’s had a ball right there, but man – I can’t help but feel he could have had the exact same experience in a big sand lot somewhere closer to home. Anna Marie is a little better; she won’t go further than where the water is about waist deep on her, which means she stands right where the waves crash in. We can’t seem to convince her that if she just goes a few feet further out, it’s not really that much deeper and the waves don’t pound you nearly as much.
Yeah, we’ve got five more days of this, hee hee…
Anyway, let’s go ahead and wrap up this review of Eventide!
Beckon Apparition – {wb}
Instant (Common)
Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Put a 1/1 white and black Spirit creature token with flying into play.
Wow! I know, this isn’t exactly hugely powerful, and so long as Extirpate is available this likely won’t see much play on its black side, but still—back in the day Cremate saw some play, and this could certainly find a role combating a variety of strategies while giving a nice attached bonus. I think it pays also to think of this as a white or black Flying Man with Flash that has a “drawback” of requiring a card be removed in a graveyard from play.
Cauldron Haze – 1{bw}
Instant (Uncommon)
Choose any number of target creatures. Each of those creatures gains persist until end of turn.
I like this card a lot, it’s very much like yet another iteration of Momentary Blink, only requiring a creature to be on the way to the graveyard this turn. And it works on multiple creatures, so you can save your team from mass removal (barring dying from getting —1/-1 counters). Also, keep in mind you can randomly kill off creatures that have Mannequin counters on them too.
Deathbringer Liege – 2{wb}{wb}{wb}
Creature – Horror (Rare)
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1.
Other black creatures you control get +1/+1.
Whenever you play a white spell, you may tap target creature.
Whenever you play a black spell, you may destroy target creature if it is tapped.
3/4
I may be missing the boat, but I suspect this card is only going to see marginal play in Constructed tournaments, despite being able to generate card advantage with enough Black spells. This reminds me of Seedborn Muse, which also has a very powerful effect you’d be encouraged to build a deck around, but at the end of the day you’re paying five mana for a 3/4 creature. At least Deathbringer Liege isn’t vulnerable to Terror, or Nameless Inversion for that matter. If you’re hellbent on playing this Liege though, keep in mind that the important ability is triggered on black spells, which basically makes your opponent very leery of attacking with creatures that don’t have vigilance. Obviously having white/black gold or hybrid spells works best, but if you’re going to flesh out the deck with mono-White or mono-Black spells, lean more strongly on black.
Divinity of Pride – {wb}{wb}{wb}{wb}{wb}
Creature – Spirit Avatar (Rare)
Flying, lifelink
Divinity of Pride gets +4/+4 as long as you have 25 or more life.
4/4
I have a sneaking suspicion that this guy might end up seeing a good amount of play in any environment not overly infested with Stigma Lasher. Lifegain is really, really good nowadays, at it shouldn’t be too difficult to get this guy to up-size into a gigantic and evasive monster. Start with Kitchen Finks, mix in Primal Commands, and go from there. There is no racing this guy when he’s upsized!
Evershrike – 3{bw}{bw}
Creature – Elemental Spirit (Rare)
Flying
Evershrike gets +2/+2 for each Aura attached to it.
{X}{wb}{wb}: Return Evershrike from your graveyard to play. You may put an Aura card with converted mana cost X or less from your hand into play attached to it. If you don’t, remove Evershrike from the game.
2/2
Isn’t it interesting to think that Oona’s Prowler never got much play? It’s a 3-power flier for two mana, with a drawback that is not really much of a drawback, and can be actually very much a benefit in the right deck… for instance, in a deck that wants certain cards in the graveyard. Pitch this in the graveyard on turn 3 with Oona’s Prowler, then spend 3 mana to put this into play with, say, Edge of Divinity attached for a 7/7 flier. Is that worth all the trouble? I think… probably not, but I’m sure there are plenty of enterprising Johnnies out there already brewing up some Evershrike decks to prove the world wrong.
Pyrrhic Revival – 3{wb}{wb}{wb}
Sorcery (Rare)
Each player returns each creature card in his or her graveyard to play with a -1/-1 counter on it.
The old adage if it costs four or more mana it better win the game has long since expired in a post-Armageddon world, but when spells start pushing six mana or more the adage still applies. This is one of those spells that certainly applies with a little effort. First we had Living Death, then we had Twilight’s Call—which was still a bit expensive for that era, but it’s certainly very similar to this one. The first step to breaking this is to make sure your creatures have at least two toughness or some comes into play ability. Then you want to have some way to make sure you have more creatures in your graveyard than your opponent does, either by chowing down on their graveyard with something like Withered Wretch, or stocking yours heavily with… man, where’s Survival of the Fittest when you need it? This card nicely duplicates a mass Persist effect, so I can’t imagine Heartmender does not go in the same deck as Revival.
Stillmoon Cavalier – 1{bw}{bw}
Creature – Zombie Knight (Rare)
Protection from white and from black
{wb}: Stillmoon Cavalier gains flying until end of turn.
{wb}: Stillmoon Cavalier gains first strike until end of turn.
{wb}{wb}: Stillmoon Cavalier gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
2/1
Anyone who digs Haakon as much as I do perks up whenever we see a new knight hit the scene, and this one is certainly worth noting. I’m a little disappointed that it’s a rare, since this so parallels the classic “pump knights” of old which were commons and uncommons.
Unmake – {bw}{bw}{bw}
Instant (Common)
Remove target creature from the game.
I’ll agree with most people that this seems pretty damn good, more so for mono-White or near mono-White decks that can really use a no-strings-attached, no-conditions-attached direct removal spell, and like the Swords to Plowshares that White so sorely misses, this removes the offending creature from the game. Still can’t deal with Chameleon Colossus though, which is problematic.
Call the Skybreaker – 5{ur}{ur}
Sorcery (Rare)
Put a 5/5 red and blue Elemental creature token with flying into play.
Retrace (You may play this card from the graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
I’m torn on this card. For one thing, it’s awfully expensive, and I don’t think a 5/5 flier is going to necessarily put the game away, especially across formats where there will typically be plenty of 1/1 Faeries tokens clogging the air. On the other hand though… it strikes me as a great reason to run like a 27 land deck, with lots of control elements and this card as a finisher, providing a never ending supply of 5/5 fliers once you’ve exhausted your opponent’s deck.
Crag Puca – {ru}{ru}{ru}
Creature – Shapeshifter (Uncommon)
{ur}: Switch Crag Puca’s power and toughness until end of turn.
2/4
I only bring this up card up because every time I see it, I don’t see “Crag” I see “Craig.” So, Craig – what is your Puca and why does it switch power and toughness? [My Puca is pukka — Craig, amused.]
Crackleburr – 1{ur}{ur}
Creature – Elemental (Rare)
{ur}{ur}, {T}, Tap two untapped red creatures you control: Crackleburr deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
{ur}{ur}, {Q}, Untap two tapped blue creatures you control: Return target creature to its owner’s hand.
2/2
This is a weird card that again seems deceptive in its mediocrity… but get another two copies of Crackleburr (or Crackleburr and another Red/Blue creature) and those three creatures can totally dominate the board given enough mana. Keep in mind this can handle Chameleon Colossus, which is quite nice (though Oversoul is still problematic).
Dominus of Fealty – {ru}{ru}{ru}{ru}{ru}
Creature – Spirit Avatar (Rare)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may gain control of target permanent until end of turn. If you do, untap it and it gains haste until end of turn.
4/4
In the few months we have Greater Gargadon available, this card certainly has more value, but still, gaining control of a permanent is pretty darn powerful if its small 4/4 body sticks around long enough.
Nucklavee – 4{ru}{ru}
Creature – Beast (Uncommon)
When Nucklavee comes into play, you may return target red sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
When Nucklavee comes into play, you may return target blue instant card from your graveyard to your hand.
4/4
There’s that suspicious six mana cost, attached to a decided not game-winning effect. On the flip side, getting back two spells from your graveyard and getting a 4/4 in play is really not that bad a deal when you break it down. One thing I do want to make note of here is we now have the ability to “go off” with Warp World again!
Creakwood Liege – 1{gb}{gb}{gb}
Creature – Horror (Rare)
Other black creatures you control get +1/+1.
Other green creatures you control get +1/+1.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a 1/1 black and green Worm creature token into play.
2/2
I agree with some other reviewers that this card will likely be underrated until people start playing with him. A four mana 2/2 doesn’t bode too well, but cranking out 3/3 tokens each turn is impressive. I particularly think Evan Erwin opinion that this is right-sized for Reveillark nonsense is spot-on.
Deity of Scars – {gb}{gb}{gb}{gb}{gb}
Creature – Spirit Avatar (Rare)
Trample
Deity of Scars comes into play with two -1/-1 counters on it.
{bg}, Remove a -1/-1 counter from Deity of Scars: Regenerate Deity of Scars.
7/7
On the other hand, I’m not so sure about this one. Yeah, he’s huge (with a little work), and yeah, he tramples. He’s immune to Terror, which gives him a leg up on Spectral Force. But what bothers me most about all of the Green Demigods is that Green decks are the ones most likely to want to run both Treetop Village and Mutavault, a very potent combination of manlands. Mutavaults don’t play nice with spells that require five-colored mana, so I’m not so sure this card is better than other big beefy Green options that are easier to cast. Of course, if you’re building a Golgari/Creakwood Liege deck, this fellow is perfect.
Doomgape – 4{bg}{bg}{bg}
Creature – Elemental (Rare)
Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. You gain life equal to that creature’s toughness.
10/10
This is certainly a gigantic creature that is likely just a tiny bit too expensive for Constructed decks, outside of maybe a singleton to run out there with Soulstoke in Elementals for kicks. However, I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these for Elder Dragon Highlander – yeah, baby!! This fellow is large and in charge, and there are tons and tons of things you can do with that huge card pool to have fun with the sacrifice upkeep (Abyssal Gatekeeper, woot!).
Gift of the Deity – 4{bg}
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant Creature
As long as enchanted creature is black ,it gets +1/+1 and has deathtouch.
As long as enchanted creature is green , it gets +1/+1 and all creatures able to block it do so.
I just wanted to say, as a long-time player, this homage to the old Basilisk/Lure trick brings a smile to my face. So much so that I think I may even toss this in an occasional EDH deck too!
Hag Hedge-Mage – 2{bg}
Creature – Hag Shaman (Uncommon)
When Hag Hedge-Mage comes into play, if you control two or more swamps, you may have target player discard a card.
When Hag Hedge-Mage comes into play, if you control two or more forests, you may put target card in your graveyard on top of your library.
2/2
Okay, full disclosure: as a long-time fan of Golgari decks before they had a guild name, I may be a bit biased in this Green/Black hybrid section! So saying that I love this card may be a no-duh type of statement. However, I did want to point out that Green-based decks have the most potential to maximize their Hedge-Mages due to Green’s land-fixing ability like Rampant Growth and Search for Tomorrow. Of course, on the flip side, this card runs into a little bit of trouble with the whole Mutavault/Treetop Village non-basic package getting in the way. Still, the two effects attached to this fellow certainly make it worth the trouble.
Odious Trow – {bg}
Creature – Troll (Common)
{1}{bg}: Regenerate Odious Trow.
1/1
As a former English geek, I just wanted to say finding the word “Odious” on a Magic card pleases me immensely!
Quillspike – 2{bg}
Creature – Beast (Uncommon)
{bg}, Remove a -1/-1 counter from a creature you control: Quillspike gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
1/1
Quillspike certainly has a lot of people excited about the prospect of an infinite engine in Green decks, but the fact remains that this fellow is three mana for a 1/1 and requires another mana (and an available —1/-1 counter) to protect himself from all sorts of removal spells. Not to mention that his combo buddy is an 0/2. That’s not to say I’m not going to give him a try like everyone else, especially in my Shoo-fly deck, but I’m skeptical it will be anything more than something kinda cool and fun when you pull it off.
Sapling of Colfenor – 3{gb}{gb}
Legendary Creature – Treefolk Shaman (Rare)
Sapling of Colfenor is indestructible.
Whenever Sapling of Colfenor attacks, reveal the top card of your library. If it is a creature card, you gain life equal to that card’s toughness, lose life equal to its power, then put it into your hand.
2/5
If you’ve already got a Leaf-Crowned Elder built, then you’ve already got a good base to make use of this potent card. The more creatures you play in your deck the better this card gets, though you can make use of deck-stacking cards like Cream of the Crop (or, in older formats, Sensei’s Divining Top) to make the deck play more smoothly. Sapling complements Doran decks too, rewarding you playing high toughness creatures too. This card is yet another creature that helps blunt the power of sweeper spells like Wrath and Damnation (though obviously it gets swept aside like everything else from Hallowed Burial).
Worm Harvest – 2{bg}{bg}{bg}
Sorcery (Rare)
Put a 1/1 black and green Worm creature token into play for each land card in your graveyard.
Retrace (You may play this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
In Floresian terms, this here card is a flagship sure to get all the Johnnies out there salivating. While it’s going to be a no-brainer in Extended Loam Retrace decks, I was thinking there was a perfect complement to this card in Block Constructed – Scapeshift! It’s perfectly costed to hit the turn before you’d want to cast your Harvest, stocks the graveyard with four or more lands, and fixes your mana and/or searches up some number of Mutavaults or Treetop Villages. I’m thinking something like this:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Raven’s Crime
3 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Tilling Treefolk
4 Scapeshift
4 Chameleon Colossus
4 Worm Harvest
3 Profane Command
4 Mutavault
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Twilight Mire
5 Forest
9 Swamp
I’m figuring 26 lands gives you the opportunity to use the Retrace ability of Raven’s Crime early, then get use of your turn 3 or turn 4 Tilling Treefolk to get the land(s) back, and then set things up for the big Scapeshift into Worm Harvest. I’m not so sure that making a bunch of 1/1 dudes with no evasion is worth the trouble, and I’d like to run Creakwood Liege instead of Colossus, but then I’d be pretty much sunk to an opposing Colossus.
Balefire Liege – 2{rw}{rw}{rw}
Creature – Spirit Horror (Rare)
Other red creatures you control get +1/+1.
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1.
Whenever you play a red spell, Balefire Liege deals 3 damage to target player.
Whenever you play a white spell, you gain 3 life.
2/4
I know this guy is built for a Red/White deck, but I’m kinda thinking this guy fits nicely into a Red burn deck chock full of Red spells that each get a bonus Bolt to the dome attached. Ouch!
Figure of Destiny – {rw}
Creature – Kithkin (Rare)
{rw}: Figure of Destiny becomes a 2/2 Kithkin Spirit.
{rw}{rw}{rw}: If Figure of Destiny is a Spirit, it becomes a 4/4 Kithkin Spirit Warrior.
{rw}{rw}{rw}{rw}{rw}{rw}: If Figure of Destiny is a Warrior, it becomes an 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with flying and first strike.
1/1
I feel a bit dumb to have missed this when I was doing my set review for Scrye, but that was back before anyone else was talking about this card in public. My initial impression was, wow – that’s an awful lot of mana to spend in order to crank it up to being an 8/8 badass. It didn’t occur to me that this was like an improved Pouncing Jaguar With Options, and options are very nice to have! Of course, I do feel bad for the DCI judges around the world trying to explain how this card interacts with Mirrorweave…
Nobilis of War – {rw}{rw}{rw}{rw}{rw}
Creature – Spirit Avatar (Rare)
Flying
Attacking creatures you control get +2/+0.
3/4
While I probably won’t be playing this card because it’s not my style or in the colors I tend to favor, I certainly think it certainly will prove to be a powerful addition to aggressive red or white creature decks. It’s not a bad thing to top off your curve with, immediately giving a big power boost to all your previously cast attackers, and then next turn being able to join in the attack and evasively hit for five.
Rise of the Hobgoblins – {rw}{rw}
Enchantment (Rare)
When Rise of the Hobgoblins comes into play, you may pay {X}. If you do, put X 1/1 red and white Goblin Soldier creature tokens into play.
{rw}: red creatures and white creatures you control gain first strike until end of turn.
When I was talking about my Aggro Zur deck and looking for enchantments from Eventide that would be worth trying out, I totally overlooked this gem, which seems like a decent one-of to fetch up with Zur when you have more need of a bunch of ground pounders as opposed to Knollspine Invocation. At first glance, I thought the activated ability only gave Soldiers first strike, but hey – it gives Zur and Doran first strike!
Spitemare – 2{rw}{rw}
Creature – Elemental (Uncommon)
Whenever Spitemare is dealt damage, Spitemare deals that much damage to target creature or player.
3/3
I have always been a fan of Mogg Maniac in multiplayer games, and this is just a big Mogg Maniac. It can even be better than that in modern Standard or Block, as this makes a great trick to pull with Soulstoke, dropping this in front of, say, an attacking Cloudthresher. It can even give you more mileage from Firespout, doubling the damage to kill off a creature that may otherwise survive.
Cold-Eyed Selkie – 1{gu}{gu}
Creature – Merfolk Rogue (Rare)
Islandwalk
Whenever Cold-Eyed Selkie deals combat damage to a player, you may draw that many cards.
1/1
I’m not so sure about this one either… if Ohran Viper is having trouble seeing Constructed play, I think that bodes badly for this fellow. There is certainly a lot of potential with power-boosting effects, and its creature types are helpful, but it seems like the best thing this card will end up being is a potent card to bring in against Merfolk decks (especially in mirror matches).
Groundling Pouncer – 1{gu}
Creature – Faerie (Uncommon)
{ug}: Groundling Pouncer gets +1/+3 and gains flying until end of turn. Play this ability only once each turn and only if an opponent controls a creature with flying.
2/1
I like this fellow, he obviously has the right power to mana-cost ratio, and his ability is very nice and, in effect, makes him near unblockable except against the larger of foes. However, I can’t help but wish he could have ramped up to four power so that he’d be able to take down a Mistbind Clique.
Murkfiend Liege – 2{gu}{gu}{gu}
Creature – Horror (Rare)
Other green creatures you control get +1/+1.
Other blue creatures you control get +1/+1.
Untap all green and/or blue creatures you control during each other player’s untap step.
4/4
That extra point of power makes this fellow a fine threat on his own, and Blue and Green are chock full of tap abilities, starting with Merfolk Looter and going from there.
Overbeing of Myth – {gu}{gu}{gu}{gu}{gu}
Creature – Spirit Avatar (Rare)
Overbeing of Myth’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in your hand.
At the beginning of your draw step, draw a card.
*/*
Like the Green/Black Demigod, I’m concerned about this guy conflicting with Green’s strength in running both Treetop Village and Mutavault. However, being able to draw an extra card every turn is very powerful. This card makes me wish Greater Good was still around in Standard, letting me take another crack at Marogeyser! I still think this has some potential regardless, in something like this:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (25)
Spells (15)
I’ve been kicking around the idea of a Blue/Green Planeswalker deck with Savor the Moment, since the Planeswalkers help “break” the Time Walk by giving you more you can do despite not having extra mana (unless Garruk is there to help you out). Overbeing of Myth seems to fit this perfectly, taking advantage of the extra upkeep. Garruk being able to give your Overbeing trample is nice synergy too, especially if you can pull that off right after resolving a Flow of Ideas with a sacrificed Flask for Islands. I cooked this deck up right after Overbeing of Myth was previewed, but I’m sure a more linear Simic-style deck chock full of cantrip effects could be another approach to Overbeing of Myth. I’m also intrigued with trying out Spitting Image on Overbeing of Myth too!
Snakeform – 2{gu}
Instant (Common)
Target creature loses all abilities and becomes a 1/1 green Snake until end of turn.
Draw a card.
I’m not quite as high on this as Evan seems to be, since you’ve got to have a few things go right in order for this to function as removal (i.e. the creature you want to get rid of needs to either attack or block, and you’ve got to have a creature in play to attack or block with, and have three mana up). That said, it is helpful to have something that can handle Chameleon Colossus if the conditions are right, and making it a cantrip is doubly good.
Spitting Image – 4{ug}{ug}
Sorcery (Rare)
Put a token into play that’s a copy of target creature.
Retrace (You may play this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
I really like this card a lot, especially in a Green deck since Green has the ability to manipulate lands to take advantage of Retrace, and being able to copy stuff is pretty handy and outside of what Green normally does. Plus Green has the mana acceleration to make this six-cost spell accessible. I mentioned running this to copy Overbeing of Myth above, and there are nice things like Masked Admirers or any of the Lords that can start pumping each other. I’m going to snag these while they’re cheap!
Scarecrone – 3
Artifact Creature – Scarecrow (Rare)
{1}, Sacrifice a Scarecrow: Draw a card.
{4}, {T}: Return target artifact creature card from your graveyard to play.
1/2
This is a weird thing, and seems intriguing for its ability to sac changelings to draw cards, but it can’t recur them and there aren’t too many decent genuine Scarecrows to reasonably set this up. It’s possible that just running four of these things and using them as an engine unto themselves is worth doing.
Ward of Bones — 6
Artifact (Rare)
Each opponent who controls more creatures than you can’t play creature cards. The same is true for artifacts, enchantments and lands.
I’m of the opinion that somebody somewhere is going to break this in half, and remind all of us the huge annoyance of do-nothing lock decks.
Okay, all of the filter lands are incredibly good, especially the enemy colored ones so there’s no need to go over each of ‘em.
Springjack Pasture
Land (Rare)
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{4}, {T}: Put a 0/1 white Goat creature token into play.
{T}, Sacrifice X Goats: Add X mana of any one color to your mana pool. You gain X life.
This card is weird, and certainly seems underpowered as a token generator, though I’m guessing there might be some value putting it in a deck with a fair number of Changelings. Of course, if somebody is making a funky Springjack Shepherd deck then this card is a no-brainer.
That concludes my thoughts on Eventide. While I agree there aren’t as many Holy-Moley-Golly-Gee-Wiz! cards in this set as compared to some of the others of late, I also think there are a lot of overlooked potential that will only reveal itself to those who dig deep and give the cards a try.
As I type this, my daughter is eager to get back to our vacation, so I’ll wrap this up now. Today we’re staying out of the sun after spending all day yesterday getting various shades of brown and red. See you next week!
Bennie
starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com