Zendikar – Archmage Ascension Exclusive Preview!

I am writing a special segment of Innovations today to unveil my first ever exclusive preview card, Archmage Ascension. I have been writing for years, but have been writing my reviews of upcoming new cards primarily based on reading information over at MTGSalvation. This time around, I am psyched to be trying something new, a preview card of my own.

Zendikar is less than a month away, and it is looking sweet. For more on my thoughts on the cards already spoiled, as well as the implications of some of the important elements of Zendikar such as the high concentration of tournament powerhouse mythics, check out my regular column today.

Zendikar is going to be a great set to open and will shake up every format from Standard to Vintage, from Extended to EDH. Some of the cards already spoiled will force people to rethink the most broken Eternal formats. Others will be solid role-players in Standard. I personally think it is generally better for the game as a whole when there are cards printed for each audience in each set.

My card today is one such card. It will probably not revolutionize constructed PTQ formats, but it has some intriguing possibilities, and it may actually possess subtle strengths and opportunities. Without further ado…

Let’s break down what we are looking at here. The pay-off is obvious, as being able to Demonic Tutor whenever you would draw a card is an absurdly powerful effect, but at what cost? Is living the dream a possibility?

Obviously 2U is not much, but having to wait six turns is a long time. I mean, if the card was 2U: Suspend – 6, it would be much better than this, as it would be as though you are always triggering the quest counters, and even that would not likely shake up many Constructed formats, on account of the long wait before producing an effect.

So is Archmage Ascension just too unwieldy? Quite the contrary. First of all, the applications for multiplayer games are obvious. I mean, it is not hard to imagine an EDH game where the dream is nearly inevitable. The thing about multiplayer games (as in 3 or more people) is that more people involved tend to make the games take much longer, so effects that build over time are of greater value.

The second reason this card is so good in that setting is that it is far more likely that you could actually draw two cards in a turn six times without the game already being decided. Finally, there is a subtle strength to Archmage Ascension in that it does not appear to exert an impact on the board, allowing its controller to stay under the radar as they slowly build up Quest Counters, at which point they obtain the incredibly fun ability to draw whatever they want whenever they want (which will presumably be more than one card a turn, given that they have already triggered the Ascension six times).

This payoff is not just potentially game-winning, it is a heck of a lot of fun. No matter how crazy a deck you are playing, if you can draw whatever you want whenever you want, your power is unbelievable and you have so much ability to sculpt whatever sort of game or situation you want. Sometimes it is not just enough to win the game… you want to be truly epic, to have power the likes of which others tell stories about that one time you did that one thing…

Notice that Archmage Ascension triggers at the end of every turn, so if you are playing a six player game, you could in theory trigger it every turn so that when you get back to your turn, you will have ascended. The trick, of course, is actually triggering it.

See, Archmage Ascension is not just 2U: Suspend – 6. You have to actually draw at least two cards in a turn, which is no small feat. How to best achieve this? Well, obviously a Howling Mine or Jace-like effect let’s you trigger each of your turns, and that may be the more realistic approach for Constructed, but in a multiplayer game, I think we can afford to be a bit more ambitious. Of course cards like Brainstorm, Thirst for Knowledge, Frantic Search, and so on are each good for a Quest Counter, but the dream is to have access to some permanent that lets you draw two cards at once, even if it means discarding two, or putting two back, or some other such drawback.

For instance, a series of Looters works perfectly, as does Compulsion and other effects. Sylvan Library is a free trigger during each of your turns, but trick is finding good ways to activate it during each of your opponent’s turns. Keep a close eye out for cards that with a cheap activation that allow you to fulfill the draw 2 requirement each turn. Cycling Lands with Life from the Loam, for instance, lets you easily meet the requirements. Having a variety of cantrips and cycling cards, in fact, can easily leads to situations where you naturally trigger the Ascension without much effort.

Imagine Street Wraiths, Mishra’s Baubles, Edge of Autumn, Fire/Ice, Cryptic Command, Decree of Justice, and so on all lead to situations where you might naturally “get there.” Add in Merfolk Looters, Sylvan Library, Gush, and you are starting to talk about a lot of ways to naturally trigger the Ascension without bending over backwards.

The key to a plan like this is a politicking. You have to fly under the radar and avoid too much attention, because you will be vulnerable during the time you spend building up the quest. Even once you trigger it, you are going to want to fill your hand with protection to start with to make sure that your iron grip on the game never slips.

As you can see, there is certainly a ton of potential to explore Archmage Ascension in the casual realm, but what about Standard? Well, I will admit, at first, I thought that it was just too long of a wait to be playable in a format as potentially aggressive as Standard. I tried to think about the card from the perspective of “what would it take to make it work” (Back-Front Thinking) and to my surprise, there is actually a deceptive amount of play to the card. It asks a fair amount of you, no question, but the pay-off is very high, so the question becomes, just how much work are we talking?

Well, to begin with, drawing two cards during your turn is a relatively easy feat, whether it is by way of Howling Mine or Jace, or any other card drawer, or perhaps with some kind of Tome, Cantrip, etc.

I know I will be keeping a close eye in Zendikar for a good way to trigger this, as I don’t put it past WotC R&D to slip a sweet combo in there for an enterprising deck builder to find. The key is to avoid a “win-more” situation.

The real trick is going to finding ways to trigger on your opponent’s turns, which is much tougher in Standard than in powered formats. Looter-type effects would work well, but they are vulnerable to creature elimination. Esper Charm is a natural combo, of course, but even just cycling Angel’s Song, Architects of Will, or Glassdusk Hulk can go a long way.

Realistically, it may just be that this card doesn’t help you as much as a Jace would, but I could imagine sitting behind a series of Wall of Denials protecting you from attackers like Bloodbraid Elf and Vampire Lacerator.

Meanwhile, you can cycle enough cards to trigger the Ascension in three to four turns, at which point, you will surely take complete control of the game.

It is interesting to me that all of the combos with Archmage Ascension interact so well with Lorescale Coatl. If you are going to go to all the trouble of playing a ton of cyclers, cantrips, and tomes, why not get paid in other ways too?

One possibility to explore is that of some sort of Pseudo-Time Sieve/Turbo Fog deck.

The existing shell already incorporates Howling Mine, maybe Jace, Kaledistones, Angel’s Song, Glassdusk Hulk, and more. Plus, this is certainly a deck that would like to Demonic Tutor instead of draw cards. In fact, I would venture that if you can set up the Ascension, you will probably be taking all of the turns from here on out.

Deploying an early Ascension would not actually require you to immediately complete the Quest, as you could actually just try to advance it when convenient, while you build up your board. Triggering it on each of your turns is relatively easy, and occasionally you can trigger it on an opponent’s turn with some timely cycling.

The trick? With your Time Warps and Time Sieves, you will often be in a position where you will just have to get the Ascension to three, then quickly take a couple turns, even if it means losing most of your board. You will get a Quest Counter each turn, and if you can just complete the Quest, you will obviously be “all the way off.”

Is this what the Time Sieve deck is looking for? It is going to take a lot of creative deck builders building a lot of creative decks (most of which will probably be horrible) to find out, but it is a mission that is thoroughly enjoyable, because when you find that busted combo deck… well, there is very little quite like it!

Zendikar has a lot of new mechanics, from Landfall to Traps, Allies to Quests, and I personally, am planning on contemplating each and every Quest, at least for a moment, as there is a lot of potential there.

Is Archmage Ascension a “Win-More Card?” Maybe, but it might not be, and that is an important distinction. The majority of cards turn out to not be the top tier cards, and combo cards are particularly volatile, as it is a very fine line between “What you are doing is insane” and “What you are doing is INSANE!”

Zendikar is quickly proving to be a particularly sweet set with a lot to learn about it. As far as Archmage Ascension goes, it will only be by the efforts of creative deck builders everywhere that we find out if it has what it takes to break through to the mainstream. There is a good chance it won’t…

… But they said the same thing about Time Sieve.

Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”