With the Wilds of Eldraine Limited Arena Open coming up this weekend, I’m hoping to equip your brain with some extra knowledge to help you gain an edge on the competition! As is tradition, the cards discussed will be limited to common and uncommon rarity.
If you’re on the lookout for drawing lots of cards, look no further. If you’re able to get a few rats into play by the mid-game, Twisted Sewer-Witch can make them all a bit wicked – drawing cards for each Rat! Keep in mind that both Lord Skitter’s Butcher and Voracious Vermin are Rats!
This is a combo I was fortunate to discover at my prerelease (with Virtue of Courage to boot). As the creator and sole member of the Vent Sentinel fan club, I had high hopes for Unruly Catapult in this set.
The Princess Takes Flight was a card that I overlooked before the set was released, mainly because I didn’t realize that chapter three triggers the return of the exiled creature – meaning that you can exile an opponent’s creature outright, so long as you destroy the evidence before the final chapter. There are a myriad of options available, as anything with the bargain mechanic can get the job done. Stockpiling Celebrant is one of the best options, as you get to play the saga again, and get a bonus scry 2! That’s value worth celebrating.
Merfolk Coralsmith doesn’t see much play (which is justified in my opinion), but there is a cute trick you can do with any Young Hero role. You can keep growing the Merfolk by reducing its toughness under four each time it attacks! Not the most powerful interaction, but under the right circumstances, it can be!
Return Triumphant has impressed me so far in aggressive white decks, preferably Boros with Witch’s Mark. While there are lots of great options to combine with Return Triumphant, Ash, Party Crasher is a favorite because it will trigger celebration, becoming a 4/4 haste the turn it comes into play!
Combining Twice the Rage with Monstrous Rage will make your creature very angry, and do a pretty good Embercleave impersonation in the process. This combination of cards will steal games out of nowhere, similarly to Embercleave.
Casting Bubble Up with Johann in play will allow you to cast the spell from the top of your deck in the same turn. Value!
Gingerbrute does so many things well this set and often gets a good amount of damage through. Combining Gingerbrute with a firebreathing effect like Dragon Mantle can end games fairly quickly, if the opponent can’t catch the gingerbread man!
While Icewrought Sentry have underperformed my initial expectations, it still can pack a punch, due to the +2/+1 trigger’s ability to stack. With the tap ability Icewrought Sentry provides on attack, casting Succumb to the cold will make this cold soldier an 8/6, provided they have enough creatures to tap.
The classic Threaten–Fling combo still lives on in Wilds of Eldraine. Eriette’s Tempting Apple’s are still being picked late, so it’s not too hard to snag one. If you somehow can’t win after this sequence, the apple can Lava Spike them afterward. Twisted Fealty is another threaten card to combine with Callous Sell-Sword, though I see them far less often.
A great way to ruin a picnic is putting three counters on Territorial Witchstalker, making it a 6/6 attacker by turn four!
While Threadbind Clique works well with any of the tap cards, Bitter Chill is a nice option because you can get the scry 1 plus draw when the creature is destroyed!
For three mana, you can kill almost any creature, (or at least any creature without buffs), while still having two creatures to cast! Rat Out also plays nicely with the Curse role in similar fashion.
Sometimes it’s difficult for the Stingblade Assassin to line up the way you want it to. Not Dead After All will allow the Assassin to do the combat damage itself, then come back from the dead as a 4/2 and kill the opponent’s creature, wicked!
There’s still plenty more to discover with Wilds of Eldraine, and I intend to do just that!
Until next time – Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!