Gavin Verhey used today’s episode of Good Morning Magic to unveil the opening of two set booster packs from Zendikar Rising and in the process previewed green’s latest mythic elemental creature — Ashaya, Soul of the Wild!
Verhey posted a previous video detailing the contents and what could be opened in set boosters, but finally showed us how the actual packs look with the physical products. He was limited to opening two packs, but got to show off how the themed commons and uncommons can tie together along with art cards (signed and unsigned), a landfall showcase frame common, as well as a card off The List (Parallax Wave).
Verhey’s first rare was Riverglide Pathway, which was previewed yesterday, but the show-stealer was the second pack’s mythic rare from green.
This legendary Elemental is a great payoff for ramping or going wide, both of which are things green likes to do. With power and toughness equal to the number of lands you control, Ashaya can be huge just from ramping as many lands onto the battlefield as possible. The second ability gives the card more flexibility.
Nontoken creatures you control are Forest lands in addition to their other types. (They’re still affected by summoning sickness.)
By going wide with nontokens you get to have extra Forests and buff Ashaya to keep the party rolling. It looks to be a good teammate for Omnath, Locus of Creation and the potential for the beginning of an Elemental deck in Zendikar Rising Standard.
