MTGCommander.net got the honor of showing off the first spoilers for Planechase 2 that really have nothing to do with Planechase at all! They are fantastic new additions to Commander though thanks to some absurd casting costs and even better abilities.
Krond the Dawn-Clad is an interesting choice thanks to an absurdly unsplashable casting cost. As a white-green commander, I love anyone who plays well with Armadillo Cloak and this guy certainly does. The combination of offensive and defensive capabilities makes me very interested in him, but I’m not sure he has enough to make him a top tier Commander.
For multiplayer though, I love how this guy works in reanimating decks thanks to the simple fact that Animate Dead is an aura.
Vela the Night-Clad looks an awful lot like a shadow priestess I used to run in World of Warcraft. The evasion combined with mass evasion makes me very interested, but I really love her final ability. It triggers whenever someone leaves the battlefield which is very interesting when combined with ninjitsu and phasing (who expected those abilities to ever be paired up). Add in the rise of flickering effects from Avacyn Restored and I’m very interested in seeing what this card can do.
This brings the Planechase 2 visual spoiler up to four cards in all.
With the release of Planechase 2 just a matter of weeks away, it’s about time the spoilers have started being revealed. It’s been almost six months since we saw or heard anything on the set when Wizards showed off these two cards:
But now there are some new things being leaked left and right. MTGSalvation is the source for four potentially leaked cards:
Legendary Ninja 3UUBB
Ninjustu 2UUBB
When ~ deals damage to a player, look at that players and hand and cast an instant or sorcery spell from it.
7/6Mana Rock 3
Artifact
T: Add one mana of any colour
T: Roll the planer DiceNew card with cascade is a 2/2 for 1GU
UB artifact creature
Deathtouch, flying
When ETB, draw a card
1/1
There there is the newest Planechase Promo! If Tazeem is any indicator, get this one while you can!
Stairs to Infinity
Plane – Xerex
Players have no maximum hand size.
Whenever you roll the planar die, draw a card.
Whenever you roll chaos, reveal the top card of your planar deck. You may put it on the bottom of your planar deck.
With Planechase 2 being similar to Commander, we will only be tracking new cards spoiled. This includes 21 new cards, 32 new Planes and 8 new Phenomena. You can find out 61 card visual spoiler here.
This is not a review per say. This is more a chronicle of an experience. Within the realm of board gaming there is a sector of epic games. Games that require far more effort and time than your normal table top experience. Opportunities to play these games are few and far between, but when they arise, they should be seized. What follows is an account of one of those gaming sessions. Tom recently spent 14 hours in Azeroth, hunting down Illidan Stormrage and testing his gaming fortitude to the limits.
After a marathon session of World of Warcraft (WoW) did you ever sit back and ask yourself how the game could be improved? Did any of your answers include doing away with all the automation, digital elements and the computer game itself? Well someone did, because they created a WoW board game, and expansion based on the Burning Crusade (the first expansion for the WoW computer game).
I’m sure that when Fantasy Flight Games developed it, in partnership with Blizzard, they had all sorts of reports and surveys that identified a target demographic. Unless those results included insomniacs, I have no clue who the hell this game is for. Read the rest of this entry »
A long time ago, I tasked myself with diving into the depths of Magic: the Gathering’s elaborate history to track down some hidden gems that have been forgotten over the ages. I ventured through some secrets in Alliances and then found some gems hidden in the Dark, but then Innistrad came out… and Dark Ascension. And Avacyn Restored. So the series got put on hold, but now I finally have time again to uncover Antiquities.
The second Magic: the Gathering expansion ever, Antiquities used to be full of expensive cards simply because of their scarcity. But now, card prices have drastically dropped (in most cases) allowing older sets to become much more manageable. This list isn’t about reminding you about what awesome cards are known about in Antiquities like Power Artifact, but about showing what gems have been forgotten about over the last 18 years.
Being a set based around artifacts, it seems only fitting to begin there. Cursed Rack is a unique piece in the Stuffy Doll arsenal. With many decks in Commander abusing cards like Reliquary Tower, it is hard to limit your opponents maximum hand size. Cursed Rack provides a colorless way to do just that when you aren’t able to make use of the Misers or Jin-Gitaxias. If you constantly face off against someone abusing their hand, take it down. Read the rest of this entry »
The final part of the six-part Avacyn Restored Casual and Commander review covers everything that doesn’t fit into a the five colors – so we’ve got multicolor, artifacts and lands ready to be reviewed and explored! Artifacts are almost always fun since pretty much everyone can use them!
But Avacyn Restored is a little different, since there are only three gold cards and all of them happen to be legendary angels! That’s going to mess with the top 5…
Casual and Commander Review: Avacyn Restored
White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts & Lands
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
For years, the aura commander has been Uril, the Miststalker. He’s huge, grows even bigger and is near impossible to kill. But Bruna may offer a new alternative, and color pairing, to aura-centric players who are looking for something different. Being an evasive 5/5 for six with vigilance makes her decent in the air, but her ability is what looks to be most exciting.
Bruna not only allows you to play auras for free, she also steals them from other players and returns them from a graveyard. As far as I’m concerned, she effectively removes the card disadvantage so often found on auras. Toss in the fact that she can move auras during combat, and you’ve got a fascinating Voltron-style commander that will play differently from Uril. So have fun stealing everyone’s licids.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Boros players haven’t got the widest selection of commanders to pick from, so just getting a new one is nice, especially one that isn’t so creature-combat focused. But what I really like about Gisela is that she is a two-turn clock essentially for commander damage. Or just regular damage since this augments damage for everyone else at the table.
Furnace of Rath is a great way to force the game into sudden death overtime, but having your own Furnace attached to an angel is beyond great. Then you get to the white half where Gisela is near impossibly to kill in combat. Your opponent needs a 10/11 (or a 10/5 first striker) to be able to kill Gisela alone. Cast her, toss on Lightning Greaves and watch the world crumble around you. Read the rest of this entry »
Now in the home stretch of reviewing Avacyn Restored, I get to continue my trend of reviewing colors I love. While I’m a red mage at heart, I love the options Green provides. Between color fixing, mana acceleration and some of the best non-creature removal options out there, you can’t go wrong with it.
Casual and Commander Review: Avacyn Restored
White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts & Lands
Abundant Growth
I really like how Wizards is actively making auras that aren’t automatic card disadvantage for simply existing. The draw a card aspect of this is a nice touch, but the simple fact is this just is a mana fixer, not mana acceleration. If you’re playing some weird five color monstrosity (which I’ve been known to do) that isn’t domain, it’s a fine way to make sure you don’t get screwed. Plus it doesn’t mention other mana symbols specifically, so it works fine in any Commander deck with green.
Blessings of Nature
This can quickly become a cornerstone of an odd counter based deck. Being able to reload a Triskelion or augment any modular creature makes this a decent spell. The miracle cost is very nice and could theoretically give you a 6/6 on turn 2 if you’re playing Isamaru or something similar. The sorcery speed holds it back from being really excellent though. Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s Arcana shows off the latest Duel Deck – which finally makes sense thanks to them reordering the release schedule! Welcome back to Ravnica! That certainly looks like a Niv Mizzet down there, and as soon as decklists are released, we’ll make sure to post them here!
Two Guilds Clash beneath the Streets of Ravnica
The Izzet League, under the ingenious mind of its guildmaster, the dragon Niv-Mizzet, has dabbled, delved, and decoded many mysteries in its insatiable thirst for knowledge. Now the dracomagus seeks to plumb the depths of Ravnica’s undercity. But the Golgari don’t welcome interlopers in their dank, moldy realm.
Under the command of the elvish lich lord Jarad, the Golgari have dwelled in darkness long enough. The Swarm grows restless and its rot farms need fresh corpses. Jarad believes the time is right to teach Niv-Mizzet’s magewrights a lesson: that there is no place for Izzet research in the vicious cycle of life and death.
Initial Deck Design: Chris Millar
Final Deck Development: Mark L. Gottlieb
Twitter Hashtag: #MTGIVG
Languages Available: English, Japanese
Release Date: September 7, 2012
MSRP: $19.99
Art by Svetlin Velinov
I know there is something wrong with me when it comes to Commander, because I’m one of those weird people who still play monored after all these years of people saying red can’t do enough. But looking over at the new cards offered in Avacyn Restored, I can’t be happier to find new spells and creatures to cram into my Jaya Ballard deck.
Casual and Commander Review: Avacyn Restored
White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts & Lands
Aggravate
Okay, this isn’t the best start. Paying 5 mana for Simoon isn’t exactly a bargain, but the combination of Simoon and essentially Siren’s Call makes me interested in how this can play out. Forcing a player to attack can be just what it needed to either finish them off by removing their defenses or finish off another player who happens to be lacking in defense. The multiple uses make me interested in how it can be used politically.
Archwing Dragon
Kaalia will love this. So will Norin the Wary’s Pandemonium deck. But where I really see this card shining is part of complex tricks where you trade creatures. Archwing Dragon and Confusion in the Ranks is bound to be a losing proposition for almost everyone else. And then that stops working, you still have a 4/4 hasty flier that is immune to sorcery speed removal! Read the rest of this entry »
Wizards has had a current role of not making the storyline so good versus evil which translates to white versus black. Ever since the demise of the Ineffable at the end of Apocalypse, the villains have been spread across the color pie. But with Avacyn Restored, it is pretty clear that the good guys are white and the bad guys are black, which sadly means black got the short straw.
Casual and Commander Review: Avacyn Restored
White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts & Lands
Appetite for Brains
Targeted discard of any type in multiplayer is bound to be a bad idea. Much like counterspells, the return just isn’t there so you’re left targeting a single player in hopes of making the right call. I love this card for dueling, but in multiplayer, Syphon Mind is still the gold standard.
Barter in Blood
While this is a reprint, it’s a fantastic one. Innocent Blood is amazing and doubling it just makes it even better – usually. With so many creatures persisting or undying or being indestructible, having a way to get rid of a lot of them in one fell swoop is a great play. If you aren’t playing this already, seriously think about it! Read the rest of this entry »