Kingdom Death: Monster looks amazing

December 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Kingdom-Death-Monsters

One thing I really enjoy is a good board game; be it traditional games like Risk or Stratego, or table top ones like Warhammer and Magic the Gathering. There’s something great about the immediacy and physicality of games like that. When it comes to Warhammer specifically (and I would assume D&D, though I’ve never actually played it), a large reason of why I enjoy the game so well is the miniatures themselves. Painting and assembling an army of Space Wolves or a squad of Nergal worshiping Chaos Marines is very rewarding, and gives a sense of personality and attachment to your  army.

That enjoyment and appreciation for plastic figures is one of the reasons this Kickstarter project caught my eye.

Aptly named “Kingdom Death: Monster,” the boardgame is something of an amalgamation between card-based boardgame and strategic, figure-based combat. There are a few videos on the page that explain the basic gameplay, but the really impressive element here is the figure design. These things look amazing! The boxed game comes with quite a few of great looking figures, and there are upgrade options and expansions you can get as well.

Kingdom-Death-Monster

Admittedly, a large part of the appeal comes from the Dark Souls-esque dark fantasy atmosphere and grotesquely cool creature designs (though I’ll be honest, most of the female figures are pretty ridiculous…), but the whole package looks well-made and the game seems like a very fun RPG/resource management hybrid. Color me interested.

Luckily, the game has been fully funded — and then some. Currently the Kickstarter has raised $596, 724, when their goal was only 35, 000. That’s a successful fund if I’ve ever seen one.

There are several levels for backing that include some great rewards, however if you want the game you’ll need to pledge at least $100 (higher amounts net expansions and extra figures). Despite my interest and excitement for the project, the college budget and the holidays has stretched my wallet thin, so I have yet to back it. Thankfully, we’ve still got time:  the project still has 27 days worth of funding to go, closing on January 7, 2013.

Anyway, I’ll stop chatting about it; head to the Kickstarter page and see for yourself just how excellent the game looks!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poots/kingdom-death-monster

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M13 Spoiler Review

June 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With the next core-set only a little over a month away now, spoilers are already jumping up all over the place. As I have mentioned already it has been confirmed that exalted is a major theme of the set and that we are also seeing the return of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, both screaming Alara. This throwback to the tri-colored set means we might be seeing a few multicolored cards creeping into what is normally a mono-colored set. While it is true that the only multi-colored confirmed at the moment is Bolas we still have a lot more cards to get spoiled before the release date and it would be kind of cool seeing M13 setting the colorful tone prior to the heavily multicolored Ravnica block coming this fall.

So as of right now most of the cards spoiled are reprints but there are a couple of new ones worth mentioning. So it is pretty much assumed we are not going to be seeing the titans reprinted because they essentially shut out all other six drops from seeing play which leads to boring play in the sense that we don’t see any variety in finishers. With that being said we already have two new black six drops spoiled worth mentioning.

First off we have Xathrid Gorgon, one of the very first cards spoiled for the set. So let’s be honest, Xathrid Gorgon is no Grave Titan. She doesn’t do anything once hitting the board, is half as strong, and her activated ability costs three to not even kill something. Sure she will be a fun card to play with and she will be decent in limited but otherwise isn’t worth noting.

Second we have something a bit more exciting: Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis. Now this is a creature I can see winning you a game or two. While also not being as exciting or powerful as a Grave Titan he is significantly stronger than the Gorgon. So the first thing worth noting is that he has exalted. This is the first time we are seeing black paired with the powerful mechanic. To accompany the keyword is his very exaltedesque ability which causes your opponent to sacrifice a creature. In addition to all of his exalted shenanigans he is also a 5/5 flyer before attacking which isn’t too shabby. So while he isn’t the best finisher available, swinging in for 6 in the air while also killing one your opponents creatures is pretty powerful and with Go For the Throat rotating out here soon Nefarox could potentially mean game over for an opponent.

The other two new cards worth noting at the time are both red. One is cool and one is disappointing. Let’s start with the bad news first.

So Searing Spear isn’t a bad card, it is just worse than two cards most people were hoping for in the core-set. First off this must mean we aren’t getting Incinerate here. It doesn’t make sense for Wizards to print off two two mana burn spells for three damage each and have one be significantly better. Sure the non-regeneration aspect of Incinerate was never incredibly relevant but it made for a nice addition, and with the addition of Wolfir Avenger to the Standard card pool Incinerate was looking as awesome as ever. The other downside is that this pretty much confirms that we aren’t seeing Lightning Bolt reprinted. Sure it was pretty doubtful that it was going to happen but it never hurts to hope. We know it won’t be showing up by the same logic that we used to figure out there would be no Incinerate: it doesn’t make sense for Wizards to print two cards that do the same thing and have one be significantly better. Honestly Searing Spear isn’t a bad card it is just not as great as Incinerate or Lightning Bolt.

The more exciting red card out of the two new ones announced is Flames of the Firebrand.

So this card feels a lot like a situationally stronger Arc Trail. It will definitely be alright in constructed and it will be a beast in limited. I feel like this card wants to be an Instant but its not and because of that it is significantly worse. Second, it costs three mana. Arc Trail was good because you were looking at two mana for two dead creatures or one dead creature and a bit of damage done to an opponent. Unless you are playing white weenie or something with lots of 1/1s you are realistically looking at only one or two dead creatures. In Standard you are better off just playing Bonfire of the Damned because for its normal casting cost it is just as efficient of a board wipe and for its miracle cost it’s no contest. Also the fact that Bonfire has the potential to be something way bigger ultimately makes it the better choice.

So out of the cards announced for reprint most of them planeswalkers. As mentioned several times already Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is making a return as well as Chandra, the Firbrand, Garruk, Primal Hunter, and Jace, Memory Adept but we still have no word on who the white or black planeswalker will be. I love Gideon Jura and he seems like the logical choice for the white slot (fingers crossed we see some new exciting version of him) but the black one could really be anything. There is always the possibility that Bolas could be filling that spot but I doubt it. R&D is fully aware that people love cycles and that if one is left uncompleted it creates dissonance so we should be seeing some mono black planeswalker. I am not quite sure who exactly though. Both Sorin and Liliana made an appearance in the last block so there is little to go off there. Maybe we are going to be seeing some new black planeswalker? While I am hoping for something new I think we are going to be seeing Sorin Markov get reprinted again due to the vampire flavor of the one black mythic revealed so far: Vampire Nocturnus.

Vampire Nocturnus

One of my all time favorite pieces of art on a card. Do I smell a potential list?

Most people saw this coming from a mile away. When this card wasn’t reprinted in either of the last two core-sets many people were disappointed but with the knowledge of horror themed Innistrad coming out soon it was generally assumed Nocturnus would be making some kind of return. So with the release of Innistrad we really only saw zombies taking the reins of successful horror tribal builds but with this vampire lord getting reprinted vamps might be making there come back from the Zendikar block. While Nocturnus contributes to the spicy pool of vampires we have in Standard the vampires just aren’t as epic as they used to be. If vamps make a comeback it most likely will be in BR builds so they could include Olivia Voldaren, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Stromkirk Captain and Stromkirk Noble and by including Red they are essentially weakening the effectiveness of Nocturnus. Sure it is only the Noble which doesn’t work for the Nocturnus but Stromkirk Noble is really your only source of early pressure. Zendikar vamps were great because you were really only looking at four four drops and four three drops and everything else being tiny and fast and aggressive. While we have a ton of great vampires in standard right now none of them are as aggressive and cheap as those old ones. So if we do see vampires reappear they will probably be a bit slower and a little less ridiculous.

So that’s about everything worth mentioning as of right now at least. So what do you guys want from M13? Who do you think will be the black and white planeswalkers? Are we going to be seeing more multicolored cards coming out? Is vampires going to become a much feared archetype once again? Let me know what you think in the comments below or email us at askpowercords@gmail.com!

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The Return of Exalted

May 25, 2012 By 3 Comments

So the July release of M13 is still a little over a month away and spoilers are still further down the road but we do know one thing: exalted is coming back. I absolutely loved all of Alara’s mechanics so i am stoked to hear it is coming back. Again not a whole lot is known about the core-set at this point still. We know the buy a box promo is a card called Cathedral of War and there is a picture of a gorgon floating around from a future set that might show up and there is a rumor we will see the reprint of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Again out of all of this all we know for sure is that exalted is coming back.

So what are you guys hopes from the core-sets? Are you stoked for exalted or dreading it’s return? What do you think about the rumors flying around about Bolas and that gorgon? Are your finger’s crossed that we have seen the last of titans for some time? Let us know in the comments below or email us at powercords@gmail.com!

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Planechase 2012 Spoiler Review

May 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Planechase, the casual multiplayer mode for magic is finally seeing a much-needed expansion. The exciting news is that the expansion isn’t only seeing the release of new planes but also a small pool of brand new normal cards! While these cards will not be legal in Standard or Modern decks they do make up a part of the Vintage and Legacy card pool. At a quick glance at the cards spoiled so far though, none of them appear strong enough to find a place in either format but they all seem to be incredible additions to EDH/Commander due to the majority being exciting multicolored creatures, several being legendary.

As apparent in Thromok, we are seeing the rejuvenation of some older mechanics in Planechase 2012 such as cascade, ninjutsu and devour and clearly in new and exciting ways. I can see some pretty fun Thromok EDH decks showing up, something that spits out a crap tone of tiny dudes to provide fodder for this hellion. Devouring 5 creatures yields a 25/25, a creature big enough to kill any opponent in one blow or perhaps you eat a couple more and make a 47/47 which you than proceed to Fling in your opponents face for the win. While being an absolutely gargantuan commander that is sadly all he is once he has hit the field. I feel like this guy is missing some keyword because paying five mana and a bunch of your team for an undeniably big but nonetheless vanilla creature doesn’t seem worth it. You can swing away with this guy all you want and regardless of how gargantuan he is, if your opponent has a blocker he might as well be a 6/6. In addition to that, imagine paying absolutely everything for him to simply get Doom Bladed. That’s another problem, he dies to just about every kind of removal and this is not a guy you want killed with no problem. I feel like Wizards meant to give him trample but then just spaced on actually printing that part. With trample this guy would be an absolute beast but printed as is he is just a big ol’ vanilla creature who is not nearly good enough to make the cut.

Thromok isn’t the only new gentlemen with devour worth noting. Preyseizer Dragon serves as a situationally superior Inferno Titan. Sure it doesn’t shoot something upon entering the field and is unable to distribute the damage done but it trades that for flying and the potential be significantly bigger and deal significantly more damage. Sure if you were to eat only one creature it might be worth just running an Inferno Titan instead but when you are devouring two or three creatues this dragon gets mighty feisty. In the right deck Preyseizer Dragon could inevitably do some work.

Before moving completely away from red there is one more red card that I am perhaps the most excited about from the entire bunch: Maelstrom Wanderer.

Wow. This is my kind of general. While it is arguably a little spendy I feel like the pros definitely outweigh that con. RUG has always been one of my favorite tri-color combinations and this guy works absolutely perfectly with any faster paced RUG build. Right off the bat a 7/5 body isn’t too shabby and the fact that he gives every one of your creatures haste, including himself is pretty relevant especially in the often creature based/aggo decks that RUG tends to lean towards. And now on to my favorite part. Cascade, cascade. Cascade is an incredibly strong keyword ability and is perhaps my all-time favorite. So seeing a legendary creature with it is pretty fantastic, but here we see something twice as awesome. I read the fine print followed by the keyword explaining cascade and then just smiled at the last line: “then do it again“. While this card might be a little expensive every time you cast it, regardless of whether or not it is countered or immediately killed you are getting two other spells along with it. The eight mana you pay for it buys you three spells, not just one, and if he gets killed, within the next couple turns following you are probably going to be buying three more spells. And not just small spells, but just about every spell in your deck becomes something that is potentially going to get thrown onto the field for nothing. As long as you aren’t running too many counter spells this card is always going to yield ridiculous card advantage. This is also where his first ability really shines. You cast him and when you cascade into creatures they will be able to immediately head into the red-zone right next to the Wanderer. The more and more I think about this card the more and more I like him and want to make a new EDH deck with this guy up front. Hands down one of the most exciting cards for EDH in quite some time.

While it is kind of hard to follow Maelstrom Wanderer he isn’t the only incredible addition to the Commander format. Krond the Dawn-Clad is the first in a series of cards in the small block that revolves around auras and with Krond being a legendary creatures we are sure to be seeing some powerful GW aura builds showing up. This guy is just aching to hold a Shield of the Oversoul or something that gives him hexproof. While he might not have hexproof naturally like Uril or get bonus’ for each aura attached he sure as hell makes up for it with his attached ability. He trades hexproof for flying and vigilance and once he starts swinging there is going to be little your opponent can do to stop him. The GGGWWW casting cost might be a little tough but given the right suite of auras, Krond is unstoppable. Plus on top of it all he is an archon which is one of the coolest creature types ever.

Another creature that belongs right next to Krond is Elderwood Scion. Everyone knows Loxodon Warhammer is great and the same characteristics which make it great contribute to the awesomeness of this card. Heck a 4/4 with lifelink and trample for 5 aint to shabby but on top of that he works perfectly with the whole aura theme and the fact that targeting him cost more ultimately becomes a faux hexproof ability which provides him with enough evasion that he become a big problem quite quickly. My fingers are crossed that we see a Bant-aura type legendary creature either in this set or somewhere in the upcoming Ravnica block because these GW aura champs are just aching to work with Sovereigns of Lost Alara and Bruna, Light of Alabaster. These cards are going to lead to some awesome builds.

Vela the Night-Clad is at a first glance only a pretty card and not a lot more and her power as a general takes a little bit more time to really understand. Take note of her colors: blue and black. Dimir is a guild full of small creatures that when dealing unblocked damage yield incredible amounts of card advantage. While not very powerful by herself, she really shines when the field is full of Ophidians and Spectres drawing you new cards and eating away at your opponents hand. While maybe not as powerful as others she is definitely a fun card that’s just dying for some more Dimir. A card designed with Vela in mind is one I am excited about due to the fact that its the first demon ninja printed as well as bringing with it the return of ninjutsu.

This card is going to be ridiculously fun. The second he comes in for the sneak attack you get to steal something from your opponents hand similarly to Mind-Leech Mass. The Mass was an awesome and powerful card but he was a little spendy and didn’t affect the board upon entering the field. That’s where Silent-Blade Oni shines. Once he is ninjutsued into play there is little an opponent can do before you are stealing away things from his or her hand. If done correctly you could steal away there answer to the Oni and then just win the game from there.

All in all the cards revealed so far are definitely more on the casual side than competitive. All of the new creatures shown off so far are going to be great additions to EDH and the fact these great Commander cards are showing up in a Planechase expansion makes me happy to see wizards emphasizing the pairing of the two, which go fantastically well together. While I didn’t really mention it at all but some of the new planes revealed so far look like they are going to be a blast as well and they are also printing non-plane cards for your planar deck to mix things up a bit which looks pretty sweet too. With EDH being my all-time favorite MTG format I can definitely see myself picking up a deck or two once these hit the stores. My fingers are crossed we see some of these cards show up in the next block because they would be ridiculously fun to play in Type 2.

So what are some of your favorite cards revealed so far? Are you looking forward to this casual set or could you care less? Let us know in the comments below or email us at askpowercords@gmail.com. To check out the other cards spoiled so far head over to MTGsalvation!

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Return to Ravnica Speculations

May 16, 2012 By 10 Comments

While the dust might still be settling from the release events of Avacyn Restored as well as from the AVR Pro-Tour in Barcelona this past weekend but we can’t deny the exciting announcement of Return to Ravnica sitting on the horizon.

At this point in time little is known about RTR yet since it is still two sets away with the summer release of 2013 sitting between us and our return to the cityscape of Ravnica but we have plenty to speculate about at this point. First off we have been teased with an image of two of your favorite characters in the Magic universe who are going to be making an appearance in the block.

Jace Beleren and Niv-Mizzet

Jace and Niv-Mizzet, blue should be excited.

Lets start with talking about the Izzet dragon. So last time we saw him he was a legendary creature so I doubt we will see him return as such. There has never been a remade legend with different text that is more or less the same dude (we see remakes of characters after something has changed, ex. Glissa Sunseeker vs Glissa, the Traitor or Sygg, River Guide vs Sygg River Cutthroat)  and I strongly doubt we would be looking at a straight up reprint of Niv which leads us to one logical conclusion: planeswalker. There is a chance I am terribly wrong and we are just going to looking at some cool new legendary creature but I know I am not alone in hoping for a Niv planeswalker. While not being a planeswalker he has seemed to have vanished from the plane of Ravnica pointing to planeswalking as the only explanation. This wouldn’t be the first time we see a legendary creature make the jump to planeswalker. Look at Venser, Karn, or Nicol Bolas, the latter being a perfect example of why Niv-Mizzet might be becoming a planeswalker. The main argument against that is that he doesn’t have the ability to planeswalk but I feel that the arguments for him being a planeswalker are much stronger. Niv being incredibly intelligent perhaps discovered a way to artificially planeswalk and this discovery is the big crisis plaguing the set. Or perhaps this is where his relationship with Jace takes place. Maybe Jace has found a way to planeswalk with others, bring Niv with him.

So what exactly is Jace’s role on Ravnica? Is he here because of Niv-Mizzet or does he have some other motivation for being here? So if Jace is showing up it would be a safe assumption that he would show up as a planeswalker. If so this would be the fourth variant of Jace we would be getting which feels a little boring for R&D to be making so perhaps we will be looking at something like a duo planeswalker thing going on between Jace and Niv? One way or another I get the feeling R&D is going to doing something new and spicy for the return to the plane.

Since the release of the Ravnica block two major things have happened to Magic: the release of mythic rares and the release of planeswalkers.  Many people are hoping that with RTR we will be seeing a cycle of dual-colored planeswalkers, one for each guild but chances are this won’t happen regardless of how badly we all want it to. Wizards really wants to keep planeswalkers special and exciting and to do this they have to keep them rare. Since the release of planeswalkers, a given block sees about 5 or 6 planeswalkers. If they were to go ahead with the cycle we would be looking at a jump to 10 planeswalkers spread out over a block with 3 or 4 per set. Maybe this number is low enough to preserve the special-ness of planeswalkers but there is a good chance R&D will deem it too high. Than again there are always first times for everything and this might be the perfect environment to try it out and would an amazing way to show off the flavor of each guild. With the planeswalkers that have been shown off in Duels of the Planeswalkers one can only hope that we will be seeing not only their debut on real cards but accompanied by one for every guild. One way or another I am sure we are going to be looking at some pretty epic mythics representing each guild as well as some gnarly legendary creatures to accompany them.

Speaking of dual colored cycles, the Ravnica blocks most famous cycle was its dual colored lands. The Ravnica shock lands are perhaps some of the best lands ever printed so it leaves its return a large responsibility to uphold. I doubt we will be seeing a straight up reprint of the dual lands because powerful cards such as these don’t usually get reprinted and if they were, their only real effect would be on such a small scale. I feel like R&D will take this opportunity to come up with some kind of crazy new land but what exactly I am not sure. Mark Rosewater, MTG’s head designer has mentioned that we should look to the Innistrad’s cycle of enemy colored lands for insight into the next blocks mana-base but I don’t know what to make of that. That hint suggests we will be seeing the allied colored M10 lands being reprinted here which I feel is very unlikely due to them having become a core-set staple and being pretty boring for an opportunity to something so exciting. Additionally, Ravnica’s basic lands are widely regarded as some of coolest and best looking basic lands made to date. Wizards of the Coast is quite aware of this fact so fingers are crossed they do homage to the original beauties by perhaps going as far as making new full-art lands similarly to Zenidkar’s? I realize this is very doubtful but it can’t hurt to hope!

All of the basic lands depicted beautifully the city covered plane

So lastly, the block needs an instigator or a antagonist. With the return to the Mirrodin we saw things get mixed up a bit with the return of the Phyrexians and their invasion of the plane. With Return to Ravnica to keep things exciting we need something new going on on the plane. With Guildpact we were given the Nephilim as the bad guy wreaking havoc on the plane and would love to see them return to Ravnica as well. But I feel like they aren’t necessarily new enough to be the main threat. Something to consider which is admittedly highly unlikely is something Eldrazi related. This seems incredibly unlikely since it has been such a short time since we last saw them but there a couple things that suggest it is a possibility. The last time we saw Jace outside of a core-set was in the Zendikar block doing battle with the Eldrazi and now we see him again. On top of that I have always found several connections between the Eldrazi and Nephilim. Both are powerful creatures that are awoken and start destroying their respective plane. Their behavior as well as appearances’ seem somewhat reminiscent of the Eldrazi. On top of that both have special relationships with the color pie, the Eldrazi being completely void of it and the Nephilim being all over it. To be completely honest I really doubt we will be seeing them show up in the block but theres no harm in speculating.

So all in all Return to Ravnica is a set that I am really looking forward to. I absolutely loved the Ravnica block, gameplay and flavor-wise and cant wait to see what happens. Ravnica is all about color combinations and multi-colored cards and god knows I love me my multi-colored cards. You can be sure to expect some multicolored goodness coming up here as well as some game changing cards and some rule breaking on R&D’s behalf.

So what do you think is going to happen with RTR? Are we going to be seeing a new Jace? How about a cycle of planeswalkers? Will Niv be a planeswalker or will Ral Zarek fill the Izzet planeswalker slot? Maybe Jace will be part of the multicolored planeswalker cycle and if so what color combo would he be? What do you think the lands will look like? What do you think is going to be going on on the plane and is there going to be some new bad guy out there? Leave all of your thoughts and speculations in the comments below or let us know at askpowercords@gmail.com!

So this might be a little over-powered but imagine how awesome a planeswalker like this would be! Now imagine 9 more!

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Entire AVR Set posted!

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The entirety of Avacyn Restored has been officially released and boy does it look zesty. While I don’t have any reviews or analyses for you just yet regarding the newly announced cards, you can expect a round up of the set later this week in addition to some of the promising new archetypes that are bound to show up.

While I know I have been referring all of you to MTG Salvation for the spoilers, Magic the Gathering’s official site now shows off the entire set with the addition of all of the art as well. Check out the list here!

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AVR Spoilers Batch 2 or 6 or Something

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

With Avacyn Restored pre-release events starting next week we are on the final stretch spoiler-wise. At this point we are only have about 40 out of the 244 left unspoiled so most of the exciting twists of the set have been revealed at this point but I am sure there are still a couple surprises still in store.

Let me start out with one of the more controversial cards announced so far.

Misthollow Griffin

I love that flavor text

So there are a couple of reasons contributing to the controversy surrounding this card. The first and most obvious reason is the fact that he is able to return from exile. The Magic R & D department has always done their best to stay away from return from exile type effects in the attempt to prevent exile from simply becoming graveyard number 2 but here they have broken their own rule. A lot of people don’t like that they are doing this including Mark Rosewater, Magic’s Head Designer. So ability aside, the second reason people aren’t completely behind this bad boy is because all in all he really is just 3/3 flyer for 4. The only real reason he is a mythic rare is his ability and the reason behind the controversy is that most people feel that this ability doesn’t constitute mythic rarity. They would be completely behind Misthollow Griffin getting printed as a normal rare but they feel he is way underpowered for a mythic. It is commonly believed that his gimmicky ability is what ultimately determined the cards rarity.

So what do you guys think? Does he deserve being a mythic? Is he a powerful enough?

Personally I love him. As I have mentioned I definitely consider myself a Johnny, and perhaps it is because of this that allows me to fully appreciate this card. While he may only be a 3/3 flyer his unique ability is incredibly powerful and gimmicks aside the ability is strong enough to for it to be mythic. First off a 3/3 flyer is pretty good, especially in a Lightning Boltless Standard environment. He also holds a sword incredibly well and fits perfectly into any UW Blade deck. The fact of the matter is if you are running Moorland Haunt this card is going to be constant and non-stop source of value for you. If he gets discarded, Doombladed, sacrificed, countered or whatever simply exile him with Moorland Haunt and he becomes playable again. He can’t be O-Ringed, Pathed, Dissipated Castigated, or Sword to Plowshared without him simply being replayed. Essentially every kind of removal gets converted into a bounce spell. While he clearly goes perfectly with Moorland Haunt this block has released several other cards that really allow you to get the most out of this card such as any of the Skaab cards or Descent into Madness (this griffin fits all too well into my esper build abusing DiM). In the right deck this card is constant value and will undoubtedly be a big player in Type 2 and will very likely ended up seeing play in Modern and perhaps even Legacy.

While I am on blue there have been quite a few new exciting cards that have been spoiled so far, particularly counters.

~Outwit

 u
Instant Uncommon
Counter target spell that targets a player.
#70/244

A one drop counter that hard counters something? Sold! While it might not find a place in every control mainboard it absolutely will in the sideboard. In the right match up this card is one of the best counterspells you could have, and that’s not just in Standard. I am positive this will card will leak down into Modern, Legacy and very likely even Vintage. RDW or any decks with discard spells get absolutely trounced by Outwit. While not nearly as exciting as Temporal Mastery this is definitely one of the better cards from the set.

Second Guess

 1u
Instant Uncommon
Counter target spell if it was the second spell cast this turn.
#74/244

A hard counter for 1U? Sold! While not clearly as powerful at first glance as Outwit, if played correctly, this card definitely is if not more so. Right off the bat, this card allows you to safely cast any card you really want to stick as long as it’s the first card you play during your turn when playing against contol. No matter what your opponent casts in response you will be able to hard counter it. One of the dominating archetypes I foresee arising after the release of AVR is UR Control and that is exactly the kind of deck that will really be able to abuse Second guess. For example, your opponents turn starts and since you Gitaxian Probed them earlier you know what they are hoping to play this turn so during their upkeep or the beginning of their turn you burn them a Galvanic Blast or Gut Shot turning on Second Guess in preparation for whatever they were hoping to play. Ultimately it isn’t nearly as powerful as Mana Leak but in the right situation it does work wonders. With the rumors flying around that Mana Leak won’t be getting reprinted in M13 these new counter spells will probably be seeing a decent amount of play after rotation.

Moving on to a couple of the more exciting and interactive blue cards recently spoiled.

Lunar Mystic

 2uu
Creature – Human Wizard Rare
Whenever you cast an instant spell, you may pay 1. If you do, draw a card.
#65/244 2/2

This is another one of the bigger blue cards that will undoubtedly see play and is just aching to be played with some of the phyrexian mana one drops such as Gut Shot, Gitaxian Probe, and Surgical Extraction. This card provides another blue card draw engine for blue. While it won’t necessarily get played compared to others in the right build it will be great.

~Devastating Tide 

 3uu
Sorcery Rare
Return all nonland permanents to their owners’ hands.
Miracle 1{U}

As I have mentioned before, all Miracle cards are blatantly powerful when played for their Miracle cost but to determine how powerful they truly are you really need to look at their normal casting cost. So blue being able to defend itself from all nonland permanents for 2 is clearly awesome and the fact that it is able to do so normally for 5 is pretty damned good too. Blue is normally kind of screwed ounce their opponent gets a field full of threats simply because prior to now it hasn’t had a lot of board wipes. In addition to being able to deal with multiple threats blue now has an effective way to deal with enchantments, artifacts and planeswalkers once they are on the field. Sure blue has always had bounce spells but this feels so much better and effective. Lastly, imagine how sweet it is going be casting this when your opponent has a field full of tokens.

Moving onto the other colors.

Riders of Gavony

 2ww
Creature – Human Knight Rare
Vigilance
As Riders of Gavony enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Human creatures you control have protection from creatures of the chosen type.
3/3

Nothing too exciting has shown up in white recently other than this new human all-star. So incase you hadn’t noticed yet humans are a little ridiculous. So a 3/3 with vigilance for 4 is pretty good, but the fact that it is attached to a way of protecting all of your creatures makes him pretty impressive. He is definitely going to be awesome in human decks and will definitely fit into a the new Boros Humans build.

Speaking of red…

~Dual Cast 

 1r
Enchantment – Aura Rare
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has “{R}, {T}: Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. You may choose new targets for the copy.”
Illus. Johannes Voss

Since the announcement of Bruna I have been keeping my eyes peeled for powerful Auras to play with her and so far this is one of the only ones that have really caught my attention. While its not a great pairing its hard to deny that this card isn’t sweet. I have always been a fan of Twincast type spells. While it is significantly slower than Twincast you are going to be able to utilize it several more times. This card is just aching to get slapped on an Invisble Stalker.

While not very many powerful Auras have been spoiled so far there are quite a few cool Enchantments.

~Wild Defiance

 2g
Enchantment Rare
Whenever a creature you control becomes the target of an instant or sorcery spell, it gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
#203/244

This is another one of those awesome sideboard cards that in the right match up does work. While it could be sweet in green decks that run lots of instant pump spells I doubt that’s going to be where it really shines. This is going to be a sweet sideboard card in any green creature based deck (so all of them) because this card essentially makes all of your beaters immune to burn spells. Think about it this way; with Wild Defiance on the field the only way RDW is going to be able to deal with your Huntmaster is going to be with a Brimstone Volley with morbid turned on or they are going to have to waste a Shrine on it. Any creatures you have with more than 3 toughness are going to be damn near unkillable. This card is going to be incredible against RDW or really any decks that rely on burn spells to deal with creatures.

Garruk is winning

Another green three drop enchantment which is going to be pretty sweet is another one that works best in creature based decks. Triumph of Ferocity is an awesome way for green creature based decks to get some card drawing going on. I love how it provides green with blue styled effect but making it fit perfectly into the green side of the color pie. This card is actually part of a 2 card cycle with the other fitting not nearly as well color wise.

Before completely moving away from green it is worth noting that Borderland Ranger is getting reprinted!

Liliana is winning

While it is a tad harder to turn on than it’s green counterpart it could be an awesome addition to black aggro decks such as Zombies or the sure to become prominent Demon midrange/aggro. While I am not positive exactly how much of an impact it is going to make on the competitive scene I am sure it’s going to be a hoot to play with and when in the right build (sorry if I have said this a trillion times in this article already but its very true for a lot of them) it could do work.

Another black enchantment I am looking forward to abusing is Exquisite Blood.

Exquisite Blood 

 4b
Enchantment Rare
Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life.
Even as humans regained the upper hand, some still willingly traded their lives for a chance at immortality.
Illus. Cynthia Sheppard#102/244

While it might be descent by itself that’s not really where its going to shine. I know I am not the only one who took a quick glance and immediately saw the infinite combo with Sanguine Bond. Get both of those 5 drop enchantments onto the board and all you need to do is either gain some life or deal some damage and you trigger an infinite life gain and infinite damage loop. It should lead to some fun Modern decks showing up!

So I had mentioned that the enemy colored utility lands cycle was getting completed in this set and the last land has officially been spoiled!

Alchemist’s Refuge

So I don’t want to brag or anything but I totally guessed that flash was probably going to be involved. I am kind of a big deal =]

All boasting aside Alchemist’s Refuge is one of the better lands from the entire cycle including the Innistrad cycle as well. UG and tapping to be able to play one spell at instant speed is awesome but the fact that you are able to cast as many as you would like is incredible. Not only is its ability totally awesome but it’s activation cost is also the cheapest it could be. I think this land is powerful enough that some decks will consider splashing one of the colors simply for the ability to utilize this land. In Type 2 I can foresee a RUG ramp deck showing up with I think would be sweet and we could possibly be looking at a UG aggro deck. Honestly the potential this card has in Standard is incredible and will lead to several awesome builds showing up. This card is going to be showing up outside of Standard as well in several decks, the first coming to mind is Affinity decks where the colorless mana produced from the land isn’t even a hindrance but I am sure its going to pop up elsewhere too.

Cavern of Souls 
Land Rare
As Cavern of Souls enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add 1 to your mana pool.
{T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells of the chosen creature type. If this mana is spent on a spell, that spell can’t be countered.
Awesome land is awesome.
Illus. Cliff Childs #226/244

Another non-cycle land which is going to be powerful is Cavern of Souls. The first thing that comes to mind with this card are multi colored tribal decks, particularly humans. With this kind of mana fixing and the ability to shutdown control decks I think we are going to be looking at some sweet new tri-color human builds showing up particularly Bant Humans, Naya Humans, and even UWR Humans. While this card is clearly powerful in tribal decks it is also going to contribute to ramp decks rising in popularity and power again. Being able to cast your titans care free of counter spells is incredibly powerful as well as being able tofetch it with your Primeval Titans make this card a necessity in all ramp decks.

I am incredibly excited for Avacyn Restored. With Dark Ascension we didn’t see too many new deck archetypes show up but really just saw the development and enhancement of several of the current ones. This isn’t the case with AVR. This new set is going to lead to several new and exciting builds being designed as well as enhancing the current popular archetypes but in a way that spices them up and is going to really give them a new blast of flavor. This is probably going to be last spoiler review I write before the entire set gets spoiled (unless something incredibly exciting shows up) but you can expect an article from me about some of the most exciting cards from the set as well as my predictions on some of the new archetypes and popular deck builds that will end up getting played.

Until then, may you never have a Mircale card in your opening hand!

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Avacyn Restored Spoilers Continue: The Powerpuff Girls

April 17, 2012 By 2 Comments

Quite a few exciting new cards have been spoiled since my last spoiler review so why not start out with one of the most discussed card from the set, Tibalt.

Apparently there was no Shakepspearean influence but if I remember correctly Tybalt was a little fiery, wasn't he?

That’s right. We are getting a two drop planeswalker. While its exciting that we have a ridiculously cheap planeswalker he doesn’t seem like a whole lot at first glance. Now before completely blowing him off keep in mind R & D was very careful with releasing a two drop planeswalker. They had to balance his cheapness with not overly powerful abilities while still making him playable. This new cheapest planeswalker feels a lot like baby Jace (previously the cheapest planeswalker) to me. Jace Beleren’s +2 was an incredibly useful ability that kept the net card gain 0 but his -1 really allowed you get some card advantage. He was a planeswalker you never intended to ultimate with and was never a super intimidating threat on the board but was still an incredibly powerful and useful card to have. Being able to draw a couple more cards and then giving your opponent one as well to up his loyalty made him an incredible engine. Tibalt feels a lot like that. His +1 while might not be ideal but it does allow for that necessary digging when you need it, doing so in way that isn’t over powered or intimidating to an opponent. Because of that it shouldn’t be to tough to get him to 4 and being able to fire off his -4 which isn’t a whole lot to scoff at. If you are able to get that off you there’s a good chance your opponent is going to be taking 4 or 5 which isn’t too shabby. All planeswalkers function as faux life gain, so I see Tibalt as a way for RDW to dig through your deck in hopes of finding that card you need who also then does one of three things: draw several attacks from you opponents creatures, lead to your opponent incinerating or blasting him giving up a card, or you killing him yourself with his -4. All of these for two mana is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I completely ignore his ultimate because by the time there are enough creatures in the opponents field worth stealing there is a good chance all of those creatures are going to stomping all over Tibalt. Tibalt is definitely going to be a player in the Standard environment and will definitely will be making his way into a good amount of RDW lists. While he might not make too much of impact outside of Type 2 there is paradigm of Magic we all should remember: planeswalkers are awesome. Not only is Tibalt a planeswalker but he is a planeswalker that cost 2. He might not seem like much now but I am sure he is going to do some work once he hits the field.
Lets move onto the next red Mythic that has been spoiled so far.

Bonfire of the Damned. More like Giant Wave of Lava Death. So most other Miracle cards have been consider kind of iffy because of their steep normal casting cost but Bonfire feels pretty damn (no pun intended) playable either way. I don’t think I need to sell anyone on why its awesome to top deck this bad boy and only have to pay its miracle cost, but honestly paying 2R to kill all of your opponents one drops while preserving yours as well as singeing your opponents face is pretty freaking sweet. Hell paying two more to deal two to everything is pretty sweet too! This is a good card. I foresee a lot of decks running a split of Slagstorms and Bonfires for the versatility. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this bad boy creeping down to Modern and possibly even down to the right Legacy deck. Sweet Miracle Card.

One last red card I wanted to mention was Zealous conscripts. Play my creature, remove your threat by stealing it, bash you for 3+X. This card is going to ridiculous in limited and could very very likely see some Standard play. Act of Treason effects are always good but when its attached to a 3/3 hasty body it’s just a bit more awesome.

Zealous Conscripts

Before completely moving away from red let me tell you a little anecdote. Innistrad debuts showing off new allied colored utility lands and they are awesome. Dark Ascension is released and with it come two enemy colored utility lands and they are awesome. Avacyn Restored spoilers come rolling around and with it comes the confirmation of the rest of the cycle and it looks awesome.

Desolate Lighthouse

Slayers’ Stronghold

First off is the UR Desolate Lighthouse which lets you loot (who saw that coming?) for three. The other is the WR Slayer’s Stronghold which I find a bit more exciting. So for WR and tapping it one of your creatures gets +2/0, haste and vigilance? Not too shabby. I think this could lead to a lot more Rally the Peasants/ Boros decks coming into the limelight. While the Lighthouse will definitely be a solid addition to some decks I don’t think its going to make nearly as big of an impact as the Stronghold will. So that leaves us with only the UG land left which has yet to be spoiled. What do you guys think it will be? My guess is it will give one of your guys hexproof until the end of turn or maybe something with flash (two mechanics that both blue and green share). I am hoping for something a bit more exciting than that but then again hexproof is pretty damn sweet. I guess we will see! Leave your guesses in the comments below!

Moving on.

Green is a color that I haven’t talked about too much yet and it’s because outside of Sigarda it hasn’t gotten anything particularly exciting yet. Until now.

Champion of Lambholt

So Champion of the Parish’s big brother just walked into the room. So now not only do all creatures trigger his ability but he also prevents your creatures from getting blocked? Mono green decks just got the all-star they have been looking for. With cheap undying creatures like Young Wolf and Strangleroot Gesit who are going to retrigger his ability multiple times Mono Green aggro and RG aggro just got that much better.

Besides Champion of the Lambholt green still doesn’t have a whole lot of excitement. They have spoiled one of the green mythic so far which is surprisingly (there really needs to be a sarcasm font) a big ol’ green creatures who is expensive but in the right situation could be decent. Despite this there are still some 180 more cards to be spoiled so I am sure there are some exciting green cards in there somewhere. There is definitely at least one more green mythic coming out and there is a pretty good chance we are going to be looking at another feisty Miracle. Speaking of Miracle…

The second white Mythic has been spoiled and it is pretty sweet if I do say so myself. This card is pretty similar to Bonfire of the Damned in the sense that the Miracle cost is clearly powerful but it still isn’t that bad casting it normally. While it’s not nearly as playable as Bonfire when it comes to casting it normally a flying 4/4 for 2WWW isn’t terrible. Neither is 2 4/4s for 4WWW. This is a good card and it could definitely be squeezing itself into Mono White decks because being able to flood the field with 4/4 angels could be pretty game changing. Probably wont see too much play but I am foreseeing it will get some.

Angel of Glory’s Rise

With Dark Ascension we saw Zombie Apocalypse; a fun card that didn’t really see any play due to the fact that Gravecrawlers got out of the graveyard easily enough on their own and six mana was just a bit too much for those aggro zombie builds. Now we are seeing the inverse of that but attached to a flying 4/6. While most Human decks probably won’t end up running her due to the spendy cost Angel of Glory’s Rise could really be that late game fuel they need. Needless to say she would do wok bringing all your humans back but imagine how amazing it would feel casting her when playing against zombies. Just saying.
If you are feeling like Angel of Glory’s Rise is too expensive and specific of a finisher might I suggest Cathar’s Crusade?

Cathars’ Crusade

With cards like this and Champion of the Lambholt I am definitely starting to appreciate the power of flickering in this set. Everytime I play a creature my creatures get bigger? That sounds like every agro player’s dream. This card is definitely going to be a finisher in any white agro deck. This bad boy finds his place in Haunted Humans, Green White Aggro (which is going to be awesome with the release of AVR), and even in Rally the Peasant/ Boros decks.

Lastly we now have another reanimation spell in Standard. It’s another 5 drop except this time its white and it really wants you to reanimate angels. If it wasn’t clear enough that these big angels were meant to be reanimated now it better be.

Defy Death

Before I completely move away from white I have something to admit. I have the tendency to sometimes start reading or skimming over a card and then get excited and assume I know exactly what it does and stop reading it (Kyle has a quite a few stories about me doing this unfortunately). This is exactly what happened with me and Soulbond. I didn’t notice until these past few days that you can pair your creatures not only when the Soulbond guy enters but also again when any of your other guys enter as well. Please forgive me for not expressing more excitement for this mechanic until now. Soulbond is awesome and so far most of the Soulbond guys are going to be ridiculous. Silverblade Paladin is the new Mirran Crusader except you are trading off the pro green and black to give your 4/4 Champion of the Parish double strike instead. I would call that a fair trade. I already mentioned thinking Tandem Lookout having potential but after realizing exactly how Soulbond works it really is apparent how much of a machine it is going to be. Hell even the green common Nightshade Peddler will be great, functioning as the perfect defense for preventing your opponents from attacking by being able to throw your small and now deathtouch guys in front of any threat. Soulbond is awesome.

So I have been saving black for last because the have recently announced a card I am the most excited about so far in the entire set. But lets start with a few of the other goodies black has in store in Avacyn Restored.

Appetite for Brains

Inquisition of Kozilek’s big brother just showed up! While a new one-black-mana-discard-card-from-opponent’s-hand is great and all its just not great as IoK is or even Duress. Sure it will be nice being able to pick off your opponents big threats from your opponent’s hand before he or she can even play them but it is more often than not those cheaper cards you really want to kill. You want to be able to snag that Mana-Leak to allow your threat to safely enter or you want to make them drop their Lightning Bolt so your Knight can safely come into play. There are quite of few tempo and faster paced decks that don’t run any four drops at all making it a dead card in a lot of match ups. It might make its way into side decks for Wolf-Run match ups but there are so much more powerful cards you could have instead. I doubt it will see any play at all outside of Standard if it sees play there. That being said the name, the art, and the flavor text all contribute to probably my favorite flavored card in quite some time. it’s a shame it’s not better.

Now this is a black one drop I can get excited about. I don’t know about you but I love my one mana kill spells. I was pretty damned stoked about Tragic Slip but have often been irritated by the extra work you have to put in to get the most out of it. But now we have Human Frailty. While at a quick glance it might seem pretty limited I suggest you think about it for a minute. This card can obvious effectively hit any threat from a Humans deck (excluding Mirran Crusader) in addition to some of the most powerful and most played creatures played in more than just Standard. Human Frailty can kill Delver, Dark Confidant, Knight if the Reliquary, Student of Warfare, Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, Noble Hierarch, and more. Even if you can’t justify fitting in the main board you bet you are going to be putting four in the sideboard because against the right deck it can be devastating.

So there is one last card on my list I wanted to talk about today. It is a card that has been getting an incredible amount of hate because in all honesty its going to suck playing against it and most situations it’s even going to suck being the one playing it.

Descent into Madness

Descent into Madness, now that’s my kinda card. Ever since I have started playing Magic, Pox and Smallpox have been some of favorite card of all time. The sheer power of them has always over shadowed the consequences of playing them. The same can be said about Descent into Madness for me. Right off the bat it looks like it is an unfun and ultimately unplayable card. Its one of those cards that can turn a fun game into something hellish pretty quickly if it goes unchecked. Being a Johnny and this card being an über Johnny card it really is just screaming for me to find some way to abuse it and god knows I want to! But where does it fit? The spendy mana cost makes it feel controlly but most control decks don’t have a lot of presence on the field until late game so they would have to start shaving off their lands which they need for their finishers. I guess if they ran a whole lot of means of drawing they could give up a lot of their hand but I don’t think this black hole of card is the best fit for UB control. It belongs in a deck surrounded by cards that give you value. As of right now I am toying with some kind BW Smallpox and token build, full of cards that net you permanents. Running things like Tezzeret’s Gambit to speed up the black hole and Hex Parasites to slow things down if necessary. Ultimately it’s a ridiculous card that has been getting a ton of hate and will probably not see too much play. But give it some time and some Johnny out there is going to find some kind of combo with this amazing enchantment and make one hell of a deck. My fingers are crossed it happens soon. I am very excited about this card.
Tune into Power Cords for future reviews of the upcoming spoilers. Leave your thoughts about the set so far and please let me know if you can think of a way to Abuse DiM! Check out the full spoiler list at MTG Salvation!

Ooh! I almost forgot. The Title of this post is Powerpuff Girls because if you haven’t noticed there a few similarities…

Check out my reviews of some the earlier cards spoiled too!

First AVR Planeswalker Revealed: Tamiyo

Griselbrand Restored

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First AVR Planeswalker Revealed: Tamiyo

April 11, 2012 By 5 Comments

The first of two Avacyn Restored planeswalkers was revealed today and it really shows off the similarities between the Innistrad block and the Kamigawa block with the fact that the planeswalker is indeed a moonfolk.

As many of noticed the last mono-blue planeswalker outside of a core set was Jace, the Mind Sculptor and while not nearly as game changing, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is sure to do some work. Right off the bat it should be noted that Tamiyo is able to protect herself once hitting the field, passing the planeswalker test and the fact that it’s her +1 is pretty sweet too. While she might be a five drop which isn’t nearly as fantastic as a 4 or 3 drop she does enter the battlefield with 4 loyalty keeping her safe from Incinerates and un-metal crafted Galvanic Blasts. While not as fast as Jace she does do several really important things very well. Being able to lock down the board with her +1 is awesome and depending on the board you can draw a handful of cards. While her +1 might not be great against aggro or faster creature based decks you can just throw her down, draw 3 or 4 cards and still have her on the field which for five mana is a pretty sweet deal. While her first 2 abilities are powerful her ultimate is pretty amazing as well. Tamiyo is the perfect planeswalker for a control deck and her ultimate reflects that. Imagine it being late game and just getting her ultimate off and being able to counter everything your opponent throws out there with one Dissipate or killing every creature they have with one Go for the Throat. Everyone of your cards gets so much value. Blue is an incredibly powerful color and Tamiyo is the perfect representation of the color. She is going to be an all-star in most control decks and could even show up as a finisher in decks simply running blue. I doubt she will show up to much outside of Standard though, perhaps occasionally in Modern. All in all she is a great card and I am looking forward to seeing her in action.

Moving onto to other notable blue cards that have been revealed leads me to Arcane Melee. While this probably won’t see too much play due to the simple fact that paying the 5 mana probably isn’t worth the benefit but I am sure that there could be some sweet combos and plays revolving around this at one point or another. Keep an eye on this bad boy.

Tandem Lookout is another blue card which could end up being pretty powerful. This is the first Soulbond creature that has really caught my eye. I could see him ending up in blue aggro decks paired with Delvers, Invisible Stalkers or other flyers serving as that card advantage engine blue aggro decks are always looking for.

The last blue card I want to talk about is actually part of a cycle of multicolored angels including the previously announced Sigarda. The angel I am referring to is the aura oriented Bruna, Light of Alabaster. While Bruna is indeed powerful she feels very comparable to Sovereigns of Lost of Alara but slower and in a Standard environment lacking super powerful auras to abuse. In Type 2 right now at least the only auras worth utilizing are Angelic Destiny and perhaps Call to Kindred (If you are going with an angel tribal theme kind of deal). While she might definitely become more powerful as the rest of the set is revealed or with the release of M13 and the next Ravnica oriented block which is bound to have some enchantments but for right now she is kind of lack luster. She might show up in a couple Modern Bant decks as a back up if there Sovereigns fails but I really doubt she will see too much play at the moment at least outside of EDH where she could make for a pretty freaking sweet general.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is the last angel in this multicolored angel cycle, unless they of course have a BW one up their sleeve (I assume not because one of themes of this set is everybody versus black so having more BW cards doesn’t make a ton of sense flavor wise). Gisela is probably my favorite out of three so far simply because she is awesome. While she doesn’t have that untouchable style that Sigarda has she definitely is going to be trickier to kill than Bruna. One of the major downsides of Bruna or even Avacyn is that they don’t do anything once hitting the board and this is where Gisela really shines. Playing those other angels probably won’t let you win the turn they come into play but with Gisela coming into play she could really give you that edge you need. She might see some play in Solar Flare but she is definitely going to be showing up in Frites and perhaps even in ramp decks. Imagine playing one of those latter two decks and having an Inferno Titan in play and then reanimating a Gisela. Your Titan attacks right off the bat hitting your opponent for 6 or wiping out all of their tokens or simply killing an opposing titan and then having the actual titan hit your opponent for 12 before pumps. Not only does she make killing your opponent that much easier but it makes killing you and your team that much harder as well. While she not have the protection Sigarda has, she will most definitely be worth it. She will definitely be seeing play in Standard and possibly in Modern (probably not too much). And of course like all of the other legendary creatures revealed so far she is going to rock in Commander.

Now if you are looking for a card that is hands down going to be showing up in Legacy and Modern as well as Standard look no further because Vexing Devil is your man. Holy shit this card rocks. So worst case scenario you pay the 1 mana for him and your opponent pays the 4 life to kill him. So worst case scenario you are hitting your opponent for 4 life for one mana on turn one. Best case scenario you have a 4/3 turn one. Either way works for me! This is a card that is going to be a 4 of in all top-tier RDWs in all formats for some time to come. He feels like a Keldon Marauders on super soldier serum. While he is obviously going to be a mono red all-star he is definitely powerful enough to make it into UR Delver lists, RG Aggro decks and could very well show up in the Wolf Run decks. Probably Boros too. Really any fast deck using red. In all honesty this card would be ridiculously powerful for 2 mana but instead he is 1. Definitely going to be one of the most powerful cards in the set.

Translation:
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card that shares a creature type with a creature you control, you can cast this card without paying its mana cost. Otherwise, put it at the bottom of your library.

This is another card I am excited about and definitely see it being abused in Modern. Descendants’ Path is a great card just waiting to be abused in some tribal deck and with all of the angels showing up in this set. I think we might all know what are creature type is most likely to be abused here is. They have already announced one (arguably two) 3 drop angels and if any more show up expect to see some legendary angels flying onto the board turn 4 or 5 to accompany their smaller brethren. While angels are the creature type screaming to be cheated in we cant forget that WG Humans is a pretty powerful deck and this is only going to make it more so. While its going to be decent in Standard I am really excited to see the Eldrazi shenanigans with this bad boy in Modern. I can picture UG decks running Nest Invaders (which are also technically Eldrazi), Mutavaults and other Shapeshifters to cheat into play all of those giant Eldrazi we have learned to fear by now.

One last card worth mentioning is the newly announced demon, Harvester of Souls. Harvester is pretty powerful card in the right environment and I think he could be an invaluable source of card advantage in Junk Pod decks and even some zombie builds with the self-sacrificing sub-theme present in Mortar Pods and Fume Spitters.

All in all Avacyn Restored is shaping up to be one of the coolest and most game changing sets we have seen in quite a while. I really feel like the design team wanted to spice things up a bit and with the cards revealed so far it is safe to say they have. It is getting me incredibly excited for the titans to rotate out of standard because this set has really released so many awesome and unique finishers to replace them. For a complete list of the spoiled cards check out MTG Salvation!

One last thing I want to address is that I completely undervalued miracle. Holy crap is Temporal Mastery powerful. Especially in Legacy where you are able to put cards from your hand back on top of your deck. I could see TM or maybe even Brainstorm getting axed in the format simply because the combination of the two is going to be so incredibly powerful. Literally everyone is going to run blue. It is going to be stupid not to. For all of your AVR news tune in to Power Cords!

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