Battle for Zendikar Promos

All week long during each week of September, the WotC R&D team brings us new spoilers from the long anticipated Battle for Zendikar. Today was no exception and delivered us new additions to the actual spoiler with all the promos available from the release of the new set.

Gift Box Promo

Scythe Leopard is clearly a nerf from the past referencing to Plated Geopede and Steppe Lynx as the Landfall ability used to be +2/+2 until end of turn. This card will be played in limited and draft as a fill in but I don’t think it will be standard at all even with fetches.

Buy-a-Box

Then, as Hero’s Downfall was there to help us manage creatures and plainswalkers, Ruinous Path say “No, we will manage them and even more!!!” given the possibility of making a 4/4 creature out of a land and it has haste. I think control gained quite a great removal just by the fact of having a 4/4 threat late game. Even if the spell is in sorcery, it will still be a format defining card in standard.

Release Events Promo

With the comeback to Zendikar, they clearly had to create new Eldrazi in this set. They made no mistake by creating Blight Herder here. This creature as alot of upside being a 4/5 colorless creature that as the possibility of putting 3 1/1’s for a total of 7 power. Although, the condition of having 2 exiled cards of your opponent to put into their graveyard creates a necessity to using the other Eldrazi in the set which have the ability to exile the top card of their library.  I think this card will be limited bomb if you get the cheap eldrazi as well in your pool/draft.

Game Day Promo

Since Wizards let it all out with the big guys, they had to create cards that can manage them. After Ruinous Path, they made us a Journey to Nowhere with Flash. This is definitely a 2 to 4-of depending if it’s a control/midrange deck in Standard. I think Esper control decks will make a comeback in the top tier with those 2 removals. A card I look forward playing with!

Game Day Top 8

Since Anger of the Gods is rotating, the R/x deck was going to suffer from that. Well, not anymore! Radiant Flames will fix the problem because, even as Anger of the gods was exiling the creatures, it was an irrelevant ability as not alot of creatures had graveyard abilities. Also, the fact it only costs one red is really good. I see it as a 2 or 3-of as early mass removal to support Crux of Fate or Languish here.

Battle for Zendikar Game Day

As the previous gamedays, this nice dark horde playmat will be given to the 1st place of the gameday event.

Overall, way to go wizards!  R&D really rocked it and it is probably the best set since Return to Ravnica. I wish all of  you will enjoy a lot of drafts and capture these great promos ’cause you know…gotta catch’em all! 😉

By Samuel Carrier

@infiwill on Twitter