So, we had a number of new Conspiracy cards get spoiled (Full card gallery here) and they showcase a number of interesting new mechanics. I’m not sure what to make of some of the stuff, but it would appear as if we are headed to very dynamic and chaotic multiplayer variant (if things shape out sort of how the new mechanics suggest) meaning this could be super fun and very refreshing. Let’s take a look at what we got spoiled!
Marchesa, The Black Rose– A 3/3 Legendary Creature- Human Wizard for 4 mana (1 colourless, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 black) that comes with the new Dethrone ability, grants all your other creatures Dethrone, and when a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies return that creature to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step. This looks insanely powerful because it becomes a Lord to all creature types with the Dethrone ability…but what does that mean? Dethrone, from the description on the card, suggests that if you attack the player with the most life (or you are tied) then the creature gets a +1/+1 counter. This seems very interesting because the description implies you are playing MORE THAN ONE PLAYER AT A TIME! That’s…mind blowing! For a DRAFT format to envision playing more than a single opponent is bonkers and that is truly amazing. I’m already stoked. However, let’s get back to the card at hand. The ability to give your WHOLE team the ability to rack up +1/+1 counters is huge. Also, once they get the counters they become MUCH more resistant to any sort of removal because they return to the battlefield at the next end step. That’s big. I mean, really big.
As much as this seems super powerful I have 2 issues with this: First, triple colour casting cost. If this ends up being pick 1 in your draft then you automatically are running three colours…which can be extremely difficult in draft…usually. This format might take all that conventional wisdom and toss it out the window, but I’d be leery of the triple colour Grixis casting cost. The other concern is the Dethrone ability in principle. I’m going to draw an analogy to a race. Usually, to win a race you want to get out early and close it down. There is reason that in racing sports cars that the pole position and getting out to an early lead is so crucial in determining who will win. Well, the same is true in Magic. Usually, you want to get out early and try to close out the match. However, Dethrone is premised on the opposite, on falling behind and needing a big finish to steal the match. Now, in racing this strategy is very viable but it creates a more risky situation if you fall too far behind and this is no exception. If you get too far behind, you might now be able to close down the gap and you will be looking up at a loss beside your name.
This card looks super interesting and I have no doubt that EDH players will love this addition because her ability is very powerful. For draft, she could be very straining on your mana base, but without knowing what else is in the set it is hard to tell just how much of a strain it will be. Hopefully we’ll see some very neat mana fixing and fun options to make this cool new card come together as part of strategy.
Selvala, Explorer Returned– A 2/4 Legendary Creature- Elf Scout for 3 mana (1 white, 1 green, 1 colourless) that has Parley. Parley seems to be an ability that when tapped, forces all the players at the table to reveal their top card of their library and then something interesting happens. In the case of Selvala for each non-land card revealed you add 1 Green mana to your mana pool and gain a life then each player draws a card.
So, let’s break this down in a couple of ways, first off a 2/4 for 3 mana is actually good value. Don’t believe me, check out Courser of Kruphix as it does work in Standard right now. Next, she ramps you…and if you’re in green you are totally on board the ramp plan. Third, she gains you life. This is an incremental gain similar to that of Courser of Kruphix again and could be hugely valuable as a multiplayer game grinds on. Fourth (yes…we are at fourth) she enables card draw. My only issue with Selvala at all is that each player draws a card, but as it has been pointed out with other cards that may not be bad, particularly if you are in control of WHEN people draw cards. However, I think in her instance, I would be prepared to ignore the fact that my opponents draw cards in favour of me getting access to more cards (and hopefully more gas!) so I think this ability is pretty reasonable. So, Selvala is packed full of value. She would be totally first pickable, but would need to be backed up by some serious value and heavy hitters to exploit the advantages gained. I’m in on this one…bi g time.
Tyrants Choice– a 2 mana (1 black and 1 colourless) that exemplifies the new Will of the Council mechanic that effectively presents a voting situation for your opponents. The choices on this card are that if the majority votes for death, the opponents each sacrifice a creature or if Torture is the vote your opponents all lose 4 life. This is very nicely costed at 2 mana…and both options are good for a player playing black, but my issue is simply that you are no longer in control of either option, much like Tribute in Born of the Gods. If your opponents decide to put the screws down to you, you don’t get the effect you were looking for and ultimately leaving you no further ahead…and with a table full of opponents who are a little pissed at you and looking to bury you. This feels very much like a “win more card” where if you are in the lead, it is awesome. However, if you are behind and need one effect or the other…well…you are likely getting screwed by your opponents, leaving you exactly where you were and no better off. This looks like a fun new mechanic, which will make things very interesting at your game table, but it introduces a ton of unpredictable results that you can’t bank on, so be leery of this card and others like it unless the effects are extremely powerful. We’ll see what the remainder of the set provides.
Control Magic- Wow, I’ve missed this card. 4 mana…take your creature…and at uncommon? This classic reprint of one of one of the iconic spells in Magic makes this super valuable. This will rarely be a dead card in your hand as it is good in almost every situation and is very reasonably costed to cast. If you see this one in your pack it is good enough to picked very early in your draft and you will not regret it.
I hope everyone enjoyed their pre-release events this weekend. I had a blast playing in a Two Headed Giant pre-release and got my first up close and personal look and feel for Journey into Nyx. The consensus around the room was that the set was very solid and very interesting. There are some terrific cards, some very intricate cards that will need careful timing to work, and a bunch of very useful and relevant creatures that make the whole process a lot of fun. I wanted to take a moment, now that we’ve all got a taste, what I think are some of the more exciting and interesting cards from Journey into Nyx.
Let’s start off with this disclaimer. I may not be picking the best cards, or the flashiest cards. I’ll leave that to players who will trying to brew up top level competitive decks. No, I’m taking more of a Casual approach and looking at cards that I feel offer us something interesting that we may not have seen in a while, offer some interesting deck ideas, or are just plain fun. So, without further delay, let’s get to looking at what new treats I can’t wait to get my hands on where Journey into Nyx is with us for real.
Commons-
There are actually a number of really sweet commons that have been printed in the set and I had a hard time settling on one…so I picked 2.
Desecration Plague I love the versatility of this card. The ability to take out an enchantment or a LAND is super fun, particularly the land. With this and Red’s Demolish in the same set, the Casual Brewer in me is seriously looking at building a R/G land destruction deck and just make a wreck of the land base for my opponent and frustrate the heck out of them. I bet there is no one else on the planet that is actually jazzed for this card, but I think this will be a fun addition to our repertoire of spells. Nothing quite like undercutting your opponent by eating his land.
Flurry of Horns- The more I look at this card, the more I think it is going to be a ton of fun. I love me a tribal deck. Goblins, Merfolk, Spirits…you name it, I love it. Now, Minotaurs are a thing. They REALLY REALLY are. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself. This spell will be an awesome addition to a Man-Bull deck and for 5 mana is suitably costed, gives you 2 more Minotaurs with haste, and lets you stampede over your opponent. If you’ve got Kragma Warcaller or Felhide Petrifier in play as well, well, wow, things are going to get ugly…FAST. This is dripping with flavour in a mythology inspired block and is a fun and card to rock in your new Minotaur deck.
Uncommons-
Fleetfeather Cockatrice- This gold card has too much text for it to not be good. Honestly, Flying, Flash, Deathtouch and MONSTROSITY all on the same card? This will be awesome. Sure, it’s 5 mana, but it comes out of no-where thanks to flash and straight up kills something. It’s big enough that it could survive combat, which is awesome, and it can then take over the skies if you can trick it out with the Monstrosity ability to make it a 6/6…that’s a freaking dragon!? I love it. I am sure that my G/U flash deck is going to love seeing this addition in at least a pair of, but I might be prepared to take this guy out and see what other carnage I can cause with him. He doesn’t lend too much in the way of combos or wild synergy, but there is something to be said for just a straight up good creature that will do a lot for you. This is the sort of creature I want and will get good value from him. Oh, and I love the reference to the original Cockatrice from Revised which was a staple and can now have a new play mate in 2014.
Rare:
There are a number of fun rares in this set and generally I feel like they are powerful without being broken. There has been lots of buzz around Eidolon of Blossoms, but I’m not convinced that the Constellation trigger on it will actually end up being that cool. No, the rare that caught my eye, just because of the simplicity is Dawnbringer Charioteer. This is a tried and true tested formula in Theros block and you can’t miss with this guy. We saw very early on that Wingsteed Rider was good. Like ridiculously good. Then, we saw that Akroan Skyguard was good too. We have seen that just about ANY Heroic Trigger that puts +1/+1 counters on it is good, and if it flies it is even better…so how can you miss with the Charioteer? Bottom line, you can’t. It’s a 2/4, flying, lifelinking, Heroic BOMB and it just destroys your opponent. I raved about this one when it was spoiled and I still think it is awesome. Is it going to be Constructed playable? Doubtful, but the Casual Brewer in me is already hard at work trying to brew up something disgusting to do with this guy.
While we are on the topic of Rare cards, I wanted to diverge a little. Yes, I said I would talk about cards that got me excited, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about a card that I can’t imagine playing. Dictate of the Twin Gods is just about as unplayable a card as I have ever seen. Yes, I get that there are some people that will love this one, but my honest sense is that it will backfire and end up costing the caster far more often than not. If you can’t close out the game the turn this lands on the table, my honest sense is that it is game over for you because you have committed to being all in…and didn’t get there…and now the backswing from your opponent is going to sting twice as much. I had an opponent run this at our pre-release and instead of allowing them to run up the damage with their Minotaurs, it resulted in double damage to the face when my Charioteer punched through for about a million. Yeah, this card seems like more trouble than it is worth and I am really struggling at seeing too much in the way of quality uses. Funny uses? Oh hell yes, I can dream up FUNNY…but they aren’t GOOD uses. Rant over…thank you.
Mythic-
It seems like a bit of a cop out to pick one of the Gods, but they all look really cool in this set. The one that has me most excited is actually the last one I thought I would like when I read his abilities. Kruphix, God of Horizons is actually super neat, but initially I misunderstood his abilities. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as the twitter universe was all a-buzz about his abilities. The first ability, of having no max hand size is nice. However, what makes him exciting is the second ability that basically means you get to store your unused mana as Colourless mana. The more I think about it, the more I think that the second ability is tremendous in some strategies and casual decks. The sky is now the limit! Just keep pouring in that mana into good ol’ Kruphix and watch the fireworks. Think about it! Giant Sphinx’s Revelation. The biggest Mistcutter you’ve EVER seen. Wild Strive Triggers. Going Monstrous with Polukranos for…oh…I don’t know…about a million and blowing out the whole other team. The options available are just about endless. Now, this is living in Magical Christmas land again, but honestly, there’s nothing wrong with living there for a little while. Heck, that’s why we love the new cards! Magical Christmas Land has come and you can see all the cool new treats and the silly things you can do with them…and Kruphix is just the same. I’ll let the Scrooges out there dump all over Kruphix for Constructed purposes, but for Casual he’s going to be HILARIOUS!
So, there we have my picks for cards for Journey into Nyx. It is interesting to see the difference between Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx, both of which were similar add-ons to Theros, but while Born of the Gods was almost simplistic in nature, Journey into Nyx is actually pretty complex with a bunch of really interesting new abilities and mechanics to weigh when considering making a deck. Is a Constellation deck possible? Would it be any good? How good will Strive be? We didn’t have the same questions from Born of the Gods because the mechanics were pretty straight forward. This time we have new things to consider and some very serious options to weigh when building decks. Oh well…time to get down to work and see what else I can brew up. I’ll catch you guys later.
Until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
