Author: carteblanchehobbies

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Gatecrash Preview: Bane Alley Broker

banealleybroker

Has the name broke in it, but not exactly ‘broken’

Ah, a broker in the long line of blue brokers past:

merfolk looter lore broker civilized scholar

Looters from another mother

This one in particular does something the others don’t : it can potentially net you real cards. You see, the others only switch one card for another at times. This one has a little sac (like in the World of Warcraft online game) that allows it to store the cards for possible later use. It’s a simple mechanic but I like it a lot. Early on, you might want to loot away your business spells for lands. Then when you can potentially cast your bigger card, you can activate her ability to recover one of the cards you ‘temporarily stored’ under her.

Again, its applications are probably limited to limited formats (I would say Commander, but just play Archivist instead)

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Gatecrash Preview: Balustrade Spy

balustradespy

 

About 1.5 times more efficient in Limited formats

Not the vampire most people would play in a vampire deck. Unless you have pipe dreams of milling your Bloodghasts and Gravecrawlers ….Woah! That comment went from being sarcastic to almost revelatory!

In all seriousness, you probably want to draft this up a lot in Limited as it actually allows you to ‘Cipher’ pretty well. The Keymaster Rogue combos pretty well with it too. It can block a few smaller Boros creatures early on and allow you to survive and perhaps mill out your opponent for the win (what all Dimir limited decks aspire to do).

Go forth and mill little vampire!

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Gatecrash Preview: Aurelia, the Warleader

aureliathewarleader

 

Gisela’s Commander competition as general

When the foil version showed up earlier on, a lot of people were in disbelief. You thought Gisela, Blade of Goldnight was good? This
card take it to the next Boros level.

While Gisela  was good at protecting you and your team as well as giving you a substantial offence boost, this card is more true to the Boros swarm philosophy. Note: some of you may not be aware of this, but the extra combat phase will indeed cause all your Battalion effects to trigger again. This is huge for the cards like Firemane Avenger and Boros Elite.

You can setup an end of turn Aurelia’s Fury and just drop Aurelia on your main phase, enter combat step and go to town.

 

aureliasf ury

 

The premiere Gatecrash mythic

Of course, there is one thing….while she is a bit cheaper than her fellow Boros legend, she is still pushing the Boros curve. Traditionally, these decks are not known for needing to hit 6 mana to win. Boros decks did not pack cards like Inferno Titan when they were Standard legal, because they are speed-based decks. Similarly to Red deck wins, but with more creatures over burn spells.

So while this card seems great on the surface, I think it will be mostly relegated to the Commander format.

 

MTG-Commander

OR….will it?

Remember now that all 10 Ravnica Dual Lands will be available. This means that a deck like Naya (Red-Green-White) which had a sketchy manabase can now become more consistent. Naya being known for its beefier creatures and acceleration can really benefit from this Relentless Assault on a stick. I wager it will probably be seen as a two-of in these decks, so don’t dismiss it as a pure casual card just yet!

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Gatecrash Preview: Aurelia’s Fury

aureliasf ury

 

Orim’s Chant meets Rolling Thunder

Wow! Where to begin?
Instant speed Rolling Thunder? Combo breaking Orim’s Chant?

Peanut butter and chocolate? Check!

peanut butter and chocolate

 

Yummy!

 

This card has rightfully received a lot of hype as soon as it was revealed. It presents the Boros player with a veritable Swiss army knife.

Burn your opponent for the win? Check

Set up an alpha strike on your turn by tapping down his team at the end of his? Check

Mess up an Epic Experiment combo deck (because you know there will be one) ? Check

It’s useful in just about any situation and will probably see a decent amounts of modern play as well, I believe. It can be HUGE in decks featuring Dark Confidant as it only makes you take 2 if flipped and does soooo much more for those decks in return. It doesn’t hit the guys with Hexproof, but there is a nifty little artifact that was recently spoiled that takes care of that little problem:

 

glaringspotlight

 

Looking to deal with Invisible Stalker and Geist of Saint Traft?

Aurelia’s Fury will probably be jammed in every possible deck that can support it, kind of like Bonfire of the Damned was.
Remember how big that was? (note: and is becoming big again)

Also, I expect it to be in high demand in the very near future, what with it being a Mythic and all.

Don’t delay, get your playset today!

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Gatecrash Preview: Arrows of Justice

arrowsofjustice

 

Arrows of Justice

Four damage to something that blocks or attacks? Nice! Take that silly Restoration Angel!

damaged restoOw! 

“I’m hit!” yelled the Restoration Angel as she crashed into the nearby foliage. The noise causes the great mage to wake up from his DREAM!

Yeah, this is the unlikely scenario that will rarely happen. Oh! but of course: It’s great in limited formats.

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Gatecrash Preview: Armored Transport

armoredtransportSwing with Safety

A creature with a buil-in Dolmen Gate . Unfortunately not a great impact if it connects.

In draft/sealed, the Boros decks will probably load up on a few to enable some good ‘Battalion’ runs. It can be funny in some Affinity deck home brews with cards like Cranial Plating equipped. Maybe even in Legacy to get those safe Jitte swings in.

Hmmm….maybe this little guy has more potential than I first thought….

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Angelic Edict

angelicedict

Punished by the Angels!

While you probably want multiples in Gatecrash Pre-releases and Releases, you can maybe squeeze just one into your constructed decks.

There aren’t many ways to get rid of cards like Assemble the Legion in gatecrash limited so this gets the maindeck nod. Also, the number of mythic creature bombs is through the roof. You will need this common solution to those. Unfortunately it does nothign against this guy:

obzFear the Council!

This card is just a pain to play against in Limited You better hope to have Rapid Hybridization or Grisly Spectacle.

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Gatecrash Preview: Alpha Authority

alphaauthority

 

Watch out! Alpha coming through!

A great way to protect your big guy in Drafts and Pre-releases but I can’t see it doing much else in other formats. Maybe some peeps will try it in casual decks with a Trample creature.

Combos really well with Madcap Skills in Limited.

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Gatecrash Preview: Agorophobia

agoraphobia

 

Scared of large crowds? You aren’t alone.

Great little pick in Limited! Drop it on an opposing creature and basically render any of its involvement in combat useless, almost.

See, if your opponent choose to chump block with the enchanted creature: simply bounce Agorophobia back to your hand. His creature will die and you will have a fresh Agorophobia to antagonize another opposing creature with. As I mentioned before with cards that bounce back to your hand, the ‘Extort’ mechanic loves them.