gatecrash preorders

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Gatecrash Preview: Giant Adephage

giantadephage

Spawnwrithe Take 2!

In the history of Magic: the Gathering, there are creatures so good that updated versions of them need to be made. Such is the case of Spawnwrithe. Probably relegated to casual play, this creature offers us something somewhat cool in a reanimator style deck: the ability to replicate itself. While the other reanimator fatties are cool, they somewhat keel over and die to removal (obviously!) but if this guy lasts a turn, then your opponent’s out would be a mass removal spell (which not many Standard decks pack). This mythic will probably be in some demand early on at your local game store. I suggest you trade some quickly as I don’t see it becoming more than a mythic bulk card.

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Gatecrash Preview: Prime Speaker Zegana

primespeakerzeganaSo, it becomes the biggest creature and draws you cards? Nice!

Simic’s other Mythic creature is on par with Master Biomancer and some would argue better. It just comes down as your biggest creature (barring instant speed removal on your huge dude) and draws you card equal to its power. Obviously, it’s pretty bad if it’s your post- Supreme Verdict top deck.  It does allow you to keep the swarm going and draws you a ton of cards that you might need in order to rebuild if things go bad. You also might want to open one up in your Release/Pre-Release if you plan on winning.

The creature I would most compare this to is Primeval Titan. Both provide you with great card advantage when they enter the battlefield. Titan continues the love in the form of more lands and if it survives long enough will win you the game. Zegana can just straight up give you 4-7 cards and will probably help you win the game if she manages to stay in play. Both cost 6 mana and both are well worth it. The legendary status hurts it in anything but Commander.

If you plan on playing casual, you can get in finite value out of her with something like Karakas to bounce her and re-cast over and over. While Karakas is not legal in Commander/EDH, I am sure your kitchen table group will not mind it when you play multiplayer casual games.

karakas

Lovely quote

She also forms a lovely couple with Master Biomancer, for obvious reasons (with Biomancer in play she gets bigger and draws you more cards when she enters the battlefield). I would definitely add a Zegana to my Simic deck for just that reason.

prime bio love

Such a cute couple, aren’t they?

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Dimir Keyrune

dimirkeyrune

Dimir Keyrune

A nice little keyrune that you probably want to Cipher on because it’s unblockable (obviously) and it’s the one that ramps you in colors that are not that obvious to accelerate in (Standard format). It’s also really good to poke through opposing planeswalkers (much like Creeping Tar Pit was in Zendikar-era Standard) .

creeping tar pit

The little planeswalker killer

You can also play it in your little Dimir ‘mill’ deck to cast a turn 4 Jace, Memory Adept an accelerate the milling process. It also just gives you a slow-ish win condition as a control deck. It’s grindy and slow and probably not that good in the current meta, but thing will surely change with Gatecrash in the mix.

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Gatecrash Preview: Dimir Charm

dimircharm

Swat, Envelop or ‘Index‘

This is obviously a very control-oriented charm as its Dimir colors imply. You can destroy a little guy like Dark Confidant in Modern, counter something like Scapeshift or maybe mess up a Bloodbraid Elf cascade (well, maybe not). It might end up being a two-of in a future Standard Esper control deck.

There will probably be quite a few powerful sorceries in Type 2 and let’s not forget all the ‘Miracles’ cards are Sorceries as well. So it’s like the ‘Despair Charm’ countering all the hope/miracles. The ‘mill’ part is so conditional I would almost never recommend it except maybe in draft to give your opponent a dead draw or to instant speed ‘Index‘ yourself when you really need something good.

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Gatecrash Preview: Diluvian Primordial

diluvianprimordial

Not as impressive as the other Primordials

So you get a 5/5 flying body for 7 mana with a possible half-Spelltwine . It’s bound to see play in EDH/Commander to replay a ‘bomb’ Instant or Sorcery. Due to its reliance on an opposing graveyard, it’s unsurprising that it won’t show up on any Standard lists. It will probably hit some spell in Sealed/Draft. You will always be shoving this in any blue limited deck.

No flavor text is a bummer. I don’t think any of them have much of that, due to the fact that there’s too much ability text. Ever noticed how these 5 new avatars are like a toned down version of the M11-12 Titans? Hmmm…..

sylvanprimordial  primeval titan

moltenprimordial  inferno titan

luminateprimordial  sun titan

sepulchralprimordial  grave titan

diluvianprimordial  frost titan

All these titans make it feel like the new God of War videogame!

god of war

Part Four or Five for sure! LOL

They get better in multiplayer games, obviously. I guess Wizards of the Coast figure the Titans were a little too powerful and left little room for the smaller 4-5 mana guys to have an impact. Also every other 6-drop would have to be comparable in power level. This caused them not to come back in M13 (thank goodness!).

I guess this is there way of letting us have the titan-level goodness without the efficient cost. Each one is basically a spell built into a fatty. The effect improves based on the number of opponents. I guess there is no point in examining each primordial individually, but ranking them for constructed might be an option.

1) Sylvan Primordial

Obviously right? It has basically 2 effects, one of which is a ‘Beast Within‘

2) Luminate Primordial

Swords to Plowshares on a Elesh Norn-sized body. You can obviously cast this on your own guys for fun and profit.

3) Molten Primordial

A bigger Zealous Conscripts, but only on a creature. Still, pretty good as it provides a bigger, albeit unnecessary body.

4) Sepulchral Primordial

Animate Dead an opposing creature? Sure! It has Intimidate which is probably better than the #5 creature

5) Diluvian Primordial

Probably the worst in the one on one category since it relies more on what your opponent may or may not have in grave. Sepulchral Primordial has a bigger chance of making an impact.

Will any of these guys realistically appear in a Standard deck?

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Gatecrash Preview: Devour Flesh

devourflesh

Diabolic Edict in Standard? Nice!

Cool card and cool art. drawn by fan favorite Kev Walker. You have the advantage of running it in Modern over Geth’s Verdict since it only costs 1 black mana instead of two. Secondly, you can realistically use it on yourself to gain some life. It’s not necessarily a bad thing as you can just sacrifice something that was going to die anyways.

 devour blurb

How about that quote?

You are what you eat… literally! That’s err… logical. I think foil versions of this are going to be sought after for Legacy play and probably even Standard. It beats out Geist of Saint Traft by a turn, which is awesome.

Who knows, it might bring about the resurgence of Mono-Black in Standard? What do you guys think?

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Gatecrash Preview: Debtor’s Pulpit

debtorspulpit

Master Decoy is hiding in the background somewhere

Wait, what’s a pulpit? Let’s broaden our vocabulary:

noun

1.

a platform or raised structure in a church, from which the sermon is delivered or the service is conducted.
Ah! interesting. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s examine the card itself. It’s an enchant land which means your opponent can 2 for 1 you, but the land destruction is, well … limited. It might be a good card if an enchantress style deck comes into light. Combined with Sphere of Safety, you can really bog down your opponent.
sphere of safety
Always keep the safety on
In limited, it’s a really safe tapper that will keep one of your mana tied down but control their biggest threat every turn. You can also just use it to tap down a big blocker to get your other guys through.
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Gatecrash Preview: Deathpact Angel

deathpactangel

 

Two removal spells will be required for this one

And let’s not forget the cute little token it produces:

cleric token

Pretty hard to crack this in a pack

Pretty cute card overall. You can do fancy things like combine it with Illusionist’s Bracers to get another Angel in play if there are more than one in your graveyard. It’s still a 5/5 flying for six mana and doesn’t ‘die’ to cards like Ultimate Price . It can be negated by other cute tricks like Lazav, Dimir Mastermind but it remains pretty efficient overall.

It’s nice to see they didn’t print another ‘enters the battlefield’ angel as they were becoming a tad numerous. Either way, none of them could be ‘blinked’ with Restoration Angel. The scythe is a pretty nice touch to the card’s artwork. I can see this being played in an Esper control deck for those that would rather play it over Obzedat, Ghost Council. Plus, it’s non-legendary and you can afford to spam them out. Unless of course, your opponent is playing Wrath effects and Snapcaster Mages.In which case, you probably want to just rop one at a time.

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Gatecrash Preview: Deathcult Rogue

deathcultrogue

 

Other rogues? Cant be much of those

Don’t be mistaken, this is not that unblockable. Almost, but not quite…

Let’s see the other Gatecrash Rogues:

Bane Alley Broker

Deathcult Rogue

Keymaster Rogue

Ogre Slumlord

Shadow Alley Denizen

Syndicate Enforcer

Undercity Informer

Of course they are mostly/totally blue or black creatures. Dimir is the lowest ranked limited guild, but this guy is one of its better cards. If you do end up in Blue/Black, don’t hesitate to shove as many of these guys in your deck so you can Cipher spells onto them.

In a low budget Dimir casual deck, be sure to try it out with a few of your spare commons. You can make a quick little deck and teach new players a few things here and there.

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Gatecrash Preview: Death’s Approach

deathsapproach (1)

 

Oh noes! Mill Death

At the cost of 1 mana, this might see play in the more casual mill decks. It is still reliant on the fact that your opponents will play creatures. In limited, it is definitely a decent spot removal.

That’s about it, they can’t all be novels.