mtg spoilers

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Gatecrash Preview: Rapid Hybridization

rapid hybridization

Pongify #2!

Yes this is pretty much a Pongify, just that it produces a 3/3 Frog Lizard instead of a Ape Token. Now you might at first think the card is underwhelming, but it is actually one of the only Standard cards right now that can deal with Obzedat, Ghost Council.

obzYes, remember this guy? He will be rather hard to permanently deal with.

This is probably a great fit in UW Flash, a deck that has recently fallen out of favor due to the rise of Cavern of Souls and its inherent problems to actually remove threats in play. This new Pongify-style card obviously gains us value since we can Snapcaster Mage it back when needed, making it a much more stable removal than the tempo-ish Unsummon.

Restoration Angel

3/3 Frog Lizard? That sounds like it’s right up my alley!

Yes Restoration Angel, you block those things all day long. Is there anything you can’t do?

resto fail

Ah! You can’t flicker Angels. True…

In Limited it can be used as a combat trick to get an evolve trigger in while destroying one of your smaller guys and having you ‘Evolve’ creature survive and kill the creature it was in combat with.

So far, this is my pick for Uncommon of the set. So far…

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Gatecrash Preview: Elusive Krasis

elusive kras

 

Woah! what?

Here we have yet another ‘Evolve’ creature. This one will surely be on the list of infinite casual decks for some time to come. A high toughness unblockable dude can survive things like Rolling Temblor and company. He is not Invisible Stalker by any means, but then again what is?

The Fish Mutant creature type is interesting. This might give people hope for that much ‘hyped’ Green Blue Sea Creature-ish planeswalker they have been talking about. She’s in the Duels of the Planeswalkers game:

File:Kiora Atua.jpg

Kiroa Atua

Rancor is already great on its own but seems rather great on this little guy. The only thing that may be bad is that the ‘Evolve’ mechanic forces a player to spam the field with increasingly bigger creatures and making them more vulnerable to a Supreme Verdict-style board clearer. Usually though just as a 4/6 (2 triggers + Rancor) should be enough to finish games rather quickly.

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Gatecrash Preview: High Priest of Penance

high priest of penance‘Vindicate‘ on a stick. 

Ah! when the original version was spoiled (in Italian, I believe) some people thought it was a enters the battlefield ability. You can obviously see how ridiculous this is given its mana cost. I mean Vindicate costs 3 mana and you don’t get a creature out of it to boot. The final translated version is even worse than anticipated, requiring it to have taken damage versus just going to the graveyard.

Obviously some people will try to abuse it by pumping its toughness and pinging it with something like Izzet Staticaster. It obviously makes a good blocker, albeit comparable to Loyal Sentry.

Loyal Sentry

Remember this guy? yeah, me either…

It may just end up being a nice little ‘unblockable’ creature. Perhaps some kind of decent aura from this sent can aid it. Probably an Orzhov-themed one.

Its uses in EDH alongside something like Sun Titan may be rather interesting to explore. What amount of play will this card realistically see in the new Standard format? Probably a decent amount at the start when everyone is busy brewing and a lot less when more decks become established.

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Skyknight Legionnaire

skyknightI think I’ve seen you before…

The card has not aged well

A lot of players are surely happy to see it back. It actually saw a small amount of play early one when Boros was popular. It’s definitely a decent creature and can be played the turn after a Firemane Avenger and still be efficient via the ‘Battalion’ mechanic.

You will probably be picking these relatively early in drafts as well since Boros will probably be an awesome limited weenie deck with minimal bombs or Rares required to win.

Will we see any other ‘Blasts from the Past’ in Gatecrash?

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Gatecrash Preview: Crypt Ghast

crypt ghast

 

Nirkana Revenant Jr?

It seems like we have seen many of these new Gatecrash cards before in some for or another, doesn’t it? This guy in my opinion is a tad better than its predecessor. He actually accelerates you early on as opposed to turn 6 where it would be less relevant.

Additionally, we get the rather nice Extort ability slapped onto it. Plus it almost always pays for its own Extort which is pretty sweet. The art could have been nicer though, but I’m just being picky there.

Crypt Ghast might be used in some kind of control deck to cast some Mutilates and Liliana of the Dark Realms. Plus you can even get some extra value off of the Liliana Ultimate:

lili ulti

Seems a tad unnecessary eh?

So you get 6 mana each time you tap a swamp for mana. What to do? Too bad Extort can’t be paid more than once per spell (that would bascially be a free Drain Life with every spell). Instead we have previously previewed card Gateway Shade:

gateway shade

Still not very appealing as it’s lacking some form of evasion, but I’m sure a worthy monoblack mana sink will surface. Just stay tuned…

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Gatecrash Preview: Whispering Madness

whispering madness

 

Cipher? Well, it sure sounds cool. Kinda futuristic and cryptic.

So we have a Windfall effect that you can recur by dealing combat damage with one of your guys (probably with something like Invisible Stalker). Pretty neat, just put the card under your creature card kind of like an aura or equipment. Play some stuff out of your hand and reload before your opponent can really profit from his new hand. In theory it all works out great eh? Probably in limited too.

Will it have the power level required to see some serious constructed play? It’s hard to say, but I can see it in some kind of weird mill deck.

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Gatecrash Preview: Treasury Thrull

treasury

 

Extort? Yeap, that definitely sounds Orzhov-ish!

So this is like a kicker cost that you can apply to all your random spells you cast when the Thrull is in play. Not bad, especially in limited if it’s been like pacified or tapped and can’t attack anymore.

Speaking of its second ability: It reminds me of the titans from M11 only slightly toned down and a bit more interesting. What nice little trinkets will you be able to re-use with this beast?…errrr…Thrull? It’s also the ability that will make it fun to use in EDH decks and I can imagine that FOIL versions of this card will be sought after early on. Any self-sacrificing creature can be great with it too (kinda like Sakura-Tribe Elder).

This is the coolest Thrull I’ve ever seen. It’s nice to know they’re making a comeback since Fallen Empires and Guildpact. Go Thrulls!

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Gatecrash Preview: Simic Fluxmage

simic flux

 

 

This card was apparently opened in a Return to Ravnica booster (reminiscent of the Rootbound Defenses, which was opened in a pack of M13). It seems to be Wizard of the Coast’s way of ‘accidentally’ spoiling new cards. It’s kind of cool in my opinion.

Other than that, the card is sure to be a good casual seller. It boost your little army and can give itself a +1/+1 counter by boosting an equal powered creature upon its enter the battlefield trigger.

I know that I’ll definitely be trying to abuse this in limited formats.

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Gatecrash Preview: Fathom Mage

fathom mage

 

 

 

We now have the Simic guild’s keyword spoiled: Evolve.

It’s a nice twist on the old one: Graft (from Dissension). This card rewards us for playing bigger and bigger creatures. Also, you can combine it with other things like Mikaeus, the Lunarch’s ability or things like Scavenge from the Golgari guild to get some nice card drawing.

It looks a tad on the week side, but most of the set is yet to be spoiled. Who knows what the future has in store for Fathom Mage?

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Gatecrash Preview: Rubblehulk

rubblehulk

 

 

 

While Boros seems to have gotten the ‘quicker’ creature spoiled, the Gruul guild does indeed bring the beef. The Bloodrush keyword is reminiscent of the Channel ability from the Kamigawa block. This guy just gets better the more you ramp, only that he is smaller if you accelerate via mana dorks. Fair enough, but does this mean that there is another Rampant Growth-style spell in Gatecrash?

Stay tuned…