Hey, I'm Walkin' Over Here!

So I was sick yesterday, and not only did I miss a day of work, I also missed a day of spoilers. That means we have a lot of ground to cover today, so let's get right to it.

Wow, okay. that's impressive. Whatever plane you land on after this encounter is gonna get wacky. Chaotic Aether into Meditation Pool is really gonna shatter players' sanity. I really like this Phenomenon. It's not based on any existing card, and has an effect that is unique to the Planechase format, but generic enough that it doesn't matter what you are playing, beyond that you're playing Planechase. Very cool.

This is obviously a nod to Warp World, which is an effect that WotC seems to think most multiplayer fans enjoy. The fact is I think the majority of us that play multiplayer don't really like these "LOL RANDOM!" effects much. Then again, why are we playing Planechase if we don't like random, zany effects? Eh, either way this looks like it'll be fun, even if it is a bit too unpredictable and random for my tastes.

Well, I do love card draw. This is gonna suck if you hit it super-early, and just have to discard 3 or 4 cards bceause of it. Unless, of course, you're playing Mimeoplasm or something like that. Anyway, I like it.

Yes! This is a prefect example of balancing the need for really cool, bizarre effects and boring but useful effects. While something like Chaotic Aether is going to get more excitement and interest for it's unique and awesome effect, something like Planewide Disaster is going to fly quietly under the radar, but it's presence in the set is very important. Planechase is a format that is driven by creating imbalance, but occasionally it needs effects like this one and Sanctum of Serra to restore balance. I like this better than Sanctum of Serra, partly because it just destroys creatures, and partly because it's not a plane. It was always boring being stuck on Serra's Sanctum for several turn cycles, because you pretty much stopped casting permanents until someone Planeswalked. This just happens, then it's over. Very cool.

This looks very interesting and has potential to be very powerful. Of course the randomness of it all makes it difficult to really tap into that potential. This could wind up being a do-nothing plane a lot of the time, but hopefully it won't, because it looks pretty fun on paper.

This is very similar to Planechase I's "The Maelstrom" planar card. This one only works for creatures, which is worse, but it also digs until it hits a valid card type, unlike The Maelstrom, which could whiff if you hit an Instant or Sorcery. Creepy art. I like it.

7/7 Eldrazi tokens! Well, this is a suprise. I like how rolling chaos while you're on this plane doesn't really do much besides give you a 7/7 wall. But once someone planeswalks, oh boy! Seems pretty cool, but I'm not sure my group is really going to want to play with this particular plane. I could take it or leave it.

Welcome to Ghave's favorite plane! Animar is probably pretty happy to see Jund as well. Devour 5 is just nuts. At that level of Devour, you don't even really need to be playing tokens. Just have a couple of utility guys like a Wood Elves or something and - Viola! Lunch is served. Also seems great with Champion of Lambholt or Mindless Automaton. Pretty much anything that cares how many +1/+1 counters it has, and uses those counters for something besides just being big.

An unpredictable, random Oblivion Stone - not what I'd have expected for Norn's Dominion, but it's pretty cool. It still suffers the same issue Sanctum of Serra did, in that once you walk TO the plane, you really don't want to cast any more permanents, so you either just cast Instants and Sorceries or roll the Planar Die a bunch trying to 'walk out of there. This definitely rewards you for rolling the die, though, because every Chaos trigger saves a non-land permanent from destruction once you finally do planeswalk.

 Not a big fan of this one, so far, but I'm probably just biased against it because I've seen to many Jhoira of the Ghitu shenanigans where a player suspends a bunch of huge stuff then blows up the world with Jokulhaups or something. I'm also not sure a "fixed" Dream Halls is really what the format needs or wants. But on the other hand, it will be kind of cool to just suspend most of my hand to this, then cast a Wheel of Fortune or Time Spiral or something. Even better if I can then planeswalk the hell out of here before anyone else gets a chanse to Suspend some things.

Sweet. Not bad for 6 mana. I like it a lot. I'll have to try and squeeze this into my Rith the Awakener token deck - it's a perfect fit! I also like how it's a "proper" spider in that it has the customary traits of large toughness and Reach, but it's power is still high enough to make it a viable attacker, not just a blocker.

 I have a feeling this is a card we're seeing here because it'd be too risky to print in a set that would be standard legal. Then again, it's pretty mana-intensive so it would likely have been fine. Either way, a CMC 6 Cascade guy that bounces himself is absolutely gauranteed to see play in EDH. Pretty much every Animar, Intet and Maelstrom Wanderer deck out there will want to run this guy - especially Animar.

Very interesting design work. It's a simple buff - almost underpowered, even. But add in the fact that you can move it around at instant speed and the Totem effect helps guard against "destroy"-based removal, the versatility and subtle trickiness of the card makes it far more powerful than it would seem at first glance. Almost definitely going into my Jenara deck.

Needs Haste badly. Other than that, it's pretty cool. Definitely better than the similar Voracious Dragon. Still not likely to see major, widespread play in EDH - most decks that might consider this will likely run Inferno Titan instead. That said, I plan on giving it a try in my Rith token deck. Who knows, it may surprise us and be really good.

Hell yes! Another Clone variant that is just plain better than the original Clone. This guy can't beat Phyrexian Metamorph for sheer power and versatility but in the right decks, he's gonna be a superstar. I have a strong feeling that this guy is going to be the most sought-after of the new cards, for EDH players at least.

Well, I think that finally has us caught up. Enjoy!