Black
Demon of Dark Schemes
If you’re in black and you can’t
make this generate lots of Energy, you’re probably playing black wrong. Snarky condescension
aside, this should produce a LOT of Energy in the right decks. I’m thinking
about basically any MBC style deck, and of course things like Meren or Savra –
anything that either kills lots of opposing creatures or sacs lots of tokens
could probably do some nasty things with this demon. Oh and he’s also got that
Massacre Wurm thing going on; it does hit your guys too, but that just makes
even more Energy! If he kills something important, well, he’s got a built-in
reanimation ability ready for you to get it back. Big fan of this guy, and I
expect to see him get a fair amount of play.
Noxious Gearhulk
This might seem like a boring
utility creature at mythic rare, but I’m actually pretty pumped for this one. He’s
a decent attacker, removal and life gain all in one package. Plus, being an
Artifact makes him a bit more exploitable. Definitely foresee this guy getting
a lot of EDH play.
Eliminate the Competition
This one is a bit tough to judge on
theory alone. I can see a ton of potential here, as it looks like a very
versatile removal spell, basically a customizable sweeper, really. Kill key
threats, but leave inconsequential or useful things alone. You need fodder to
sacrifice, but a lot of decks with black already have a Sac For Value thing
going on. Savra, Meren, Prossh, Shattergang, Kresh, etc… That said, most of
those decks already run Grave Pact and it’s kin, along with Barter in Blood and
many more such effects. This might just be overkill, I don’t know. I really
like the design of the card, and I feel like it should be solid, but at the
same time, I worry that most decks that could put it to use already have so
many good removal options already. I’ll definitely be trying it out.
Marionette Master
I think that mana cost really
hinders this card’s likely playability. It’s just too expensive for a deck like
Sharuum, and it’s not an artifact itself, so yeah. Stick with Disciple of the
Vault, folks. That said, I admit I would be absolutely terrified to see this
wearing a Cranial Plating with oh, say, 9 or 10 Artifacts out. Losing 10 life
every time Sharuum chumps with a Thopter does not sound like good times. So
maybe it’ll get a bit of play, and occasionally it will be devastating. Still,
I wouldn’t expect to be consistently impressed by this.
Syndicate Trafficker
This, on the other hand, I’m pretty
keen on. A sac outlet attached to a hard to kill threat that grows bigger?
Cool! Like many cards in this set, it does depend on having an artifact-centric
deck, but that’s just par for the course in these theme-heavy blocks. If you have a deck that wants to sac
artifacts, this is probably a great pick. If you don’t want to sac artifacts,
then this ain’t for you. Dunno what else to say.
Fretwork Colony
No idea if this is good in
anything, but it’s certainly a unique card. If it has a home anywhere, it’s
probably not in EDH. Just thought I’d mention it for the weird factor alone.
Morbid Curiosity
Potentially undercosted card draw
for Black? Sign me right the hell up! I’ve been enjoying Disciple of Bolas ever
since she was printed. This might actually better, at least in some decks. I
can’t wait to sac Solemn Simulacrum to this. Or even better, sac Solemn to
Disciple of Bolas, then sac Disciple to this. ALL THE CARDS! Anyway, this is
definitely a welcome departure from the typical “Draw some cards, lose some
life” formula that most Black draw spells cling to. Especially like this for
Meren decks.
Underhanded Designs
Give your artifacts Extort and
occasionally just kill something? Not bad for two mana. I can definitely see
this in Esper artifact decks of the non-competitive variety. May even be good
enough for some of the more competitive ones, but I’m not at all sure about
that. Where I really think I’d like this, though, is if that B/R Artifact deck
hinted at by the new Daretti from Conspiracy 2 ever actually becomes a thing. I’d
love to see a Rakdos deck built around playing and sacrificing artifacts for
value, and I think this would shine in such a deck.
Basically, I pulled a Daretti from
CS2 and I really wanna play him but none of my decks really warrant his
inclusion. And Rakdos really needs some new deck space opened up anyway.
Red
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Well after years of mediocre
versions, Chandra finally gets an actual, real good version. I have used other
versions of Chandra to acceptable results before, and I’m pretty sure her BFZ
incarnation is great, I just never opened one so I haven’t had the pleasure of
finding out for myself… but this one
seems poised to be the definitive best-ever Chandra card. She might not be the
best version for EDH specifically; guess it depends on the deck. But while I
can’t think of any decks in my roster that are screaming out “Give me Chandra!”,
I think I could just slot her into almost any of my decks with Red and she’d
perform well. She’s a little like OG Garruk that way – doesn’t necessarily
belong in any particular deck, but is generally good or even great in almost
any deck. Definitely liking this one, but I hope I open like 4 of her, because
I’m sure her price tag is going to be painful for a long time to come.
Combustible Gearhulk
I’m having a hard time evaluating
this Gearhulk objectively, because as a Feldon player this is probably my
favorite of the cycle. But I’m not sure if it’s any good outside of mono-Red
artifact decks like Slobad, or Daretti. So I imagine if you’re playing any of
those, you are almost certainly thrilled to see this. If you’re playing
anything else, though, I have no idea. I’m having trouble envisioning myself
playing this outside of Feldon, so maybe it’s super niche, or maybe I’m just so
focused on that ideal use of it that I can’t see past that. I do know this,
though. As a general rule, cards like Browbeat (called “punisher” cards, I
believe) that make your opponent choose what effect your spell has are
generally terrible, and even more so in multiplayer. Even Browbeat has its
niche uses – burn your opponent down to a low life total, then reload with
Browbeat is a classic. But in multiplayer games, there’s always someone who is
perfectly willing to take 5 to stop you drawing 3 cards.
But this seems a bit different, at
least in decks that don’t really mind dumping stuff in the graveyard. This is
basically Browbeat on steroids – either they let you draw 3, or they take an
unknown amount of damage, but is likely to often be more than 5. But in the
right deck – like Daretti, for instance, you don’t really care which mode they
choose. If they let you draw 3, great! If they dump stuff into your ‘yard for
Feldon to reanimate, great! Then you get this guy into your ‘yard and keep
Feldon-ing him back making your opponent make this choice over and over. I just
don’t know how many decks will be equally happy drawing three or milling three
and doing some damage.
Fateful Showdown
This is such an odd, interesting
card! I can’t tell if it’s good or not, but it’s basically Tolarian Winds with
some direct damage thrown in for an upcharge of two more mana. I mean, that sounds good, right? Kill a
threat, get a new hand. Yeah, I have to believe there are decks that can work
with this. Actually I know one for sure: Arjun. There’s an Arjun deck in my
group that I am pretty sure can just one-shot a player trivially easy with this,
and can probably Fork it a couple times without much more difficulty. I also
have to at least consider it for Feldon, as I’m already running all the Wheel
of Fortunes I can get my hands on in that deck.
Madcap Experiment
I don’t think this is good. I
seriously doubt I would even run this in Feldon, which is basically 50%
artifacts. But I mention it here because it’s one of those cards that isn’t
good but someone out there will find a way to make it look like a good card. I
hear through the grapevine that Platinum Emperion is spiking because of this
card. Clever, but not sure how that little trick might translate to 100-card
singleton world.
Skyship Stalker
Small, cheap Dragon. Lots of
abilities. Not terribly impressive, but probably a good curve-smoother for
Dragon tribal decks. We need more playable Dragons that sit lower on the curve.
This ain’t a great one, but it’ll do.
Quicksmith Genius
Again, if you’re in mono-Red or
Red/x Artifacts, this is probably decent at worst. Seems really good for Feldon
in particular. I will be trying him out there for sure.
Cathartic Reunion
It’s not often that my favorite
card in a new set is a common, but this just might be the time. I am, perhaps,
getting sentimental in my old age, but a huge reason why I like this card is
the art and flavor of it. It’s one of the most touching and moving Magic
illustrations ever. I love how Chandra is usually presented as this badass,
pyro-maniacal chick with attitude to spare, but this one picture captures a
whole different side of her; intimate, vulnerable, loving. Happy.
WotC is always telling us that Red
is the color of passion and strong emotions, not just fire and anger. This is
one of the very few examples where they actually show that. I love how WotC has
typically shied away from putting this sort of thing on cards, but here they
just lean into it as hard as they can. “You know what? Screw it. Magic isn’t
ALL just wizards slinging fireballs at each other and sending random creatures
to attack and maim their rivals. Sometimes a wizard just needs a hug from
mommy.”
I just love it. I love that they
printed this amazing artwork on a card, and I especially love that the card is actually
playable!
I also really appreciate them not
increasing the mana cost to three. While that would have been pleasing from a
symmetry/pattern-recognition standpoint, keeping the CMC at two really makes it
significantly more playable. Once again, I’m mainly thinking of Daretti and
Feldon here. But I can see this being broadly playable in a variety of decks,
especially those that are already running Alhammaret’s Archive.
I love this card, but I hate that I’m
sentimental about it. Ugh.
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