Zendikar Angel Quest

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An interesting card over at Wizards today. Kelly Digges gave us a card which I'm certain will see play not only in the casual standard environment we live in but also in a variety of other Magic the Gathering formats. Let's have a look at this token producing nutter . . .

Luminarch Acension, 1
Enchantment, Rare
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you didn't lose life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Luminarch Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life)
1{W}: Put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Activate this ability only if Luminarch Ascension has four or more quest counters on it.


At first glance (sorry - without really reading the card - We just jumped ahead to the punchline) We really thought we were looking at something similar to Sigil of the Empty Throne. Yeah - they are both white enchantments that generate Angel tokens but that is where the similarities end.

Did you catch that part . . . "beginning of each opponent's end step" ? That's rather good. By your fourth turn, one can expect this card to generate three 4/4 Angel tokens per turn. If you see this on the other side of the board, get rid of it as soon as possible - this is a clear and present danger. Now if you were the one to play it, keep your head down and get some damage prevention going - whether it is Mark of Asylum, Angel Song, or Fog. Might be smart to get a wall (such as Wall of Denial or Wall of Reverence) too. After that, get those quest counters on it and be prepared to win the game.

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Also on the radar are the Enemy Fetchlands . . . Here is one from today.

Misty Rainforest
Land, Rare
{T}, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Misty Rainforest: Search your library for a Forest or Island card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

We already have confirm Arid Mesa from the PAX Zendikar Magic Party and the remainder have been provided 'placeholder' names which fall in line with the Zendikar Orb of Insight returns.

Here are the lot for your reference . .

Arid Mesa : or
Misty Rainforest : or
Obsidian Flats : or
Unstable Geyser : or
Verdant Marsh : or

We were expecting some sort of sac-land or fetch-land but we were not really expecting enemy colours. As the rest of the Zendikar spoilers and previews wrap up, we're certain that we will identify and fully understand the reason game design had chosen this path.

Stay tuned and remember to drop by for up-to-date Zendikar spoiler list HERE - http://mtg-realm.blogspot.com/2009/09/zendikar-spoiler-list.html