Pages

9.14.2009

Zendikar Spoilers 9-14

~
Hey all, yet more Magic the Gathering Previews and / or spoilers for Zendikar. Today we are looking at 9 new Zendikar cards from GeekDad, Pojo, and Wizards of the Coast as well as some very reprints confirmed via the Orb of Insight.
Strap in and scroll as we roll . . .

First off, MaRo provided a sneak peak at a heavily censored Uncommon Dual Land Cycle . .


We are pleased that there are some dual lands comming our way. We are even more happy that these are uncommon which means that the average player would be not only be able to afford these but also play the game keeping their appendages. Hopefully no serious drawback on these - pretty certain these would be coming into play tapped or else you will have either sacrifice a land or return a land to your library. If these are too similar to those $10 rare dual lands in M10, we're certain there will be a player revolt of some sort.

Off to the previews / spoilers . . .

Carnage Altar, 2
Artifact, Uncommon
3, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card.

We do not see this card really going anywhere simpy because there are better cards out there - if you have an idea how this card may rock a deck, drop us a line in the comments please.


Celestial Mantle, 3
Enchantment - Aura, Rare
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3.
Whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, double its controller's life total.

See below comments for Felidar Sovereign ->

Felidar Sovereign, 4
Creature - Cat Beast, Mythic Rare
Vigilance, lifelink
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or more life, you win the game.
4/6

Someone, somewhere is working on breaking this card for big-time abuse. Life gain decks never went to top 8 but you you do have something that comes close, you are most likely considering this card very carefully now. Having said that . . . Wizards plans spoilers / previews very carefully and would not have arbitrarily dropped the above Celestial Mantle enchantment haphazardly. IF one were to be able to drop Celestial Mantle on an unblockable critter to maximize it's effects and IF one were able to still be alive long enough AND have both Celestial Mantle (or other big life gain cards) and Felidar Sovereign in play, then you have a contender here.

Gigantiform, 3
Enchantment - Aura, Rare
Kicker 4
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature is 8/8 and has trample.
When Gigantiform enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, you may search your library for a card named Gigantiform, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.

Man does this card name suck! Come-on - we're quite sure you could have done better. Chances are, no one will be able to play the kicker cost on this as the game will be pretty much over by then so just ignore it. We suggest putting it on Scute Mob or another cheap critter and being able to potentially attack on turn five with an 8/8 trampler.


Kabira Evangel, 2
Creature - Human Cleric Ally, Rare
Whenever Kabira Evangel or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may choose a color.
If you do, Allies you control gain protection from the chosen color until end of turn.
2/3

This card is pretty much good in any deck heavily favouring the Ally subtype. This card may not win the game but will certainly put you on the right path.

Kazandu Blademaster,
Creature - Human Soldier Ally, Uncommon
First strike, vigilance
Whenever Kazandu Blademaster or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Kazandu Blademaster.
1/1

First off - I don't like the poncy hairstyle on this metro man. Beyond that, this is an upgrade to Oran-Rief Survivalist as it has first strike, and vigilance. Expect BOTH of these cards to be in the same casual Ally deck.

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

Here we have yet another Zendikar enemy fetch land. See previous posts for witty commentary.

Scute Mob,
Creature - Insect, Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control five or more lands, put four +1/+1 counters on Scute Mob.
1/1

This thing could get rather large and annoying for your opponent - just make sure you have some way to put trample on it. Everyone is now thinking about harrow, rampanth growth out early to make this card a monster.

Turntimber Ranger, 3
Creature - Elf Druid Ally, Rare
Whenever Turntimber Ranger or another Ally enters the battlefield, you may put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Turntimber Ranger.
2/2

We finally have the card details for the foil rare in the red - green Zendikar Intro Pack ('The Adventurers). It appears that if you are going to play this guy, you better have a mitt-full of Ally or you would not be reaping the benefits of this token generating ability. We think that WoTC should have either made it one cheaper or just kept the converter mana cost and made it uncommon.

And finally some Reprints suggested by Orb of Insight results . . .

Demolish, 3
Sorcery Common
Destroy target artifact or land.

Mind Sludge, 4
Sorcery Uncommon
Target player discards a card for each Swamp you control.

River Boa, 1
Creature - Snake Common
Islandwalk
{G}: Regenerate River Boa.
2/1


~
Remember to stay tuned to our continually updated Zendikar spoiler list HERE.

5 comments:

  1. Scute Mob + Mayael's Aria FTW!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DUAL LANDS!?
    So we get full art extended basic lands, enemy fetch lands, and dual lands?
    I love Zendikar.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My guess for the uncommon dual lands will have something to do with the Landfall mechanic. Of course, just a guess, but this is what I thought of right away:

    "This land enters the battlefield tapped. This land doesn't untap during your upkeep. Whenver you play a land, you may untap this land."

    Or, something to this extent. I don't necessarily think the above ability will work, as it sounds easily broken with some sort of infinite mana loop that I don't care to think about right now. But, it's possible that they play into the Landfall mechanic.

    Just a guess...

    ReplyDelete
  4. As far as abusing Carnage Altar, I have a few things to say:

    Drawing cards is good. Drawing cards at instant speed is great. Drawing cards at instant speed with no color restrictions is incredible.

    Let's say you have three creatures out who are all the same, Spirit Tokens for argument's sake. If I attempt to Maelstrom Pulse one of them, you can pay three to sac him, draw a card, and keep your other two tokens out of harm's way.

    Another, more likely situation, would be to run out chump blockers to stop big enemy threats, and sac before damage to draw your win conditions. The chump was going to die anyway, might as well turn him into a new card.

    Graveyard dependent creatures also benefit from this ability. If someone tries to Path your Hellspark Elemental, the Alter gives you the option of choosing between a tapped land (by letting path resolve), or paying three to draw a card and make sure you can unearth Hellspark later. Cheap unearth creatures can also be run out for quick damage, then Altar'd for free cards.

    In limited, this card will be bananas. Your early curve dorks can quickly be turned into more realistic threats in the late-game.

    Sure, it only costs 2U to draw two off a divination, but you can only do it sorcery speed, and it doesn't offer any opportunity to really outplay your opponent. Long story short, if a card says "draw," it can and will be abused.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, and just a quick correction on your math - if you're attacking with Scutes on turn five with a Gigantiform, unless you've missed a land drop then you're attacking with a 12/12 trampler. +1/+1 counters exist in a separate layer from the base 8/8, making the Scutes 50% more awesome. :)

    ReplyDelete