Fate Reforged Spoiler 12-18

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and we thought that we here at MTG Realm would have some breathing room to get in some fun 'n' frivolous Magic: the Gathering posts in before charging into the new year with Rate Reforged previews.  Apparently not the case as there was a Fate Reforged spoiler posted up earlier today.  Before we get into the new cardboard goodness, we suggest that you pop on over and watch Evan Erwin's latest Magic Show episode on the 'Tube in which he reviews the 'Top 10 Best Magic The Gathering Moments of 2014' - a very good look back at just what delivered a great year to MTG fans.

Anywhoos, Let's get into today's new Fate Reforged spoiler which was posted by Redditor 'kurokikaze' (from Saint Petersburg, Russia perhaps?).  The image appears to be from one of those Magic: the Gathering WPN store calendar posters and does not contain a lot of pixels.  Again we caution the readership to refer to official previews on the mothersite.



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Sandsteppe Mastodon, 5GG
Creature - Elephant, Rare
Reach
When Sandsteppe Mastodon enters the battlefield Bolster 5 (Choose a creature with the least toughness or tied with the least toughness among creatures you control. Put 5 +1/+1 counters on it.)
A mastodon's trunk always leads to an oasis.
5/5

It's big.  
It's green. 
It's gonna make a big splash when it hits the game table.  This card also provides a new mechanic - 'Bolster', and we like what we're seeing.  This may be the new tech centered on the Abzan colours of white, green and black but further previews may disprove this.

We like that the hard +1/+1 counters hang around even after this creature gets nerf'd.  We also appreciate that should this be on the only creature one your side of the board, it will give the counters to itself.  Suggested standard format pairings for this may be the (previously almost un-playable) Charging Badger essentially making the badger a 6/6 trample monster.  Alternatively, in a red / green build, you can consider Prophetic Flamespeaker which now becomes a 6/8 double strike beat stick with trample . . . dang!  On the off-chance that the bolster mechanic becomes a thingy, we're going to get a few more High Sentinels of Arashin from MTG Mint Card.

Got any other suggested pairings or synergies (standard format or otherwise) with Sandsteppe Mastodon which you're looking forward to?
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