Theros Prerelease will be in the few days and I am pretty excited to try to play the new cards, a few of them might have Standard potential in the long run and some may be a sleeper card in the metagame. For now, we just continue to enjoy the card previews and for today we have one interesting Saga enchantment that has a potential slot in Esper Doom Decks in Standard. Check out Elspeth’s Nightmare.

This card is packed with a lot of value for just three mana cost. Let us get into detail each of the lore counters and its abilities.

I – Destroy Target Creature an opponent controls with power 2 or less

Killing off Gilded Gooses, Fervent Champions or another one -drop or two drops of the opponents are essential in stopping their initial assault.

II – Target Opponent reveals their hand. You choose a noncreature. nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

While I’d like this ability to also get rid of a creature card, this might still be relevant in matchups that have counterspells or spot removals in their list.

III – Exile target opponent’s graveyard.

With the current Escape ability in Theros Beyond Death, it is expected that the decks will utilize some creatures with that ability. This exile effect will then become relevant in those matchups.

Overall, the card can be maindeck-able if your local metagame is leaned more towards midrange and control decks. In a regular scenario, one or two copies in the main and two more in the sideboard are the valid play.

For Tuesday’s batch of Theros Beyond Death card previews, we have the first one in the form of one of the Titans in the lore of Theros. In similarity with the Greek Mythology long before the Gods flourished to rule the world, the Titans were the forefathers and each has a specific role. This is also implemented in Theros and today we have Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger.

The ability seemed to be the theme of all the Titans in the set as the Simic one previewed before this card also has a similar text. The ETB discard ability looks to be of little effect if done at Turn 2, which is on a regular build wherein you are not filling your graveyard in order for this to escape on Turn 4. It would be better to cast a creature threat instead.

If there is ever an Escape deck archetype, this is suited to distract the opponents’ gameplan early on. Combining with other discard effects like Yarok’s Fenlurker and spot removals in Murderous Rider and Bedevil.

I think the ideal Standard build here is midrange deck with value creatures and half of the list are spells. In that way, you can fill up your graveyard naturally which makes this Titan relevant in the late game. You can utilize discard spells to get rid of their graveyard removal but that may be relevant in post-sideboarded games.

Overall, Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger is not that meta-defining but is a powerful card if placed in the right Rakdos or Mardu deck build.

For this late-night Theros Beyond Death card preview, I am presenting to you an interesting take on the Constellation ability on a creature that is trying to support an unpopular tribal group. Check out Archon of Sun’s Grace.

Archons usually are being printed in one or two copies in each set with specific combat defining abilities such as non-flying creatures can’t attack. Their take this time is to have a creature token generator via Constellation etb trigger on a 3/4 flying lifelinker. It can also support Devotion as well. That is too much value on a single card!

I would not detail much on its deck archetype uses but it will surely get the four-cc slot in most Enchantment based White aggro and Midrange decks in the coming Standard with Theros.

That is a wrap, good night and see you on my next blog post.

Theros Beyond Death are introducing playable Uncommons in their card previews and some of them abilities and effects even look to be at a caliber of a Rare card. For today’s card preview, we have a creature who looks to be a leader of the Amazonian women tribe and who’s ability supports the Aura deck strategy.

Check out Siona, Captain of the Pyleas:

While the previous Heroic strategy is not covered in this returning theme set, some cards still empower this archetype and Captain Siona is one of the them. Digging for an Aura is already a good card advantage, making you utilize some of the one-of cards added in the deck that deal with specific threats. For instance, you can have one copy of Pacifism which later on you can dig with the Captain.

The second ability of the bonus creature generation is very useful once your initial creatures are dealt with. It is making sure that your Auras drawn later on can still be used to enchant the 1/1 White Human Soldier token.

I am looking to card’s use in the GlitterBrute deck which I featured last time and I think there will be changes in the list with the new Aura cards added in the build. I might come up with a new decklist soon so just stay tuned.

That is a wrap for this card preview, until the next blog post.

This is sort of a follow-up post for the Devotion to White with this Theros Beyond Death card feature for today. We now realize that this Standard deck theme will now become one of the archetypes in the format and previously discussed the new Daxos as an auto-inclusion in the list.

Today’s card feature is sort of the top of the creature curve in the deck. Presenting, Reverent Hoplite.

This sort of a version of a Cloudgoat Ranger and White’s equivalent of the Grey merchant is an efficient source of board advantage for one card. Of course, Devotion dependent.

At worse, if you get to curve two creatures before casting this card and one of them got removed, you still get to produce two to three Human Soldier tokens. What you would need are creatures that fill each White mana on its cost. Daxos is one of them.

What I have also found out is that this card is part of the three-card combo with Daxos and Heliod, Sun-Crowned. Each creature token along with Reverent Hoplite triggers Daxos’ life gain, and thus it will also trigger Heliod’s life gain ability effect which puts a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. That lets you distribute these counters according to your preference which you can avoid blowout cards like Cry of the Carnarium.

That is about it for now on this card feature discussion but we are pretty sure that White Devotion aggro will become one top tier aggro decks in the THB Standard metagame.

Until the next blog post.

I am starting the year 2020 with some serious blog updating. With the current high volume of Theros Beyond Death spoilers from various websites and sources, I will try my best to cover each card analysis basing on personal experiences of the game and metagame perception for Standard.

Today’s blog post features two Theros Beyond Death card previews and we start with the Devourer of Memory.

The creature looks decent for a 2/1 for two mana, but the self-mill gameplan looks toward the late game with more mana access for the ability activation. Curving from a turn two Devourer into some self-mill spells and Surveil can be an amazing 3/2 damage clock.

This can see fit in a plain build of a Dimir Tempo-Surveil deck with a few Escape cards for added value. Cards like Discovery/Disperal for curving your gas and a top-end creature like Doom Whisperer can be a great finisher and also triggers the Devourer.

Next up is the Red creature Storm Herald.

The ETB trigger is quite complicated and situational. First, you need those Aura cards in the graveyard but how do you drop them there aside from self-milling? Draw and discard effects can be your option here which you might add spells with those abilities (i.e. Thrill of Possibility) but then the proper card distribution would then be your issue.

Given that Theros Beyond Death will have other cheap Red Auras other than Escape Velocity or maybe Auras of other colors that can also be hard-casted when your build is like Boros, Gruul or Rakdos, this card will see play in the Standard format. I guess we have wait again for the complete spoiler to be released. Otherwise, he will just be another Hasty 3-drop that won’t impact much in your gameplay.

That is about it for these two Theros Beyond Death card previews. Again, Happy New Year all.

Another Theros Beyond Death card preview that I will cover in today’s blog post is the new version of the Theros Gods. Unlike the Gods in Amonkhet that suffered a dire fate in the hands of Nicol Bolas, most of the Gods in Theros are still in existence and being worshiped by their respective devotees.

The Theros God that I will discuss is the Green Hunter Nylea. Her recent version is depicted in the card below.

The card ability translates as:

Indestructible
As long as your devotion to green is less than five, Nylea is not a creature.
Creature spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
2G: Reveal the top card of your library. If it is a creature card, add it to your hand. Otherwise, you may put it into your graveyard.

She has been a very popular component of the Mono-Green Devotion decks back in Theros Standard and this time I think it will be the same.

While the previous one is more lean to a combat advantage ability, this one leans more to the card advantage in the late game and is one less mana to activate. Creature spells cost 1 less to cast lets you summon your best threats while achieving devotion to Nylea. Sad thing though as there is no creature like Galtha that will be more easier to cast with Nylea in the battlefield.

I have tagged a few creature cards in the previous sets that will be relevant in building the Green Devotion deck for Standard. I will come up with a decklist soon once all the cards from Theros Beyond Death set are revealed so as to check the possible cards to include.

That is a wrap for Nylea, Sharp-Eyed. Until the next blog post.

Hi again, it is the last day of the year and as we bid farewell to 2019 we reminisce the best times and the bad times that happened and learn from it. I do hope you spend today checking on the Theros Beyond Death card spoilers as there were a lot released at various site’s spoiler list.

Anyhow, my card discussion for today is a Red Mythic creature in which role I think is the card advantage in the late game. Check out Ox of Agonas.

A 4/2 for five mana ain’t that impressive as at that mana curve, we would expect 5/5s or 6/6s with Trample or something. What it intends to do though is to refill your hand which may be situational at times. The trick is to build a low-curve aggro deck with cheap burn spells and with this dude as the highest in mana cost. That is one way to avoid a clogged hand.

Another tricky part here is activating its Escape ability, as the eight-card requirement is very expensive especially in Standard. In Modern you get fetchlands and cheap card draws to fill your graveyard so it is more viable to be activated there.

In Standard gameplay, I might have two or three copies of this card in the usual Red aggro deck as an alternate option for the card advantage like Experimental Frenzy. It is good that you are drawing cards while having one more threat on the board.

I guess that is a wrap for Ox of Agonas card preview, until the next blog post. Happy New Year guys!

Good day, all. As we wait for the end of the year 2019, we also expect some good old Theros Beyond Death card spoilers and one I have found recently is this interesting Black Saga card named Tymaret Calls the Dead. Check out the card’s ability below.

You all going to say it is quite similar to a previous card in Standard and yes, you are correct. It is the Black version of History of Benalia, or maybe a lesser version. It got no creature board-pumping effect on its third lore counter trigger, but Scrying and gaining life can still be beneficial.

The self mill effect here may be to combine with cards with Escape and other graveyard shenanigans as they can be fueled by this one.

While I initially see it to fit in a tribal Zombie aggro deck, I do not think with the current Standard cards that there is no guarantee that it can be empowered or at least supported. What I see is that it is more fitting in a sort of an Orzhov or Esper Dance of the Manse deck with maybe at least two or three copies of the card in it. We shall see more options as more cards from Theros Beyond Death are revealed in the coming weeks.

That is a wrap for this card preview, until next time.

Happy Saturday and last weekend for the year y’all. For today’s Theros Beyond Death card preview, we have the latest creature of an iconic character in the Theros storyline. That character is Daxos, who’s recent status is becoming a demigod.

From the wiki content, “He used to be a human soldier and an oracle of Heliod living at the temple compound in Meletis. Later he had become the friend, mentor and lover of the planeswalker Elspeth Tirel.” His card from the upcoming Theros Beyond Death set depicts that he has acended yet again as he became a White creature card and is called as Daxos, Blessed by the Sun.

While its ability looks to be simpler than its returned version, he might prove to be useful for a mono White Devotion aggro deck. It is basically a 2/2 by itself but as you expand your board, he gets to be more efficient and tougher to kill be combat damage. He can also combo to cards like Ajani’s Pridemate which immediately gets a +1/+1 counter with Daxos’s lifegain trigger.

The deck build will be probably very basic like the previous Mono White Aggro decks, of course with the inclusion of these new cards though I would rather produce a decklist once the complete spoiler is out. In that way, we can assess other cards that may have a greater impact in the build. Stay tuned for that one.

That is wrap for now, until the next blog post.

Are you familiar with that merchant guy back in Theros? That Black creature that siphons life out of people for devotion on the Black mana? Yes, that is him. Guess what? He is back in Standard. The Gray Merchant of Asphodel is being reprinted in Theros Beyond Death. He may literally surpass ‘death’ as he is back to bring menace in the format metagame again, though we shall see if its power is the same such as before in Theros Standard.

Check out his new look and rarity below.

The upgrade to Uncommon is justifiable as the card wreaked havoc during the Theros block draft as it was just easy to pick multiple copies and dominate the board in the late game and even deal enough damage with just the siphon effect. Also, adding a Whip of Erebos is just the nail to the coffin.

We expect the card to be at par on the Top tier decks in the current Standard metagame again but let us see what other cards that it can utilize. A Mono-Black deck is what we would expect as the most efficient build but we don’t have cards like Thoughtseize and Underworld Connections that were relevant components of the deck.

At the moment, we have Murderous Riders that is equivalent to the Heroes Downfall and our route can on aggro creatures with Drill Bit as the lone discard spell main deck. Other possible creatures are:

Ayara, First of Locthwain which also powers Devotion and a card draw source.

Yarok’s Fenlurker as another discard source enhances Devotion and a late-game mana dump.

Cavalier of Night is another potential five-drop in the build that kills of relevant creatures of the opponent and brings back your smaller dudes.

Massacre Girl as a board sweep, but looks better in the sideboard against tokens or Rakdos aggro or any other weenie aggro decks.

Deathless Knight is noticed less at the moment, but its mana cost Devotion of four is very relevant. The 4/2 power/toughness with Haste also makes it a good four-drop attacker.

Summing up our card choices, here below is the first version of the Mono-Black Devotion deck:

3 Ayara, First of Locthwain
2 Cavalier of Night
3 Deathless Knight
4 Gutterbones
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3 Knight of the Ebon Legion
4 Murderous Rider
1 Midnight Reaper
4 Yarok’s Fenlurker

4 Drill Bit
2 Forever Young
1 Legion’s End
1 Murder

21 Swamp
3 Castle Locthwain

Is the deck looks viable or is there any changes you would like to add? Just comment on your suggestions in the box below.

That is a wrap for this card preview and a welcome blog post for the infamous Gary of Asphodel. Until the next post.