While we expect Mono Red and Izzet as surviving decks in Throne of Eldraine Standard, we check on what to utilize from the new card components. Today’s card preview looks to be an important part of these two deck archetypes. Presenting, Irencrag Pyromancer.

On its own, a 0/4 for three mana is a bit slow for a Red deck but given that you get to ‘online’ or untap with this card that is when the fun begins. Free burn source is always an advantage in Magic’s gameplay and this card can basically provide those each turn. What we just need are the right cards to trigger this effect. Card like Thrill of Possibility for example.

Izzet decks would not worry much triggering the pyromancer as there are a lot of Blue cantrip and draw spells available. Opt, Anticipate, and Into the Story gets you the gas that you will need in the mid and late game while freely triggering this card. I would like two to three copies in the maindeck along with the Drakes.

I guess that is about it for this card preview. Expect this in Izzet builds in the first week of ELD Standard online or in your local gamestores.

Until the next blog post.

Graveyard Shenanigans following the Kethis Combo in Standard after the rotation in October can be one of the expected decks in the meta with today’s Throne of Eldraine Card preview: Dance of the Manse. See its full card effect below.

Dance of the Manse recurs your artifacts or enchantments, given that you already had their use and placed them in your graveyard. It is a seldom situation if you think about it since these are permanents and if it happen to be destroyed by a spell or effect, then you get to put it into your graveyard.

Paying six or more for the X value gets you to ‘animate’ them into 4/4 creatures which is pretty much hard to deal with in the long game. Milling them into your yard is that you would be concerned of. There are a few spells that can help achieve that and here some of them.

Bonds of Insight lets you mill the top 4 cards while recovering your Dance of the Manse or any other relevant instant or sorcery. Emry is also another card mill source and can be activated to cast artifacts from your graveyard.

We can not only rely on these mill plan but also control the board with our colored artifacts. You also have the option to have one-of cards that will be good against certain scenarios. I will post a version of the deck once I get to scan all of the cards from the Throne of Eldraine spoiler.

That is a wrap for now. Until next blog post.

We expect Esper to become a powerhouse in the Control archetype after this rotation as most of the card are not affected and the plus of having new components to add from Throne of Eldraine. One notable card that I think would be a relevant option for the deck is today’s card preview, Realm-Cloaked Giant. Check out the card below.

A mass removal on a stick or whatever you may call it, is a two-for-one card advantage itself. We would only expect at least of a Giant Tribal deck in the metagame to make this adventure useless. Following it with a 7/7 Vigilance threat is maybe just unanswerable in most matchups.

In the Esper build, two copies are already enough as you would already have your spot removals and another sweep spell, Kaya’s Wrath, to deal with your opponents’ creatures.

In mirror matchups, it would not go to waste as you can hard cast is as a 7/7 creature for seven mana. That is an additional threat for them to get rid of in case you were trading discard spells and killing off each other’s planeswalkers.

Overall, it is a pretty good card for a Mythic slot in the set. I would not expect it at a high price once it stabilizes but expect initial preorders to be at around 500 to 600 each.

That is a wrap for Realm-Cloaked Giant. Until the next blog post.

Basing on the current Throne of Eldraine card spoilers we are sure that tribal Knights will be one of the deck archetypes after the set becomes legal in Standard and today’s card preview is one I considered as one of the support cards in the deck. Check out the White Knight Acclaimed Contender.

A 3/3 for three mana is already an advantage in itself, but the bonus Scry for another Knight, Aura, or Equipment is a huge edge in getting your needed gas. It also helps in digging out your various shenanigans of one-of equipment if that is preferred in your build. In the typical Knight aggro build, you would already control another Knight as you cast this card on turn three. Be wary though as the opponent might respond with a removal spell to get rid of the other creature so your trigger would not get you a card.

I would have it as a playset in a purely Knight tribal build but if ever there is a variance of a Knight and equipment kind of deck, three copies would suffice. I will come up with a decklist once I get the time to scan the remaining spoilers from Throne of Eldraine.

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

I had expected a new set of dual lands or at the least a reprint of previously effective cycle but then Wizards decided to push for a Mono-color value lands and this cycle is nicknamed as Castles, with one of each color. Today I will discuss three of the five Rare lands.

First of is Castle Vantress for Blue.

It is an easy untapped land for Blue-based midrange to control decks which usually has enough Islands plus the Hallowed Fountain with is a dual land Island. The Scry ability is usually for the late game to filter out unnecessary cards and to dig out the right answer to a certain scenario. While it is a lesser version of the flipped side of Azcanta, we cannot deny its use especially if we are in a top deck mode (while it ain’t likely for Blue because of card draws). At least two copies in the deck is enough for two-colors and a playset for mono-color.

Next is Castle Embereth for Red.

I have mentioned of Red as still a powerhouse in post-rotation and this card is one of the major reasons. Pumping out the power for the extra damage is one of the fast ways to kill an opponent and this ability is sort of a freebie by just having this land in your deck. Your 1/1s, 2/1s and even Chandra’s tokens can be a big threat and can even trade with creatures that are one toughness greater than your dudes’ power. This is an auto playset added to the Mono Red deck.

Lastly, we have Green’s Castle Garenbrig.

It is a bit unimpressive as compared to the Red castle, but the extra mana can ramp out to your huge critters such as Hydroid Krassis. The limit of use to only creature abilities can be for specific creatures i.e. Wakeroot Elemental but aside from that, I do not see any relevant uses of the ability. I would only include one for two-color decks or two to three copies for Mono Green builds.

That is a wrap for now. I will follow the discussion on the remaining two Castle lands in the next blog posts, and maybe rank them by uses in the Standard format.

That is about it. Thanks for reading.

In today’s Throne of Eldraine card preview, I will be featuring a card that I expected to be another hose card in the Modern format. While we expect random cards in the set to do as such, we should also check its effectivity in the metagame of the format. Check out Deafening Silence.

One mana enchantment is very suited for a deck like Hatebears in Modern to be able to fully utilize this card. It won’t affect their curve as usually they only have Aether Vial as the other one-drop in the deck. They can get past one mana counterspell if playing first, and it not vulnerable to creature spot removals. Any Storm decks will surely slow down with this card in the battlefield.

As for the Standard use, if the Kethis combo would still exist after rotation then this might be the card that will keep it in check. As of this posting, I do not see any combo decks that will emerge in the meta that will force players to sideboard this card. This might handle the Izzet Phoenix decks if the archetype becomes relevant.

We shall see how the card will get its actual use once the Throne of Eldraine set becomes legal to play. That is a wrap, until the next blog post.

As the Throne of Eldraine card spoilers wrapping up in the coming days before the Prerelease, we expect the cards that will define the deck archetypes in Standard after the rotation. One deck though that is certain to exist even with several rotations and that is the Mono Red Aggro deck. Today’s card preview further cemented the deck’s rank being a Top Tier archetype after Throne of Eldraine hits gameplay in Standard. Check out Torban, Thane of Red Fell.

This is Flame of Keld’s third ability on a stick. The four toughness for four mana cost is okay already and Torban deals four damage with its effect plus its two power. A red source means not only with your burn spells but also your creatures dealing two more damage for a faster clock. For example, Scorch Spitter becomes more effective than the usual as its attack trigger deals three damage and its regular damage is also three. That totals to six damage for just one creature. Burn spells such as Shock deals four damage and damage triggers like Aether Flash becomes more efficient.

There is a lot of discussions online on the Red’s deck build with Torban but I am pretty sure it will still be as aggressive as ever with Torban as its top curve creature. We are all pretty excited to test him out.

Magic: the Gathering’s control decks usually configure their deck in the way that they would have the card advantage in the late game while setting up their threats that will overwhelm the board. What I would mean of this card advantage are deck manipulation and card draw spells. In today’s Throne of Eldraine card preview, we have one Blue instant that is a possible inclusion in the list of future Blue-based control deck. Check out Into the Story:

The seven-mana cost makes you consider it not as a playset in your deck unless you have plans to have Library Mill as your main deck strategy. If you look at the current list of Esper Control in Standard, they carry only like two to three card draw spells. They focus at first on an immediate answer to threats with spot removals and counterspells. Also, planeswalkers such as Teferi gives them card advantage with the cantrip effects. The correct number would just be two copies to avoid drawing the card early and just let it clog there in your early turns. The drawn four cards are just a good replenish in the late games.

Wrapping up this post and until next time.

I had mentioned before a plan to build a Standard deck that is tribal to Wolves after seeing the M20 card, Night Pack Ambusher. Seeing today’s Throne of Eldraine card spoiler has somewhat increased the chance of the deck seeing play in the format. The card that I will talk about is Wicked Wolf.

At first look, it is just a four-drop creature that fights off random two-power or fewer creatures of the opponents. The value is of the average on a 3/3 body, but the second ability is what makes it interesting. All you have to do is to feed it, with Food. Literally. Food tokens are what makes this guy a relevant threat in the late game.

The first Food sacrificed makes it a 4/4 with the +1/+1 counter and gains indestructible. The only drawback is you have to tap it. It ain’t of a big deal though if you use the ability at the right time. For instance, you sacrifice the Food after you declared it as an attacker and tapped it. The drawback will then become redundant.

The only problem here is if you run out of ‘Food’ sources, which means you cannot protect it for a future spot or mass removals. That would also mean that you use the ability wisely and only in dire situations.

Going back to the Wolf tribe deck, I would only include two or three copies in the deck as it conflicts with the four-mana cost row which at times may result in clunky draws. The Flashy wolf is still the priority unless the set will reveal a card that will burst out Food tokens every turn which will feed Wicked Wolf.

That is about it for this card preview for now. Until the next blog post.

Creature spot removals are very essential in every gameplay of Magic. You would not usually consider building an aggro deck without some spot removals to answer relevant threats or blockers. In today’s Throne of Eldraine card preview, we look at a new take on a removal spell that also gives you an option as another creature in your lineup. Check out Murderous Rider

As per the Adventure mechanic of the set, you have to option to cast it as an Adventure spell which is Swift End. As it resolves, you get to exile the card. Later on, as long as it is in the Exile zone, you have the option to summon the creature Murderous Rider. What good is that you still get a threat in the late game while using the spell as spot removal in the early game. Not to mention that it is a solid kind of removal as it can also kill planeswalkers. The 3-mana cost reminded me of Hero’s Downfall in Theros, same ability minus the 2 life loss.

Another good thing with the card is the trigger when it dies. Putting it on the bottom of your library means another chance to use the card, given that you have search effects.

As for the deck usage, this is an auto inclusion in a Mono-Black or Black-Green based aggro or midrange deck. I also would not mind having it in a Knight deck which I am looking forward to deck brew once the full spoilers are out.

That is a wrap for now. The next Throne of Eldraine card spoiler that I will blog about maybe is about a Faerie, a Knight, a Knight deck or maybe a Planeswalker. We shall see.

Until next time.

Our Big Daddy from the Forest is Back! Throne of Eldraine finally gave a home to Garruk after several sets of missing in action. That is after he lost the battle to Liliana Vess and got cursed as a result. Anyway, we see him back with some good ol new loyalty abilites so we check out his card below: Garruk, Cursed Hunstman

The card text reads:

[0]: Create two 2/2 black and green Wolf creature tokens with “When this creature dies, put a loyalty counter on each Garruk you control.”

[-3]: Destroy target creature. Draw a card.

[-6]: You get an emblem with “Creatures you control get +3/+3 and have trample.”

Analyzing the card, you can see right away that it fulfill the prerequisites of a good planeswalker: it can protect itself and has threat removal. The two Wolf tokens can be a relevant board advantage in the late game (with Garruk’s six mana cost) and that it converts then to loyalty counters when deal with.

The Destroy creature removal is the card’s only cantrip and is also good as you can dig for more card advantage while retaining Garruk in the battlefield.

The -6 Emblem looks to be a permanent Overrun which works well if you have it in a Green stompy-like strategy.

The card’s price range might be closer to that of Liliana in WAR and Chandra in M20 in the initial release but I think it would stabilize at nearing 1k php.

To conclude, we are just glad that he is back and I cannot wait to be casting him in my planned Abzan Kethis deck in the post-rotation Standard.

Until the next blog post.

The first wave of the upcoming big set Throne of Eldraine is finally here as the previews started last night in a stream and along the social media platform Twitter and Facebook.

As the initial description of the set’s lore, it is inspired by the romantic Arthurian legend of Camelot on one hand and Grimms’ Fairy Tales on the other, and also covers European fairy tales. I can somewhat compare its lore to that of Lorwyn but we would expect something new from the Wizard’s R&D team.

The first card revealed from the set is the newest planeswalker in Magic, Oka with the Simic colors.

Looking at three-casting cost planeswalkers is already an expectation to be powerful especially with a high starting loyalty counters. At first I was curious on what Food tokens do, but later on it was explained to be similar to that of the Treasure tokens in Ixalan. The life gain bonus though will be relevant to sustain your late game life total. Also turning them into 3/3s protects Oko and is also an early threat on your board.

Next up is Witching Well, which I mispronounced as Wishing Well.

It is not a cantrip as it just let you Scry for two but later on provides you two cards for gas. It can also be an option for abilities like that of Oko. I could include two to three copies of this in a Blue-based control or midrange deck.

Next is Lovestruck Beast which is a card version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast based on accuracy.

You are needed to cast the adventure Heart’s Desire first before casting this creature. Nothing much except for a 5/5 conditional attacker once the 1/1 is dealt with.

Next is Gilded Goose which is sort of a card version of Granny Goose, laying her eggs via a Food token representation.

It can be for mana fixing in the late game or just simply boost your life total. I was hoping it would be for the Red matchup but the two toughness is just too vulnerable.

Here are the rest of the set of batch one of the Throne of Eldraine card previews.

We would expect more lores represented in cards and maybe most of Disney’s princesses will also be featured. Lol. Anyways, I love how the current card previews are being introduced and I think I would expect more of what the set can provide for Standard gameplay once the full card spoiler is released.

That is a wrap for now. Until the next blog post.