Unreleased and New Card Discussion

[duducrash]

Halo Forager can hit opponents too. This might be a great card

[Dunadain]

Halo Forager can hit opponents too. This might be a great card

Idk, Snapcaster Mage barely sees play anymore...

Won't stop me from trying it though!

[pokken]

Halo Forager seems pretty damn strong for an uncommon

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Welp, whoever said Realmbreaker should be the World Tree but for Praetors,

SPOILER

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congrats.

Also, new Grandma Sengir!

[Ink-Treader]

Looks like black is going to be very good at exploiting Battles, as it has most of what few forms of counter removal there are. Including the flip Marchesa

[Mookie]

Spoiler season finally formally starting, so time to look at stuff!

• Elesh Norn // The Argent Etchings is alright, but sacrificing three creatures is a pretty hefty cost (even if you do get five tokens back). Hmmm....
• Polukranos Reborn // Polukranos, Engine of Ruin gives Wurmcoil Engine vibes. Nine mana total mana is a lot though, and the front side isn't that exciting (although I guess it is pretty overstatted).
• Glissa, Herald of Predation pumps out a bunch of tokens every turn.
• Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree is a mix of The World Tree and Journeyer's Kite. Opponents' lands are a bit less useful than your own lands, but could be worth consideration.
• Borborygmos and Fblthp looks delightful. Also, easy card advantage and removal. Seems reasonable.
• Quintorius, Loremaster is a bit slow, but lets you repeatedly cast stuff out of your graveyard for free. Could be strong.
• Archpriest of Shadows is a sweet Zombify variant if you have an evasive creature to attack with. Comes down, reanimates a creature if you can connect, then sticks around to generate more value.
• Halo Forager looks solid. It does a decent Snapcaster Mage / Archaeomancer impression. Not necessarily as strong as Snapcaster in other formats (and Snapcaster has been on the downswing recently anyway), but a 3/1 flyer for 3 is a solid baseline.
• Sidar labari of Zhalfir is the new card with eminence. It is... significantly more tame than existing eminence abilities, which is probably for the best.
• Sword of Once and Future is interesting. I feel like it's significantly weaker than Sword of Fire and Ice, but can be good if you have particularly good spells to flash back.

I'm holding off on reviewing some spoiler battles until their full text is known, but Invasion of Ikoria is a potent Green Sun's Zenith / Finale of Devastation variant.

[duducrash]

The team ups should have the ally type 🤬

[Venedrex]

Transcendent Message.

I gotta pick one up for Talrand, Sky Summoner

Also, we made it:

Sword of Once and Future

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

[*]Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree is a mix of The World Tree and Journeyer's Kite. Opponents' lands are a bit less useful than your own lands, but could be worth consideration.

Much more interesting is the fact it has no color identity and can jump into any deck. And with the flip-Praetors even a monocolor deck has three Praetors, and if you're monoblack you have a grand total of six: three Sheoldreds, an Ebon, a Gix, and a Sanguine. Praetor jank dec, anyone?

[TheAmericanSpirit]

@ISBPathfinder the mad lads finally did it! Kasla, the Broken Halo is the Lightning Angel legendary we've been waiting for!

[ISBPathfinder]

@ISBPathfinder the mad lads finally did it! Kasla, the Broken Halo is the Lightning Angel legendary we've been waiting for!

I wouldn't say its dead on for Lightning Angel as its cost is quite a bit higher. The convoke thing does mess with that but also there aren't that many convoke spells that I would be excited to cast even with her pay off.

Velomachus Lorehold and Aurelia, the Warleader probably also contend a little with some of the design space considering the idea of a vontron esk commander going wide with tokens for the convoke isn't super intuitive. Adding blue to the mix does add some better draw but I don't know that I would say its a dead ringer or anything. I would have actually rather seen a lower cost even if that were to cost some of the other abilities.

Looking at her a bit closer though I guess my concern is that her cost is a bit high for her power. Seven power is usually the sweet spot for commander damage which means she probably needs a power boost as taking 5 attacks to kill isn't good. Trying to add buffs to more expensive commanders though can feel a little more painful when they go missing though. I actually prefer my more expensive commanders to be more ok with just doing their own thing than trying to voltron them up. I also think that pairing a voltron type of commander (which the keywords tend to suggest is the intent) with go wide strategies is kind of bad.

Overall, I think its a bit of a miss for me. I think it costs too much, convoke works poorly with its intentions, and it falls short on the stats for the cost for me. I actually wish they had brought the cost and stats up and made it more worth convoking out. They could have made it cost 8 and brought it up to a 7/7 and I would think it probably better designed that way.

My own take is that they did her dirty. I really just wanted them to slap legendary on Mantis Rider and call it a day. There just aren't that many playable convoke cards on their own merit but the commander probably does make a few more of them playable I still don't think its enough to justify the bad cost and stat lineup. If you ask me the best way to transition Lightning Angel to a legend is actually to drop its power down and add some legendary feeling ability to it. You could end up with a 2/3 for 4 with some ability still with the vigilant, flying, haste lineup. You planned to have to power it up anyways so its no biggie. My overall want on this archetype starts primarily with a cheap commander though.

Convoke is just a weird space to be in for an attacking / defending commander that doesn't also have something else to do with tokens. There aren't that many playable convoke cards and the commander does nothing to make tokens viable outside of being a weird mana source.

[DirkGently]

20 years and the sword cycle is finally complete! Almost as long as I've been playing.

The final entry is probably the most niche tbh. The surveil is significantly less exciting than drawing a card imo, and the cast may have pretty few targets in most decks. Voltron decks will have some removal but probably not super deep on cheap spells and ofc there may not be a good removal target.

I'm not sure if it's the worst sword overall, but I think it'll see among the least play in the long term. It asks a lot and the payoff is middling.

[PrimevalCommander]

Transcendent Message.

I gotta pick one up for Talrand, Sky Summoner

Same!

The final entry is probably the most niche tbh. The surveil is significantly less exciting than drawing a card imo, and the cast may have pretty few targets in most decks. Voltron decks will have some removal but probably not super deep on cheap spells and ofc there may not be a good removal target.

I'm not sure if it's the worst sword overall, but I think it'll see among the least play in the long term. It asks a lot and the payoff is middling.

Agree, this sword is a bit underwhelming. I don't want any more Sword of Feast and Famine, but the mana restriction makes it all but useless to trigger real early barring niche decks running high density of cheap spells and also want equipment. Surveil is better overall than 3 life, but combined with a restrictive cast trigger, it seems like a miss compared to the last 3 swords. Sword of Forge and Frontier was a home run, and is on my wishlist immediately.

Probably good in low cost commanders with a Voltron sub-theme that prioritize cheap interaction/draw. Feather, the Redeemed Zada, Hedron Grinder and other such things that may run cheap spells. Toshiro Umezawa maybe. If I cared about equipment at all, my Kalamax, the Stormsire deck might be interested. I have probably 12 targets for it in cheap draw, ramp, combat tricks, and removal spells.

Reading it like a spellslinger version of Sword of Light and Shadow, I would have preferred to see the MV bumped to 3 and make the spell return to hand. That way the utility is increased and the power level is kept tame. Oh well, making it flashback the spell to exile really slows the utility of repeated triggers since one has to be really deep on cheap spells to keep targets up.

[Mookie]

re: Kasla, the Broken Halo - I'll note that while she is a bit overcosted for her size (5 power for 6 mana), she does have convoke herself. As a result, I would generally expect to only need to spend 3-4 mana on her, assuming you have some token production. Convoke also helps pay commander tax. That said, the heavy convoke focus does limit the deck significantly - Kykar, Wind's Fury provides a similar go-wide / spellslinging / mana production suite, but is significantly more flexible with regards to what can go in the deck.

As for other new cards...

• Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink is a 'fair' version of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Much weaker in a vacuum... but the secondary mode to make five copies looks very spicy for a big-mana deck. Seems fun if you want to do Solemn Simulacrum value stuff instead of Zealous Conscripts combo.
• Invasion of Ravnica is interesting as a colorless removal spell. The back side looks pretty narrow though, outside Niv-Mizzet Reborn decks.
• Invasion of Tolvada is sweet. Flexible reanimation, plus a value engine if you can flip it.
• Invasion of Fiora is a nice board wipe with upside. The legendary / nonlegendary split makes it a bit more awkward than Crux of Fate though - if you want to clear out the board, it will generally miss commanders. Hmmm... Marchesa looks nice, at least.
• Etali Primal Conqueror is sweet, and I want to kick a Rite of Replication on it.

[ISBPathfinder]

20 years and the sword cycle is finally complete! Almost as long as I've been playing.

The final entry is probably the most niche tbh. The surveil is significantly less exciting than drawing a card imo, and the cast may have pretty few targets in most decks. Voltron decks will have some removal but probably not super deep on cheap spells and ofc there may not be a good removal target.

I'm not sure if it's the worst sword overall, but I think it'll see among the least play in the long term. It asks a lot and the payoff is middling.

Yea its cool but I feel like if not for the existing cycle of cards I would have expected the overall casting / equiping to cost one less mana. I think restricting to 2cmc or less instant / sorcery also feels a bit narrow for the mana expended I think I would have let it go to 3cmc. I think as it is its probably fine and might find its way into some decks but its probably a bit niche. I really hate Sword of Body and Mind though so I still have to go with that being the worst of the sword cycle.

re: Kasla, the Broken Halo - I'll note that while she is a bit overcosted for her size (5 power for 6 mana), she does have convoke herself. As a result, I would generally expect to only need to spend 3-4 mana on her, assuming you have some token production. Convoke also helps pay commander tax. That said, the heavy convoke focus does limit the deck significantly - Kykar, Wind's Fury provides a similar go-wide / spellslinging / mana production suite, but is significantly more flexible with regards to what can go in the deck.

I get you on the convoke but the issue is what else are you doing with those tokens? At best the commander really only leads to using them as mana biscuits for other convoke spells (which btw there aren't many good ones). It just feels like there is a bit of an identity crisis in how to make her.

[Mookie]

I get you on the convoke but the issue is what else are you doing with those tokens? At best the commander really only leads to using them as mana biscuits for other convoke spells (which btw there aren't many good ones). It just feels like there is a bit of an identity crisis in how to make her.

Using currently-existing cards? Yeah, there certainly isn't enough support, given that convoke has only been a theme in gwb previously. That said, Kasla is at the head of a commander deck, and convoke is the ur theme in the set, so I assume she'll be getting a lot of support.

More broadly, if there is another card like Chief Engineer or Inspiring Statuary that can grant convoke to other cards, I could see Kasla doing silly things. Throw in Monastery Mentor / Third Path Iconoclast to turn spells into tokens, and you could potentially draw a large chunk of your deck off a bunch of cheap convoked spells. Jeskai Ascendancy is also a thing, as are Magda, Brazen Outlaw and other creatures that like to be tapped.

[TheGildedGoose]

Also, new Grandma Sengir!

where

The new Sword is fine. It's not Body and Mind, it's not Feast and Famine. Somewhere between Forge and Frontier and Sinew and Steel.

[Dunadain]

Invasion of Fiora is a nice board wipe with upside. The legendary / nonlegendary split makes it a bit more awkward than Crux of Fate though

You can choose both options...

[DirkGently]

You can choose both options...

Yes but it's probably harder to make it a Plague Wind. If you're playing dragons you can choose to wipe nondragons with Crux of Fate and reliably destroy all enemy creatures. Whereas with Fiora your opponents are very likely to have at least one legendary and some nonlegendary creatures. You can do a full wipe ofc, but then it's symmetrical and you're paying 6 for a creature wipe, which is a pretty bad rate (and makes it harder to trigger the back half).

[Dunadain]

You can choose both options...

Yes but it's probably harder to make it a Plague Wind. If you're playing dragons you can choose to wipe nondragons with Crux of Fate and reliably destroy all enemy creatures. Whereas with Fiora your opponents are very likely to have at least one legendary and some nonlegendary creatures. You can do a full wipe ofc, but then it's symmetrical and you're paying 6 for a creature wipe, which is a pretty bad rate (and makes it harder to trigger the back half).

I'm actually pretty high on this card. Sure Damnation is better, but in mono-black, you have to look at sub-par options. I'm running Blood on the Snow in Ebondeath, Dracolich unironically, and this card looks like an easy swap there.

[DirkGently]

I'm actually pretty high on this card. Sure Damnation is better, but in mono-black, you have to look at sub-par options. I'm running Blood on the Snow in Ebondeath, Dracolich unironically, and this card looks like an easy swap there.

That's fine. It doesn't really negate the crux comparison though. Even if you're playing a legend tribal deck, you're still leaving your opponents with their commanders intact at a minimum, so it's not a great board wipe if your goal is to be asymmetric.

I think blood on the snow is better in monocolor personally. You get the card immediately, whereas triggering the battle after a wipe will presumably be difficult unless you can create a fairly asymmetrical situation with the modes, which probably requires some luck. And you can wipe planeswalkers on rare occasions. Marchesa herself is fine but assuming the reward is fairly delayed she doesn't seem that great. She's mostly a conditional Phyrexian Arena.

[Mookie]

That's fine. It doesn't really negate the crux comparison though. Even if you're playing a legend tribal deck, you're still leaving your opponents with their commanders intact at a minimum, so it's not a great board wipe if your goal is to be asymmetric.

Yeah, this was my thinking - it's hard to make this totally asymmetric due to the presence of commanders, plus a bunch of creatures are just randomly legendary these days. As a result, I don't know how effective just killing nonlegendary creatures will be, or if you'll usually be killing everything (in which case you'll also lose your board presence to pressure the battle).

...that said, I did actually miss that you can choose both. In my defense, reading sideways cards is hard.

[TheGildedGoose]

You can choose both options...

Yes but it's probably harder to make it a Plague Wind. If you're playing dragons you can choose to wipe nondragons with Crux of Fate and reliably destroy all enemy creatures. Whereas with Fiora your opponents are very likely to have at least one legendary and some nonlegendary creatures. You can do a full wipe ofc, but then it's symmetrical and you're paying 6 for a creature wipe, which is a pretty bad rate (and makes it harder to trigger the back half).

I'm actually pretty high on this card. Sure Damnation is better, but in mono-black, you have to look at sub-par options. I'm running Blood on the Snow in Ebondeath, Dracolich unironically, and this card looks like an easy swap there.

I think Invasion is specifically better in Ebondeath than Blood since it gives you the option to generate a body that can carry swords, but in general, Blood is better.

[pokken]

Man finally a mono green creature haste enabler at scale. What a genesis wave hit.

I hate concordant crossroads so frogging much.

Surrak and Goreclaw

Anthem haste and team trample for 6 is something else. Woof. Thank the lord it doesn't work with tokens.

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

where

Sorry no spoiler yet, but there was art in the debut stream plus a full name, so clearly not an Invasion of Ulgrotha art.