Rumors/Previews/mtg.com articles 2010 - 2013

[Norm4eva]

Ewww, JtMA is a huge Limited bomb.

Definitely stoked to see Grim Lavamancer in a Core Set.  One of my favorite cards "from back in the day", I don't think it sees a ton of play in Eternal formats - I have fond memories of saccing that guy to Voidmage Prodigy in Fish/r 

[Joblin Velder]

Legacy loves that dude.

[Diakonov]

~Vengeful Pharaoh  

When a creature deals combat damage to you or a planeswalker you control, if ~ is in your graveyard, destroy target attacking creature, then put ~ on top of your library.

5/4

[Diakonov]

~Skinshifter   

 : Choose one - Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 Rhino and gains trample; or until end of turn, ~ becomes a 2/2 Bird and gains flying; or until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/8 Plant.  Activate this ability only once each turn.

1/1

[Diakonov]

I noticed something interesting with Pharaoh.  If you have a sac outlet and your opponent has a first striker, you can take down two guys.

[DubDub]

I noticed something interesting with Pharaoh.  If you have a sac outlet and your opponent has a first striker, you can take down two guys.

" then put Vengeful Pharaoh on top of your library."  It's not free-free.

[Delha]

~Skinshifter   

 : Choose one - Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 4/4 Rhino and gains trample; or until end of turn, ~ becomes a 2/2 Bird and gains flying; or until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/8 Plant.  Activate this ability only once each turn.

1/1

Swinging in with a 4/4 trample on turn 3? Then again with two of them on turn 4? Seems nasty.

[Diakonov]

I noticed something interesting with Pharaoh.  If you have a sac outlet and your opponent has a first striker, you can take down two guys.

" then put Vengeful Pharaoh on top of your library."  It's not free-free.

Ah, yes, you are right.  I misread that card pretty hard.

[Norm4eva]

I noticed something interesting with Pharaoh.  If you have a sac outlet and your opponent has a first striker, you can take down two guys.

" then put Vengeful Pharaoh on top of your library."  It's not free-free.

Ah, yes, you are right.  I misread that card pretty hard.

Works okay with Predict!

[LotusHead]

Well, this is Timmylicious.  Could he be the perfect Oath/ Fatty? (Get Time Walk, or YawgWill, or whatever?).
Maybe not.

[Lemnear]

3x runescared Demon
1x gaea's blessing
1x Time Walk
4x oath of druids

Infinite turns via oath? Confirmed!

[Godder]

3x runescared Demon
1x gaea's blessing
1x Time Walk
4x oath of druids

Infinite turns via oath? Confirmed!

You need a way to kill your Demons, and Forbidden Orchard to make tokens. In saying that, 2 or 3 flying 6/6 will probably get the job done anyway.

[Norm4eva]

Well, this is Timmylicious.  Could he be the perfect Oath/ Fatty? (Get Time Walk, or YawgWill, or whatever?).
Maybe not.

Want for my little kid EDH deck.  Want for my terrible MBC Legacy deck.  I like him, he sparkly.  When you play him you can be like, "BRRRROOODSTAAAH - i mean wait i mean, RUUUUNE-SCAAAARRED! ...demon."  Ok maybe only I will do that.



This guy seems real dumb.  Kill target Legendary thing for 1U, or depending on how much targeted magic is an issue, just copy something good for 1U.



Super on the fence about this.  Eh.  Dredge doesn't really need it, and any deck that would, probably doesn't want to wait for or achieve a 20-card graveyard.  Still, it *does* say "draw 3" for U.  Hrgmhm.

[Lemnear]

3x runescared Demon
1x gaea's blessing
1x Time Walk
4x oath of druids

Infinite turns via oath? Confirmed!

You need a way to kill your Demons, and Forbidden Orchard to make tokens. In saying that, 2 or 3 flying 6/6 will probably get the job done anyway.

3 = infinite in Vintage. Turns are the most important ressource in Vintage.

[Troy_Costisick]

Visions Beyond might work as a one of in a Blue storm deck.  Certainly not in multiples, tho

[DubDub]

Sphinx of Lost Truths is among my favorite EDH/Commander cards, but the new Sphinx of Uthuun will be stiff competiton.  For those that haven't seen the spoiler it's a 5/6 for 7 that Fact or Fictions when it enters the battlefield.  As should be clear from my signature I'm quite enamored with Fact or Fiction, so this is tailor made for me I feel.  Only issue I have, and it's a small one, is that I think Uthuun should have just been named 'Sphinx of Fact or Fiction', since that's not dissimilar from some of the other Sphinxes printed recently: Conundrum Sphinx and the aforementioned Sphinx of Lost Truths.  Maybe 'Sphinx of Fact and Fiction'.

Anyway, my new Riku deck gets a new toy, and it's not Mythic, awesome!

We have confirmation that INN will be a gravebased set (new Jace in M12 mills, confirmed cards with flashback, etc), which this guy fills as well as Fact or Fiction.  Is it at all possible that Fact or Fiction could be reprinted in a Standard-legal set?  Would it dominate?  Compared to JaceTMS Fact has pretty low powerlevel, but they've been moving away from instant speed card draw for a while now, so I can understand if they're content with just this Sphinx.  Also, FOF's powerlevel would be boosted because it's a gravebased set, seems increasingly unlikely as I continue to think about it.

[Ten-Ten]

I sensed a cycle of creatures like they did back in Timespiral block. Got closer to my gut feeling once I saw Runescarred demon.
Runescarred : demonic tutor
sphinx: Fact or fiction
.
.
.
now we need one with Flash that Brainstorms when it ETB.
so far im happy

[Nefarias]

I sensed a cycle of creatures like they did back in Timespiral block. Got closer to my gut feeling once I saw Runescarred demon.
Runescarred : demonic tutor
sphinx: Fact or fiction
.
.
.
now we need one with Flash that Brainstorms when it ETB.
so far im happy

I'm assuming that the Angel that makes something Indestructible is the white addition to the cycle, if there is one.

[honestabe]

the green one probably Regrows something

[hvndr3d y34r h3x]

after that my guess is wheel
and balance

[DubDub]

So the new Chandra is pretty terrible.  The Fork-esque effect is tantalizing, but her +1 ability is so so bad.  Her ultimate is also pretty bad.

I would have liked to have seen her with a fourth ability that Lightning Bolted for -1 loyalty.  Might have been fringe playable for Vintage if it could have dealt with Lodestone Golem (or JaceTMS if he's at three) the turn it was cast, and then Forked something the next turn.

I also think she should be boosted in the Planeswalker-stare-down department.  Maybe if her first ability additonally said "if this damage is redirected to a Planeswalker an opponent controls triple it."  Or something like that.

Re: 7CMC fatties with ETB 'spells'.  Clearly the black one is Diabolic Tutor, not Demonic Tutor, and it will be a cycle of four-mana cost spells on wheels.  For Green the best fit would be Explosive Vegetation obviously, and that one couldn't have flying, so let's give it trample instead.  I'd see it as:

Primeval Wurm
Creature - Wurm
Trample.
When ~ ETB, you may search your library for up to 2 basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped.  If you do, shuffle your library.
6/6

That doesn't seem that bad.  Searching only for basics and costing 7 instead of, say, 6 make it pretty fair.

/sarcasm

[Darkenslight]

I suppose you could do Tranquility or a similar effect on a fat man, like this:

Aether Wurm 
Creature - Beast(Wurm)
Trample
When ~ ETB, destroy all enchantments.
8/8

[DubDub]

Apparently Tiago Chan's Invitation card (with some undisclosed modifications) will see print in Innistrad.  Awesome!

The original submitted version of the card:

Denying Channel
Land
T: Add  to your mana pool.
2UU, Discard Denying Channel: Counter target spell.

[Norm4eva]

Sorry Xanthid Swarm, Imunna have to ask you to leave.  Too bad the deck this is 'intended' to boost will probably get the least out of it.  So it goes.

[Smmenen]

Apparently Tiago Chan's Invitation card (with some undisclosed modifications) will see print in Innistrad.  Awesome!

The original submitted version of the card:

Denying Channel
Land
T: Add  to your mana pool.
2UU, Discard Denying Channel: Counter target spell.

I smashed Tiago on the invitational.  They should have printed my card instead

[honestabe]

Apparently Tiago Chan's Invitation card (with some undisclosed modifications) will see print in Innistrad.  Awesome!

The original submitted version of the card:

Denying Channel
Land
T: Add  to your mana pool.
2UU, Discard Denying Channel: Counter target spell.

I smashed Tiago on the invitational.  They should have printed my card instead

Curiosity; what was it?

[Delha]

Using Phantasmal Image to copy creatures with Shroud (or Hexproof) sounds fun to me. I just can't think of anything with Shroud you'd really want to copy in Vintage.

Actually, I'd imagine it'll fit really well in a lot of decks. Paying next to nothing to copy your fatty seems pretty good to me in most respects. Even if they're packing Swords, trading one for one with this guy means that they still have to deal with the original. I figure this guy opens the door to just overwhelming your opponent's removal.

[The Atog Lord]

I suspect the cheap Clone will be more of a Legacy card. In a world where Emrakul and Progenitus come to play, having an answer at 1U is valuable. It's much easier to cast than either Metamorph or Dance of Many. And you can still put it right into play via their Show and Tell. And against a Reanimator deck, if they opt for a non-legendary creature, you can copy it and they generally run rather few ways to target your copy. So, I think that this card may be a role-player in Legacy. Though, I doubt he will have many Vintage applications. Against Oath, many builds can kill you before you get another turn; and if they do give you another turn, I'd rather just use Gilded Drake to grab their monster, which is possible in many cases.

[DubDub]

Today's Latest Developments

The story of the Titans so far in Standard has been a perfect example of this kind of change. While Primeval Titan has been fetching Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle since its release, the other Titans have moved in and out of Standard playability over time with some amount of unpredictability. Frost Titan was universally panned at first, but later was universally adopted in blue-red-green decks. Just as soon as I was happy that Frost Titan had its day, other players were advocating Inferno Titan there instead. Sun Titan went without a home for a few months, but when Jace, the Mind Sculptor began to show its power, players went to Jace Beleren to have an additional way to stop it, then to Sun Titan once they had some Belerens to bring back. Grave Titan has been a finisher of choice in Blue-Black Control for a while, but such blue-black decks have also cycled in and out of power. This unpredictability helps keep Magic fresh. If we didn't build room for Magic to move around, it would be impossible.

I think he could have saved some words and just said: "We like that you can play whatever cards you want and be competitive, as long as they're Mythic."  I mean really, every Titan has been competitive at some point?  Shocking.  These are the same Titans that completely obsoleted (along with the now-banned JTMS) Baneslayer Angel... a 5/5 flyer for 5 with four other positive abilities, right?  The ones that are actually continuing to render other aggressively costed Mythic creatures like Vengevine and Thrun, the Last Troll unplayable as we speak.

[honestabe]

WoTC is talking about and doing some Q and A about Innistrad here http://twitter.com/#%21/wizards_magic