Farewell, Streets of New Capenna

Concluding rotation month (see previous post), today I look at Streets of New Capenna.

Released in April 2022, Streets of New Capenna (hereafter SNC) was the first look at a new plane. Here, per MTG Wiki, an 'art deco metropolis' created by angels is now run by five demon-led (and tri-allied-colored) crime families. 

Themes & Mechanics

For theme, think early twentieth-century American gangsters. Only with a fantasy twist. There are five families, each with an allied color trio associated with them.

Mechanics include:

- Shield Counters (prevents a permanent from taking damage or being destroyed. Removed after use.)

- Connive (draw and discard and card. If the discarded card was nonland, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with this ability.)

- Casualty X (you may sacrifice a creature with power X or greater as you cast this spell. If you do, the spell is copied.)

- Blitz (you may cast a creature for its blitz cost instead of its regular cost. If you do, it gains haste, "when this creature dies, you draw a card," and is sacrificed at the next end step.)

- Alliance (an ability word that has varying effects based on when other creatures enter the battlefield under your control)

Favorites

Giada, Font of Hope and Inspiring Overseer were auto-includes in Angel decks (and Giada became my commander for the white angel deck I run in that format). Slip Out the Back was in my Bluey deck. Gala Greeters saw a lot of play, with three nice abilities that could trigger on a turn. Jewel Thief, Titan of Industry, Topiary Stomper, and Workshop Warchief saw play in green stompy decks. Rocco was fun in my legendary decks, and the tri-lands (note the example is Forest Plains Island) were powerful.

Good Riddance

Depopulate was a staple in control decks that drove me nuts. Illuminator showed up in decks that kept 1-2 creatures alive through protection spells; I tired of those, too. Make Disappear could be powerful(ly annoying). Tenacious Underdog wasn't horrible but showed up enough to become annoying; same with Strangle. Fight Rigging signified that something terrible was coming. Lord Xander, like the other four crime bosses, were costed too highly to see play (which was disappointing more than annoying). Ob Nixilis is the planeswalker I will not miss. And sacrifice lands like Riveteers Overlook were okay on their own, but exploited in a landfall combo deck that should have been banned (for being annoying more than powerful).

More than anything, SNC 'jarred' me with the theme. I don't know why . . . maybe it hit too close to real life? But for some reason, I felt the theme clashed with the spirit of 'typical' fantasy, and that diminished my enjoyment of the set. The mechanics didn't grab me, either. I won't miss it.