Farewell, Brothers' War

Continuing rotation month, today I look at Brothers' War.

Released in November 2022, Brothers' War (BRO) continued Magic's 30-year celebration by looking at past classics. Here, the focus was on the brothers Urza and Mishra and their artifact armies.

The mechanics in this set included:

- Prototype, which allows you to cast an artifact creature card for cheaper cost (and lower power/toughness).

- Unearth, which allows you to cast a creature from your graveyard for its unearth cost. It gains haste and is then exiled at the end of turn.

- Meld, which allows you to take two cards on the battlefield and merge them into one

- Powerstone tokens, which tap to add one colorless mana (which can be used only to cast artifact spells).

The main theme in this set is artifacts. There were 77 artifact cards in this release, from the 'traditional' colorless artifacts to colored artifacts (and some that were either, if they had the prototype ability). This set also featured a supplemental collection of retro frame artifacts—63 artifact cards with the old frame that drew from Magic's history. (Even these retro artifact cards had three variant frames, making for 189 cards total. Sheesh.)

Favorites

I don't have a ton of favorites from this set, and oddly, no artifacts caught my eye. That aside, Lay Down Arms is a nice removal spell (if playing mono-white), Loran's Escape a great evasion spell, and Recruitment Officer and Siege Veteran were good in soldier decks (I ran both a white/blue and white/red soldier deck based on this release). Gix was great in my black tempo deck. Go for the Throat is a staple removal spell. I loved Mechanized Warfare in my burn deck. Awaken the Woods is fun in my casual dryad deck. And Bushwhack is a flexible staple.

Good Riddance

Not a lot here, honestly. I had to dig deep. Union of the Third Parth was annoying only because it showed up in control decks that made for a long game. Phyrexian Fleshgorger pointed to the same. And I had a love/hate relationship with Monastery Swiftspear, running it myself in my burn deck while loathing when I saw it in others'. 

In sum, this set didn't do much for me, and wasn't as memorable as I wished. I think the retro artifacts were the best part.

Farewell, Dominaria United

It's rotation month! Well, almost. On 1 August, the four oldest Magic sets will rotate out of Standard (I explain the concept here). As is my custom, I look at these 'expiring' sets in turn and reflect on their attributes, positives, and negatives. Today: Dominaria United.

Released in September 2022, Dominaria United (DMU) was another return to the Dominaria plane (the location for most of the original Magic expansions). And it kicked off the 30th anniversary of the game; as such, it focused on paying homage to the game's past while also looking to the future.

The mechanics in this set included:

- kicker, a longstanding favorite. Pay an extra cost upon casting to gain an extra effect.

- domain, an ability that grew more powerful based on the different basic lands you controlled, encouraging multi-colored strategies

- enlist, a clunky ability [in my opinion] that allowed you to tap another creature you controlled to add to an attacking creature's power

- stun counters, a cool ability with the following effect: "(If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)"

The theme in this set revolved around legendary creatures. As a nod to the past, many of Magic's most (in)famous charcters showed up in this set. An astonishing 49 cards—out of 281 in the base set—are legendary. It also had 20 "Legends Retold" cards, focusing on old favorites (from the original Legends set) in 'new skins,' so to speak. Finally, you had a small chance of getting a card from the original Legends set, as Wizards found a pallet of the old cards from 1994 [seriously; read about that here] and randomly inserted them in packs. I got this one in a pack; it's worth nothing, but was still fun to pull:

DMU had two preconstructed Commander decks—one based on legendary creatures, and the other based on the domain concept [having all 5 basic lands for maximum benefit].

Favorites

I love tribal decks, and DMU had some nice cards for soldiers (Resolute Reinforcements, Valiant Veteran), goblins (Rundveldt Hordemaster, Squee), and elves (Leaf-Crowned Visionary). Leyline Binding is an auto-include in any domain deck. Jodah, the Unifier, was fun to build around (both in Standard and Commander). I had a fun blue deck that featured Haughty Djinn, Tolarian Terror, and a ton of cheap instants/sorceries to make them powerful (or cheap to cast). Aether Channeler has three nice ETB abilities. Cut Down is a key black spell. Evolved Sleeper had nice buff and card draw abilities. And Defiler of Vigor could make things go crazy in a 'stompy' deck. Finally, DMU had ten common lands with two basic land types (Wooded Ridgeline below is representative). That was cool.

Good Riddance

I had a hard time picking cards here, as nothing truly stood out as always annoying. But there were a few that could needle me: Cult Conscript generally heralded some sort of recursive graveyard engine that (generally) made for long games. Liliana was often annoying. Sheoldred was so powerful; fun to play and annoying to play against. And Ivy was a pesky faerie that featured in combo decks I found bothersome.

In sum, I really enjoyed this set; I like both legendary creatures and the domain concept. I didn't care for the enlist ability, but everything else was fun.

Card Talk 20

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Galadhrim Guide—a common creature from Tales of Middle Earth.

Tales of Middle Earth, released in 2023, is a Universes Beyond set, crossing Magic's gameplay with other Intellectual Properties (here, the Lord of the Rings universe). I've previously posted on the pros and cons of this concept. It seems Wizards is increasingly heading in this direction, with Final Fantasy being the latest offering. We'll see how this affects the health of the game in the long run.

Galadhrim Guide's enter the battlefield ability is scrying. This is a deck sculpting ability that increases your chances of drawing a needed card at the right time. It is a powerful mechanic.

The card frame is called scroll showcase; the entire regular set was printed with this variant frame in addition to the regular one. I think these were available only on collector booster packs. It looks cool, and is part of the ever-expanding frame variants Wizards has been doing over the years. In this set alone, it is one of six frame types: regular, ring showcase, borderless art, extended art, scene cards, and scroll showcase. This overwhelms me (and is a nightmare for 'completist' collectors). I wish they would stick with one variant frame per release.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 19

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Haunted Dead—an uncommon creature from Innistrad Remastered.

This version of Haunted Dead (HD) has a retro card frame. This hearkens back to the original look Magic cards had for the first ten years (1993-2003). They shifted to a modern card frame in 2003, then made more tweaks in 2014 (see here for more information). Though the original frames had some problems (readability among them), they are popular enough to have featured a revival of sorts; many recent releases offer retro frame variants of a subset of cards.

HD originally appeared in Eldritch Moon, the 2016 release that was a return to the Innistrad plane that proved so popular in its initial block (2011-12). Eldritch Moon mixed the Innistrad gothic horror trope with Lovecraftian-inspired beasts known as Eldrazi (featured in 2010's Rise of the Eldrazi set). Since Innistrad Remastered included cards from across all Innistrad-themed sets, HD got a reprint.

HD is an interesting card. Upon entering, you get two creatures: a black 2/2 zombie and white 1/1 spirit with flying. And death is not the end . . . for its card text shows it can come back into play from the graveyard if you pay two mana and discard two cards. This sort of ability can work nicely in 'sacrifice' decks, where you get powerful effects if you're willing to kill your own creatures. It can also pair well with the 'madness' mechanic, where you want to discard cards so you can cast them cheaply.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 18

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .
Thrashing Brontodon—a common creature from Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

Thrashing Brontodon (TB) originally appeared in Rivals of Ixalan, the 2018 release and second in the Ixalan block—a fun plane that featured dinosaurs, vampires, merfolk, and pirates in a land influenced by Aztec/Mayan culture. It was a cool time to be playing; I enjoyed standard during that era.

TB is a good card. A 3/4 creature for three mana is fine, but it shines in its ability—pay one mana and sacrifice it to destroy target artifact or enchantment. This 'creature/targeted removal' combo is handy to have for the flexibility it provides. That is probably why it has since been reprinted in several sets:

- Core Set 2020

- Core Set 2021

- Lost Cavarns of Ixalan

- Foundations

- plus other special releases

Pay attention to reprints—cards released frequently often indicate utility/value. 

Final comment: art. The original release, and most reprints to date, feature the below artwork:

I prefer this variant, as it is more playful. Magic used to have a whimsical feel to it, even when portraying supposedly scary creatures. In recent years, that has given way to more serious representations. I miss how it used to be.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 17

Cactuar card art

Today is the seventeenth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .
Darien, King of Kjeldor—a rare legendary creature from Murders at Karlov Manor Commander.

Darien originally appeared in Coldsnap, the 2006 release that was supposedly a 'lost set' of the Ice Age block—the first two being Ice Age (1995) and Alliances (1996)—found in Wizards archives or something. This was the original print:

Note the differences:

- the card frame (both the legendary 'flare' at the top and the machine-readable text at the bottom)

- the creature type (Human Lord became Human Soldier)

- the card text ('put __ tokens into play' became 'create __ tokens')

- the accent line between game text and flavor text

As I've stated previously, the official card database has the latest official text; you may play an earlier version understanding that you must defer to the current in terms of rules.

I was excited for, and then disappointed by, Coldsnap. I enjoyed the theme of the original Ice Age set—which was released around the time I got into Magic—and that sentiment endears it to me, even if it wasn't an overly great release. Coldsnap is the same (only 13 cards are worth $5.00 or more today). Nevertheless, it is still nice to see fun cards, like Darien, come out of it.

Is Darien a viable Commander? EDHRec shows cards that synergize well. Combining him with Ajani's Welcome and Mentor of the Meek is a particularly exciting situation; you could gain all the life back with Ajani and (if you had mana) draw a ton of cards with Mentor.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Budget Commander Staples: Blue

Concluding this month's theme (see this post for an introduction), today I look at budget Commander staples in blue, focusing on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe.

Ramp (blue)

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Blue isn't great at this, though there are a few options. Apprentice Wizard grants 3 colorless mana for the cost of 1 blue. Lapis Orb and Midnight Clock are mana rocks with a bonus ability. Guidelight Optimizer, Volshe Tideturner, and Vodalian Arcanist are 'conditional' mana rocks, granting access to mana but only for certain spell types.

Card draw (blue)

Blue excels at card draw. There are many options here . . . below is just a smattering. Many options (Mind Spring, Concentrate, Divination) are simple card draw spells; others (like Merfolk Looter) grant a card at a cost of a discard. Still others (Deduce, Consider, Opt) offer card draw with a bonus ability of investigate, surveil, or scry. Spectral Sailor is a great option, paying dividends especially in later stages of a game (when you could potentially activate his card draw ability several times). 

Targeted removal (blue)

There are two ways blue does removal: counterspells and returning a permanent to its owners hand. For counterspells: the original (and still best) is Counterspell. That was deemed too powerful at only two mana, so subsequent iterations either kept the cost and added conditions (Mana Leak, Essence Scatter, Negate, Disdainful Stroke), added a colorless mana to the cost (Refute—note the card draw bonus, Cancel), or added two colorless mana (Rewind) but you get the lands back to use again that turn.

For returning permanents, Boomerang and Disperse are classic options. Fading Hope is a nice conditional variant, Blink of an Eye has a nice kicker bonus, Run Away Together can synergize well in "ETB" decks, and Aethersnipe can grant you a creature, too. 

Board wipe (blue)

Similar to targeted removal, blue does board wipes by returning permanents to their respective owners' hands. Wash Out is great against mono-colored decks, Aetherize goes well against aggro offerings, Whelming Wave if you're playing sea creatures, and Upheaval if you just want to reset the board.

Conclusion

Of the 32 cards presented above, ~24 of them go well in almost any mono-blue Commander deck.