Cards

Orzhov Cleric Tribal in MOM: The Aftermath

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

My apologies to anyone who follows my set reviews to see how my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck evolves when a new set comes out. March of the Machine: The Aftermath came out in May so this is much overdue. On the flip side, part of the reason that I did not rush to post is that there are but two clerics in the set and only one could slot into an Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck.

That sole qualifying cleric is Metropolis Reformer, a 2/3 Angel Cleric with flying and vigilance and gives you hexproof. It additional gains you as much life as it is dealt damage. All for 2 and a W. Not a bomb by any means.

The question now is, does it fit into the deck? If so, what comes out? For the same mana cost, I see two options: Annex Sentry or Yotian Medic. I think the latter makes more sense to cut. The two have the same Power and Toughness so that does not play into my decision. While the Annex Sentry is not a great card, its removal is a more potent ability than lifelink. Easy decision in the end. Besides I have three Yotian Medics in the deck and only two Annex Sentries.

On a note unrelated to this latest set, one additional change I have made is replace the 2 Valorous Stances with 2 Fateful Absences.

Here is what the updated deck looks like:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Metropolis Reformer (MAT) 0004
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

Changes:

  • In: 3 Metropolis Reformer (MAT) 0004
  • Out: 3 Yotian Medic (BRO) 33
  • Out: 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • In: 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18

Let’s see how this new deck does!

As always, feel free to drop us a comment with your thoughts and suggestions for this deck.

One-of-one serialized version of The One Ring has been found… In Canada

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The quest to find the one-of-one serialized version of The One Ring has come to an end. The card grading service PSA today tweeted that the much coveted card sporting a 001/001 serial number has not only been found but also graded (9 out of 10 according to their scale). Wizards of the Coast confirmed the discovery shortly afterwards as well.

The one-of-one serialized card, the first such card printed by Wizards, sparked frenzied searching by not only Magic players but more broadly across the collectible card community with one offer by a Spanish LGS reaching €2 million, just over US$2 million or about CA$2.9 million, earlier this month.

The person who pulled the card has chosen to remain anonymous at this time but appears to be Canadian or at least have a Canadian connection. Maximum Cards and Collectibles in Whitby tweeted that the card was found by “the cousin of a regular customer.” They are apparently entertaining offers over $1 million and “negotiations are currently ongoing.” Should they successfully conclude for such a price, The One Ring will become the most expensive Magic card ever, beating out the famed Black Lotus, of which one reportedly sold for more than US$500,000.

While WOTC first introduced serialized cards back in 2021 as part of a Secret Lair drop, this is the first time that it printed a one-of-one card. They made a more prominent appearance in November 2022 in The Brothers’ War set with serialized artifacts in a retro frame. Along with this single card, there are a number of other serialized cards in this set. And I expect that we will see more of them in upcoming sets as well.

Fortunately for everyone that did not find this version of The One Ring, non-serialized Mythic versions are also available and much easier to find (albeit still pricey in my humble opinion).

Update (07/04): Face to Face has confirmed that it was the LGS where the collector booster box containing that unique The One Ring Card was purchased. Maybe the next time one of us sits down to play a game there, we’ll be playing against that millionaire!

Orzhov Cleric Tribal in March of the Machine

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

A new Magic TCG set is always an opportunity to see what opportunities there are to improve my Orzhov Cleric Tribal for Arena B01 Standard. I’m later posting this than I would have liked but once you see how March of the Machine influences the deck, I expect that you’ll understand.

If you’ll recall, Phyrexia: All Will Be One introduced 10 new cleric cards, with seven of them possibilities for an Orzhov deck. March of the Machine only brings five new Clerics, of which four are possible candidates for my purposes. It did not bode well if only based on the quantity of cards.

Let’s have a closer look at those five cards:

Alabaster Host Sanctifier: A 2/2 with Lifelink and no other upside does not offer enough to warrant putting it in the deck at the expense of one of the cards currently in the deck.

Progenitor Cat Cleric: I like Incubate as a mechanic. You can go with a simple artifacts matter strategy or convert them to artifact creatures for a more aggressive strategy). The choice is yours. Unfortunately, it is not cheap, especially if you want to go with the latter. At its cheapest, you get a 1/2 for 1 with no upside (unless you have other Incubate cards). Each Incubate token costs an additional 2 when casting and an additional 2 later to turn each into a creature. Frankly, my deck is slow enough as it is.

Sun-Blessed Guardian is an interesting card. A 2/2 that can transform into a 3/3 and generate an attacking token is certainly worthy of consideration. Except for that cost. 5 mana and two life (given the lack of red mana) is not cheap. And it remains prone to removal. Too expensive for too little.

Quintorius, Loremaster is out simply due to it being Boros rather than Orzhov.

Seedpod Caretaker comes with two ETB options to chose from. The first certainly could work but the second requires at least one source of Incubator tokens. As you saw above, from a Cleric standpoint, pickings are pretty slim.

If I was to consider some substitutions, I think I would need to pull into the deck Progenitor Cat Cleric, Sun Blessed Guardian and Seedpod Caretaker to leverage the synergy between them. But then, what do I pull? I may try it but I have a feeling that it will not work. I’m better off to try to build an Incubate deck instead.

For now, let’s leave the deck as is:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Yotian Medic (BRO) 33
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

As always, feel free to drop in a comment with your thoughts and suggestions for this deck.

The cruel tale of two Ragavans

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The boys and I have for many years bought a booster box when a new Magic set comes out. We split it three ways and open the box together. We each take turns choosing one pack at a time. Once we each have our pile of packs, we open them together, one at a time. A few rules have emerged over time, namely that we must show our Rare and Mythic pulls (someone loved to tease their brother by making various claims and not showing what they had) and that whoever ends with fewest Mythics gets the Buy-a-Box promo (think of it as a consolation prize).

With the new Set Booster boxes, we typically all end up with a few Mythics and generally all come out with a few cards that make us happy. Every once in a while, one of us will pull more than their fair share or someone will end up with less than they were hoping for. The boys and I know that this is all down to luck and we normally just say “Better luck with the next box.” But most cruel is when someone pulls a card that you really want, especially when it’s an expensive card.

Noah has had his eye on Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, since it was first revealed in Modern Horizons 2. I think it has less to do with Ragavan’s abilities (although Noah would certainly put them to good use) and more to do with the fact that Ragavan is a cute monkey. Unfortunately, the card quickly became pricey enough to be out of his league (without incurring the wrath of his mother but that’s another story).

Ragavan was spoiled in March of the Machine, Noah was excited when  Nimble Pilferer. Here was a chance to pull one perhaps at prerelease or in our box. Asked what he wanted to pull, Ragavan was pretty much it.

Prerelease took place last Saturday and Noah did not find the monkey in his pool of cards. None of us did sadly. On a side note, we also had a dismal event where Noah went 1-2 and Christian and I went 0-3. I’m now at an embarrassing 0-9 at the last three events.

I did pull a Sheoldred and a Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger in my prelease as well as both an Elesh Norn and Vorinclex from March of the Machine in the prize packs. As Christian pointed out, when I do poorly at a prerelease, I tend to do well with the prize packs!

Needless to say, we were looking forward to cracking open our box when we got home.

Christian pulled the first Mythic and then pulled a second. Meanwhile, nothing for me or Noah. By the time we were more than halfway through our packs, Noah still had no Mythics while I began to catch up to Christian. And then came the God Pack, at least in the eyes of one of us.

Christian gasped when he pulled a Ragavan in his second last pack. And then an even bigger gasp when he pulled a second one, right after. Two Ragavans next to each other in a single pack! The first deflated Noah but the second was a big blow. We’ve all been disappointed at one point or another by our box pulls but this was the worst I’ve seen Noah. He dejectedly opened his last pack, no Mythic again.

My pulls included a Rashmi and Ragavan and I offered it to him but he turned it down. It’s not the monkey he wanted and I knew that even before giving it to him. I just hated seeing him like that.

“I’m not doing the box again,” he said dejectedly, grabbed his cards and left. He did not even take the Omnath, Locus of All, that was rightfully his.

Along with his two Ragavan monkeys, Christian also pulled Niv-Mizzet Reborn, Sword of Once and Future, and one of the partner cards (I’ll update once I remember the name of it). On my side, I pulled 5 Mythics: Invasion of Shandalar, Rashmi and Ragavan, Yarok the Desecrated, Aurelia, the Warleader and Urabrask the Hidden.

Chrome Host Seedshark: More Flying Sharks come to Magic

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Previews for the upcoming March of the Machine set are well underway. I’ll be frank; I’m somewhat underwhelmed so far. I’m still struggling to wrap my head around the new Battle mechanic and none of the other mechanics have really captured my interest. The power creep is also frustrating. But we’ll save that for a potential future post. Instead, today, I wanted to call attention to Chrome Host Seedshark.

A flying shark? A flying compleated shark? A flying compleated shark that incubates little tokens that can then turn into potentially not-so-little token creatures (but not sharks). What’s not to like?

I first caught a glimpse of this card yesterday. And what was yesterday but April 1st, better known April Fool’s Day. My first thought was that WOTC might have announced a new Universes Beyond set tied to Sharknado as a prank for the day. But no, the card was previewed earlier in the week and is legitimate.

To be fair, this is not the first flying shark we’ve seen. That honour, I discovered after some investigative work over at Scryfall goes to Shabraz, the Skyshark from Commander 2020. But flying sharks existed even before that. Remember Shark Typhoon from Ikoria? It could create X/X blue Shark creature tokens with flying. Someone at WOTC is a Sharknado fan!

Is Chrome Host Seedshark any good? It’s not an amazing card but I suspect that it might find a home in a few janky decks. If I pull one of these, it will end up in my Talrand Commander deck. And with 11 cards that share Shark as a type, maybe someone will even try to build a Shark tribal deck – Drop us a comment below if you do.

Before I leave you to go look at more March of the Machine previews, let me leave you with this question: Is Chrome Host SeedShark part of a cycle? Among the previews so far, we also have Copper Host Crusher, a Phyrexian Bear Rhino. Can other hosts be far behind?

The One Ring: A unique 1-of-1 Magic card

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Previews for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set have begun. Rather than focusing on what feels like a never ending season of previews, today is all about a card that will become a much sought after, perhaps the most sought after, Magic card in a very long time.

At the heart of Lord of the Rings is the One Ring, the embodiment of Sauron’s power. Unsurprisingly, the ring will make an appearance in the set but can it really be the One Ring To Rule Them All if we all have one? This conundrum occurred to Wizards of the Coast and they solved it.

As Wizards puts it, “And so, as part of an extraordinarily rare and exciting promotion only for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, we made one such card.” Lurking in a single English-language The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Collector Booster will be a single (yes, just one) serialized version of The One Ring in a traditional foil design printed in the Black Speech of Sauron using Tengwar letterforms.

On the left below, the single serialized One Ring and on the right, the regular version:

The set will also feature the Rings of Power that were crafted for the Elves, Dwarves, and mortal men of Middle-earth. These will be themed versions of the venerable Sol Ring, available again only in Collector Booster packs. These will be written in the language of the High Elves, Quenya, in Tengwar letterforms. Serialized versions will also be available but in more significant quantities:

  • 300 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Elven)
  • 700 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
  • 900 Serialized double rainbow foil Sol Ring (Human)
  • 3,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Elven)
  • 7,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Dwarven)
  • 9,000 Non-foil Sol Ring (Human)

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will be released this summer with Prerelease events taking place June 16th to 22nd.

So, who wants that ring? And can you resist its power if you find it?

Playing with Ichormoon Gauntlet

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Ever since Ichormoon Gauntlet was spoiled during Phyrexia: All Will Be One previews, I was intrigued and curious how playable it could be. As you can see, this Artifact gives Planeswalkers additional abilities, namely Proliferate for a cost of 0 and an additional turn for a far more expensive 12.

I finally decided to put curiousity to action and built the following Blue deck centered around Jace and Teferi for Arena Standard B01. I burned 5 Mythic wild cards despite some reservations that I was doing so for a foolish quest. But you only live once after all.

Here is the first deck I built. Essentially, I threw a few cards together around the three main ones.

  • 3 Jace, the Perfected Mind (ONE) 57
  • 2 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim (BRO) 66
  • 4 Delver of Secrets (MID) 47
  • 4 Fading Hope (MID) 51
  • 2 Shore Up (DMU) 64
  • 3 Disdainful Stroke (SNC) 39
  • 4 Ichormoon Gauntlet (ONE) 56
  • 3 Third Path Savant (BRO) 67
  • 2 Academy Loremaster (DMU) 40
  • 4 Stormchaser Drake (VOW) 82
  • 2 Silver Scrutiny (DMU) 65
  • 4 Essence Capture (NEO) 52
  • 23 Island (ONE) 273

After only one game, a loss, it was clear that Third Path Savant was just not a good card. 7 for the ability to draw two cards was simply too expensive. Out it went. I also added an additional Teferi card (using up another wild card) given that the whole idea is to build Planeswalkers up with the extra ability. I also added 2 Prolog To Phyresis for the card draw.

I won my second game thanks to my Stormchaser Drakes but realized that they would not give me much card draw given how few spells I had that could target them. I never drew any of my Planeswalkers, leaving my Ichormoon Gauntlet on the board with little effect.

Here is what the deck looks like now:

  • 3 Jace, the Perfected Mind (ONE) 57
  • 23 Island (ONE) 273
  • 3 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim (BRO) 66
  • 4 Delver of Secrets (MID) 47
  • 4 Fading Hope (MID) 51
  • 3 Shore Up (DMU) 64
  • 3 Disdainful Stroke (SNC) 39
  • 4 Ichormoon Gauntlet (ONE) 56
  • 2 Academy Loremaster (DMU) 40
  • 4 Stormchaser Drake (VOW) 82
  • 3 Silver Scrutiny (DMU) 65
  • 4 Essence Capture (NEO) 52

Before my third game, in went one additional Shore Up and One Silver Scrutiny in favour of Prolog To Phyresis. That third game was a blowout – Playing against a red aggro deck with 2 lands after turn 4 proved painful.

After a few more games, my record is 2-6. Looks like I have a few things to think about:

  • I need more Planeswalkers if I will make Ichormoon Gauntlet the focus of the deck
  • A mono-Blue deck is probably not the best option. I suspect I will need to add at least one more colour and more likely two.
  • What are the wincons that Ichormoon Gauntlet opens up? It’s great to have the ability to take another turn but what do I do with it? I’m thinking that I need to focus more on the 0 cost Proliferate ability. Is it time to look at Poison counters?
  • I may need to burn more wild cards to get Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus into future decks.

More to come!

On the topic of retro frames

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Magic sets from 2021 onwards have regularly included a retro frame variant. They have been well received but I will admit that I am not among those. In fact, I will gladly choose the more recent frame version over the retro one if given a choice.

What is now called the retro frame is in fact the original frame that Magic launched with back in 1993. Though some changes were made over the years, such as color-coding the expansion symbol to reflect the card’s rarity or the introduction of a collector’s number (both changes introduced with Exodus), the frame stayed unchanged for a long time. It was only in 2003 with Eighth Edition that WOTC made significant changes to the frame. Among these was a new title bar and a new font called Matrix Bold replacing the original Goudy Medieval. Perhaps WOTC felt that the set released to celebrate Magic’s 10th anniversary was the right one to introduce such a significant change.

While a few tweaks followed, this Modern frame remained in use until Magic 2015 came out in the summer of 2014. This new frame, called M15, introduced a new font as well as the holofoil stamp, tweaks to the collector information and other smaller changes. This is the frame that we are now used to seeing when we crack new packs. Much like previous frames, it has also gone through some adjustments since then. WOTC has more recently also introduced alternate frames such as the extended art and borderless version.

Lyra Dawnbringer
Lyra Dawnbringer
Lyra Dawnbringer

You can see above Lyra Dawnbringer in the original frame, the M15 frame and the more recent borderless frame.

So why am I telling you about these frames? Because, as I said at the very start of this post, I’m not a fan of the recent trend to reprint cards in what is now called the retro frame. Before I tell you why, know that the boys and I started playing in 2015 around the time of Battle for Zendikar. The first packs we opened and the ones that triggered our love for this game used the M15 frame. Also know that I’m not a spring chicken anymore and had to start using reading glasses a few years back. You can probably see where this is going.

So why do I dislike the original frame? A few reasons.

The first is simply legibility. Look at any retro frame cards in this post and I suspect that you’ll agree that legibility is pretty bad. It’s not just a computer screen issue, the same is true for physical cards as well. It’s also not just a matter of white text on a light background either. Urza, Lord High Artificer and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician (see below) suffer from the same issue, albeit somewhat less due to their darker backgrounds that improve the contrast.

Urza, Lord High Artificer

The second reason is that the newer layout is clearer. I know that this is probably more of a personal preference but I like that the different information is neatly boxed. For example, Power and Toughness have their own box. The same with the card name and mana cost. It’s a small thing but one that again improves readability.

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

The third reason is the amount of information on a card. The new frames add some new information that is often useful. The card number and set code are two such additions. With cards now getting multiple variants, the card number is definitely useful in helping identify some of these.

Feel free to chime in the comments and let me know if you agree or disagree.

Note: I pulled some of the information on the changes over time to the Magic card frame from the MTG Wiki.

Christmas Magic 2022

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

With Noah in exams until the Thursday before Christmas, we did not have an opportunity this year to play any Magic before the start of the break. The boys found some JumpStart 2022 packs in their stockings on Christmas morning and that was our first game of the holiday season.

Christian’s two packs were Ferocious Detective (B). Noah ended up with Snow Law (WU) and I got Cruel Gigantic (BG). No big money cards in any of them. My best draw was Runadi, Behemoth Caller, a card I like (I like big green things) but not sure where it might go just yet.

We decided to do our usual round robin tournament. Noah easily beat Christian 2-0 due to a couple of mana floods and early signs that the two packs were not very synergistic. I played Noah next and went down 1-2. My best performer was Creeping Bloodsucker, a common that pings your opponent for one and gives you one at the same time. Slow and steady but it was not enough to withstand the bruising attacks from Noah’s deck. Christian and I played for the spoils and the lack of synergy in his deck was clearly in evidence as he went down 1-2.

I like the Jumpstart concept – It’s great to simply get two packs, slam them together and be ready to play. But it is frustrating when they don’t work well together. And gameplay is not particularly complex, a good thing for new players but a bit of a let down for more experienced ones (yes, I’m talking about Christian and Noah).

I will split mine out and add them to the small collection of Jumpstart packs to use when we’re looking for an easy game or when we look to introduce someone to the game.

From there, it was time for some more serious action. Noah bought Christian and I each six draft booster packs of Kamigawa as our Christmas present. Or in my case five and one Kaldheim pack as the store apparently ran out. The idea was that the two of us would build a sealed deck and over the next few weeks, Noah will add a new pack for us to enhance our decks (or build something new) in a mini-league.

Unfortunately, that left him out of the play. Fortunately, I had some Kaldheim set boosters that I had bought some time back for a rainy day. We decided to use those and to get Noah in on the action. We each gave him two of our Kamigawa packs and then complemented that with 4 Kaldheim set boosters and 2 for Christian and I to cover the two we had just given him. Think of this as some weird version of chaos sealed.

It all made for some rather odd games with no one really standing out over the others with our first builds. We’ll have to see if we continue down this path and add new packs to the mix. It definitely shows though that set boosters don’t work very well for sealed. You’d think that it would be easier with less randomness but it all felt forced – almost like playing Jumpstart but with even less synergy.

Finally, it was time for some Commander. Out came the Warhammer 40K decks. Christian and I are still running them unmodified but Noah has switched out seven cards, adding both his Mana Crypt as well as a Mox Amber pulled from the recent The Brothers’ War set among a few other cards.

Noah started slowly but both Christian and I know that the Necrons can go off quite quickly and explosively. I concentrated my first few turns on him, given that he did not have any creatures out. Christian did not attack but was progressively adding creatures and building his board state.

I was feeling quite optimistic when I played my Space Marine Devastator and cranked out three copies with my extra mana. Along with Marneus Calgar as my Commander, I was starting to amass a good number of tokens. It was time to deal with Christian. I risked it all. And ran into a wall of removal and instant speed tricks on top of the monstrous creatures he had on the battlefield. It was not my finest move by a long stretch and I ended with more losses than I had expected. The attack got through but left me wide open and reeling.

Next turn, Christian proceeded to pump up his creatures, including a couple of 12/12s, gave them all flying and swung in for 39 points of damage. That was it for me.

Noah managed to last another turn but the writing was on the wall and a further turn was enough to seal his fate. The Tyranids rule the Warhammer universe… For now.

And so ended another season of Christmas Magic.

A case of too much Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Previews for Phyrexia: All Will Be One kicked off earlier this month. As the Phyrexian threat continues to grow and after seeing Praetors such as Gix, Jin-Jitaxias and Sheoldred, was it ever in question that Elesh Norn would make an appearance as well? She is after all the current leader of New Phyrexia.

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

Prior to the new card, Elesh Norn had only appeared on one card (Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite). Part of the New Phyrexia set, it has since been reprinted several times. So, Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines (or Mom as some have started calling this new one) is only the second appearance for the Praetor. Perhaps for this reason, WOTC decided to give us six versions of the same card.

As you can see above, we have the normal version as well as borderless, showcase, concept and oil slick versions. And one in Phyrexian.

It’s not the first time that Wizards of the Coast has cranked out multiple variants of the same card in a set. Two other recent examples are Teferi, Master of Time and Gala Greeters. The former featured mostly minor variants of the same art as well as a borderless version. The latter was the box topper for the set. Variants with unique art were offered for each language that the set came in.

My question is simple: Do we really need six versions of the same card in the set release? Different people will likely have different answers. Someone like Noah who does pay more attention to the art will be able to get the version he likes best. Someone like me will settle for the one I pull (hopefully) or the cheapest single version. And the completists will likely grumble at having to get multiple versions of the same card. In the end, some will not happy, some will scratch their heads and others will rejoice. Sounds like just another day in the world of Magic to me!

Lastly, if nothing else, it is six versions of a card that I expect will have an impact in at least some formats (like Commander). A five mana card is not always easy to play but you get a 4/7 with the ability to not only double our ETB (Enter the battlefield) triggers while suppressing those of our opponents. And in our house, that is a good thing!