Cards

What’s the deal with Maestros Theater?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Among the early previews for Streets of New Capenna is a new common land called Maestros Theater. At first glance, it reminded me of the nearly eponymous Evolving Wilds, a common land that harkens back to Rise of the Eldrazi. But a closer look suggests it is a less powerful card.

Unlike Evolving Wilds, Maestros Theater does not let you decide when to crack it. Its ETB dictates that for you. It also limits you to a basic Island, Swamp, or Mountain rather than any basic land. On the flip side, it does gain you 1 life, something that Evolving Wilds does not.

Given the choice, I will nearly always choose Evolving Wilds (which has never been a great card anyways) over this new card. It looks to me like this card is only good for drafts and sealed events where you might need some mana fixing. The ability to choose when to sacrifice the land is worth more than the additional life point. That control can allow me to react to the lands being played by my opponent by choosing a colour in response to what they have.

Aside from slotting into a Grixis deck as a budget land, this could also make its way into a Landfall deck perhaps alongside an Evolving Wilds.

I wonder if we will see a cycle of these to help players with their three coloured decks (remember that the New Capenna families are all built around three colours).

Update (04/25/2022): It does turn out that Maestros Theater is part of a cycle. With the full reveal, it is now joined by cards such as Brokers Hideout, Cabaretti Courtyard, Obscura Storefront and Riveteers Overlook.

Left-handed Magic cards

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Have you ever sat across someone who looked to have trouble holding their cards or shuffling their decks? Did it ever occur to you that they might be a left-handed player playing with right-handed cards? While it may never have crossed my mind, it did occur to Wizards of the Coast and they have taken a first step to remedy this issue by introducing the very first left-handed Magic cards.

We believe this wrong has gone unrighted (unlefted?) for too long. No more will our players be forced to play with suboptimal right-handed cards. This is Magic as it was always intended, featuring five of the game’s coolest lefties.

The Finally! Left-Handed Magic Cards Secret Lair consists of 5 cards:

  • 1x Left-Handed Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
  • 1x Left-Handed Empress Galina
  • 1x Left-Handed Geralf’s Messenger
  • 1x Left-Handed Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
  • 1x Left-Handed Garruk, Caller of Beasts
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain - Secret Lair
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain – Secret Lair
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh - Secret Lair
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh – Secret Lair
Geralf's Messenger - Secret Lair
Geralf’s Messenger – Secret Lair
Garruk, Caller of Beasts - Secret Lair
Garruk, Caller of Beasts – Secret Lair
Empress Galina - Secret Lair
Empress Galina – Secret Lair

The cool part of about this April Fool’s prank is that it’s an actual real deal. While I am not a fan of Secret Lairs in general, I must give kudos to WOTC for finding a way to turn their joke into an actual product. How many times have we all chuckled at a good April Fool’s, patted ourselves on the back for not falling for it and simply moving on. In this case, you’ll be able to own the joke at the end of it all.

The Finally! Left-Han will be on sale from 9 a.m. PT April 11 to 9 a.m. May 9. For the usual US$29.99 for a non-foil set or US$39.99 for a traditional foil set.

If you need more information, check out the original post.

Kami of Industry: Gorilla or Monkey?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The new Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty has triggered a disagreement in the family. No, not the usual ‘who is the best Magic player in the family?’ but a different one. One with a zoological slant.

First, here is the source of the debate – Kami of Industry, not necessarily a great card although it proved quite effective for Noah during the Kamigawa pre-release:

Kami of Industry

So here is the question: Is Kami of Industry a gorilla or a monkey (aside from being a spirit of course)? I’m in the camp of the former while Noah is firmly adamant that this is a monkey.

How did I come up with my assessment? There are two major differences (aside from geography which is likely not applicable on Kamigawa) between apes (which include gorillas) and monkeys. First is that apes are larger than monkeys. On our plane, the largest apes, the gorillas, can weigh more than 200 kilograms whereas the largest monkey, the mandrill, does not get much bigger than 50 kilograms. Second, apes do not have tails but most monkeys do. Granted, the sole illustration of Kami of Industry that we have does not confirm nor deny the presence of a tail but would we not see our fierce blacksmith put it to good use if it had one?

Please chime in in the comments and let us know what you think.

Charcoal for Christmas

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Charcoal in the stockings (or potatoes when I was growing up) is an off-and-on tradition in the family. Mostly for a laugh or two but also a reminder to behave (not that I think it ever worked). As the kids have gotten older, it is not quite as common as it was before.

This year, I was the lucky recipient of some charcoal courtesy of Noah. But it was a special take on the usual charcoal in the stocking.

This is what happens when a clever Magic player decides to hand out coal for Christmas:

Noah was (rightfully) pretty proud of himself for this one.

My mission is now to find a deck in which it will live… Maybe a coal and diamond deck? Are there enough cards? There are a few diamond creatures and a few artifacts. Not quite as many coal based cards though so this would be a bit of a stretch.

Any ideas out there? Feel free to drop us a comment below if you have any.

Dracula comes to Innistrad: Crimson Vow

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

If there is one name that comes to (nearly) everyone’s lips when talking about vampires, it is Dracula. Since his first appearance in Bram Stoker’s eponymous novel in 1897, Count Dracula has established himself as one of the most iconic characters in modern popular culture. With WOTC kicking off previews for the vampiric-themed Innistrad: Crimson Vow set this week, it was not a huge surprise that the quintessential vampire would make an appearance.

In fact, a total of 18 cards will make up the The Dracula series in Crimson Vow. Inspired by the original novel rather than the many interpretations and versions seen since the novel first came out, it features not only the prince of darkness but other characters and settings from the original novel. Already unveiled are Mina Harker, Abraham Van Helsing, the Sisters of the Undead as well as Carpathia’s Castle Dracula.

Much as WOTC first did with the Godzilla series during Ikoria, each card is an alternate version of another card in the set. As far as play is concerned, Count Dracula is effectively the same card as Sorin the Mirthless. The same is true for the other cards. If you’re not familiar with the Godzilla series cards, you can see the name of the original card below the new title. For example, Mina Harker is none other than Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.

The Dracula cards will be available as boxtoppers. Draft, Set and Collector’s Boosters boxes will each come one randomly inserted with one exception. Castle Dracula, an alternate art version of Voldaren Estate, will be be available as a buy-a-box promo through participating local game stores.

Personally, I like that these cards are functionally similar to cards in the set. Christian even has the Mothra, Supersonic Queen version of Luminous Broodmoth. Think of them as much the equivalent of other alternative card designs (like the borderless or extended art versions). They should be reasonably easy to find if you need this particular version but you lose absolutely nothing game-wise by not having any or playing with one of the other versions.

Defenestrate – Great card when it comes to flavour

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Defenestrate from the upcoming Midnight Hunt set is a great example of a card that I love. It may not be the best bomb out there but what great flavour.

In case you’re not familiar with the meaning of the card’s title, it’s a verb meaning “to throw (someone) out of a window.” The fact that it only affects creates without flying makes complete sense as well (I may rue that though in some games).

One more positive: It’s a relatively inexpensive instant.

It’s one of those cards you want to play if only because of the imagery! “In response, I defenestrate your…”