Lost Caverns of Ixalan

While I was enjoying some vacation back October, Wizards of the Coast announced some significant product changes, namely the new Play Boosters. It followed that news up with what I consider to be possibly the most significant Universes Beyond announcement, its new collaboration with Marvel. More on those in the near future but today is all about the new Lost Caverns of Ixalan set and what it means for my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck.

Unlike recent sets which contained few clerics (and fewer good ones), the new set comes with 10 Clerics, including two reprints. Best of all, 9 of those are in Orzhov colours. The last is a Blue Cleric. And that’s not all, there are some good cards that will complement the deck well.

Let’s first take a look at the new Clerics:

Confirming how much of a tribal set Lost Caverns of Ixalan is (like the previous Ixalan sets), all of the Clerics are also vampires (except for the blue Didact Echo). As I looked through the cards, it also quickly became obvious that they are more focused on Vampire Tribal than Cleric Tribal.

Acolyte of Aclazotz does not leap out as a must-add to my deck. Mine is not a Sacrifice deck and the benefits of losing a creature to gain one life and have my opponent lose one is just not there.

Clavileño, First of the Blessed would have been a far more interesting card if it targeted Clerics instead of Vampires. This is something for a future Vampires tribal deck rather than something for this deck.

Elenda’s Hierophant is a more interesting card. The deck features enough Lifegain to help buff this creature relatively quickly. It also offers a nice little benefit when it dies. At 4 CMC, it may just be too pricy an inclusion, especially as there is another 4 CMC card that I think is more potent. More on that shortly.

The appeal of Master of Dark Rites is its mana-fixing ability. But it again comes at the cost of sacrificing a creature, something that again does not align with the deck. It may be something that I throw in the deck to see how it fares.

I do like Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle but this is not the deck for him. If only it said Clerics instead of Vampires.

Preacher of the Schism will definitely get a test in my deck. The 2/4 body is robust enough to attack or block and both triggered abilities will be beneficial. The card draw will certainly help as the deck can quickly deplete itself in some situations.

Redemption Choir is not a bad card but I’m not sure what it would replace given especially if I have to also make room for Preacher of the Schism. I’ll not completely rule it out but it might be an experiment at best as I think that there are stronger options.

Sanguine Evangelist does not offer enough deck synergy for me to consider it as an addition to the deck. Pass.

Twilight Prophet was a great card in Rivals of Ixalan and remains one in the right deck. I’m not sure that this is the deck for it but I suspect that I will at least try it and see.

Beyond the Cleric cards, I also want to see if there is room in the deck for Roaming Throne. Its ability “If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time.” should play nicely in the deck.

The other big addition to the deck is also not a Cleric but a land. Cavern of Souls is back in Standard and is pretty much an auto-include in any tribal deck.

All in all, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan looks to be a great set for Clerics. A good selection of new cards to play with. Here is what the deck looks like now:

3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
2 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 Preacher of the Schism (LCI) 113
2 Roaming Throne (LCI) 258
2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2
8 Plains (THB) 250
6 Swamp (THB) 252
2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
2 Cavern of Souls (LCI) 269

Sideboard:

2 Farewell (NEO) 13
2 Cut Down (DMU) 89
2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20
2 Skrelv, Defector Mite (ONE) 33
2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18

The last pre-release of the year. It’s hard to believe that it’s been six years since we last visited Ixalan for a pre-release.

My card pool was good but not extraordinary. It clearly pushed me into Gruul with plenty of dinosaurs but neither colour featured good removal. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, was my sole Mythic and clearly a sign that I was meant to play Dinosaur Tribal. I considered splashing some white to give me some relief in the removal department (Cosmium Blast, Spring-loaded Sawblades) but decided instead to stick to two colours and adjust later should games not go my way.

My first game was a closely fought affair. I quickly won the first one as my opponent struggled getting his mana out. The tables turned in the second game and he quickly build his board state. Sovereign Okinec Ahau is a powerful card (once you decipher its terribly worded ability). With my opponent throwing +1/+1 counters everywhere, things rapidly got out of control for me.

The third game went to turns. On what was to be my last turn, I had my opponent down to 5 and could only inflict 4 points of damage. I ran through all the permutations I could think of but always came up short by 1. On his last turn, he ran into a similar situation, leaving me with 2 life. We settled for the draw. Definitely a good match to start with!

In the second match, errors dominated my game play. I mulliganed my first hand as it had two red lands and everything else was green. My next hand had one land but a good mix of other cards. I kept it and then proceeded to not see another land for 4 turns. Fortunately, I had Ixalli’s Lorekeeper and the Poison Dart Frog to keep me alive but it was only a matter of time.

In our second game, I had a good board state but struggled to inflict damage. My opponent was able to chump block enough to stymy enough damage to draw the game out. He then started to come back and inflict damage of his own. And then I made a fatal mistake, forgetting about an activated ability that reduced toughness on one of my key creatures on the board. There was no recovery at that point.

In the third game, I found myself playing the near-mirror (Gruul Dinosaurs). I won the first very quickly thanks to my opponent not being to get lands out quickly enough. I was ahead enough that I always had an answer to what he played. In the second game, he had the lands but kept drawing the smaller creatures while I was able to ramp quickly thanks to Lorekeeper and Poison Dart Frog.

I left relatively pleased to finish with a 1-1-1 record but it could have easily been 2-1 had I not thrown away the second match with simple mistakes.

My game store promo card was Path of Ancestry. I’ll definitely find a home for it in one of my Commander decks.

Impressions of the set: I love the Ixalan tribal theme (loved it six years ago and still do today). Dinosaurs, Vampires, Pirates and now Gnomes. What’s not to like? Oh yeah, the fact that so many cards are very wordy. There is so much packed into each card. The power creep is real as is the proliferation of counters (now including Finality counters, Bore counters, etc).

I was really happy to see Explore return. I loved it last time and enjoyed it just as much this time around. A straightforward mechanic that just works well and that I intend to revisit on Arena! Jadelight Ranger and Wildgrowth Walker, here I come!

Last but not least, the boys both went 2-1. I guess they will continue to remind me that they are better players!

Family Magic

A Canadian family playing Magic: The Gathering and other games (and not all are TCGs)

Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan

Lost Caverns of Ixalan Pre-Release