Streets of New Capenna

Boros Angels for Streets of New Capenna B01 Standard

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

When the Streets of New Capenna set was first spoiled, one of the cards I knew I would want as Giada, Font of Hope. I was able to trade for one with Noah after our traditional box opening.

I knew that it would find a home in my Kaalia of the Vast Commander deck. I also started playing with Angels in Arena (like many others). Whereas most have gone in an Orzhov or Esper direction, I instead went in the Boros direction.

Red allowed me to add Blade Historian to deliver a solid punch and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, a card that I have enjoyed playing with ever since I pulled it in a Kamigawa draft at Face to Face.

The original version of the deck also included Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, but I removed it to enhance my removal (excuse the very bad pun) and combat tricks. I opted for Torch Breath over cheaper removal options because of its flexibility. As the game progresses and bigger creatures appear, it has proven to be quite helpful where cheaper spells would simply not be enough. Angelfire Ignition is also a fun little card to throw down before an attack.

Here is the deck as it stands today:

Deck

  • 4 Youthful Valkyrie (KHM) 382
  • 1 Resplendent Marshal (KHM) 22
  • 4 Righteous Valkyrie (KHM) 24
  • 3 Starnheim Aspirant (KHM) 380
  • 1 Legion Angel (ZNR) 23
  • 3 Giada, Font of Hope (SNC) 14
  • 2 Valkyrie Harbinger (KHM) 374
  • 2 Portable Hole (AFR) 33
  • 2 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker (NEO) 141
  • 3 Fateful Absence (MID) 18
  • 4 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 2 Inspiring Overseer (SNC) 18
  • 3 Blade Historian (STX) 165
  • 2 Torch Breath (SNC) 127
  • 2 Angelfire Ignition (MID) 209
  • 12 Plains (SNC) 263
  • 4 Needleverge Pathway (ZNR) 263
  • 2 Cave of the Frost Dragon (AFR) 253
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266

Sideboard

  • 3 Legion Angel (ZNR) 23

As for next steps, the deck currently sits at 7-2 and helped cross into Platinum. Finally, I might add. It will be interesting to see how it fares in this higher tier and I’m already wondering if Portable Hole and Valorous Stance are going to find themselves in the trade zone. The only question is, what would replace them?

Streets of New Capenna Set Booster box opening

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

With Streets of New Capenna going on sale last Friday, it was time for another round of our traditional ‘Crack a box of the new set’ event. As with recent ones, we once again went with a Set Booster box. While there are fewer packs and cards, it’s all about the higher chance of pulling those Rare and Mythic cards.

We always go in turns, picking up packs one at a time. Then we crack them together one at a time. The rule is that you must show your rares and mythics. After three packs, Christian was sitting with two mythics, including an Ob Nixilis foil, while I had one. Noah had none. Fortunately, he persevered after taking a bit of time and ended up relatively satisfied with his pulls.

Here are some of the highlights:

Christian:

  • Kitt Kanto, Mayhem Diva
  • Ob Nixilis, the Adversary – Art Deco foil
  • Perrie, the Pulverizer

Noah:

  • Outlaws Merriment
  • Vampiric Tutor
  • Halo Fountain

Jerome:

  • All-Seeing Arbiter
  • Falco Spara, Pactweaver
  • Rafiq of the Many
  • Ziatora, the Incinerator

Other nice pulls:

  • Raffine’s Tower
  • Spara’s Headquarters (regular and borderless)
  • Void Rend, regular and alternate by Noah and Christian
  • Giada, Font of Hope, regular and Art Deco by Noah and Christian – I traded for Noah’s for my Kaalia Commander deck
  • Brokers Ascendancy – Traded with Christian and now headed to my Atraxa deck

As per the tradition, whoever pulls the fewest mythics gets the BAB promo. With two with this set, Christian ended up with the Gala Greeters while Noah took Jaxis, the Troublemaker.

In the end, not our best box but not the worst either. As we often see, one person always seems to do better. Fortunately, we’ve opened enough boxes to realize that everyone gets a turn in that position over a long enough period of time.

New Clerics and Giants in Streets of New Capenna

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Much as I did when the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty set was fully revealed, I eagerly took a look at what new clerics and giants might potentially make their way into my BO1 Orzhov Clerics and Izzet Giants decks.

First, the bad news. Sadly but not unexpected, there are no new giants. Hopefully we will see some when we land in Dominaria but the life expectancy of this deck is getting shorter by the day!

On a slightly more positive note, New Capenna offers up a single new cleric (one of the new Commander cards). Inspiring Overseer is a common Angel Cleric who comes with Flying and gains you 1 life and draws you a card when it enters the battlefield.

Will it fit into my Orzhov Clerics deck? Probably not but I’ll give it a whirl if and when I can figure out what card to but to make way for it. My first impression is that it’s an underwhelming card that will not offer enough to earn its way into the deck.

As far as other cards go, my first pass through them did not reveal anything that caught my attention immediately.

On the Izzet side, there might be a few interesting supporting options. Undercover Operative might be one of those. For example, another Calamity Bearer on the board might be enough to push enough damage through to wrap up the game. Unlike Giant’s Grasp, it does not require a Giant to be on the battlefield and does not see the creature return to my opponent should my enchanted giant die. And the shield counter is a nice little extra.

As far as lands go, there is nothing that will necessarily help these decks specifically although I will likely pick up some of the new Triomes for some of my physical card decks. I’ll also keep an eye out for Luxior, Giada’s Gift, the new equipment that can attach to planeswalkers.

In the end, it appears that my Selesnya enchantments deck might see more changes than these two. I’ll need to take a look!

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.

Families chosen for the Streets of New Capenna Prerelease

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Previews are in full swing and it will not be long before we have a chance to crack some packs for the latest Magic set, Streets of New Capenna.

Everything kicks off with instore prerelease events that begin on April 22nd. In a surprising but welcome development, Wizards of the Coast has opted to hold off the MTG Arena and MTG Online releases to April 28th rather than having them take place first as they have done with recent sets. The global tabletop release will then follow on April 29th with the usual raft of sealed options including Set, Draft, Collector Boosters and Theme Boosters. There will also be five Commander decks, one for each of the Streets of New Capenna factions.

The art of the set promises to be quite something. The full art Art Deco inspired lands are beautiful (I still think the Kamigawa ones were better but I would not be unhappy to slide a few of these into my decks.

The boys and I are looking forward to the new Commander decks. It has become the format of choice in our games and the possibility of new commanders is always welcome – These days, almost anything will be welcome if it means that Noah stops threatening to play Koma, Cosmic Serpent!

The boys and I are already signed up for our Prelease events. Noah opted to go with the Maestros (Blue-Black-Red), Christian ended up with the Brokers (Green-White-Blue), rather than Obscura as Noah and I had expected, while I went with the Cabaretti (Red-Green-White).

We picked our families shortly after they were revealed. We chose solely on colours and basic descriptions even before the majority of previews had started. We are now watching previews to see if we made the right choices.

Which family have you chosen to go with?