MTG Theros Complete Spoiler - Blue Breakdown

   Hello and happy Tuesday here to you from those of us here at MTG - The Journey. As promised, today we will be tearing into some of the Blue cards from the new MTG set Theros, which pre-releases this weekend on the 21st. I will be attending Main Street Magic & Miniatures in Ames, IA for the midnight pre-release, and placing my order for a box of Theros there that night as well.
   So without further ado, let us begin with the Mythic Rares of the Blue types, and what we might expect to see with them, and possible match-ups and combos we might find.


So here is our first up Mythic going in alphabetical order. It's got a couple of good things going for it right off the bat. Number one, it's pro red. So you can't burn this guy out. Number two, it brings in some nice little tokens with it that hit the field as 2/1's. And once again, seeing as how he has a CMC of 4U, you should most likely have a couple of Blue creatures already on the field by the time he hits, so chances are you should be bringing as much as 8 power on the field for 4 mana. So a good swing to be sure.

I see this definitely hitting a Merfolk deck, perhaps in a Simic type situation. I can see a Master Biomancer pairing happening here quite nicely.

It's too bad we are losing Cloudshift, or this guy could make some waves real bad. Pun intended.





Ah, the God of the Sea. I for one am rather impressed with her. She is the cheapest of the gods to cast. Has a free Scry every turn and has the ability to make creatures "unblockable" for a turn. I mean really, what's not to love? In my opinion, probably rivals for the best God of the set. If you score this pre-release, you better hope you get the chance to build around it.

I see this hitting standard play fairly quickly, even though it is susceptable to enchantment removal, you are playing Blue for crying out loud, you better have a counter in there somewhere to keep her safe. Which is why I say this is one of the most useful Gods, the ability to protect it is omnipresent.





Now we move on to the Rares in the set, and there are some good ones in Theros. I am pleasantly surprised at the overall usefulness of Blue in this set. I don't play Blue very often, as it tends to lean towards mid-game control most of the time, and I am not a very good control player. But let's look and see what the Rares have to offer here.



Now to be honest, I saw this and was like wha . . . I mean, it doesn't say "until end of turn", it says "become a copy of target creature and gain this ability." Period. So you have a creature that's bigger than mine, okay, simple enchantment that does virtually nothing and bam, I mimic your creature. Sure, I'm on board. Why not.

I see this as something that's going to pair super well with Progenitor Mimic in a deck, and it serves purpose all through the game, as you keep targeting it, even with say a Hidden Strings, it can keep changing to keep pace with even their biggest and nastiest creatures. I would say that this card will see a ton of constructed play, and maybe even see competitive standard.








I LOVE IT!! It fits so perfectly with the God that it belongs to it makes normal synergy in a deck seem futile. I'm not so sure on the 2nd ability, but whenever a creature you control does combat damage draw a card!! I mean heck yes!! With Thassa, you make a creature "unblockable" and then this lets you net card advantage like crazy. I am a BIG fan!

I actually see this getting more play than Thassa herself. The ability to make creatures attack your big boys, forcing them to make trades. I think this card will go far.











This card I'm just not sure about. Sooo, is this to be aimed at you or them? I mean yeah, you can exile their creatures, but they are still getting a pork dinner out of it . . .

I see the value, however, I don't see this being anything more than a dollar rare that collects dust in a bin somewhere. I have been wrong before, but there are so many other options I can't see this being used an awful lot.










Could be useful. But seems like an awful big pain in the butt to get it to go off. I mean, you only control an instant or sorcery for some much time, and they know you have the ability to copy them, so they are going to be waiting to counter them if they are playing any type of control.

I see this as a type of Golgari Decoy, because it's a removal magnet. Although, if you do get him out and get Hidden Strings ciphered onto an "unblockable" like Deathcult Rogue, then he could be fun to untap all your permanants during your second main phase. The 2U and tap makes him hard to use at best though. I see it as another dollar rare.










If you are playing Dimir colors, this would be freakin sick. He isn't a huge body, but that big butt is nice. As a flyer, and the ability to Scry freakin 3 when he attacks. Heck yes. I will take some. The discard ability, he comes with his own inbuilt way to protect itself. I just wish it was a mana ability.

I really don't know on this one how to make a call. I don't think he is going to be a ten dollar card, but I don't see him being bottom of the barrel either. Time will tell I suppose.











I think they chose right when they made this the "seeded pack" champion for Blue. In limited, he is a bomb. And when that Monstrosity triggers, it's gonna get messy. A 10/10 that goes in swinging with up to 4 of their guys tapped!  And as long as you control the Kraken, they don't untap. Can you say "that's game"? Cuz I can, and might.

I don't really see this making standard, but it's got a shot. A 6/6 for 6 is never bad. And for only 2 more mana, it goes boom too. Too big for burn. Yeah, it's got potential.














Hmmm, interesting. That's really all I have to say. I say no to your spell, but you get a bird. Better hope you have a way to deal with that flyer afterward.










So not bad on the Rares, some pretty useful stuff, and some kinda iffy cards. Definitely some to play around with though. So on to the Uncommons. There should be some useful ones in here. I'm not sure if I want to cover all of them though, because I might pick up some speed here and try to tackle another color today as well. I need more time to get to those multi-colored cards before the pre-release on Friday night.






Well I mean, I don't want to say this should have had the Rare slot over Swan Song, but . . . it should have. I'll take it as an Uncommon though, more useful for me. Counter their SPELL. This is Cancel, with Scry. Hmmm, let me say no AND see if I want to draw this card. No, well let's get rid of that then.

Yep, this card is going places and will be the go-to counter in the set I'm pretty sure. I see it at about seventy -five cents to a dollar for an Uncommon.










Stupid, stupid, stupid. Grrr, I want to rant so bad right now. HOW DOES THIS GET AN UNCOMMON SLOT!!! It's so friggin conditional! I just don't get it, other than limited (and not really even then if there is any other spell) when are you going to need this???

Bah! Okay I'm done, moving on.

A 4/4 Flyer with Scry 2. I can dig it, wish it wasn't a mana cost for every power and Scry, but at least they can justify the cause. Not too shabby.

It's a good solid draft pick and will do well in limited. I doubt it will see constructed because there are way better options, but all in all, not bad.












And we arrive at the next solid card. Use it, love it. Boost me, boost me, boost me, now draw 2. Okay. I can deal. I will use it if I get it.

On the Standard side, eh, I dunno, seems like it might get used in specific roles. I see it used once again if a creature is "unblockable" and you have the want for card draw.

Still, solid.













The guy (or girl) that this gets dropped on is NOT going to be happy. "You can have those back, I'm just gonna look at this card real fast. Oh my, did those get tapped? Yep, sure did." And that's how it will go.

Good card. Seems legit.

I can see it being used. It's a bear with a nice butt. AND it becomes an 8/8 two turns later it can swing in for nasty damage. I can dig it.

It's going to be fun to use in limited. Draft for sure. And maybe might make a constructed deck or two. I would think about it. There might be a better card, but this isn't too shabby.















High bestow cost makes it kinda sad. But I mean, more card draw and a 3/3 for 4. Not bad. With Thassa on the field, could be a stall until you get her big bad Bident out there for the draw, and then with both you could draw lots of cards. Yay!!















MORE CARD DRAW. Basically if you are playing Blue, you want to draw cards. And lots of them. A Blue/Red matchup would get kind of out of hand. Draw and tokens, more draw, more tokens. Yep, it would be a vicious cycle.

We need overload cards.















The last of the Uncommons. It's one that my deckbuilding brother already can't wait to get his hands on. Targets two, and with Heroic out there, that can be a big deal. They untap, useful on your opponents turn. It's useful useful useful. Good card.









And now all we have left are the commons to go over. Commons can be flavorful and fill in some gaps. Few ever make real standard decks, but some have been good enough in the past. Let's see what Theros has to offer for some Blue commons.










So keeping in mind that we're looking at commons here, for being a heavy Enchantment set, this card is going to come in very handy in the limited and draft environment. A solid sideboard for any deck running Blue. Because you want to save the Dissolve for something really nasty.













And here's a dynamite common that I would stick in even a constructed deck if my build warranted it. A free Scry when an "unblockable" creature deals damage. I'm in. I love having creatures that can't be blocked, and this card fulfills my wishes.















Seeing as how limited formats are often much slower, and take much more time to win (usually), I see this being decent in a limited or draft build. The Flash makes the mana cost worth it, and then you get the bonus of untapping your tapped creature at the same time.















So if you need a card draw real bad, play this on something that's going to die real fast. Then you can draw again when you go in swinging. I would try to Scry first to make sure what you're getting is useable though. Just what I would do though, you do what you want.
















Well of course it's good for the one mana. What kind of question is that? All you're paying for is the Scry, who cares what their creature loses.


















Well, cool ability, but not worth 5 mana. No way no how. Still a decent limited card, but probably not worth a wall of scales anywhere else.

















I like to Scry, so I like this. A 1/3 that lets me Scry 2 for 2, once again, I would pay 2 to Scry 2, so the creature is a bonus. Good common.

















Same statement as before. Scry is good. And for the extra 2, if I play heavy instants and sorceries, this guy is going to be good for me for card fixing.

















A little less good on the Scry, and I wish it was XU - Counter target spell unless opponent pays X. Scry 1. Cuz that would have been way cooler. Mana dumps are always nice. But WOTC would never listen to little old me.

Now see, that's just cool, cuz you'd pay 3 to draw 3, I mean most people would pay 4 to draw 3. But, the only thing that would make this a better swing, would be to have them discard 2 instead of having them put 3 from the library. Just my take on it though.

Hey look, it's Master of Waves girlfriend. She gets a +1/+1 from him. And that's always cool. So if you're playing him in limited, look for this chick to get a nice little power boost into being a 3/2 for 2. I'd say that's worth doing.










And that's about all the commons I really feel like talking about with Blue. All the rest (the remaining 4-6) are just vanillas with nothing much cool about them.

    I would like to take a couple seconds and just say that I am pretty happy with the Scry in this set. Seems like it's really going to help weed through the stuff you don't really need right now to get to the stuff you really want to draw. In the long term, it's really a rough form of card advantage. Any time you know you're going to draw good is a good thing. Having control over that is even better. In a perfect deck, every card you draw is going to be good, but is it always WHEN you need it?

    Alright, well that's my wrap on Blue in this set. Next up, we'll go backwards here and go through either White or Multi-Colored. Not sure yet which I'm up for. Depends on how much time I get.

Theros Black Breakdown

   So fellow MTG fans, as most of you already know, the Theros set has been completely spoiled from the MTGO leak. I've already begun updating the card database on Tappedout.net so the community there can playtest how cards interact in the upcoming standard. I am ShadowLand on there, just to unveil my identity in case, you know, you were interested. A shameless plug for TappedOut as well, I love the website and would highly recommend it for playtesting and building decks, its a well utilized tool and a great community for both trading and just bouncing ideas off of people. If you get a chance, go check it out.
   Anyways, I digress.  Back to what's at hand, and that being Theros. I'm not going to lie, this set is almost overwhelming with the options presented. There are SO many ways to branch out in this, it's almost hard to pick a direction. So I just want to go over a few cards right now that catch my eye as being possible meta changers in their own rights.

   Let's go through this by color just to make it easier. We'll start with my favorite color of course, black. Which I might add, with this set there is a very real possibility to have a strong mono black out there.




Now first up is this guy, the God of the Dead. His static ability alone could be devastating to Life Gain (LG) decks.

The Indestructibilty is a nice feature when he is a creature, and the card draw is excellent for a black deck.

Looking forward, I see this pairing nicely with things like Blood Scrivener and Read the Bones, as far as card draw for black decks is concerned.

The problems I forsee with him, are he is very subject to Enchantment removal in this set, so have your counterspells ready. In my opinion, he is probably going to be best paired in with either Blue or White, or a combo of both. But we will see for sure.





This pretty much takes the mainboard spot for removal in any deck playing black. I will be sideboarding my Putrefy's to make room for these in my Golgari Lotleth Troll deck.
The added or planeswalker makes all the difference in the world.

The drawback, easily counterable, but that's why they invented the sideboard. Still, all in all, a playable card.

My prediction is that this will see standard as the common removal go to, with other options sideboarded in decks that include a heavy Swamp base.








 This is one of my favorites. If you just look at what it does, it's amazing. This is going to be a creature heavy, drawn-out-game set, and that means trading lots of creatures. And even if you are using re-animator or something of the like, it still feeds off of everything in their graveyard as well.

 There are less drawbacks to this card if you play it for its Bestow cost, because if it gets countered, it automatically becomes a creature, if the target creature it's attached to were to be destroyed, it becomes a creature. So you get at least 2 uses out of it.

My opinion, is that this card will be widely ignored, even though it has a ton of potential. If I decide to run a mono black deck, next to things like this, Hythonia, the Cruel
Hythonia that will be devestating if you drop a Nighthowler on them late game.


And then of course we have the black bombshell of the set, the removal before it even gets played. Sure, it costs 2 life, but who wouldn't pay 2 life to get rid of the opponents best card?

I see a drawback to this in the form of not knowing the opportune time to play this. But cards like Duress
will help with figuring out the best times to play the Thoughtseize.

I see this card being a bomb in midrange control decks, as well as even a few aggro decks that want to get lucky.










And now there is this. Linked with Erebos, would give you lifelink and your opponent cannot gain life. Plus, it lets you return a creature from your graveyard for a turn to do even more damage.

The downside is it costs 4 mana, and of course is subject to enchantment removal. That's pretty much it.

I see this working well in conjunction with things like Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
once it's been brought back, you could use it to semi-Fling
something at the opponent before the end phase of combat, so it ends up dealing it's damage twice. Also would be great to use in conjunction with Lotleth Troll
Caption to discard to pump your troll and then re-animate the card to actually get it's use and then use Jarad to deal another set of damage. Needless to say, it has many functional uses.

Let's go over a couple that aren't rares that strike my fancy in black. There are a select few that I will feature and discuss here, some because I like them and some because I just want to rant about them.

This is one I actually want to talk about here for a minute. At first glance it seems like it's not much to look at. But if you really think about it, in a deck that uses the Whip of Erebos featured just before this one. This guy can really turn a swing in a mono-black deck.

I mean, you have to have 5 mana to cast him, so by turn 5 if you have this guy in your hand, you have the potential to have at the very least 5 devotion if not more on the field, so he is hitting for a total of 7 damage straight to the head and netting you 7 life right back. And he is a solid blocker at a 2/4.

Now I don't see him getting much play realistically, because he will be overlooked as people continue to try and play 2-3 color decks. But in a mono black deck, I really think he deserves at the very least a sideboard slot.



This I see being very useful for the re-animator scene, I like it, and I will most definitely be using it. I mean, it serves the same function as the Whip of Erebos, an easier to reach CMC with the one Black over two, and you get to recast them from your hand and they stick around. Not bad at all.

Somehow or another I see a Zombie deck coming, and it really wasn't what I expected to see with a Greek themed set release.

Once again, not sure it will hit a top deck, but I see it being extremely useful.








I'm not really sure why this is a common. I mean, it's SO good. Especially with all the Life Gain out there right now. Even in mono black we have LG, so why not.

If we follow the order. I get to look at the top two cards, choose one or both that I want to draw, then draw two cards. Then lose 2 life. Just perfect for fixing your card draws. Fits great with an Erebos, God of the Dead card draw function. And will work great with a Blood Scrivener type deck as well.










I dig it. You still got a blocker, but all of your cool abilities are gone. Seems like a perfect control card to me.

Drawback, ummmmm, enchantment removal perhaps . . .

Won't really do anything except be a great draft card for the set, and maybe see some constructed mono-black and mid-rangey control decks.











And now for my rant. I don't like cards like this, never have. It serves such a limited purpose that it's almost virtually useless. I mean it might, MIGHT get used to destroy a multicolored creature, but chances are, you are going to go with something like Murder or Doom Blade rather than this. It will never even deserve a sideboard slot. Useless waste of a small piece of cardboard. Its a decent sideboard in limited, but then again, in limited, every card is your sideboard, so you might use it then. It might be the LAST card you pick in a draft when it gets handed to you because nobody else picked it.

I digress.







It may just be me, but I don't really understand the point of this card. Yes, it's a 2/2 for 2, but it taps when something else dies . . . I mean, what use is that to anyone? It seems like the kind of thing that could have just not been on there and left it as a vanilla card.

It's not like we have a card out there right now, currently that says whenever a creature becomes tapped deal X damage to opponent that is it's devotion to a certain color.

But yeah, it may be a decent draft card if it's in your colors, but I don't ever see this hitting even constructed.







So there's my wrap of the black coming out in this set. If I missed something you would like to see my opinion on (because of course I didn't get to everything, after all I have 4 more colors and then multicolored yet to get to before this weekend) then please leave a comment and I will definitely go back and cover it for you! Look forward to my next post (hopefully tomorrow) as I cover the Blue in this upcoming Theros release. As always, thank you for reading, and please come again and check us out.

Looking forward to Theros

 Sorry I have been absent for such a long time to the few I may have that read here. I have had a hard time getting caught up after I missed the M14 pre-release and release being gone for my 2 week Annual Training for the National Guard. So I was way behind with the cards in M14. I did however, pre-order a box of M14 and was pleasantly surprised with the few good pulls I got. No good Planeswalkers, but I did manage to score a copy of the M14 Ajani, Caller of the Pride in a trade early on.
  So I have been moving forward with a W/G/B Life-gain Enchantments deck, but it just lacked teeth and fell prey to removal very quickly. And I have tested it using removal as well, and it just didn't function how I wanted it. But here is my decklist based on what I started with and then I will look at what's been spoiled already that will make this even better.

Lands (22)                                                                         Sideboard (15)
1x Forest                                                                            3x Abrupt Decay
4x Godless Shrine                                                               3x Gaze of Granite
4x Overgrown Tomb                                                           3x Orzhov Charm
4x Plains                                                                             3x Putrefy
5x Swamp                                                                          1x Vraska, The Unseen
4x Temple Garden                                                              2x Path of Bravery

Creature (23)
1x Archangel of Thune
2x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
3x Blood Scrivener
3x Deadly Recluse
4x Festering Newt
3x Fiendslayer Paladin
4x Lotleth Troll
3x Tenacious Dead

Artifact (6)
3x Bubbling Cauldron
3x Elixir of Immortality

Enchantment (7)
2x Ethereal Armor
2x Gift of Orzhova
3x Unflinching Courage

Planeswalker (3)
3x Ajani, Caller of the Pride

So I was trying to go for a cyclic effect with the Lotleth Troll, pumping it by discarding creatures, giving it flying and lifelink and then bringing everything back into my hand with Elixir of Immortality, and sacking creatures as they die to gain life through the Bubbling Cauldron. It actually works fairly well, except with spot removal. It's horrible against spot removal.

So I'm looking at a slightly different line-up once Theros hits. There are things I am wanting to keep, and things I am definitely wanting to change. For the keepers.

Creatures: (13)
1x Archangel of Thune (perfect for the LG)
2x Blood Baron of Vizkopa (is still a dynamite card)
3x Blood Scrivener (for card draw when topdecking, and with Scry coming up and LG, why not?)
3x Fiendslayer Paladin (This card is just awesome)
4x Lotleth Troll (might be subject to change, now that the cyclic effect is going away)

Enchantments: (5)
3x Unflinching Courage (because it's just so awesome)
2x Gift of Orzhova (for the flying and +1)
3x Ethereal Armor (because the added enchantments are going to make this dynamite!)

Planeswalkers: (3)
3x Ajani, Caller of the Pride

So the matchup problems I have (should I want to stick with W/B/?) are Unfliching Courage and Lotleth Troll, because of the Green. BUT we have this fun thing coming up.








 Which could be a game changer for that extra needed mana to cast something outside of your color spectrum, that fact that it has hexproof is just an added bonus.

So let's just say we add that in there, it could make up the ability to splash an extra 4th color in a deck, but not that I am necessarily looking to go that far. It's just a fun idea to look at, however, it does help with mana fixing and even a slight ramp as well. Which I am a fan of.

Another card I would look at playing for this build is





Looking forward, a token producing lifegain seems like it might be a good idea. We have Advent of the Wurm, Call of the Conclave and this, with the already token producing Ajani, Caller of the Pride, and now this guy comes into the field producing tokens as he rides in. To be fair though, you are going to want to have some black creatures out there, so that the loyalty hits pretty hard, but at minimum you are getting 8 power for 7 cost, all with flying. Seems good to me, almost better than the Blood Baron if you give this lifelink through Gift of Orzhova.

Speaking of token producing LG, we have this pretty bombshell I wouldn't mind throwing in a good 2-3 of:

 


I mean wow, she costs 6, but she is sure worth it as she brings 3 onto the field right away, or kills anything that might be worrying you.

Then we have the black bomb that I am in love with so far:



This is probably one of my favorite cards from the set coming up, it's got a low bestow cost, and replaces itself if the creature it's attached to becomes the victim of removal, and even grows. It's like Bonehoard with Bestow!! And I loved Bonehoard and was so sad that I never got to play it. And it feeds off Lotleth Trolls discard ability, and pumps this as well! Win Win!



And then there's this, and I love it, love it, love it. With LG being played, who cares about losing life. I'd pay 2 life to get rid of my opponent's best card no matter what!



And this is useful as well, following the order, you'd look at the top 2 cards, decide if you want both, one or any of them, and then either place them on the bottom of the library and draw two different ones, or you can draw them, or you can put one on the bottom of the pile and draw one and one mystery. I lose 2 life to do this, which I get back when my Fiendslayer Paladin swings this turn . . . hmmm. How about yes please.



Oddly, if I add this, my Fiendslayer Paladin gains flying until end of turn, not sure if that's better than the Gift of Orzhova which adds +1 and the flying. There is a lot yet to be spoiled though, just a possibility that I see.



And then we have this guy, who just does excellent things when he has enchantments cast on him, or has creatures attached to him. He is a good possibility.



This one is a solid addition, cycles back in cards, adds life, adds counters . . . it's just excellent, and adds deathtouch!

Also, pausing to mention, with all this enchantment craziness, I need to look at enchantment removal as well. Because cards that remove enchantments are going to become really valuable all of the sudden when these hit.