Title: Thoughts on Eventide
Tags: Magic Eventide Block
Blog Entry: I love spoiler season. This one, in particular, has been extremely exciting. Lots of cards all the time...whoo! I'm going to talk about some of the cards that I personally think are interesting. Feel free to disagree. Also, I'm not saying these cards exist , only that certain websites might suggest that they might exist sometime in the future. Check out these rumored cards at http://mtgsalvation.com/eventide-spoiler.html . And please don't sue me. Archon of Justice I think that in many Blocks this would be heavily played. In Lorwyn, I'm not so sure. Obviously Archon is very powerful, but it has to compete with Oversoul of Dusk and Twilight Shepherd at the same or similar curve points. That's some stiff competition for this guy. Clearly it could still happen, but I think the Archon will be sitting on the sidelines for this PTQ season. Endless Horizons I don't know if I'm excited by this because it's actually good or just because it's new. As you'll see more below, I like decks that don't really do much of anything. This falls under that category, sort of ironically since it ensures that you'll always have something to do. Dream Fracture I think this card is better then it looks at face value. While still much worse then Counterspell, I think it is a straight-up improvement on Cancel. As a blue control player, I am typically fine with another one-for-one. Sometimes I draw another Cryptic Command. What did you draw Mr. Opponent? A 2/2? How scary. Will almost certainly see moderate to heavy play. After turn two, it's basically always better then Broken Ambitions, which everybody seems to be running. Get your copies soon, before they hit Remand prices. Inundate This card smacks of being fundamentally unfair. Evactuation has seen occasional play, and that crippled your own board position too. If you can find a deck with lots of blue (maybe U/R or U/G) creatures, this is an impressive curve topper. Oona's Grace Basically gives every land you draw cycling for 2U. That isn't fantastic, but seems reasonable if a true control deck emerges. Will that happen? Maybe. Faeries seems like a real problem for that kind of strategy, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. Also good with Endless Horizons. Mmmm. Necroskitter I don't really like the odds of this one actually being played in a good deck, but the ability is super exciting. Maybe there is going to be a weird Elemental/Wither deck with this as a motivator. Tough to beat Chameleon Colossus, though. I hope it has good art, or the name will just be wasted. Raven's Crime Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the graveyard...if you're gaming Extended next year, don't cut that Tormod's Crypt just because Dredge is less of a player. I think Loam will make a major resurgence on the back of this card. I have always maintained that Life from the Loam was Ancestral Recall. Raven's Crime makes it a lot closer to being literally true. We'll get to another card in the same sort of boat in a little bit, but I really want to stick this in a deck with Death Cloud, Loam, Oversold Cemetery...if you can find a way to not get run over early, you have an insane card advantage engine starting around turn five. I'll write more about this later, but we're focusing on new cards for now. Puncture Blast Another solid burn spell, with the added bonus of one-hit KO'ing Kitchen Finks. If there ends up being a playable aggressive red deck this may well be part of it, since I feel like it deals with some very specific problems in Block Constructed. Beyond that, probably irrelevant. Mortality Liege The last time there was a card like this, is was Necrotic Sliver. Sadly, that didn't see any play. If the format develops in a sort of mid-rangey kind of way, this could be a very powerful tool. Untapping with this in play in a deck trying to use it should be extremely conducive to victory. Call of the Skybreaker Another card with retrace, this one looking even more brutal in a control deck going long. Every turn, you're guaranteed to draw either gas or a 5/5, aka gas. Call of the Skybreaker produces an unrelenting offense: how many giant fliers can you realistically deal with, especially when they basically don't cost your opponent a card . Really strong; it just needs a deck. Noggle Hedge-Mage As crazy as it might sound, I could see this being played in some sort of strange Fish deck in almost any Constructed format. The first ability removes blockers, while the second provides burn to the face. A Grey Ogre may not be exciting , but it's definitely not the worst drop that kind of deck has played. Could be a sleeper hit of the set. Sapling of Colfenor I don't know if this will make a Treefolk deck playable, but it sure has an exciting ability. Are you really going to run this and Leaf-Crowned Elder though? I think not, but I could be wrong. I'm going to be playing in the next Columbus PTQ...now I'm pretty sure I'll get blown out by some Treefolk in the 0-1 bracket. Worm Harvest Am I missing something? I wanted to play this before I knew I could cast it repeatedly. Gifts for Loam, Worm Harevest, and two cycling lands? That is some exciting stuff. I'm probably wrong on this (I like do-nothing decks like that too much), but it seems fun. Obviously the rest of the lands of good too. What cards do you think are exciting that I missed? Let me know. Feedback is my favorite. I think that the set is shaping up to have some very powerful effects, which will likely have major impacts on Block, if nothing else. Charles
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