And it’s that time of year again. We’re all settling back down from the holidays, some of us are heading back to school, while others are heading back to work. It’s a time of easing back into your life before that blizzard of family, food, friends, and well… blizzards. We are all looking forward to life returning to normal. All of us, that is, except Magic players. For those lucky few it’s time for spoiler season! For just around the corner is: That’s right! We looking forward to the release that will compliment the fast and hard-hitting action of the Zendikar set, and answer all of the questions we have been wondering about. Will we finally find the nail to the coffin that will finally put Jund to rest? Will Vampires get the kick it needs to push it to a tier one deck? Will Worldwake slow down the Limited formats enough for us to get to a turn ten? Will Blue finally stop sucking? Enough of those wonderings, let’s take a look at what we have seen so far!

First up on the list is the first of what I hope to be a new cycle of “Man-Lands” to appear in Worldwake. With the very unfortunate rotation of their 10th Edition counterparts of Treetop Village and Faerie Conclave, we have been waiting for a new cycle to come back to fill the spot (sorry Gargoyle Castle, I know you tried, but none of us really like you…). So let’s take a look a possible return of “good” man-lands.



Wow… I’m impressed. Not only is it a Blue and White dual land (one of the most important dual land combinations in the history of Magic: the Gathering), but it’s a GOOD man-land! Blue-White Control is always looking for finishers for their deck, and with this card they can virtually add four cards to their deck as they cut out four creature spells and just replace other lands with these. The cost is a little higher than we’re used to, but then again we’ve never seen a Serra Angel on a Land before. Sure, it’s a little slow, sure it’s a rare, which makes it not ideal for every deck and every player, but this is an solid end game plan for those Blue-White Control decks that we’re starting to see pop up in the format again.

Speaking of Blue-White Control, let's have a peek at the new Planeswalker to appear. Although I say new, he’s really just another “altered” version of a planeswalker we have already seen. Jace, arguably one of the three best Planeswalkers ever printed, is back!



I really like this card for many reasons. First of all, the way they spoiled him. In an event dubbed the “Planeswalker Chase” they mailed parts of the card all over the world and then had people piece it together (for more information, check out this for more information). Secondly, this is the first Planeswalker to ever have FOUR abilities, as well as one ability that does not affect his loyalty at all. Finally, this card has the abilities of Brainstorm and Unsummon, two of my favorite cards in Magic. He’s reasonably costed, he regains loyalty quickly, allowing him to stay alive, he’s powerful, diverse, and has an eventual win condition built right in. It seems Wizards of the Coast has held up their end of the bargain and are giving Blue back some fun things to play with. Expect this card to see heavy play, and come with a heavy price tag too.

Next up on the docket is not a new card, but instead an exciting reprint. Finally, Wizards of the Coast is giving us back one of the best removal spells ever printed: Smother.

Let me just say that in the history of Magic: the Gathering, there have been only a handful of ACTUALLY good Black removal spells. There is Chainer’s Edict, which is good because EVENTUALLY it’s killing two creatures with one card. There is Damnation, which was finally giving those Black players the sweeper that they have been aching for since White got Wrath. There is Tendrils, which is one of the best cards Mono Black Control has ever seen, and then there is Smother. Every other Black removal spell ever printed is just a small shadow of the ones I just listed. You guys can go play with your Doomblades and your Dark Banishings. Cast your Terror and your Nausea. I’m going to play with the real Magic players and play Smother

The next card that has been released I have mixed feelings about. To me it all hinges on the only thing we don’t know about it yet: It’s rarity. It’s dumb, it’s simple, but damn, is it big:



That’s right, we’re getting another massive three costing guy. Following in the footsteps of Doran, Woolly Thoctar, and Nulltread Gargantuan; This Baloth seems not sure if it will be as wildly successful as Doran, as effective yet unexciting as the Thoctar, or as full of fail as the Gargantuan. If the “Eldrazi Green” deck manages to stay in style, then this card has some potential as they can play it as a turn two creature off of a Llanowar Elves. Otherwise, no one is going to play it at all. I hope it’s an uncommon that gets a little attention, but then just dies to Smother.

Next on the list of Green guys is a new elf on the block. Here’s what we know for now:

This is a tricky one to evaluate without too many other elves spoiled yet. My gut instinct, however, is that I am not impressed. Three mana for a 2/2 just screams to be Bolted. Even kicking him twice isn’t going to get him out of that range. You have to pay seven mana to overcome a one mana burn staple, and once you do that, it still dies to other removal spells. Anthem effects are good because they make any creature a threat after a sweep. If the anthem gets swept away as well, then that’s not going to help much. It’s not bad, but I’m not impressed.

The final card I’ll be looking at today has me simply mind boggled at the potential. Before I go into too much detail, let’s take a look:



This card is like Fireball, but on crack. Instead of needing to SPLIT that X, you’re just going to fire it off all the which ways, for only one Red mana more! While this isn’t all that impressive in the early game, with X set to 2 or 3, it gets significantly better once you start upping the value. I don’t think this card has a place in Standard… yet. But I’m really hoping we get a revival of the Red-Green Mana Ramp decks like those that we saw in Time Spiral-Lorwyn Standard. I want to set X to five, and burn out your team as well as your face!

Well this is where I come to a close. Overall,
these cards all get varying degrees of positive ratings with me. We get a solid return of Smother, as well a nice finisher in Celestial Colonnade. We also have some new excitement in Comet Storm and the possible return of Blue with Jace. Check back for coverage of the latest Worldwake releases here on Eye of the Vortex!

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