As we approach the release date of a new expansion set, spoilers inevitably start popping up from sources all over the world.  Keeping up with the latest Magic the Gathering spoilers can be a chore.  That’s why here at Gathering Magic we aim to make it easy.  We scour the internet for the latest spoilers from upcoming sets and not only react and analyze them on the blog, we post them all on one convenient page!

From time to time a member our all-star writing staff will post a “spoiler wrap up” with all of the latest Magic the Gathering spoilers released.  This article will include the hard hitting and thoughtful analysis you have come to expect but it will also be a great way to stay current without having to run around the internet in a sweaty, desperate attempt to find the latest spoilers.  Expect these updates more frequently as we approach each expansion and be sure to keep an eye on our spoiler card lists.  If you have a spoiler that you don’t see on our lists, use the contact page to submit it and we’ll give you a shout out.

Without further, ado – the three latest Alara Reborn Visual Spoilers:
*Note* many spoilers are initially released in foreign languages.  We have taken the liberty of translating and recreating these cards in English to bring you the clearest representation of the eventual official release.

Broodmother Dragon – My apologies for the blurry pictures.  These particular spoilers are magazine scans and had to be enhanced to appear on the cards you see here.  A flying 4/4 creature for five is good enough on its own, but the same aforementioned creature with a great ability?  Now we’re talking!  Putting creatures into play every turn without having to pay anything is something we’ve seen in this very block but combining that with a 4/4 flying creature is a thing of beauty.   Set it and forget it threats are a favorite with advanced players.   At some point, your opponent simply has to deal with this this card.  You could even combo this with Goblin Assault to form a devastating creature creation machine.  Not a bad first taste of the Alara Reborn green/red  clan.


Knight of New Alara – One of my Alara Reborn predictions, come true.  It is yet to be seen how prevalent the use of the term will be but as it stands – 33% of all known Alara Reborn cards feature this term!  You can count on most other creatures +2/+2 with a possibility for more.  Personally, I prefer a more difficult to deal with enchantment such as Glorious Anthem or Gaea’s Anthem.  But the possibility for getting more than +2/+2 does make more sense in a strictly multicolor deck.  The fact that he isn’t legendary certainly opens up a few possibilities.  Imagine a couple of these guys giving each other +2/+2 and other creatures up to +10/+10.  You could also pair him up with something like a Transguild Courier for a considerable threat.  At a reasonable cost of 4 this guy brings a threat to the table but loses a bit of clout in my book due to his vulnerability as a 2/2 creature.

Spellbreaker Behemoth – As a rule of thumb a 5/5 creature for four mana is a good deal assuming you’re generating the right mana.  The ability isn’t bad but it doesn’t drop any panties either.  Countermagic, as of late, has been a trite gimped save a few notable exceptions.  Countering has been split into a choice of countering creature spells or non creature spells and most advanced players often choose to quell non-creature spells.  While creatures are certainly threats, they are easily taken care of after their casting by other creatures, area of effect damage, and creature removal. Game changing sorceries like the ultimatums and wrath of god are not as forgiving.  If you’re still convinced you need this ability try Vexing Shusher or Gaea’s Herald for a cheaper alternative.  Still, a 5/5 for four mana with a quasi-helpful static ability ain’t half bad.

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Alara Reborn spoilers are popping up all over these days.  Before we get too excited about an expansion that won’t be released until late April, lets take a closer look at some cards we are playing with now.  There are many cards and combos from the Conflux expansion that have not been fully fleshed out.  While cards like Knight of the Reliquary and Master Transmuter are obviously great, not every Conflux gem is so quickly incorporated into a deck.  Some of the more interesting ones take a little time to develop into deck ideas.  The following are three cards we can build around.

Inkwell Leviathan and Progenitus are included as a single card for a Simic deck any Timmy would love.  After landing either of these fatties we are only a turn or two from victory.  Of course we don’t need any lengthy sermons to tell us these guys are killers, that is not the issue.  The issue is playing them reasonably early in the game.  To play them early enough we need green.  The best mana acceleration color and, thanks to Dramatic Entrance, the only color that can get us a turn five (or sooner) Progenitus.  Using Glamerdye, or some color-switching substitute, we can use DE for our Leviathan as well.  In addition Master Transmuter can land us an awful early Inkwell, and for the same mana, serendipitously green Elvish Piper can play us both nasties.  The key here is getting our combo by turn four, or if it doesn’t happen that early, playing solid defensive cards until it does.

Our first of two white enchantments, Mark of Asylum provides an array of  advanced strategies.  Sure, this card is great against board sweeping cards like Pyroclasm, Firespout, and Volcanic Fallout.  But where is the creativity in that?  We’ll need to be a bit more aggressive finding our deck here.  Creatures need to play a major role, and there are many ways to use them with MoA.  First we can set up a frightening offense with cards like Sunflare Shaman, Reckless Enbermage, or Hammerfist Giant.  We can tweak an already strong white-blue sliver deck by adding a few Psionic Slivers and MoAs.  We can also use the aforementioned damage-alls in one sided fashion.  For a touch of spot removal we can add the now enhanced Arena.  Finally we can protect ourselves from any burn with True Believer, or Spirit of the Hearth.  A powerful defensive card, Mark of Asylum provides the foundation of some great offensive decks.

This final deck was played against me recently, and it really caught my attention.  A standard legal deck that uses Sigil of the Empty Throne to finish once the board is locked.  For efficiency there are no other creature sources in this deck.  Our first goal is to land at least one Greater Auramancy (a second really helps), followed by a quick Story Circle.  If all goes right, we will have a firm defense by turn four.  The next step is setting up our hand.  Endless Horizons thins the deck of any land, and provides a constant source of mana.  We also need something to provide us with any-color mana.  Now we can play Abundance to re-order our library any way we choose (just name creature or land and the rest is easy).  Finally we are ready to play Sigil of the Empty Throne.  For added effect we could use Mistveil Plains to re-use cards, and Shimmering Wings to produce an arbitrary number of Angels in one turn.  Sounds like fun, right?

There you have it.  Three deck ideas to help us make use of some of the more unique cards in Comflux.

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The next installment in the ‘from the vault’ series promises to please even the most original of MTG gangsters.   Exiled will include 15 cards that have been either banned or restricted in past sets.  Many of these cards were banned at the time due to a ridiculous combo or simply being too powerful even on its own.  The resurrection of some of these cards shows just how much more powerful newer spells have become.

While the complete cardlist has not yet been released we have been given several clues.  The cards will be taken from the list of previously banned cards not including reserved cards.  This narrows the list down to about 100.  There are also other things we can deduce here.  I will assume that they will not include cards that are only banned because they were part of a convoluted combo such as Arcbound Ravager.  They’ll also avoid cards that are still legal and were just released in 10th edition such as Underworld Dreams or Hurkyl’s Recall.  Look for cards spread fairly evenly over all of the colors (save black that simply dominates the banned card list).  I’m predicting about 2 of each color, 2 artifacts and a couple of lands.  We can also probably rule out cards that are extremely common, refer to “ante”, are only effective in complete playsets or are otherwise uninteresting.

Keeping all of this in mind really narrows down the choices.  There are about 25 cards that still fit this criteria.  I have chosen the 15 cards that I believe will be included in the new set.

Balance – The power here is undeniable but realistically it is merely leveling the battlefield.  A great way to stop a rush but white already has several obvious ways to do that.

Gifts Ungiven – The idea of putting cards into piles and letting your opponent choose one for you is a great concept and captures the blue wizard identity fully.  Grabbing different named cards might be difficult in some decks to get what you want.  But you’re paying 4 (essentially losing a turn) and losing 2 good cards to the graveyard.  The drawback and opponent participation makes the card both worth it and fair.

Black Vise – Similar to Ivory tower in that players who are keeping cards in their hand are not actively winning the game.  Put spells in your decks because you can’t wait to play them.  Not to “wait and see”.

Land Tax -While the price certainly is right, the art is very wrong.  Guaranteeing that you and your opponent will have about the same land out is basically the function of this card.  It can also be comboed with other cards for a devastating effect.  But I don’t see it being overly powerful.  If you’re trying to get a crazy land strategy going by turn 3 or 4 a rush deck could completely wipe you out and they wont need land to do it.  Bring it back Wizards, if only to get that hideous art updated.

Gauntlet of Might – Multicolored cards and pricey rainbow lands are the latest fad and basic mountains are found few and far between.  Tournament players probably won’t blink twice at this card but casual players are sure to see the value here.  A very powerful card to get on turn 4 but less effective after that.  If you’re not planning on killing your opponent by turn 5 or 6 in your red burn deck you should rethink your strategy.

Doomsday – Such an interesting prospect.  Could I defeat my opponent in 5 turns if I could pick my next five draws?  Its kindof a toss up because you never know whats going to get countered or otherwise foiled by your opponent.  I love cards that lay it all out there, do or die.

Necropotence – A powerful black draw card that perfectly embodies black’s lust for power.  I’d consider this the most powerful card to potentially be released in the set.  If this lands on turn 3 or 4 and black gets another turn with 7 cards and now 6 mana.. its probably over.  They can now heal, deal direct damage, put out a great little creature and take care of any creatures you might have left at the easy price of 3 life.  Never do I feel as powerful as I do with a full hand of black (or possibly blue) cards in the late game.

Ivory Tower – Players mulligan down to 5 or 6 cards nowadays.  They’re also throwing spells around like hot potatoes and rarely have more than 3 cards.  Hoarding spells and gaining life for each one works in multiplayer but in competitive play you should be using your spells.

Lotus Petal – While I don’t think we’ll see too many mana generating cards in the set due to their inherently low “wow” factor, any card with “lotus” in the title deserves a second chance.

Mind Twist – Having your opponent discard a card for one or two mana is standard fare these days.  The prospect of discarding random cards (that could be land) is probably why this card was banned in the first place but cards like thoughtsieze are arguably more powerful.  Mind Twist has great flavor and screams black.

Regrowth – Returning cards from your graveyard to your hand is certainly nothing new.  If I can bring a creature back to my hand for one mana and artifacts for zero why not let me pick anything for two?  Whats the worst that could happen in green?

Berserk - Probably the best creature pump card ever created.  But with all of the simple/cheap creature destruction and creature thwarting available these days the card isn’t necessarily a banned card in my book.

Sol Ring – Believe it or not, there have been more powerful mana acceleration cards out there.  The idea of producing 4 mana on turn 2 isn’t anything too uncommon.  A mediocre card to get mid game and a useless card late.

Hypnotic Specter – The ONLY card I believe wizards will revive from 10th.  The new art is ready to be foiled and the card will be welcomed by all.

Feel free to comment with your own lists, and be sure to check back after the full card list is spoiled to compare!

Update: Check out our From the Vault: Exiled Spoiler and preview page!

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