Planeswalkers are always some of the most anticipated cards in any set. Nissa Revane’s visage has been known to us for some time now so the anticipation was heightened even more so! Many assumed she would be B/G because of both the art and her placement in Duels of the Planeswalkers. But the more we saw of Zendikar the more most of us realized she would be a green elf through and through. Nissa is the first tribal planeswalker. Until now, planeswalkers have embodied their color and their abilities have usually been mirrors of actual cards of the same color. I think the idea is that any planeswalker should be exciting to any player pulling it out of a pack. I’m not sure how it is in every meta but most everyone in my 5-man games has an elf deck. Particularly now with Elvish Archdruid in the mix. Nissa is a great substitution for the Elf power cards we’re losing as Lorwyn rotates out. Losing a few elves? How about a tribal Elf planeswalker as a replacement? Her first ability is great, her second ability is always useful and her final ability wins the game. What more could you ask for you say? A bit more loyalty wouldn’t hurt. That final ability, while earth shatteringly great, will probably never be played. But the fact that you’re going up every turn ensures that at least you won’t be responsible for her death. The final ability reminds me a bit of Elspeth or Ajani Vengeant’s in that its probably never going to be played unless some very special circumstances present themselves. All around a great planeswalker for it’s niche.
One of my favorite cards to sideboard is Cruel Edict. So many creatures have protection and/or shroud now-a-days that forcing an opponent to sacrifice a creature might just be the only way of getting that giant angel off the table. I am also a big fan of the underrated Shriekmaw. Two for one deals are always a plus but destroying creatures on your way in is just great. I can’t imagine many situations in which you wouldn’t pay the kicker with this guy. If there weren’t any creatures on the table I’d simply wait to play him. So to me, he’s basically a BBB black 2/2 that destroys a creature WIETB. This could easily replace Black Knight in any deck as far as I’m concerned. In limited, the two for one creature killer is a powerhouse. Three mana is no problem in that format and creature spam is what its almost always about. Oh, and did I mention he’s a vampire?
This was the card we’ve all been waiting to see. We knew it was coming but we just wanted to be 100% sure that there would be a way to get more than one land out per turn in Zendikar. At 4 CMC it’s not something you’re just going to throw around willy nilly. You’ll only want to play her if you’re really going to benefit from the extra land (and hopefully landfall). Its definitely a combo piece that works extraordinarily well in limited with cards like Ragining Batholiths and Woodcrusher Batholith. Its also a great deck thinner to boot. I wouldn’t count on this as a traditional “mana accelerator”. Its not going to be out there until turn three or four and might not even be applicable depending on your hand and the top of your deck. I’d stick with Lanowar Elves, Overgrowths and Garruk Wildspeaker for keeping the mana flowing. But in a landfall deck or as another possible combo piece this is a great card within the Zendikar block. I would like to see the other colors have the ability to play additional lands as well to take advantage of the landfall ability. But you can now put a big checkmark net to green for it’s ability to land spam in Standard.
I love this card. The price is a bit over the normal price [CMC=(P+T)/2] for a creature but some creatures are more like enchantments when their abilities are this game changing. Not playing any planeswalkers? Want to make sure no one else can either? Plop this puppy out there and name planeswalker every turn. Same thing goes with enchantments or artifacts. Most white weenie decks are rolling 90% creatures so you can clear the board of enchantments, planeswalkers or artifacts. Got your setup already and your opponent seems to be having mana issues? Start sacrificing lands and make it even harder. You can even strategically go for the land sac if you know theyre trying to play planar cleansing or some other big bomb next turn. Sometimes its easy to see these things coming. I love the old school white Balance flavor this card gives off also. A nice touch for a very useful card.
Poor Mulldrifter. It seems like only yesterday you were my new favorite card out of Lorwyn. All that power at a common rarity. Spinx of Lost Truths is a generous attempt at replacing the mighty Mulldrifter but alas, the beauty of that card was that you could play it for three mana if needed. Granted, Spinx of Lost Truths is a much better 5 drop and still very likely will see play. But seven mana is just too much more over the going rate of three mana for two loot. Of course the deal is a bit better because you also get the 3/5 flier but nevertheless. Perhaps Zendikar will allow blue some ability to mana accelerate but we can’t say for sure at this point. Drawing and then choosing which cards to discard is a vastly underrated ability. Anyone who has played in any self respecting M10 draft knows the power of the Merfolk Looter. Digging through your deck and choosing what is in your hand for that particular moment can’t be underestimated. SoLT is great in limited, decent in standard but would really shine if blue is somehow allowed to mana accelerate so that you’re not forced to wait until turn eight to play this guy for maximum effect.
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Thats all for now folks! There were several other spoilers revealed since last week that I recommend checking out. The above were just the ones I thought were most interesting and least like the other cards we’ve already discussed (lands, traps, quests and such). Expect more spoiler reviews as more of Zendikar is revealed. We should have the full spoiler list from wizards up the weekend before the prerelease at the very latest. Though, lately, the cards seem to make their way onto the net much sooner than that. So stick around and feel free to comment with your own opinions.
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Last Minute Update: Here are the cards that were revealed just last night!
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Honestly, I think the ability that makes Nissa so useful is the gain life one. With cards like Archdruid in standard and Heritage Druid in extended, there could be seven or eight elves out when Nissa hits on turn four.
Thats a game-changing amount of life gain.
Ya I think Nissa might be a good combo for Feldir Soverign because of that ability. Throw out some wall-ish elves.. attack if you have the advantage.. heal like crazy if you don’t. Try to get to 40 for the win! Put out some elves every turn and heal at least 10. I think it could work!
This set just keeps getting better… so many awesome cards. Feldir Sovereign looks like a great centerpiece for a white deck.
Ya I really dig Nissa, and sure her loyalty is low, but if she isn’t countered right away that’s one hurdle, and if the opponent doesn’t lightning bolt her then she is now at 4 and just became THAT much harder to kill, i think she will get to her ultimate ability more often than people might think.
As For Turntimber Ranger, the ONE card i was REALLY waiting to see, its good but its what i feared it would be rather than what i wanted it to be, i wanted an Elf with landfall put a 2/2 green wolf creature token into play so it could fit nicely into an Elf deck, but now that its an Ally it would work much better in the VERY multi coloured Ally deck and i prefer the simplicity of a mono coloured deck.
Yes but unfortunately these days there are what, 3 standard legal counter spells that you can use against a planeswalker spell… and in legacy/extended you’re pretty much forced to have a Doubling Season in play or automatically lose her to said 3 damage spells.
I’m not impressed with Zendikar so far. Yes, there are some good cards (fetches, crypt etc) but the rest are just flashy creatures which cost too much to see play. Allies are a watered down tribal theme which i dont see being competitive in the slightest.
I’m loving Zendikar. This set looks so fun. Every card I’ve seen is good. If it’s not good for play than it’s a card that’s just too cool. Not good tournament wise for a player like me. I know I’ll end up losing at the prerelease because I’ll pull cards like Vampire Nighthawk and Scythe Tiger (cards I should be drafting) but end up passing them up to try to play a friggin’ 8 mana cost octopus instead.
Overall, Reinhart, I liked your article (as usual). I do take issue with one thing, though: you hope that other colors besides green get some land acceleration? Wasn’t it just a few short weeks ago that you were complaining about things like the blurring of the color pie and the nerfing of blue? You complained that the Shards of Alara block contained a non-blue counterspell in Lapse of Certainty, and also voiced your excitement at thinking that Zendikar would return balance and definition to the color pie. And now, upon seeing that green might have an edge in the implementation/usage of a single mechanic (let alone the game as a whole, as with blue’s countermagic), you ask that it be handed out to the other colors? If I’m misevaluating, by all means let me know, but doesn’t that seem a bit hypocritical?
Ahh Jiggy. So crafty! Buttering me up with compliments then performing the old backflip spin move into the backstab! Just kidding of course.
But you make a good point and maybe I should clarify a bit. I’m fine with green having the overall advantage with landfall. I just hope that this great ability is able to be utilized effectively in all of the other colors as well. If it isn’t then landfall is just a green ability.. which would be sad.
As it stands, the only thing another color can do is play taramorphic expanse or one of the fetch duals. And THAT assumes that you’re playing at least two colors.
Im fine with landfall being BETTER on green cards but as of now its ONLY effective in green or with green as a secondary color.
Of course I dont want black or blue mana accelerating out like green would.. but it would be nice to be able to use landfall in a mono black or blue deck without having to splash green.
A few more thoughts on this:
Maybe landfall *IS* a green ability.. I dont know. I see it on all of the other colors.. and I think to myself..”Well.. I guess I better play 2 or 3 colors so I can play fetch.. why not make one of them green?” So maybe it is a green ability only.
I suppose if I want to stay true to my color pie roots I’d have to concede that green should be most effective.. in fact almost exclusively effective with landfall on the whole.
Perhaps there will be more cards that creatively let lands hit the table for other colors without giving them mana acceleration much like the fetch lands do. We’ll just have to see.. but evaluating landfall now I don’t see many options in a mono blue or black deck for getting triggering landfall.
Ah, I see. I would still suggest that there is some inequity in decrying the printing of Lapse of Certainty while hoping for even one land acceleration spell per color (a total of four infringements). That’s to say nothing of my own opinions of the state of the color pie.
Secondly, without even bothering to argue the use of landfall in a typical one-per-turn arrangement, I’d like to point out that you could absolutely use Terramorphic Expanse or the Fetches in a monocolored deck. You could run a 24-land mono-blue deck with only 12 Islands. How’s that for some non-green landfall?
True, True. I’m not saying its unusable in mono-colored decks. You can obviously trigger it every turn in ANY color. And yeah you could put some tapped lands into play with TE I suppose..
I guess I just want to see something like this
UU
Sorcery
Sacrifice two islands search your library for two islands and put them into play.
Or the same for black. I guess Im just trying to feel out landfall’s place in the world. You compared landfall’s place in green to counter’s place in blue. Well, if its such an intrinsically green ability then why is it on every color card in Zendikar?
I would contend that it is not comparable to blue/counter. I guess my point in the article was this:
Its brutal in green and pretty good in other colors – I hope we see some cards that make it brutal without playing green.
I mean, if there was a nwe ability that said “whenever you draw a card do such and such” something blue does naturally, I would be saying the same thing:
“This is really really powerful in blue I hope there are ways for this great new ability to be used effectively in other colors” is what id say.
See where I’m coming from here? They’re being a bit confusing by making a greenish sounding greenish working ability and then putting it on all colors. Is anyone else confused here haha?
Okay, that bit did a lot to clarify my understanding of what you’re wanting. Thanks.
But, is your hypothetical sorcery really any better than a Fetchland? I mean, both get you two landfall triggers, but at the cost of 1 life the Fetch is uncounterable (imagine your sorcery getting countered if sacking two lands was part of the cost!) and has the option of making one of the two triggers happen at instant speed. I can see why you would want your Island Swap sorcery, but honestly I think you have better options right under your nose.
Important distinction: I did not intend to compare the landfall ability to countermagic; my intent was to compare land acceleration spells to countermagic. Of course, seeing the level of spell you were talking about (I was afraid you meant a Rampant Growth for 2U or, worse, UU), it’s kind of a moot point. Again, I don’t think you even need the spell you’re asking for.
@Jiggy Well I do thank you for your input and you have some great points. It is easier to landfall in other colors than I had originally thought but I’m still a little confused as to how this intrinsically green ability is on every every color card.
Its fine.. I’m excited for the ability and want to play it. I’m just trying to feel out where its supposed to fall on the color pie. I always appreciate your input, sir.
- Reinhart Out.
And I appreciate yours as well, good Reinhart.
WotC is always trying to juggle new mechanics with the color-wheel. Sometimes it works (like suspend), and others it doesn’t. Seems like Landfall is one of these.
Hey everyone, here’s a thought: Path to Exile is about to get a lot more interesting.
Yeah…
Worse because of Landfall but better because of Archive Trap
Also better because of landfall.
Yeah, exile your own guy
)
Short-time reader, first time poster here. Please, for the love of god, someone re-read your articles before you post them. I’m sick of all your typos.
1) It’s =\= its. You cannot just swap them around willy nilly like you seem to do.
2) “The price is a bit over the normal price [CMC=(P+T)/2] for a creature but you some creatures are more like enchantments when their abilities are this game changing.”
>”but you some creatures”
3) “Garruck Wildspeaker” no comment
and those I just found by skimming this particular article.
Thanks for the spoilers, I do appreciate them.
I’m rather puzzled with the recent comments referring to our “writing skill”.
I’m not sure you’re familiar with “blogs” as they are indeed a contemporary concept but they are usually semi-informal in nature. I appreciate your input and I’ll be sure to correct the more glaring, dare I say insulting mistakes. But in the future please keep in mind that, no matter how prolific, official or godlike our posts are – at the end of the day we’re just two good looking guys writing and maintaining a Magic the Gathering blog. Please consider our blog post’s grammar in their appropriate context. Until then I’ll just assume you’re happy with the site’s actual content.