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Affinity for Numbers: Full Moon

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Magic is a game of numbers: sixty cards, twenty life, draw two cards, take seven damage, and add three counters. There are even more numbers surrounding the game — facts and figures, prices and trivia, they are everywhere. In Affinity for Numbers I uncover and highlight some of the more interesting numbers in Magic. Once again this week, those numbers are all about Eldritch Moon, the next Magic expansion to be released on July 22.




1 day/night double-faced card

The sun and moon icons used to indicate the transformation of werewolf double-faced cards were a staple of the Innistrad expansions, until the Eldrazi arrived. Now corrupted werewolf horrors transform into Eldrazi Werewolves. Only one normal werewolf remains: Ulrich of the Krallenhorde.




2 planeswalkers into play

Deploy the Gatewatch lets you check out your top seven cards and put up to two Planeswalkers directly onto the battlefield. The card costs 6 mana, and to make that worthwhile in most cases you will want to hit two Planeswalkers. You'd need sixteen Planeswalkers in your deck to have a 90% chance of seeing two in seven cards. Of course, if they are the same Planeswalker that doesn't do you much good. So maybe you need sixteen different Planeswalkers . . . 




3 CMC Liliana

Liliana is back. Once again, she costs 3 CMC. No veil, but that -2 is pretty tasty.




3rd three-color Planeswalker

The other Planeswalker from Eldritch Moon is Tamiyo, Field Researcher. She is just the third three-color Planeswalker in Magic, following Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Sarkhan Unbroken.




4 creatures that redirect damage to a player

The reveal of Nahiri's Wrath has janky combo players everywhere pondering how to use it to whack the opposing player.

There are four creature that redirect damage from themselves to a player.

Boros Reckoner
Coalhauler Swine
Spitemare
Stuffy Doll

Chances are only half of these are under any sort of consideration in said decks.




5 commanders

Eldritch Moon brings us five new Commander options. Only two are multicolored and only Thalia can be a tiny leader.




9 Reprints

Nine cards were reprinted in Eldritch Moon. Murder moved from common to uncommon. The rest did not change rarity. Two cards, Hamlet Captain and Prey Upon, were originally printed in Innistrad and the captain was the only reprint without new art.

Check out the change in Prey Upon from the original art. Very cool.




10 instants that can counter abilities

Summary Dismissal is a brand new "stack wrath" that lets you counter all other spells and abilities.

It is a rare effect. Only nine other cards can counter an ability and most of those, like Bind, Not of This World, and Squelch, have limitations on the type, target, or source of the ability. Only 3 others have no such restrictions.

Stifle
Trickbind
Voidslime




16 cards with abilities triggered when in an opening hand

If Providence is in your opening hand you can reveal it and start the game with twenty-six life.

It is the sixteenth card with an opening-hand trigger. The others are Gemstone Caverns and the cards that belong to the "Chancellor" cycle from New Phyrexia and the "Leyline" cycle.

Chancellor of the Dross
Leyline of Sanctity




19 new creature types

The Eldrazi corruption of Innistrad has led to a bevy of new creature types for Magic. We now have Devil Horror, Eldrazi Angel, Eldrazi Beast, Eldrazi Boar, Eldrazi Crab, Eldrazi Fish, Eldrazi Horror, Eldrazi Hippogriff, Eldrazi Homunculus (say it ain't so), Eldrazi Insect, Eldrazi Leech, Eldrazi Octopus, Eldrazi Ooze, Eldrazi Reflection, Eldrazi Vampire, Eldrazi Werewolf, Vampire Horror, Werewolf Horror, and Wolf Construct.




That's all the numbers I have for you today. If you also have an affinity for numbers, and have one you think I should share, let me know on Twitter @MrVigabool.


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