In an age where Magic: the Gathering is as expansive as ever, Edge of Eternities has hit the stage and caused format shake-ups in a variety of ways - with Special Guests and Stellar Sights each adding old-school all stars alongside the main set. Now it is time for Alchemy: Edge of Eternities, and as any Gladiator player would know, these sets are always ones to watch. Join us as the Gladiator community gets to help herald in this set with some new previews!
We’ve got two new cards joining the fray that you can see here first before they join Arena on August 19!
“It is no longer enough to align myself to the greatest power. I must find ways to align them to me.” —Tezzeret
In recent years White has become very good at slowing down your opponent’s hand, with cards like Elite Spellbinder and Anointed Peacekeeper coming to mind - so in some ways, it has been a long time coming for White to finally get their version of Thoughtseize. To be direct out of the gate - this card is not Thoughtseize. While it does have the benefit of slowing your opponent, it has three major factors against it. Firstly, you don’t actually remove the card from your opponent’s hand, so it can still be used in a few ways - a Troll of Khazad-dûm for finding a land, for example, or even casting for an alternate cost like Evoke on Fury or Dash on Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Secondly, you don’t get to know the land cards in your opponent’s hand so you have less information for deciding if the cards in hand could even be used to their full potential. Thirdly, this card is a much worse top-deck - as the game scales later, Thought Partition will be less useful against most cards.
Alright, now that I’ve set that ground work - Let’s talk why you would play this card. White doesn’t get to have one mana hand attack, and while this card cannot answer everything, it does a great job at stopping a turn one Birds of Paradise or a Chrome Mox. Also, while that part about perpetually becoming white might seem weird, it does remove the ability for the card to be used to evoke a Fury or Grief - so while it might not be good at targeting those cards, it can still subtly shut them down. Not to mention, making a card 5 mana will more often than not make it uncastable for the entirety of the game if you’re the aggressor. I look forward to seeing how this card plays out because of how unique yet familiar its effect is.
“The Drix have perfected the craft of changing the rules. I could make great use of that skill.”—Tezzeret
I think everyone is going to ask the same question about this card - “Is this card busted or bad?” Because I do not know if there is an in-between. To talk plainly about this card - it threatens to be a 3 mana enchantment that does nothing, especially if it is immediately removed. However, if you’re a lands player, especially a lands combo player. Maybe you see it differently like I did. “What happens with this card if it is paired with Spelunking.” That question has lit a fire inside me that might be snuffed out after I’m hit by a Switchgrass Grazer on turn 2 or something. But realistically, this could be an insane card if your goal is to play Lands Combo, especially now with cards like Nadu, Winged Wisdom that encourage you to play all of the mana dorks so that you can scale your board exponentially. Consider the potential of this card alongside a Tatyova, Benthic Druid. This card isn’t for everyone - that I can say with absolute confidence. All being fair though, if you’re the kind of Sicko who wants to see what Ramp can do when pushed to an extreme, then grab a copy of this card and get to work - or who knows, Back Alley Gardener has been pretty good in Lands Midrange, so maybe this unrestricted one is just worth the cost - sort of like a Green Enduring Innocence.
Thank you Wizard of the Coast for these exclusive preview cards and make sure to join us for Gladiator Games: Edge of Eternity on Saturday, August 23!