I don’t often take time away from the game. But when I do… Sorry! That wasn’t supposed to be a Most Interesting Man in the World meme. Seriously, though I try to take a week off of grinding and spell slinging a week before each new set comes out. This doesn’t always work out if I’m testing for an upcoming Grand Prix or there’s a PTQ locally and I’m not well versed in the format. Right now seems like a great time though. I’ve played in a ton (if you consider each event weighing about 500lbs) of PTQs this season and nothing is particularly close, and I’ve got a pretty solid grip on Modern at this point.
So it’s time for a break. Well as it’s Saturday, The break has already happened. What did I do? Mostly I cooked. I’m subletting for the summer and I have a roof deck and a grill, so various meats were fired and then eaten. Super rad. Of course I couldn’t possibly keep my head out of the game completely. I’ve been scouring the M15 spoiler for hidden gems, and I’ve come up with a top 5 cards to look out for.
These are not necessarily the most powerful cards in the set but they are cards I think will see play in Standard and Modern.
Number 5-Scuttling Doom Engine
I see this as a finisher in some multicolor control decks in Standard and maybe even having a place in Mono Black. But in Modern I could definitely see Tron playing this in some combination with Wurmcoil Engine. This is much harder to chump block until you get your combo together, and minus Path to Exile there’s a real problem with removing this card. Cards like this force players into unwinnable situations and that’s what I like about it.
Number 4-Aggressive Mining
In Standard I could see some burn decks and midrange decks playing this as a 2 of. Nothing is worse than flooding in your burn deck. Land is the worst thing you could draw, and of course after you play this card it’s still very bad to draw land but let’s be honest you were gonna draw that land and be upset either way, so it’s best to get that out of the way. I could see Modern and even Legacy burn/aggro decks using this to get some gas. It’s not gonna be hard to pick these up and I wouldn’t expect the price to be much more than a dollar, but still I think you will see this card fueling aggro decks for the next year in Standard.
Number 3-Perilous Vault
Control decks that aren’t Blue or White are really gonna want this card. Last year I was trying to get a Grixis Control deck to work but I had not reset button. Expect this card to slowly inch up in price as control brews become a standard in Standard. More controlling Tron Decks will likely rock these with Oblivion Stones. It also is readily available so I could see newer Tron players just playing these instead. I think this Standard season will feature much more (and many different) control decks.
Number 2-Jace The Living Guildpact
They don’t put Mickey Mouse in a set without knowing you’re gonna play him. Dissipate got a reprint so I expect the graveyard to be very important come Khans of Trokir. That means you can expect Jace’s +1 to get much better in Standard. That’s news to exactly no one. As I stated before I think we can expect a more control oriented Standard format, that means this guy is gonna be amazing in a control mirror. In Modern just pair this guy with Snapcaster Mage. UWR Control could rock one of these guys. I could see Scapeshift and maybe All in Twin trying this guy as well. Drawing 7 is never a bad thing.*
Number 1-Soul of New Theros
Q: What do midrange decks love?
A: A giant Mana sink that ends the game
At 6 mana some Junk deck is only gonna want 2 or two of these guys but good lord if you get to untap with this hulk it’s over. He’s a walking Elspeth Ultimate. Most times you only need one activation to make this end the game. Cards like Triplicate Souls and Voice of Resurgence lead me to believe that this guy is going to be a place holder in a couple of White creature decks. Sadly I don’t think he’s get the same kind of attention in Modern but Sun Titan was plenty fine for a while I bet a B/W Tokens deck wouldn’t mind running him as a one of.
*Yea I know if you don’t have 7 cards in your deck drawing 7 is bad.
That’s it for me. I would get my hands on these cards for brewing. For now I’ve got some leftover hamburgers from the grill last night that I’m gonna nuke and have for lunch. Which cards are your favorite from the new set?
Zac Clark, @Durdlemagus