I’ve noticed that people don’t seem as hyped for Oath of the Gatewatch as they were for Battle for Zendikar. Maybe it’s because the Expeditions aren’t as fun, no fetchlands or shocklands this time, just classics such as Wasteland and Horizon Canopy. As a eternal player though I think Oath is a stronger set than BFZ, which had some great cards, but not as many wins for Eternal.
Now that I have been able to play with a few cards from this set—though not all the ones I love—I want to share some of my favorites!
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
I’m sure most people are surprised to see this in here. I honestly didn’t think it was all that great until I played a R/G Post brew of Aaron’s the other night. This card is WAY underrated. At worst it’s a 4/4 for 4 that ramps me but it’s really so much better than that. In the aggro match up not only is it a creature that doesn’t die to a bolt but it also allows me to return a glimmerpost to my hand and play it multiple times, often buying me the extra turns I need to win the game. Burn can be a hard matchup for Green Post, but Mina really helped shore up the matchup. This card hasn’t seen any play and has dropped under a dollar but I really hope people start realizing how much potential this card has.
Kozilek’s Return
I also was able to test this card in Aaron’s R/G Post brew and it was nothing short of amazing. I know everyone was really excited to jam this into Tron when it was spoiled and I’m now excited to do the same. Early game I would be able to wipe my opponent’s board and then when I cast a fatty I was able to completely wipe their board again. It made already powerful creatures such as Kozilek, Emrakul and Ulamog even better.
Deceiver of Form
I haven’t had a chance to play this card yet but I think it’s phenomenal. I’ve posted the Eldrazi Mud list that Aaron made for me after BFZ and I want to slide it straight in there. It works too well with Conduit of Ruin to not run it. I love having another way to cheat out Emrakul or Ulamog. Yeah you don’t get the extra turn trigger but as long as I’m changing a creature that was already on the battlefield it’s like having Emrakul with haste which is good enough for me. Lastly, using top I can float the creature I want on top of my library without having to worry about casting it. I can’t wait to see Eternal jump on this card.
Oath of Nissa
I’ve seen some suggestions of running this in some 12 Post lists along with a handful of Planeswalkers. I love this idea. Being able to use the excessive mana to cast a Jace and Liliana without worrying about color fixing is exciting. I’m not sure if it will pan out overtime but I think it’s got a lot of potential and hope people start playing this.
Spatial Contortion
This is a small little love of mine. I struggle finding good removal in colorless that isn’t mana intensive. This cheap spell can either pump one of my creatures or kill one of my opponent’s. There aren’t a lot of creatures in Legacy or Modern that have a toughness greater than 3 so I’ll probably be jamming this into one of my many Mudpost lists.
Endbringer
I know most people are looking at this card for EDH but I like this card for Mudpost. It kills an unflipped Delver, Young Pyromancer, tokens, etc while also having the ability to draw cards. It’s also a 5/5 that practically has vigilance so even just as a creature it’s pretty strong.
Reality Smasher
A 5/5 with both haste and trample that also gives you some card advantage? I’m more than okay with this. It’s a hearty beater that I’d love to run in Tron. You want to Terminate? Discard. You want to Path to Exile? Discard. Also having haste is more than relevant when Tron can sometimes be a little bit slow and clunky.
This list is pretty skewed toward 12 Post and Tron players but with the recent changes to Modern it looks like this will be affecting a lot of people. What are your feelings on this new set?
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH or Standard if she’s desperate.