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The late December holiday grind has a way of keeping folks off the internet a little more than usual. Thanks to many family gatherings, the nasty cold that always follows all the in-law hugs, and taking the time to watch Christmas movies and open Christmas presents, I haven't been online that much. Apparently some new cards from Theros: Beyond Death have been revealed, so this article will be a first-take-fest as I scroll through the officially released spoilers. My focus is MTG Arena, as that is the way I interact with the game the most. After I talk about each card, I will add my opinion on whether or not I would pick up this card (craft in MTG Arena, purchase in paper) and how many copies I would get.
Legendary Enchantment Creature - Demigod
Daxos's toughness is equal to your devotion to white. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to white.)
Whenever another creature you control enters the battlefield or dies, you gain 1 life.
2/*
New players love the healing deck, and Wizards of the Coast knows that. They keep pushing the cards without strictly reprinting Soul Warden, and at some point a life-gain trigger deck might be good. That said, if Ajani's Pridemate spam is your wincon you don't need to tell me anything more about your decklist, because the "life aggro" strategy still doesn't work at a tier one, or even a tier 3, level. Daxos, Blessed by the Sun has something else going for him; Devotion. The return of the Devotion mechanic means every type of one color deck will be tried as long as there is some Devotion payoff. Toughness of Daxos, Blessed by the Sun isn't good enough (memers can put away their High Alert), but this card has double White in the casting cost so he may be a role player for a bigger payoff.
Verdict: Get two, unless you struggle to keep Uncommon wildcards around. This will be a good addition to your lifegain deck (everyone has one!), and whatever the White Devotion deck is this will probably run a few copies.
Legendary Planeswalker - Elspeth
-1: Up to two target creatures you control each get +2/+1 until end of turn.
-2: Create two 1/1 white Human Soldier creature tokens.
-3: You gain 5 life.
Escape-
, Exile four other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
She's back! And then she's back again! And again! Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis looks like she can play in two kinds of decks. Extremely aggressive White decks can use the minus to make smaller creatures incredibly large and keep heavy pressure on the opponent. If they kill your creatures, Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis can replace those too with her [-2] ability. Finally, there is a [-3] ability, You gain 5 life. I think this is better than people think, because it gives her something to do when you are behind. Escape means Espeth, Sun's Nemesis can be recast multiple times in a long game. She doesn't look like a control card at first glance, but if you look closer you see she is a threat that can keep coming back again and again, and her lifegain ability makes it hard for the opponent to burn or haste you out.
Verdict: I would get two, I plan to use her in multiple decks, but I can see a format where her impact isn't big. If you are low on Mythics I would let the format settle before crafting her.
PS: Before moving on, here is a blanket statement for all of Theros: Beyond Death and the next three sets after it;
Any card with more than 1 mana symbol of one color in its mana cost is great for a devotion themed deck in that color.
Thanks, now I don't have to mention Devotion every time a casting cost card shows up!
Enchantment - Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I, II - Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Then you may exile a creature or enchantment card from your graveyard. If you do, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
III - You gain X life and scry X, where X is the number of Zombies you control.
My first impression of this card is to compare it to History of Benalia. Assuming you mill things to exile (creatures/enchantments), you get two 2/2 Zombies and a gain/drain payoff along with some scry action. A lot of whether or not this card will see play will have to do with Zombie tribal payoffs. The undead are historically a well-supported MTG tribe. Standard currently has Dreadhorde Butcher and Corpse Knight for two mana, and Midnight Reaper and Rotting Regisaur for three mana. I think the deck will need more help to be a contender, but if there is a good tribal Zombie list then Tymaret Calls the Dead will be a four-of in that deck. Without strong zombies around it, this saga is an awkward reanimator/self-mill role player that should be replaced by Ashiok, Dream Render.
Verdict: Wait and see. If there are 1- and 2-drop zombies that are powerful, then this saga could be a day one four-of slam dunk. Without some great early zombies, I don't think I would pick up this card at all. The existence of this card makes me expect some great cheap zombies, so I will predict that I am getting four copies of Tymaret Calls the Dead.
Legendary Creature - Satyr
Haste
Other Satyrs you control get +1/+1 and have haste.
Whenever you attack with three or more creatures, you may discard a card at random. If you do, draw two cards.
"There's no success like excess!"
2/2
This card has a lot of words and looks exciting. To me, the anthem effect has the most potential. If Satyrs are well supported this card becomes a four-of right away, and the very existence of the card means I will have to try Satyr tribal at some point. If Satyrs are a thing, it will have to be in this set, because the current Standard-legal Satyr count is zero. The rest of the card reads like another take on Robber of the Rich, that is, a way to get card advantage in an aggressive attacking shell. Attacking with three or more creatures implies things are going your way, but where I see Gallia of the Endless Dance having an impact with the card draw ability is when your Gruul Aggro deck is digging for Embercleave. Attack with three creatures, discard your non-Embercleave card to get two looks at the top of your deck for the Mythic sword that wins all games.
Verdict: Get two if Satyrs are not a strong tribe, the card is legendary and isn't a huge upgrade over existing options. If Satyrs look like the new tribal hotness, four lords it is!
Sorcery
Reveal the top six cards of your library. An opponent exiles a nonland card from among them, then you put the rest into your hand. That opponent may cast the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
The light of hope blinded Pantor to the ills of the world.
This card is a cool design with spooky artwork. Draw five cards for five mana in a color pair that normally lacks card draw is interesting. Personally I find the cost too high. The opponent gets to cast the best card of the bunch for free. Five mana is a break-point in Standard right now. Either you are Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, a pair of hasty Fires of Invention-powered cavaliers, or you are behind. I struggle to see playing this card in the high-paced current Standard environment.
Verdict: Get zero. Someone will have to prove to me that this card is good. Despite what I am writing, I want to believe!
Enchantment - Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I - Each player puts the top three cards of their library into their graveyard.
II - Exile up to two target cards from graveyards. For each creature card exiled this way, you gain 1 life.
III - Return target creature or land card from your graveyard to your hand.
Grapple with the Past is a card I loved from Shadows Over Innistrad Standard. The Binding of the Titans has enough text to be similar while being incredibly slow and slightly more useful. Speed is everything in the current format, and a card like this will need to set up something amazing to be good. Grapple with the Past set up Delerium for Ishkanah, Graft Widow and Emrukul, The Promised End. Does Theros: Beyond Death have something that powerful up its sleeve?
Verdict: It is only uncommon, so I will pick up four to brew. If you are limited on funds/wildcards, I wouldn't get this card until someone shows us why it is good.
Creature - Zombie
When Gray Merchant of Asphodel enters the battlefield, each opponent loses X life, where X is your devotion to black. You gain life equal to the life lost this way. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)
They brought him back! And he's a Zombie! I like throwback cards, but it feels lazy to me to bring back the signpost card of the Black Devotion archetype with no changes. It seems too obvious that we will be playing Mono Black Devotion with four Gray Merchants in the list. The card will help Tymaret Calls the Dead get there, but we still need some cheaper Zombies to fill the curve. If the Zombies don't show up, Ayara, First of Locthwain is ready to rumble.
Verdict: Get four. And thank you to Wizards for not making this a rare.
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to red and green is less than seven, Klothys isn't a creature.
At the beginning of your precombat main phase, exile target card from a graveyard. If it was a land card, add or . Otherwise, you gain 2 life and Klothys deals 2 damage to each opponent.
4/5
This card is a lot of reading, but is there enough payoff? The Deathrite Shaman-esq ability is enticing. If the graveyard is stocked, you get mana ramp for exiling a land or life & damage for exiling anything else. Does that make a card like The Binding of the Titans worth it? In my opinion, no. A curve of Binding into Klothys looks spicy, but it leaves nothing on the board can attack or block on turn three, and Standard is too fast for that. Where I see our new Gruul God shining is in a traditional beatdown plan. The opponent has to kill your creatures or the creatures will kill your opponent, and then the cards in the graveyard, be they blockers or removal spells, become burn to the opponent's face. Gruul has plenty of cards to push you to seven devotion; Questing Beast, Gruul Spellbreaker, Zhur-Taa Goblin, the aforementioned Gallia of the Endless Dance, and Embercleave all come to mind. This card has strong potential in an existing archetype that is already knocking on the door of tier one.
Verdict: I will pick up two copies. It is legendary, it is a Mythic, and there are ways this could flop if too many good answers to Gods and Devotion are printed (Revoke Existence is already in this set).
I fell behind on previews during the holidays, but I am glad they were released. We need something to keep our planeswalker spark ignited during the end-of-year grind. Are there any sleeper cards I should write about next week? What decks are you brewing up with new cards from Theros: Beyond Death?
