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Main » Articles » The Amazing Maze

The Amazing Maze

Darwin Kastle
Posted on April 22, 2013
 Reddit

If you’re a big-time Magic: The Gathering fan as I am, there are two special words that are sure to get the old drool factory working overtime: Dragon’s Maze. Here, take this tissue and wipe your mouth. See what I mean? It’s been a great block so far, and the previews for Dragon’s Maze seem, well, amazing. But seriously: Dragon’s Maze? Sure sounds like someone rolled snake-eyes on the Wow, We Really Need a Name Here, Guys set-naming chart:

First, roll one six-sided die, and take the matching word from this list:

  1. Dragon’s

  2. Wizard’s

  3. Urza’s

  4. Time

  5. Dark

  6. Lightning

Next, roll another six-sided die, and take the matching word from this list:

  1. Maze

  2. Vortex

  3. Portal

  4. Ascension

  5. Lightning

  6. Triumph

Presto! Instant cool-sounding fantasy set name. I can’t wait for them to roll a 6 followed by a 5. I REALLY want to draft some Lightning Lightning. I’ll definitely be drafting red when that set comes out. Okay, I might be going a little bit off-topic here. So, where were we? That’s right: Dragon’s Maze. So yeah, I’ve been checking out Dragon’s Maze spoilers, and oh my God, there are a lot of cards that make you say, “What the—?” and you end up reading them again because you’re thinking, “That can’t be right . . . ” These are my thoughts on some of the cards I think are especially interesting.

Lavinia of the Tenth

Hellrider
If mono-red decks weren’t dead before, they sure will be now. Wow, this lady. So, imagine you’re playing a Hellrider deck with a swarm of high-quality aggressive creatures and some copies of Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear. What happens when this lady comes into play and ruins everything? We’re not talking accidently sticking your chocolate in my peanut butter here either. This is more like forgetting to put on your spacesuit before going outside to fix a problem with the space shuttle’s robot arm. Suddenly, not only can none of your guys block this turn, but more importantly, none of them are going to be attacking either. Even if you play a haste guy, don’t even bother attacking; there’s a 4/4 dude with pro-red waiting over there to steal your lunch money. It’s not like when the detain effect wears off things are suddenly hunky-dory either. Now you either have a 4/4 you can’t kill hitting you every turn or a 4/4 blocker that will eat anything you send over. Let’s just hope the opponent doesn’t have a Restoration Angel either—things are gruesome enough already.

Exava, Rakdos Bloodwitch

Primal Visitation
Competition at the aggressive-red-creature-for-4-mana slot is very high, especially considering you probably don’t want to be running a lot of them anyway. Despite this, a 4/4 haste first striker is sure to get some run. The main reason I’m bringing up this card, though, is the special ability. “Each other creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it has haste.” While this okay, I guess, it reminds me too much of Primal Visitation.

A creature enchantment that costs 5 and grants haste—are you serious? What a lame add-on ability. If my enchantment costs 5, I probably didn’t also just cast a creature this turn. Besides which, if my deck is designed to quickly ramp up to 6 or 7 mana, you think I’m going to use that mana and two cards to cast a small creature and then just it give +3/+3 and haste? At that point, I can do more powerful stuff just using one card. Ahem . . . so, back to Bloodwitch. This isn’t quite that obnoxious of an add-on ability, but I’m not going to wait until I can play another dude at the same time before playing this gal, and what are the chances she’ll still be around on future turns if and when I draw another creature that will qualify to gain haste? Besides, in most Standard decks that this witch fits in, she’d be the top of the curve, and I’d already have cast all my other creatures at this point.

Council of the Absolute

I already think Azorius is probably the most powerful guild for Block Constructed, and this set doesn’t seem to be changing that. Council of the Absolute could be a total game-changer in the mirror match. Imagine making it so your opponent can’t cast Sphinx's Revelation while yours are suddenly 2 mana cheaper. Yeah, it’s okay; it makes me all hot and bothered, too.

Render Silent

Silence
While we’re on the subject of Azorius and how powerful it is, let’s talk about this little gem. Let’s face it: Unless you’re the one playing with them, counterspells have long been the type of card that sucks the fun out of the game like my dog Molly sucks down cocktail wieners given the chance. Trust me, in this scenario, you don’t want to be the wiener. The big key to playing against countermagic has long been trying to trick the opponent into countering the wrong card during your turn. “Are you trying to slip that Atog past me, or if I Mana Drain it, will you then play an Ancestral Recall?” Now that key piece of gamesmanship has been removed and replaced with some soul-crushing, “OMG that card is SOOO annoying . . . ” Yeah, good luck if you think you’re going to be rendering me silent when you cast this on me.

Master of Cruelties

This card just about burst a blood vessel in my brain. There are so many things that bug me about it from a design perspective; yet, I could still see it being a popular card in some circles. First of all, it’s too complex: “If the moon is half-full, and you’ve eaten two oranges and an apple, you can attack, but only if your opponent is over twenty-one.” Second of all, it’s too all-or-nothing for a 5-drop. It doesn’t do anything when it comes into play, and it only has 4 toughness, so if the opponent has removal, thanks for tapping 5 mana. If the opponent doesn’t have removal, however, he’s practically lost the game on the spot. No creature can profit by attacking into it or by blocking it, yet if it hits you, you could be taking 19 or possibly even more damage from it in a single attack. In this case, I think R&D were the ones mastering cruelty.

Notion Thief

Sphinx's Revelation
Traditionally, Dimir has been the answer to Azorius, matching blue spell for blue spell while benefitting from the anti-control properties of black, such as with hand destruction, land destruction, graveyard recursion, and efficient removal of centerpiece creatures. So far in this block, though, Dimir has lagged far behind Azorius in power. This card might shift the balance of power a bit. One of W/U’s biggest strengths is Sphinx's Revelation, and this kleptomaniac can make it into one of U/B’s biggest strengths. I had been thinking Urban Evolution was going to be a good card in Block Constructed, but after seeing this defalcator (yeah, I didn’t know what this meant either until I looked up words for “thief”), I’m not so sure.

Advent of the Wurm

I had to include this card in my musings, not because it’s so interesting per se, but because it’s so . . . awesome. There are so many reasons this card is cool. First of all, it gives you a 5/5 trampler for 4 mana, which is already pretty great, even for a rare gold card. Yet, the fact that it’s an instant and that it gives you a token make it so much cooler. First of all, having legit threats that you can cast on your opponent’s turn for a reasonable amount of mana really helps G/W’s matchup against blue decks. Second of all, it would be so cool to see populate actually be a meaningful ability in Constructed.

Legion's Initiative

Cards like this one make me think that R&D realized that Azorius might be a little bit out of hand in Constructed. While a 2-mana enchantment that makes all your red creatures hit harder is already pretty solid, the ability to protect your team from mass removal seems like a giant middle finger to cards like Supreme Verdict. Even if the opponent plays it when you’re tapped out, at least you still have the initiative for making your next few creatures bigger and then protecting them from further mass removal.

The Cluestones

Mind Stone
These cards make me so happy. I usually have a problem with mana artifacts—while they’re useful, they make it so hard to get your amount of mana correct. If I play with enough lands to ensure I make it to enough mana to reliably cast them early in the game, I mana flood. Yet, if I tighten my land count when I’m running them, I fail to assemble to enough lands to cast them, and I’m totally screwed. Much like Mind Stones, these rocks are sweet relief for this problem. Play with enough lands to cast them, and you’ll see yourself able to ramp and even color-smooth early in the game. Then, if you start to flood, pop away, and fill up your tank with some extra fuel. It’s like that saying I just made up, “Clues are like friends, everyone should get one.”



These cards are only a select few of the amazing new cards coming at us in Lightning Lightning—oops, I mean Dragon’s Maze—but as I’m sure you’ll agree, this set looks as though it’s going to take us on a wild ride. Just make sure to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Oh, and buckle up too, because the Azorius Arrestors will be out in force.

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TAGS articles, standard, constructed, editorial, analysis, humor, darwin kastle, block, dragon's maze

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