The Eldrazi are dead. Long live the Eldrazi.

To the surprise of basically nobody, Eldrazi have reared their ugly, tentacled heads onto everybody’s favorite horrific plane to really dial the creep-levels up to eleven. What nobody expected was the slew of new mechanics and abilities the Eldrazi were bringing with them. Emrakul isn’t messing around when it comes to really pushing the envelope with what Magic design can do.

Right off the bat we get a card reminiscent of some of Magic’s sweetest spells. One interesting thing sticks out to me and it is the fact Coax from the Blind Eternities doesn’t exile itself. This isn’t always going to create enormous differences in game play one way or the other but there are a handful of applicable cards that care:

One reason the wording may have been updated is, when the previous Wish cards were printed, the “exile” zone was called “removed from the game”. This meant previous Wishes had the ability to grab themselves (in the case of Cunning Wish, for example) and create an infinite storm count as long as the caster had a way to generate enough mana or cast spells for free.

When it comes to strategic uses for Coax from the Blind Eternities, the card is incredibly hard to evaluate. Generally speaking, Wishes are ways to have a singular card represent several different things, so long as the caster is willing to spend a bit more mana up front in order to pay for the flexibility. Going back in time a bit, there are people who will bring up “Wish Boards” which talk about sacrificing several sideboard slots in order to play a plethora of different options for Wishes.

A common “Wish Board” for Coax from the Blind Eternities in Standard will likely consist of:

This only factors in for the cards spoiled so far with Blue and/or Colorless mana costs!

The last (and more narrow) use for Coax from the Blind Eternities is playing a playset of the Sorcery and three copies of a deck’s most important Eldrazi — with the fourth copy in the sideboard. This means that a deck will effectively have seven copies of an important Eldrazi they can draw.

The first Eldrazi which comes to mind is Thought-Knot Seer. With little mana acceleration in Standard Thought-Knot Seer generally comes down on turn four, making Coax from the Blind Eternities a great way to curve into the 4/4 Thoughtseize-with-legs. The biggest detractor from this line of play is the Eldrazi player would have to more-or-less take their third turn off in order to set up the play. If a combo deck ends up being a big player in Standard and it can afford to play Thought-Knot Seer and Coax, this will likely fit into the strategy pretty naturally.

I’m incredibly skeptical when it comes to the first Werewolf Legendary Creature. Wolfir Silverheart was barely playable in its day, and I think this is a lot worse. I’d like to be wrong because I love Werewolves and some of the unique lines of play they create, but I am not a believer in the Uncontested Alpha.

This is exciting.

Accumulated Knowledge has seen significant play in Legacy, and even Vintage at times in Magic’s history, and this card does a pretty reasonable impression. My first thought is it’s a bit disappointing this card isn’t an instant, but there are a lot of ways to make this card exceptional.

The first is to play a deck that will draw a lot of cards and find more copies of Take Inventory faster than normal; a la Martin Muller’s Mono-Blue Prison deck:

Mono-Blue Prison ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Martin Muller, Grand Prix Manchester Top 16

• Spells (36)
• 4 Anticipate
• 4 Hydrolash
• 1 Rise from the Tides
• 3 Day's Undoing
• 4 Engulf the Shore
• 4 Nagging Thoughts
• 4 Part the Waterveil
• 4 Pore Over the Pages
• 4 Jace's Sanctum
• 4 Prism Ring

• Lands (24)
• 24 Island

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
• 4 Negate
• 1 Displacement Wave
• 4 Thing in the Ice
• 2 Invasive Surgery

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This deck is certainly a whacky one. The point of the deck is to more-or-less lock the opponent out of the game for so long that eventually a single turn of Rise from the Tides and Part the Waterveil ends the game. The deck does this by assembling multiple Prism Rings and casting draw spell after draw spell in order to just cast multiple Blue spells and stay above zero life. The velocity of this deck really makes it stand out as an archetype that would benefit from Take Inventory’s inclusion.

The other type of deck that would like a Take Inventory-esque card are control decks with very few kill conditions that plan to make the game take as long as possible:

Esper Control ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Emma Handy

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
• 2 Narset Transcendant

• Spells (23)
• 1 Ojutai's Command
• 2 Anguished Unmaking
• 2 Ultimate Price
• 3 Scatter to the Winds
• 1 Planar Outburst
• 3 Ruinous Path
• 3 Transgress the Mind
• 4 Languish
• 4 Take Inventory

• Lands (27)
• 1 Plains
• 3 Island
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Port Town
• 3 Choked Estuary
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Prairie Stream
• 4 Shambling Vent
• 4 Sunken Hollow

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This type of deck doesn’t plan to win the game until it has already seen half of its library and answered almost everything the opponent is planning to do. These types of decks have been held back by the presence of G/W Tokens (and all of the diverse threats that archetype can present) but with such an efficient draw spell it is entirely possible this strategy can make a resurgence.

Take Inventory really is all that and a bag of chips

Unsubstantiate is just a bag of chips; and by that I mean it is a bag of air with a little bit of substance at the bottom.

Many people are comparing this card to Remand in terms of power, but that is incorrect. Remand’s power lies in the fact that it eats a turn from the opponent AND replaces itself. This is what makes Remand as good as Time Warp (for far less mana) at times. It gives the draw that an additional turn would also grant.

A much better comparison for this card would be a Disperse-styled effect with upside. Bounce spells do see play from time to time (Vapor Snag was the best instant in Standard for a short time) but they require a very specific type of deck to see reasonable amounts of play.

This card fits perfectly under that line of thinking. This card isn’t horrible, but it needs a very specific set of circumstances in order to see lots of play in Standard.

If a very good 1-drop is printed in the near future (See: Monastery Swiftspear, Delver of Secrets, Figure of Destiny, etc.) then there’s a strong chance this will see play alongside Rattlechains or Stormchaser Mage. Until then, don’t try and force this card. If it feels really bad in initial play-testing, it is likely because it is really bad.

If you haven’t read the article explaining Meld, do yourself a favor and read this.

Both of the cards that combine to make The Writhing Township are playable in their own right, and that makes them an incredibly attractive option for competitive Magic. The first shell they could both fit in would be a R/G tokens-styled deck that focuses on going wide, and then making the tokens get big:

R/G Tokens ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Emma Handy

• Creatures (13)
• 2 Den Protector
• 3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 4 Hanweir Garrison
• 4 Sylvan Advocate

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 2 Arlinn Kord
• 2 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

• Spells (14)
• 4 Atarka's Command
• 2 Roast
• 4 Dragon Fodder
• 4 Oath of Nissa

• Lands (25)
• 7 Forest
• 8 Mountain
• 2 Hanweir Battlements
• 4 Cinder Glade
• 4 Game Trail

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This list is incredibly rough and at a glance is very weak to fliers; but, take a closer look at Atarka's Command:

While the spell is rarely used for blocking it does give a pretty great answer to Archangel Avacyn when she attacks. The biggest concern is the lack of an answer to an Avacyn that flips, but if Archangel Avacyn decks decline in popularity post Eldritch Moon, this could be a real contender.

The deck I am most excited to try out post Eldritch Moon is actually very similar to the W/R Humans that Tom Ross has been championing as of late:

W/R Humans ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Emma Handy

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Dragon Hunter
• 2 Expedition Envoy
• 2 Hanweir Garrison
• 2 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 3 Anointer of Champions
• 3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
• 4 Consul's Lieutenant
• 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
• 4 Thraben Inspector
• 4 Town Gossipmonger

• Spells (10)
• 4 Declaration in Stone
• 3 Always Watching
• 3 Gryff's Boon

• Lands (20)
• 12 Plains
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Needle Spires

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Gryff's Boon
• 1 Always Watching
• 2 Hanweir Garrison
• 2 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 2 Stasis Snare
• 2 Silkwrap
• 2 Hanweir Militia Captain

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This take on the archetype actually eschews the Meld ability of Hanweir Garrison completely and just uses it as a smaller Hero of Bladehold-esque finisher in a White weenie shell. The curve on in this deck can actually pump out a surprisingly resilient board very quickly:

1. Kytheon, Hero of Akros
2. Consul's Lieutenant, Kytheon attacks for two (Opp at 18)
3. Hanweir Garrison, Lieutenant and Kytheon attack for 4 (Opp at 14, Lieutenant triggers)
4. Thalia's Lieutenant, Gryff's Boon on Garrison. Attack.
5. Base power/toughness after Thalia’s Lt is 3/2 Kytheon, 4/3 Consul's Lieutenant, 4/4 Hanweir Garrison
6. Resolve Garrison trigger to put two Humans into play tapped and attacking (Trigger Thalia's Lieutenant to become a 3/3)
7. Resolve Consul's Lieutenant trigger to grow all of the attacking creatures.
8. Opponent takes 4+5+5+2+2 for a total of eighteen (!!) damage.

This doesn’t even factor in if the Gryff's Boon were instead another Thalia's Lieutenant or a Reckless Bushwhacker. The number of effects that pump an entire team legal in Standard right now is staggering. Finding out which way to make best use of Hanweir Garrison is one of the first challenges I plan to tackle when the full spoiler is released.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and pick some up.

Buy Hanweird Garrisons. That card is a steal at $2-3. Will likely go higher, unlikely to go much lower. #MtGFinance

— Emma Handy (@Em_TeeGee) June 27, 2016

I’ve already picked up a couple of playsets and my last speculation-buy turned out pretty okay.

Smaller specs are one of the best ways to save a bit of money if you just need cards to play with. When cards are relatively cheap anyway it is unlikely that you will lose money and likely that you’ll save yourself a few bucks by buying early instead of waiting until a card spikes (when it is proven).

All of this really translates into the best way to approach spoiler season. Try and figure out what risks you’ll have to take to make a card good, for a card to be good, or for a card to be bad. Evaluate everything with as much context as possible and make an assessment from there.

Make sure and join me later this week as I debut my very first preview article; it’s a real doozy and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with the world!