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(Because "assorted excitement" lacked insufficient alliteration for my liking this week.) Anyway, here are some various thoughts on new cards from Zendikar Rising:
Magmatic Channeler
This card seems like a slam dunk main deck card in Red Decks across multiple formats. Its weakest default state - a 1/3 for two mana with a card filtering ability - is well-worn from the perspective of historic playables.
Augur of Bolas and Omenspeaker both saw play in multiple different Standard decks... And I think they had substantially less going for them than the Channeler.
Obviously, there is the prospect of its being a 4/4 for two mana. That's a hell of a return that doesn't ask much for the setup. You can Shock a creature on the first turn, play the 1/3 mode, and already be there with a Thrill of Possibility or some cheap action the very next turn.
If you're just going to use this as a kind of Tarmogoyf, Magmatic Channeler seems to me much better than a Hooting Mandrills; if only because future "Mandrills" utilize your graveyard rather than depleting it. Each subsequent Magmatic Channeler you draw gets the benefit of the graveyard you already set up! If you want to tap it, you can convert potentially enormously expensive cards into land drops, or make attacking decisions difficult while hiding behind an ostensibly innocuous 1/3.
Perhaps most importantly, this is a Red Wizard. If Heartfire Immolator can kick butt and take names in Historic, I really don't see how this one would have any problems making its mark. Kind of like a super Ghitu Lavarunner, Magmatic Channeler does kind of everything you want... While also reducing the cost on a certain Staple:
Nighthawk Scavenger
At this point, right now, Nighthawk Scavenger is my pick for the most important Constructed card in the set.
To the best of my recollection, I put this card on the playables map way back in 2010, in my various Grixis Burn and Grixis Hits decks. Alongside Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nighthawk helped to control the battlefield while one-upping Red Decks (which were among the Grixis strategy's few not-good matchups).
The difference? We played Lightning Bolt... They really - really - played Lightning Bolt!
But even against the one true progenitor of all things Burn, Vampire Nighthawk was not just good enough... It was great!
In later years the card proved even more valuable and flexible. Always capable of punching up, Vampire Nighthawk could trade with anything that didn't have first strike or indestructible; and simply dominate other mid-range cards that thought they were good at controlling the tempo of the battlefield, like Huntmaster of the Fells.
If it's just me? I don't even need the extra power!
But we're not talking about Vampire Nighthawk, are we? We are talking about extra power! Nighthawk Scavenger is like the feral love child of Vampire Nighthawk and Tarmogoyf... You know, an even more celebrated attacker (and sometimes spoiler of Red Deck schemes).
The card is outstanding on its face: It's Vampire Nighthawk-plus. It's smaller than Vampire Nighthawk only if the opponent has nothing in their graveyard. Just play it with any kind of discard or removal or even land destruction and this card starts getting better. And its better is so much better!
Power in the absence of additional toughness is of kind of medium dubious value if you already have deathtouch; but the fact that it also has lifelink means that you just race better the bigger Nighthawk Scavenger gets. It has evasion, so it's probably getting in. Them down three; you up three; peanut butter; chocolate; ad infinitum.
More importantly, in Standard, this card is even more contextually durable against Red Decks. Back in 2010 they had Lightning Bolt. Today they have Shock and Bonecrusher Giant... Neither of which will knock this Vampire Rogue out of the sky. Sure, Roil Eruption is likely to see some play... But our Nighthawk got better while their Lightning Bolt got worse. Sounds like a good trade-off for the Black mage.
Shatterskull Smashing
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Prediction: This card will just become a four-of in a variety of Control decks. Even ones that don't historically play Red!
It's just too good not to play. Many Control decks of the past were happy to play spells like Demonfire or Banefire (or Disintegrate or Fireball). Shatterskull Smashing is worse than every one of those due to its second Red mana requirement. But on the other hand, you could never play one of those as a land. While it's probably a stretch to imagine an otherwise Azorius deck that just played four copies of this (and its opposite number, Shatterskull, the Hidden Path)... I don't think it's too far off.
This is a card that I think is good enough to warrant play; the land on the other side is part of it... But the front side would be close for some decks regardless. It's not a paradigm-changing Modal Double-Faced Card in that sense; but these?
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Over the past couple of years, we've seen Red Decks at nineteen. We've seen quite a few at twenty-two. But with Song-Mad Ruins as part of the mix? I can totally see twenty-four being the new normal, even for fast beatdown decks.
Why? They will mulligan less while hitting land drops more; and if they ever find themselves with too much? Song-Mad Treachery is a win!
It might not look like a win, but there are increasing occasions where you might want a Threaten.
Like any time someone plays an Elder Gargaroth. Might you just win on the spot? You are probably going to lose if you let them attack, right? That's how this Threaten works: It's rarely very good, but when it is, it might be the best. The rest of the time (which is probably most of the time)? It's land.
While Shatterskull Smashing is mostly good enough to play on its own, I don't think it will change long-standing deck design rules. These, though? Net result will be more land played in both beatdown and Control decks. Ondu Inversion is the equivalent for the other side of the metagame.
Ondu Inversion
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Do you want this card text? People have been happy to run Aklroma's Vengeance, Planar Cleansing, and so on as long they've been available. For eight though? If you don't want it, it stands in for a Plains. Nice job hitting your land drop. Again. Look for conventional wisdom around mana bases to be meaningfully reexamined for the first time in decades. This is especially good for fans of the current mulligan rule. When aggressively tossing back seven for six, you run an increased chance of being manascrewed.
Cards like this, that simultaneously guard against Flood, are - wait for it - breaking new ground.
Archpriest of Iona
1/2 for one mana? Probably not good enough. 4/2 for one mana? Now we're talking!
Archpriest of Iona has a ceiling in the stratosphere, at least with regards to rate. From an inspirational standpoint, I decided to start thinking about this card purely in terms of White Weenie. There are numerous fast aggro cards in this very set that are going to make great teammates to the Archpriest. How about...
All three should be great; but Luminarch Aspirant especially so. If you just play it pre-combat, Luminarch Aspirant is a Fresh Volunteers; and can return you much more than two mana's worth of expectation given a few turns. That is just straight up... Not in conjunction with some kind of a Conclave Mentor.
And just a set back?
Warriors and fellow Clerics are a little cheap, though. How about a White Wizard?
You need to go back a few sets to get a really good one; but given a bigger format than Standard? You have Boros Reckoner or possibly Reflector Mage assisting on the Wizards front.
Rogues though?
Real quick... Do you even know the text of Audacious Infiltrator? No, it's not Standard-legal. Closest thing to a White Rogue you're likely to get your hands on even if you cast the net as wide as Pioneer.
So: If you are going to get the full text on Archpriest of Iona? You'll very likely have to branch out of White. Green has Tajuru Paragon and Red both Robber of the Rich and Heartfire Immolator, just among Standard playables.
But even intra-White? Given the number of slam dunk Clerics and Warriors, a 2/2 for one mana is not bad at all. And that looks like the proper expectation. Just don't imagine buffs and going To the Air without some color support.
Field of Ruin
Hold up, Michael J, you might interject. Field of Ruin is not a new card from Zendikar Rising!
You'd be right of course, but look at all the mischief you can get away with playing it!
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Moraug is bad enough if you untap with it. One landfall? Big problems for the opponent. A Field of Ruin followed by activating that Field? It's basically lethal without a second attacker.
Valakut Exploration is like a faster Outpost Siege. Outpost Siege was a sometimes sideboard card in Red Decks (if legal today, it would probably compete with the various four mana Chandra Planeswalkers and Experimental Frenzy for space at four); but was also a four-of main deck spell in one [very good] version of Boros. Yes, this is kind of a The Rich Get Richer card that isn't doing much if you don't play lands... But the extra damage, combined with the ability to double up with a Field of Ruin (or, say, Fabled Passage) all make a very nice package at three.
Confounding Conundrum is the real gem though. This card is going to have such wide applications! It'll be a four-of star in Yorion decks, just for the Blink ability (splash damage on Ramp, though). But when you're actually aiming? Field of Ruin is going to absolutely murder them if they play a land. You can mess up their nonbasic (potentially color screwing them) and get the action from Confounding Conundrum.
And that's with only one Confounding Conundrum in play. At some level, any deck that can cast this card might want to play it (and Field of Ruin) just for the offhand chance of drawing two copies. Heaven forbid someone actually plays a Migration Path or some such.
So, what's got your gears turning?
LOVE
MIKE
