This week kickstarted the first week of previews for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. The set is proudly wearing its Mesoamerica and Latin America inspirations on its sleeve and it's getting tons of love from the Magic community at large. So, what's it all been about this week?

Special Releases

First and foremost are the additional releases coming alongside with the set. For the first time, we're now seeing Special Guests - an ongoing addition to sets that allows various cards to be printed with a new coat of paint. In many, though not all cases, these new versions reflect the world they're printed alongside. These cards will infrequently replace cards from The List in set boosters and foil versions can be obtained in collector boosters.

Additionally, these previews showed us several box toppers that can be obtained with every box of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. These range from simple uncommons like Star Compass and Whispersilk Cloak and go all the way up to heavy hitters like Chalice of the Void and Chromatic Orrery. This includes first non-small printing reprints (i.e. not including The List or Secret Lairs) for both Amulet of Vigor and Coercive Portal.

Last but not least is the inclusion of Universes Beyond: Jurassic World. Much like Transformers with The Brothers' War last year, these cards can be found in both set and collector boosters and are themed after the beloved Jurassic Park and World series. Small amounts of collector boosters will even have ultra rare versions with the franchise emblem embossed onto the cards.

The Cards People Are Talking About

Bonehoard Dracosaur had people talking due to its extremely high power in the amount of value it provides you if it gets to live a turn. The consternation surrounding it is that in order for it to pay off, it still has to survive a full turn, which can be a tall ask in today's world. Comparisons to cards like Baneslayer Angel and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse were made to show whether it's really as good as it seems or if it's just overhyped. There's enough happening here it's likely to do something, it just remains to be seen how much it does.

Bartolome del Presidio is a pretty simple card at the end of the day. What got people talking, however, was the fact that Wizards was showing a willingness to try doing a little more sacrifice effects without requiring mana costs. This means that, despite his being legendary, you can potentially do some rather silly things with Bartolome in a variety of formats.

This card had lots of people on social media scratching their heads and reading the card to explain the card. Simply put, let's say you have a Glorious Anthem in play alongside Sovereign Okinec Ahau. When you attack with it, it puts a counter on each of your other creatures for the difference between their base power and their current power. In simple words, it's equal to the Glorious Anthem buff, so you put one counter on your creatures. The following turn, the creatures will get two counters because of the additional buff they received previously, and so on. A truly unique card well deserving of its mythic rarity!

Last but not least, the nerdy vampire that many players quickly latched onto when her art was revealed during Tuesday's preview stream finally showed up yesterday. The card proved an interesting design, doing very little on her own and needing external support to shine. As it happens, when paired alongside Wildgrowth Walker, Amalia goes pseudo infinite, allowing you to blow up the board. You do need something else to set the combo off, but it's got brewers all over in a frenzy trying to be the first to build the coolest new deck this side of Pioneer.

What's New and Pricey?

Everyone loves a big, dumb creature. Everyone loves it even more when it brings a one-sided Eureka along with it! Ghalta was a tremendously popular legend from Rivals of Ixalan and that legacy continues here. Guaranteed to be a bona fide Commander staple for years to come, it's also the kind of card that makes Reanimator players salivate.

This card has shades of The Great Henge in that it's a legendary artifact that can easily be cast with a big creature on the battlefield. While this card doesn't gain you life and draw you cards, it fills your board up with creatures, allowing you extra redundancy and power as your creatures are sent to the graveyard. Additionally, it pumps the ones already on the board, making for one hell of a card for decks like Stompy variants.

Token doublers are always one of the most popular things among casual players. Mondrak, Glory Dominus continues to be among the most expensive cards from Phyrexia: All Will Be One for a reason, and Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation // Temple of Civilization is no different. This one actually triples your tokens - not just doubles - and is incredibly difficult to get rid of as it merely returns as a land that can be flipped back over with minimal effort.

Notable Reprints

Even beyond the box toppers and Special Guests, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is packed to bursting with awesome reprints. We previously were treated to an early showing with Cavern of Souls being in the main set, bringing this powerful card into the world of Pioneer with it. What was more shocking was the printing of beloved cards like Gishath, Sun's Avatar and Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun. Even fan favorites like Chart a Course, Thrashing Brontodon, and Treasure Map // Treasure Cove are making reappearances once again, making for a strong showing in quality reprints compared to your average set.

Additional Resources

If you'd like more information on this set, check out the following links to various official resources from Wizards of the Coast:

• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan official card image gallery
• Where to Find The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Previews
• Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Mechanics
• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Story Episode One (additional stories can be found on the right side of the page)

You can find everything The Lost Caverns of Ixalan right here on CoolStuffInc.com, so be sure to check out our page and pick up anything that catches your interest! I'll be back next week to check in with everything else previewed over the course of the next week!

Paige Smith

Twitter: @TheMaverickGal

Twitch: twitch.tv/themaverickgirl

YouTube: TheMaverickGal