Worldwake Spoiler Wrap-up 1/15/09

Posted on January 14, 2010

Worldwake is only a few weeks away and card spoilers are starting to surface around the internet. Keeping up with the latest Magic the Gathering spoilers can be a chore. That’s why here at Gathering Magic we aim to make it easy. We exhaust our resources to collect all the latest spoilers from forthcoming sets. Then we not only react and analyze them, we post them all on one convenient page! The following are reviews and wrap-ups of brand new spoiled Worldwake cards.

Join the Ranks - At first glance Join the Ranks appears to be a lame token generator in line with Cenns Enlistment. Not so, good friends, definitely not so. Slide this ambiguous four-drop into an Ally deck and Oh the Places You'll Go! Worse case scenario would be putting two +1/+1 counters on each creature you control. At best Join the Ranks can be used to completely turn a game when a dominant ally like Kazuul Warlord or Hagra Diabolist is present. Beyond that, JtR looks to affirm more allies coming in Worldwake (lots more in fact, the Orb of Insight lists 21 uses of the word 'ally'). Join the Ranks will likely see its most use in sealed competition, where Allies is already a viable strategy.

Quest for the Nihil Stone - Another rare quest for black, who had a pretty nice one in Bloodchief Ascension already. Not sure how fun an enchantment that encourages discard is, but Quest for the Nihil Stone is certainly effective. A focused discard build featuring a play-set of these, triggering separately, along side Mind Sludge could be pretty devastating. Maybe one quest alone isn't enough to turn Vampire Discard into a competitive tournament deck, but it is a good start. Not to mention this Quest slides into Blightning Jund pretty easily. Perhaps griefing is not something Worldwake has in short supply. That would be too bad, one discard motivator is more than enough.

Wind Zendikon - Another solid card that fits nicely in the 'land is fighting back' mold that Worldwake, by its very title is trying to create. Wind Zendikon has both pros and cons compared to its peer animated lands Similar to Faerie Conclave and Genju of the Falls. First among the pros there is very small mana commitment. Turn one you could have a 2/2 flier for the rest of the game without paying anything more. That ties in with the second bonus, WZ can enchant any land, not simply an island making it fairly versatile. Third, when your flier chump blocks or is spot removed you get the land back. Great for landfall activated abilities and makes sure you won't be the victim of a two-for-one. There are cons however. The land returns, and not the enchantment meaning once killed the creature is gone forever. Also because the land is always a creature it falls victim to sorceries and any sweeps. Just enough drawback to keep this one at common rarity.

Canopy Cover - It is nothing new for WotC to combine two abilities and grant them both on one enchantment. Usually these turn into good spells simply for the value given. In this case, one part Treetop Bracers and one part Robe of Mirrors to form a two-cost Whispersilk Cloak effect. Obviously not a tournament card (has any creature aura ever been?) but Canopy Cover will draw a lot of attention in casual formats. Of course that is nothing compared to the riots it will cause in sealed play. Giving giant baddies like Craw Wurm shroud and near unblockability (a word I just made up) is guaranteed to cause headaches and win matches.

Dread Statuary - This poor man's Gargoyle Castle is yet another example of living lands in Worldwake. Dread Statuary is a solid card, because any land that comes into play untapped and offers something for the late-game is decent. But not exactly a world-beater here. The biggest issue regarding the 4/2 Golem is the fragility. Two toughness means that almost anything blocking said Golem is going to kill it. If your opponent taps out and you have the extra mana laying around then 4 damage looks pretty good. Perhaps that is the key to effectively using a card like this is as a threat, an or else. Again not exactly something to jump out of your seat for. Of course I'll be ignoring all that and putting a copy of Dread Statuary in each of my EDH decks.

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More spoilers are being released almost every minute. Be sure to check the Worldwake Spoiler Page for any and all updates.

UPDATED! 6 More!!