Magic Origins

[Jamaican Zombie Legend]

Decisions and tutoring -> value, like everything else now. Still, cool enough card and cool enough set. Pitchfork in the holster for now.

True, true. Tutoring for specific answers IS value. But this new card can do some Instant-speed shenanigans that Pod was incapable of, letting it eek out maybe a smidgen more value.

I know a three mana soft counter probably won't be even close to cutting it - but the Spell mastery gives me some pause as this acts as a counter and pretty good card quality at the same time. Good enough - probably not, but modern should love this?

Seems more like Limited fodder.

Modern would need an incredibly strong upside to running what is, as you said in the Edit, Condescend with less flexibility. A conditional Scry 2 just doesn't cut the mustard. If it bounced a creature or drew a card, we might be talking.

I don't play Standard, but from my many Tarkir block drafts, I've seen a pretty good countermagic suite in Standard. Silumgar's Scorn is effectively Counterspell in control decks that choose a Hexproof, Flying dragon as their finisher (like Dragonlord Ojutai or Silumgar, the Drifting Death. And then there are a bunch of strong strong, situational counterspells to round out the suite in things like Ojutai's Command, Disdainful Stroke, Stubborn Denial, and Stratus Dancer. I don't Calculated Dismissal would be worth it in Standard but, again, I don't play Standard....just mouthin' off for fun.

[Zombie]

Calculated Dismissal
2U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3.
Spell mastery — If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, scry 2.

I know a three mana soft counter probably won't be even close to cutting it - but the Spell mastery gives me some pause as this acts as a counter and pretty good card quality at the same time. Good enough - probably not, but modern should love this?

Edit - it's a slightly more efficient condescend if cast for 3 without the option to cast for 2 or 4+

Reminds me of Sage's Dousing, which did some work in Standard back in the day.

[Barook]

True, true. Tutoring for specific answers IS value. But this new card can do some Instant-speed shenanigans that Pod was incapable of, letting it eek out maybe a smidgen more value

It's also better at converting tokens into actual creatures while Pod has to follow the casting cost curve.

[Cire]

It's also better at converting tokens into actual creatures while Pod has to follow the casting cost curve.

Leap plus mogg war marshal? Three searches off one card?

[iamajellydonut]

So, going to bed last night I was scoping out a potential preorder from SCG. Go to bed with Evolutionary Leap at $3.99. Go to work and go online to make preorder and find it now at $6.99.

The hype is real.

[lyracian]

Full set is up. Psychic Rebuttal looks interesting but a little restrictive.

Psychic Rebuttal 1U
Counter Instant/Sorcery that Targets you
Spell Mastery copy that spell

Sword is also probably too slow for Legacy.

Sword of the Animist 2
Equip 2
Gives +1/+1
Search for a BASIC land when Creature attacks.

[QBChaz]

Sword is also probably too slow for Legacy.

And too shit.

[Barook]

I would rather have Jitte than this crap. Or SoFaI. If the costs were and , we could talk about it.

[Gheizen64]

It also give +1+1 and put the Basic into play tapped. Probably a bit too slow but it's a nice card for standard and it trigger off attack not damage to players or damage in general, meaning they have to kill ur creature before combat or you just trigger it.
Another cute card is the 1/3 creature that put a 1/1 thopter with flying into play and give all your artifact creatures haste, working as a pseudo-fires of yavimaya for artifact creatures that also give you 2 bodies to work with.

Vintage also got a 4/3 mana juggernaut if Shop still exist.

Black got also a cute combat trick into Touch of Moonglove , instant give a creature +1+0 and deattouch, if a creature get killed this turn, deal 2 damage to ur opponent too. In aggressive strategies this kill an annoying blocker (goyf, Tasigur, Angler ) and deal 2 to ur opponent.

Best cards were already spoiled, but i think the set's looking good.

[Barook]

Elves could now run a one-sided sweeper in the board if they wanted to.

[rufus]

Psychic Rebuttal looks like it's got 2 for 1 potential since it counters and copies. Pretty nice for black discard spells and maybe some other stuff. Probably too slow to be relevant in legacy.

[iamajellydonut]

Pretty nice for black discard spells and maybe some other stuff.

"Other stuff" doesn't actually exist. It's basically just targeted discard.

[Finn]

Rebutt is rather interesting. In principle it should be a lot like a redirection spell of the Misdirection sort. I find this new take intriguing. Is it better in Legacy than just redirection? (if the duplicate were an option, it would be superior against Show and Tell? - are there any prominent cases where recasting the spell is different from just redirecting it? Burning Wish perhaps? Or Thoughtseize?) If it is not a considerable difference than I would think that Misdirection and similar spells have it beat.

[Zombie]

Thoughtseize is actively worse for being recast, it'll be you who loses the life :P

[rufus]

"Other stuff" doesn't actually exist. It's basically just targeted discard.

There's some other odds and ends like Forked Bolt and Lightning Bolt, Gitaxian Probe and Diabolic Edict.

are there any prominent cases where recasting the spell is different from just redirecting it?

Recasting would be a *huge* deal because of storm triggers, but this just copies. It's significantly different because you become the controller - so you're the one that gets to name the card for Cabal Therapy or choose the card for Thoughtseize. There are also cards that target an opponent rather than a player (e.g. Duress).

Edit: Ninja'd - I think paying the life is worth the privilege of picking the card for thoughtseize.

Edit: I missed that Intuition targets!

[Barook]

Seems good in MUD, at least in the Workshop variants, as an alternative to Witchbane Orb. How important is the additional mana?

[Scott]

It's no Qasali Pridemage, Reclamation Sage, or Leonin Relic-Warder, but I think it's worth noting that this is the only 1 CMC artifact/enchantment destruction on a creature, even if only for trivia, and never for turn 2 GSZ/turn 3 activation purposes.

[Infinitium]

Excellent set. Plenty of potentially playable cards yet no strict upgrades to existing ones as far as I can see. Speculating through the spoiler;

Chief of the Foundry: Another lord for artifact stompy decks, which imo are the best of the bunch what with (artifact) manlands allowing a higher IMS count. Much worse than Master of Etherium though, and probably doesn't make the deck competitive still.

Ramroller: 4/3 for 3 with a playable drawback makes this one of the better artifact 3-drops. Of course, this says more about the state of artifact creatures than anything.

Archangel of Tithes: Linvala, Keeper of Silence sees some play in D&T. Then again, Linvala has a far more powerful effect than attacking/bloking shenanigans. Pass.

Hallowed Moonlight: Well, in addition to reanimate effects it does hose S&T and token generators (eg Batterskull). Still too narrow for competitive play.

Kytheon, Hero of Akros: So it's a 2/1 for W with an ability. Once in a blue moon it flips into an indestructible 4/4 that is still somehow easier to remove than the creature side (albeit the flip condition ensures it will have at least 1 blocker as it flips). Not sure an upgrade to Isamaru is something D&T wants, albeit the opportunity cost for including it as a one-of is pretty low. I like how his mechanics hints at him being a demigod (being erzats classical greek hero boy guy and all).

Relic Seeker: Stoneforge Mystic is better. It will see play in Soldier Stompy (with Kytheon's Irregulars), but SS doesn't see competitive play at all. Yay pet deck?

Vryn Nightmare: As Thalia teaches us, being 1 mana more expensive is a big deal. Angel Stompy yay?

Day's Undoing: Gut instinct tells me the drawback is too severe for it to see play, Leyline of Anticipation and Serum Powder nonwithstanding. See: Temporal Mastery.

Harbinger of Tides: Decent Merfolk 2-drop is decent. Still waiting for the deck to drop the 3-mana lords and start running BS. Maybe this could have a spot then?

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy: So basically you give up JtMS in order to play a shitty looter that eventually turns into a planeswalker threatening to recur spells. Twice. Over 4 turns. Nope.

Psychic Rebuttal: Conditional 2-mana spell to sometimes redirect 1-mana spells. No.

Thopter Spy Network: "Hey, this looks bretty good in Stax".

Dark Petition: It's like Demonic Tutor in combo decks! Exept, you know, too expensive to cast before your acceleration spells. Which is usually ah, after you've played out your disruption and solution spells. So I guess if you want to pay 2 mana to find the engine spell of your choosing this is the premium spell in the game. Unless you also want to play Ad Nauseum that is. Or the opponent plays GY-hate. Overhyped.

Liliana, Heretical Healer: Possibly better than Liliana of the Veil in decks packing Aether Vial. Then again, those decks tend to appreciate versatile creature removal. Maybe.

Shadows of the Past: I like this one. Aggressively costed. Not really playable unfortunately as Zombardment has better things going but I like it nonetheless.

Abbot of Kheral Keep: So, this is potential card advantage on a decent body for 2 mana. Assuming that you have at least another mana available. And preferrably haven't played your landdrop for the turn. And can account for 2cc. So, ah, turn 4? If you made your first 3 landdrops? Maybe as an alternative to Snapcaster in UR decks packing Brainstorm. Probably not.

Avaricious Dragon: It's a draw engine for creature decks that somehow leaves you worse versus mass removal. Pass.

Chandra, Fire of Khalesh: No.

Magmatic Insight: Cycling surplus lands mid to lategame, allowing you to run a few extra comfortably? Not a 4-of outside Lands, but at such a low opportunity cost this looks like a pretty good way to reduce variance in a variety of nonblue red decks to me.

Pia and Kiran Nalaar: It's a pretty good fit for WR D&T packing Vial and Karakas (and Imperial Recruiter). And Cavern of Souls naming human. Stalling and inevitability and reach all in one package. No idea if that's a good enough deck to actually see play though.

Scab-Clan Berserker: Fuck yes. This is maindeck material in RDW.

Thopter Engineer: Another playable 3-drop in artifact stompy decks. Hmm.

Caustic Caterpillar: Reclamation Sage and Qasali Pridemage are both better. This is a 1-mana alternative though. In b4 Ranger of Eos/Proclamation of Rebirth rules format?

Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen: Lifegaining lord that blocks Delver and survives Bolt/Decay. Silver bullets with general applications can be good, albeit 4 mana pushes it. Testable in Elves for Delver MU's.

Evolutionary Leap: Fixed Survival of the Fittest? Curiously, despite not tutoring and requiring one to actually play creatures this looks stronger in some respects. It's a one-sided Fecundity if you have spare mana for one, and allows you to abuse Vengevines and token generators for card advantage. It also protects recursive creatures from exile. Slots into Zombardment and Elf shells easily enough, and imo has excellent prospects of turning into a format staple overnight.

Managorger Hydra: Conditionally large 3cc creatures without utility have a track record of nope in this format. Meh.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer: Again, how the fuck does one end up making a 3cc Elf planeswalker unplayable in every single competitive elf deck in every format ever conceived?

Shaman of the Pack: Meh. Doesn't really add anything to existing Elf decks. If you have Symbiote and a GSZ you're still better off bouncing Visionaries nine times out of ten. I guess it is the best win condition available for Evolutionary Leap versions at the time being though.

So, looking through that again I'd say Scab-Clan Mauler and Evolutionary Leap are the subjectively strongest cards, with Magmatic Insight being a lowkey inclusion in RDW and Lands type decks and a few conditional cards seeing fringe play besides that. Not really as many playables as I initially thought.

Still, this is the best Dylan album since Blood on the Tracks as far as I'm concerned.

[Barook]

I'd say the top 5 cards in the set are, in no particular order:

Vryn Wingmare
Dark Petition
Scab-Clan Berserker
Evolutionary Leap
Shaman of the Pack

Other cards appear pretty playable, too.

@Infinitium:
I'll try out Pia and Kiran Nalaar in Imperial Taxes as tutor target. Being 4cc and the intensive red requirements are a problem, though.

[jrsthethird]

Seems good in MUD, at least in the Workshop variants, as an alternative to Witchbane Orb. How important is the additional mana?

I don't know, but blanking Young Pyromancer tokens sounds pretty good right now.