#skyclave

[mtg-art-daily]

Skyclave Sentinel

Artist: Joseph Meehan

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Skyclave Shade

Artist: Dominik Mayer TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Skyclave Apparition (Game Day Promo) by Mila Pesic

[almostlookedhuman]

[pikagatogirltits]

Have I ever actually mentioned how addicted I am to brewing Magic decks? I currently have 37 Commander decks... that is to say the decks I currently have physically built for playing with. I just thought it might be fun to share a list of them, complete with Moxfield links. I even sorted them into a few different categories for better organization.

Trans Women of Magic (pet project to build a deck around every canon trans woman on a Magic card)

Alesha Says Trans Rights - Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. RWB power 2 or less recursion shenanigans. My personal favorite deck.

Ballroom Blitz - Xantcha, Sleeper Agent. BR goad and group "hug."

Hit and Run Time - Arcee, Sharpshooter. RW +1/+1 counters and combat tricks.

Legends Never Die - Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate. RB reanimator and +1/+1 counters. (Characters who get multiple cards I'm probably only going to hold myself to building one deck per character, but I like how Granny Alesha plays well enough to build her anyways.)

The Doctors Are In - Rose Noble and The Fourteenth Doctor. WURG Doctor Who themed deck, mainly wins via Gallifrey Stands.

When Fluffy Bunnies Attack - Cadira, Caller of the Small. GW tokens.

Other Favorite Decks

Gatewatch Assemble! - Jared Carthalion. 5 color Superfriends.

Let's Go Lesbians! - Halana and Alena, Partners. RG +1/+1 counters.

Squirrels Squirrels Squirrels! - Chatterfang Squirrel General. BG tokens aristocrats.

Ziatora the Burninator - Ziatora the Incinerator. BRG sacrifice with a strong focus on self reanimating creatures.

Artisan Commander (commons and uncommons only)

A Wizard Did It - Balmor, Battlemage Captain. UR wizard typal and spell slinger.

Iron Gut Rampage - Gut, True Soul Zealot + Agent of the Iron Throne. BR tokens aristocrats.

Rograkh and His Puppy - Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh + Anara, Wolvid Familiar. GR Voltron.

That's a Lot of Elves! - Miara, Thorn of the Glade + Numa, Joraga Chieftain. BG elf typal.

The Ups and Downs of Life - Dina, Soul Steeper. BG lifegain.

To Arms! - Akiri, Fearless Voyager. RW equipment.

Typal Decks

Changeling - Morophon, the Boundless. 5 color changeling "typal" aka a bunch of different typal lords combined with changeling cards.

Cleric - Orah, Skyclave Hierophant. WB cleric typal/graveyard shenanigans with a lifegain subtheme.

Dinosaur - Pantlaza, Sun-Favored. RGW dinosaur typal.

Dragon - Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm. GUR dragon typal that makes lots of token copies.

Dwarf - Depala, Pilot Exemplar. RW dwarf typal with an artifact subtheme (with an emphasis on equipment and vehicles.)

Elemental - Omnath, Locus of the Roil. GUR elemental typal with a land subtheme.

Elf - Marwyn, the Nurturer. G elf typal.

Goblin - General Kreat, the Boltbringer. R goblin typal. (General Kreat is the third commander for this deck after Krenko, Mob Boss and Pashalik Mons as I try to hit the sweet spot of "strong but not too strong for my very casual playgroup.)

Pirate - Admiral Beckett Brass. UBR pirate typal with a treasure subtheme.

Rogue - Anowon, the Ruin Thief. UB rogue typal with mill and theft subthemes. (The mill is mostly there to enable stealing from your graveyard.)

Soldier - Darien, King of Kjeldor. W soldier typal. (Currently considering taking this apart and turning it into RW soldier typal with Commander Mustard at the helm.)

Vampire - Anje, Maid of Dishonor. BR vampire typal with a blood subtheme. (Second iteration of the deck, original one was heavily water damaged by a cat dumping it into the dog's water dish right after I had sleeved it...which managed to save some cards at least.)

Warrior - Tazri, Beacon of Unity. 5 color warrior typal with token subtheme. (Originally a Najeela, the Blade-Blossom deck but not one of those Najeela decks so I changed the commander so I wouldn't get auto targeted for running a powerful commander.)

Werewolf - Tovolar, Dire Overlord. RG werewolf and wolf typal.

Wizard - Naban, Dean of Iteration. U wizard typal ETB shenanigans.

Zombie - Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver. UB zombie typal. (My first ever EDH deck, it used to be helmed by Grimgrin, Corpse-Born.)

Other Decks

Daretti's Scrap Shop - Daretti, Scrap Savant. R artifact aristocrats/recursion.

Double-ment Gum - Yenna, Redtooth Regent. GW enchantments.

Oops! All Creatures! - Nikya of the Old Ways. RG all creatures gimmick deck. (Nikya's "you can't cast noncreature spells" isn't a restriction if I'm not running noncreature spells.)

Slimefoot and Friends - Slimefoot, the Stowaway. BG saproling aristocrats.

Ultimate Showdown - Buttercup, Provincial Princess (Sisay, Weatherlight Captain.) 5-color historic/legends matter with a token subtheme. All Universes Beyond deck, and all creature cards are legendary.

[niuttuc]

My Favorite Cards from 2024: Foundations

The year is pretty close to over, so let’s go back over the sets released this year (with new cards at least), and go through a few of my favorite cards from that release. I’ll group together stuff released together, in this case it’ll be the main Foundations set and the Foundations Jumpstart cards. Particularly welcome reprints might also get a mention.

I've been having a lot of fun with Raise the Past, and it's an excellent example of what new Foundations cards should be: a card that's simple, yet still powerful and at a rate we haven't really seen before. In the wake of Rally the Ancestors and Return to the Ranks. A mass of small creatures is a very white way to use the graveyard, and very fun.

A very splashy 3-drop, if you'll pardon the pun, Kiora has made an impact in quite a few decks. The base rate of a 3/2 that loots twice on etb isn't bad, but then the opponent has to deal with it anyway even if you've already gotten your value, because they can't just let you have a free 8/8 from your three drop. The looting helps to get to Threshold, wrapping the entire card into a nice package.

Doubling minor graveyard hate with fun copying and stealing effects is a good way to my heart. Abyssal Harvester does that, sadly it's held back by its fragile body on a creature that doesn't do anything until you untap with it. Still, I like the design!

Look at the kitty! It's like the cute dog but not an enchantment! I also love the cute dog, and I love cantripping bodies in the color that can best use them! A cat that'll make its way into plenty of my decks.

A lot of graveyard stuff in this list, but we don't see those kinds of rewards too often in blue, and a card every time is really good. Neerdiv does her best River Kelpie impression for half the cost and available in the command zone, and then she even enables herself!

I do not know why green got this card, but Spinner of Souls sure exists and is good! Not every green creature deck will reliably have creatures dying enough to make it worth the inclusion, but considering that Fecundity sees a decent amount of commander play, and Foster should see a bit more, there are definitely homes there. I do love an Evolutionary Leap. All of that on a body big enough it gets a chance in competitive formats? I'll take it!

Efficient engines that can both attack and draw cards at 2 mana are a really nice place to be in mono-white. Brigone is niche enough to get the counters with her own effect that she's not oppressive, and adds a nice tension between keeping her able to smack people with a lot of counters and getting cards to trigger her. Using her in other counter decks that don't rely on her Heroic effect is also possible, and makes her not just confined to those very few decks.

Twinflame Tyrant is the big mythic dragon for Foundations, and it passes the muster! Not oppressive without haste by itself, it pushes up an effect two mana from when we last saw it this widely on a body with Angrath's Marauders. It's simple, which is a plus, and impressive and gets people excited! Also an art that looks great in foil.

Sadly, I'm not the only one that likes Rev's design, and as a result she's currently at an unreasonable price. Moving past that, getting mana and cards out of every attack is very much something that's worth the four mana, and I do love stealing other people's cards. Being able to get up to three cards and treasures per turn in commander by attacking multiple opponents seals the deal on the design for me... If I can ever get some copies for a price I'd pay for a card in a commander deck.

I like Celestial Armor more than Maul of the Skyclaves, which it compares to. Targeted protection spells are generally too situational to warrant a slot in decks, so one that pulls its own weight by also being a decently threatening equipment in decks that would want that allow this one to be played. This in turn makes the game more interactive, because now players have to play around the possibility of the opponent running some protection spell. Everybody wins! Except the player who's removal spell just got fizzled.

Again, Archmage of Runes is simple, clean and effective. Combining two popular effects into one, not prohibitively expensive card, repaying the one mana more you spend on this compared to an Archmage Emeritus by the time you cast your first discounted spell.

A new Alesha! Who wouldn't love old lady Alesha, still turning sideways and still bringing back creatures to fight. Getting some potential immediate value compensates well the loss of some of the tricks of the original Alesha, but it's still a card I love being in the foundational set of magic.

Reprints:

Seeing this angel package return in Foundations is a welcome sight. Plenty of players love angels and that's a great entry point. Plus Youthful Valkyrie gets an ACTUAL printing this time which should help greatly with supply.

The vegetables package! Duress and Negate kinda HAD to be in the set, it avoids them having to reprint it in a standard set every couple years. Burst Lightning is a welcome surprise in this package of efficient base spells for standard.

In blue, we got the return of Witness Protection, which still holds some of the best trinket text in the game, beautifully tying together the design. Just for the sake of that, it deserves a place here. Brineborn Cutthroat is just a solid way for a flash deck to actually finish the game, and plays into the aspects of blue that appeals to many players (and gets it hated by many other players.)

Vampire Nighthawk more than any other card in Foundations sent a pang of nostalgia through me, and I wasn't even actively playing last time around!

Liliana, Dreadhorde General is a great card that sees play in plenty of commander decks and has seen play in standard, and seeing another reprint to keep the price low is very encouraging!

Scooze is back! I love Scooze! As long as it's not exiling my perfectly fair graveyard strategy, of course. Anyway, it's very funny that Scavenging Ooze started as a card from a commander precon and went on to become a "Foundational part" of Standard.

[whatsthatmagiccard]

Ooh, ooh, can I do one too?

[danco110]

“Wait, Ashen, you’re saying you can’t become a wizard?”

“No, Doral. Not unless there’s already one in the party.”

The other adventurers crowded around their rogue - a shapeshifter currently between forms. Presently the changeling looked like a young human woman, but with a rippling, reflective sheen, as if she were a reflection seen on the water. She anxiously raised her voice, growing in intensity to match the kor cleric berating her.

“I said I could be a rogue whenever you needed. I never said anything about a wizard.”

“You could’ve let us know that before we hired you!”

“You never asked!”

Doral threw up his arms in frustration and stomped a short distance away. “I can’t believe…How are we going to defuse…” he grumbled angrily, much to Ashen’s confusion.

“Oh, er, defuse, you said? Skyclave traps and such? If that’s what you’re looking for, then I can-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Doral growled. “If you can’t dispel traps, then I won’t risk my party’s lives on a lark.”

“Well, no, I just-”

“You’re fired. I want you on the trail back to Sea Gate.”

“Listen to me!” Ashen spat defiantly. “I’m just saying, I can be a trapbuster for you. I am a rogue, after all. You know, like I - actually - said.”

“Your skills won’t help you where we’re headed. Our maps say there’s no physical mechanisms to work with, just the magic.”

Though Ashen’s form was still blurry, Doral could see her hand come into focus and snap its fingers. A blue spark flickered to life in her hand and expanded into a vast swirl of mana.

“I don’t need to be a wizard to stop some fireballs,” Ashen smirked, from under her new form’s cowl. “In fact, I’ve seen and disabled all kinds of skyclave traps - as a rogue. But as a courtesy, I’ll look the part just for you, for no extra charge. How’s that sound?”

Doral pondered this for a time. Ultimately he relented, putting his hands on his hips with an exasperated sigh.

“You do sound confident…”

[ZNR Negate looks like it depicts a wizard, but the flavor text sounds very roguish, if you ask me!

Also, I like to think adventuring parties pay shapeshifter hires extra since they can - usually - fill in the gaps in party composition pretty effortlessly.]

[thecornwall]

Cornwall's Random Card of the Day #1190: Skyclave Shade

Ooh, almost a rhyme!

Skyclave Shade is a rare from Zendikar Rising. I wanna start with saying "Look at that art! Pretty kickass!". I know Magic upholds a really high standard of art quality both as part of being a card game and in general but this one here stands out in a way that most others don't(partially cause we've gotten used to Wayne Reynolds by now. But yeah, all his stuff is also great).

I note that this is a shade that doesn't have the shade mechanic(being able to pay mana to pump it equal to the mana you put in). Why is that? Well, the shade mechanic has kind of been gone for a while. Used to be you'd get one or two every block, but nowadays it's almost totally absent from the game. Well, for one, the shade mechanic adds board complexity, since you have to constantly account for possible varying power/toughness on them. Second, the "go deep into black" thing is kinda gone as well, which was most of the reason to have shades do that in the first place. Third, I feel, is WotC wanting to separate creature types from mechanics, since it does make it quite restrictive which cards they can go on.

So what DOES this guy do? Well, it has kicker, letting it be a good play at most parts of the game, and it comes back upon landfall, much like Bloodghast(which recently was reprinted). That means its a relevant threat no matter when you cast it, and it keeps being able to be recast every time you slam down a land, perfectly filling those dead-draw turns. Not blocking is a common downside they put on recursive threats such as these, so they won't be oppressively stally. Overall, a good design.

[inventors-fair]

Emergence: Hope Contest Winners

Our winners this week are @hypexion, @melancholia-ennui, and @wildcardgamez!

@hypexion — Lochthwain Dawn

I think this flavor text caught me off guard a little bit, but it's something vitally important to black's color identity that we don't get to see a lot of in a positive light: endurance. Green and black have that overlap of endurance that's even given rise to the elemental namesake. The difference is that the contextualization of black's endurance is often portrayed at the expense of someone else. Here, we have the knights of the realm fighting for the realm in a manner that shows a type of single-minded devotion eschewing selfishness. We take those pleasant surprises when we can, especially in the context of it being well-justified on top.

Obviously in various cheesy formats this card can go infinite with sac triggers, but Commander is in a place right now where I don't really care about taking it seriously. As a five-drop curve-topper in aggro decks, this card makes your opponents have strong reconsiderations for combat, and I love how the math changes. Swinging in becomes, well—more hopeful! Honestly, where the flavor is excellently executed, the gameplay fits more with the theme of the contest, in my opinion. And in a good way! You can always let your creature turn into chump-blockers if you need to make your swings, and that's the kind of strategy that I like to see rewarded.

@melancholia-ennui — Enduring Legacy

Lol @ the "Enduring" cycle from Duskmourn. I was just trying to think of where that cycle came from as I was looking at this card, and then it struck me. Not that this has anything to do with that, but all the same... I was thoroughly impressed the first time I read through it and I'm still impressed with it now. Of course, I think that it's an absolute nightmare to deal with, but that's also because I'm a hatebears fan, and I want to chain together Skyclave Apparitions and tutor with a sac outlet for my Adelines and Thalias. The more I talk about it the more I feel that this card could use a little less power somehow but for the time being, be thankful you can get away with me wanting to be evil. So, so evil.

Does that have anything to do with hope? Conceptually, not really, because this card may be a come-from-behind kind of deal but it's less about that and more about the celebration of life, I feel. The death is not so much death as it is a passing-on, and the representation here just happens to align with a gameplay strategy that my brain wants to, ah, "inflict on" other people more than "play with." That's okay, power is okay! Children and parents and society's passing-on of information and strength is indeed vital to the concepts at large. No knocking ya there.

@wildcardgamez — Tomorrow

What is Tomorrow? Tomorrow comes on a thousand thundering legs through the clouds. Tomorrow breaks the storm and the fog, devours the cold of night and whatever restlessness comes with its snapping predators. Tomorrow is the element that marries the celestial presence of awe and the solemn inner meditation of time's passage. Tomorrow bears eyes that always look forward and wings that always push yesterday's breath behind. Tomorrow will not last, but it will always return, even if you can't see it, even if sight has left you, even when the stars have traveled to other worlds, broken their paths, gone out with the moon and the towers and the hands that swore to you, silently, that they would be with you when Tomorrow arrived upon you and you alone.

But why a finality counter? I think a replacement effect might've been a little better for that one line of text; otherwise, yeah, it's a great card that speaks to a cycle (kinda, by past precedent) and makes me feel real good about opening it if I ever did. Miracles in various formats never really took off past that one Legacy deck, but hell, why can't we try again with bodies and whatnot? Creatures are the lifeblood of their formats. I love the sheer power put into this card, sincerely. It feels great to look at and great to play, I imagine. Miracle's a tough mechanic but it's so awesome here. Hope indeed! Hope indeed.

Runners on the horizon. @abelzumi

[danshive]

Current cow deck. It’s not exceptionally good, but it has a decent win record when not playing against really fast, or exceptionally powerful, decks.

Giant Ox + Colossal Plow is ridiculous, especially if you play the plow on turn two, and the ox on turn three. This can result in playing 1-2 additional cards turn three, including Bruse Tarl.

Lantern Flare is the result of deep cow lore in which a cow was blamed for the Great Chicago Fire by knocking a lantern over (which I’m pretty sure isn’t true).

Equipment is excused by the presence of a warrior rancher and potential knights (which is good, because the deck often relies on them).

Restless Bivouac is somewhat ridiculous, giving backup in the even of board wipes.

Ox of Agonas rarely gets summoned from the graveyard, but the option is welcome, and card draw can be great.

Makindi Ox can also be good IF YOU REMEMBER TO PLAY LANDS *AFTER* CASTING IT!

WHY, DAN? WHY DO YOU SO OFTEN NOT DO THAT?!

Deck 3 Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher (OTJ) 198 4 Colossal Plow (KHM) 236 4 Giant Ox (KHM) 11 3 Ox of Agonas (THB) 147 3 Maul of the Skyclaves (ZNR) 27 4 A-Plate Armor (AFR) 32 4 Restless Bivouac (WOE) 257 4 Ambitious Farmhand (MID) 2 7 Plains (M21) 309 4 Holy Cow (OTJ) 16 3 Makindi Ox (ZNR) 25 5 Mountain (M21) 312 4 Needleverge Pathway (ZNR) 263 4 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266 4 Lantern Flare (VOW) 23

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Maul of the Skyclaves

Artist: Joseph Meehan TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[markrosewater]

Maro, would you remind me again why WoTC moved away from Oblivion Ring effects (separate ETB/LTB triggers) in favor of Banishing Light style ones (a single trigger)? I was looking at the WOE card gallery and it struck me that Werefox Bodyguard would have been a neater trick if it had the old templating and since Skyclave Apparition was allowed to have it, I was wondering if the tool was still available or if the Skyclave (?)experiment(?) was badly received.

I assume it's to avoid interactions where the item never returns.

[fierceawakening]

As unlikely as I think it is we’ll ever actually get it, can the next Weird Unlikely Team Up Against Multiverse Threatening Evil be Everybody Including Phyrexians vs. The Eldrazi?

Random Zendikari, fighting off a drone from each titan’s lineage: The heck are YOU mechanical monsters doing here?

Random Phyrexian, killing one of said drones: Assisting you. If you wish, we can leave, fleshling.

Rz, stabbing a tendril-y dude trying to sneak up on the Phyrexian: No, I just mean… the last time you were here you were trying to commandeer the skyclaves into Turn Everyone Into You beacons or something. Now you’re here to help?

Rph, while gutting the remaining drone: You’re not the only beings in the multiverse who have need of unaltered mana. We just got back from a plane WITHOUT SUNS.

Rz, pursing their lips: Oooh. I really shouldn’t… feel bad for you, but I feel bad for you.

Rph, having no idea what to say to this, squinting with augmented eyes anywhere other than at the Zendikari: Three more drone squads are cresting the hill.

Rz, crouching and readying their weapon: On it.

They’re on a card.

[seismic-lawns]

Gladiator Big Talk: Foundations, White

So on the gladiator discord, (Gladiator is a competitive singleton format using the Timeless card pool on arena and you should check us out, it's great) I do a series of long, hastily written thoughts on every single new-to-arena card, and Foundations is looking to be a very big set for us, with 4 different products that each introduce new cards into the format, so I'm going to start putting them here. Some notes before we start:

This is comprehensively talking about every single new-to-arena card in the main set of Foundations. If I don't bring up a card, it's probably because it's already in the format or in Jumpstart Foundations, which I'll cover later.

I'm sorting this by collector number, which, for this set is somewhat baffling, so Ctrl+F is your friend if you want to find a specific thought.

Each card is also a link to it on scryfall, so you can follow along without having the full set open.

Without further ado, let's start off with Arahbo, the First Fang:

Arahbo, the First Fang: I love Arahbo's vibes so much and if you're dedicated it can certainly be good enough for a Cat typal deck. Ultimately, that’s all this kind of design is here for, but it’s still cool in that space and I want to explore the deck now.

Armasaur Guide: This is the first of many limited commons that are fully unplayable in this format, so I’m gonna grade them on vibes. This lil guy gets a vibes grade of B-, cute, nice flavor, but also too beeg and not silly enough to go the extra mile.

Cat Collector: I’m gonna disparage a card for being a bad version of an effect with “When ~ enters, make a food” later on but I do think life gain = token is a slot that does exist in the food deck if maybe only a little bit, so I’m a lot more hopeful about the old cat lady <3

Celestial Armor: I’m more of a fan of Maul of the Skyclaves, and I really appreciate this being both a protection spell and slotting in as a stoneforge payoff without removing too much of what made maul good. That said, Maul giving first strike is no joke, but I think Celestial Armor’s versatility might push it into decks where Maul wouldn’t.

Claws Out: I think you need 2-3 cats consistently to be happy playing this, and even then it’s not a great reason to play more cats than necessary. This effect is just too medium for gladiator these days.

Crystal Barricade: I was pretty down on this card, but I might try it in ruin your evening despite it not progressing the board much. Being a flagbearer that doesn't die to bolt is very nice. At the same time though, this does nothing at all so it’s probably just bad.

Dauntless Veteran: The fact that this attacks as a 3/3 minimum is cute, but it’s just a bit too low-impact for a 3 drop these days.

Dazzling Angel: This is roughly second to last on our Soul Warden tier list, and I’m of the opinion that we should be drinking pretty shallowly from that well even in the decks that lean into that aspect a lot, so a somewhat vulnerable 3 drop one is suspect. Flying is also not that much of a benefit, since your soul wardens shouldn’t be touching the red zone unless in emergencies.

Divine Resilience: I think this is a classic example of charmitis, where added versatility comes at the cost of neither option being actually individually enticing. I like my versatility, but I want to feel good about casting any one part of a card, and the base level is ok, but nothing I would actually slot in a deck these days.

Exemplar of Light: Flying Ajani’s Pridemate is already tempting, but one that also draws you a card when you do or put a counter on it otherwise makes the draw big for a deck like BW ruin your evening, but on the other hand that deck has limited room for stuff with MV more than 3.

Felidar Savior: Hey there Basri’s Acolyte, how you doing ‘n how you been? I see, Basri’s kind of been a deadbeat for the past while and after having a reception as lukewarm as Teyo’s, felt it best to sit to the wayside this time round? That’s alright, we’re still happy to have his favorite cat around. Did you get a haircut? Oh an easier mana cost, that’s cute. I’m happy for you, it looks good on you. Yeah, I didn’t want to beat around the bush either, but I just wanted to see how’re you’re doing before I let you know again that you’re great for limited but we just don’t need you in any decks round here right now, sorry. Yeah, of course, any time you make your way around a standard set again, we’ll be right here still. Hey, tell Basri I said hi, ok?

Fleeting Flight: This card is better than it looks, by a decent amount, at least in the sense that it does 3 different things that are separately each not worth a card, but doing 3 of them makes it a lot closer. That said, unless your deck wants specifically +1/+1 counter and flying, you will be disappointed sleeving this one up. Even if you’re in that niche, this is an ultimately small effect and you need to be going a lot taller than is probably wise into solitudes and paths right now.

Guarded Heir: I think it’s interesting that this doesn’t make the iconic 2/2 with Vigilance, but this is essentially 2 blade splicers which frankly could be a lot worse.

Hare Apparent: So uh. This card is kind of cracked in many, many multiples. That said, I’m doubtful we have both the ways to capitalize on its effects and also the ratio to maximize hares and payoffs. It’s a super interesting proposition, though, and I think it’s more likely than not that the card has some great potential.

Helpful Hunter: I am always glad to get more Visionaries at 2, so always welcome. I feel like most decks on companion though have some incidental enchantment synergies and it might lead to hunter getting pushed out more.

Herald of Eternal Dawn: Now when's the Krumar of Eternal Dawn? Real talk though this just seems like a not great thing to cheat out when we've got elenda and atraxa and the like, yknow. There is a fun gotcha element to this having flash, but the reality is that the flash won’t actually come into play in decks that would be slotting Herald in.

Inspiring Paladin: Welcome back to buff dog alert, where we let you know the latest in upgrades to cards previously depicted as dogs. This episode, Ainok Bond-Kin! Now it’s 1 more cost, +1/+2, innately has first strike (on attacks), but has the downside of telling you to attack, you idiot, why would you waste attackers with first strike?! Which is a real downside, but not like that much to be fair. 

Joust Through: This is a good 3rd option for Elspeth’s Smite, and I like the push to having spells that previously would have abstract bonuses (exiling instead, conditional pluses, etc) now getting tangible bonuses that always apply. It doesn’t make this one better than smite, but it does make it more interesting.

Luminous Rebuke: The vibes are brought down a lot by this being a functional reprint, but they are brought up a bit by two very brave lil guys, which i really appreciate. Vibes grade: B++

Prideful Parent: Very cute, not for us. Vibes report: A- ; The hardest part of parenting is not reacting with either a “you fucking idiot” or “oh my god you’re so cute” to your child doing something dumb as hell, and you know what they’re killing it.

Raise the Past: I loved Rally the Ancestors way too much for my own good, and wowie zowie this is so much better for “fair” strategies like Ruin your evening or WBx Aristocrats. This might not have the juice to last too long, but I’m excited to see where it goes regardless.

Skynight Squire: Being a on-rate creature that grows with creatures entering is really hype, and this gets into the air really quickly. I think this will go into particularly go-wide or counters style decks, but I wouldn’t slot it in unless you’re confident it’s going to fly fast.

Squad Rallier: We have a Savannah Lions with nearly the same text lmao i’m not playing a 4 drop version of this. Vibes report: C-, the bird’s not doing anything for me here, and I like goofy birds.

Sun-Blessed Healer: Yo this card is kinda messed up. 3/1 is much better than 2/3 for a lot of decks wanting to push damage (compare to Phyrexian Missionary) and reanimating any <=2 drop to the field gives incredible energy to Ruin Your Evening, where the first Luminarch Aspirant or Thalia is answerable but the second is much more annoying to beat.

Twinblade Blessing: Double Strike auras have traditionally been quite bad, but this one is the first with flash, and that can change quite a lot. That said, I think this is still just not worth a slot in constructed formats.

Valkyrie’s Call: I haven’t seen that one moth that reanimates your non-fliers when they die in a good deal of time, and this is much, much worse in the sense that it doesn’t impact the board the turn it comes in and costs quite a lot.

Vanguard Seraph: This card seems cool as heck in limited and I love surveiling in white, but Vibes Report: B, I love the aesthetics of Zendikari angels and the halo just always does it for me.

Ajani, Caller of the Pride: 3 mana planeswalkers from before the pandemic are weird bc they're either the most unfun, bonkers bs to deal with or just don't do anything remotely close to what a planeswalker wants to do. This guy is in the latter camp.

Angel of Finality: I'm stoked this is uncommon now but it's a classic nothing special

Savannah Lions: A classic, play it in cats

Ancestor Dragon: You know I think this isn’t that horrible in all honesty, frankly to my surprise. Do I think it’s playable? God no, but it’s more playable than you think. A little.

Ingenious Leonin: Glad we have it now, but yeah it's bad

Jazal Goldmane: Jazal is very cool but like it also suffers from medium idiot syndrome, where it's really only good if you're ahead enough to play a 4/4for4 with 2 relevant words of text.

Leonin Skyhunter: We've outclassed this in the past few years but it's still a cool add.

Angelic Destiny: I think this card has dropped a lot in my eyes from when it was first seen in M12, where it demands your opponent give you an opening, and when the creature you suit up inevitably dies, it asks you to pay a lot of mana to get back to that state. Additionally, we have so much removal that exiles these days, that I’m wary to include this into a really competitive slot.

Ballyrush Banneret: This is one to keep an eye on, because once we have cards like Captain of the Watch that really push a bunch of soldiers out, I could see this making the cut eventually.

Crusader of Odric: These kinds of creatures are really hard to be worth the work in singleton, and this one also doesn’t do anything to reward you other than being a big idiot.

Dawnwing Marshal: 2/2 fliers for 2 are always something to pique the interest, but I think we’re at the point where we need slightly more going for it.

Felidar Cub: Were you playing Ronom Unicorn? Didn’t think so.

Stasis Snare: Ah, the good ol days where Banishing light was too good for common so they made medium sidegrades of it forever until they gave up and put it at common.

Hinterland Sanctifier: Wake up babe new Soul Warden dropped! This is a big W for the decks that were playing all the bad versions of this effect, and I’m so happy for them.

[mtg-polls-cube]