Commander 2017 - Spoilers
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Aug. 7, 2017, 6:05 a.m. by Ska4Life1989
So looks like the spoilers have started. Cat deck first :D
https://twitter.com/Wizards_MagicEU/status/894475705614041088
and
https://www.facebook.com/MagicTheGathering/photos/a.215689245306.266597.201120755306/10159048875620307/?type=3
No idea how to link properly so sorry about that >.<
DemonDragonJ says... #2
Licia is quite nice, but from what plane is she? Does she appear to be an Innistrad vampire? That city does not look like any on Innistrad, her color combination is one that does not occur on either Ravnica or Alara, and vampires either do not exist on Tarkir or do not mostly resemble humans. She could be from Fiora, or may not be from any previously-seen plane, at all.
Also, why is her activated ability usable only once per turn and only at sorcery speed? Would it be too powerful it if was usable repeatedly and/or at instant speed?
August 9, 2017 9:38 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Bloodsworn steward, however, is very clearly from Innistrad.
Also, it is nice to see more dragons from Tarkir, as well, given that plane's high population of dragons and its block's focus on those creatures.
August 9, 2017 9:41 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #4
Licia does seem bad without evasion but she also reminds me a but of Karador, Ghost Chieftain's reduction ability. You could feasibly cast her for 3 multiple times in a game. Giving her evasion can come from elsewhere in the deck.
She has a minor love affair with Archangel of Thune. And the Bloodworn Steward in the deck means she could be swinging early and often, not to mention all the other haste enablers, The commanders ability to hit quick and hard and follow it up with bigger and bigger attacks isn't terrible.
August 9, 2017 9:54 a.m.
Theros have any Roman stylings? Or primarily greek?... The vamp + structures look Roman
August 9, 2017 9:57 a.m.
There's also some roman names or something going on. People have discredited Theros due to it being almost entirely Greek mythology (krakens weren't in the legends though). People are speculating Ixalan, in part due to the leaks.
August 9, 2017 10:19 a.m.
Ska4Life1989 says... #7
And we got our vamp commander. Cant complain as far as tribals go!
August 9, 2017 10:48 a.m.
Too lazy to link them all, but we got 5 new curses. They're good. We have a card that phases you out of the game(which should be put on Isochron Scepter) and a whole bunch of other stuff.
August 9, 2017 10:49 a.m.
Ska4Life1989 says... #12
Teferi's protection should be an auto include for all white decks now right? It protects you from everything at instant speed.... Someone plays any boardwipe and you can just keep all your goodies and synergy. How does phasing work with counters? Do they lose any counters they had before?
August 9, 2017 11:06 a.m.
Ska4Life1989 says... #13
OH and my favorite card so far (no image that i can see...)
Mathas, Fiend SeekerRWBLegendary Creature - Vampire
MenaceAt the beginning of your end step, put a bounty counter on target creature an opponent controls. For as long as that creature has a county counter on it, it has "When this creature dies, each opponent draws a card and gains 2 life."
"All will know of your crimes"
3/3
August 9, 2017 11:12 a.m.
Is that... An actual good-guy vampire? Like, not neutral, evil, or just selfish?
Edgar's fantastic tribal support. Exactly what vampires needed. There isn't much to say about him really. I do bemoan his lack of flying.
Some of the curses are neat.
Disrupt Decorum is hilarious, but people don't need to attack you to kill you. And right about the time you cast it, people are going to start staring at you menacingly.
Teferi's protection is almost perfect. It lacks just two things. First, it doesn't exile your library face-down, then return it before you untap. Secondly, IT DOESN'T HAVE SPLIT SECOND. Plus, it costs one too much to stick on an Isochron Scepter.
Agent_Fire I believe with almost no exceptions that cards spoiled on their respective tribe's day will be in that same deck. So Teferi's Protection should be in vampires.
Really good spoilers today.
August 9, 2017 11:27 a.m.
KingMathoro says... #17
Judging by the card number for it, it would appear like it is in the Vamp deck
August 9, 2017 11:28 a.m.
Agent_Fire says... #18
KingMathorohowever all the curses have a low card numbers
August 9, 2017 11:30 a.m.
Oh yeah, and Teferi's protection should exile your hand face-down too, and return the top X cards of your exile zone to your hand before you untap, where X is the number of cards previously in your hand. To protect against stuff like Delirium Skeins. That, or they eratta phasing.
August 9, 2017 11:30 a.m.
KingMathoro says... #20
Fair enough, I mean I think the decklists get released Friday anyways so we will know where it stands by then for certain.
August 9, 2017 11:32 a.m.
Teferi's Protection is super powerful in response to Cyclonic Rift, Wrath of God, Exsanguinate.
August 9, 2017 11:38 a.m.
They have to put all the curses in the dragon deck....r-right guys?
August 9, 2017 11:39 a.m.
Ska4Life1989 says... #23
Massive! They are ramping hard with an Priest of Titania, now vampires are ramping hard!
Also...
Another good finisher for the vamps :D
August 9, 2017 noon
Ska4Life1989 says... #24
Looking forward to more dragon and wizard spoilers now... Cats and Vamps are going to be hitting hard.
August 9, 2017 12:01 p.m.
Licia is broken OP.
Turn1: Bloodlust Inciter
Turn2: Gold Myr
Turn3: tap Gold Myr for 1 white for Chaplain's Blessing
then cast Licia, Sanguine Tribune for 3, pay 5 life to drop 3 +1/+1 counters, tap Bloodlust Inciter to give Licia haste and
swing for 7 commander damage turn 3.
And oh guess what, even if you kill him he always comes back for 3 in a good lifegain deck, if you don't loose to Felidar Sovereign, then you will loose to this second Derevi, Empyrial Tactician.
August 9, 2017 12:05 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #27
Alright, I am back on board with this set of commander decks purely based upon those curses. The Temur colored ones seem especially potent. Also, that guy in the artwork seems to have some pretty bad luck.
I'm am liking the "commander friend" cycle starting to appear with the Bloodsworn Steward. Last set was Bastion Protector in white, now this set has the red version.
Mathias looks very intriguing/different for a Mardu commander and I love it. Also, Bounty Hunter now has a commander home.
So since Teferi is showing up on two cards spoiled today, does this mean he is going to be in the wizards deck?
Lastly, Summon the Tribe is actually called Kindred Summons. The rest of the translation is correct making it still broken with Eldrazi.
August 9, 2017 12:16 p.m.
Mathas is actually a super cool commander. Also literally run Licia with Bloodchief Ascension and Vedalken Orrery and you're gonna be able to cast her instant speed pretty damn easily in a wheel and deal type deck.
August 9, 2017 12:21 p.m.
Mathas as would go well in a Zurgo Helmsmasher boardwipe deck, or visa-versa
August 9, 2017 12:32 p.m.
RedUndead40 says... #30
Licia far from broken... even in ------'s example. That is a setup requiring 3 cards that are terrible by themselves. And then when Licia gets removed you're at a 4 card hand on turn 3 with a poor board state. Maybe you get 7 through but then what? Pray?
Mathas seems coolest of the vamps so far
August 9, 2017 12:55 p.m.
RedUndead40 even on its own, those 3 cards do their things, 1drop hastedude is staple, myrs are completely legit, and when Licia gets removed you play the same thing again with a different lifegain card. You are up 1 mana due to the myr, and also "if it gets removed" is a no-brainer agruement. just wanted to point that out.
New blood really makes things interessting now, because it allows you to target your own creature. play vampire tribal and splice in something like a Stinkdrinker Daredevil replacing giants with vampires to basically shit them out for 2 less or for 4 less if you have Urza's Incubator. Also, replacing the word "ally" in ally/rally cards to change the text to "whenever a vampire enters the battlefield" looks like fun. Nothing I'd bet my game on but atleast fun to play around with.
August 9, 2017 2:10 p.m.
Following the Krenko comment, New Blood targeting Krenko... Yikes.
Kindred Charge is really good. Triggers ETB effects as well.
Even more anthems for vampires. Really, Wizards?
------ I mean, in commander, turn 3/4 Razaketh is a thing that can happen with regularity, making that commander damage look almost pitiful. I mean, big creatures on turn 3 are nothing to scoff at, but unless they're really powerful (Terastodon or Ulamog or something) they aren't all that scary.
August 9, 2017 2:33 p.m.
SteelSentry says... #33
The most important combo hasn't been mentioned yet:
Fractured Identity + Phage the Untouchable
August 9, 2017 2:48 p.m.
DarkLaw be thankful New Blood is for vampires and not dragons. Otherwise, you'd just see way more Dragon Tempest/Scourge of Valkas shit going down.
August 9, 2017 3:15 p.m.
SteelSentry or if you wannna Be really stupid, use Transcendence with Fractured Identity. I feel like that'd be even funnier.
August 9, 2017 3:31 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #36
Mathas appears to be from Innistrad, and patron of the vein appears to be from Zendikar, about which I am pleased, since no other Zendikar vampires have appeared in this set, thus far. I would very much like to see reprints of Malakir Bloodwitch and Butcher of Malakir, and, while another reprint of Vampire Nighthawk is extremely likely to occur in this set, I really hope that it has new artwork, since this is the best possible place for it to be given new artwork.
Finally, there is a card of Edgar Markov! I have been waiting since the original Innistrad block for such a card, and I am very impressed by it. I was hoping that he would be more universal than a vampire tribal card, but such a theme works for him, as he is the progenitor of vampires on Innistrad. If I ever make a vampire tribal EDH deck, he definitely will be its general.
August 9, 2017 3:39 p.m.
Honestly I find it interesting that we got our first (official) look at a vampire from Ixalan. Licia does appear to have kind of a Mesoamerican feel to her, and the whole Sanguine Tribute part of her name does feel like a blood sacrifice deal.
August 9, 2017 3:59 p.m.
Does anyone think a card like Exquisite Blood would have a chance at a reprint in the vampire deck?
August 9, 2017 4:23 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #39
Sure it has a chance, its a card whose value has jumped a lot thanks to its commander interactions. However, they may shy away from it since its also part of infinite combos and such, not to mention it paints a big target on the controllers head. If you can't combo off of it it might hurt more than help.
August 9, 2017 4:36 p.m.
Pretty neat. Totally not busted with Eldrazi spawn/scion tokens. It's basically an infinitely worse Skullclamp.
The cover card for wizards was unofficially leaked. Most people I've seen are hyping it to hell, but I really don't see it. The only good wizards with ETB effects are probably too expensive to print in the precon (and don't scale well in commander anyway). Besides, the ability is super expensive for a small payoff.
August 9, 2017 4:49 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #41
I won't discuss it until its officially spoiled tomorrow but I can say seeing her has made me curious about what the Wizard deck is gonna do... in a good way :)
August 9, 2017 5:18 p.m.
Lol I'm so stoked about Edgar Markov! All I can say is, its gonna be a party and Cloudstone Curio, Impact Tremors and Purphoros, God of the Forge are invited!
August 9, 2017 8:19 p.m.
@dlamars you definitely have your head in the right place!
If you have Cloudstone Curio, a 1-drop vampire, and Phyrexian Altar; you cast the 1-drop, get a token, bounce the 1-drop, sac the token to make a mana, then repeat!
Wincons could be Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, Altar of the Brood, etc
You can also use Mana Echoes and/or Ashnod's Altar with Metallic Mimic to the same effect >:)
August 9, 2017 8:47 p.m.
Yeah, Edgar probably isn't as good as Teysa, Orzhov Scion but I think he is at a sweet spot for fun vs. viability. Licia on the other hand just seems terrible to me, she should have costed 5 first cast and had flying imo or just lifelink/double strike. What a waste :/.
August 9, 2017 10:35 p.m.
Well... judging by the theme to these vamps Karlov of the Ghost Council could lay a major beatdown in combo with them
August 9, 2017 10:57 p.m.
I honestly like Licia, personally. (Then again, I love a lot of weird jank aggro commanders) There's a lot of ways to kind of abuse her reduced cost part, and in the right build she could shine big time.
Also, commanders who you can reduce the cost of when recasting them are always somewhat good as aggressive commanders.
The main issue is that she's too slow as a voltron commander and that her ability is only used once per turn. If you could but think about why Griselbrand is Griselbanned. If you could use her ability infinite times per turn, she'd be insanely powerful.
August 10, 2017 1 a.m.
Also, although Edgar seems underwhelming, he actually gets a lot of the things which you generally have in non-red decks but can abuse using red tech.
August 10, 2017 1:18 a.m.
Ska4Life1989 says... #50
Another fun vamp - note you can play lands with it, but need to use correct colours.
DarkLaw says... #1
Bloodsworn Steward seems pretty stupid. It's another way to give Krenko, Mob Boss, The Ur-dragon, etc. haste.
Speaking of which, I'm upset that it'll be in the vampire deck and not the dragon deck. But I guess they can't hog all the good stuff.
Also, if nobody already mentioned it, we got a Scourge of Valkas reprint.
August 9, 2017 9:09 a.m.