Ixalan Spoilers
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 16, 2017, 2:50 p.m. by clayperce
Hi everyone!
We've been chatting about Ixalan here for a while, but on 21 Aug Wizards got into the act with four promo cards (and some upcoming tokens):
And then on 28 Aug they posted a BUNCH more:
- Mechanics and some new cards are here: Ixalan Mechanics
AllMost of the previously-leaked cards are here: Behind the Scenes with the Alleged Ixalan Card Theft
So let's talk Ixalan!
LittleBlueHero says... #2
I don't think we will see enough dinos to make an EFFECTIVE commander deck until after the second set. However, if you are like me you will just throw all the dinos in a deck and call it good anyway, until you can actually make it better.
Enough for a deck sure, enough for a deck with a solid strategy and cards that all work well in tandem... eh probably not.
September 1, 2017 10:34 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #3
September 1, 2017 10:53 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #4
Also, just want to mention that Huatli is the first actual RW walker (Nahiri, the Harbinger and Ajani Vengeant were just pissed off W walkers)
September 1, 2017 10:57 a.m.
Huatli should have been an actual dinosaur. I feel like pw deck jade might turn out to have more of an impact than real jace
September 1, 2017 11:02 a.m.
For Dino edh you'd only need like 20-25 Dinos to make it work, coupled with support. Unesh Sphinx tribal only runs like 19-20 usually and it's fairly solid. Just a matter of what support you get
September 1, 2017 11:03 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #7
Guardians I don't think dinosaurs can have sparks :/ however, I do kind of like curving the 5 mana bounce 2 creatures tutor for jace into jace. Also like playing the dino tutor for huatli, play her pump dino. Both are sweet for curving out.
September 1, 2017 11:04 a.m.
yeah, me too. I could see the jace going in a Ub/r/w control shell
September 1, 2017 11:06 a.m.
Hustling Huatli (my phone autocorrected to Huatli to Hustling, but I'm just gonna keep that as a nickname for them) actually looks pretty damn solid for a Dino Walker.
And holy crap Planeswalker Jace is actually great. Especially since it can potentially go infinite with The Chain Veil if you have a way to untap it with a creature and/or make it a creature.
September 1, 2017 11:08 a.m.
Huatli looks absolutely terrible lol even in a dedicated dino deck. Yikes
I like jace's untap ability. For mana dorks etc.
September 1, 2017 11:09 a.m.
I also like going 1 mana green merfolk, jace's sentinel, swing 2, Jace, Cunning Castaway, swing four and loot twice.
September 1, 2017 11:09 a.m.
Planeswalker deck jace will probably be the first time the planes walker deck card will be better than the real one.
September 1, 2017 11:10 a.m.
Well, we now have photographic evidence of how Jace lost his cloak and ended up in a tube top.
September 1, 2017 11:27 a.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #15
Don't forget about errated dinosaurs that are coming which will up the available creature count. Not that many of them are that powerful, but there are a few likely candidates to be errated that I would snap put into my tribal dino-EDH deck like Magmasaur, Fungusaur, Skyshroud War Beast, and Regal Behemoth to name a few.
Also lets hope the real Huatli is much better than what ever that PW deck version is...
September 1, 2017 11:32 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #16
Guardians Normally I would agree, except at 6CMC and no value beyond that, he's still trash. The other Jace is somewhat better as he can (somewhat) protect himself
September 1, 2017 11:40 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #17
I think the castaway dispar card is less about Jace stranded on an island (he's a planeswalker; he can leave whenever) and more about him trying to figure out who the hell he is (remember, he got mind crushed by Bolas)
September 1, 2017 11:41 a.m.
AgentGreen I'm mostly thinking about in UB or UW control, or as a combo piece
September 1, 2017 11:42 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #19
Control maybe; as a draw engine; but that's ALOT of mana for a draw engine (or even psudo-vigilance)
September 1, 2017 11:44 a.m.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if Fungusaur got a full fledged reprint key-worded enrage. Considering it was announced we would get "some fantastic reprints you probably didn't see coming." (direct quote) Although I guess this would mean people saw it coming if ol Fungy did get reprinted.
September 1, 2017 11:49 a.m.
Just cause it's trash doesn't mean it's not the best planeswalker from a planeswalker deck though
September 1, 2017 12:05 p.m.
I would rather draw than loot for +1.
Late game draw usually works really well.
You have Creatures out for protection, and that is when you need cards in hand.
Particularly in Control.
Think Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
I see a real place for PW Jace.
September 1, 2017 12:19 p.m. Edited.
LittleBlueHero says... #24
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor, Qolorful
I wasn't trying to say there won't be enough dinos for a commander deck, there definitely will. I just meant that throwing 20-25 dinos together isn't going to make an EFFECTIVE dino deck. From what I have seen not all the Dinosaurs abilities really match up all that well.
Ideally with Gishath I would want a lot of aggressive dinos like Goring Ceratops. I wouldn't want to run the new uncommon that makes me deal combat damage based on toughness normally because it negatively effects my commander etc.
So there will be plenty of dinos for the deck, I just don't think all of them will really be the best fit. A problem that will hopefully be rectified in future sets.
Also as for the Unesh comparison... Unesh has a great ability that is beneficial even if you aren't playing a ton of Sphinx. Gishath on the other hand, its ability becomes useless if you aren't running plenty of dinos and is just a keyword soup commander. And with Unesh it doesn't matter if the sphinx you run are good, bad or otherwise they still trigger its ability the same. With the dinos, if they don't have fun etb or aren't all that good all you get is board presence and a target on your head.
September 1, 2017 12:20 p.m.
Guardians: Jace, Cunning Castaway is actually even more useless than you thought. If you swing and connect with 3 creatures, you're still only looting for one. That pesky "one or more" clause in his first ability prevents it from actually being useful. This is probably one of, if not the, worst 3 CMC Planeswalker... The only thing he has going for him is infinite drakes with Doubling Season.
It's sad though... We went from Blue Gold straight to Trash...
September 1, 2017 3:26 p.m.
I think we should reserve judgements about the new Jace for after we see him in practice. Let's face it. People haven't been entirely consistent in judging walkers' power in the past. A lot of people at my LGS said Liliana, the Last Hope wouldn't be very competitive, and If I'm correctly informed there was a hype about Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded, which ended up being horrible. You can't be sure until it plays itself out I think
September 1, 2017 3:37 p.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #29
Ya, the internet said Liliana, the Last Hope was terrbible. They said Saheeli Rai was terrible, and although she's pretty meh before Felidar Sovereign was spoiled, she's still actually pretty strong. Remember when Reddit said Tarmagoyf was probably the worse card in Future Sight? Ya. We suck at judging cards.
September 1, 2017 3:41 p.m.
Besides the Planeswalker Deck 'Walkers, Wizards posted a bunch of other cards from the deck here.
Not sure about y'all, but the highlight for me is probably the new Basic Lands, showing Jace on walkabout. :-)
September 1, 2017 3:43 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #31
I love all the hate towards Jace when literally every 3 cmc planeswalker has seen considerable competitive play outside of the ones printed in goofy sets like conspiracy and maybe Gideon of the Trials. Not saying that WoTC won't eventually make a bad 3 cmc planeswalker, but more than likely the new Jace will be as busted as the rest.
September 1, 2017 3:49 p.m.
Yeah to be honest, if he had been able to loot 1 for each creature that landed a hit, he'd be beyond broken with just the +1. Then add the ability to protect himself and copy himself for more of it. It doesn't seem bad to me as it is. I won't make judgements yet though
September 1, 2017 3:53 p.m.
Ok this is some really off-the-wall speculation from another website, but it was just so intriguing I had to share.
What if "the Planewalker Angrath" was actually Tahngarth, the former First Mate of the Skyship Weatherlight?
At first I was thinking it couldn't be. Most obviously, the names don't match. And further, Dragonskull Summit makes it pretty clear Angrath was a Planeswalker: When the Planeswalker Angrath called dinosaurs "dragons," the name stuck in certain pirate circles.
But the difference in names could easily be explained away by the difficulty of translating Minotaur into Pirate. And the flavor text on Angrath's Marauders is a little less clear: Captain Angrath cares less about treasure than mayhem. If he can't leave Ixalan, he'll burn the plane down. So maybe Angrath's spark died. But maybe he never had a spark, and could only Planeswalk via the Weatherlight (and later, the Victory).
Another castaway (besides Jace) would be insanely flavorful. And from a story-arc perspective, it would provide a GREAT excuse for our return to Dominaria next April. Hmmm ...
Here's more about Tahngarth.
September 1, 2017 5:32 p.m. Edited.
Tahngarth would need to be around 400 years old if he did in fact become Angrath.
September 1, 2017 5:51 p.m.
Ryjo,
Ah, I wasn't sure on the timeline. That makes it even more unlikely, for sure. Though Tahngarth had a bunch of Phyrexian modifications, so I suppose it's still possible.
September 1, 2017 5:57 p.m.
It would explain why there is a Minotaur on one of the booster pack's art although that doesn't mean the mystery Minotaur is Tahngarth. But it does look like Angrath is a Minotaur as the design on the packaging does depict a violent crazed pirate Minotaur.
September 1, 2017 6:09 p.m.
realBorborygmos says... #37
HEY, Argy! THERE'S AT LEAST ONE MINOTAUR ON IXALAN!
September 1, 2017 6:36 p.m. Edited.
windlnk,
Oh that's cool, I hadn't noticed that at all. Thanks!
September 1, 2017 6:39 p.m.
I am getting both planeswalker decks and a bundle. Then probably trade for more packs.
September 1, 2017 8:17 p.m.
"a violent crazed pirate Minotaur"
Sign me up.
realBorborygmos what if ... it is a PLANESWALKER Minotaur?!
September 1, 2017 9:16 p.m.
I think it was a planeswalker minotaur Argy. So it might be a creature, but perhaps it'll be a DFC and flip into a planeswalker.
September 1, 2017 9:27 p.m.
I'll probably need to trade for vampires to put into Markov's Kin and dinosaurs for dino EDH.
September 1, 2017 9:44 p.m.
If my LGS holds a draft event on the release midnight, then I might go to that. Super hyped!
September 1, 2017 9:47 p.m.
Booster boxes are $95 pre-order price at one of the stores I go to, so I might get one with the bundle.
September 2, 2017 8:48 a.m.
Sentinel Totem (1)
Artifact
When ~ enters the battlefield, scry 1.
Tap, exile ~: Exile all cards from all graveyards.
September 2, 2017 12:31 p.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #46
Worse than Relic of Progenitus, obviously because it doesn't say "draw a card," but better than Crook of Condemnation IMO.
September 2, 2017 1 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #47
With all the existing graveyard hate out there; playing Torrential Gearhulk just for its massive butt and fist may be the way to go, ick
September 2, 2017 3:14 p.m.
Hm,compare that totem with Tormod's Crypt
Exiling all graves is bad in standard but good in multiplayer.
1 mana cost tho...I don't really think a scry 1 is worth that much.
for a scry 3 i would prooopably pay 1 mana these days.
September 2, 2017 5:15 p.m.
It's never gonna be as good as Tormod's Crypt but it's standard playable (I guess?)
September 2, 2017 5:47 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #50
We got the real Huatli. I think she is pretty interesting with her -X ability. To bad she can't target players. I am not sure how good she will be yet.
Also, we get a hint as to why Jace is stuck on Ixalan. This probably explains why that Angrath PW is also stuck on the plane. The card is a better Banishing Light.
HARDsofty says... #1
I just hope there's enough dinos to make a viable EDH deck.
September 1, 2017 10:23 a.m.