Commander 2013 Mind Seize

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Happy Friday MTG peeps, 

We have for you today part two of five separate articles we are doing on the new Commander 2013 decks just recently released by WotC to a very welcoming Magic: the Gathering fan base.  Each of these new Commander pre-constructed decks provides a ready to play stack of 100 cards including a choice of three legendary creatures to act as your general which may be also represented by an oversized foil card.  The card list is a solid foundation which you can easily adjust to taste - we'll likely throw a few of our nostalgic favourites we've picked up from MTG Mint Card into the original mix. 

The is the overview / review for Commander 2013's 'Evasive Maneuvers' deck and we've prepared a video with our good friend Jon from 'Command Tower' on Tumblr.  

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This Grixis (blue / black / red) has the folowing legendary creatures in the deck to choose as your Commander / General -

Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
This 1/3 Vampire Wizard has a cmc of four (one colorless and an 'grixis').  Not only does this fly but also mills (actually exiles) based upon how much you just cast her for - the spell cost and subsequent 'commander tax'.  From the pile of exiled cards, you can free-cast any of the spells whenever she attacks - very powerful.

Nekusar, the Mindrazer
For five mana (two colorless and a 'grixis), you can have 2/4 Zombie Wizard.  This guy forces everyone to draw an extra card each turn but goes further by dinging each opponent one damage for each card drawn.  We suggest you employ shenanigans like Forced Fruition for the lulz. 

Thraximundar
Here's a reprint from Shards of Alara. This is a great beater.  For seven (four colorless and a 'grixis') you get a hasty 6/6 which forces the defending player to sac a critter whenever Thrax attacks.  The bonus is that you also get a hard +1/+1 counter on Thrax every time a player sacs a creature as well.

This is the most difficult of the five Commander 2013 decks to get your paws on.  Even when stores had protected themselves on a product rush by jacking the price two or three times the suggested retail price, players still had no problem willing to pay.  Why?  A few reasons but foremost is True-Name Nemesis, a very powerful merfolk creature spell which a lot of Legacy players want - this will go as a single for about 40 or 45 bucks some places.  Balefule Strix, a reprint from Planechase also commands a price of 15 to 20 clams.  Another card of interest is Strategic Planning from Portal Three Kindoms, which original cards are going for $30 although the price is dropping as a result of the commander and recent Modern Masters reprinting.
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Angel Evolution

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Our local card shop, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario runs a Commander night on Thursday evenings and although we've not been out to one of these for a while, we're told that it is becoming more popular than ever and you can see all the recently released Commander 2013 decks at the tables.  We'll likely pick up a few extra singles from MTG Mint Card and upgrade one of our existing builds before committing to going though.

Anywhoos - there was one Commander 2013 card which caught our attention (yes, we admit that many more did) but this had more to do with the art than the actual game card abilities.  Specifically, we're talking about Angel of Finality with the lovely art from Howard Lyon.  We've seen this angel very recently in the Innistrad set - Angel of Flight Alabaster.

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The new Commander 2013 version is most assuredly a reference to the previous Innistrad one but beyond the art and creature type, everything is quite different.

 











Where the Innistrad Angel of Flight Alabaster allowed graveyard recursion of a spirit creature card from your graveyard to your hand, Commander's Angel of Finality nuked cards in a target player's graveyard.  Both these cards can still be good friends in the same deck however and we know there is a number of MTG Realm readers out there who have told us they have a thingy for angel themed decks, so we say 'go for it' - there are more than a dozen legendary angel creatures in a variety of colors you can call upon to be your commander / general.
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Now - for some flavor -
Innistrad Angels were organized into Flights of Angels - Flight Goldnight, Flight of Herons, and Flight Alabaster.  As our angel in today's article is from Alabaster, here's some background from the MTG creative team -  

The Flight of Alabaster
These angels personify the Blessed Sleep and are associated with the Hunter's Moon season. They provide magic that wards against the desecration of dead humans. In the absence of Avacyn they remained the most active and continued on to reinforce wards that protected the human populations.

This flight of angels is centered in Thraben, and is instrumental in maintaining Avacynian wards. These angels reside mainly in the Lofts and are a familiar sight to the inhabitants of the city. They generally travel in small groups as they visit the centers of healing in the city. Alabaster angels also aid priests and cathars in maintaining the protective wards on the city walls and holy sites throughout Innistrad. According to the other flights, Alabaster angels tend to be overly sentimental, but they think of themselves as practical yet sympathetic. They often do not travel with weapons, preferring to use their magic, and engage in battle only when the conflict can't be resolved another way. During the archangel's absence, the Alabaster angels were first to recognize the Avacynian wards were failing. Many remained active—more than those of other flights—doubling their efforts to reinforce the wards. These efforts likely saved Thraben from the fate that befell many other towns and settlements. 
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Eternal Bargain

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps, 

We have for you today part two of five separate articles we are doing on the new Commander 2013 decks just recently released by WotC to a very welcoming Magic: the Gathering fan base.  Each of these new Commander pre-constructed decks provides a ready to play stack of 100 cards including a choice of three legendary creatures to act as your general which may be also represented by an oversized foil card.  The card list is a solid foundation which you can easily adjust to taste - we'll likely throw a few of our nostalgic favourites we've picked up from MTG Mint Card into the original mix. 

The is the overview / review for Commander 2013's 'Evasive Maneuvers' deck and we've prepared a video with our good friend Jon from 'Command Tower' on Tumblr.  

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This Esper deck (white/ blue / black) has the following Commanders to choose from:

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
This legendary Giant Soldier costing six mana (3 colorless and an 'esper' gives you a 4/5 body on the field and has a lifegain theme in each of the cards three abilities.  Ability one nets you two life, while the second one allows you to pay one coloress whenever you gain life to chip one life off your opponent.  To ensure the life train keeps going, you also add another two onto your total even if Oloro is in your command zone.
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Sydri, Galvanic Genius
This Human Artificer costs three (one 'esper') and provides a 2/2 onto the battlefield.  Both activated abilities are all about artifacts.  For one blue mana, you can turn a target noncreature artifact into an artifact with p/t equal to the cmc.  The second ability allows you to pay a white and black to give a target artifact lifelink / deathtouch until end of turn.
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Sharuum, the Hegemon
Here is the reprint - for six mana (three colorless and an 'esper') you get a 5/5 flying artifact Sphinx creature.  The enter the battlefield effect has the ability to return an artifact card from the 'yard back onto the battlefield, which can get really crazy if you develop a strategy to cheat huge fatties or other high costed artifacts onto the field.
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This is certainly not an 'all in' artifact deck and frankly the list developed by WotC is not meant to be that but rather yet another robust list able to adapt to the game situation and happens to have an artifact theme.  Having just said that, we are keen to develop a major artifact theme with this deck at it's base - we would want to consider both Tezzeret the Seeker and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas in this mix along with similarily themed card choices.  One concern we have is that should you play Oloro in multiplayer, you could get hated on simply because of his lifegain potential.  
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Evasive Maneuvers

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps, 

We have for you today part one of five separate articles we are doing on the new Commander 2013 decks just recently released by WotC to a very welcoming Magic: the Gathering fan base.  Each of these new Commander pre-constructed decks provides a ready to play stack of 100 cards including a choice of three legendary creatures to act as your general which may be also represented by an oversized foil card.  The card list is a solid foundation which you can easily adjust to taste - we'll likely throw a few of our nostalgic favourites we've picked up from MTG Mint Card into the original mix. 

The is the overview / review for Commander 2013's 'Evasive Maneuvers' deck and we've prepared a video with our good friend Jon from 'Command Tower' on Tumblr.  

 

This Bant deck (green / white / blue) has the following Commanders to choose from:

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
A 2/3 flying bird wizard for three (bang) mana allows you to tap or untap a target permanent when either Derevi enters the battlefield or when a creature you control lands damage.  The most exciting ability on this card may be able to cast Derevi from the command zone onto the battlefield for only four mana (one and a 'bant') getting around the 'commander tax' requiring your pay an additional two accumulative mana for every time you cast the general.

Roon of the Hidden Realm
Here's a solid 4/4 Rhino Soldier costing five (two colourless and a 'bant').  Also equipped with vigilance and trample, this already seems like a decent inclusion but let's have a look at the final ability.  Feed this two colourless and tap it you can blink a target creature.  Exiling and returning one of your own critters with a sweet 'enters the battlefield' effect or perhaps removing an opponent's attacker or blocker is downright great.

Rubinia Soulsinger
This flightless 2/3 Faerie costs five (two and a 'bant').  This first ability allowing you to choose not to untap Rubinia won't make much sense until you read the second one.  Just tap her and you can now take control of a target creature for as long as she's tapped - not bad at all to remove a potential threat.

There are a lot of neat cards in this deck such as Azami, Lady of Scrolls for draw, Deceiver Exarch to play into the tap / untap theme, or the witty Borrowing 100,000 Arrows.  The list looks rather robust to address a variety of situations on the ever developing battlefield but we would rather take the chassis out and build upon it a singular theme.
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Commander 2013 Purchases

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Over the course of the weekend, we had the opportunity to yatter to a few Magic: the Gathering players - more specifically, Commander (EDH) fans.  The topic on everyone's list is the pricing of of the soon-to-be released Commander 2013 product on Friday 1st November.  The Commander 2013 product consists of five tri-color 'shard' decks reflecting the colors of the old Shards of Alara set, each with 100 cards that are ready-to-play right out of the box.  Each box has the option of choosing one of the three legendary tri-colored creatures each deck includes as the commander.

Anywhoos - the manufacturer's suggested retail price for each deck was pegged at $29.99 with the price for getting the set of five decks at $149.95 - which, considering the contents delivers fairly decent.  Then something rather odd happened on 14th October - an on-line retailed produced a comment on their FaceBook page indicating that distribution of Commander 2013 would be 'allocated'.  Essentially, a commercial strategy used in distibution of a limited volume of product, which infers a limited printing run.  This concern was put to WotC staffer, Mark Rosewater on 18th October who had replied "Absolutely not. We will reprint Commander 2013 if the current supply does not meet demand" which of course is a bit of a relief.  Having said that, on-line retailers who may have adjusted initial pre-order prices from $35 / $40 to $55 / $60 have been sluggish to correct and may not likely re-adjust pricing until after the second print and distribution wave.

A few players we've talked to indicate that they may simply pick up Commander 2013 at a big box retailer like Walmart or Target which ultimately has an adverse effect on the local brick 'n' mortar gaming stores.  Here in Canada as is the case in most places around the globe are not able to order sealed product across borders.  To this end, we checked out Canadian on-line retailer Face to Face Games in Verdun, Québec who can ship sealed (French and English language) product across Canada.  Their page does list all the Commander 2013 product at MSRP for the moment but had completely sold out with pre-orders.  They indicate that when they re-stock, they will make all attempts to be as close to the MSRP as possible - very decent!

Personally we were planning on picking up at least two decks at OMG! Games here in Barrie and then grab a handful of Commander 2013 singles from MTG Mint Card.  We may now just pick up one deck and wait until the second wave to pick to get the other.
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For reference, here is a snap-shot of what prices are for some selected 'money cards' and sealed product as of Monday morning - this may very well change by this afternoon, so take note.

True-Name Nemesis ~ $30
Unexpectedly Absent ~ $15
Baleful Strix ~ $15
Toxic Deluge ~ $12
Goblin Sharpshooter ~ $10

Retailers
SCG - StarCity Games
CSI - Cool Stuff Inc.
CF - Channel Fireball
TnT - Troll and Toad

• Evasive Maneuvers (bant - white / blue / green)
SCG - $59.99
CSI - $41.99
CF - $49.99
TnT - $54.99

• Eternal Bargain (esper - white / blue / black)
SCG - $49.99
CSI - $49.99
CF - $49.99
TnT - $49.99

• Mind Seize (grixis - blue / black / red)
SCG - $69.99
CSI - $59.99
CF - $69.99
TnT - $54.99

• Power Hungry (jund - black / red / green)
SCG - $49.99
CSI - $41.99
CF - $49.99
TnT - $44.99

• Nature of the Beast (naya - white / red / green)
SCG - $59.99
CSI - $39.99
CF - $49.99
TnT - $49.99

All five decks
SCG - $199.99
CSI - $189.99
CF - $199.99
TnT - $199.99
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Commander 2013 Notes

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

In just over a week, we will be heading over to OMG! Games here in Barrie and picking up one or perhaps two Commander 2013 decks.  We'll also be dropping over to MTG Mint Card to grab a few singles from Commander 2013 to get into our other tall EDH stacks as we had recently found out we were short of a few common staples (like Command Tower - duh!) :(

 







Anywhoos -  Commander 2013 Edition is the next product in the Commander series to be released by Wizards of the Coast on November 1st, 2013.  The Commander 2013 product consists of five tri-color 'shard' decks reflecting the colors of the old Shards of Alara set, each with 100 cards that are ready-to-play right out of the box.  Each box has the option of choosing one of the three legendary tri-colored creatures each deck includes as the commander. The five new Commander decks each contain two brand new three-color legendary creatures and 13 other never-before-printed cards.  There are also 51 unique new cards spread across the five decks with some cards appearing in one or more of the decks.

Righto - On Tuesday the mothership posted a very handy 'Release Notes' page for Commander 2013 and we suggest you give it a read - the linky is here.  Here at MTG Realm, we have a soft spot for card cycles and here are just two different cycles you'll see in Commander 2013 -
 
Introduced in the Innistrad set, Curses are a kind of Aura that enchant a player and have a negative effect. This release includes a cycle of Curses that cause something to happen when the enchanted player is attacked.  A Curse spell targets the player it will enchant like any other Aura spell, and a Curse stays on the battlefield like any other Aura. Each Commander 2013 deck has access to three of the five curses. — Curse of the Forsake, Curse of Inertia, Curse of Shallow Graves, Curse of Chaos, and Curse of Predation.

Tempting Offer is an ability word that appears in italics on a cycle of sorceries. These cards have a beneficial effect, then give opponents the option to also enjoy that effect if they allow you to repeat it. (An ability word has no rules meaning.) Your opponents decide in turn order whether or not they accept the offer, starting with the opponent on your left. Each opponent will know the decisions of previous opponents in turn order when making his or her decision. Each Commander 2013 deck has a card with the new ability word tempting offer. — Tempt with Glory, Tempt with Reflections, Tempt with Discovery, Tempt with Vengeance, and Tempt with Immortality.

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Commander 2013 Decklists

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

We had mentioned here in our previous post to MTG Realm that the Commander 2013 previews may drag over to next week.  Well, we were wrong.  We now have the full list previewed over on the mothership today with set release notes and a range of related articles expected next week.  The Commander 2013 gallery is here, with the five decklists over here.

Before we get any further into Commander 2013, we have to yatter about what is likely on most Magic: the Gathering player's minds - the Theros Game Day event this weekend.  We'll be heading this weekend over to OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario (near Georgian College).  They will be having events on both Saturday and Sunday October 19th / 20th.

Registration opens at 11:30 AM with gaming underway at 12:30. Bring along your standard constructed deck and $6 and you will have the chance of winning a foil full art Nighthowler and an exclusive Game Day Champion playmat.  All participants will receive the full art Phalanx Leader promo card just for attending.

There will be of course the special side event called 'Face The Hydra' which you would likely have heard about already.  All day long at OMG! Games, you and your friends can play against the hydra deck with your standard deck and up to two hero cards earned in the pre-release and release weekend events. This is designed to be played with 1-3 players players and receive the next hero on the Path to Heros.  For players that don't have a standard deck the Theros Event deck, called 'Inspiring Heroics' will be available for only $24.99 - we'll see you out there!

Righto - back to Commander 2013!  All 51 new cards have now been revealed as well as the final decklists of each of the five Commander 2013 builds.  We will most definitely be talking more about EDH / Commander next week but for now, we are admiring the 25 to 30 awesome new card arts on the reprints.  Anywhoos - here's the quick run-down of all the new cards -

 

 

 

White (8) : Act of Authority, Angel of Finality, Curse of the Forsaken, Darksteel Mutation, Mystic Barrier, Serene Master, Tempt with Glory, Unexpectedly Absent

Blue (8) : Curse of Inertia, Diviner Spirit, Djinn of Infinite Deceits, Illusionist's Gambit, Order of Succession, Tempt with Reflections, Tidal Force, True-Name Nemesis

Black (8) : Baleful Force, Curse of Shallow Graves, Fell Shepherd, Hooded Horror, Ophiomancer, Price of Knowledge, Tempt with Immortality, Toxic Deluge

Red (7) : Curse of Chaos, From the Ashes, Sudden Demise, Tempt with Vengeance, Terra Ravager, Widespread Panic, Witch Hunt

Green (7) : Bane of Progress, Curse of Predation, Naya Soulbeast, Primal Vigor, Restore, Spawning Grounds, Tempt with Discovery

Multicolor (10) : Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, Gahiji, Honored One, Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge, Marath, Will of the Wild, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Roon of the Hidden Realm, Shattergang Brothers, Sydri, Galvanic Genius

Artifact (2) : Eye of Doom, Surveyor's Scope

Land (1) : Opal Palace
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Commander Spoilers 10-17

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

We are wrapping up week one of what we think are two weeks of Commander 2013 previews.  Magic: the Gathering players who love the Commander format are getting a truckload of lovely new cards game with when this set releases on November 1st. 

This weekend however is Theros Game Day and we're feeling pretty good about our decklists now that we have all our singles from MTG Mint Card now in hand.  Here at MTG Realm, we'll be heading down to OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario, Canada-Land to get in some playing at Friday Night Magic and then come back on Saturday to take part in the Game Day Tournament with our standard format stack of 60 epic cards.

Anywhoos - let's check out the latest Commander 2013 spoilers 'n' previews out today.  Due to hit your local gaming store November 1st, Commander 2013 will consist of five different 100-card singleton decks, each with three legendary commander cards :

• Evasive Maneuvers (bant - white / blue / green)
• Eternal Bargain (esper - white / blue / black)
• Mind Seize (grixis - blue / black / red)
• Power Hungry (jund - black / red / green)
• Nature of the Beast (naya - white / red / green)

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Shattergang Brothers, 1brg
Legendary Creature - Goblin Artificer     Mythic Rare
2{B}, Sacrifice a creature: Each other player sacrifices a creature.
2{R}, Sacrifice a artifact: Each other player sacrifices an artifact.
2{G}, Sacrifice an enchantment: Each other player sacrifices an enchantment.
3/3

Here's our other Jund general.  Sorry no card - this is a proper unofficial spoiler. This is decent spot removal - especially against an opponent who has a number of hexproof permanents.
Roon of the Hidden Realm, 2gwu
Legendary Creature — Rhino Soldier, Mythic Rare
Vigilance, trample
2, {T}: Exile another target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
4/4

And here's the other Bant commander.  Blink has always been a decent effect.  Not only can potentially this save your dude from removal, it can also take advantage of all those enter-the-battle effects.

From the Ashes, 3r
Sorcery, Rare
Destroy all nonbasic lands. For each land destroyed this way, its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then each player who searched his or her library this way shuffles it.

Another spoiler, no official card preview. This is solid land destruction which, depending upon your opponent(s) can really mess up their game. 
Price of Knowledge, 6b
Enchantment, Rare
Players have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, Price of Knowledge deals damage to that player equal to the number of cards in that player's hand.

Looks to be another good card - perhaps in a blue / black control build with a lot of card draw.

Order of Succession, 3u
Sorcery, Rare
Choose left or right. Starting with you and proceeding in the chosen direction, each player chooses a creature controlled by the next player in that direction. Each player gains control of the creature he or she chose.

Most definitely designed for multiplayer musical chair fun.

Restore, 1g
Sorcery, Uncommon
Put target land card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.

Curse of the Forsaken, 2w
Enchantment — Aura Curse, Uncommon
Enchant player
Whenever a creature attacks enchanted player, its controller gains 1 life.

Opal Palace
Land, Common
{T}: Add 1 to your mana pool.
1, {T}: Add to your mana pool one mana of any color in your commander's color identity. If you spend this mana to cast your commander, it enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of times it's been cast from the command zone this game.
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Commander Spoilers 10-16

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,Magic: the Gathering fans are nomming the new Commander 2013 spoilers again today, with previews posted to the mothersite as well as French and Japanese MTG websites.  We're not going to get too much into this yet but suggest you may want to catch up in another three weeks after the release when we will do a series of videos with a Commander aficionado.

Anywhoos - let's check out the latest Commander 2013 spoilers 'n' previews out today.  Due to hit your local gaming store November 1st, Commander 2013 will consist of five different 100-card singleton decks, each with three legendary commander cards :

• Evasive Maneuvers (bant - white / blue / green)
• Eternal Bargain (esper - white / blue / black)
• Mind Seize (grixis - blue / black / red)
• Power Hungry (jund - black / red / green)
• Nature of the Beast (naya - white / red / green)

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Sydri, Galvanic Genius, wub
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard, Mythic Rare
{U}: Target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its converted mana cost until end of turn.
{W}{B}: Target artifact creature gains deathtouch and lifelink until end of turn.

An esper general perfect for your artifact build and because it's not Sharuum, you might not get hated out of your EDH play group.

Fallen Keeper(spelling?), 5bb
Creature - Avatar
Whenever (?) deals combat damage to a player, you may return all creature cards that put into your graveyard from battlefield this turn to your hand.
,sacrifice another creature : Target creature get -2/-2 until end of turn.
8/6

Happy MTG Japanese preview - spelling / translation still not finalized.  If you like graveyard shennanigans, this may be your new fav.











Illusionist's Gambit, 2uu
Instant, Rare
Cast Illusionist's Gambit only on the declare blockers step on an opponent's turn.
Remove all attacking creatures from combat and untap them. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Each of those creatures attacks that combat if able. They can't attack you or a planeswalker you control that combat.

Channelfireball Preview - sweet Maze of Ith blue fog spell that can dampen potential alpha strikes and another solid tool in your blue mage's tool belt.  We suggest dropping by MTG Mint Card to grab a single of Aetherize / Isperia / etc. or other similar disruption tool which may take advantage of crazy caused by Illusionist's Gambit.

Surveyor's Scope, 2
Artifact, Rare
{T}, Exile Surveyor's Scope: Search your library for up to X basic land cards, where X is the number of players who control at least two more lands than you. Put those lands onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.

Decent card to gather mana for your epic spells.

 










Tempt with Immortality, 4b
Sorcery, Rare
Tempting offer — Return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Each opponent may return a creature card from his or her graveyard to the battlefield. For each player who does, return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Like a very cool Exhume / Rise from the Grave tailored to the multiplayer Commander format.

Djinn of Infinite Deceits, 4uu
Creature — Djinn, Rare
Flying
{T}: Exchange control of two target nonlegendary creatures. You can't activate this ability during combat.
2/7

If you cast this awesome card, you are required to laugh meniacally.
 












Identity Nemesis, 1uu
Creature - Merfolk Rogue, Rare
As Identity Nemesis enters the battlefield, choose a player.
Identity Nemesis has protection from that player. (This creature cannot be blocked, targeted, damaged or enchanted by a source controlled by that player.)
3/1

Protection from anyuthing cast by that playering including anything controlled by that player including creatures is uber-strong.  We have some rules questions before we go ahead and start a decklist.

Diviner Spirit, 4u
Creature — Spirit, Uncommon
Whenever Diviner Spirit deals combat damage to a player, you and that player each draw that many cards.
2/4











Curse of Predation, 2g
Enchantment — Aura Curse, Uncommon
Enchant player
Whenever a creature attacks enchanted player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.

Curse of Inertia, 2u
Enchantment — Aura Curse, Uncommon
Enchant player
Whenever a player attacks enchanted player with one or more creatures, that attacking player may tap or untap target permanent of his or her choice.

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Commander Spoilers 10-15

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Here in Canada-Land, it is back to the daily grind after the Thanksgiving long weekend.  Unfortunately we did not get an opportunity to sling any Magic: the Gathering cards over the weekend, opting instead to get a few board games out - namely Risk and Settlers of Catan.  Anywhoos, we are certainly back in MTG mode and want to pick up on the latest Commander 2013 spoilers 'n' previews out today.  Due to hit your local gaming store November 1st, Commander 2013 will consist of five different 100-card singleton decks, each with three legendary commander cards :

• Evasive Maneuvers (bant - white / blue / green)
• Eternal Bargain (esper - white / blue / black)
• Mind Seize (grixis - blue / black / red)
• Power Hungry (jund - black / red / green)
• Nature of the Beast (naya - white / red / green)

Onto the news cards y'awll ! (Check back again in case there are additional cards today yet to get light) -
Primal Vigor, 4g
Enchantment, Rare
If one or more tokens would be put onto the battlefield, twice that many of those tokens are put onto the battlefield instead.
If one or more +1/+1 counters are placed on a creature, twice that many +1/+1 counters are placed on that creature instead.

Mothersite preview.  A much more improved 'Doubling Season'.  Altough not specifically banned in the format, your EDH / Commander group may not approve of Doubling Season as it could prove un-fun with a build featuring a lot of Planeswalkers.  Primal Vigor certainly fixes this as it affects only tokens and +1 counters on creatures (instead of permanents).  Suggested pairings here include but are not limited to Rhys the Redeemed and Parallel Live.

 

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Eye of Doom, 4
Artifact, Rare
When Eye of Doom enters the battlefield, each player chooses a nonland permanent and puts a fate counter on it.
2, {T}, Sacrifice Eye of Doom: Destroy each permanent with a fate counter.

Italian website 'Metagame.it' preview.  Guess what? - Mirrodin's Oblivion Stone and Triad of Fates from Theros also generate 'fate counters' - worth an investigation at the very least.  Just remember that when this blows up, you may wish to have your very own fate counter on something indestructible unless of course you get a sweet benefit some something hitting your 'yard.

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