Category Archives: New Cards

Either Way… Splash Bloodhall Priest!

Bloodhall Priest
Bloodhall Priest… How are you not into the new Inferno Titan, man?

Mike isn’t sure if Vampires should play mono-red [madness], or mono-black (to make sure they can madness out and abuse Voldaren Pariah). Patrick has a different take: Instead of playing purely black or purely red, black should splash red and red should splash black.

Why?

At least if you are dead set on Vampires… Bloodhall Priest is just too good!

Let’s check out the range on Bloodhall Priest:

  • Worst comes to worst? Bloodhall Priest is a 4/4 for four mana with no real drawback. That’s not bad!
  • Bloodhall Priest is a bit Obstinate Baloth-ish; that is, it is a 4/4 creature that can come down via discard… After all it has a madness discount.
  • As a topdeck, Bloodhall Priest can act like a Murderous Redcap… But at twice the size. Later on, it is not difficult for this creature to completely take over the game. As long as you have no cards in hand, Bloodhall Priest can do a very tidy Inferno Titan impression, killing small creatures left and right

And it’s not like it’s off-theme! In addition to being an actual vampire for either black or red vampire choices, the fact that this card has madness gives it a natural synergy with either Furyblade Vampire (red) or Cryptbreaker (black). madness Madness MADNESS!

There are lots of other black and red cards, zombie-themed cards (in addition to and instead of vampires cards) removal, and potential sleepers all discussed in this podcast. Give “Either Way… Splash Bloodhall Priest!” a listen to find out what Mike Flores and Patrick Chapin have to say about Eldritch Moon, still before the first Top 8 breaks:

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Floor, Ceiling, Bedlam Reveler

Bedlam Reveler
Bedlam Reveler has a low floor… But also an amazingly high ceiling!

One of the nice things we learn in “Floor, Ceiling, Bedlam Reveler” is that Mike doesn’t know what “a low floor” means, apparently. Patrick explains the — frankly common — metaphor and also how the low floor-high ceiling range applies to this great new Eldritch Moon creature.

Make no mistake: The floor on Bedlam Reveler is slow. Its base cost is a blubbery eight mana. It can cost an awful lot of mana for a mere 3/4… And if you have more than three cards in hand? This Devil Horror can bedevil you, horribly.

But when Bedlam Reveler is good? It’s so good.

When Bedlam Reveler is on, it is both cheap and powerful.

It’s like a red [“Red-red,” -Mike] Tarmogoyf… But that draws three cards.

Or, it’s a Treasure Cruise — really, look at it — that leaves a 3/4 body.

That 3/4 body in fact has prowess… Meaning that if your Bedlam Reveler ever faces off with a real Tarmogoyf it is dicey that the green version will ever dare tangling with it. The ability to grow during combat can be just too scary.

Bedlam Reveler can play nice with Monastery Swiftspear, blue cards, and even free “pump” spells like Mutagenic Growth. Can you imagine attacking into an open Mountain with a first turn Monastery Swiftspear, drawing out a Lightning Bolt? “Mutagenic Growth?” That’s like countering their best card and forcing them to take four at the same time… By the way you’ve still got a Monastery Swiftspear.

Bedlam Reveler is going to be good in Standard but possibly really scary in larger formats. Modern and Legacy are both on the table with their Lightning Bolts (and blue cantrips).

Patrick and Michael talk Bedlam Reveler, tons of additional red cards, red vampires, black vampires, and revisit the colorless emerge wing of Eldritch Moon in “Floor, Ceiling, Bedlam Reveler”. Give it a listen!

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Liliana, the Last Hope Joins the Gatewatch

Liliana, the Last Hope
Liliana, the Last Hope might be everything you ever wanted in a three mana planeswalker.

Liliana joins the Gatewatch in Eldritch Moon! And by her nickname (“the last hope”) it seems like our Emrakul-opposing heroes might really need her help! But how about you? How can Liliana, the Last Hope help out your chances at winning in Standard?

  • [+1] Liliana, the Last Hope gains loyalty with an ability that is already better than the one boasted by Jace. This ability absolutely mows down small creatures, can help you keep pace with the Plants in G/W Tokens, and might even invalidate the Standard version of White Weenie!
  • [-2] Liliana, the Last Hope has a built-in card advantage ability, which is not trivial. The fact that this ability is only [-2] means that you can play Liliana and immediately use this ability without losing her. A Liliana, the Last Hope with a single loyalty can still be valuable, and you might have already gotten card advantage! A creature that you are actually aiming for is probably more valuable than a random card off the top of your deck; and remember, if you slot Liliana into one of Standard’s black control or midrange shells you might be getting back Goblin Dark-Dwellers! Boom.
  • [-7] It is important to note that this ability scales quickly, and that the Zombie tokens enter the battlefield untapped.

The only real question is whether you want to play Liliana, the Last Hope first… Or her Oath:

Oath of Liliana
Oath of Liliana will bedevil opponents on turn three.

How insane is Oath of Liliana in an Orzhov Control deck? Turn three Oath of Liliana, turn four Gideon? Double 2/2 defenders, anyone?

Oath of Liliana is an all right card to begin with (capable of killing an opposing creature) and you don’t have to get paid off by 2/2 creatures very many times before it starts looking abusive. Gideon into Ob Nixilis into Sorin, anyone?

Pro Tour Champion Patrick Chapin and Resident Genius Michael J Flores discuss Liliana, the Last Hope; Oath of Liliana; and a number of other flashy cards from Eldritch Moon in “Liliana, the Last Hope Joins the Gatewatch”. Give us a listen:

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Fortune’s Favor is Our Eldritch Moon Preview!

Fortune's Favor
Fortune’s Favor is a nuanced new card from Eldritch Moon. Where does Top Level Podcast think it will find a home?

Fortune’s Favor has a ton of stuff going on:

  1. This card is way — way — better than Inspiration. Even if you take an [inferior] face-up pile, that is just as many cards as Inspiration… And you will be putting more cards in your graveyard. Remember: Inspiration was close to good enough (if not good enough) for Standard for years.
  2. Bluffing! Mike thinks this is a great articulation of bluffing in Magic; sometimes you’re going to have to give the opponent a truly great pile, but if you play this card right, you can tie the opponent in knots.
  3. We don’t think there is a single, consistent algorithm for splitting Fortune’s Favor piles. Patrick thinks one of his default splits will be three up / one down (with the one being the best card sometimes, the worst card sometimes, and something else sometimes). He wants to dare the opponent to take the face-down one!
  4. This card will make it super easy for some decks to get Delirium. Mike thinks that cards like Descend Upon the Sinful will come online quickly thanks to Fortune’s Favor, enabling two-color control decks in Standard. A turn six or seven Emrakul, the Promised End will also be trivial to set up.
  5. You can always get a pretty good tonnage of cards. Want two cards? If you don’t care what they are, you’ll even get three sometimes.

Where can Fortune’s Favor go? Here are some ideas:

  • A Blue Skies deck… Fortune’s Favor can play best buddies with Docent of Perfection or Niblis of Frost, enabling them to out-pace even great offenses.
  • (Like we said)… A U/x control deck; could be U/W, B/U or something else.
  • A B/U Zombie deck; Eldritch Moon presents too many recursion or value opportunities for us to ignore this awesome line! Use Fortune’s Favor to fuel Haunted Dead or Gisa and Geralf for more and more card advantage.

      • Find out even more at “Fortune’s Favor is Our Eldritch Moon Preview!”

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Gisela, the Broken Blade and Meld Mania

Gisela, the Broken Blade
Gisela, the Broken Blade is just fine on her own… But still a hell of a Meld card

Top Level Podcast is mad about Meld this week!

The headliner is obviously Gisela, the Broken Blade — an excellent creature in her own right — and also a great combination with not just her natural pair (Bruna, the Fading Light)… But also new “Indrik Stomphowler” [and Mike’s favorite card in Eldritch Moon so far], Thalia’s Lancers:

Thalia's Lancers
Because they are both legendary creatures, Thalia’s Lancers can set up either half of the Gisela-Bruna Meld combo.

bruna-the-fading-light
While the obvious synergy is to return a dead Gisela, the Fading Light to play (setting up the Meld) [and let’s be honest, people will be mad about killing your Gisela], because it is a human, you can instead return your Thalia’s Lancers to the battlefield… Which can then go and get another copy of Gisela, the Broken Blade anyway.

The mad thing about these Meld cards? So many are just great cards on their own!

Consider the Township twins…

Hanweir Garrison Hanweir Battlements

Hanweir Garrison is just a great threat… It’s very “Goblin Rabblemaster” if you take our meaning.

Hanweir Battlements is a land a ton of different decks would all want to play! Can you imagine a Gruul Ramp deck that played one copy? Holy hasty Dragonlord Atarka, am I right? How about finding a singleton copy with your Ulvenwald Hydra? I’d imagine you can imagine some creatures you might want to give haste to.

Patrick and Michael go over not just Gisela, the Broken Blade but all the Meld combinations so far, as well as a smattering of newly spoiled, additional, Eldritch Moon cards.

Check it all out in “Gisela, the Broken Blade and Meld Mania”:

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Emrakul, the Promised End and the Beginning of Spoiler Season

Emrakul, the Promised End
Emrakul, the Promised End highlights the beginning of Eldritch Moon spoiler season

Here’s the thing about the new Emrakul… It says “13” in the top-right, but that is a trick! Emrakul is all about being cast for less than 13 mana. So even though you might be able to take advantage of bonuses based on high converted mana costs, you won’t necessarily have to pay the full amount to get Emrakul on the battlefield. Here are some examples:

Sorin, Grim Nemesis can reveal Emrakul to deal a huge thirteen points to the opponent… But when it actually comes time to cast her, Emrakul might cost just seven or so mana (say your graveyard is full of Dead Weight; Transgress the Mind; Anguished Unmaking; Gideon, Ally of Zendikar; Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet; and Evolving Wilds)… That will only make for seven mana!

  • Dead Weight = enchantment
  • Transgress the Mind = sorcery
  • Anguished Unmaking = instant
  • Gideon, Ally of Zendikar = planeswalker
  • Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet = creature
  • Evolving Wilds = land

Patrick and Michael spend a good part of the podcast thinking up cool, goofy, or actually powerful things you can do with Emrakul, the Promised End; for example “Dark Petition up Emrakul, discard her to Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy (or Nahiri the Harbinger), put her back on top of my library with Mortuary Mire, and then reveal her for thirteen with Sorin, Grim Nemesis.

Of course just playing Sorin and Emrakul in the same deck gives you a way to win any game [that you did seven damage] out of nowhere.


Note:
Unfortunately (and this will happen with new cards sometimes) Patrick conflates the abilities of Sanctum of Ugin and Conduit of Ruin. Sanctum of Ugin puts a card into your hand, not on top of your library. Sorry! We’ll get ’em next time. Many of the ideas are still worth chewing on, though.

We also discuss new cards Coax from the Blind Eternities and Ulrich of the Krallenhorde. How does Ulrich compare with Standard staple Goblin Dark-Dwellers? You might be surprised at our take.

In a Top Level Podcast first (kinda like this week’s Cleveland Cavaliers first), Patrick and Michael switch gears later on to talk the NBA. Topics include:

  • “The Jon Finkel criteria”
  • How tall is Kevin Durant? How tall does he claim to be?
  • Who are the best five players in 2016?
  • What year would you pick an all-time five from (if not 2016)?
  • You know, and a ton Ton TON of Magic: The Gathering at 1:47 this week!

The NBA, Werewolves, and the Eldrazi aplenty in “Emrakul, the Promised End and the Beginning of Spoiler Season”:

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Declaration in Stone is Revolutionary

Declaration in Stone
Declaration in Stone

Oh no! Patrick accuses Mike of keeping the true secrets of Declaration in Stone from him [last week]. How was Patrick to know that you could target token creatures???

It turns out Declaration in Stone is nuanced and has a lot of things going on for it. If you target a token — especially if there are lots of tokens of a similar type (say Goblin tokens) — Declaration in Stone is the best. You get to “Maelstrom Pulse” all those tokens and the opponent doesn’t get to draw any cards / investigate no matter how many tokens you smacked down.

Of course it is great against big tokens too!

Some kind of Marit Lage? Whatever 20/20… Declaration in Stone has you covered (and your opponent is still not going to be able to investigate).

But here’s the thing:

It’s not like the normal state of Declaration in Stone against a regular creature [card] is going to be the opponent drawing three or something…

… But that is actually awesome!

If the opponent is drawing lots of cards from a single Declaration in Stone that means that you got “a bunch of zero mana Forks” on your already awesome card that you wanted to play. That means that you are doing it.

And so begins quite a unique episode of Top Level Podcast.

Patrick and Mike go over several cards from the upcoming set Shadows Over Innistrad, from blue bounce spells to weird red Reverberate re-dos, to a variety of red aggro cards. But our hosts also go over some evergreen deck design philosophy. What were the secret best cards of Patrick’s Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx winning deck? What kinds of cards is Mike enthusiastic about? And finally — finally — Patrick cracks the code of a Mike Flores A+

Plus, it turns out that Mike doesn’t know what a werewolf is :/

All this, and an oddly musical opening sequence in “Declaration in Stone is Revolutionary”:

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Nahiri, the Harbinger Bonus Episode!

Nahiri, the Harbinger

“Nahiri, the Harbinger is not obviously super powerful.”
-Mike

“I think Nahiri, the Harbinger is obviously super powerful.”
-Patrick

Well then.

What’s going on with this new Shadows Over Innistrad Planeswalker?

[+2]: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.

Nahiri’s [+2] is great because it helps her reach her [-8] so quickly. Note: You don’t even have to discard a card! You can “just” give Nahiri two additional loyalty if you want to.

That said, Nahiri is actively great with cards like Fiery Temper. Nahiri is “actively great” with Madness!

Patrick notes that if you want to play a gigantic (if hard-to-cast) monster for Nahiri’s [-8] ability you might accidentally draw it. Luckily Nahiri’s [+2] ability lets you discard the aforementioned uncastable monster, cashing it in for an action card.

[-2]: Exile target enchantment, tapped artifact, or tapped creature.

Nahiri’s middle ability is actually her bread and butter. The obvious thing here is that Nahiri can act basically as two Utter Ends for the cost of one. Nahiri gives players the ability to deal with enchantments and artifacts without having to dedicate specific slots.

Of course, you can just play Nahiri, use her [-2] the first time, and be left with a powerful Planeswalker!

[-8]: Search your library for an artifact or creature card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. It gains haste. Return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.

Nahiri’s “ultimate” is not the kind of ability that automatically wins the game. However there is a lot of play here. Nahiri can level up very quickly due to her [+2] ability. This can let you cash in your four mana planeswalker for a much more powerful finisher… While saving mana.

Nahiri’s most obvious playmate at this point might be Dragonlord Atarka. She drops Atarka the first time (letting you get that trigger), lets you slam in for 8 (i.e. “infinity” on its side) and then even bounces Atarka back to your hand so you can re-play it for additional 187 action!

Powerful, certainly… But obviously super powerful, or not obviously super powerful?

Check out where Patrick and Michael land on this Planeswalker (and several new Shadows Over Innistrad cards) on “Nahiri, the Harbinger Bonus Episode!”

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Epiphany at the Drownyard

“It isn’t the way you draw seven cards most of the time, but for six mana, Epiphany at the Drownyard draws the same number of cards as Sphinx’s Revelation.”
-Patrick

Epiphany at the Drownyard
Epiphany at the Drownyard is our exclusive Shadows Over Innistrad preview card!

Epiphany at the Drownyard is a powerful and flexible new way to draw cards come Shadows Over Innistrad. It has great flexibility because you can burn it for two (or even just one) mana… Or tap tons of lands into it for a tremendous long game impact.

… But how much mana should you pour into your Epiphany at the Drownyard?

  • x=0 : You’re not going to be doing this very often, but when x=0 Epiphany at the Drownyard costs exactly U. This off-label tactic might be exactly how you use your last mana to flip over your Thing in the Ice on the cheap. This is not “card disadvantage” when Awoken Horror sends a ton of token creatures home, and the tactical advantage might be worth more than a card anyway, depending on board position.
  • x=1 : You’re basically cycling the card for two mana. When x=1 you can put one card into each of the two piles; so you’re basically trading Epiphany at the Drownyard for one of the next two cards in your deck (it replaces itself) but you are also putting two cards into the graveyard, which can be helpful with Jace, delve cards, etc.
  • x=2 : When x=2 you are flipping over three total cards. All other things being held equal you will put one card in one pile and two cards in the other. Most of the time you will be getting the same number of cards as when x=1, but you will have more control. For example, say there is a card you really want… If you put it against two cards the opponent will have to evaluate whether one good card is worth two other cards.
  • x=3 : When x=3 Epiphany at the Drownyard costs the same as Inpsiration, Fact or Fiction, and of course Steam Augury. It is very comparable to Steam Augury at this point… You will end up with two cards for four mana in most cases; the difference here is that you will be putting only two additional cards into the graveyard instead of three.
  • x=4 : This iteration of Epiphany at the Drownyard will be a relatively weak step up from when x=3. You will probably only get two cards (still); and Epiphany at the Drownyard will be exactly a Steam Augury but for one more mana.
  • x=5 : As Patrick said, at six mana you will get the same number of cards as when the mighty Sphinx’s Revelation cost six. That’s kind of a big deal! At any point after this Epiphany at the Drownyard will look increasingly potent.

Remember: You can always do weird things like putting all the cards in one pile. The opponent will have to choose between giving you a ton of cards in hand… Or a ton of cards in graveyard (which might be what you want).

Epiphany at the Drownyard is actually a pretty cool Dragon tutor. Try putting Dragonloard Silumgar in one pile and Haven of the Spirit Dragon in the other. End result: You get your Dragonlord 😉

Lots and lots more from Michael and Patrick on this new card (and other topics) in “Epiphany at the Drownyard”!

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Archangel Avacyn and Thing in the Ice

To begin with, let us all bend the knee to friend of the ‘cast Christine Sprankle as a blood soaked Archangel Avacyn:

Well, at least Patrick is bending the knee 🙂

Okay!

Serious Business!

Here are some sweet Transform cards from Shadows Over Innistrad:

Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier

Archangel Avacyn

In its natural form, Archangel Avacyn is like a Serra Angel with upside.

In addition to its natural state as a 4/4 vigilant flyer for five mana, this hot new card has flash. That means that if you are a Draw-Go style Control player, you will not be required to risk mana on your own turn to play your endgame threat. You can sit back with permission mana open and wait and see.

But wait, there’s more!

Any flash creature has the ability to Simian Grunts the opponent during combat. We have talked for several weeks now how 2/3 and 3/3 creatures are collectively the dominant tempo-oriented force in Standard… Archangel Avacyn dropping by during combat is great for eating those kinds of creatures. Except…

She and all your other creatures become indestructible, too! Now you can talk about fighting 4/4 creatures successfully, too.

How about the Christine Sprankle flip-side?

Avacyn, the Purifier

Remember what we said just a paragraph or so ago about 2/3 and 3/3 creatures? Sorry Reflector Mage! Avacyn, the Purifier is going to be an amazing, possibly format-warping, new card!

At the very least, think about ticking up your Gideon to five loyalty against five open mana. Otherwise, Avacyn might just purify him.

Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror

Thing in the Ice

Mike’s favorite card (so far) from Shadows Over Innistrad is Thing in the Ice. A 0/4 creature for two mana is eminently serviceable for self-defense… And this one becomes, in Patrick’s parlance “a blue Tarmogoyf”:

Awoken Horror

… As if a Tarmogoyf can reasonably expect to be 7/8 like Awoken Horror.

These sweet flip cards are joined by red and Rakdos beatdown; and the return of the Madness mechanic in “Archangel Avacyn and Thing in the Ice”:

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