Robin Wouters Reports: Magic 2015 Preview
This time, Robin takes a first look at the cards from Magic 2015. Garruk, Jace, Ajani, looks like it's Planeswalkers galore in the new core set. Let's have a look at mister Wouters' verdict.
"I was going to write a report about my experience at GP Milan, but because I didn’t do that great (but still had a lot of fun), I’m going to take a look at some of the M15 cards that already have been spoiled instead! First let me congratulate our Russian Belgian or Belgian Russian or whatever ... Evgeny Pestov for making Top-8 at the Grand Prix and Nicolas Vanderhallen for making top-32!! By making top 32 Nicolas has jumped over Marijn Lybaert in the race for becoming team captain at the World Magic Cup !
So Magic 15… the best cards to start with are Planeswalkers, don’t you agree ? As Liliana Vess and Chandra, Pyromaster aren’t new cards I’m going to skip those, the other reprints (like the painlands and Chord of Calling !!) I won’t be discussing either. So let’s get started with my new favourite:
This card got me excited right away, but hey I’ve been a Garruk fan since he first showed himself as the Wildspeaker in the old Lorwyn days (me and Garruk go waaay back).
Seven mana is a lot, but he has four abilities (just like Jace, the Mind Sculptor!!!!!). He will see some play as a great sideboard card in black-green devotion, as those decks don’t seem to have any problems getting up to seven mana (although I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the main deck either).
As for Garruk's abilities:
+1 Killing a Planeswalker => ABSURD
+1 Making a 3/3 with deathtouch => No complaints here
-3 Killing a creature and gaining life => fine by me
Ultimate: making your elves or Pack Rats big and tramply => opponent is dead
Let’s face it, this is a Hero’s Downfall/permanent Overrun/deathtouching Call of the Herd all rolled up into one…
OK, the first two abilities didn’t do it for me, but that ultimate… Opponent no cards in hand, me seven… SAY WHAT??!!!??? This is absolutely BONKERS how about them card advantages…. And still, filtering your library with the +1 and bouncing a permanent (like maybe an Eidolon of Blossoms in a green blue deck) isn’t that bad either.
The +1 ability seems a bit of a downgrade to the previous Ajani, only giving the +1/+1 until end of turn. -2 reminds me again of Lorwyn, this looks awesome in token decks, and don’t forget it grows your Planeswalkers too!!! I don’t think there are a lot of decks out there that are going to want to use the ultimate of this Ajani, but probably there will be some kind of Fog deck player that thinks this ability is awesome.
This Nissa turns your lands into big creatures with trample (and this effect is permanent!!!!!) with it’s +1 ability and it’s ultimate. Remember that with the ultimate, the lands you get out of your deck have summoning sickness and can’t attack the turn you search them, this gives your opponent a turn to come up with an answer before dying the next turn. The other +1 ability, untapping four forests, is still great, letting you ramp up to some big spells (like maybe a Garruk, Apex Predator :D )
Slivers have always been a powerful race in magic, and with their new lord you can’t even kill them with a Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict anymore...
But a Perilous Vault still can get rid of those pesky indestructible Slivers :D
And all the other Soul creatures, you have one for each colour (even a colourless one), are not for constructed play I think. They will be great in limited tough.
This was the card designed with the help of the Magic Community in ‘You make the card’. Although I personally would have loved to see the card named Tourach’s Bounty (referring to Hymn to Tourach and Primeval Bounty), the community didn’t agree with me :( We will be seeing a black deck being made around this card for sure.
Ae trieck on ae stieck :D 2/1 Flying with Flash and a big no no to the entering the battlefield effects!! This card says sideboard to me, but a powerful sideboard card (even in Modern, maybe against pod decks? …)
Commander players should get excited, the same goes for JALIRA, MASTER POLYMORPHIST , these cards look like great commanders to be building a deck for.
I can’t help but thinking that this card is superb… In red green monsters you are able to make an obscene amount of mana in a short time and this card is like Happy Hour for the deck, it will probably give you two big creatures for the price of one!
Here’s were I’m going to finish up for now, I haven’t seen a super super powerful card in M15 up till now - I could of course be wrong - but the set definitely has some solid playable cards and some great sideboard cards as well.
Thee..the..thee thee... That’s all folks!!"
