Categories
Noteworthy Cards

Keep an Eye on These: The Brothers’ War Edition

Arbalest Engineers

See: Flametongue Yearling???, Fanatic of Xenagos???

Arms Race

Other Formats: Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
Synergy: Brass Herald, Sandstone Oracle, Su-Chi Cave Guard, Mox Lotus lol

Ashnod’s Harvester

See: Mardu Woe-Reaper, Withered Wretch, Hellspark Elemental, Hungry for More

Audacity

See: Rune of Might
Other Formats: Rancor, Sticky Fingers, Infernal Scarring

Battery Bearer

See: Song of Freyalise
Other Formats: Cryptolith Rite; Earthcraft; Ashaya, Soul of the Wild

Bushwhack

See: Flower // Flourish, Tail Swipe

Calamity’s Wake

See: Blessed Respite???
Other Formats: Silence???

Combat Thresher

Other Formats: Wretched Gryff

Cradle Clearcutter (combo alert: Umbral Mantle)

See: Llanowar Tribe; Karametra’s Acolyte; Wirewood Channeler; Viridian Joiner
Other Formats: Marwyn, the Nurturer
Synergy: Scale Up, Might of Old Krosa, Umbral Mantle

Defabricate

See: Squelch
Other Formats: Annul, Disallow

Demolition Field

See: Ghost Quarter, Tectonic Edge, Field of Ruin

Dreams of Steel and Oil

See: Dread Fugue, Despise, Pilfer, Cling to Dust
Other Formats: Divest

Fallaji Vanguard

See: Primal Forcemage, Ambuscade Shaman
Synergy: haste, dash, blitz, Teferi’s Veil

Flow of Knowledge

See: Glimmer of Genius, Careful Consideration, Pore over the Pages, Jace’s Ingenuity

Forging the Anchor

See: Thirst for Knowledge, Lead the Stampede, Glacial Revelation, Reverse Engineer

Giant Cindermaw

See: Knight of Dusk’s Shadow, Skullcrack, Flames of the Blood Hand
Other Formats: Rampaging Ferocidon

Gnawing Vermin

See: Stitcher’s Supplier, Mire Triton
Other Formats: Shambling Ghast

Gruesome Realization

See: Night’s Whisper, Fell Stinger, Marsh Casualties, Cower in Fear

Gurgling Anointer

See: Faerie Vandal, Improbable Alliance

Haywire Mite

See: Reclamation Sage
Other Formats: Caustic Caterpillar

Hero of the Dunes (combo alert: Mirror Image, Flickerwisp)

See: Vesperlark, Patch Up, Call of the Death-Dweller, No One Left Behind, Crypt Champion, Balduvian Atrocity, Swift Warkite
Synergy: Mirror Image, Flickerwisp, Mogis’s Marauder

Lay Down Arms

See: Oust, Prismatic Ending

Levitating Statue

See: Sprite Dragon

Mask of the Jadecrafter

See: Krakilin, Wren’s Run Hydra

Meticulous Excavation

See: Nephalia Smuggler, Vedalken Mastermind, Soulherder, Crystal Shard, Astral Slide, Roaring Primadox, Temur Sabertooth
Synergy: Reflector Mage

Mishra, Excavation Prodigy

See: Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator; Bonded Fetch; Vaultbreaker; Greenweaver Druid???
Other Formats: Anje Falkenrath???

Mishra’s Research Desk

See: Chromatic Sphere, Brainstone, Light Up the Stage
Other Formats: Experimental Synthesizer

Obliterating Bolt

See: Lava Coil, Fight with Fire

Pyrrhic Blast

See: Thud, Kazuul’s Fury, Grab the Reins

Recruitment Officer

See: Duskwatch Recruiter

Repair and Recharge (combo alert: big enchantments/artifacts)

See: Refurbish, Argivian Restoration
Other Formats: Replenish???

Sardian Cliffstomper

See: Bloodrage Brawler, Nishoba Brawler

Sarinth Steelseeker

See: Nessian Wanderer, Quandrix Apprentice

Skyfisher Spider

See: Plaguecrafter, Binding the Old Gods
Other Formats: Rot-Tide Gargantua

Su-Chi Cave Guard

See: Sphinx of the Guildpact, Walking Skyscraper

Symmetry Matrix

See: Elemental Bond, Garruk’s Uprising

Third-Path Iconoclast

See: Young Pyromancer, Sprite Dragon, Electrostatic Infantry

Thran Vigil

See: Tormod, the Desecrator; Quintorius, Field Historian
Other Formats: Desecrated Tomb

Yotian Dissident (combo alert: Lesser Masticore)

See: Ingenious Smith, Patchwork Automaton, Myrsmith, Good-Fortune Unicorn, Grumgully the Generous

Yotian Frontliner

See: Savannah Lions, Signal Pest

Yotian Tactician

See: Daru Warchief

Zephyr Sentinel

See: Quickling
Categories
Release Notes

Release Notes – Unfinity

October 18th, 2022

To answer some common questions:

  • Yes, uncommons without acorn stamps or silver borders are legal. Consult your playgroup if you wish to play acorns or silvers (or slivers, but that’s a separate issue).
  • Yes: for better or worse, stickers are legal. Lineprancers can reliably represent a 4/2 or 5/1 for two mana.
  • Attractions are technically legal but functionally illegal. The minimum Attraction deck size is ten, but there are only seven at uncommon rarity. (This is similar to pauper, where only eight Attractions are legal.) We encourage interested players to ask their playgroup if it is okay to play with a minimum Attraction deck size of five or with a deck size of ten but also including common and/or rare Attractions.
  • Yes, “galaxy foils” are just the old Pokémon holofoiling. And yes, they’re still pretty neato.
Categories
Release Notes

Release Notes – Double Masters 2022

JULY 18th, 2022

With the enormous number of cards downshifted to common in a draft set, the “rules committee” has voted on how to handle downshifts in general. Originally, downshifts illegalized cards, but with more sets and reprint sets coming out faster than ever before, the amount of turmoil caused by increasingly frequent downshifts is at an all-time high and may continue to rise.

We voted among sticking to the original plan, legalizing downshifts in Masters sets, and legalizing downshifts in general. The simplest solution received a majority of votes: legalizing all downshifts.

This brings a number of old cards into the format, including (but not limited to) these potential heavy-hitters:

  • Abrade
  • Ashnod’s Altar
  • Bone Picker
  • Burning-Tree Emissary
  • Cauldron Familiar
  • Champion of the Flame
  • Chromatic Sphere
  • Counterspell
  • Draconic Roar
  • Elves of Deep Shadow
  • Everflowing Chalice
  • Foundry Inspector
  • Goblin Matron
  • Groundskeeper
  • Gut Shot
  • Harrow
  • Hordeling Outburst
  • Hungry Flames
  • Jace’s Phantasm
  • Kazuul’s Toll Collector
  • Lead the Stampede
  • Magma Jet
  • Makeshift Munitions
  • Mana Cylix
  • Might of Old Krosa
  • Myr Retriever
  • Nature’s Lore
  • Night’s Whisper
  • Nimble Mongoose
  • Peregrine Drake
  • Pillage
  • Plagued Rusalka
  • Rapacious Dragon
  • Reckless Wurm
  • Relentless Rats
  • Seeker of the Way
  • Skirge Familiar
  • Spike Jester
  • Strategic Planning
  • Street Wraith
  • Surge Node
  • Survival Cache
  • Telling Time
  • Thunderous Wrath
  • Tormod’s Crypt
  • Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Power Plant, and Urza’s Tower
  • Whiteout
  • Wight of Precinct Six
  • Yavimaya Enchantress
  • You Meet in a Tavern
Categories
Release Notes

Release Notes – Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

The following have left the format:

  • You Meet in a Tavern

Please join us for a moment of silence as green creature decks mourn the loss of their multipurpose card advantage / finisher. After that moment, Pauper Elves players may then rejoice.

Harmonize becomes the clear best source of raw card advantage available to most green decks, while Elf decks retain Gempalm Strider and green-white decks may continue to use Makindi Stampede and Shefet Dunes as closers with alternate uses. As for pure Overrun effects, nothing quite surpasses the eponymous Overrun, although new format entry Overwhelming Encounter can sometimes provide more long-term impact if you struggle to build boards big enough to win outright.