Snuck into the pre-release and it felt good to be back! Even managed to also do my favorite thing: pack gifting. Not-infrequently at these events, there are middle-schoolers playing with a long-suffering parent in attendance. I was playing next to one of said tweens who lost a game to truly epic mana screw, but did so in surprisingly good cheer. Especially when compared to a Benalish Tween. So I located his parent, mentioned that their kid was incredibly mature during a bad beat, and slipped them a pack of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. to give to their offspring. Upon receipt, the pack is immediately ripped open, and the incandescent joy of opening two rares AND a Tezzert floods the room. As one of my fellow 40+ peers mentioned, “We’re still trying to chase that high from when we were 12…”
Every few years, I take a set off. Time, desire, burnout, something or other, the reasons vary. I skipped Ikoria because it was the beginning of the pandemic and there was enough stressful decisions to make with insufficient information that I didn’t need to spend my free time doing the same. BRO had a different problem arrive: Lil Narset. For me Magic is a hard game to dabble in; either I’m listening to podcasts, tracking my W/L, and trying to get better… or I’m out. So with Narset now looking like this…
(i.e., not fussing every 35 minutes)…it’s time to get back in the saddle!
One of my newsletters snipped a bit of an old essay (from 2013 about parenting). The whole thing is apparently behind WaPo’s paywall, but just the snippet I read was pretty moving. Author: Mike Gerson, a writer on religion and politics (and apparently parenting) who recently passed away.
Eventually, the cosmologists assure us, our sun and all suns will consume their fuel, violently explode and then become cold and dark. Matter itself will evaporate into the void and the universe will become desolate for the rest of time.
This was the general drift of my thoughts as my wife and I dropped off my eldest son as a freshman at college. I put on my best face. But it is the worst thing that time has done to me so far. That moment at the dorm is implied at the kindergarten door, at the gates of summer camp, at every ritual of parting and independence. But it comes as surprising as a thief, taking what you value most. . . .
I know this is hard on him as well. He will be homesick, as I was (intensely) as a freshman. An education expert once told me that among the greatest fears of college students is they won’t have a room at home to return to. They want to keep a beachhead in their former life.
But with due respect to my son’s feelings, I have the worse of it. I know something he doesn’t — not quite a secret, but incomprehensible to the young. He is experiencing the adjustments that come with beginnings. His life is starting for real. I have begun the long letting go. Put another way: He has a wonderful future in which my part naturally diminishes. I have no possible future that is better without him close.
There is no use brooding about it. I’m sure my father realized it at a similar moment. And I certainly didn’t notice or empathize. At first, he was a giant who held my hand and filled my sky. Then a middle-aged man who paid my bills. Now, decades after his passing, a much-loved shadow. But I can remember the last time I hugged him in the front hallway of his home, where I always had a room. It is a memory of warmth. I can only hope to leave my son the same.
Parenthood offers many lessons in patience and sacrifice. But ultimately, it is a lesson in humility. The very best thing about your life is a short stage in someone else’s story. And it is enough.
Sadly I had to miss the pre-release event due to “family” and other “reasons”. We’re postponing sleep training Baby Narset until after our overseas trip in a week, which is proving to be a bit grueling. The best part is that every time I attempt to force the conversation with Benalish Momma, Baby Narset–sensing danger–immediately sleeps 6+ straight hours. Very crafty.
Onto the magic cards. There’s usually a very clear subset of Best Commons (aka Signals) just from the spoiler. Reasonably efficient or instant-speed removal, cantrips, and efficient creatures always make for good Signals because they usually fit into any deck archetype. Let’s see what we’ve got.
Galaxy Quest will remain an all-timer that we’ll definitely have to introduce to a new generation. But until then we’ll just have to settle for this replay. Did I fight through two Archangels of Wrath *and* a Cruelty of Gix? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT SWEETCHEEKS.
There was only one move I was supremely proud of, and that was kicking Urbog Repossession to get back a Saga (underrated mode!) for the +5/+5 to force a chump block. You got this!
Well, number two arrived and it so it’s time to review my excellent advice from Lil Chandra. What has held up, what has aged poorly, and what doesn’t seem quite the same with five additional years of brain calcification and more back pain.
Time for another round! Digging into some more interesting rares this time. I’m still not quite sure what to do about the off-color kicker that is rampant in this set. Until we know more about fixing, it’s going to be a huge variable.
Karn, living legacy
This is a very interesting planeswalker in Limited. The +1 is almost a nothingburger, since there doesn’t look to be that many artifacts in DMU. The -1 is okay, as you could just spend 1 mana to draw a card. Or spend more mana for a wider selection. And the -7 looks to have some power, provided you have enough artifacts; a risky bet in limited. So on the surface, this looks like a weak ‘walker in Limited. It can’t protect itself and the ultimate looks weirdly conditional.
I think that misses the play pattern. I suspect 99% of time with Karn the play pattern will be +1/+1/+1/-7. This leaves you with a reusable lightning bolt every turn, since you can just use the three powerstones. Since it’s an emblem, Karn doesn’t have to survive using the ultimate. So I read this card as “Suspend 3, Win the Game”. Yes you need to be able to defend Karn but casting it seriously warps the game and puts immediate pressure on your opponent. Which is just what I for from my bombs.
Game-Warper
Keldon Flamesage
To judge this card properly, one probably has to do a bunch of math with the hypogeometric calculator. FINE. But first let’s unpack what it does. A 2/3 for 3-mana isn’t great, but the floor is reasonably high. It’s a magic card, it’s fine. The Enlist allows it to tap another creature to add its power to its own. So tapping a 2/2 would allow the Flamesage to attack as a 4/3. Also fine. But where it really shines is the triggered ability where it goes looking for a spell. But how often would that happen?
Let’s start with the most optimistic outcome. You built the nuts blue/red spells deck with 11 instants and sorceries that all cost 4 mana value or less. Assuming you always have a 2/2 to Enlist, you have a 74% (!) to hit a card you can cast. That sounds… fantastic. Note that it doesn’t expire at the end of turn nor does it allow you to cheese sorceries in at instant speed.
Midrange outcome: you have 7 valid targets (instants/sorceries at 3 MV or less). Let’s also only guarantee a 1-power Enlistee. Now you’re down to 44% of a hit. Which isn’t bad, it’s obviously sweet when it happens. But the odds of your Flamesage surviving to try again are pretty low.
Cynical: 5 targets, 3 MV or less. Now it’s 33%. Yikes.
I think the likelihood of the midrange outcome far outweighs the optimistic one. And frankly, it’s going to take a lot of savvy drafting to have as many as 7 targets. I think this card is a moderate build-around. But the ceiling is a lot lower than it looks. That’s not even taking into consideration that you have a board state where you have an extra body to Enlist and you’re able to attack. I want to have a “spells-matter” deck before landing this, not taking this and forcing spells.
variable playable
Monstrous war-leech
First, what a name! But also what a tricky card. First, it just dies if your graveyard is empty. So figure out a way to fill a graveyard and/or have high MV cards and/or have other cards that care about the graveyard. I think this card will be very close to unplayable without the kicker. Which means for five mana, you need to be getting your money’s worth. Anything less than 4/4 *plus* valuing stocking up your graveyard isn’t going to be worth it. I would think of this as a gold card that you can/should get on the wheel once you are committed to graveyard shenanigans in Dimir. That said, as both an mini-enabler and mini-payoff, it will be quite happy in that deck.
Preview season is back! Or finally here! And/or finally not involving alchemy cards that require assessing six different cards to grade a single card. But we have a Grandma in the house helping with Lil Liliana which means there’s a sliver of spare time to think about Magic cards. Whew.
As befitting my lack of time, I simplify my rating scale to seven categories
Game Changer (bomb)
Power (Grade: B)
Draft Changer (build-around)
Signal (best common)
Variable Playable (playable cards with a good home)
Filler (reluctantly playable cards and/or no good deck)
Actively Avoid
tolarian Geyser
Part of me will always love any set in Dominaria simply for the flavor of having Tolaria, Adarkar, Benalia (obv) in the flavor text. Here we have an interesting spin on the Lunar Rejection of a cantrip bounce cards. These have historically been fantastic: tempo bounce with drawing a card to offset the inherent card disadvantage is great. The Geyser adds an interesting wrinkle: kicker upside but at sorcery speed. The loss of instant-speed interaction is a big blow: it can’t be used to blow out your opponent’s tricks. Gaining life in a BW deck sounds nice but not game breaking. I think this will be a very solid playable, with some decks wanting it more than others
Variable playable
serra redeemer
Also lacks Anson Maddocks art…
Anytime a card with “Serra” in the name doesn’t have vigilance, I get a little sad. But still, this looks really intriguing. 5-mana for a 2/4 flying is not on rate in modern limited. But its ability to add two +1/+1 counters to any small creature that enters the battlefield (cast or flickered) can rapidly get out of hand. Pull it off once and you feel good (5-mana for 4/6 worth of distributed states), pull it off twice you basically have created Citadel Siege or Broker’s Ascendancy. But it’s not a sure thing, since you have to actually cast/bounce/flicker the cards to get the trigger and as a curve topper, you’ve generally cast a bunch of your spells already. I think that makes this a build-around, looking for ways to break this card rather than just jamming it in any deck with plains. That said, the Raise the Alarm variant might be a perfect chocolate & peanut butter situation.
6/6 of stats at instant speed for 2-mana
Draft-Changer
Volshe tideturner
The Tideturner is an updated Vodalian Arcanist except it provides blue and can also be used for kicked spells. It’s too soon to tell if 1/3 will be useful for defensive speed, but this is a frontrunner for best blue common, given it’s utility as a 2-drop. We’ll see!
FINE I’ll do a non-Azorius color. If I must. This is a very, very fun little card. 1-mana, instant-speed removal but only kills small things. Given how Easy Prey, Eliminate, etc. always see play for defensive speed reasons alone, I think this is going to be fantastic. And at one mana value… (fans self). Never ever underestimate spells that cost 1-mana. Extremely mediocre combat tricks often become great at 1-mana, and instant-speed removal is much better than any combat trick. That it maxes out at killing a 2/3 is well worth the price.
The Benalish Momma was sent a book by one of her girlfriends. And–not for the first or last time–I promptly stole it and finished it before she got more than halfway through. It’s a collection of essays on motherhood & midlife by Jessi Klein, writer for a number of TV shows.
I highly, highly recommend this book. First, more books should be essays. It’s a lot more compatible for the parenting lifestyle, where sneaking 30 minutes of uninterrupted reading is quite the treat. Second, it hits the sweet spot of dealing with weighty issues but with humor and flair. Example from the text:
…I urgently flagged down one of his teachers. “Asher probably isn’t gonna wear his costume,” I whisper-screamed into her ear. “Don’t take it personally.” “Okay,” Sharon said, with that calm voice teachers use when they have to talk to parents who think they’re successfully hiding that they’re having a nervous breakdown.
Needless to say, this really hits the sweet spot for my approach to parenting & life. Just because it’s serious and important, doesn’t mean it’s not also ridiculous and hilarious.
I think it also has some really important pieces of fathers, despite having “motherhood” in the title. Some of the essays deal with What Clothes Do I Wear Now?, the post-partum Underwear Sandwich, and other things that I am sort of aware of in the abstract, but holy hell does it give me an additional appreciation for everything my wife puts up with. There’s a loose connective thread of the archetype of the Hero’s Journey that does a good job of grounding the work.
Benalish Dad 