Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Rivals of Ixalan, where it’s prerelease week!
So far I’ve talked about some of the best commons and uncommons to play with, and what to watch out for when it comes to removal and combat tricks. But with only one week of preview cards, I didn’t get a chance to talk about some of my favourite cards from the new set yet. So before prerelease weekend begins, I want to delve into some of the new cards that I’m most excited to get my hands on and shuffle into my deck.
Hadana’s Climb // Winged Temple of Orazca – I love this card! Being able to play it on turn three after you’ve played creatures on turn one and two means that you can get some large creatures quickly. Plus, using it in conjunction with creatures that explore will let it transform sooner rather than later. And once it does transform, you will get one powerful attacker each combat and finish off your opponent.
Profane Procession // Tomb of the Dark Rose – This is a do-nothing card for a couple of turns, but once it starts to “do” things, boy is it powerful. You can, if you want, exile your opponents’ creatures on three straight turns and remove all their powerful threats. After that, you can start bringing those creatures back on your side of the battlefield and win the game, all by using only one card. There's some major card advantage here, if you can survive long enough to use it.
Twilight Prophet – Never have I wanted to get the City’s Blessing so badly as with this card. Most black cards that have been similar to this have always had it so you lose X life when drawing the card, but this allows you to get two cards per turn, while also draining life from your opponent. My favourite Vampire of the set!
Jadelight Ranger – Explore is my favourite mechanic in the past while, and I was hoping that we would see more of it in Rivals of Ixalan. And Wizards did not disappoint! This is the card I was waiting to see to make my super Explore deck! The dream is to play Wildgrowth Walker on turn two, followed by Jadelight Ranger on turn three to gain six life and turn Wildgrowth Walker into a 3/5 creature.
Dire Fleet Poisoner – Creatures with flash can be hit and miss sometimes, but Dire Fleet Poisoner checks off all the right boxes. When attacking, it can either be used to get in extra damage, or remove any creature that chooses to block it. When you are playing defense, you can flash it out before blocks to surprise your opponent and force them to lose a large attacker.
Dire Fleet Daredevil – Another Pirate makes this list, as this pseudo Snapcaster Mage lets you take some of your opponents’ best spells and use them against them! I think this is a great card that will be seeing lots of play. When removal is at a premium, like at a prerelease event, it will be great to have your pick of your opponents’ graveyard to steal a spell and turn the game in your favour.
Wayward Swordtooth – You might be thinking, why would you want a 5/5 creature that sits around doing nothing for most of the game? First, procrastination is fun, but more so, I like the fact of inevitability with this card. It will sit on the battlefield for turns until finally it awakens to crush your opponent. In the meantime, you still get to play multiple lands per turn, and Explore creatures will make sure you have plenty of lands to play turn after turn.
There you have it folks, some of the most exciting new cards from Rivals of Ixalan. Prerelease is only a few days away, but there's still more to come for prerelease week on the Daily Dose. Join me tomorrow as I crack open a prerelease kit and build a 40-card deck. I’ll be talking about my decisions, and look forward to seeing what cards come out of those sweet new packs!
