Welcome to the official start of preview season for Aether Revolt. We were all gifted with some previews during the holiday season, but now we are getting ready for the start of the rest of Aether Revolt. Before I get into some of the new cards tomorrow, I want to talk today about our Christmas gift of new cards from the Masterpiece Series. Not only did we find out all 24 of the new Inventions, but two of the cards are new to Aether Revolt, and possibly more could be reprinted for Standard play. In Kaladesh, we found out that in each set going forward there were going to print some shiny versions of some previous cards based on the theme of the block in which they were in. For the Kaladesh block, this is artifacts and after seeing 30 amazing ones in Kaladesh, there were still some ones I wanted to see when Aether Revolt came around.
Before I talk about the two new cards from Aether Revolt that are in the Masterpiece Series, let me go over some of my favourite new Inventions that are being reprinted for Aether Revolt that could lead to some fun interactions at your local prerelease event.
Grindstone – Alright people, if there is anyone out there listening, can I please see someone have the infinite combo of having both Masterpiece Series cards of Grindstone and Painter’s Servant together. One time, that’s all I’m asking…. And, of course not against me.
Staff of Domination – Getting this artifact with either Quicksmith Rebel or Quicksmith Spy means game over for your opponent. Being able to do an additional two damage or draw a card as many times as you want for just one mana is insane!
Pithing Needle – This is a card that I am glad to see reprinted in Aether Revolt. The ability to shut down so many cards in the format for just one mana is too tempting to pass up.
Wurmcoil Engine – This must be one of my favourite cards of all-time and for good reason, it is a powerhouse. When this card gets played at your local prerelease, spend some time to watch the opponent's look of disbelief.
Now that we’ve seen some of the sweet cards that I hope you open during the Aether Revolt prerelease, it’s time to see two new cards from Aether Revolt that you could be getting as a Masterpiece Series version as well.
At first glance, this card cries out infinite loops of some kind. There will be some insane uses of this card in Commander and possibly in some of the older formats as well, but let me talk about how it can be used in Standard. When considering how this card can get some major value, there are certain cards that come to mind. Hedron Archive and any other mana producers could allow you to cast multiple spells a turn. Cryptolith Rite seems to be a card that can abuse the power of Paradox Engine. Being able to tap all your creatures for mana and than untap them all after casting a spell will provide you with a lot of mana very quickly. Another card that will enjoy being able to untap a lot is Thermo-Alchemist. Untapping twice each time you cast a non-creature spell will mean that damage will be accumulating quickly. Another interaction is with the new cycle of Quicksmith rare cards like Quicksmith Rebel and Quicksmith Spy. You can gain some major value if you can untap and tap them multiple times per turn.
Planar Bridge is a combination of two older cards in Wargate and Planar Portal. The ability to put any permanent from your deck directly onto the battlefield is ridiculously awesome. I’m glad that they made it cost six mana to cast and eight mana to activate, which means that it will take a little bit of work to get activated, even for decks that can ramp into it. I keep asking myself, if I opened this card in Limited, would I play it. There would obviously be a lot of factors into making this decision, such as quality of the permanents in my deck, how fast the format is, and if I had any mana ramp in my deck. More often then not, I would have to say no. Be wary that it says “onto the battlefield” and not “cast”. You won’t get any cast triggers off the permanent you search for. I do think that this card will see lots of play in Commander and perhaps even in Modern Tron. The ability on Planar Bridge is too powerful for players to not have a long hard look at what it can do.
Let me know if you have any awesome ideas for these new cards from Aether Revolt. These 24 cards look to be well sought after in the coming months and I look forward myself to getting the two new cards from Aether Revolt.
Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Aether Revolt. Tomorrow we get into more of the great new cards from Aether Revolt and see how they are going to shape Magic for months to come. See you all tomorrow!
