Welcome to another edition of the Daily Dose of Aether Revolt where today I have a couple of sweet preview cards to go over including the return of a Planeswalker.
Back in one of the previous artifact blocks during Shards of Alara we saw the emergence of a new Planeswalker called Tezzeret. This powerful Planeswalker seemed to be one with the artifacts, being able to manipulate them to his will and turn any artifact into a creature. Mirrodin Beseiged saw the return of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and once again artifacts were at his control. With Kaladesh being a place of invention and artifacts being plentiful it was no surprise that Tezzeret made an appearance. I’m a big fan of artifacts and being able to use them in multiple decks. It is also important to have cards that are colour specific that can really harness the power of these artifacts. Most often these cards are seen in the colours of Red, Blue, and Black. Some examples of cards that take advantage of artifacts in Kaladesh include Saheeli Rai, Glint-Nest Crane and Inventor’s Apprentice.
Before we look at the new Tezzeret Planeswalker, let’s look at another new card from Aether Revolt that will give you great value thanks to artifacts. Here is Quicksmith Spy.
Quicksmith Spy continues what appears to be a cycle of Quicksmith cards that allow artifacts you control to gain an ability. Quicksmith Rebel allowed you to do damage, whereas Quicksmith Spy allows you to draw a card. Drawing cards is always more advantageous than doing damage in my opinion. Card advantage will often pull you ahead and can change the game in your favour thanks to the extra resources.
Soon we will see if only the Grixis colours get a Quicksmith creature or if all five colours will. I like the idea of this cycle of cards and they will be very strong in Limited play. Only time will tell if the Quicksmith creatures see much Standard play.
Now let’s get to talking about the main attraction of the day. Without any further delay, here is Tezzeret the Schemer.
To start off, you get five loyalty counters on a four-mana Planeswalker which is quite strong. Of the four-mana or less Planeswalkers before this, only Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Jace, the Living Guildpact, and Narset Transcendent have started with more loyalty counters than their converted mana cost. This gives Tezzeret the Schemer extra protection against getting removed right away. Let’s break down all the planeswalker abilities.
+1: Create a colourless artifact token named Etherium which has, Sacrifice Etherium token: add one mana of any colour into your mana pool.
– This ability allows you to create artifacts every turn that you can than turn around and make into creatures (see ultimate ability). It can also allow you to be playing Grixis or other three colour decks using this card. Creating these Etherium tokens also helps power the next ability for Tezzeret the Schemer.
-2: Target creature gets +X/-X until end of turn which X is the number of artifacts you control.
– Most times when you play Tezzeret the Schemer you will have two or less artifacts in play, so usually this ability won’t get played on the turn it comes onto the battlefield. Waiting one turn will allow you not only to make an Etherium artifact token, but also allow you play more artifacts on the turn after you play Tezzeret the Schemer. The interesting part of this ability is if played correctly it can also pump one of your creatures if it has enough toughness to survive.
-7: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your combat phase, target artifact you control becomes a 5/5 artifact creature."
– Thanks to starting at five loyalty, if protected, you will be able to use this ultimate ability on turn three of Tezzeret the Schemer being on the battlefield. You will have Etherium artifact tokens to turn into creatures if you didn’t sacrifice them to get mana, which means you will have 5/5 creatures for many turns to come.
At first glance it appeared that this card would be one that you really must build a deck around to be successful with it. Having a lot of artifacts will increase the power level of this card, but there is the ability to power itself thanks to the creation of the Etherium tokens. I think this card will find a place in Standard due to the sheer volume of artifacts that will be coming in this set. Hopefully there are some nice artifact cards in Aether Revolt that will allow Tezzeret the Schemer to see play.
Thanks for reading this edition of the Daily Dose of Aether Revolt as my excitement level for the new set continues to grow! There are still tons of great preview cards to come and join me as we look at these new cards and their potential together. See you next time!
