Hello everyone and welcome to the wonders of the new world, Kaladesh!

During the weekend and prior to that, Wizards of the Coast has been showing us all sorts of awesome new stuff for the upcoming new Limited envirornment, and standard rotation.

So what’s new?

Well, Dwarves are back!

Depala, Pilot Exemplar is a really good card in general, but for Dwarf/commander enthusiasts, she is an all-star. The reason I picked up this card is because of her second line of text “Each Vehicle you control gets +1/+1 as long as it’s a creature” – this is one of the new types of artifacts that Kaladesh brings to us; Vehicles!

Vehicles are a new artifact type that, very similar to equipments, needs creatures to function properly. Each Vehicle has a “Crew” cost to make them into creatures, that can then attack. Some of the Vehicles we have seen so far are Sky Stiff – Fleetwheel Cruiser and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship.

Each doing something different, but all in the need of a crew to make them fulfill their destiny – So man those battlestations folks!

Not having played or seen all the new Vehicles, I find it hard to determine whether or not they are gonna be that impactful in the new metagame, but in a vacuum some of them look insane – but I can tell you now, that it’s gonna be a crazy mechanic in limited. Being able to man a machine with either evasion or some other sweet effect, will make for a whole new dynamic on the battlefield.

For me, this is a flavor home-run, which I am without a doubt, very excited to try out!

Next up we have a new type of resource in the game: Energy

Wizards really put the pedal to the metal in this set because wow, energy looks sweet! The way it’s gonna work, is that once you get energy, you have it for as long as you don’t use it or die, symbolized through counters on the battlefield. Energy then helps you power up creatures like Territorial Gorger – Fuel machines like Aetherworks Marvel – or determine if your spell is a 《Fiery Impulse》, 《Draconic Roar》 or even more lethal depending on how much energy you fuel it with Harnessed Lightning.

As a new resource I think energy is fun, and I am in no doubt, that it will flourish throughout the multiverse!

Last but not least of the new artifact mechanics is; Fabricate

Not many cards have been spoiled for this mechanic but Cultivator of Blades gives us a good indication of what we are to expect. What I said regarding Vehicles in standard – I think the same goes for Fabricate but If Vehicles is a 9/10 in limited, fabricate is an easy 10/10. Being able to have cards that go wide, defensive, aggressive depending on the exact situation you are in is amazing when you fight over resources and time – as most limited games tend to do. Even just talking about it gives me the good kind of chills down my spine!

So overall, even though I think EMN is one of the best draft formats I have played for as long as I can remember – I am super excited to attend both Release events, GP’s and PT’s and doing battle with these cards, and I hope you are as well!

Only a small part of the spoilers are out so, this is basically it for now, but what is a talk about the new set without mention two of the most famous Planeswalkers and a brand new one.

Saheeli Rai is a card that is hard to evaluate – she is cheap, she does something, but she does not protect herself that well. On the other hand she has an extremely powerful second ability and ultimate in the right shell.

Nissa, Vital Force does what she always does, she never stops being awesome! Even though she is a 5 mana PW, she enters with a lot of Loyalty counter, and is able to both have immediate impact and set up a good next turn with the minus ability regrowth effect. Her ultimate is not that powerful straight away, but in grindy midrange games, it will be extremely hard to keep up if an emblem has been put on the board.

And now for one of my new favorite cards:

Chandra, Torch of Defiance, this card is just amazing through and through. She is low costed, has 4 abilities that all are useful in different parts of the game – there is nothing to point your fingers at, except that she may simply be too powerful. All in all I’d give her a 5/7.

Until next time

Michael Bonde // @Lampalot

Michael Bonde
Top 4 at Grand Prix Strassbourg 2013 & Grand Prix Madrid 2015. Followed by a 5th place with the Bonde-Saito-Thiago Team at Grand Prix Sao Paolo 2016. A veteran of the magic pro scene aiming ever higher.

His strengths lie in his ability to reach complicated game states where he is able to grind out a win.

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