Amonkhet Spoilers

[HowlingLotus]

The Monument cards seem very interesting and I'm glad to see they're uncommon instead of legendary rarity. They aren't super OP in the sense that they carry the legendary artifact type to balance things out.

[CardAgain Sweater]

Nest of Scarabs might just be insane... It makes a 1/1 token for each -1/-1 counter you put on a creature... I can imagine this with Black Sun's Zenith now... bow to my unending wave of 1/1 tokens 

I noted that a few of the spoiler creatures a player could cast with a lower cmc, the downside being a bunch of -1/-1 tokens bringing down the oversized-for-the-cost stats; then each turn you perform some action to remove one. Nest of Scarabs gives you a chump blocker for each -1/-1 counter on your creatures as well. I think that is neat.

I'm pretty new to the game; I know of some older cards that remove any kind of counters from your creatures, but unsure if any of them are in standard.

Thanks to all those posting spoilerish stuff!

[Jabilac]

Nest of Scarabs might just be insane... It makes a 1/1 token for each -1/-1 counter you put on a creature... I can imagine this with Black Sun's Zenith now... bow to my unending wave of 1/1 tokens 

I noted that a few of the spoiler creatures a player could cast with a lower cmc, the downside being a bunch of -1/-1 tokens bringing down the oversized-for-the-cost stats; then each turn you perform some action to remove one. Nest of Scarabs gives you a chump blocker for each -1/-1 counter on your creatures as well. I think that is neat.

I'm pretty new to the game; I know of some older cards that remove any kind of counters from your creatures, but unsure if any of them are in standard.

Thanks to all those posting spoilerish stuff!

Yeah that will work out for Nest of Scarabs in Standard.  I was talking about Modern specifically in my comment but you have the right idea behind how the card works.  I think Black Green counters will be a strategy going forward but will it be +1/+1 or -1/-1 that is the question...

[Jabilac]

New Gideon



So that emblem is kind of crazy.  There are some hard to kill Gideons out there and this one can stick around for a while just preventing damage.  Modern has answers to the planeswalker card but the emblem can easily turn any top decked Gideon into an impossible wall to overcome.  What do you guys think about it?

[CardAgain Sweater]

New Gideon



So that emblem is kind of crazy.  There are some hard to kill Gideons out there and this one can stick around for a while just preventing damage.  Modern has answers to the planeswalker card but the emblem can easily turn any top decked Gideon into an impossible wall to overcome.  What do you guys think about it?

'Control' a Gideon. Perhaps a card that specifically hijacks plainswalkers, or bounces them until end of turn, allowing a brief span the emblem would not apply?

[Firegriff]

Put Gideon of the Trials into a deck with Teferi, Temporal Archmage.  Get both Emblems and Gideon cannot be destroyed... Thus, you cannot lose and opponents cannot win unless opponents can take out Teferi's emblem... Talk about Superfriends!

[Mnemosyne]

The more i think about it, the more i think youre probably right and it will be an okay card, and probably slide right in where Transgress left.

I do think the legendary clause is going to be a big deal though, and will cause it to see noticeably less play than it would otherwise. Though we've only seen 2 gods so far, the Theros gods were sone of the most played cards in the set, and if these are the same, not being able to take them will hurt the card alot

There was another reason why I mentioned this being a thing. I had forgotten until now. I noticed that this set put a lot of emphasis on embalm, and recurssion from the graveyard. I remembered that your poll about Standard, and cards that they could introduce to 'fix' it. Tormod's Crypt, being one of them, then I realised, I theorised that this set would put a solution to embalm, and like Tormod's Crypt the have introduced this card:



I am sure you will see others, I think that exile effects, therefore (Transgress the Mind) won't be important, which will mean that Open Heart has more of an impact. I do agree, Legendary is a problem for it, but from what I have seen of these 'god' cards they are not nearly as potent as the Theros gods.

[Mnemosyne]

New Gideon



So that emblem is kind of crazy.  There are some hard to kill Gideons out there and this one can stick around for a while just preventing damage.  Modern has answers to the planeswalker card but the emblem can easily turn any top decked Gideon into an impossible wall to overcome.  What do you guys think about it?

For Standard, I would say it has some merit, but mostly has nothing on Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. (Which will rotate out of Standard by the end of this year.) Control B/W decks with this card are the most likely combination. Three abilities with which can be used immediately is powerful, however, the abilities themselves aren't going to do much to the board state. The emblem won't help you win, only delay, and this Gideon can't protect itself from redirected sorcery/instant damage only damage of targeted permanents. The 4/4 indestructible is a nerf on its original iteration, and will be useful, but is not a game changer. Cards like Blessed Alliance, Oath of Liliana, Trial of Ambition will allow a player to indirectly kill Gideon as a creature.

New spoilers:


It is the only spilt card and trial I like.

So far only the black mana cards have caught my attention, the rest have been rather lacklustre, your opinions guys?

[Mnemosyne]

Oketra's Monument with Cartouche of Solidarity with Panharmonicon with Sram's Expertise with Zulaport Cutthroat with Westvale Abbey.. means a token deck is going to be vary viable.

Now this Kari Zev's Expertise with fling, I'll take that alex for 3 mana.

Don't mean to undermine you Rob, but this brings up a ruling question I would like to clarify. Like Goblin Dark-Dwellers I know that if you recast say Tormenting Voice from your graveyard you don't pay its additional cost, so am I correct in saying if you use Kari Zev's Expertise to cast Fling, you don't pay its additional cost, so it would deal 0 damage to target creature or player?

PS: NEW SPOILER

The unstoppable Aether Vial , better or worse?

[robort]

That Gideon is nasty and possibly going tribal Gideon is nastier. Then top it off with Call the Gatewatch is bonkers. 16 diffrent ways to get a Gideon into play. Lol nothing wrong in that at all, while having 8 Gideons that put out an emblem. Having 12 Gideons that are indistructable. Oath of Ajany to drop em out quicker. Plus anything else you can think of going tribal Gideon like Oath of Gideon

[robort]

Oketra's Monument with Cartouche of Solidarity with Panharmonicon with Sram's Expertise with Zulaport Cutthroat with Westvale Abbey.. means a token deck is going to be vary viable.

Now this Kari Zev's Expertise with fling, I'll take that alex for 3 mana.

Don't mean to undermine you Rob, but this brings up a ruling question I would like to clarify. Like Goblin Dark-Dwellers I know that if you recast say Tormenting Voice from your graveyard you don't pay its additional cost, so am I correct in saying if you use Kari Zev's Expertise to cast Fling, you don't pay its additional cost, so it would deal 0 damage to target creature or player?

PS: NEW SPOILER

The unstoppable Aether Vial , better or worse?

Ruling by gatherer on  Kari Zev's Expertise and then  Goblin Dark-Dwellers

Kari Zev's Expertise 2/9/2017 If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay any alternative costs, such as emerge costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, such as that of Cathartic Reunion, you must pay those to cast the card.

Goblin Dark-Dwellers 1/22/2016   If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay alternative costs such as surge costs. You can pay additional costs. If the card has mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.

[Jabilac]

PS: NEW SPOILER

The unstoppable Aether Vial , better or worse?

The "or less" is what really makes this card playable.  On first look it can cast Ancestral Vision any time and after 2 upkeeps you won't have to worry about keeping mana up for 1 counter a turn.  After that its starts getting crazy.  I think what matters most is the 3 cmc is that going to be too slow?  Turn 5 casting this with AV in hand almost sounds broken and even without AV this really sets up the long game which is where control wants to be.  I like it a lot and will sleeve up some proxies and see were it leads.

[HowlingLotus]

Much like the Monuments I am interested in making the Trials and Cartouches work in a deck - especially Black. I might try a Black/Red deck due to this and cards like Cut to Ribbons.

[rotocious]

New Gideon



So that emblem is kind of crazy.  There are some hard to kill Gideons out there and this one can stick around for a while just preventing damage.  Modern has answers to the planeswalker card but the emblem can easily turn any top decked Gideon into an impossible wall to overcome.  What do you guys think about it?

For Standard, I would say it has some merit, but mostly has nothing on Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. (Which will rotate out of Standard by the end of this year.) Control B/W decks with this card are the most likely combination. Three abilities with which can be used immediately is powerful, however, the abilities themselves aren't going to do much to the board state. The emblem won't help you win, only delay, and this Gideon can't protect itself from redirected sorcery/instant damage only damage of targeted permanents. The 4/4 indestructible is a nerf on its original iteration, and will be useful, but is not a game changer. Cards like Blessed Alliance, Oath of Liliana, Trial of Ambition will allow a player to indirectly kill Gideon as a creature.

You do realize that if Gideon, Ally of Zendikar went head to head with The New Gideon



Gideon of the Trials could just lock down Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

You'd be stuck 0-ing the entire time.

[robort]

PS: NEW SPOILER

The unstoppable Aether Vial , better or worse?

The "or less" is what really makes this card playable.  On first look it can cast Ancestral Vision any time and after 2 upkeeps you won't have to worry about keeping mana up for 1 counter a turn.  After that its starts getting crazy.  I think what matters most is the 3 cmc is that going to be too slow?  Turn 5 casting this with AV in hand almost sounds broken and even without AV this really sets up the long game which is where control wants to be.  I like it a lot and will sleeve up some proxies and see were it leads.

This card will be bonkers nuts. Cast stuff for free on your turn and your opponents as well. Cast anything with X or lesser value. Keeping it simple, negate for free, glimmer of genius for free, also it doesn't have to be blue. Cast fatal push, lightning bolt, path to exile all for free. Being able to cast 2 free spells per turn will make this broken