M12 Previews! New Lightning Greaves. New Old Planeswalkers? More!

Hello and welcome again for spoiler season! It's a quick turnaround this time, going quickly from Commander to Magic 2012. Thankfully, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 has helped us a little bit in what we know about the set. So with a video game and some sample decks to help us out, let's get rolling!

When Duels of the Planeswalkers came out for XBox 360 a couple years ago, WotC put out small 30-card "sample decks" for new players to run and get to feel out the game quickly. They've done the same for the relase of Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Each deck has cards mostly from M12. A majority of cards are reprints, but a few took people by surprise. Like, oh, I don't know, Goblin Grenade!?!?!?

Image from MTGSalvation.com

You'll have to look on the very bottom row to the left, but it's there. We lost Lightning Bolt, but we gained Goblin Grenade. I'd say in the fast burn department, that's a decent tradeoff. And with some pretty decent Goblins still in Standard, it may not be a bad time to trade out those Lightning Bolts for Goblin Grenades to get a few extra points through.


Hmm...still not amazed? Alright...how about a Lightning Greaves remake? I'm pleased to announce SWIFTFOOT BOOTS!

Image from MTGSalvation.com

Yes, folks, we have a Lightning Greaves upgrade. It's still 2 mana to cast, it still gives haste, but it has 2 important distinctions. For one, it has an actual equip cost now of 1. That may be bad...or it may be good. Look at the next difference. Notice the new keyword Hexproof? That's right! No longer do you need to leave your creature exposed to targeted removal when you're trying to do something to your otherwise Lightning Graved creature! Just leave the boots on and target away with your own stuff while being protected from your opponent.

I have a feeling that as long as this is in Standard it'll be the equivalent of Lightning Greaves is in casual: VERY fast, VERY efficient, and VERY worth the mana.


And finally, we have confirmation that both Sorin Markov and Gideon Jura are being reprinted. (Gideon's confirmation came from a WotC preview session during Pro Tour - Nagoya this past weekend.) So we assumed the other original Planeswalker characters would also be getting reprinted: Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, and Garruk Wildspeaker.

HOWEVER, a video in Japan apparently talking about Gideon's story has revealed something interesting about the 3 Lorwyn 'walker characters still around: Their names in Japanese writing don't match up to their Lorwyn equivalents. (For example, Garruk has no symbols above his name in the Lorwyn version, but for M12 it seems it does).

So potentially, we could have new Planeswalker cards for the 3 "surviving" Planeswalkers from Lorwyn! Woo-hoo!


That's all for today. Tune in next week when I start doing preview posts for 1 card in each rarity per post. Until then, take care, and we hope to see you at the SOM block draft tomorrow!