Some Interesting M13 Previews!

Hey all!
  I know I said I'd be back on Monday...of last week. I apologize. I got  busy and didn't get back to the blog.

  With enough of M13 spoiled to show off some cards, I'd like to start showing off stuff I think might be interesting to see in Standard and possibly even Legacy, or perhaps just some cool casual stuff hitting for the first time.

First off, we have the return of some beloved Time Spiral-block Angels...er rather, an Angel and a memorial to an Angel.

Welcome back to Standard Serra Avenger and Akroma's Memorial!

Images from DailyMTG.com

I love these cards! Serra Avenger is forced into being a Turn 4 play, but the ability to play 2 of them then or to play one and have enough mana left over for, say, a Phantasmal Image both on Turn 4, I think the mana savings over something very similar (Serra Angel) is well worth the wait. In fact, I'll be surprised if Serra's Avenger does not find a home in Standard over the next year or so.

As for Akroma's Memorial, this is either a mana ramp deck's dream come true or a casual player's dream of a cheap one come true. Running right now in the $15-$20 range, the one from Future Sight is highly sought-after. With a Mythic reprint in M13, Akroma's Memorial will probably go down in price but it'll still be pricey. As for playability...so what it's 7 mana to get out? Look at what all you get! All your creatures are mini-Akromas (or in some cases with fatties, major-Akromas!). How can you turn that down?


Next up, we have a card that may mimic cards like Dream Halls, or perhaps will be used alongside it to help big Conflux big win decks. Presenting Omniscience!

From DailyMTG.com

Okay, okay...I know what you're saying. "10 mana!!' Yes, I don't see people hard-casting this either. I do, however, see cheating it into play. And Legacy has plenty of options: Academy Rector, Dream Halls, Hypergenesis, Eureka, and Show and Tell are the most likely ways. After that, who needs to give your opponents chances to put more stuff down? Just either Conflux up a bunch of cards or get your fatties or 1-turn combo pieces into play and go at it!

This will have casual appeal. Anything that lets you cast cards for nothing can be broken given the right circumstances, I feel. The question is, who latches on and who thinks it's not worth the time or effort?


Finally today, I'd like to look at a Red card I feel will be a sleeper hit...no pun intended. :) It's a 1-mana Dragon. 1-mana Dragon!! However, it takes a while to build him up...thus the unintended pun. Let's look at Slumbering Dragon.

From DailyMTG.com

 Yes, you get a 1-mana 3/3, so he's most efficient as a first-turn drop. But it's got a downside...it can't attack until it has 5 +1/+1 counters! 5!! And how does he get those? Well...you gotta be attacked. *CRINGE!* Well...perhaps it's not that bad. You're gonna get attacked anyway, right? So unless your opponent has something to deal with it soon, they're either gonna hold off their attacks or wait until they draw a removal spell to deal with the Dragon. After all, who wants an 8/8 Dragon to hit them? Green and Red may have issues as most of their destruction is either A) limited to a few cards, or B) limited to "x damage to target."

It'll be a huge causal favorite, I feel. It takes a drawback and turns it into a potentially huge gain. In Constructed, though? I wouldn't expect it to last too long, and with a lot of targeted "destroy/exile/return target creature/permanent" effects your opponent can just attack as normal and deal with the dragon before it hits 5 counters. But what do I know? I'm just a lowly casual player. :p


That's what I have time for today, so hopefully next week I can get a few more previews in before M13 Pre-Releases hit. Look for the full spoiler on DailyMTG.com next Friday, though, as they usually do a full spoil of the set ahead of the Pre-Release.

Take care everyone! And feel free to post comments here on what you think may be sleeper hits or huge Standard-playable cards in the set. :)