MTG: What I Learned from the Wilds of Eldraine Prerelease
The Land of Fairy Tales is back in the spotlight, and there’s a lot of awesome stuff coming along for the ride.
Since the devastating war with Phyrexia in the last block, lore fans have been wondering what became of their favorite planes. Planeswalkers across the Multiverse have found their sparks rendered inert, trapping them in their primary plane. Rowan and Will, the twin Planeswalkers from Eldraine and heirs to the throne, find themselves at odds with one another. In the wake of their conflict, a mysterious new hero rises. He embarks on a quest to restore his beloved plane. Siblings clash, spells are cast, and a plane falls under a magical slumber. We have entered “Wilds of Eldraine”, the latest Magic set premiering next Friday. I got the opportunity to play in the Prelease this weekend. This set has some amazing new mechanics, and here are a few quirks to look out for in your deck building.
Just Role With It
A new feature in WOE is Role tokens. This token Auras provides a wide variety of buffs and special effects to your creatures. Want to make a bruiser? Add a Monster Role to your monster to give them +1/+1 and trample. Need some deck filtering? The Sorcerer Role gives access to scry. An opponent’s monster getting out of control? Pop a Cursed Role on it and watch it shrink to a measly 1/1. There are tons of options, each suited to a different style of play. Unfortunately, you can’t double-cast your monsters and can only control one Role per creature. However, sacrificing the Roles isn’t always a bad thing.
Bargain Bin
Another new keyword showing up for the first time in WOE is “bargain”. The faeries of Eldraine are fickle, dangerous creatures and will often offer great power in exchange for a small…price. In game terms, that means sacrificing an artifact, enchantment, or token; nothing you’ll miss, right?
If you do, you get an additional or empowered effect from the card, like bringing lands to life, draining your opponents, or catapulting deadly creatures onto the battlefield. With all the ways to generate tokens, including the new Roles, you’ll have no trouble getting the biggest booms every time you play a spell. Just make sure the sacrifice is one you can afford.
Off On an Adventure
Not a new addition but an exciting one nonetheless, Adventures are back in a big way. For the uninitiated, these are creatures and enchantments that have a quest associated with them. You can either play the card for its standard cost or cast it for its Adventure cost. If you do, the card moves to exile, where you can cast it on a later turn.
The adventures always correspond to the card in question somehow, even if they aren’t the same color. Scalding Viper, for example, has a steam-themed unsummon effect as it heats up to its full boiling might. These are all powerful cards and can turn the tides of battle with just a little step out the door.
