MTG: Dig Deeper with These New ‘Lost Caverns of Ixalan’ Keywords
There’s more than just treasure and ghosts in the Lost Caverns of Ixalan; four new keywords are here to shake up the game.
We’re just a day out from the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Prerelease weekend, and hype is at an all-time high. Returning friends, Jurassic World guests, and a herd of new Dinosaurs make this one of the best sets in a while.
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If you’re attending the pre-release, you’ll want to be prepared for some of the new keywords headed your way. While they’re easy to figure out, forewarned is forearmed, and will make the deckbuilding process easier.
Discover
One of the main themes of Lost Caverns is digging deeper to find valuable treasures. Representing that, we have the discover mechanic, cascades‘ younger, hipper brother. When you discover, you reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal a nonland card with mana value equal to or less than the discover value. Then, you can choose to cast it for free or put it into your hand, while the rest are shuffled and put on the bottom of your library. This mechanic beats out cascade for me because you don’t HAVE to cast it right away. I’ve cascaded into some poorly timed cards before, so having the option to save it for later is a huge bonus.
Descend
Not everything is light and discovery in Ixalan. In order to find the treasure, you have to go deep into the dark places of the world. Sometimes, the things waiting for you there aren’t worth the risk. Descend is a new mechanic that cares about things in or going to your graveyard. Some cards get stronger the more permanents are in your graveyard, and some, like the Mycotyrant, care WHEN they go there. Aristocrat decks will rejoice with all the new ways to get graveyard value. Your opponents, on the other hand, will wish they’d brought a bigger torch.
Craft
Sometimes, the things you find deep in the abandoned temple are junk. However, sometimes with a little elbow grease and a few extra junk pieces, you can make something great. That’s the case with the craft mechanic. Craft cards are a series of artifacts that can be glued to something else, usually another artifact but sometimes Dinosaurs, lands, or “things with abilities”. Once you do so, you get a bigger, better artifact, either a creature, a vehicle, or an all-powerful cosmic battery. Whatever you get, it’s definitely better than what you had.
Map Tokens
Map tokens are a new variety of “useful artifact” like Food or Clue introduced in Ixalan. They allow you to explore for one colorless pip, but only as a sorcery. This lets you thin out your deck while also pumping up your creatures and generating lands. Exploration is difficult, so make sure you bring a Map.
Happy Gaming!
