Edge of Eternities: Sneak Preview

The massive hype train that was (and still is) Final Fantasy in Magic: the Gathering has slowed down temporarily. Now, this could be due to the fact that it’s sold out just about everywhere you look, but it honestly could not have come at a better time. The new set for MtG, Edge of Eternities, is a beautifully done space opera set that works to blend some classic lore with new environments and card mechanics; working hard to deserve some of its own time to shine. This slowdown in Final Fantasy hype, plus the massive amount of ‘card previews’ for Edge of Eternities that pop up online, on an almost hourly basis, is building a lot of positive hype for this set. And that’s awesome! From just a few of the cards that have been popping up online as well, it is looking like it may be a pretty power-house heavy sealed environment. Power creep is real with this set, so its worth keeping an eye out for a few with pre-release weekend coming up soon.

Stepped on a Lego

Amongst all these leaks of the Supervoid and Tezzeret, etc., there’s a classic 3/2 beast creature with one of the wildest text boxes. The two pips of green that’s required for casting it does work to lock it out of some dual or tri-color decks that would be on the fence about running it, but even then, that still may not be enough. ‘This spell can’t be countered’ on any creature in green is a very strong effect due to the sheer proliferation of ramp and big stompy bois. Frenzied Baloth just looks at that and says ‘bet’. Want all your other creature spells unable to be countered? Done. Oh, and you don’t want combat damage to be prevented, so the uncounterable creatures are more effective? Done. Did you also need it to attack immediately when it enters? Sounds like a tall order all for one creature with a 3/2 body for 2 mana in green. Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast was nice enough to throw trample in with that order, for free! Now, who knows how effective this card will be in a standard or even modern environment. But in sealed environments, this card really will be a beast.

"Just a little nap"

A nightmare is also coming back in this set but with another, different beast. Eldrazi. These monstrous titans have had a chokehold on Magic: the Gathering since they were first printed. Infamous, due solely to their sheer power and ability to turn the tide of a game with a single successful cast of one. This new nightmare’s whole goal is to just keep coming back. Showcasing the new ‘Warp’ effect on a traditional creature type is amazing to see in the context of this set. The way ‘Warp’ works is that the listed cost for warping the creature (in this case, 4 colorless) will work as an alternative cost for casting the creature. Enter the battlefield effects and creature enter effects happen, it is treated as if it was normally cast for the turn that it warped in. At the end of the turn, however, the creature is exiled. That part is a bit of a bummer, but it can be recast from exile for it’s normal mana cost. In a sense, it’s like Adventure for creatures. When this is applied to a 7/5 Eldrazi that draws you a card and puts a free permanent on the field whenever it leaves the battlefield, it becomes extremely strong. A massive bomb in a sealed environment, to say the least.

Evil Soup

As far as massive bombs go, Thrumming Hivepool may top the list. The hype for this card has been insane from the moment it was spotted. With good reason! It marks the return of another classic creature type to standard and sealed environments, Slivers. Historically, Slivers have been as infamous for their strength as Eldrazi, but for the opposite reason. While Eldrazi work as one massive creature, supported by some disposable scions, Slivers work together. Each individual sliver works to buff all of the slivers across the board. That can be with a simple buff like giving them all haste or +1/+1 but usually with much more sinister buffs that lead to an army of 20/20, indestructible, haste, trample, vigilance, double strike monstrosities relatively quickly. The Slivers’ infamy is well earned, and an artifact that does the work of two separate Slivers on its’ own is amazingly good. Being made cheaper to cast with Affinity for Slivers is almost an afterthought, given how good the effect of giving double strike and haste to all of your own Slivers can be. Just breaking the barrier on absurdity is the final line of text, creating 2 1/1 Slivers each upkeep. Not only does this artifact work as a buff, it also works to create more slivers, that are then buffed, by itself. This card being colorless works to make it an auto-include in just about every sealed deck if it is pulled, and it is worth keeping an eye out for this disgustingly efficient artifact at this upcoming prerelease.

With all of the powerful new cards considered, it's all shaping up to be an extremely dynamic pre-release. There will be a big bunch of bombs begging to hit the board. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to just follow suit, and lean into the strongest rares/mythic rares when putting together a pre-release deck. The power creep that is being seen in all of the 'card previews' that have surfaced so far online is pretty wild. Azorius life-gain/mill ? The shrimp can actually fry the rice? Edge of Eternities had a very tough act to follow for its release; the bullet train of hype that is Final Fantasy almost whizzed right past it. Almost made EoE totally forgettable, to be honest. But through the strength of the cards in this set, shown everywhere online (sometimes officially, sometimes not), there is a pretty sizable hype train of its' own built up. Wouldn't make it a bad idea to lean into the hype to fully enjoy what these chaotic new cards can really do. Then again, the amount of removal in this set has yet to be seen, and running enough removal to blow up spaceships could be very funny.