Dragon’s Maze Prerelease Weekend is Here!

The prerelease is this weekend!!!

Find more info here.

Also, find events here.

 

 

 

After taking some time to absorb all of the Dragon’s Maze spoilers thus far, I have come to the conclusion that I am both hot and cold on this set. With Return to Ravnica I was strictly hot because I really liked the Golgari cards like Lotleth Troll, Abrupt Decay, and Vraska the Unseen. With Gatecrash I was completely cold, even though it contained Gruul and Simic, two of my favorite guilds.  I felt that the power level of the rares just wasn’t enough to fire me up like RTR did.

Dragon’s Maze feels somewhere in between Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash on a power level.  There are cards like Voice of Resurgence that push the boundaries of power (see Angel of Serenity, Sphinx’s Revelation), but also cards like Ral Zarek that feel powerful but will likely never really see serious constructed play (see Whispering Madness, Aurelia’s Fury).

I had such high hopes for Return to Ravnica, and while Abrupt Decay reached those heights, Lotleth Troll has not gotten there yet. Hang in there, little buddy!

Gatecrash did serve up some surprises for me in the form of Domri Rade and Gyre Sage. I really enjoy playing with Gyre Sage and Domri is just a blast, while enabling all-creature strategies.  Good stuff.

So, the cards I most look forward to opening this weekend? Here’s a short list (and what format I like them in):

Voice of Resurgence (All formats baby!!)
Deadbridge Chant (Great for EDH and maybe Block)
Advent of the Wurm (*shrug* Wurms are just cool)
Gaze of Granite (Might show up in Standard)
Notion Thief (Potential for Vintage/Legacy/Modern)
Ready // Willing (Standard)
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed (Standard, Block)
Sire of Insanity (Standard???)

I am still highly uncertain if any of the cards from Dragon’s Maze will have a significant impact on anything other than Block Constructed.  Sphinx’s Revelation is such a powerhouse and I don’t see it being dethroned by Notion Thief.  Notion Thief will likely just go in the Sphinx’s Revelation Esper build and be good in the mirror.

I for one, want to see what Deadbridge Chant can do. The card seems powerful, but six mana is a lot for an enchantment. This is a high risk / high reward type of card that could pay off big or lose you the game. I also want to see if Ready//Willing can help out my Junk Aggro deck that I’ve been working on. Sin Collector also fits nicely in this deck and adds some anti-Sphinx’s ammunition. I am definitely going to update that list for Dragon’s Maze Standard and check it out.  Obzedat, where for art thou???

Have fun at the prerelease!

Discussing the Stand-Out Cards from Dragon’s Maze

Dragon’s Maze has been fully spoiled! The prerelease is this weekend! Holy cow! Instead of brewing a Standard deck (I’ll do that next time) or reviewing all the cards, I think I will just take a look at the cards that stand out and why I think they’ll be good. With knowledge of the full set, I think we can make better judgments as well. Also, this is merely in order of how the cards are displayed on the spoiler, not in power order or anything.

Pyrewild Shaman. This card is everything the Domri Rade deck wants in Standard. His power is greater than or equal to his mana cost, he bloodrushes, and you can recur him when you damage them. Solid.

Armored Wolf-Rider Just kidding! 🙂

Deadbridge Chant. I don’t know how this is going to be good as a 6-mana enchantment, but damn is it awesome! This is the type of card that people will try to build around and you never know when someone will brew up an amazing combo.

Deputy of Acquittals. Flash? Human? Bounce? Yeah, this should be good. It combos with any creature that has an enters-the-battlefield ability.

Far//Away. This card is going to be great. It is an instant, which makes all the difference in the world. Bouncing a creature can be good, and making them sacrifice one can be just as good. When you get to cast both halves, you’ll likely be far ahead.

Gaze of Granite. The most direct comparison is to Pernicious Deed, which is strictly better than this card. This one has its merits, though, and I’m sure that someone will find a way to abuse it. I’m thinking graveyard deck with recursion of some sort.

Lavinia of the Tenth. She’s good and will see play in block, if not standard as well.

Legion’s Initiative. This card seems good. Time will tell, though…

Notion Thief. While this is not the second coming of Jesus as most have predicted, he will be quite good.

Plasm Capture. A four-mana counterspell? Meh. Sure, it’s mana drain but for GGUU and not UU. This card wins on flavor and awesomeness, though.

Putrefy. Yay! I love this card and think it will make a comeback as spot removal is so bad right now.

Ready//Willing. There has got to be a deck that is ready to abuse this as the effects are very good.

Sin Collector. This guy is just hanging out, waiting to be abused. Several people pointed out that he costs three mana. Yeah, that’s a lot of mana in eternal formats, but his abusability is HIGH.

Sire of Insanity. This is one of the more intriguing cards. Sure, you can get your opponent to discard their hand, but can you win the topdecking war? Is there some good graveyard stuff to go along with this guy? Deadbridge Chant perhaps?

Voice of Resurgence. Everyone knows this guy is going to be good. His $20 preorder price is indicative of that. I am on the bandwagon as well! What a cool card overall. Can’t wait to try this guy out in standard.

Well there you have it. While there are not many stand-out cards from Dragon’s Maze, the ones that do shine through will likely have a great impact on Standard and, of course, RTR Block Constructed. Modern/Legacy? I think the impact of this set on those older formats is quite low. Notion Thief probably has the most potential to do damage in that arena.

This is my last set review/spoiler discussion as next time we start brewing!