Looking Towards the Future
The Eldritch Moon has made its mark on us all, whether you are a casual or competitive gamer. The pre-release has come and gone, we’ve had time to draft, and the pros are breaking the constructed formats wide open. However, as with every Standard season, there is one question that burns in the heart of each Planeswalker. It burns hotter than a spark, it keeps us up at night, and haunts our dreams. The one question we can’t answer. What are we going to see in the new set?
With the two set blocks firmly in place now, rotations keep hitting us left and right. Since I started playing Magic, I have seen not one, not two, but six sets rotate out, as well as the retirement of the last ever core set. Even though I have enjoyed each new set and the challenges they bring, my mind still think to the next upcoming block. Will my deck still be viable? What will be the returning/new mechanics? Will I still be able to ramp? But even as these question keep us awake at night, those ever so clever people at Wizards of the Coast may have been sowing the seeds for Kaladesh right beneath our noses. We have already solved one mystery, let’s have a look and see if we can do it again. Here are my top predictions for Kalidesh and Aether Revolt.
Red White Equipment is only going to get better.
This is an archetype that has tried to be good, for oh so long. In Oath of the Gatewatch we got cards like Weapons Trainer and Stone Haven Outfitter. Shadows Over Innistrad gave us Avacynian Missionaries and Open the Armory, and now we have Sigarda’s Aid thanks to Eldritch Moon. So far the deck seems to be missing something very vital, some sweet pieces of equipment. Don’t get me wrong, Slayers Plate and Captains Claws are cool and all, but if we could get some extra pieces for our armoury, this deck could really make it. Well with us on our way to a plane, filled with budding artificers, there is a very high chance we will see some shiny new trinkets for this deck.
Here is something else for you to think about. Nahiri was the Harbinger of Emrakul, this much we all know. But even though her ultimate has the ability to summon the last know Eldrazi titan (or any other huge creature), it can also find and put into play an Artifact from your deck. Strange that that was put there, unless………
Blue and Red thopters are coming back.
Back in Magic Origins limited, we had our first taste of Kaladesh, in the form of red/blue thopters. This archetype made use of such gems as Thopter Engineer, Whirler Rogue and Pia and Kiran Nalaar. These handy creatures produced little token creatures called thopters, who have had a long history in our little game. Origins was their triumphant return, and boy, they were a thorn in my side. When they weren’t being tapped to make a creature unblockable, or been sacrificed to burn your opponent’s face, they would just swarm the board while they got buffed by multiple Chief of the Foundry. It’s unlikely we will see reprints of the cards from Origins that previewed Kaladesh, even though some of you out there would love to keep their Hangarback Walkers in standard, but chances are high we will be seeing more from these lovable constructs.
A return of an old Planeswalker
Now I’m not saying that we will get a new member of the Gatewatch, but in each of the last two blocks we have seen five Planeswalkers, not including flip walkers. Given that we know Chandra will be the main protagonist, and we know of one new walker, Saheeli Rai, that leaves us with three, as of yet unnamed walkers. Now we could see a total of four new Planeswalkers, but given that Wizards of the Coast have been working hard on building on character development, I’m willing to bet on a return of an old friend. But who – Karn? Ajani? Maybe Tibalt? Somehow these seem unlikely (although not beyond the realms of possibility). It’s a safe bet that Chandra will be aligned with red mana, and Saheeli appears to be aligned with blue mana, it could be that we see an old walker from one of the other colours.
However, there is something else to consider. On Zendikar and Innistrad we had one of the Planeswalkers take on the role of antagonist. Ob Nixilis and Nahiri are both still at large, maybe creating an evil counterpart to the Gatewatch (but that’s a theory for another time). So who could be the next big bad? We haven’t seen Tezzeret for some time, and considering his background he would be a good fit for our next antagonist. But what is his game plan?
Well, hope I’ve given you some things to think about. Maybe you have your own theories and I would love to hear them. Or how about getting down to your local store and talking to your fellow gamers about their Kaladesh theories.
