Ixalan Set Review - Artifacts and Lands

The end draw nigh and all that's left to do is to have a look at all of the Artifacts and Lands, the bulk of the DFC's and return of a core set favourite. Let's get started!

Cobbled Wings

Wanna make those giant dinosaurs fly? Well this is what you need. Having a card like Cobbled Wings in limited can win you a game as there can often be ground stalls, being able to make your creature of choice fly over any blockers is very powerful in such a situation. Utilize Cobbled Wings well in limited and the game could be yours with ease.

Conqueror's Galleon

There are a handful of DFC (double faced cards) in Ixalan and they aren't all legendary enchantments, this is one of them. Conqueror's Galleon, or Flip ship as it's come to be called, is a card you really want to get maximum value out of. On the front side it's at best a decent blocker being a 2/10, but with the Crew 4 you're probably investing a decent sized creature to Crew it or at least two creatures just to get it to attack for a measly two damage. The good thing is when it does attack and doesn't die, and because of the huge ten toughness it probably won't, you get to flip Conqueror's Galleon into Conqueror's Foothold. This land, which I will remind you isn't legendary, is the real value you can gain if you flip Conqueror's Galleon; it ramps, it draws cards and in the late game can gain you massive card advantage by rebuying cards from your graveyard, it does it all. I think Conqueror's Galleon is too slow for constructed but as fair as limited goes it has the potential to be an all star if you can flip it, I also love this in casual and Commander as well.

Dowsing Dagger

Dowsing Dagger is a card I would love in a tempo ramp deck, it comes down early and has so much potential value. For two mana, and two to equip, the equipped creature gains +2/+1 which is a good start and if you get out of the blocks quick then the extra power/toughness could be all you need and they aren't legendary either so you can just pile up a load of Dowsing Daggers onto a creature and bash in, sure each Dagger gives your opponent two 0/2 blockers but they shouldn't be an issue really. If you did need more out of Dowsing Dagger though if you manage to deal combat damage with the equipped creature then you can flip any Dowsing Daggers and have your very own Gilded Lotus. Three mana of any one colour is going to get you so far ahead in the game so it shouldn't be counted out or thought of as win more at all in my opinion. Giving you essentially a free spell when you flip to Lost Vale is so much value right off the bat, you can leave it open for a possible counterspell or removal spell or just to get a post combat creature to block with, Dowsing Dagger is definitely a card and I think it could be a powerful one if played correctly.

Dusk Legion Dreadnought

It's thematic, it's big, it's good at attacking and blocking and it's cheap to Crew. Dusk Legion Dreadnought could end up being your powerhouse creature in limited mostly thanks to its sudo evasion of being a vehicle half the time, but mainly because of it's stats coupled with vigilance. Being able to do 20% of your opponents starting life total and still have the Dreadnought back to block is really good and it's only two power to Crew which means you're not going to be investing multiple creatures into it in the same turn. Limited playable but probably not for constructed as it already has a lot of really good vehicles and Dreadnought is too slow in comparison.

Elaborate Firecannon

As much as I like Elaborate Firecannon as a permanent removal spell, the problem is that as cheap as it is the activation cost and untapping cost is a bit too much for me. If you really need a way of dealing with small creatures in limited than it's fine but you may find yourself putting a lot of resources into it which could jeopardize your late game.

Fell Flagship

Fell Flagship is a great vehicle for your pirate tribal deck. It pumps them which could be the difference between being able to Crew Fell Flagship or not and when you can Crew it turns into the Vehicle equivalent of Hypnotic Specter. Overall it's playable in limited with or without the pirate tribal and just as a 3/3 with a hoop to jump through and sudo evasion, I could see it breaking into constructed but at the minute we have better, cheaper and faster vehicles.

Gilded Sentinel

You need another artifact to get more value out of your Deadeye Plunderers, or just another creature then Gilded Sentinel is fine. It comes down in the mid game is ok in combat but nothing special to write home about, you only play this if you really need another artifact or another creature.

Hierophant's Chalice

Meh, again another limited only card maybe with casual or Commander applications. The one life drain isn't why you're playing this card, you play it for the ramp and the worst part is it doesn't even give you a colour so you're already slightly restricted but it does double as an artifact which can be useful in many situations.

Pillar Of Origins

This ramp artifact is slightly better but it is still restrictive; it gives you a colour but you have to spend the mana it produces to play creatures of a certain type which you have to lock in upon playing Pillar Of Origins. It plays best when you have a proper tribal deck where 75% of your creatures, or entire deck in some circumstances, is made up of one creature type. I doubt you'll see this in constructed but with a more tribal centric metagame possibly on the horizon it might work.

Pirate's Cutlass

Equipment in limited usually turn out to be quite good as it adds another thing for your opponent to think about and you can keep changing which creature you control has it. Pirate's Cutlass obviously plays best in a more pirate tribal deck but is just as good as a three mana equipment, it only costs two to equip so it's not asking for much and the added two power could be a lot in depending what you're facing down.

Primal Amulet

This is my type of card, one that has a lot of potential in the right deck and can be abused. The four mana cost would turn any normal person off because by that time you could be doing lots of other things especially in constructed; Glimmer Of Genius, Chandra, Torch Of Defiance or Bristling Hydra to name a few. If you do get to cast Primal Amulet and are able to get the value out of it reducing your instants and sorceries then you get to flip it into Primal Wellspring. This is the big pay off that this instant and sorcery deck wants; imagine being able to not only ramp yourself ahead by a turn but all your Lightning Strikes are Twincasted just by using Primal Wellspring to cast it. It's more suited to limited as far as potential flipping ability but I could see a deck playing Primal Amulet in constructed almost like the old blue red control deck.

Prying Blade


Another great limited equipment, it comes down early, isn't much to equip and if the equipped creature is able to get in even just once you could get so far ahead of your opponent on mana that it may be hard for them to stabilize. No place in constructed but play it all the time in limited. It also plays nicely with artifact themes.

Sentinel Totem

This is a card that's being jammed into constructed sideboards for both standard and modern. It's cheap and deals with the graveyard efficiently, also it lets you Scry 1 when you play it which could smooth your next draw out and even find you a land of you kept a risky hand. I like it and am expecting to see it a lot in standard sideboards mainly for God-Pharaoh's Gift decks.

Shadowed Caravel

As you've probably noticed the Explore mechanic is on a lot of cards in Ixalan and Shadowed Caravel wants to see those cards. Even without the Explore ability it's a perfectly playable two mana 2/2 even if you do have to Crew it each turn, but with the Explore trigger this ship could get really out of hand very quickly and put you over the edge in limited. I don't think the Explore mechanic will break into constructed enough to justify playing this but like I said it's still a perfectly serviceable vehicle for limited.

Sleek Schooner

Now this is a vehicle. It's cheap, ish, super easy to Crew and can deal a lot of damage. You play this in limited all the time either as a big ship to bash with or just as another artifact, it could even see constructed play in a more aggressive vehicle deck.

Sorcerous Spyglass

I like this card because it can provide an answer to more awkward cards like planeswalker or even lands. First off you get a free look at your opponents hand which could help you decide what to name, but keep in mind you don't need to name a card they actually have in their hand you could look at their hand and then name a card you know they have in their deck. It's another card that's will see sideboard play in constructed but probably isn't the best for limited unless it's the only answer you have for a certain card.

Thaumatic Compass

It's cheap and can help you fix your mana thus making it slightly more likely that you'll draw action. I would've loved if Thaumatic Compass put the land into play but repetitive ramping would probably be too strong at the cost of three mana a turn, that's all by the by though as the main reason for playing Thaumatic Compass is to flip it. Spires Of Orazca not only ramps you ahead but is possibly one of the more powerful flip sides of a card in Ixalan. It's most related to Maze Of Ith from The Dark, a free, reusable removal spell each turn that is very hard to deal with. You get to cherry pick the hardest creature for you to deal with by any other means and Spires Of Orazca essentially stops that creature from attacking, though it does untap the creature leaving it to block next turn. If given enough time in limited then Thaumatic Compass could net you a lot of value and if flipped Spires Of Orazca is immensely powerful, if a deck could flip the Compass efficiently and quickly then I could see it being played in constructed but right now I don't think it could get there.

Treasure Map

I think this card could be a sleeper bomb rare in both limited and constructed. It comes down early, gives you information and smooths out your draws just for a mana and when it flips not only does it ramp you ahead by up to four mana, flipping into a land and generating three Treasure tokens. The pure mana value is good enough to play Treasure Map in my book, if played on turn two and used each turn by turn five you can jump to eight mana, but if that's not your bag then Treasure Cove, the flip side, can net you a lot of card advantage by being able to sacrifice a Treasure to draw a card and it doesn't just use the ones created by itself, so you can cash in any other Treasures for extra cards if you don't need the mana. I would slam this in limited and play it all day long, the potential value is too much to pass up, and like I said I could see this making it's way into constructed in some sort of control deck.

Vanquisher's Banner

This card screams tribal. First off you name a creature type which in most decks would be the creature type most played/the creature type you've chosen to build the deck around, then all of the chosen creatures with that type not only get a power/toughness bonus but also met you a card when they come into play. In Ixalan's limited format it could be very powerful as both draft and limited try and push you into a tribe in some form or another but it is expensive at five mana to not have any immediate impact on the game. I feel Vanquisher's Banner is more of a casual or commander card but it will be great in the right tribal deck, maybe elves as they have a tendency to generate more and more mana.

There's only a handful of lands to look at so let's keep this train rolling just a little while longer.

 Dual lands

Each of these dual lands are being reprinted from back in the days of the Core Sets all the way from Magic 2010. They've got updated art and flavour text and it's good to have duals that can be reprinted that aren't too powerful like the Ravnica dual lands, these lands have also been printed at a very specific time as well because the Zendikar dual lands that have two land types have just rotated out of standard playability, although the cycling lands are still playable so you do have lands with two land types to pair the M10 lands with. Having a standard format where both those sets of dual lands are legal would be immensely powerful so I'm glad that hasn't happened, although I would have liked to go back to an easy five colour mana base but I am asking for a bit much. These lands will all see play in constructed and if you manage to pull one in limited it allows you to splash a third or maybe even fourth colour for very little risk.

Field Of Ruin

Wasteland effects are very powerful; if you're opponent is playing multiple colours and running dual lands sometimes using an effect like this you can take them off of one colour, or maybe their playing some utility lands like Ramunap Ruins or even a flipped DFC enchantment from Ixalan, this land allows you to get the too. Field Of Ruin is the newest Wasteland in effect in magic but luckily it's not as powerful as Wasteland, it's closer to Ghost Quarter in the sense that it allows your opponent to search for a basic land to replace the land you've just blown up. This does come at a cost of two mana but the upside, other than taking out a nonbasic land of your choice, it also lets you search for a basic land to replace Field Of Ruin and to top it off you can use it at instant speed. Best case scenario with Field Of Ruin is destroying your opponents land for them to have run out of basic lands and have to fail to find. I like having a card like this in standard constructed because it keeps decks that rely on powerful lands in check, there are better options in other constructed formats so Field Of Ruin probably won't see play in those, as far as limited is concerned you play it all the time just in case and it's colourless so it doesn't throw your colours off.

Unclaimed Territory

This land is the perfect mana fixer for those tribal decks in limited, if you're running a lot of one type of creature then it's the best land in your deck, if that's not the case though then it's pretty bad. If tribal decks become a thing in constructed then I could see it being a shout, maybe in modern for Merfolk or Elves decks but they tend to be mono colour so you could just replace it with a land and be ok.

Unknown Shores

There is one of these in almost every set, it's good to have around in limited when you need to fix your mana although it will set you back a turn but for a splash colour it's perfectly functional.

A couple of days ago I said we were done with the monocoloured cards, that was a little bit of a lie. To round out this week of the Ixalan Set Review the last cards we're going to take a look at are the planeswalker deck cards.

Jace, Ingenious Mind Mage


This version of Jace may have its moments but it feels a bit all over the place to me. Traditionally Jace planeswalkers don't really care about your creatures, sometimes your opponents but their abilities tend to be very card advantage based. The Ingenious Mind Mage's first ability helps in that department by being a straight up card draw ability, +1 - Draw 1, his second ability leads me to think he would be at home in a tempo deck where you have value creatures that you want to attack and block with but at six mana that's a little while to wait. Jace's ultimate is another weird one, it takes four turns minimum to get to use it and to get max value your opponent needs to have three creatures and while that could happen, I would've preferred a bit of a swingier ultimate on a planeswalker of this stature and cost.

Castaway's Despair


It's not as good as Malfunction because it can't enchant an artifact but it is more thematic in name for the mind wiped, stranded planeswalker. For four mana tapping a creature indefinitely is a decent price to pay for the effect, it's able to stop your opponent's bomb creature and what more could you want? Well a lot more but that's all you're getting from Castaway's Despair.

Grasping Current


There is always a card in the planeswalker deck that allows you to find the corresponding planeswalker. Grasping Current is a good spell when able to keep the board balanced for you or even to return your own creatures to get more value out of an enter the battlefield trigger, it also costs five which is an important point. Because Jace, Ingenious Mind Mage costs six and Grasping Currents lets you find him, you can curve nicely into the blue planeswalker, if you're playing Grasping Currents and not finding Jace it is slightly overcosted but could still be powerful.

Jace's Sentinel


And when you find your Jace planeswalker this Innocuous two drop  stops being a good blocker and turns into a small threat thanks to the unblockable. In the early game Jace's Sentinel isn't really anything of note except that it blocks well and isn't the type of creature your opponent would want to waste a removal spell on.

Huatli, Dinosaur Knight


Out of the two planeswalker deck planeswalkers, I think Huatli is the stronger card. They both cost six but Huatli gets to her ultimate a lot quicker the only downside is that she is a lot narrower. Every ability requires you to control a dinosaur and none of them give you a dinosaur in any form, paired with Huatli, Warrior Poet then this is ridiculously powerful and I could see a tribal dinosaur deck in constructed playing both.

Huatli's Snubhorn


A perfectly good two drop, being able to attack and then block is going to mean this guy could do some work and with Huatli in play her Snubhorn could get really big and do some serious damage.

Huatli's Spurring


This is another card I could see making it's way into constructed. It's a cheap, effect pump spell and if Huatli see's play the additional four power for one mana is very powerful. It's even playable in a mono red aggro deck reliant on getting damage in on mass incredibly quickly.

Sun-Blessed Mount


A decent sized and costed creature and Sun-Blessed Mount also allows you to hit Huatli on curve and then couple the two for a lot of damage or even using the Mount as a removal spell thanks to Huatli's second ability. Even just as a five mana 4/4 it's still a threat and will need to be dealt with quickly.

Woodland Stream and Stone Quarry


Nothing special, lands used to smooth out your mana in the planeswalker decks. Constructed playable yes but there will usually be a more tempting alternative.

So that brings us to the end of the Ixalan Set Review, I hope this has given you some insight into possible ways to use certain cards and maybe even given you ideas for cards you had disregarded at first, overall though I hope you've had fun look at a whole load of Magic cards. Join me next January as I'll being going through all of Rivals Of Ixalan but until then, remember to keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.