Multicolour time! We get to take a trip through the flurry of colours now as we take a look at all of the Multicoloured cards from Rivals Of Ixalan.
Angrath, The Flame-Chained
This is our first look at Angrath, much mentioned in the first set, and it turns out that this fiery minotaur could be quite powerful. Five mana for four loyalty isn’t terrible as loyalty to mana cost ratio goes, but it all comes down to the abilities. His first is a +1 and starts to take apart your opponent’s hand, in addition can whittle their life total down a bit as well. It’s not particularly useful when they have a full grip but as their hand gets smaller this ability gets more and more powerful. His second is a quite good, for -2 you can steal a creature to attack with, might not sound like anything special right? Not only do you get to steal a creature but if the creature you’ve stolen has converted mana cost 3 or less then you get to sacrifice it, so it works kind of like a removal spell in a way. I think if this could be utilised well Angrath could start to tear an opponent’s board apart, while you continue to take their own creatures to wreck them with, which is pretty good. Lastly his ultimate, it does cost 8 loyalty so it would take at least four turns to get there but it could easily spell the end of a game for your opponent. By the time you can ultimate Angrath the graveyard could be pretty big, plus couple with his first ability the life loss already may clinch it. Obviously stupidly good in limited just because its a planeswalker, I could see this in some sort of midrange/control deck in constructed but the power level may not hit the mark against some other cards out there.
Atzocan Seer
It ramps, blocks well early and in the late game can get back a big scary dinosaur for you to play again. Can do work in limited but I don’t think constructed wants something like this as it’s a bit awkward in cost and effect.
Azor, The Lawbringer
This guy is a flavour powerhouse, for those of you that were around in Return To Ravnica and were into the story, Azor helped create the Azorious guild. Somehow now on Ixalan and seeming to be doing ok, Azor is oozing with power. A six mana 6/6 flyer is good anyway but one that stops your opponent from interacting with instants or sorcery’s for a whole turn. To add even more to the dizzying pile of power, when Azor attacks you get to Sphinx’s Revelation, that is to say paying 3 and X to draw X cards and gain X life. Ridiculously strong in limited and I have a feeling Azor will be seeing constructed play maybe in a God-Pharaoh’s Gift shell or possibly just blue white control.
Deadeye Brawler
Deadeye Brawler is a solid combat pirate, four mana for a 2/4 isn’t stellar but the 4 toughness makes it good at blocking at least. The thing that makes Deadeye Brawler good on the offence is the Deathtouch, so your opponent would be less than happy interacting with it in combat with a big dinosaur for example. If they choose not to block it and it successfully hits then you net a free card for your troubles, at which point Deadeye Brawler has probably paid for itself. I think it sits on the curve really nicely in limited in a few different decks, the more aggressive deck wants the cards and the slower decks has it sit back and block more. Constructed doesn’t really need it because it’s a bit costly and clunky really.
Dire Fleet Neckbreaker
There’s a set of multicoloured cards in Rivals Of Ixalan that offer bonuses to certain creature types and as they stand Dire Fleet Neckbreaker is low on the list. The others that I’ll get to soon offer a static power/toughness bonus whereas Neckbreaker only aides your attacking pirates. Even then it’s just for a power bonus so unless they have some sort of evasion you may be a bit out of luck on the whole “keeping your creatures alive” thing. It does offer a nice trade-up possibility but it’s a bit costly and a bit clunky and I’m not a big fan. Great for limited but not so much for constructed.
Elenda, The Dusk Rose
Elenda is one I’m keeping my eye on for standard. It is four mana for a 1/1 which means she’s fragile and needs a bit of protecting, but given the right deck she could start getting very big very quickly. The lifelink helps with her playability but the really standout part is the sudden influx of tokens she can give you when she dies. If you can boost her power even just a little then this four mana lifelinker can turn into three or four 1/1 lifelinkers and you can start overrunning your opponent. In limited she’s insane and she doesn’t even need to be in a heavy tribal deck, though it would help. A few creatures dying here and there and she gets out of control and very hard to deal with, and the best part is it doesn’t just count yours but your opponent’s as well. Like I said I’m keeping an eye on her for the future and will be trying out different shells for constructed.
Hadana’s Climb/Winged Temple Of Orazca
Hadana’s Climb strikes me as an incredibly powerful enchantment, it’s cheap and can really beef up a creature ready for combat. If you can hit a creature turn one or two and then drop Hadana’s Climb turn three i can easily it flipping over the next couple of turns if you can provide another couple of counters. The good thing is that it’s forced to flip if the creature you targeted that combat phase has three or more counters on it, so you can choose to spread the counters out more and get more power from it before flipping it. After which you then get a land that can close a game out with ease. It generates any colour of mana and for the low price of three mana, essentially four as it taps itself, one lucky creature gains flying and doubles its power. A limited powerhouse and a possible constructed all star depending on what decks come through, Temur may love this card and if not a tempo deck will.
Huatli, Radiant Champion
I don’t like this planeswalker one bit, four mana is pretty low to the ground but apart from that the abilities aren’t fun or powerful. Every part of Huatli, Radiant Champion require you to have a decent board position full of creatures for maximum effect and that’s fine when it happens. When it doesn’t happen and you have few to no creatures, all of a sudden you have a really sub par planeswalker and that may be the reason her abilities aren’t as costly as other walkers. All planeswalkers are good in limited because it’s free reusable effects but as far as constructed is concerned, it won’t go anywhere anytime soon.
Journey To Eternity/Atzal, Cave Of Eternity
This has midrange written all over it, it’s cheap, makes something hard to deal with and can give you a lot of advantage late on. Putting Journey To Eternity onto one of your creatures, especially a particularly good one, means your opponent will either turn all of their firepower on it or just choose to leave it alone and hope for the best. The second option may be the best one as not only does Journey To Eternity bring the enchant creature back but also flips into Atzal, Cave Of Eternity which then allows you to start churning your dead creatures out of your graveyard and back into play. Atzal can help fix your mana at worst but in the late game, when you have five mana, your opponent needs to keep and eye on your graveyard just in case you could surprise them with some big swingy creature to block at a moments notice. There is a lot of power with this card but I feel that the hype will be its downfall, unless you can drop it early and consistently flip it then the threat is lacking. Even if you could flip it early you still need five mana to get use out of it. A limited all-star if you can get to the late game but I feel that constructed will squeeze this out as players will either see it coming and can prevent it or have an answer to the enchantment or land side.
Jungle Creeper
This guy is great on curve as a three mana 3/3 and really good in the late game when you can get him back. You’re probably going to throw him into combat a little more recklessly than other creatures because you know that a) The chance of trading is fairly high, and b) you don’t mind even if it doesn’t because you can just get it back and cast it again next turn. It’s quite mana intensive but you need something to do in the late game in limited.
Kumena, Tyrant Of Orazca
It slices, it dices, it does all you could want it to. Kumena is the closest you could get to a Merfolk lord without being a Merfolk lord, the advantage you can get from this three mana creature is insane. To start with Kumena blocks well and for just one more Merfolk it attacks well and unhindered. Three Merfolk nets you a card at instant speed and five Merfolk starts to bolster your Merfolk army, an obvious bomb in limited and I could see a place for Kumena in constructed as well, giving longevity to a low to the ground deck when it runs out of gas.
Legion’s Lieutenant
Next up in the lord set is the vampire lord. Dire Fleet Neckbreaker was a little disappointing for me but I think this is just what black white tokens needed; it’s cheap, on curve and in multiples starts getting silly. It’s great in limited if you’ve managed to get into a heavy vampires tribal deck and if it finds its way into constructed, which I will be testing a lot, I’m sure it’s an auto four of.
Merfolk Mistbinder
Just like Legion’s Lieutenant Merfolk Mistbinder is a brilliant addition to a Merfolk tribal deck. However it’s definitely not as good just on the basis of token generators, the vampire deck being slightly better and therefor being able to utilise a lord much better. It’s not all bad though, Merfolk Mistbinder is still fantastic in a limited Merfolk deck because it jumps all your creature up one in power and toughness, I don’t think it has the same potential for constructed as Legion’s Lieutenant though just because I don’t think a constructed Merfolk deck would want it clogging up its two drops.
Path Of Mettle/Metzali, Tower Of Triumph
This is a little confusing to me. Path Of Mettle is cheap and has good potential of triggering any Enrage creatures you may have. Provided they don’t have one of the four keywords specified on the that is which brings me to my confusion about this Path Of Mettle. It could be a good sweeper for smaller creatures and the aforementioned Enrage triggers, however the clause to flip it needs at least two creatures with any of those keywords to attack. Are you using this as a an Enrage triggerer/token sweeper or do you want to get to the flip side, Metzali, Tower Of Triumph. This land is pretty powerful not just giving you one but two abilities that are quite good to have in pocket. Metzali can put a clock on your opponent or take out a creature if it attacked this turn, not to mention fixing your mana thanks to it just adding mana to your mana pool. Two mana for a reusable Shock to the dome is a fine rate, three mana to deal with an attacker is also not bad. Keep in mind that after a creature has been declared as an attacker you can then use the Tower Of Triumph’s second ability to take one out, of its a lone attacker then three mana is a bargain to take nothing. My issue is the hoops you have to jump through for this power; you have to have keyworded creatures to get there but I think this wants to see play in an aggressive dinosaur deck and therefore you want to trigger the Enrage they may have. Apart from tokens, the “enter the battlefield” ability realistically won’t got more than maybe one creature. It’s easier to build your deck around Path Of Mettle in constructed but this for me is a limited card all the way.
Profane Procession/Tomb Of The Dusk Rose
I’m not a fan of Profane Procession. Yes it’s cheap but it’s so costly to active despite it being a powerful effect. You also have to do it three times to get it to flip into Tomb Of The Dusk Rose, which is fifteen mana over however many turns. Tomb does fix your mana but it also comes with a second ability obviously. For four mana, and tapping itself, you can flash one of the creatures removed with Profane Procession into play, a pretty good effects as far as things go. The problem is that you only can ever get three creatures off Tomb Of The Dusk Rose meaning ideally you want to hit your opponent’s massive threat. Realistically in limited I think you’re going to be taking out low power creatures more often than not with Profane Procession which means the power level on the flip side has taken a severe hit. This enchantment is a lot of work, it’s a limited all star but I don’t think constructed wants it just for its short term power rather than longevity.
Protean Raider
Clone effects are always fun and powerful in limited. Your opponent might have a bomb creature that you didn’t pull or isn’t in your colours, so what do you do? You copy it. Protean Raider is another really good example of playing creatures post combat, otherwise it would’ve probably costed four rather than three. It’s a good, and cheap, late game creature that becomes much more powerful dependent on the current board situation. If you have a big creature or one that would become problematic in multiples or your opponent has a creature that could be very useful to you, attack and then drop Protean Raider to copy it. Just remember not to get the one you wanted to copy killed in combat. At the very worst Protean Raider is a three mana 2/2 which isn’t good but there’s much worse.
Raging Regisaur
Forget about the text box for a minute. A four mana 4/4 is playable in limited all the time and will always be good; good at attacking, blocking and just generally being a threat. Now add in the text box and you have a great, on curve Enrage triggerer on legs. If it would go unblocked you could just be hitting for five a turn and put them on a four turn clock. I like this one.
Relentless Raptor
This is another dinosaur I really like. It’s cheap and gets in all the time, whether you’d rather it did or not. Relentless Raptor could be a limited powerhouse, drop this on turn two and if they don’t have any early creatures to block with then you have a few free hits, putting some serious pressure on your opponent. Add an enchantment or equipment and this little dinosaur will run the combat zone with ease. I could even see Relentless Raptor in constructed, in the right deck it can do a lot of damage and the must attack or block clause becomes negligible.
Resplendent Griffin
Love it, love it, love it! Blue/white isn’t big on Ixalan but this guy is incredible. Cheap, great ability and evasion, if you can find a way to play Resplendent Griffin then do. If your opponent gives you a couple of attacks then this Griffin becomes a force to be reckoned with and it will just keep getting bigger without an answer. As I said, there isn’t much to aide this colour combination but you may find a time when you have a weird off tribe deck in limited and Resplendent Griffin could fit in perfectly and give you a lot of power.
Siegehorn Ceratops
Bears good etc etc. It may be a bit awkward to cast consistently on turn two but if you can Siegehorn Ceratops is an immediate threat, especially if you can provide a way to ping it and apply counters. The first time it enters combat could be a bit dicey but after it becomes a 4/4 things become a little less stressed. It’s a bomb in limited and has constructed potential, the biggest issue though are cards like Longtusk Cub and Earthshaker Khenra, both of which are very effective and a lot easier to cast. Maybe post rotation but it would need a low-to-the-ground green/white deck to pop up.
Storm Fleet Sprinter
Storm The Vault/Vault Of Cataclan
Storm The Vault is an odd card; if a creature you control deals combat damage you get a Treasure. It’s not really clear what this four mana enchantment wants to do, it wants you to be aggressive and rewards you with extra mana, which doesn’t have an immediate impact. Five or more artifacts though and Storm The Vault flips into Vault Of Cataclan and more that the criteria isn’t five Treasure tokens, just five artifacts. This means that if you can drop some early artifacts before Storm The Vault, there’s a chance it could flip with the first Treasure it makes. On the flip side, Vault Of Cataclan can then start making a lot of mana, depending on how many artifacts you control. So now you have a lot of blue mana and possibly some Treasures, what do you do with it all? That’s really the issue, it’s nice having all of this mana but if your deck is designed to attack therefore triggering Storm The Vault, all you could do with this mana is dump a lot of creatures onto the board. That’s fine, if that’s what your deck does then that might be enough. My point is that Storm The Vault and Vault Of Cataclan has so much more potential but it would take a smarter person to me to figure it out. In limited I think this could be fine, it helps fix your mana which will probably be the main use. On the flip side it could help you cast your huge bomb creature but really Storm The Vault probably won’t have a home, it’s clunky and a tad slow.
Zacama, Primal Calamity
It’s a Hydra-Dinosaur! I’m not sure what Zacama is story wise but it’s one hell of a card. Vigilance, Reach and Trample all for Nine mana, which is a lot to pay but if you can get there in limited, casting the 9/9 Zacama will almost certainly win you the game. If you can cast it from your hand it’s also virtually free as it untap your lands, this then frees up your mana to start firing off Zacama’s abilities. Zacama has three powerful abilities all at three mana: the first can hit your opponent for three damage. This puts a clock on your opponent, in addition to the giant 9/9 dinosaur you have, and can make it very hard for your opponent to get a handle on the game. The second allows you to deal with any problem artifacts or enchantments which can really help in limited as sometimes they can be problem card types. The last ability gives you three life, so if you’re scrambling for a hold on the game, though I don’t know how when you have a 9/9, you can spend some of your newly untapped lands to buff out your life total. I Love Zacama in limited, it’s the ultimate swingy bomb creature that has so much power. It’s a very late game card but in Ixalan limited you could power it out quicker with the use of Treasures. I would be so happy to see Zacama in constructed but I think it’s a bit too costly with not enough immediate impact seeing as it lacks a keyword like Haste. Maybe in the right, very niche deck Zacama could be incredibly effective when used with cards that can reduce its cost. It’s a big ask but sometimes it may pay off big time.
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