Myth-Direction Amonkhet

Angel Of Sanctions

Our first Mythic rare we're taking a look at today is Angel Of Sanctions, a fairly aggressively costed creature cone removal spell. From a purely constructed point of view, Angel Of Sanctions is the type of creature that white control decks love; it gives you a way to deal with an opposing threat and a body to put some pressure on, and late on in the game you can Embalm Angel Of Sanctions if needed. Looking at it from Mythic Rare point of view, the effects and stats that Angel Of Sanctions brings to the table are what makes it a Mythic Rare to me as taken as separate parts they aren't anything special. A five mana 3/4 with flying is middle of the road, the Oblivion Ring effect is fine but when you have an uncommon that does the same thing in the same set but with Flash and it costs one less, Cast Out, then the effect doesn't seem particularly pushed. Finally, the Embalm mechanic follows the flavours and themes of Amonkhet and therefore adds more value to Angel Of Sanctions which is the main reason I think it's a Mythic Rare. On the whole, I don't think Angel Of Sanctions really hits the Mythic spot as a concept.

As Foretold

This feels more like a Mythic Rare just in power level. As Foretold is a less broken Aether Vile and Aether Vile was an uncommon, granted it came at a time with a less refined rarity system and it should have been Rare in my opinion, but the difference between As Foretold and Aether Vile is that the latter only let you put creatures into play and As Foretold lets you cast spells full stop. Yes, Aether Vile let you put creatures into play in your opponents turn and As Foretold doesn't, but just by adding the option of any spell and not just creatures really pushes the power of the enchantment and for that reason I feel As Foretold has hit the Mythic card level.

Bontu, The Glorified

The gods will be difficult to evaluate in a Mythic respect as they are all designed as Mythic Rares, but I'm going to look at them on the broader level. Bontu as a three mana, 4/6, menace, indestructible is obviously super pushed as it is and when it comes with an activated ability it becomes so much better, for obvious reasons, but when it's put into the context of your deck, everything becomes a little bit more in the details. Bontu is great if you can funnel creatures through it often, the problem comes when you have a drought in creatures and at that point Bontu becomes pretty useless despite how much power and value potential it has. As a concept, it definitely hits the Mythic Rate status, as a card it does but it can be a bit clunky at times, what I'm trying to say is that just because a card is a Mythic Rare it doesn't mean it will always win you the game or be the big game changer, but they often are.

Combat Celebrant

There are things that Magic design try not to do all that often, like extra turns; since Time Walk it has become obvious that extra turns can be incredibly powerful. It's a similar feel with additional combat phases; giving a player an additional combat phase is almost like giving all of your creatures Double Strike in a way, you're able to capitalise on your opponents weak blocking options with your biggest creatures and then once they're dealt with, alpha strike. In this day of Magic design, if you have the potential to get an additional combat phase it will always come with hoops to jump through, in this case Exerting Combat Celebrant and, if it survives with its one toughness, not having it able to untap the next turn which prevents you from abusing the additional combat phase effect. I love the power level of Combat Celebrant and the promise of additional combat phases is one that I think a lot of players can get behind especially for the low cost of three mana and for that reason I think Combat Celebrant has hit the Mythic mark.

Cruel Reality

The return of the curses is something that was expected when you think about it, the curse of the mummy's tomb for example. The context and the power level of Cruel Reality in my mind are spot on, it's thematic and for its cost it potentially has devastating, game winning power. The feel of the card on the whole though doesn't evoke a Mythic Rare to me but just a Rare so for this enchantment I don't think it hits the necessary Mythic Status.

Gideon, Of The Trials

Planeswalkers nowadays are all Mythic. Even if it is under-powered, looking at Tibalt, the status of Planeswalker takes it to Mythic, however I'm going to look at the abilities separately to see if the power level hits Mythic as well. Gideon's first ability kind of protects itself, as long as your opponent doesn't have multiple creatures or ways of dealing damage, which is pretty standard for a planeswalker and gaining the loyalty can take him out of range of dying potentially. As protection abilities go, I think it's fine and necessary in this instance, maybe not super powerful but always useful. His second ability is the one that will probably get used the most, not only because it costs zero loyalty but because you can have a three mana 4/4 indestructible and on a power level sense, this ability definitely hits hard and will do a lot of work for you. The last ability is an odd one, it costs zero and gives you an embalm that says "You cannot lose the game and your opponent cannot win the game as long as you control a Gideon planeswalker.". It's a weird one to evaluate because it puts Gideon, and every Gideon you play after the first, on the same level as Worship and you only need to use this once per game as multiple do literally nothing for you. Keep in mind that it's not just this Gideon that stops your losing the game but any Gideon as it just asks for a Gideon planeswalkers to be under your control, also you still lose life so you can go to minus life and then find yourself in a very tentative situation. All in all I think Gideon, Of The Trials hits the Mythic Rare card level mainly just for the second ability but if utilized, you can get some good mileage out of the last ability.

Glorious End

This is a very subtle yet powerful card, Glorious End essentially works as a red counterspell, it can stop an Ulamog in body and effect by exiling it while on the stack and it works as a fog when necessary. Think of Glorious End as the Swiss Army knife of red instants and because of that power level and versatility, Glorious End hits the Mythic Rare status.

Hazoret, The Fervent

Onto our next god, Hazoret, which offers a great way to ditch cards in your hand to enable attacking or blocking. It's not always about attacking or blocking however, as just by paying three mana to use Hazoret's ability is still a Shock and if you can discard say, a Fiery Temper and pay the madness cost, suddenly it's turned into pay four mana deal five damage. With a mana cost of four for a 5/4 with Haste may seem pretty strong but I feel that most of the time the Haste on Hazoret will be needless as there may not be many times when it's the last card in your hand. As far as the effect is concerned, it's pretty much just a very aggressive enchantment which you won't be unhappy with but you could always want more out of your cards. Hazoret just about hits the Mythic Rare spot but I feel the cost of the ability could've been pushed a little more, maybe only costing 1R instead.

Kefnet, The Mindful

Kefnet, the blue god, was always going to have a very tempting ability when it involves drawing cards. Just taking the ability of drawing cards and returning a land to your hand evokes both Treasure Trove and Meloku, The Clouded Mirror just without the added bonus of getting a 1/1 flying creature. Keep in my The returning a land to your hand is optional so at worst Kefnet is just four mana draw a card which is nothing to turn your nose up at, but if you do choose to return a land when you draw a card, it already takes you a third of the way to enabling the attacking and blocking clause. With the value it can give you and the power it has when you have enough cards in hand I think Kefnet has hit the Mythic Rare level quite comfortably.

Liliana, Deaths Majesty

Liliana is a very powerful planeswalker, out of the three in Amonkhet I think she's the most powerful. She comes in and whichever of the first or second ability you use she protects herself and if you use the first it takes her two turns away from a Wrath and, if you can wait another turn to ultimate her and still keep her in play, she could take a game over really easily just by fueling your yard and making creature after creature. On the whole, Liliana, Deaths Majesty has the power level of the Mythic and the feel.

Nissa, Steward Of Elements

I like Nissa, another card in Amonkhet  that has a lot of versatility. The problem is she doesn't protect herself but the trade off for that is that she can be cheap, turn three at the earliest. Being able to fix the top two cards of your library is powerful throughout the game but the main part of the first ability is the +2 loyalty. If you can drop Nissa early and +2 her the next turn you could find a three drop creature, which if you hit a creature can protect her. She could also hit a land and ramp you but the worst case scenario is you get to look at the top card of your library and gain some extra information. My issue is with the ultimate ability, specifically the fact that the lands are creatures until end of turn as opposed to permanently, I can understand why as you don't want to turn sweeper effects into double Stone Rains, but I think it could have been pushed to that extent. Nissa, Steward Of Elements is nifty and quirky and definitely on the Mythic level.

Oketra, The True

Oketra is the white god and, in true white fashion, makes creature tokens. Four mana for a 1/1 vigilant creature isn't awful, but it's much more effective in the late game when you aren't depleting most of your mana sources to do it. What I like about Oketra is that it costs four, which means, if your playing a heavy white deck, you're quite likely to have three other creatures by turn four/five which enables Oketra to attack or block quite efficiently. And when it can attack or block, the Double Strike will do a lot of work in combat, making it difficult to attack into Oketra or make profitable blocks. Again, as a god and the concept, Oketra hits the Mythic status, as a card I think it does as well, it may seem slower than the other gods but I don't think it's any less powerful.

Rhonas, The Indomitable

Another god that is difficult to block when enabled, Rhonas comes down early and it's ability takes you half way to enabling him to attack or block, if you control another creature that is. As the abilities on the gods go, Rhonas's might not seem as strong as drawing a card, making a token, shooting your opponent for 2 or draining life and scrying, but pumping a creatures power for two and giving it trample is going to give you a fair amount of power over the coming turns, especially when you can activate it twice in the same turn to force some damage through. Rhonas hits the Mythic level, just about. The fact that it's a god pushes that in my mind coupled with the added Trample on his activated ability as opposed to just pumping.

Samut, Voice Of Dissent

This is probably the easiest card to evaluate on a Mythic level as it seems to have been designed in such a way that it will almost always be absurd. So many keywords, a static ability and an activated ability, what's not to like on Samut? The only problem could come with having so many things on a card making it difficult to find the right spot for Samut; Five mana for a 3/4 Double Strike, Vigilance, Haste and Flash would seem great in an aggro deck, along with giving your other creatures Haste and being able to give one sudo Vigilance, but it could also work nicely in a midrange deck that more relies on the Flash aspect of Samut, or maybe even a control deck as an end of turn threat. Whichever way you decide to use Samut I'm sure you will get the mileage you want out of her and she obviously hits the Mythic Rare card level in both feel and especially power.

Lastly...

Vizier Of The Menagerie

Oracle Of Mul Daya was a great card, it ramped you a lot and gave you more info by letting you play with the top card of your library revealed. Vizier Of The Menagerie works similarly to Oracle but instead of lands, it lets you play creatures, and instead of playing with the top card of your library revealed, so your opponent gets to see it as well, Vizier allows you to look at it instead. It just keeps getting better though, you get to play off the top of your deck as long as it's a creature and you can use whatever mana you want to play creature spells, oh and where Oracle Of Mul Daya was a 2/2 and pretty brittle, Vizier Of The Menagerie is a 3/4 and can enter combat a lot more successfully. In almost every way Vizier seems like a pushed Oracle Of Mul Daya and it definitely hits the Mythic Rare level.

That brings us to the end of our look at all the Mythic Rares in Amonkhet. I think on the whole it's been a pretty solid and successful design space with a lot of interesting and quirky cards to build around.

I hope you've enjoyed our trip through the Mythic Rares, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.

Amonkhet Invocations

In previous recent sets, there have been special promo cards called Masterpieces. In Zendikar they were referred to as the Expeditions and contained promo lands, Kaladesh called them Inventions and had them be all artifacts, keeping in theme with the set, and Amonkhet has the Invocations represented by the five Gods, their magic and their servants.
These cards are normal Magic cards but with a slightly different look, the name is in the style of hieroglyphics and they are pretty rare and valuable, ranging from $15 to $150. The five Gods in Amonkhet also appear as Invocations and since we've covered them already, I think its safe to skip them.

 

 

 
 
 

Amonkhet Artifacts and Lands

Bontu's Monument

We start out look at the artifacts with one of the Monuments. Each god has a Monument devoted to them and each of the Monuments are legendary and for good reason. They cheapen the cost of creatures that share a colour with that god, so for example; Bontu is black, so black creature spells cost one less to cast, in multiples, having these artifacts not be legendary would be insane as it would give you access to essentially free mana. Aside from that first effect, the Monuments have another effect that triggers whenever you cast a creature spell, in this case draining your opponent for one life. Two things about this ability, one; it's not whenever you cast a black creature spell, just a creature spell in general and this is true for all of the Monuments. Two; the creature spell you cast to trigger it doesn't even have to resolve, just the fact that your paid mana for it will cause Bontu's Monument to drain one life from your opponent. Bontu's Monument is fine in limited, it will keep up the tempo into addition to you making another creature will and, if it's on colour with some of your creatures, you can get a nice mana reduction that essentially brings you a turn ahead. Probably not for constructed but as it's colourless and therefore can be cast in any deck, this is one of the five I would like to try.

Edifice Of Authority

The first card were going to look at involving Brick counters, Edifice Of Authority is great card to have in your slower decks in limited. It can come down on turn three, only takes one mana to activate and it's colourless. Being able to keep just one creature from attacking can extend the game for a long time in limited and, after you've kept a creature at bay three time, you can stop a creature from doing pretty much anything with Edifice Of Authority's second ability. If you could find a way to untap Edifice Of Authority, being able to halt most of your opponents army could be brutal.

Embalmer's Tools

Another artifact that offers a mana reduction, Embalmer's Tools isn't legendary though so you can have multiples in play at once. Obviously, Embalmer's Tools plays really well with Embalm, allowing you to pay less for the Embalm cost and get value out of the zombie token as soon as it comes into play. As for outside of Amonkhet limited though, you can also use Embalmer's Tools for other creatures activate abilities like Dreadwalker and Scrapheap Scrounger, although I don't think Embalmer's Tools will see constructed play, but it could end up in a fringe deck.

Gate To The Afterlife

This artifact isn't as big of a fan of Embalm as Embalmer's Tools, in fact it would prefer you keep your creatures in your graveyard. Each time a non token creature dies, another reason Gate To The Afterlife doesn't like Embalm creatures, you get to gain a life and then have to option of Looting, drawing and then discarding a card. When you have six or more creatures in your graveyard, you can sacrifice Gate To The Afterlife and search for a card that we haven't seen yet called God-Pharoah's Gift and put it onto the battlefield. That to me seems like God-Pharoah's Gift is a permanent, probably enchantment, and the God-Pharoah in question I think is Nicol Bolas. Other than that I have no more speculation on God-Pharoah's Gift, but as for Gate To The Afterlife as a way to gain life and sculpt your hand, it's fine, it's not going to break the limited format and definitely won't see constructed play at least until we know what God-Pharoah's Gift is.

Hazoret's Monument

The red god's Monument allows you to Rummage, which is similar to Looting but instead of drawing and then discarding, you discard first and then draw a card. Hazoret's Monument is alright, I can see arguments for playing it in limited, maybe if you have a lot of Embalm creatures and you don't want them all to clog your hand up, but apart from that I don't think it's going to see much play out of limited.

Honed Khopesh

Simple Equipment; it costs one mana to cast, one mana to equip and gives the equipped creature +1/+1. It's nothing spectacular but it will do work in limited as you will be able to move it from creature to creature to maximise your attack or block.

Kefnet's Monument

Kefnet's Monument is going to be very good on limited as it works nicely on a tempo deck and a slower controlling deck. Being able to tap your opponent biggest creature and not have to worry about it for another couple of turns is good value and can allow you to play multiple guys in a turn to clear the path for an alpha strike. It's a by slow for constructed play though even if it does reduce the cost of your blue creatures.

Luxa River Shrine

More Brock counters. Luxa River Shrine fits into any deck just because every deck likes to gain life, the problem I have with it though is paying one mana to gain one life fine just to get the Brick counters but I would have liked more than two life when you have the three Brick counters on it. Maybe it would have been too powerful if it let you gain three life but two life just doesn't seem like much and especially when you've spent three turns to turn that effect on.

Oketra' Monument

This is the other Monument I would like to see in constructed. I love tokens and token decks tend to create speed bumps for your opponent in constructed because it's a fringe deck that won't have much hate devoted to it. Each creature you play is two creatures and I think that is powerful enough to play but the problem is you usually spend your turn three doing more impactful things. In limited this is obviously great even if your not playing white as you can overwhelm your opponent with a load of small guys and just outnumber their creatures.

Oracle's Vault

Who likes free spells? If you do then this is the artifact for you. For two mana you can exile the top card of you library and play that card until the end of your turn. When you get three Brick counters on Oracle's Vault however, you get to just tap it and play a free spell off the top of your library. I think three turns is a pretty good wait for free spells and if left unchecked, Oracle's Vault can take over a game by giving you so much value and card advantage; if you can somehow look at the top X cards of your library, you could suddenly have flash blockers or end of turn creatures. As it stands, I think constructed has more going on right now with free Ulamogs on turn four which makes Oracle's Vault slow in comparison. Obviously stupid good in limited as you can always play it because it's colourless and just gives you value.


Pyramid Of The Pantheon

Pyramid Of The Pantheon looks pretty powerful, when it has three Brick counters on it, it becomes Gilded Lotus. The route to get to that stage though is awkward, you can play Pyramid Of The Pantheon on turn one and then on turn two, if you want the Brick counter, can still only cast a one mana spell. It kind of sets you back a turn for the near future. However, it does fix your mana and when you get to three Brick counters, hopefully by turn turn four to use on turn five, it puts you really far ahead and will be a significant card if your opponent stumbles on mana at any point. Pyramid Of The Pantheon may see constructed play as it's easier to gear your curve towards it for maximum value, but it would probably be a control deck to make it easier for them to cast all the spells.

Rhonas's Monument

Probably the most aggressive or the Monuments, Rhonas's Monument is the one that you love in limited when you get the aggro deck. If it was just the power/toughness boost it would still be playable but it gives a creature trample as well and all for free. This artifact will do work for you in limited but is too slow for constructed.

Throne Of The God-Pharoah

A legendary artifact that's linked to the God-Pharoah, obviously because in multiples this would just be nuts. Throne Of The God-Pharoah loves creatures attacking and especially the Exert creature, getting almost two guaranteed triggers with one Exerted creature in play. It also works well with creatures with tap activated abilities, if you need to use them in your turn. Dropping Throne Of The God-Pharoah on turn two and then attacking with creatures will very quickly snowball and that's probably what it's going to be played as most in limited, I could see it in constructed, again in a very aggressive deck, but right now I think there are better things you can do.

Watchers Of The Dead

This is a card that is made just in case graveyard strategies, I.e. Embalm, get out of hand in constructed. Other than that it could see play in modern for Dredge or the kind. It's a colourless Grizzly Bear and it comes with an effect, granted it won't be especially good because your opponent gets to choose the cards they keep, but it could still come up.

Lands

Cycling Lands

We'll start with the Cycling lands as even though they will appear in different decks, they all play the same. They all come into play tapped and Cycle for two colourless mana but they are both land types of the colours they produce leading me to think Fetch Lands might come back. These are very versatile in constructed as you can just trade them in when you're getting flooded giving you a small opportunity to draw out of your land abundance. In limited they're good to play almost all the time, they could help your mana and at worst, like in constructed, they just Cycle when you don't need them.

Deserts

Next up are all the Desert cards and, because it didn't show up here, this also lead me to think that actual Desert might show up in Hour Of Devastation. Anyway, all the Desert land cards are type Desert, meaning they can be found why you Cycle Shefnet Monitor and may have some relevance with cards in Hour Of Devastation, and they all add colourless to your mana pool.

Cradle Of The Accursed

Cradle Of The Accursed allows you to pay three mana, tap and sacrifice Cradle Of The Accursed for a 2/2 zombie token. Always good in limited just because it acts as an additional creature whenever you need it. The ability can only be used at sorcery speed though.

Grasping Dunes

Grasping Dunes let's you pay one mana, tap and sacrifice Grasping Dunes to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature, again great in limited to mess with numbers on the opposing side. Only at sorcery speed again.

Painted Bluffs

Painted Bluffs is a good mana fixer for limited as it just filters a mana, meaning for one mana you can tap Painted Bluffs to add one mana of any colour to your mana pool.

Sunscorched Desert

Sunscorched Desert pings your appointed for one. It's probably the weakest of the Cycle but it's still good in limited, and there might be those very rare times your opponent is on one life and it can win you the game.

Evolving Wilds

Standard mana fixer in most sets as a staple. You will probably always play Evolving Wilds in limited all the time just to make sure you don't stumble on your colours and you play it in constructed as it's the only Fetch Land we have at the moment.

Lastly, Cascading Cataracts

This indestructible land has lovely art, very colourful and pristine looking that seems right at home in the Amonkhet environment. The effect is fine, it adds colourless for the early game, but if you need it and can pay the five mana for it in the late game, Cascading Cataracts becomes the best mana fixer you could want in limited. It gives you five coloured mana of any combination, which if you're playing three or more colours can be a life saver for those times you just get the wrongs lands in the wrong order. It does take five mana to get there though so it is still kinda clunky. Constructed probably won't see Cascading Cataracts because you don't need it, you have access to plenty of Dual Lands that are a lot smoother.

So that concludes our look at the Amonkhet cards, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and maybe picked up a few deck ideas for the future. We'll be back taking a look at all the cards in Hour Of Devastation come July but until then, keep checking back to Game Changers for more news and updates.