Khans Spoiler Week #1

It begins! Khans of Tarkir, the new set that releases on September 26th, is slowly leaking itself all over the internet! Well, actually not all over, you can catch most of it here, on the Wizards of the Coast website, or the mothership, as many Magic article authors call it. The spoilers started at the gaming convention PAX, at a party Wizards throws annually to celebrate the fall set. The first few cards spoiled are pretty exciting too, with both of the new set's Planeswalkers being made public at PAX. And here they are! (Guess which one I'm really excited for.)

A not-red walker, whose sword is pretty cool, I guess.
Vampires are cool too, maybe?

A mono-red planeswalker! Except when he's not,
 because he's beating your opponent's face in!

Alright, I pick on Sorin, but only because Sarkhan is awesome! A little background: storywise, neither of the characters is very new. Both have two previous cards and incarnations, and they've been around the multiverse a few times. Sarkhan is the focus of the set, as Tarkir is his home plane, so his inclusion is no real surprise. You always want the character the marketing is focused on the be awesome, and Sarkhan does not disappoint. While five mana is more expensive, it nets you an instant 4 damage on the turn it comes down, either at your opponent in the form of an un-killable dragon, or burning a creature of your choice. Mono-red is an interesting choice, since both of Sarkhan's previous cards have been multi-colored (red-green, and red-black). He does play nice with all 3 clans that include red though, so Sarkhan is definitely an awesome card no matter your flavor of red.

Sorin, on the other hand, hits the ground one turn sooner at four mana, and can also start at 5 loyalty with his plus one ability. At first blush he seems very similar to his last version, which was also black-white, but he's significantly stronger, particularly in multiplayer games. The wording on his plus one ability says "until your next turn", not the more expected "until the end of your turn", which means your boost can last quite a long time in a game of Commander. His vampire token are now flying 2/2s, and the ultimate is just gross, particularly in games with multiple opponents. 

Interestingly, both of these Planeswalkers can hit their ultimate ability on their third turn on the table. That's pretty fast, and both of their emblems are game changers. Putting yourself at three drawn cards per turn is huge in a mono-red deck, which focuses on low cost aggressive creatures or instant burns spells, and you should be able to end your game very quickly if you hit Sarkhan's ultimate. Sorin's is equally punishing, as you get to stay a whole creature ahead of your opponent every turn, regardless of abilities like indestructible or hexproof. Either way, hitting that final ability is going to be pretty sweet on both cards, but with Sorin costing one mana less, he may have the edge here, especially if you like your Magic games with more than one opponent.

There were quite a few other cards spoiled this week as well, on top of more information from the mothership about the clans themselves. If you're interested in the mechanics in detail, here's your stop. If you are interested in the story and world information behind some of the clans, this one's for you. Or read both, I won't stop you. If you don't want to read them though, it's okay. I'll summarize.

Each three-color clan has it's own unique mechanic, with cards built to take advantage of it. Abzan (white-green-black) has Outlast, where you can add +1/+1 counters to your creature and usually trigger a bonus when you do. This clan plays the long game, slowly growing larger than your opponent until you overpower them. 

Nasty turn one play. Just mean, really.

Jeskai (blue-white-red) has Prowess, rewarding your creatures with a temporary +1/+1 boost each time you cast a spell other than a creature. Remember, enchantments, planeswalkers and artifacts are also not creatures. This one has me excited, for some reason.

Granny is going to hit you. I'm sorry.

Sultai (black-blue-green) has Delve, which allows you to cast giant spells long before you logically should be able to by exiling cards from your graveyard. This goes hand in hand with filling your graveyard with stuff and bringing it back all zombi-fied. Hey, there always has to be one Zombie team.

Seriously? Tap this guy and exile cards to kill almost anything? This is why I hate black.

Mardu (red-black-white) has Raid, giving you incentive for doing exactly what any red-black deck wants to do anyway, attacking every turns. Enjoy being rewarded for playing correctly, because Wizards know exactly how I want to play this game.

Oh, I'm sorry I attacked you. Here's two more damage to make you feel better.

And lastly, Temur (green-red-blue) has Ferocious, which is another example of being rewarded for playing how you should. All of your spells and creatures get better if you control a creature with at least four power, which since you're playing GREEN, should pretty much be a given if you're doing things right.

I already have plans for this card. Fun plans. Well, fun for me, at least.

The clans' flavor looks fun, and on top of all of this, some seriously insane cards have been revealed as well, cards that push the boundaries of what you should be able to do. Sarkhan triggers the abilities of all three red clans, since he is a non-creature spell that turns into a creature with four power that attacks the turn it enters the battlefield. Then there's this guy:

Read it again. Yes, it says that. ANY NONLAND PERMANENT!

I don't even know what to say. "Ouch?" "I want one, no wait, I want two!" "Hey, you know that Planeswalker you just played? Now I have one too!" The possibilities are off the charts, but at the very least your opponent is never going to be happy to see this guy. Or, you could just kill them with this spell whenever you're just ready for the game to end:

Giant hands of fire emerging from the earth are not your friend. Do not shake this hand.

I immediately starting building around this one as soon as I saw it. I'm picturing drawing into this after ultimating Sarkhan and just having the widest grin ever on my face. Not done yet? Fine, last one:

Everybody was kung-fu fight-i-i-ing...

There are no words. If this happens, you just shuffle up and get ready for your next game, becuase this one is definitely over. And that name! Amazing! You've seen Karate Kid, right? There is no recovering from the Crane kick!

Anyway, there are a lot more gems revealed in the set that I didn't even touch on here, and I'm sure we'll see more next week. September 26 is shaping up to be pretty darn awesome. Now I just have to choose a clan for the prerelease. That's . . . going to be difficult. What would you choose?