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