Throughout MTG’s 30 years of existence, players have seen countless unique and interesting worlds. Between the neon-soaked streets of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and the eldrich horrors on Innistrad, Magic has covered a lot of ground. For better or worse, in 2024 and beyond, Magic’s thematic boundaries are being pushed even further.
In 2024 alone, MTG is getting a murder-mystery set, a Wild-West set, an Animals-only set, and a haunted house set. With each set being designed with a top-down theme, 2024 is putting flavor first in a major way. Thanks to a recent change at Wizards, this flavor is even more pronounced than usual.
Back in January, Lead MTG Designer, Mark Rosewater, confirmed that creature types were being expanded. Rather than just lumping creatures together under banners of Humans and Beasts, now MTG was getting more unique creatures. Thanks to this change, MTG recently got its first Capybara alongside whatever Pride of Hull Clade is.
With Bloomburrow on the horizon, it seems this change will facilitate a huge expansion of MTG’s creature types. Before we get there, however, Outlaws of Thunder Junction is realising in just a few weeks. Even though spoiler season has only just begun for this set, it certainly isn’t disappointing players. With a new Jace, fantastic reprints, and brand-new MTG creature types, Outlaws of Thunder Junction has it all!
An Assortment of Armadillos
During the WeeklyMTG livestream proceeding Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s debut, Wizards revealed the latest new creature type. As you can see above, this adorable new type is the Armadillo, which is very fitting for a Wild-West-themed set. To amp up the cuteness, Armored Armadillo even has some adorable ornate armor for added protection.
While they are very cute, as a card, Armored Armadillo isn’t all too powerful. They are a cheap and effective blocker, but without any buffs they’ll struggle to pull their weight. Technically they can buff themselves, but, since this ability costs three mana, it’ll hardly be in constant use. Ultimately, it’s unlikely Armored Armadillo will see much, if any, play outside of Limited.
Thankfully, while Armored Armadillo may be a bust, they’re not the only Armadillo in Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Quite literally beefing up the options, Spinewoods Armadillo is a much more substantial threat. Boasting 7/7 stats for six mana, Spinewoods Armadillo certainly packs a punch, but again, they’ll likely never escape Limited.
Despite offering a decent body and compelling protection from Ward 3, Spinewoods Armadillo simply doesn’t cut the mustard. Sadly for this new creature type, even Standard has better mono-green options like Tyrranax Rex. While Spinewoods Armadillo can be discarded to find a Desert card and gain life, this doesn’t provide much competitive appeal.
Sadly, it seems Armadillos are a bust in constructed formats, however, in Limited they could shine. While six mana isn’t cheap, Spinewoods Armadillo is going to be a serious and scary threat. Outside of Limited, hopefully, Outlaws of Thunder Junction will contain a few more Armadillos to make them viable in Commander.
Not So Wily Coyote
Crafty Coyote
Creature – Coyote
Haste
When this enters the battlefield target creature you control gets +1/+1 and haste until end of turn
Plot 1R2/2
u/c001357
As if one brand-new creature type wasn’t enough, Outlaws of Thunder Junction has two of them. As you can see above, courtesy of the translation from Reddit user u/c001357, MTG now has Coyotes too! Given this canine species is undeniably fitting for a Wild-West-themed set, they’re very welcome to see.
Beyond being a nice bit of added flavor, Crafty Coyote appears to be a rather powerful card too. Able to be Plot for the same as its mana cost, this Coyote gives +1/+1 and Haste to a creature temporarily. Thanks to Plot, this ability has a lot of potential within Gruul Aggro decks, as you can keep playing creatures out on curve.
For example, provided that you’ve Plot Crafty Coyote, Anzrag, the Quake-Mole can become a massive nine-damage threat. Should they be blocked, you’ll even get two combat phases to allow your other creatures to put in work. Since this all happens a turn earlier than usual with fewer opportunities for interaction, there’s no denying Crafty Coyote’s potential.
Sadly, while Crafty Coyote is a good MTG card, there is a slight problem with it being a Coyote. As much as it can be played in Dog/Canine Typal decks, it won’t receive all the benefits from the deck’s lords. Pack Leader, for instance, only cares about other Dogs, not all canine species under the sun.
Unfortunately, this lack of synergy is a core problem with increased diversity that’s difficult to solve. Without simply doubling up on creature types, making Crafty Coyote a Coyote Dog, players will miss some synergistic potential. While this may not be the end of the world, it nonetheless harms fan-favorite Typal decks.
This Is Just the Beginning
Currently, while Outlaws of Thunder Junction has already debuted a lot of exciting new cards, spoiler season has barely started. With previews running until April 4th, we’re bound to see plenty more unique and powerful cards to get excited about. Hopefully, within the menagerie of creatures, there’ll be a little more support for these brand-new MTG creature types or even a few more new ones.
Regardless of what the rest of Outlaws of Thunder Junction brings, Bloomburrow is coming this year too. With Otters, Rabbits, Mice, Badgers, and countless other creatures MTG will undoubtedly be a lot more adorable soon. We can only hope that once Bloomburrow releases, we’ll see support for the new and underserved creature types.
Sadly, there’s no telling if or when this support will arrive in the future. Thanks to MTG jumping around so much nowadays, there’s little consistency between sets. Sadly, this may mean we’re waiting quite a while to see more Armadillos, Coyotes, and Capybara.
Read More: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Mechanics Let You Mount Your Creatures
