Later today, Wizards of the Coast is finally going to show off Edge of Eternities in earnest. As the headline set of the upcoming Preview Panel, it won’t be long before we’re inundated with details about Magic’s first space-themed set. Before then, however, Wizards has chosen to reveal one of the set’s most anticipated cards early, much to players’ delight.
Seen throughout art for the set, we’ve known Tezzeret would be in Edge of Eternities for quite some time. From this art, it seemed like Tezzeret would also be the set’s main Planeswalker, but information beyond that was scarce. Since it’s Tezzeret, artifact synergies are a given; however, many players likely didn’t expect Wizards to make him this cracked.
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
If you play your cards right, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is a three mana Planeswalker that you can ultimate on the same turn. This is thanks to their robust starting loyalty and passive loyalty-gaining ability. Notably, this ability cares about any artifact you control entering play, not just non-tokens. This means Treasures, Food, Clues, and more are all on the table.
Thanks to this token generation, giving Tezzeret tons of loyalty should be a real breeze in Commander. There’s a non-zero chance that you’ll reliably be able to ultimate Tezzeret every single turn, or every other turn at least. If you manage this, Tezzeret gets out of hand very quickly, since those emblems won’t be going away.
Outside of token-based shenanigans in Commander, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain has some fantastic synergy with zero-cost artifacts. Considering how many of these are running around 8-Mox decks in Modern, -7-ing Tezzeret on the turn you play them is genuinely viable. Doing this on turn three is obviously a scary thought, although it might not be enough for Modern, honestly.
As nice as animating an artifact into a 3/3 is, or providing a buff, Modern is blisteringly fast nowadays. Even if you play and -7 Tezzeret on turn three, you won’t be getting a ton of immediate value. Potentially, there’s some hope for Tezzeret in artifact-based control decks; however, that’d basically be a new archetype.
Ubiquitous Utility
Thankfully, even if Tezzeret’s easy-to-activate ultimate doesn’t shake up competitive formats, Cruel Captain can still provide a ton of utility. In Commander, being able to tutor up any artifact costing one or less is a hugely valuable ability. You can easily tutor up Sol Ring, Skullclamp, Mana Vault, or even Esper Sentinel as needed.
While this tutor ability is pricey at 3 loyalty, it’ll basically only ever cost 2. Since you can easily play the artifact you tutor, you’ll always recoup some of the loyalty cost. Depending on how artifact-focused your deck is, there’s a real chance you can tutor something up once per turn.
Should tutoring not be to your fancy, however, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain also has a neat untap effect. While this can be used to buff a creature and protect Tezzeret in a pinch, there’s a ton of fun and exciting synergies. Using this ability alongside Basalt Monolith or The Millennium Calendar, for instance, can provide tons of value. Even untapping Sol Ring makes Tezzeret an incredible Commander mana generator. Legacy players are excited about using this in conjunction with Grim Monolith.
Sadly, only being able to untap one creature or artifact per turn does put a dampener on Tezzeret, Cruel Captain’s potential shenanigans. That said, they’re still bound to be a great asset in Commander. Thanks to being colorless, this Tezzeret is an option for any deck, so it’s likely they’ll see a fair amount of play. This should also mean they’ll end up being rather expensive in the long run.
A Lot More to See
Since it’s still very early days, it’s unclear how broken Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is going to be. They’ll see play in Commander for sure, but competitive Magic is very difficult to break into. Without bans, Standard is probably too hostile for Tezzeret, but they could find a home in Modern Affinity decks.
Thankfully, even if Tezzeret doesn’t end up cutting the competitive mustard, Edge of Eternities is bound to have a few gems. With the MagicCon: Las Vegas preview panel on the horizon, it shouldn’t be too long before we see more of these. Potentially, we might even see this set’s Headliner Card, Sothera, the Supervoid.
Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what gets revealed later on today. The MagicCon: Las Vegas preview panel takes place at 1 PM Pacific Daylight Time or 4 PM EDT/9 PM BST. As always, we’ll be covering all the latest and greatest reveals as soon as they happen, so watch this space for more information.
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