At long last, the official Debut of Edge of Eternities is finally here. Typically, this is a hugely exciting time that reveals brand-new cards, mechanics, and more. This time around, however, we’re not exactly surprised by all the new announcements. Instead, the plethora of leaks has spoiled the show somewhat.
That said, it’s nonetheless nice to have everything officially confirmed at long last. Now we know that we’re getting four brand-new MTG mechanics in Edge of Eternities. As usual, each one of these has its own complexities that’re worth keeping in mind throughout spoiler season and beyond.
Station
First revealed during the First Look for Edge of Eternities, we’ve known about Station for quite some time. The more we’ve seen from it, however, the worse this mechanic has looked… At its core, Station is a spin on the Vehicle design space, requiring you to tap down creatures to power them up. This time, however, once you’ve Stationed enough power, these cards gain their effects permanently.
Notably, Station functions similarly to Level Up more than Vehicles in many ways. This means that the Station mechanics aren’t on the cards in other zones, which means no fun graveyard or exile shenanigans. Sadly, this also makes it difficult to circumvent the Station cost unless you have an effective token doubler or a Proliferate engine.
To make matters even worse, many Station costs are incredibly high. This means the majority of Station cards we’ve seen are practically unplayable in competitive formats. Even in Commander, the need to tap down 12 power of creatures for something like Evendo, Waking Haven is utterly brutal. Add on that you need to Station at Sorcery speed, and it becomes clear that this mechanic is very hard to use.
Right now, it seems like Station is a win-more mechanic for the most part. If you’re in a position where you can Station enough power for another major threat, you’re already winning. That said, hopefully, this mechanic should have some interesting applications in Limited. Ideally, there will also be some low-cost, easy-to-use Station cards; however, we’ve yet to see many.
Warp
In terms of speed, Warp is the exact opposite of Station. Unlike Station, which takes tons of time to get going, Warp lets you cheat in creatures early for a turn. At the end of your turn, a Warped card will then go into exile. You can cast Warped cards from exile for their full mana cost.
From what we’ve seen so far, the full mana cost on cards with Warp tends to be rather cumbersome. You’re obviously paying more for the luxury of having Warp and using that effect early. The protection from hand attack spells while in exile is a nice added bonus on top, of course. Notably, if a Warped creature gets removed, you won’t be able to recast it later.
Thanks to the low Warp cost on most cards, this ability is obviously fairly aggressively oriented. It’s not just confined to mono red, however, and there are some rather sneaky ways to utilize it. Blinking a Warped creature, for instance, will allow it to stick around long-term. Alternatively, you can use an effect like Birthing Ritual to sacrifice it for added value.
Unlike some of the other mechanics in Edge of Eternities, it seems Warp has some real competitive potential. It’ll definitely be worth looking out for cards with this mechanic during spoiler season.
Void
Of all the mechanics in Edge of Eternities, Void is arguably the most complex. While the rules are simpler than Station, there are a lot more Void effects to look out for. That said, this mechanic isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, as it’s basically yet another version of Kicker.
This time, rather than paying an additional Kicker cost, Void activates if “a nonland permanent left the battlefield this turn or a spell was warped this turn.” For better or worse, that stipulation around “nonland permanent” means you can’t get tricky with Fetch Lands.
From what we’ve seen, the effects that Void provides can be incredibly varied. Temporal Intervention, for instance, offers a simple cost reduction. Tragic Trajectory, meanwhile, lets you -10/-10 a creature rather than -2/-2.
Overall, while there is the potential to abuse Void, this mechanic is unlikely to automatically make cards competitive. Ideally, Void will just be the icing on top of the cake, rather than a required extra cost to make things viable. That said, in Commander, Void will definitely play well with sacrifice-heavy archetypes.
Lander Tokens
Last, but by no means least, Edge of Eternities is also introducing a brand new artifact token to MTG. Thankfully, this is definitely the simplest of all the mechanics in Edge of Eternities. Essentially, Lander Tokens are just new artifacts you can crack for two mana to get a basic land into play.
One of the few things to note with this mechanic is that the land you find will enter tapped. This will mean it’s best to use these tokens on your opponent’s end step if you have mana left over. Even when doing this, however, Lander Tokens do seem rather slow, so they likely won’t see much competitive play.
Thankfully, these tokens should still be useful in Limited and especially in Commander. With enough ramp to afford cracking then, and token doubling, you can get an obscene amount of lands. That said, Lander Tokens can only find basics, so you’re bound to run out eventually.
So Much More to See
Thankfully, while some of the mechanics in Edge of Eternities aren’t too exciting, the set has tons of fun stuff. Many of the new spoilers and recent leaks look incredibly exciting, and there are tons of high-value reprints too. While the aforementioned leaks may have spoiled the show somewhat, there should be a lot to enjoy this spoiler season.
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