After a long wait, spoiler season for Edge of Eternities, the last in-Universe MTG set of the year, is finally here! This set may be a departure from the ongoing main story, but don’t be mistaken, this set delivers. From Eldrazi to Slivers, you’ll find all kinds of crazy callbacks to some of the most iconic things in Magic’s entire franchise.
Sadly, a lot of spoilers that were revealed today have already been leaked. As a result, we’ll only go over the cards that we haven’t already talked about, while referring to some of the more notable leaks that have had their authenticity confirmed.
Thrumming Hivepool
Thrumming Hivepool is the upgrade that Sliver Commander players have been waiting for. It isn’t difficult to make this a free spell in a dedicated strategy, and the buff that Thrumming Hivepool gives is no joke. Suddenly, all your Slivers can attack immediately and hit for double.
Not only is this an amazing Sliver upgrade, but Thrumming Hivepool is a massive bomb in Edge of Eternities Limited. This card will essentially create two hasty double-striking 1/1s every turn. If you get this down and your opponent can’t win the game quickly, they’ll get run over by Thrumming Hivepool. Sliver players will love it, but everyone else will hate this card.
Uthros, Titanic Godcore
Uthros, Titanic Godcore continues an overarching theme of cards we’ve seen in Edge of Eternities leaks: Station is being used as a mechanic that offers some game-breaking abilities hidden behind massive barriers to entry.
This Planet essentially functions as a Tolarian Academy that enters tapped. Considering that Academy is one of the best lands in Magic: The Gathering, to say that this effect is powerful is an understatement. To get there, however, you need to Station 12 power into Uthros.
This could allow Uthros to function as a mana generator in artifact-themed combo decks, but more often than not, if you can Station Uthros and put it to good use, you also could win the game without it. This card looks like a fantastic casual Commander addition for artifact matters decks, and could see some funky combo potential in constructed. Our bet is, however, that this card, alongside the other Station lands, ultimately flops.
Cosmogoyf
Cosmogoyf is the next in a long line of iconic MTG Lhurgoyf cards. Similar to Tarmogoyf, Cosmogoyf has its power and toughness determined by cards in a different zone, while having at least one toughness at all times. Unlike Tarmogoyf, Cosmogoyf doesn’t care about card types or the graveyard. This card wants to load up on cards in exile to make it powerful.
Cosmogoyf is easier to break than it may seem. Use this card with Delve, graveyard hate like Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus, and you’ve got a massive two-drop ready to crush your opponent. While this is easy to coordinate with, it might be more difficult than many expect to get Cosmogoyf up and running on-curve.
The Golgari mana cost makes the card a bit restrictive to use, which could relegate it to Modern. Even there, you would need to use Cosmogoyf with aggressive amounts of graveyard hate to make it work. All of that said, combining Cosmogoyf with cards like Spoils of the Vault could lead to one-hit kill scenarios.
The Endstone
The Endstone’s effects appeared on Mark Rosewater’s Edge of Eternities teasers. We speculated that a ludicrous draw effect like this needed to be offered behind a massive ask, and we were right. Seven mana is a lot to ask, but The Endstone might be worth it.
This is the type of MTG card that should win you the game if you resolve it, especially so if you untap it. Drawing a card every time you take a game action basically means that you shouldn’t run out of resources in a focused strategy. Whether you want to play multiple lands with effects like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, or just cast a ton of zero-mana spells, The Endstone should be able to end the game with all the card advantage potential it provides. The Endstone also puts your life total in a sort of stasis, which can make it rather difficult for your opponent to end the game.
Do note, however, that The Endstone is not as powerful as it may seem to many. Specifically, this card doesn’t trigger on every single land that enters play under your control, only lands that you play. In other words, lands that you find with effects like Cultivate, Evolving Wilds, and Flooded Strand will not trigger The Endstone.
Starfield Vocalist
Wizards of the Coast has shown clear signs of pushing replacement effects on cards targeted towards Commander. While these struggle to create meaningful value on their own, they can create tons of exponential value in archetypes built around them. These cards play much better in slower environments, like Commander, where you have more time for these effects to create value with other cards. There are three replacement effects in these day 1 Edge of Eternities spoilers. The first of which is Starfield Vocalist.
Starfield Vocalist functions as a slightly better Panharmonicon on a stick. Instead of just triggering on creatures and artifacts, Starfield Vocalist adds additional triggers to any effects caused by something entering that you control. Warp gives some versatility, allowing you to get a string of payoffs in one turn. The downside is that this ‘doubling’ effect is easier to remove than most thanks to being a creature. That said, it could make this card more viable in constructed.
Exalted Sunborn
Exalted Sunborn adds another token-doubling effect to Magic: The Gathering. These are exceedingly popular in Commander, and even see some Standard play in the form of Elspeth, Storm Slayer. Similar to Starfield Vocalist, Exalted Sunborn offers a cheap Warp cost, allowing you to line up explosive turns without exposing Starfield Vocalist to unnecessary removal as you try to untap with it. From this lens, Exalted Sunborn could be one of the best token-doubling effects we’ve ever seen thanks to offering smaller removal windows. This is probably going to be one of the chase cards in the set.
Quantum Riddler
While Quantum Riddler is technically a replacement effect, it’s a rather situational one. Drawing two cards from an empty hand is interesting, but might not come up too much in practice outside of specific strategies. This could be an interesting addition to a Flubs, the Fool EDH deck or similar strategies that become hellbent consistently.
Astelli Reclaimer
One particular teaser in Rosewater’s Edge of Eternities spoilers got players speculating that another Abuelo’s Awakening was on its way in the new set. Considering that the card was just banned from Standard thanks to its potential with Omniscience, this was worrying, to say the least.
Now that we’ve actually seen the card, it’s clear that Astelli Reclaimer was created with Omniscience in mind. Thanks to its Warp cost, this card is capable of recurring two nonland noncreature permanents from your graveyard into play. The permanent’s mana value, however, is restricted by the amount of mana you spent to cast the creature itself.
Even if you can’t reanimate Omniscience with Astrelli Reclaimer, the card is still quite powerful. You can reanimate incredibly powerful cards while getting a body alongside them. The card could fit quite well in Mono-White Control thanks to recurring cards like Elspeth, Storm Slayer for Reclaimer’s full mana value, and Caretaker’s Talent for its Warp cost. The card could also synergize well with permanent-based Removal like Perilous Snare.
Rust Harvester
This weird little guy wants to eat artifacts out of your graveyard, grow in size, and start throwing removal all over the place. Rust Harvester could become incredibly annoying to deal with in focused strategies, but you’d essentially need to be using its effect almost every turn to get a good amount of value out of it. This could get some bonus points in decks that can scale Rust Harvester’s power without using the activated ability attached to it. It certainly has potential, but it might be a little too hard to work with.
Ragost, Deft Gastronaut
Ragost, Deft Gastronaut looks like a great addition to artifact matters or Food decks in Commander. Turning everything into a food and subsequently flinging it at opponents is hilarious. This could appear as a strange Standard brew, but Ragost could also be interesting to try alongside Asmo decks in Modern. Our expectation is that this silly Lobster Gentleman doesn’t see play past Commander, but there is potential.
Ouroboroid
This looks like a nightmare in Limited. Leave it alone too long, and Ouroboroid will turn every single creature you control into a massive threat. This will be an instant addition to many counters matters Commander decks, and could potentially see play in go-wide Standard strategies.
Mutinous Massacre
If you’re looking to create chaos in Commander, this is about as ridiculous as things can get. Mutinous Massacre will wipe a ton of creatures on the spot, and allow you to attack with anything that survives, including creatures your opponents control.
In a game of Commander, this will function as a boardwipe that works to your advantage most of the time. You can use the creatures that don’t get wiped as player removal for those who own them, essentially getting rid of them anyway. This won’t see play outside of casual Commander, but it seems really fun there.
Haliya, Guided by Light
Haliya seems like a great addition to Lifegain-Matters decks. The Warp cost on Haliya is rather interesting, allowing you to use the card for some lifegain and card draw in the early game before committing its full cost later on. This could see Standard play if a lifegain deck ends up in the format, but otherwise, Haliya will likely be relegated to Commander.
Biotech Specialist
Biotech Specialist introduces a new type of token in Edge of Eternities: a Lander token. For two mana, Lander tokens can be exchanged for some ramp, putting a basic land into play tapped. This already makes Biotech Specialist interesting for Commander, but its triggered ability is exceedingly powerful.
Dealing two damage per sacrificed artifact is no joke, and can add up extremely quickly. In a focused strategy that creates and sacrifices artifact tokens, Biotech Specialist can deal a ton of damage with little effort. The only problem with this card is that it has to compete with others that are already very good at what it does, like Mayhem Devil.
There’s certainly potential for this card to see experimentation in Pioneer and Modern Food decks, but it’s unclear if Biotech Specialist is better than existing options. In Commander, at least, Biotech Specialist comes out on top thanks to the Lander token it provides.
Tragic Trajectory
We haven’t really talked about commons or uncommons here, but Tragic Trajectory looks like it could be a significant roleplayer in Standard. This card looks eerily familiar to Fatal Push or Tragic Slip thanks to the new Void mechanic. Functioning rather similarly to Revolt, Void is basically a fixed version of this mechanic that doesn’t include lands leaving play to trigger it.
Should a nonland permanent leave play under your control, Tragic Trajectory will grant -10/-10 to a creature instead of -2/-2. This already functions well as a one-mana removal spell, somewhat replacing Cut Down post-rotation, but the ability for this to essentially remove anything for a little work makes it extremely powerful. We could easily see this appearing in Pixie and Dimir strategies post-rotation. That said, the sorcery speed of Tragic Trajectory could ruin its competitive playability.
A Wide Array of Leaks Confirmed
Sadly, the leaks for Edge of Eternities have been rather aggressive. This certainly put a damper on the set’s spoiler season kickoff, with many of the official spoilers confirming cards that were leaked beforehand. Here’s a list of notable leaks whose authenticity was confirmed:
- Anticausal Vestige
- Archenemy’s Charm
- Elegy Acolyte
- Extinguisher Battleship
- Starfield Shepherd
- Susur Secundi, Void Altar
- Terrasymbiosis
- Nova Hellkite
- The Eternity Elevator
While spoiler season kickoff for Edge of Eternities might be a little muted in excitement, there’s still lots to see. New cards will be hitting the internet fast, but don’t worry about getting overwhelmed. We’ll have all the highlights for you to see at this space.
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