MTG has seen a huge increase in efficient, game-breaking threats that can end the game quickly if left unchecked. Modern Horizons sets as well as Universes Beyond sets have contributed a ton to this portion of power creep.
A plethora of bans have occurred over the last couple years to creatures that fit the bill, such as Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer in Legacy. Even in formats with vast card pools and effective two-card combos that end games on the spot, cheap threats are becoming more and more problematic.
This has proven to be the case in Canadian Highlander. For those unfamiliar, Canadian Highlander is a 100-card singleton format where even the most powerful of cards, like Black Lotus, are legal. However, the best cards are pointed a certain amount (most cards are worth 0 points), and players can feature only up to 10 points worth of cards.
Just recently, one member of the Canadian Highlander council that oversees the format, Ben Wheeler, announced a handful of changes to the points list. Five cards moved from 0 points to 1 point, while three other cards decreased in point value. Let’s take a closer look at the card affected.
Self-Perpetuating Engines
According to Ben Wheeler in the lengthy discussion he provided in the Canadian Highlander discord, the council is looking to address the points list in a slightly different philosophical manner. Up to this point, most of the cards worth any points in the format are combo pieces or sources of fast mana.
There were very few creatures on the list, and outside of True-Name Nemesis being worth 1 point, they were all combo-centric. Well, that is no longer the case.
Both Psychic Frog and White Plume Adventurer are now worth 1 point each. The idea is that, unlike most threats that have existed in MTG’s history, both of these cards fall under the category of self-perpetuating engines.
What Ben means by this is that once they hit the board, they can create a huge advantage by themselves. Many games then end up revolving solely around these cards. The opponent either has to kill Psychic Frog or contend with The Initiative immediately, or they’re forced to try to hastily end the game via some combo before these cards take over the game.
Neither of these scenarios creates a particularly fun gameplay experience, hence why these two creatures have been pointed. In a similar vein, Minsc and Boo, Timeless Heroes has also been pointed. Even at four mana, Minsc and Boo adds so much pressure to the board and demands an answer immediately.
Just like how removing White Plume Adventurer doesn’t deal with the advantage The Initiative generates, killing only the Hamster token or the Planeswalker doesn’t solve your problems.
Urza’s Saga is yet another self-perpetuating engine that has been added to the points list. If you don’t have enchantment or land destruction at the ready, you’ll have to contend with two large Constructs and whatever your opponent tutors for.
Another Low-Cost Piece
What’s notable about all the cards that have moved from 0 to 1 point each is that they all require very little effort to maximize. For the creatures and Planeswalker, all you need to do is cast them and reap the rewards. You don’t need additional synergies to make them work at full capacity. Sure, Urza’s Saga is best in an artifacts shell, but the card comes with a very low opportunity cost since it’s just a land.
This brings us to the last card to receive a points increase: Reanimate. The fact that Reanimate only costs one mana and is incredibly flexible plays a huge role in why the card is now worth 1 point.
Reanimator has been a top tier strategy in Canadian Highlander for quite some time, but as Ben mentions, game-ending threats cost much less than they used to. Couple this with the fact that Reanimate can always resurrect smaller threats (such as Psychic Frog) with little investment needed, and the points change makes a ton of sense.
Some Point Decreases
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the three cards that ultimately decreased in points. First up, we have Sol Ring. Sol Ring is undoubtedly one of the most powerful cards ever printed. Yet, the card is going down from 4 points to 3. Why is this the case, when other broken mana accelerants like Black Lotus are worth so much more?
The biggest downside with Sol Ring is that it only produces colorless mana. Three and four-color decks are very popular in Canadian Highlander. The printing of excellent multi-color bombs like Minsc and Boo only encourages players to splash even more.
As such, Sol Ring is sometimes overshadowed by the original Moxen (worth three points each) that make colored mana in terms of accelerants. Sol Ring is still excellent in Tolarian Academy and Death and Taxes decks, but these decks took a hit from Urza’s Saga being pointed. So, it’s reasonable to lower Sol Ring to three points to help further incentivize players to play less colors.
Second, we have Spellseeker going from 1 point to 0. This is an interesting one, as Spellseeker sees a lot of play even despite being pointed. Regardless, so many of Spellseeker’s best targets (Reanimate, Forth Eorlingas!, etc.) are pointed, making this less concerning. This also opens the door further for players to look towards tutoring up Flash and Ancestral Recall (worth 7 and 8 points, respectively) while still having a few more points to work with.
Lastly, Survival of the Fittest is removed down to zero points for the first time in the format’s history! Once an all-powerful engine in its own right, the card has been seeing less and less play over time.
According to Ben, players have mostly been opting to use their points on mana acceleration and less mana intensive tutors than Survival. The council believes that Survival, while strong, is safe to remove from the points list as a result.
All in all, these changes (effective January 7) showcase just how important mana efficiency is in MTG today. Threats are cheaper and better than ever, and this trend does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.
