New Magic sets always push the envelope in one way or another. While we see few real examples of the ‘power creep’ many complain about, that doesn’t mean we don’t still see a lot of very powerful cards. We’re only a couple of days into Duskmourn previews and we’ve already seen a very scary board wipe and the most powerful common dual lands in the game’s history. Joining this prestigious lineup is one of the set’s new Room cards. This is either Mirror Room or Fractured Realm (or both), and it’s a very real contender for the best trigger-doubling card we’ve ever seen in MTG. Panharmonicon lovers, take note.
Mirror Room/Fractured Realm MTG
This card was revealed alongside Smoky Lounge/Misty Salon in a Mark Rosewater article titled ‘Top of the Duskmourning, Part 1.’ Great name, I’m sure you’ll agree. While the Lounge and Salon seem like solid cards for an Izzet Rooms deck in Limited, Mirror Room/Fractured Realm has much more potential in the wider world of MTG.
As with all Rooms, this is essentially a split card, but one you can eventually get both halves of if you wish. Given that Fractured Realms costs a whopping seven mana, it’s very likely you’ll be dropping this as Mirror Room 90% of the time. When you do, you’ll get a token copy of any creature you control for three mana. With no restrictions, other than the obvious downside of not playing well with legendaries, this is actually a pretty good deal on its own. Looking at similar effects in Standard right now, only Mockingbird really comes close. Even that card falls behind as soon as you want to copy anything over three mana.
All of that said, Fractured Realm is definitely the more exciting half of the card for most players. Once you’ve paid that horrendous seven mana cost, you get access to one of the best passive effects we’ve ever seen: unconditional triggered ability doubling. As we’ll get into, we’ve seen plenty of these effects before (to the extent that they’re something of a meme now), but never with no restrictions.
These kinds of cards have always been great for combos, and Fractured Realm is even better. It even has synergy with Mirror Room. If you drop Realm first somehow, unlocking Room will get you two tokens instead of one, since its effect is also a triggered ability. Very clever stuff.
The Best Panharmonicon Yet?
So Mirror Room/Fractured Realm is an exciting MTG card, there’s no doubt about that. But where will it actually see play? I think it goes without saying that it’ll be a slam-dunk in Commander. Seven mana isn’t a lot in that format, and other Panharmonicon effects see consistent play there. It may not be as cheap as the others, but it’s more flexible. It’s also more resilient since enchantments are usually one of the hardest permanent types to remove.
That’s the obvious out of the way, but what about Standard? Despite the high cost, I think this card actually has a shot there. We already know that Llanowar Elves is coming back in Foundations, so a curve where you drop that on turn one then Mirror Room on two, getting another Elves, is feasible. That puts you at five mana on turn three. From there, you can go straight into Overlord of the Hauntwoods, which will ramp you to six right away. If you hit your land drop, you can even unlock Fractured Realm at the start of your turn and double Overlord’s attack trigger, giving you up to 10 mana on turn five.
That sounds like a dream curve, but really you only need to draw three specific cards. You can increase redundancy with other dorks like Thornvault Forager, too, though that will slow you down a bit. Since Foundations doesn’t release until November, that’ll have to do in the interim.
Thanks to the efficient copy spell attached, Fractured Realm is almost definitely the best Panharmonicon we’ve ever seen and a new staple in ramp decks. If you need more convincing, just imagine doubling an Atraxa etb trigger. Yup, thought that’d do it.
Read More: MTG Welcome Decks Make a Triumphant Return With Duskmourn
