Avatar spoiler season was set to resume tomorrow, but it appears we’ve gotten a sneak peek at some new goodies. A series of leaks were recently revealed, showcasing a handful of new spells and multiple lands that look to be part of a cycle. While some of the spells have incredibly high upside, the lands seem to be below the bar.
Notably, because these cards have only been leaked, there’s a chance they turn out to be fake. Nonetheless, the fact that these leaks are mixed in with cards that have already been spoiled makes it very likely they are legitimate, and we will be discussing them under the assumption that they are real. If you’d like to wait for an official preview, consider this your spoiler warning.
Great Divide Guide
The most intriguing of the leaks is Great Divide Guide, thanks to its potential to generate a boatload of mana. If multi-color Allies is going to be a successful archetype in Standard, this card will likely play a pivotal role.
By itself, a two-drop mana dork that outsizes Burst Lightning is decent. Its ability instantly fixes your colors, making it trivial to cast a card as brutal as Avatar Aang. Once you start building out a board, any top-end play, such as United Front, that scales over the course of the game, becomes a potential game-ender.
Meanwhile, in a Commander setting, Great Divide Guide should be an automatic inclusion in any five-color Ally shell. Outside of Harabaz Druid, your options for thematic mana producers is very limited. With enough Allies in play, this creature even opens up the door for some infinite combos, such as generating infinite mana and combat phases with Aggravated Assault. This card is awesome, but unfortunately, not all of the leaks follow suit.
Fire Nation Palace and Agna Qel’a
Both Fire Nation Palace and Agna Qel’a are mono-color lands that only enter untapped if you control another basic land. In any multicolor strategy, even in Standard, the downside if a lot more severe than you might expect. These don’t seem promising in constructed as a result.
Furthermore, the payoffs for playing these two lands just isn’t big. In the case of Agna Qel’a, paying extra three mana and tapping this land to loot isn’t a good deal. As for Fire Nation Palace, while you do gain an extra red mana to work with after activating it, the “until end of combat” restriction makes it hard for this type of card to have a home.
There’s a small chance Fire Nation Palace makes a splash in mono-red aggro in Standard. The card can trigger Valiant effects of cards like Emberheart Challenger, and mana can be used for instant speed spells, as well as Firebreathing effects like Burnout Bastronaut‘s activated ability. The issue is that red decks will still want to play other utility lands like Soulstone Sanctuary, and drawing this land without a basic to pair with it is a disaster for aggressive shells. Perhaps the other lands in this presumed cycle that haven’t been revealed will end up overperforming, but that awaits to be seen.
Sandbender Scavengers
Moving on to another two-drop that has some Standard potential, Sandbender Scavengers is clearly designed for Orzhov Aristocrats. Alongside token producers like Infestation Sage and sacrifice outlets such as Umbral Collar Zealot, Sandbender Scavengers has the potential to grow extremely large. This makes it easier to apply pressure, something these decks can struggle with. Of course, with so many small creatures in the mix, it’s hard not to get value out of the second triggered ability.
In Commander where you have access to Phyrexian Altar and other elite sacrifice outlets, this card becomes extremely scary. It even triggers off of Fetchlands getting sacrificed, which when coupled with the final ability, could open the door for it to see play in Modern Samwise Gamgee shells and beyond.
Kyoshi Island Plaza
For Commander enthusiasts looking for upgrades to their Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin decks, Kyoshi Island Plaza has you covered. This enchantment ramps hard with the right support, which gives you a better shot at relishing the card advantage The Spirit Oasis provides. The only downside is that you need to play enough basic lands in your deck to fully abuse this card, but that shouldn’t be too difficult to manage.
As a four-mana play that doesn’t impact the board, don’t expect this card to see Constructed play in any capacity. Regardless, Shrines decks in Commander haven’t gotten a ton of support over the years, so Plaza is a nice printing to see.
South Pole Voyager
Finally, South Pole Voyager looks like another decent addition to Ally typal Commander decks. In order to maximize this card, you really need to draw extra cards consistently. The easiest way to do this is to play multiple cheap Allies in one turn or utilize token generators.
The reality is, any Allies that generate card advantage over time are welcome inclusions in EDH since they make it easier to rebuild after a board wipe. So, while this card doesn’t look up to par for Standard play because it’s incredibly easy to kill, it should still have homes elsewhere.
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