Following the bans that occurred recently, Pioneer players were finally free of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. Previously, this card was able to cheat out Vein Ripper as early as turn three, which totally warped the Pioneer format. A fast clock combined with disruption made Rakdos Vampires the king of the Pioneer format. Sorin’s ban may have stopped Vampires from ruling Pioneer, but a new Leyline enchantment could mean that the combo is back in other formats.
Leyline of Transformation is a rather peculiar card that should see Commander play in decks that can benefit from it. Turning all of the creatures in your deck to a particular type, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is now capable of cheating out anything it wants in the Modern format. Forget Vein Ripper, what about something bigger?
Leyline of Whatever You Want
- Mana Value: 2UU
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: If Leyline of Transformation is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield. As Leyline of Transformation enters, choose a creature type. Creatures you control are the chosen type in addition to their other types. The same is true for creature spells you control and creature cards you own that aren’t on the battlefield.
Leyline of Transformation will certainly find its way into a bunch of Commander decks, but is it good enough to see constructed play past that? My assumption is no, but there is potential for a truly unhinged combination of cards to make this work.
This allowing Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord to cheat in the likes of Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is the absolute pinnacle of Leyline of Transformation in Modern. One could achieve this by creating some bizarre Ugin’s Labyrinth deck that mixes Sorin packages with Eldrazi ones, but that seems dubious.
Outside of Sorin, there are some other typal cards that Leyline of Transformation could enable. Preeminent Captain can cheat Soldiers into play while attacking, which could give you a wacky interaction with the mono-white Collector’s Cage deck. Similarly, Warren Instigator can cheat in two Goblins from your hand into play since it has Double Strike. Sorin doesn’t need to attack to cheat something in, which likely means that it remains the best option.
How Viable is this Card?
The viability of Leyline of Transformation is going to depend on two things: how much of a power boost the deck gets when starting with the card, and how viable the deck is when it doesn’t start with the card. Domain Zoo both gets an insane power boost when starting with Leyline of the Guildpact and can play a decent game without it. My worry with Leyline of Transformation is that the power gap between having it in your opening hand and not having it is going to be too great.
It will be impossible to know how this deck performs until someone tries it, however. The potential to brew with Leyline of Transformation is definitely there, but it will take time to see if it’s the real deal.
