Over the past week, we’ve been getting bombarded with Outlaws of Thunder Junction spoilers. This includes cards from the main set as well as the Breaking News and Big Score bonus sheets. From intriguing new mechanics to powerful pricy reprints, this Wild West set has a lot to offer.
However, the fun doesn’t just stop there. As with other premier sets, there are going to be four new Commander Precons for players to look forward to. We already know the general themes of each Commander deck as well as what each primary Commander does. However, the rest of the cards in each deck remain a mystery…
That is, for now. According to MTG designer Gavin Verhey, the full decklists will be revealed on Thursday. That’s only a few days away, and to help give us a bit of a sneak peek regarding what to expect, Gavin Verhey also released a video highlighting some hints about the cards featured in the various Commander decks. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more intriguing ones.
Sand Warriors are Back!?
First up, we have a hint that almost certainly suggests a unique inclusion for the Desert Bloom Commander deck. The Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander decks will feature a new card that creates Sand Warrior tokens! Up to this point, two specific cards make Sand Warrior tokens: Hazezon Tamar and
Hazezon, Shaper of Sand
Hazezon, Shaper of Sand
Desertwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Desert.)
You may play Desert lands from your graveyard.
Whenever a Desert you control enters, create two 1/1 red, green, and white Sand Warrior creature tokens.
. Not only are these cards both Naya legends, but Hazezon, Shaper of Sand interacts favorably with Deserts.
It seems reasonable that Hazezon could be reprinted in the Desert Bloom deck, considering the whole purpose of the deck is to discard or sacrifice Deserts and bring them back. Notably, though, Gavin Verhey did highlight the artwork for the Desert Bloom backup Commander: Kiri, Talented Sprout. While this adorable baby Cactus should draw a lot of attention, I’d be surprised if this new card is responsible for Sand Warrior token production. This begs the question: what would a new card that creates Sand Warrior tokens look like?
It is possible that a new Hazezon Creature sees the light of day. Interestingly, though, Gavin Verhey didn’t state that the new card was guaranteed to be a Creature. This card could just as easily be an Enchantment that provides a flow of Sand Warrior tokens as Desert cards enter or leave the battlefield. Or, we could see a card like
Hour of Promise
Hour of Promise
Search your library for up to two land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. Then if you control three or more Deserts, create two 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens.
that synergizes with Deserts, but this time generates Sand Warrior tokens instead of Zombies. There are a lot of different avenues the design team could have taken this card, but additional Sand Warrior support is always welcome.
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Two-Drop that Taps for Two Mana
Our next hint is that there will be a two-drop that can tap for two mana, but there is some sort of restriction. Restrictions aren’t that uncommon to see on mana producers, as you can see with Gwenna above. Two-drop examples include cards like
Beastcaller Savant
Beastcaller Savant
Haste
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell.
Elfhame Druid[/tooltips]. These cards can be quite strong, but typically need to be on-theme with the rest of your deck to maximize.
The reality is, two-drops that can tap for more than one mana are hard to come by. Sure, there are some cards like
Bloom Tender
Bloom Tender
Vivid — {T}: For each color among permanents you control, add one mana of that color.
that go above and beyond, but this is out of the ordinary. Chances are that the restriction on this card is quite specific to the Commander deck it represents. For example, some players have suggested that this card could be restricted to casting cards you don’t own. This would fit perfectly alongside
Gonti, Canny Acquisitor
Gonti, Canny Acquisitor
Spells you cast but don't own cost {1} less to cast.
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, look at the top card of that player's library, then exile it face down. You may play that card for as long as it remains exiled, and mana of any type can be spent to cast that spell.
, but would make it difficult to utilize in traditional ramp decks in Commander.
Even though it’s most likely that this mana producer is green, this is not guaranteed. For instance, we’ve seen non-green cards like
Giada, Font of Hope
Giada, Font of Hope
Flying, vigilance
Each other Angel you control enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each Angel you already control.
{T}: Add {W}. Spend this mana only to cast an Angel spell.
that care about specific Creature types and can only add mana to cast Creatures of that type. Perhaps a two-drop that can tap for two mana to only help cast Outlaws could help accelerate
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Flying, lifelink
Whenever one or more outlaws you control deal combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token. (Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks are outlaws.)
{3}, Sacrifice two Treasures: Put two +1/+1 counters on each creature you control. Activate only as a sorcery.
. After all, green always gets the best ramp elements, so why not help other colors out?
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Command Tower Matters
Arguably the most interesting hint on this list, we now know there is a card that cares specifically about Command Tower. There are a couple different avenues a card like this could go. First, we could have a card that directly benefits from Command Tower being in play.
There was actually a playtest card from one of Gavin Verhey’s “unknown” events named “Command Power Plant” that could tap for additional mana with Command Tower in play (referencing the Tron Lands). Some players think this new card could be directly related to the playtest card in some way, and having a card that can tap for additional mana or gain some other benefit from Command Tower’s presence would be pretty cool.
Another direction that could be taken is to have a card that can search for Command Tower from your deck. There have been plenty of cards in the past, such as
Bogbrew Witch
Bogbrew Witch
{2}, {T}: Search your library for a card named Festering Newt or Bubbling Cauldron, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
, that can tutor up unique cards. Given how prevalent Command Tower is in EDH and how much it can help fix a player’s colors, having a simple way to grab it from your deck does not seem far-fetched.
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An Odyssey Reference
“I am going to guess the reference to Odyssey will be a colorshifted Pendantic Learning for the desert deck.”
@MagnaMagum
The last hint we’re taking a look at is a rather interesting one. Supposedly, a new card will reference a blue rare from Odyssey block. This doesn’t help narrow things down too much, but some players have presented some cool ideas for what this new card could do. One player mentioned that a colorshifted version of Pedantic Learning could appear in the Desert Bloom deck.
Even though Pedantic Learning only cares about Lands entering your graveyard from your library only, the main Commander
Yuma, Proud Protector
Yuma, Proud Protector
This spell costs {1} less to cast for each land card in your graveyard.
Whenever Yuma enters or attacks, you may sacrifice a land. If you do, draw a card.
Whenever a Desert card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, create a 4/2 green Plant Warrior creature token with reach.
makes sure to generate Plant Warrior tokens when Deserts are put into your graveyard FROM ANYWHERE. This leaves the door open for some milling shenanigans, where a card like Pedantic Learning would be useful.
“Ref to Odyssey block blue rare: Spelljack from Judgement In the Gonti deck, you will counter a spell and plot it for yourself”
@ApoEdvarg
Another player suggested that the card being references could be
Spelljack
Spelljack
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. You may play it without paying its mana cost for as long as it remains exiled. (If it has X in its mana cost, X is 0.)
. Gonti, Canny Acquisitor rewards you for casting cards you don’t own, so getting to counter a spell, Plot it, and cast it on a future turn seems quite flavorful.
With each of these hints, there are a lot of different directions the design team could take these new cards. There are plenty of other cool hints to speculate on, too, including a new Storm card and an eight-mana black board wipe of sorts. All will be revealed on Thursday, so for now, we’ll just have to wait in anticipation.
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