As an added incentive to attending MTG events, Wizards of the Coast often awards players MTG promos with alternate artwork. Because you cannot open these cards in boosters, the quantity available is significantly lower. Aside from having fantastic artwork, this decrease in quantity commonly means that these cards are worth a pretty penny.
The current Modern RCQ season is coming to a close shortly. This means many players are gearing up to play some Standard once the new season begins. On top of a new format, there are also new promotional cards coming to MTG for fans to collect. Some of these artworks look absolutely incredible, but the promo choice is really bizarre.
Mayhem Devil
This Mayhem Devil promo from Hisashe Momose looks absolutely incredible. Anime artwork is quite popular in the MTG community, and any sacrifice aficionados, Commander and Pioneer alike, should be interested in acquiring this card.
Generally, there are three promotional cards attached to every RCQ season, and each is awarded at different levels of competition. Attending an RCQ? You get the first card. Finish in the top cut of your event? You get the next card. Finally, players that attend the Regional Championship Qualifier get the third card, and the top eight cut finishers of that event acquire the foil copy of that card.
Strangely, we do not know what cards are awarded to what stage of this upcoming Regional Championship qualifier. It appears as though this Mayhem Devil will be awarded as a participation promo, but there is nothing 100% confirming this.
Force of Despair
Honestly, this promotional card is rather baffling. As amazing as the artwork from Jordan Crane looks, Force of Despair is a free MTG spell that doesn’t see a lot of play. Outside of the odd Necrodominance deck in Modern, and cEDH and Dual Commander decks, Force of Despair is one of the least popular free spell cards out there.
Don’t get me wrong, Force of Despair is an absolute powerhouse in the right scenario, especially considering how prominent Energy creature decks are in Modern. This archetype routinely barfs out multiple bodies in early turns and Force of Despair is a powerful way to cut down their board state. Because the top-tier Energy deck is capable of creating so many bodies, single-target removal like Fatal Push can leave something to be desired. Force of Despair, however, will completely undo a gigantic turn for the aggro deck.
Force of Despair is likely the MTG promo awarded to players who finish in the top cut of their RCQ events.
Strangely, a third card has not been announced for this RCQ. Perhaps the prize for players who manage to make it to the Regional Championship events has changed? For now, it’s difficult to know.
No Standard Cards?
Considering that this Regional Championship Qualifier is for the Standard format, it’s a little strange to see no Standard legal cards among the RCQ promos revealed thus far. Mayhem Devil could always get reprinted, but no one should expect a free spell like Force of Despair to appear in Standard any time soon.
This trend persists for the current Modern RCQ season. Sleight of Hand and Supreme Verdict are the two promotional cards awarded to players for attending and topping RCQ events, and neither of these cards is primarily played in Modern. They see most of their play in Pioneer.
Needless to say, the choice to not include Standard-legal cards for RCQ promos during a Standard season is a little baffling. This decision is only made more confusing when you consider how much Wizards of the Coast is attempting to push Standard. In fact, three of the four upcoming RCQ seasons have been confirmed to be Standard.
Despite the strange choices made for this upcoming RCQ promos, the cards do look great and should have a place in certain MTG decks. Personally, I want to make sure I grab a foil copy of that Mayhem Devil. It looks absolutely incredible.