With the set’s release date drawing ever nearer, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is undoubtedly the talk of the town right now. Sure, we may have had a massive Marvel announcement just a few days ago, but even that can’t stop spoilers. Swarming social media and dominating the MTG sphere, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is understandably everywhere thanks to previews aplenty.
While we’re only a few days into The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s spoiler season so far, we’ve already seen some gems. There are awesome reprints, typal stars, and even a few soon-to-be staples! From these cards alone, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is already looking amazing, however, it only gets better.
Thanks to a new spicy spoiler, MTG players will soon have a bizarre new wincon to enjoy!
One Mana, One Thousand Damage
The Thousand Year Calendar (?) 1
Legendary Artifact (Mythic)
Whenever one or more permanent becomes untapped during your untap step, put that amount of time counters on The Thousand Year Calendar.
2,T: Double the amount of time counters on The Thousand Year Calendar.
When there are 1000 or more time counters on The Thousand Year Calendar, sacrifice it and each opponent loses 1000 life.
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While it is not yet available in English, at the time of writing, The Thousand Year Calendar is easily one of the most exciting new cards in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. To explain our excitement, whenever a permanent becomes untapped during your untap step, it gains a Time Counter. Once The Thousand Year Calendar has one thousand time counters, each opponent loses 1000 life, almost guaranteeing a win.
On the surface, this card seems wacky, but truly terrible. After all, you’d potentially need a hundred turns, if not more, just to gain that many Time Counters. While this is technically true, The Thousand Year Calendar has a trick up its sleeves. For the surprisingly low cost of two mana, you can double the number of Time Counters on the card.
Much to the delight of MTG players on Reddit, this turns The Thousand Year Calendar from just a meme, into quite a scary one. Playing nothing other than land, and simply doubling every turn, The Thousand Year Calendar is a turn ten kill. Should have a few creatures to untap, this kill can get even faster, worryingly consistent, even.
To expedite the speed even more, The Thousand Year Calendar can also employ help from Doubling Season. Alongside other doubling effects, these cards can dramatically cut down the time to kill. That being said, however, this Artifact is nonetheless vulnerable, being an obvious threat on the board for so long.
As if it being obviously threatening wasn’t a concern enough, The Thousand Year Calendar also constantly demands mana. Wanting two per turn to activate its ability, it’d be hard to play this card for maximum value. Instead, you’d likely need a potent control shell, that takes a little while longer to amass the needed number of Time Counters.
Cat Typal Cat Typal
While The Thousand Year Calendar may be the most bizarre spoiler to date, it’s hardly the only one grabbing players’ attention. Considering the somewhat Typal-focused nature of Ixalan, this isn’t really all too much of a surprise. After all, MTG players love getting a new fun card to amp up their beloved Commander deck.
So far, even a few days into The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s spoiler season, it seems there is no shortage of compelling typal cards. Out of these, Sovereign Okinec Ahau has been stealing the show, with their aggressive feline antics. Capable of buffing your board quite considerably, Cat Typal might just have a new Commander.
Synergizing with temporary buffs and +1/+1 counters, Sovereign Okinec Ahau can almost double the strength of your creatures. Better than doing this just once, Sovereign Okinec Ahau can repeat this effect every single turn, so long as they attack. Since they give creatures +1/+1 counters themselves, this effect can quickly snowball and get out of hand.
For Commander players looking for a change from Arahbo, Roar of the World, Sovereign Okinec Ahau is a very compelling choice. This is bolstered by them having Ward 2, which is always a nice layer of added protection. Better than this, however, is the fact you don’t have to risk your other creatures, just Sovereign Okinec Ahau, who can be recast anyhow.
Outside of Commander, it remains to be seen if Sovereign Okinec Ahau will have a major presence in any format. Looking at their power level, it seems Standard may be the only option, however, this format is riddled with removal. Ultimately, this may leave Sovereign Okinec Ahau, rather aptly, just being a pet card with Cat Typal Commander decks.
Dinosaur Delights
Alongside a few cats, which are a very welcome surprise, Dinosaurs have also had a very strong showing so far. While this may have been expected from a return to Ixalan, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant definitely appeased many players. As if that wasn’t enough already, however, there are plenty more powerful and interesting dinos to go around.
Belligerent Hammerskull
T: Dinosaur
Whenever Belligerent Hammerskull attacks, if you don’t control another Dinosaur put a stun counter on it
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Currently spoiled only in Chinese, Belligerent Hammerskull looks like a rather devastating card. Capable of swinging in for six damage rather early on, this card could give green the resurgence it’s been dreaming of. For better or worse, however, there is a catch to Belligerent Hammerskull’s rather devastating power.
First off, Belligerent Hammerskull doesn’t have Trample, which is always disappointing for a dinosaur. Worse than this injustice, however, is the fact you need another Dinosaur to make Belligerent Hammerskull useful. Without having another dino in play, Belligerent Hammerskull will keep getting Stun Tokens, making it useful only half of the time.
Thankfully, while this is a downside within a lean Standard deck, within Typal Commander decks, this shouldn’t be a problem. Similarly, Belligerent Hammerskull should excel in Limited, since there are plenty of other dinosaurs about. Speaking of, Palani’s Hatcher is one such dinosaur worth paying attention to.
While they won’t combo with Hammerskull thanks to their casting cost, Palani’s Hatcher is nonetheless great in Commander. Synergizing deeply with Atla Palani, Nest Tender, this pair can create a steady stream of eggs and dinosaurs. Alongside building a board, Atla Palani will also let you cheat out countless creatures turn after turn!
There’s Plenty More to See
While we’ve already seen a lot of great cards from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, the spoiler season is far from over. In fact, with 7 days of spoilers remaining, there are plenty more goodies that players can look forward to! In case that seems like a lot to keep track of, worry not, as we’re here to help. All throughout spoiler season we’ll be covering all the best that The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has to offer. So, if you want to stay up to date, watch this space!
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