Just before a new MTG set is released, players engage in wild speculation about where each new card will end up seeing play. Theories are crafted, decks are teched, and everyone has a good time. Generally, these guesses are way off the mark. Obvious upgrades aside, it’s very difficult to predict how the winds of the MTG meta will blow. Nobody, for example, predicted that Bloomburrow’s Starscape Cleric would earn a slot in one of the most powerful MTG Pioneer decks out there. Yet, that’s exactly what’s happened this week.
Starscape Cleric In Amalia Combo?!
This version of Abzan Amalia Combo comes to us from Hamuda. They played it to a 7-2 finish in yesterday’s Pioneer Challenge event on MTGO. For the most part, the list is business as usual. It plays the namesake Amalia/Wildgrowth Walker combo as a primary win condition, supplemented by consistency boosters like Collected Company and Chord of Calling. Where things get interesting is the decision to throw in Starscape Cleric, a new MTG card from Bloomburrow.
Cleric has a lot of text on it, but the important part here is the fact that it makes your opponent lose one life whenever you gain life. This is the same line of text that earned Dina, Soul Steeper a spot in the deck previously. Cleric has a lot of upsides over Dina, however, as it has two power, evasion, and a less restrictive casting cost. It also has Offspring, which is unlikely to be relevant but can help in long games.
With the gain/drain text, Starscape Cleric can serve a number of functions in the deck. If you combo off with this card in play, your opponent will take 18 damage on the spot, which should kill them immediately. Usually, your 20-power Amalia can finish the job at this point, but there is always the possibility it gets removed. Starscape Cleric takes chance out of the equation in that regard.
Alternatively, Cleric can just sit on the board and slowly wear your opponent down. Amalia Combo runs plenty of incidental lifegain, such as Prosperous Innkeeper and Lunarch Veteran. Over time, the damage Cleric deals when these triggers occur can really make a difference.
A Bright Future?
A single copy doesn’t seem like a lot, but Abzan Amalia Combo is a serious meta deck. To break into a list like that at all is a testament to a card’s power. This, in turn, likely indicates that Starscape Cleric has further unexplored potential in different formats.
Earlier this week we talked about Orzhov Midrange in Standard, and how it’s running a lot of the new Bloomburrow Bat cards. Interestingly, despite featuring plenty of incidental lifegain, none of those lists included Starscape Cleric. The deck is very much in its developmental stages right now, so we’ll give early adopters a pass on missing such a gem. In the future, however, I definitely expect to see at least a couple of copies of Cleric in the deck. It’s just too good a fit to pass up.
Beyond Standard, I think Starscape Cleric has a very real shot in other MTG formats too. Specifically Commander. Many decks in the format already run the classic Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo as a win condition. Gain one life with both of these enchantments out and you create an infinite loop that kills all of your opponents on the spot. Very tasty indeed.
Starscape Cleric can step in for Sanguine Bond, and enable the same combo for three less mana. Dina could already do the same, of course, but Cleric lets you stay in mono-black. This is relevant for specific Commanders, such as K’rrik and Vito. Being able to generate a second copy of Cleric via Offspring when needed also gives it a nice edge in fair games, where you’re not trying to win right away. All in all, Starscape Cleric seems like a great card for multiple formats.
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