As Duskmourn spoilers continue to come out of the woodworks, it’s becoming more and more evident that this set is quite powerful. From infinite combo enablers to potential breakout bombs in Eternal formats, Duskmourn packs a big punch.
Well, spoilers are still being revealed, and the number of elite rares keeps increasing. Just recently, a strong vehicle with a potent enters-the-battlefield trigger was previewed, and there’s a lot to like about it. It’s not often you see premium removal attached to a relevant body, but Unidentified Hovership definitely fits the description.
Skyclave Apparition 2.0
- Mana Value: 1WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- MTG Set: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Flying. When Unidentified Hovership enters, exile up to one target creature with toughness 5 or less. When Unidentified Hovership leaves the battlefield, the exiled card’s owner manifests dread. Crew 1.
Unidentified Hovership has a lot in common with Skyclave Apparition. A huge part of the reason why Skyclave Apparition is so strong is that it can deal with an opposing creature for good. Compare Skyclave Apparition to Brutal Cathar or Werefox Bodyguard. While those two cards have seen Constructed play as well, they are significantly more vulnerable to removal spells.
If you exile a bomb like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse with Skyclave Apparition, even if the opponent kills it on a future turn, they never get Sheoldred back. Unidentified Hovership functions in a similar way. Where Unidentified Hovership gets its edge as a source of creature removal even over Skyclave Apparition, though, is in two key areas.
First of all, Unidentified Hovership can exile creatures with mana value five or greater, as long as they don’t have six toughness or higher. In Standard, this makes Unidentified Hovership an excellent answer to Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal.
Second, because Unidentified Hovership is a vehicle, if you suspect the opponent has removal at the ready, you can simply choose not to crew it. This helps minimize your opponent’s chances of getting to Manifest Dread.
Of course, Unidentified Hovership can’t exile non-creature permanents. This lowers its chances of seeing extensive Pioneer play over Skyclave Apparition, since Skyclave can hit Witch’s Oven, Waste Not, and more. Nonetheless, getting to freely exile Arclight Phoenix and Old-Growth Troll is great, so the card is worth multi-format consideration.
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Potential Archetypes for Unidentified Hovership
- Mana Value: 1WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/3
- MTG Set: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Card Text: At the beginning of combat on your turn, return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Return it to its owner’s hand at the beginning of your next end step.
In Standard, the best current places where Unidentified Hovership can slot into are likely Orzhov midrange and Boros token control. Unidentified Hovership seems like a solid card in the mirror. It deals with Preacher of the Schism and Zoraline, Cosmos Caller forever, leaving behind a flying vehicle to help you close games. Speaking of Zoraline, you can use Zoraline’s triggered ability to return Unidentified Hovership from your graveyard to play and get even more value.
In Boros token control, Unidentified Hovership is a nice catch-all piece of removal that doesn’t get interfere with Temporary Lockdown or Sunfall. Albeit the 2/2 vehicle isn’t the most impressive in this deck, but having an evasive threat lying around can be helpful in some games.
From a Pioneer standpoint, it’ll be interesting to see if this card makes the cut in Abzan Greasefang. Obviously, it won’t take the spot of Parhelion II or Esika’s Chariot. Instead, Unidentified Hovership would be used as a flex slot or sideboard option against decks with problematic creatures. With Greasefang out, you can return resurrect Unidentified Hovership to remove something. At the end of your turn, it’ll get bounced back to your hand for you to replay on a future turn.
Being able to find Unidentified Hovership off of Cache Grab is useful, too. All these small benefits add up, giving Unidentified Hovership a good chance of seeing competitive play. Perhaps its synergy with Survival creatures will prove to be a major factor as well. We look forward to seeing the card in action when Duskmourn releases in just a few weeks.
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