Magic the Gathering News Vol 8: Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Comic Con Wrap Up

Hello all and welcome to the 8th edition of Magic News via the emporium as usual, this monthly edition will cover Magic 2012's arrival onto the scene, Innistrad news and rumours and Dark Ascension which is scheduled to be the small set of Innistrad block scheduled for release next Feburary so let's begin with a look back at M12 as a whole

Magic 2012 brought with it a few new terms and a change to what we know today as Shroud and Leaving the Battlefield turning into Hexproof and Dies, that's not all it brought, we also saw new incarnations of Jace, Chandra and Garruk along with the return of Gideon and Sorin as the core set walkers of choice for the respective colors, after a few weeks magic 2012 has impacted quite a few things, changed some decks altogether, made new decks out of existing cards and brought back a old mechanic known as Bloodthirst from the ravnica block which is a nice change since last year's core set consisted of Scry cards, this year seems to be focused on the Black/Red bloodthirst style deck with the return of my favorite Lorwyn block common Ponder not because of how powerfully good the card was, but how well it got you good cards to use on turn 1, drafting of the core set has never been better as most players are returning find a certain familarity to the core set as a whole with returning commons and now being uncommons like Sengir Vampire and Shock being ever present in this year's post rotation. Magic 2012 has been a long time coming and i was personally glad to see the return of some old favorites, new cards which may end up impacting other formats and well just overall balance in terms of power levels of specific cards, remember folks we have 2012 and 2011 for the next 2 months in standard don't be afraid to use 2011's cards in existing decks till rotation if not just to make space.

Innistrad had a bit of a reveal at comic con in san diego recently with the release of new information, here is what we know so far, 2 planeswalkers will be present in this set, we are going to have dual colored mythical creatures like Werewolves, Ghosts etc, the card from the newest from the vault has yet to be spoiled, which is supposed to be a mythic level card, Lillana is confirmed to be in this set for the most part, we have yet to see proof she is but i would like to believe she is, this set is going to be the largest set we've seen in a long time, with the last largest set being Time Spiral if memory serves me correctly, if i am wrong please don't hesitate to tell me, i'm not going to fact check this fully i'm just using my memory of past sets to determine this fact. The amount of cards for the set is scheduled to be 264 cards, with about 16 mythics i would think for a set of this size, multicolor cards are abound and old types of creatures not used for horror themed sets will probably see a return, in other words, we don't know much bout innistrad at this point other then that, we do know that it is going to be huge and will impact standard for sure as expected.

Recently set number 2 of the innistrad block was revealed and it's known as Dark Ascension which is the small set of this particular block, for the official arcana announcement please go here for the full information
---> Dark Ascension Announcement which contains all the set information, even though it was first revealed at Comic Con this year, the official announcement for this set was revealed the monday after the event which as of this writing was about 6 days ago. Even though comic con didn't give us much else about this, except for a few pieces of art and the basic set information, i can tell you it drops on Feburary 3rd 2012, has a total set number of a 158 cards and may end up featuring a new sorin based on the art, we will have to wait and see of course.

Finally Comic Con 2011 is over and the wizards official panel happened twice in the 5 day span of the event, we got a taste of what's going down in From the Vault: Legends, we also got a taste of Innistrad's new stuff which is dual colored tribal theme along with stuff we've not seen before in magic, we've also got our hands on the ability to check out some of the cool products wizards is going to be sporting in the next 12 months, one of them being the new premium deck series Graveborn which i talked about already, before i make this article sound boring as hell, let me remind you that there are only a few more things to be released magic wise this year, one of them being the first set of the new block Innistrad, with a duel deck, a premium deck series and From the Vault: Legends left to go according to the chart for this year, well that's it for me for this time, this is vergil signing off for the month of July 2011, see you next magic news where i can finally talk about FTV: Legends in full glorious detail.

Magic 2012 Game Day Promotion Cards

It's that time again kiddies, with the full spoilers up, the last official piece of unknown news is the magic 2012 game day promo cards, this particular core set's cards are going to be Dungrove Elder and Stormblood Berserker which are both in full art frames, let's take a look see at the picture with the two cards in question

Now if i had to guess the Berserker dude is going to be for the particpation prize, top 8 will more then likely receive the full art Dungrove Elder since the rare is usually given out for the top 8 of the game day or something of that nature, i don't know wizards has to confirm this as of now and i would expect confirmation just shortly after the release of the newest core set on the block, onto good news though for those keeping track the prerelease is 2 days away, remember it's a sealed deck draft for those particpating, enjoy and this is vergil signing off from a rather short update article.

Magic 2012 Final Update: 249/249 cards spoiled

So the time is upon us, spoiler season for another set is done and we are now looking ahead to the prerelease/release parties of Magic 2012 which occur in the next few weeks, i for may end up going to the prerelease i don't know yet, however let's make a note of a few things, the full visual spoiler for all the cards can be found here -> Full Card Spoiler and the written spoiler can be found here --> Written Spoiler so with that being said let's go over some of the basics for prerelease/release weekend as per usual of any new magic the gathering set.

The prerelease/release parties are usually always sealed booster draft 6 packs of the current product which is going to be 2012 core set material, which means around 90 cards will be obtained during the process, 6 rares and maybe a mythic rare if your lucky enough to open 1 or even a foil one, the promotion card for the prerelease is Bloodlord of Vaasgoth in which i did a article about here along with the release party card named Garruk's Horde -->  Promo Cards Article check your LGS for more information on this as always, this means i won't be doing spoilers for this set, i just did updates, since the core set kinda came out way too quickly after New Phyrexia or what i like to call the most broken set since Alara Reborn because it has a nasty addition to most block decks in the form of Batterskull.


Anyhoo that's about it for M12 for me, i won't be writing another article on this unless it's a set review which happens usually after a new set is published for about 2-3 weeks, till next time magic fans this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 12: Walkers, Reprints and Broken Cards

Hello all and welcome back to another edition of the emporium after a long sunburned filled canada day it is time to return to business as usual, today's edition of the emporium we take a look at the last 2 walkers of the set, some of the returning friends this set has to offer and a few more cards, with our first candidate being the new Chandra in the form of Chandra, the Firebrand

Unlike her previous predecessor, Chandra Nalaar this particular chandra is a 4 CMC walker and has three abilites as per expected her +1 ability pings for a single point of damage to target player or creature, great for getting rid of weenie dudes so you can ramp to her ultimate her -2 ability allows for spells to be copied and sent at another player of your choice, this is great with stuff like Incinerate, Lightning Bolt [Which Rotates soon] and Shock which replaces lightning bolt, her most interesting ability is her ultimate -6 she deals 6 damage to up to 6 target players/creatures, now if this isn't good for a red walker i dunno what is, but as it stands right now, her and Koth of the Hammer will make a hell of a good team as it stands, did i mention she has 3 starting loyalty and can be easily brought into play by Koth's second ability, well from one color walker to another, i bet your all dying to see the new Garruk in this set, introducing Garruk, Primal Hunter

Is he awesome or what for the last walker of the set, costs 5 mana 2 colorless and 3 green, has 3 starting loyalty and his +1 is his old second ability which is to put a 3/3 beast token onto the battlefield, right away your getting the most of this guy already by making a dude plus having potential for more dudes, with the ability to ramp into this guy it should not be that difficult to play him, his second ability is brand new though -3 Draw cards equal to the greatest power among creatures you control, so if you control a 5/4 Leatherback Baloth or a 6/6 Rampaging Baloths you are going to get a massive card advantage over your opponent, his last ability is just plain nasty -6 Put a 6/6 green wurm creature token onto the battlefield for each land you control, this is just a nasty ultimate, better then prior garruk 1.0 since this rewards you for having lands into play, Titans anyone but if you this guy is the best card in the set check out a reprint from Time Spiral known as Smallpox

At long last smallpox is getting the reprint it deserves, though it has the worst art i can think of it is great to see this returning as one of the many cards in the 50% reprint bracket, it's a fairly easy to cast card as a uncommon, Each player loses 1 life, discards a card, sacrifices a creature and then sacrifices a land, all for a mere 2 black mana, one of my friends kinda went butt ugly nuts when i told him this was getting a reprint, anyways it's time to see one of the last mythics of the set in the form of a Aura named Angelic Destiny

Think of this as a way to make a Baneslayer Angel without actually needing the card even though as i type this the angel has dropped to a mere 10 dollars a copy, except it doesn't grant protection from demons and dragons, but it does grant a +4/+4 boost, gives off flying and first strike, makes the creature with this attached a angel, plus it can be cast again when the creature enchanted with this dies, all for a mere 4 mana 2 colorless and 2 white mana, yes a aura as a mythic rare is possible and this proves it so, without further ado though let's take a look at a spoiler via Evan Erwin from the Magic Show known as Grand Abolisher 

Wow a 2/2 that basically says all your spells during your turn are uncounterable, costs 2 white mana to play and is a rare, yes finally something to stop those nasty Sensei's Diving Top activations or even a Cursecatcher ability in legacy, or how's about a Elixir of Immortality's reshuffle ability as a body, this thing is just plain bonkers, it's a cleric so it fits perfectly into a weenie deck, stops every spell in the game during your turn that your opponent's can cast and is a body, very nice wizards of the coast finally someone down in R&D is doing things right for a change, seriously this is how you introduce a core set, with power cards like this, without further ado it's time for the last spoiler of the weekend so far, it's name is Doubling Chant

Wow a busted sorcery, certainly replaces stuff like Mass Polymorph in this set, so lemme get this straight for each creature you control, at sorcery spell, you get to search for a creature card with the same name as each creature you control, put them onto the battlefield for free, then shuffle all for a mere 6 mana am i going instantly insane here, so you mean i can easily fetch extra titans in Valakut, trigger a frigging valakut ability like 4 times, fetch inferno titans are will and get a extra Oracle of Mul Daya the turn this is cast along with whatever other stuff you may control, nuts this is just plain nuts expect to see this as a 2 of in most Valakut builds man this is getting to be a fun set, anyways that is all for the time being, it's time to call it a article and such though i will see you tommorow for the monthly wrap up for June covering all the things you may have missed in the world of MTG, so till next time this is vergil signing off

Magic 2012 Update Part 11: Intro Pack Rares, Reprints Ahoy Volume 3

Hello all and welcome back to another edition of the emporium with me as your host, today is a decent day for Magic 2012 since we got a few big cards, not going to bother talking about the stuff i missed till this friday, which here is canada day, so let's get started with the big news courtesy of Star City Games's Patrick Chapin

Seriously Sad robot, this is what he was leading us up to, goddamn man aka Solemn Simulacrum a 2/2 with the ability when it enters the battlefield, search for a basic land, put it onto the battlefield tapped and shuffle, when it dies, draw a card seriously this is the best reprint yet of M12 i'm happy to see this back in standard for a year and would love to see a deck round this somehow someone will do it, i guarantee, anyways, intro pack rares ahoy starting with a sphinx named Sphinx of Uthuun

Yep a 5/6 with a fact or fiction esque ability that costs 7 mana, has flying and is a beatstick on steroids, this rivals such things as Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Sphinx of Magosi and of course Sharding Sphinx in terms of sphinx power levels and such, it's a decent rare i'll give it that and gives off a ability no one would have seen for a while, but this is going to probably be a 2 dollar rare like all intro pack rares, sorry to say, anyways from one bomb to another, let's check out Rune-Scarred Demon

Now if this isn't a good intro pack i don't know what is, 6/6 with flying, has a Diabolic Tutor effect when it hits the battlefield costs 7 mana but it's well worth it, you a get a tutor with a body, well it kinda makes sense we got a windfall effect on a body in the form of Jace's Archivist, this kinda makes sense to do this, this basically means Diabolic Tutor looks like it's outta the core set, we may see it in Innistrad under a new name, anyways, last newbie of the day is a Golem let's take a look see at Crumbling Colossus

So a 7/4 with trample that when it attacks you gotta sacrifice it at the end of combat, costs 5 mana and is a uncommon, well i'll be damned personally, this is decent for a uncommon card in this set, we're sure to see a few more of these since there is still room for the obvious new stuff, we may end up seeing this in the Golem deck which started back in New Phyrexia but other then that i got nothing else to figure out with this card, anyways anyone wanna take a guess at what's next

If you guess the 5 core set duals from last year you're right folks, these bad boys are back in town and badder then ever, dual lands that basically make the meat of the land base besides the basics of course from this set, you've got the basic 5 dual slots covered and such, i was kinda expecting this anyways that is all the time i have today to talk about M12, till next time which is gonna be Friday where i will cover both tommorow's updates and Friday's updates in a double article, till next time magic fans, remember to keep those lands untapped during your opponent's turn and such, this is vergil signing off

Magic 2012 Spoilers Part X-2: No this isn't a video game title

Hello all and welcome back to part 2 of today's spoilers since today was kind of a large update let's start right away with the usual stuff in terms of spoilers, first off is a new Illusion dude that resembles a Clone but this is a hell of a lot better personally as it helps speed Illusions to the necessary level of a tribe, in the form of Phantasmal Image

So a dude that is a clone but better it's still a illusion and has the ability when it becomes a target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it, not bad, since Lord of the Unreal is the glue this card needs to hold itself together, even if it targets a lord of the unreal it gives all your other dudes a +1/+1 boost and itself gets a boost from the original lord of the unreal, which is all that awesome personally, this makes Illusions a tribe personally and i'd love to see a list derived from Illusions themselves one day after the release of this core set, anyways enough about this one, let's move onto a new instant speed spell called Visions of Beyond

Wow, mill has it's card draw finally, a 1 blue drop instant that nets a card, but if a graveyard has 20 or more cards, you get 3 cards instead, seriously this is a nasty blue rare, it's a rare wait what, it's power level designates itself as a rare, personally i think wizards is pushing mill now as a variant since Caw-Blade is dead, first Jace and now this this is maddening personally anyways if mill becomes a variant i may pick it up again, well anyways onto the final card of the new update, let's take a look at a new land called Buried Ruin which seems to replace Terramorphic Expanse as the land of choice for the core set this year.

As expected from this set, a card that deals with artifacts since the last block was artifact based, this is a perfect addition to it and can be returned with abilites, it allows returns of artifacts to come back from the graveyard and adds 1 to your mana pool, the only downside is you gotta sacrifice it to use it's second ability but that is all not bad personally, i would think someone had some interest in following up scars block with a card like this, this is useful for a tempered steel build or something i don't know since Tectonic Edge rotates out in 3 months, so this could be a replacement for it, who knows, anyways that's all for today's 2 parter update since well i didn't wish to make a long article but two decently sized ones, till next time magic fans this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part X: How to Properly Introduce New Cards

Hello all and welcome back to the 10th edition of a magic 2012 update on the emporium try saying that three times fast why don't you, anyways today's edition of the update sees a lot of brand new cards, some decent reprints and well a lot to say in one article so let's begin with a catch up on yesterday first off, with the return of a Slayer, no not a baneslayer angel a Worldslayer yes the very same worldslayer printed back in the day is returning in M12 with a brand new place in a core set, since it's olden days in Mirrodin, not scars of mirrodin but the original mirrodin which equipments first began in.

Yep it's the same 5 drop equipment that costs 5 to equip and blows up all other permanents except this, give this to a Puresteel Paladin equipped with a Darksteel Plate and watch your opponent's cry all over the place, expect to see this rare at the release and prerelease which is only a couple of weeks away, anyways, today's offerings have a new flavor to them, what is it you may ask well it's a deal with the devil in the form of new enchantments starting with the newest white enchantment to hit the block Personal Sanctuary

Well i'll be damned a 3 CC enchantment that negates all damage done to you during your turn, as a rare in this set no less, i'd never expect this kind of thing to be printed, note it only says you not creatures you control, there is the downside since there is no perfect enchantment, let's see this is perfect for a white weenie soldier build, probably gonna be played in a U/W list with some stuff from NPH, MBS and of course SOM, but other then that i don't see it doing much other then that, let's move onto a bit of new busted hotness as Will Smith would say in the form of Mind Unbound

Wow that is sick, you basically can draw a ton of cards with this card, EDH lovers are going nuts now in blue since this is a perfect way to replenish your hand, the only way to get rid of it is to blow it up or exile it, other then that wow, it's CMC is perfect for EDH too the 6 range is what most bombs in EDH are these days, doubt it will see play beyond Limited and maybe a proliferate/ramp build in standard/constructed but that's it, i know something for a fact M12 is looking up after yesterday's utter crapfest well almost all crap except for the green dude, with that in mind let's look at a new dude in the form of Aegis Angel

Well, a flying 5/5 that does what no other angel beyond it has done so far, make another permanent indestrucible, for 6 mana though it's a bit costly as a Sun Titan is a better choice for this to enchant since it's ETB effect can target the titan making a infinte number of 3 CMC dudes return from the grave when it attacks or enters the battlefield, it's also a intro pack rare and can be found in one of the 5 intro packs of this set, expect to see this around a dollar to 2 dollars roughly since it's a intro pack rare, with that in mind we'll continue on in the form of an artifact in the form of Druidic Satchel

Yep, something that has a lot of effects, well for a 3 cmc artifact as a rare it seems decent but it's effect is kinda costly, creatures reward as 1/1 saprolings, lands can be put onto the battlefield for 2 mana extra and noncreature/nonland cards gain 2 life when it's reveal, no drawbacks really so this means i can reveal a Grave Titan, put a 1/1 onto the board, next turn drop titan and 2 2/2's do this all over again next turn and that till i will, well this shows me that EDH loves this card, standard maybe wanna throw a deck together around this effect or something, i don't know but the basics of the idea are simple, make dudes/play extra lands/gain life like crazy, with no drawbacks pretty sweet, i'll continue this in part 2 later today since my wrists are getting sore, so till next time this is vergil signing off

M12 Update Part 9: New Cards = Good times to be had

Hello all and welcome back to the next edition of the emporium update, with me as per usual, today we saw 4 new cards in total, with the titan cycle being confirmed to return, let's get started on the new cards first with Primordial Hydra a new green mythic rare creature

Seriously it's that bonkers, combined with a Doubling Season effect as soon as this thing reaches 10 +1/+1 counters on it boom it has trample, costs X mana and 2 green mana, is a mythic rare so i guess we know what fills the slot this year in terms of mythics for green, the new garruk, this and primeval titan, the effect triggers at the beginning of your upkeep and is a nasty effect to boot, expect this to see maybe limited or some ramp play in standard due to it's casting cost, next a star city games preview in the form of a red sorcery known as Scrambleverse

Yikes a unplayable 8 mana sorcery in any stand point besides of course EDH, so it has for each nonland permanent, choose a player at random, then each player gains control of each permanent for which he/she was chosen. Untap those permanents, this is a rare for a 8 mana sorcery, seriously are they trying to make the core set suck on purpose these days, i don't much like this card personally and expect to see this as a jank rare soon enough, enough bout that let's take a look at a new black creature in the form of Vengeful Pharaoh

5 drop for a deathtouch/reanimator dude that blows up things in the graveyard as a 5/4, sweet so let's see whenever combat damage is dealt to you or a walker, if it is in the graveyard, destroy target attacking creature, put this card back on top of your library, yeah with Innistrad coming up this is going to be a nasty, nasty card for sure in a reanimation deck, but enough about this let's take a look at the final new preview of the day in the form of a shapeshifter known as Skinshifter

Are you freaking kidding me 2 mana for a shapeshifter that can become anything it wants, and starts as a 1/1, can become a 4/4 rhino with trample, a 2/2 bird with flying or a 0/8 plant are you freaking kidding me, aggresive/defensive dudes are nasty stupidly fun in any format, this is no exception to the rule, goddamn if i was to pick up four of these on release day i'd know exactly what to do with em, put em in a mono green build that rocks face that's for sure, i've never been more excited for a green card in my life then this guy personally i'd love to see him in a decent price range on release day so i can easily get my hands on this dude, well that's it for now, check it out next time as i'm sure M12 is going to get a lot more interesting, since mythic slots are filling up fast in this set, so this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 8: Big Reprints and New Walkers Vol 2

Hello all and welcome back to another Magic 2012 Core set update at the emporium, since it's friday this is a perfect way to end the week since my last attempt at this update was cut short due to technical problems with photo uploads, onto the stuff for this particular update. New walkers and old reprints are the name of the game here, let's start with today's addition to a core set in the form of a new walker called Jace, Memory Adept 

Let's take a look at his abilites first off +1, draw a card, target player mills a card from his or her library, a draw and mill effect at the same time, you're kidding me right well this is now all Jace has now let's take a look at the second 0 - Target player puts the top ten cards of his or her library into his/her graveyard are you freaking kidding me, Glimpse the Unthinkable on a walker tell me this isn't so, is that not the best thing ever, though i don't play Mill anymore i'd certainly like to get my hands on this beast of a walker, his final ability is -7 Any number of target players draw 20 cards, it's like saying here draw a 3rd of your deck bro, it's all good, did i mention it's a 5 cmc walker that has 4 loyalty, i'm sure someone out there will find a way to break this one, more then likely, but enough about walkers, have you seen the reprints of M12 yet, let's start with my least favorite titan Primeval Titan

Yes that same monster of a beatstick is back in standard for another year, a 6/6 monster that helps valakut win so much faster is back and bad as per usual, this will fill green's 1st mythic slot, hopefully along with a new garruk as i anticipated for sure, but i digress a 6/6 trampler with the ability to fetch lands when it enters the battlefield or attacks is just plain sick, this pretty much confirms the titan cycle is back and bold in the format once again, since we've already seen Inferno Titan the monster whom powers the bolt side of the Valakut builds, let's take a look see at one of my favorite new additions in a reprint ever in the form of a burn spell Incinerate

Oh yes this is back in standard yes, a 3 damage spell for 2, negates regeneration and the whole nine yards, the last time we saw this burn spell was back when with Tenth Edition and this is a great reprint in my eyes, since red did kinda get the shaft last year it's showing red's dominance once again in a standard enviroment, expect the price of Incinerate to go to at least 2 dollars, well that's it for this update ladies and gentlemen, be sure to stay tuned next time for the usual M12 update now that commander has been out for a full week i'll be taking a look at the deck i got called Heavenly Inferno in a article on the weekend, till next time though magic fans we're tapping out for now, but we will have a untap step soon, this is vergil signing off

Magic 2012 Update Part 7: Walkers, Name changes and More

So in the past 2 or 3 days since i've posted a article there has been massive speculation abroad on the fact there may be new walkers coming to a core set near you, however if you've been following this thread found here -> Planeswalker Thread then you would know already what i am talking about, however let me fill you in on the stuff if you've missed it as of this point. Speculation is new walkers are coming with a 3rd Jace, 3rd Chandra and a 2nd Garruk according to some text on a japanese version of the Magic 2012 commercial which was broadcast not too long ago as of this writing maybe a good 48 hours or so, who knows anymore, aside from this speculation according to this picture means we are gonna have a brand new set of walkers for the core set, thus includes a reprint of Gideon Jura and Sorin Markov whom have been confirmed as of this point in time, the picture and speculation can be found in the thread i posted earlier.

Onto more exciting news do you remember that Black Japanese card i spoiled a little while ago it got a name change in the form of Monomania maybe someone who knows japanese screwed up who is to say, i cannot certainly tell, all i know is the person who did the translation for the card is a little off and it's ok since this is spoiler season after all. Another piece of news dropped in the form of a good few reprints as of late, if you remember Cultivate and Teetering Peaks from past sets, well this may be the year both are printed in the core set together, according to this source right here --> Reprint Source

If you picked up the commander decks yesterday and got a full set good for you since they sold out at my LGS as of 12 pm eastern standard time, meaning the next shipment you're gonna have to wait for which is about 3 months, or you could go to your local Wal-Mart and major shopping retailer named Target in the United States or a local game store of your choice for canadians, expect a full on review of the deck i got in the coming days, perhaps even sooner provided i can find the time to write it up, till next time folks, this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 6: Rarities are so much fun, As are reserved effects

Hello all and welcome back to perhaps the most exciting Magic 2012 update in a long while, i've got a special treat for most of you legacy players, ever wonder what Windfall was like on a body, now we get to experience this with a new blue rare sorta translated at the moment as Jace's Archivist the name may be changed in the future but let's take a look at the card itself.

Oh and if you wondering what it does let me tell you, you pay 1 blue mana, tap it and it does the following "Each player discards his/her hand, then draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player discarded this way." did i mention it's a 2/2 rare that does this almost at will, just untapping and retapping his effect means a nasty Blue/Black control build is on it's way out the door soon enough with this guy for me at least, this card was even featured at the last pro tour stop which was Pro Tour Nagoya, it ended up giving out this and the other card called Obstinacy which is a pretty rough translation, for the other one at least but this as i said is also a rough translation, but it's a Vedalken Wizard as far as i can tell as well, so wizards printed a limited effect on a body, are you asking for your set to be broken huh wizards, i guess so.

Let's take a look back at another 2 cards cause i've not previewed them yet, the photo is courtesy of Jay Boosh on twitter, take a look at Swiftfoot Boots and Manalith.

Now that's some sick beats right there, Hexproof and haste on the boots with a casting cost of 2 and a equip cost of 1, as a uncommon busted right there, the other artifact is a mana generator that taps to add one mana of any color to your mana pool, it slots perfectly into any build unlike Birds of Paradise, which is green generating the same amount of mana, but with a higher casting cost to do so which is 3 mana to summon this, decent but the rarity is left to be questioned as of this point since the boots cover up the rarity for this particular card, well that's all she wrote for this update in question, stay tuned next time as i take a look at more M12 stuff coming down the general pipeline, see you all next time.

Magic 2012 Update Part 5: Lords and lots of fun to be had

Hello everyone and welcome back to another M12 update, this update has a few things to speak off, a new lord, some returning friends and hell even some basis for a core set, finally we get the good stuff, so let's take a look first at the newest lord on the block Lord of the Unseen

Are you kidding me, this guy makes illusions untargetable, is a 2/2 and gives them +1/+1 at the rare level, note the D12 symbol but since Magic 2012 and duels 2012 are tied together this was confirmed to be so, not bad for a Human wizard personally that costs a mere 2 blue mana to summon, this and the recently spoiled stuff of Phantasmal Dragon and that bear seems like Illusions may be a new tribe, we will have to wait and see, anyhoo onto some reprints, remember the core set is always gonna be about 50% reprints roughly here are a few of the said reprints of this set the first one being Day of Judgment. I do not need to show a picture of this since we've seen this twice before once in Zendikar and once in M11 which turned out to be the new sweeper spell for white, replacing a old favorite Wrath of God which saw it's last print in M10. The other old favorite returning happens to be another lord in the form of Elvish Archdruid yes elves have their lord again for this set and it's not really a surprise to be quite honest it's more expected since i think core sets give wizards a chance to reprint old favorites, who knows with elves and that we are seeing a tribal theme with this particular set, Vampires for black, Red has Goblins, Blue with illusions, White has griffins and green of course has elves, not bad for a core set.

Lastly there was a card that surfaced recently from Pro Tour Nagoya which is a black rare called Obstinacy which may or may not be it's true name but still here's the photo of the card in question

Yes it's in japanese and i have the translation for you all, it's a sorcery that costs 5 mana to use and states choose target player, that player chooses one card in his/her hand and discards the rest, you're kidding me right this kind of spell hasn't been printed since Shadowmoor with Tyrannize and now wizards are gonna start printing these type of spells again, dear god help us all, well that's it for today's M12 update, stay tuned tommorow for more M12 news and such, remember in 4 days commander drops onto store shelves are you ready for it, this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 4: How the hell did i miss this

So a lot happened over the past few days, a massive info dump of cards, which i won't bother talking bout here, they will be in usual spoilers, but i will show off as many of the pictures as i can behold the awesomeness of M12 commons and uncommons.

Yes that's a lot of cards, but i won't bother talking much about them instead i'll point out one card this update and discuss it Shock which is going to be replacing Lightning Bolt, Shock costs 1 red mana, deals 2 damage to target creature or player at instant speed, is a common, the rest of these we have seen or some crap like that, short update is short because i need to get more of the M12 spoilers written up for here, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Promotion Cards

Yes the title is correct the promotion cards for Magic 2012 have been spoiled, for both prerelease and release parties which are held this year in July, let's take a look at the obvious prerelease promotion card known as Bloodlord of Vaasgoth

Ever notice with this set so far there's been a theme of vampires for black, this makes it a sure thing vampires these days are so fun to play, it's not even funny, this dude has Bloodthirst 3, flying is a 3/3 and a mythic rare, costs 5 mana to summon one more then Vampire Nocturnus which was in the core set 2 years ago and it gives all vampire creature spells bloodthirst 3 when they are cast, making them that much sweeter to play this is given out at the prerelease on July 9th and 10th and is perhaps one of the better black promos of the set, who knows could there be a 3rd mythic for black this year, we will find out, onto the release promo which known as Garruk's Horde

I love free creature spells with this guy, he's a creature heavy butt whooper and is a 7/7 with trample, yes!, you play with the top card of your library revealed, not bad, only downside is he costs a whopping 7 mana to summon for a rare does this make him unplayable, not really ramp can solve that problem, oh wait i take back what i said you still gotta pay the spell's cost huh confusing as all hell personally but i am sure we will get some clarfication on this one when the rulings are needed, if that ever happens but i think it will since this set is 249 cards and all so there are lots of reprints on the chopping block for this set, but nice innovation wizards seriously nice innovation into a release and prerelease promo, that's all for me for this one stay tuned later on today as i cover the usual commander update

Magic 2012 Update Part 3: Why must old mechanics be overused

So friday ended up being a double whammy one huge commander update which i discussed here Commander Update and now this which shows off quite a few things in the new core set, or should i say new cards courtesy of Mr Brian David Marshall, the original article being found here for viewing pleasure M12 Update Article which showed off some of the new cards to be featured in magic 2012 some of them we already know of like Gideon's Avenger which perhaps is the most insane white card of the set so far, but more to the point, this is a lot of Bloodthirst cards for one set, wanna see of course you do, let's get started.

Now this first picture shows the reprint of Sengir Vampire which perhaps is the black counterpart to Serra Angel, 2 new vampires called Bloodrage Vampire and Vampire Outcasts which are some of the new cards in magic 2012, let's take a look at Bloodrage Vampire first it costs 3 mana to summon, 1 black and 2 colorless, is a common and has Bloodthirst 1, where if a opponent was dealt combat damage this turn, this creature enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it, it starts as a 3/1 as well, not too bad i must say, next is Vampire Outcasts which are a 4 CMC creature, a uncommon, have Bloodthirst 2, lifelink and comes into play as a 2/2, Bloodthirst being a mechanic from the old Ravnica days with Richard Garfield the man whom created the game we all play today is seeing a mechanic he made come back in a big way, this is all well and good, but there is a lot more to show off for this case, let's look at Blue's addition for this update in the form of Phantasmal Bear.

Oh s*** it's a bear, yes really a blue bear in a core set, not often we see bears outside the natural green flavour color of sets, but this is a different story, this bear costs 1 blue mana is a common, comes out as a 2/2 and it has the ability "When Phantasmal Bear becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it" kinda lame if you ask me, but i'm not here to judge just show off the awesome new cards for the set, so show me some more of the awesome bloodthirst cards of the set vergil, well you got it, check out Duskhunter Bat and his pal, Tormented Soul

Oh my god, this is perhaps the better of the newest cards so far, evasion on the bat as i expected in the form of Flying, it has Bloodthirst 1, costs 2 mana to summon and can potentially be equipped with nasty stuff to do some damage for the set, his pal on the other hand is a decent unblockable dude that can't block, is a 1/1 and costs 1 black mana, did i mention both these dudes were busted as commons, hell no i didn't but these dudes probably will have some mention in said spoilers i do for almost every set these days, time to take White Power to a whole new ballgame in the form of Gideon's Lawkeeper.

Check out them sick beats, a 1 white mana drop dude that taps dudes, that is sick beats right there folks this pretty much blows anything out of the water and focuses more on the draft persepective of the game nowadays, this dude is a limited powerhouse waiting to go off, as a 1/1 for 1, a common at that it basically says, pay 1 white mana, tap me, going into lockdown mode right now folks don't stop me now, bloody hell, oh yeah his partner in crime Gideon's Avenger works wonders with this card as well, since it's a large dude when things tap on your opponent's side of the field, but i already talked about avenger, well that's about all she wrote for this set update, stay tuned cause i think tommorow new Commander updates drop and dear god if they are broken i will shoot myself, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 2: Why the Core Set Sometimes Sucks

Well you may remember last year's battle of Giant Growth vs Giant Spider why everything has to be a Giant i don't know but i do not care, since these were the last two cards ever reprinted in every core set to date it's only natural one of them get Axed for this new core set, be prepared for the results um because they are less then favourable and the winner is

Giant Spider, yes this is the only reprint remaining from the original core set, it's survived 14 reprint cycles and might be the last time we see this card in any form, since a possibility is this could get axed next year with the rise of Magic 2013 but let's look at it this way, core sets are supposed to be chockful of reprints as well as new cards, most of the time though each core set has a new flavour and feel to it, meaning that when and if the core set ever does decide to stray away from the normal things it does then that means wizards is doing something wrong. Giant Growth on the other hand got the Axe due to Mutagenic Growth being a better pump spell in standard right now and besides do we really need 2 pump spells hell no we don't so i am personally glad Growth is gone and the Spider has returned for possibly the last time in a core set.

Anyhoo that's about it today since news was slow and painful so till next time this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Update Part 1: Reprints Ahoy

Welcome one and all to another edition of the life, today's big deal is the fact that wizards of the coast seems to love reprinting old rares that no one played or either had little experience with and here is no exception to this rule perhaps the greatest dragon of all time though has been reprinted from the Shards of Alara block, who am i talking about, the one the only Flameblast Dragon, here for your viewing pleasure is the new version of said card let's take a look shall we?

Yes he's back in all his fiery glory, this is the new and improved flameblast dragon which will hit store shelves on the 15th of July and is perhaps one of the better reprints wizards has made to date, so for 6 mana you get a flying 5/5 with the ability whenever it attacks, you may pay x and one red mana, if you do flameblast dragon deals X damage to target creature or player. Note the second ability which was really useful for the Jund shard of Alara block and ended up being used in some sideboards of said type of deck when it first came out, this is sure to hit a 3.00 range and is a decent rare to be reprinted, another reprint however is from a entirely different block which was featured yesterday let's take a look at Archon of Justice 

Now this particular reprint is from the Eventide set, or what is known as Lorwyn/Morningtide/Shadowmoor/Eventide block which was pretty damn good and presented a crap ton of good rares and such, as well as some powerful tribal variants, this is only one of two such Archons in game with the other being Archon of Redemption from the Worldwake set. His original wording though is a little different it says "Whenever Archon of Justice is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile target permanent:" here it says "Whenever Archon of Justice dies, exile target permanent" note they removed a lot of the wording and simplified into a form of "Dies" instead of the usual "Go to the graveyard from the battlefield" terminology we are so used to. Though his stats and cost have stayed the same, 4/4 flyer with 5 mana to summon it, you get a dude that is pretty beefy for a white creature and i believe this was Eventide's 6th best rare alongside a few i'd rather not mention but this is decent enough in my opinion of course.

That's all she wrote for this particular article since there hasn't been any other reprints besides Sorin Markov to talk about and we all know he's still busted as ever, so till next time this is vergil and i will see you round the web with another M12 update real soon.