Origins Spoiler Review

Its spoiler season, the best time to be a Magic player. Like I've done for the last few sets, I'm going to talk about the cards' usefulness in EDH. If a card doesn't show up, then I have nothing to say about it.

Spoiler found here: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/spoilers/149-magic-origins

White:
Archangel of Tithes - This is a very interesting effect. Note that giving it vigilance lets it have both effects. I can see this in Heliod, since WWW is solid for devotion, and taxing blockers is really good. Potentially in Darien since taxing blockers is relevant there as well. I don't think this stands up for Kaalia or other angel focused decks on its own. Still a neat card.

Hixus, Prison Warden - The entered the battlefield clause does not specify from hand, so this guy does work as a commander. I still don't like him over more proactive monowhite options like Linvala or Elesh Norn. Also, when Hixus is a known quality people will only attack you for lethal. That does make him a solid rattlesnake, but I don't know what you are doing in monowhite that you are trying to buy that much time for. As a creature in the 99 though, Hixus is really good. He can eat indestructible or protection creatures. He also combines well with a blink strategy, a la Roon of the Hidden Realm. Its especially potent with Roon since it creates the rattlesnake effect it normally has as a commander.

Kytheon Iora/Gideon, Battleforged - I am very low on this card both in the 99 and as a commander. He just doesn't do enough on either side. His creature side is worse than the other low cost options. I was initially thinking maybe he would be fine in duel commander, but honestly that slot belongs to Thalia for a reason. This card does nothing disruptive. I think the card is fine in other formats, and the overall design is cool, but not everything is made for EDH.

Relic Seeker - A weaker Stoneforge Mystic is still a good card. This wants to be in something aggressive, since its triggered by attacking. I like this in Jor Kadeen, some W/B decks, Thalia, etc. I don't like this in W/U or W/G as much since those decks don't need the card advantage or tutor effect nearly as much. The exception is Rafiq since the effect is something that Rafiq loves, and it can happen before you even cast your general.

Starfield of Nyx - Wow. So much brewing can happen with this card. The obvious place for it is Bant Enchant, but its effect spreads over to W/B or W/R very easily. Repeatable card advantage and the potential to turn into a huge attacker will find homes in EDH since the games tend to be slow enough to make the grindy nature of the card work. Homes include Zedruu, or Rubinia.

Vryn Wingmare - The new Glowrider flies! This guy is a solid addition to white disruptive decks. The aforementioned Thalia plays this guy in both regular and duel commander. It also shows up in most places Relic Seeker is likely to show up. There are now tons of three mana 2/1 flyers with hate abilities.

Blue:
Alhammarret, High Arbiter - Whammy!

Day's Undoing - I know there has to be ways to break this card, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Also, the obvious place of Nekusar apparently doesn't work. The end the turn line is apparently being changed so that all triggers generated by casting the spell are eaten mid-resolution. Still solid to cast off a Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery.

Displacement Wave - The sorcery tag is the only thing keeping this from being outrageous. As is, it is mostly meh. In a permanent lite deck, like most combo decks, this is worth a shot. Decks like Dralnu and Melek tends to have no tokens and this potentially generates mana for them by bouncing Sol Ring, Chrome Mox, etc. Definitely a card to keep in mind. Its straightforward use is to get rid of all tokens.

Harbinger of the Tides - This is a nasty surprise that I think will wind up in most of the decks that Hixus would be in.

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace, Telepath Unbound - I don't think this guy warrants a slot as a commander, but in the 99 he can be pretty solid. There are plenty of U/x decks that want to loot and the flipped side's -3 is pretty solid. While planeswalkers have to be judged on what you get from 1 activation, these walkers are different in that you can get them back with Karmic Guide or Reveilark. I think that Jace in a deck with Reveilark is going to be pretty sweet since he loots you into other good targets for lark.

Jace's Sanctum - More love for the Dralnu/Melek crowd, this card is a 1-2 punch of sweet. The cost reduction makes it easier to cast lots of instants and sorceries, and then rewards you for doing so. The reward...helps you find more instants and sorceries. I really like this card for EDH and think that those sorts of decks, or Jeleva, are going to make room for this immediately.

Mizzium Meddler - A 1 time Spellskite that can happen at instant speed. Another card for blink value shenanigans, a la Roon.

Soulblade Djinn - I don't know why he couldn't have said "Creatures you control gain Prowess." It would have felt far more to the point than their execution. I do like the card though, and blue attack oriented decks have felt lacking in EDH for a long time. Sure, there's Edric, where this guy fits pretty well, but decks like Sygg, either one, have been lacking some Oomph for a while. The addition of aggressive prowess creatures, especially in an environment with a legacy card pool, is going to only push blue's attacking side up.

Black:
Dark Petition - I love this card. Tutoring is something you should keep down in casual EDH environments, but in a more competitive atmosphere this card is bonkers. Any storm deck wants this immediately, and even fairer decks love what is essentially another 2 mana tutor. It does come with the caveat that you want to be reasonably instant and sorcery heavy, but that's not too much of a burden. I will be playing this in Dralnu, and wouldn't be surprised if this saw legacy play.

Demonic Pact - This card is amazing. Its one of the most flavour win cards of all time. Its probably not worth jumping through hoops for it in EDH, but if you can sacrifice enchantments on demand (Ertai maybe?) then it is a very cool card.

Kothophed, Soul Harvester - He's big, he flies, he draws tons and tons of cards. He works as a general and as a threat in the 99. One of the premier EDH cards of the set. expect him to show up in a lot of games. As a demon he's instantly a hit in Kaalia, and many reanimation based Grixis and Rakdos decks are going to find room for him. As a general, he's likely going to see play as a Staxs variant. I don't know if he's going to ever see play in other stax decks. If he does, then he's worthwhile in Obzedat or Vish Kaal  where you have a continual influx of life and easy ways to get rid of him.

Languish - This card deals with smaller, swarmy decks. Its especially good against Eldrazi Monument and creatures that interlock to make small creatures large like Elves. Its the right mana cost and makes both a good second Mutilate and second Damnation. You'll want to be largely creatureless or not care if your smaller creatures die. To that end, this probably works in Kothophed, Geth, Tymeret, etc.

Liliana, Heretical Healer/Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - The first spoiled of the transform walkers, people have had plenty of time to find homes for her. She's a fine general and quite good as a normal creature. She's good in Ghave or other sac for value decks. As a commander she works as a resource denial strategy, aka stax. As a nonstax general she loses a lot of punch since other generals utilize a higher resource count better.

Malakir Cullblade - While this card seems innocuous, this is a very powerful effect in a format where 2-3 other people are casting creatures. Putting him in the above mentioned stax oriented decks is a great way to continually feed him. I don't know if he's worth it, but he seems like he could get really big really fast.

Tainted Remedy - A welcome hate card, this works very well in Punisher type decks. I would find room for this in my Kaalia deck. There isn't a lot of strategy here, unless you also have a way of giving your opponent life, a la Beacon of Immortality.

Red:
Avaricious Dragon - This guy is pretty sweet. He wants to be in some insanely aggressive deck like Urabrask where you are casting everything at sorcery speed anyway and just trying to get people dead. I'm less than optimistic that he sees lots of EDH play since resource accrual is so vital to so many game plans. The dragon creature type might get him some play in something like Karrthus, but this seems like a monster for Standard, not EDH.

Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh/Chandra, Roaring Flame - This one also falls a bit short in both forms, as the creature version can't keep going past its third activation and the only useful part of the planeswalker is the ultimate. Unfortunate, but this one seems like a pass for EDH.

Chandra's Ignition - Chandra's Ignition on the other hand is the real deal. Paired with creature abilities like lifelink, deathtouch, or infect, its going to be a house. It works best if cast on a creature with Hexproof so it can't be interrupted by the opponent. I like this in Godo, since that deck is loaded with equipment to enhance it. It also works well in Uril, since he has Hexproof, and generally will be enormous. The other side is that for a deck like Uril, there won't be too much splash damage. Ignition is a card that interacts best with a vertical strategy. I don't think I'd want this too much in Jor Kadeen, for instance, because that deck wants to build out as much as up.

Flameshadow Conjuring - Another red bomb, this works incredibly well in a variety of red strategies. This works in the Kolaghan deck I posted a month or so ago. It is also crazy good in Sedris or Marath. All around a good addition to the EDH repertoire. Honestly, you are really going to need a reason not to run this in a deck with red mana since it gives infinite value. Works well with legends that have etb abilities now, since you just keep the real one and pay R to double the effect.

Pia and Kiran Nalaar - Kind of out shined on the sacrifice ability by Bosh, they do give you a ton of artifacts on repeat castings/blinks. There's a Jeskai artifacts deck out there that this card fits right into. Unlike Bosh, actually just casting PKN is totally legitimate as well. A middling general that's pretty ok as a dude in the 99.

Green:
Managorger Hydra - This guy gets enormous really really fast. Play him somewhere with green that appreciates large creature or lots of spells.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer/Nissa, Sage Animist - Decidedly meh as a general, Nissa is pretty good as a creature. Lots of decks run Civic Wayfinder-type effects already, and flipping her is pretty trivial in EDH. Like Jace, she's got good value in a shell with Reveilark and the planeswalker side is essentially a Coiling Oracle every turn. That's a lot of value for not much investment. I think I like Nissa the most of the creaturewalkers for EDH. I think my first placement for her is Roon or Ghave, but there's plenty of places for her to slot into.

Woodland Bellower - Another creature with a crazy enter the battlefield effect in Roon's colors? What are you doing wotc! Seriously though, this guy is a house. Unfortunately for EDH players, he's probably good enough for Standard and he's a mythic. I would pick some up if you intend to play a green value dudes deck if you can get him under three dollars.

Multicolor:
Shaman of the Pack - I didn't mention the other elves since they don't really do something new for EDH elves, but Shaman of the Pack is interesting because it adds a new dimension to Nath. Shaman wouldn't be particularly interesting as just another toy for Edric, but because of the black in its cost, it slots into Nath quite well and plays off of his ability to make lots of elves. That deck is also more combat damage oriented and the Shaman can kill an opponent easily. Being a creature, its easily repeatable through sacrifice and return. I can see this being a player in some G/B elves decks.

Artifacts:
Alhammarret's Archive - Oloro's new best friend, this doesn't go in everything. You have to be actively drawing cards to get a bonus, unlike Thought Reflection which affected your draw step. This is still one of the chase EDH cards in the set since so many decks people play draw cards. Its particularly amusing with Sylvan Library. Initial thoughts, Oloro, Trostani.


That wraps up the first week of spoilers. I'll be back next Saturday, for the next batch. I think the whole set will be spoiled by then, but if not then its no biggie. Feel free to respond in the comments with what you think of the cards.