With the rapid advance of Ikoria’s somewhat elusive release date players are getting more and more excited with the reveal of every new card. As preview season continues, these are some of the coolest cards we’ve seen so far.
Ikoria's paper release being delayed for roughly a month (except for Asia-Pacific). pic.twitter.com/vcpjzIcctj
— Saffron Olive (@SaffronOlive) March 26, 2020
Release date change
Since we mentioned the release date, it’s important to report that its somewhat mutating, much like the beasts that dwell within Ikoria. The originally promised simultaneous release was first altered over COVID-19 safe concerns and later amended even further. Right now, the kaiju-themed set will appear on time only in the Asia-Pacific region and MTGA, and the North America, South America, and Europe regions will have to wait almost a month to play with the paper cards. That sure doesn’t stop the previews from hitting our screens, though.
With that out of the way, let’s jump right to the...
Top 5 cards so far
Sure, not all cards are out yet, but we’ve seen enough to have some favorites already! Check these out:
Chevill, Bane of Monsters is here to kick off the list. This tough-looking Human Rogue has little sympathy for giant beasts and has no ethical problems with the smashing of their eggs. While sporting a somewhat weak body of 1/3, his Deathtouch keyword will make quick work of even the most imposing monsters of Ikoria and his bounty token mechanic makes him a perfect build-around in limited and a great Golgari commander in Brawl. Just put all the removal spells and assassins in the set and you’re done!
Luminous Broodmoth is another great build-around. Having your beasties rush into combat without fear of getting destroyed and then having them back on the Battlefield with flying is huge. It’s comparable to Flickerwisp strategies, but now also gives the Flying! This is a perfect piece to split your Mutate creatures and have them enter the Battlefield again, and possibly Mutating them again - a strategy we discussed in our previous article.
Speaking of Mutate, we can’t ignore the Nightmare Beast Elemental in the room - Brokkos, Apex of Forever. On top of being a 6/6 Trampler for 5, you can cost him over and over again as long as you have another non-human to Mutate with Brokkos. What an amazing bomb for limited!
We briefly mentioned Illuna, Apex of Wishes in our lore article discussing the world of Ikoria. Much like her Nightmarish cousin Brokkos, this oenous-looking lady-dino can Mutate to some amazing value, if at a somewhat prohibitive mana cost.
Lastly, we have Eerie Ultimatum! That’s right, the three-colored Ultimatum cycle started all the way back in the Alara block is back! These expensive Sorcery spells reward the caster with some serious benefits especially useful in formats such as Commander, and it’s creepy Eeerie version is no different! N fact, it looks like one of the best in the series.
Excited? We sure are. For everything MTGA and Ikoria, check EarlyGame.com daily!
