Commander 2017 (C17) Spoiler Week Day 3 – Vampires, Curses, and… the Return of Phasing?

Day 3 – Commander (2017 Edition) spoiler week continues, and this time, we’re dealing with Vampires. The Vampiric Bloodlust deck stars Edgar Markov, Innistrad’s first Vampire, and founder of the Markov line. Overall, the cards we’ve seen so far seem powerful, including Edgar Markov‘s Eminence ability, which gives you a 1/1 black Vampire creature token every time cast a Vampire spell – even when he’s in the command zone.

Check out previously spoiled C17 cards, including Cats (Day 1) and Dragons (Day 2).

We also got our first look at a new cycle of curses, spread across this year’s Commander decks. Each curse gives the caster a benefit whenever the cursed player is attacked. To encourage others to attack the cursed player, the attacker receives that benefit as well. Perhaps the most appealing curses are Curse of Verbosity, which allows you and the attacker to to draw a card; and my favorite, Curse of Bounty, which untaps all nonland permanents you and the attacker control. Commander is a format full of mana rocks and expensive spells, so getting the opportunity to untap your nonland mana sources and cast more expensive spells will certainly prove tempting. Even better is that Curse of Bounty only costs 1G. Also note that the curses are threats that put a target on other players, not you.

Phasing Out

The most interesting card, hands down, was neither curse nor Vampire. Rather, it’s Teferi’s Protection. For 2W, this instant locks your life total in place, gives you protection from everything, and phases out all permanents you control. That is right, phasing is back!

Phasing is an ability that essentially causes one or more permanent (and all cards attached to them) to appear nonexistent to the rest of the game, without leaving the zone they are in. The last time we saw phasing was on the Unhinged card Old Fogey, which was itself a joke about abilities only older players would remember.

Prior to Old Fogey, phasing was an ability that only appeared in Mirage block (which consisted of Mirage, Weatherlight and Visions). The Mirage block has historical significance as the first intentionally designed block in Magic: the Gathering. The three sets took place in Jamuraa, a supercontinent on Dominaria. The Mirage Wars served as a turning point in how Wizards of the Coast developed their lore, and lead into the Weatherlight Saga, Magic’s main storyline for a number of years.

Why is this important? Because phasing is an obscure ability from a specific time and place in the game’s history, Teferi’s Protection could give us a hint as to what to expect when Magic: the Gathering returns to Dominaria in April of 2018. Not only does the printing of this powerful protection spell lead me to believe phasing will be part of Dominaria, but so does this tweet from Matt Tabak, which followed the spoiler of Teferi’s Protection:

Effective 8/25 (#MTGC17 release), we’re changing the rules so tokens can phase out and phase back in. Batterskulls rejoice! #WotCstaff

— Matt Tabak (@TabakRules) August 9, 2017

While it is certainly possible that Wizards is using C17 as a chance to play around with cards that do not fit well in other sets, the fact that they are making rules changes at the same time could indicate plans to print more cards with phasing. And I think that’s a good idea. Phasing has always offered the unique ability to temporarily remove a permanent from the action without all of the negatives that come with exile. Since phasing was always meant to do that, it does make sense to finally include tokens. In a way, phasing has always been about disappearing, but only for a moment.

Let’s take a look at all of the cards spoiled today.

Bloodsworn Steward

Bloodsworn Steward – 2RR
Creature – Vampire Knight (Rare)
Flying
Commander creatures you control get +2/+2 and have haste.
4/4

Flavor text: “My liege will lead and I will follow—to the battlefield, to the grave, and beyond.”
022/309 R – Illus. Daarken

 

Curse of Bounty

Curse of Bounty – 1G
Enchantment – Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked, untap all nonland permanents you control. Each opponent attacking that player untaps all nonland permanents he or she controls.

Flavor text: Flavorful aromas beckon many a salivating maw.
030/309 U – Illus. Kieran Yanner

 

Curse of Disturbance

Curse of Disturbance – 2B
Enchantment – Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token. Each opponent attacking that player does the same.

Flavor text: Sounds of life becon many a restless soul.
016/309 U – Illus. Kieran Yanner

 

Curse of Opulence

Curse of Opulence – R
Enchantment – Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked, create a colorless artifact token named Gold. It has “Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” Each opponent attacking that player does the same.

Flavor text: Jingling coins becon many an eager hand.
024/309 U – Illus. Kieran Yanner

 

Curse of Verbosity

Curse of Verbosity – 2U
Enchantment – Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked, draw a card. Each opponent attacking that player does the same.

Flavor text: Idle chatter beckons many an attentive ear.
009/309 U – Illus. Kieran Yanner

 

Curse of Vitality

Curse of Vitality – 2W
Enchantment – Aura Curse (Uncommon)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player is attacked, you gain 2 life. Each opponent attacking that player does the same.

Flavor text: Good health beckons many a vigorous follower.
003/309 U – Illus. Kieran Yanner

 

Disrupt Decorum

Disrupt Decorum – 2RR
Sorcery (Rare)
Goad all creatures you don’t control. (Until your next turn, those creatures attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.)

Flavor text: Dinner and politics don’t mix.
025/309 R – Illus. Sidharth Chaturvedi

 

Edgar Markov

Edgar Markov – 3RWB
Legendary Creature – Vampire Knight (Mythic)
Eminence – Whenever you cast another Vampire spell, if ~ is in the command zone or on the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token.
First strike, haste
Whenever ~ attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
4/4

036/309 M – Illus. Volkan Baga

 

Heirloom Blade

Heirloom Blade – 3
Artifact – Equipment (Uncommon)
Equipped creature gets +3/+1.
Whenever equipped creature dies, you may reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card that shares a creature type with it. Put that card into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Equip 1

052/309 U – Illus. Carmen Sinek

 

Kindred Charge

Kindred Charge – 4RR
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose a creature type. For each creature you control of the chosen type, create a token that’s a copy of that creature. Those tokens gain haste. Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.

Flavor text: For goblins, quantity is quality.
027/309 R – Illus. Dan Scott

 

Licia, Sanguine Tribune

Licia, Sanguine Tribune – 5RWB
Legendary Creature – Vampire Soldier (Mythic)
~ costs 1 less to cast for each 1 life you gained this turn.
First strike, lifelink
Pay 5 life: Put three +1/+1 counters on ~. Activate this ability only on your turn and only once each turn.
4/4

Flavor text: “I give my blood, my life, all I have in exchange for victory.”
040/309 M – Illus Magali Villeneuve

 

Mathas, Fiend Seeker

Mathas, Fiend Seeker – RWB
Legendary Creature – Vampire (Mythic)
Menace
At the beginning of your end step, put a bounty counter on target creature an opponent controls. For as long as that creature has a bounty counter on it, it has “When this creature dies, each opponent draws a card and gains 2 life.”
3/3

Flavor text: “All will know of your crimes.”
042/309 M – Illus. Joe Slucher

 

New Blood

New Blood – 2BB
Sorcery (Rare)
As an additional cost to cast ~, tap an untapped Vampire you control.
Gain control of target creature. Change the text of that creature by replacing all instances of one creature type with Vampire.

Flavor text: “Now isn’t that better?” – Olivia Voldaren
019/309 R – Illus. Howard Lyon

 

Patron of the Vein

Patron of the Vein – 4BB
Creature – Vampire Shaman (Rare)
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, exile it and put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
4/4

020/309 R – Illus. Tommy Arnold

 

Teferi’s Protection

Teferi’s Protection – 2W
Instant (Rare)
Until your next turn, your life total can’t change and you have protection from everything. All permanents you control phase out. (While they’re phased out, they’re treated as though they don’t exist. They phase in before you untap during your untap step.)
Exile ~.

008/309 R – Illus. Chase Stone

 

Unstable Obelisk

Unstable Obelisk – 3
Artifact (Uncommon)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
7, T, Sacrifice ~: Destroy target permanent.

Flavor text: Its collapse is like the lashing out of a long-dead civilization that resents being forgotten.
229/309 U – Illus. William Wu

 

Comments

comments