Rise of the Eldrazi Review
Recently, I was given a pack of cards from the newest Magic the Gathering set, Rise of the Eldrazi. Over the course of the next few days, I played with the deck in dozens of games, seeing how the new mechanics work against previously established MTG rules. While I wasn’t able to get time in with all of the cards (naturally), my time with the ones I did have gave me a good insight into what Wizards of the Coast was attempting with the new set, and I’ve already found myself playing more Magic, and eagerly anticipating new releases.
Rise of the Eldrazi has a number of new mechanics, but the standout success is one that I actually wasn’t able to get too much time with: leveling up cards. It seems like something that should have been in MTG since the beginning, and is as simple as paying an amount to put a level counter on a creature. Each counter upgrades the card, adding new abilities, stats, or other modifiers. Some might end up taking issue with this addition, as it slowly shifts Magic towards the realm of video games (which, for many, is a no-no to end all no-nos), but it’s balanced well enough that it shouldn’t ever be an issue. Often, leveling a card costs more than the original mana spent on it, so it’s not a cheap way to get a more powerful creature. On the contrary, it simply adds legs to early-game attackers past defender bait. It’s remarkably intuitive, and the cards included in my set seemed to be balanced fantastically. I’d really like to see this mechanic stick around for years to come.
Besides that, the largest (no pun intended) addition are large, Eldrazi creatures. In the new set, a majority of the big creatures are colorless, with many of them packing extremely powerful abilities. Some destroy permanents on every attack, while others simply have lower mana cost if creatures are sacrificed. These will likely find their way into a number of pre-mades for the series, as well as a good amount of custom decks. Their colorlessness works in their favor, and even though it usually means you’re paying a few more than you might normally, it should add some additional muscle to multicolor decks.
Endrazi does some new things with Magic the Gathering. Both new mechanics, the leveling and colorless non-artifact creatures, are wonderful additions. Players will likely be able to find something to add to any deck in their library from the new set, and we’re eagerly awaiting new releases that incorporate these wonderful changes.
