Away From Keyboard – Magic: The Gathering - Wilds of Eldraine
Feature
Wilds of Eldraine
Once upon a time…you all know the beginning, but do you know the full story? Experience iconic fairytales with a twist! A Sleeping Beauty who sword fights in her sleep. The goose with the golden egg is a giant feathery hydra. And a certain gingerbread hero rides forth to save the day. The Wilds of Eldraine features many a fairy tale that players would have heard when they were young, and tasks players to create their own fairy tale ending.
Recently, we at Hooked Gamers were invited to attend a preview event for the Fairy Tale themed event at the delightful Storyville Bar in Melbourne. Split up into groups of four, we were given the opportunity to test out the Commander deck. Personally, I'm a fan of the Jumpstart sets, which allow players to choose two sets and simply get straight into a game against a single opponent, and these Commander decks are structured in a similar way, but for multiplayer competitions.
The games were a heap of fun to play, and the card visuals were well received by those in attendance. It also gave all players present the opportunity to test out some of the new set mechanics. Some of these mechanics work remarkably well in Commander given that players often had the ability to combine some mechanics and abilities during the course of the match.
Set mechanics
Adventures
Adventure spells give the holder two options, one generally being a creature and the other a Sorcery or Instant with a lower mana cost. Players can cast the creature spell at its normal cost or cast the Adventure at the reduce mana cost. Given that the Adventures are Sorcery or Instant cards, once they are resolved, they go directly into the Exile pile. However, players can cast this card from Exile given the right conditions.
Bargain
Bargain is a new ability that allows you to sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token as an additional cost to cast a spell. This can be particularly handy later in the game when you have collected several tokens throughout the match (particularly in Commander). The bargained spell then has a more powerful effect.
Celebration
Celebrate is a new ability word that highlights abilities if two or more nonland permanents entered the battlefield under your control during the turn. Effectively, when you cast two or more permanents during a turn, the Celebration ability kicks in for that card, giving it added power or abilities.
Role Tokens
Role tokens are seven new predefined tokens, each one an Aura with enchant creature. Six of them are created by cards in the main set. One card in the Commander decks adds the seventh – Virtuous, which we found to be quite a powerful with its ‘Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each enchantment you control’ ability given the number of enchantment cards in this fairy tale set.
The Cards
Planeswalkers
Amazingly, there is just the one Planeswalker in the Wilds of Eldraine set.
Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator - Black
Fairytale characters
With the Wilds of Eldraine having a fairy tale theme, it is no surprise that many of the creatures and characters in the set have the look (even if they’re not named as such) as those in your favourite fairy tales.
Lands
The art in the land cards are stunning as always, with much of the artwork looking like it has come straight from your favourite Grimm’s Fairy Tale. From the sprawling beanstalk to the rundown cottage in the forest, the lands wonderfully depict the settings of Eldraine. Of course, many of the card feature multiple versions, including gorgeous Borderless variations.
Product Types
● Set Boosters (12 cards)
● Commander Decks (100 cards) - two variants – Fae Dominion (Blue/Black) and Virtue and Valor (Green/White)
● Draft Boosters (15 cards)
● Collector Boosters (15 cards)
● Bundles (8 set boosters, 1 Traditional Foil card, spindown life counter, storage box)
● Prerelease Packs (6 draft boosters, 1 traditional foil, spindown life counter)
● Starter Kit (2 ready-to-play decks)
For more info about the Wilds of Eldraine set, visit the Wilds of Eldraine website. And, as always, follow us on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.