Squirming Emergence | Art by Simon Dominic

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It's a Set Review... Savvy?

Ahoy, fellow Magic players! I'm Brian, your usual host of Brew For Your Buck, and I'm stoked to be doing another set review! I still remember when we first visited Ixalan, and while I thought the Dinosaurs and Vampires were cool, I was really excited for the Pirates. The age of piracy is one of my favorite historical topics, and bringing that to life via my favorite game was really fun. Now we're back with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan with some new Pirates to showcase, along with some awesome cards from the other factions vying for control of the continent. Let's set sail!

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Mythics

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Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz

It took me way too long to realize this is the same character as Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose. New Vito very obviously points to an Aristocrats theme, asking you to be able to sacrifice three permanents on each player's turn to maximize the value of his ability. While there are plenty of ways to infinitely sacrifice stuff, I like that Vito's ability is capped. These types of restrictions breed really cool creativity, and it's fun to have a goal to build towards each turn. You'll want to pack your deck with instant-speed sac outlets, like the new one we'll mention later, and all sorts of cards that replace themselves when sacrificed so you can start the train. And I do mean all sorts, as any permanent will trigger Vito. Last I checked, Marsh Flats was the cheapest of the fetchlands, so maybe it's time to pick one up!

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Clavileño, First of the Blessed

The first of our precon commanders is the face of the Blood Rites precon, the Vampire kindred deck. Let's start with the bad: Clavileño is a tracking nightmare. His triggered ability grants the target Vampire with a new creature type and a new death trigger. Short of it trading in combat (which your opponents are not incentivized to do), you need to remember all that in case that Vampire dies later, since the effect doesn't go away at the end of your turn. I am stoked that Clavileño encourages attacking on top of the usual Aristocrats stuff we find in Orzhov. There are a shockingly low number of Vampires with combat damage triggers, but that did lead me to Timothar, Baron of Bats who I later discovered is also in the precon. With Timothar out you can recycle the Vampires over and over again for value, so trading or sacrificing them is truly trivial. Otherwise, I think Clavileño is a fine addition to the 99 in any other Vampire deck.

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Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher

If I were to play the Vampire precon out of the box, I think I'd put Carmen Vamp Diego here in the command zone. That could just be a playstyle choice, but permanents get sacrificed all the time in a game of Commander, and Carmen will see them all. As she does, you get a larger and larger flying threat, and she starts Sun Titaning everything in sight. Imagine her combined with something like Wound Reflection? She could also reanimate a Sanguine Bond or Exquisite Blood that your opponents previously dealt with, plus her lifegain trigger can get the famous infinite combo rolling. I also like her in a recursion slot in the 99, as it always helps to have more kindred cards filling traditional roles. Seriously, put Carmen in your deck and pretty soon your opponents are dead and you're off to la Playa. (and that's the end of my Carmen puns)

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Saheeli, the Sun's Brilliance

Unlike her predecessor, this Saheeli is less likely to go infinite with any cats, at least not without a lot of extra work. Otherwise, this card is pretty straightforward. It's interesting that you sacrifice the token and not exile it, so things with death triggers have some extra value. Also of note, the ability turns whatever you're copying into an artifact. This seems like an easy inclusion in Brudiclad or similar decks looking to abuse making token copies in some way. You could also put her in a deck that cares about activated abilities, like Dynaheir, Invoker Adept, since playing Saheeli and activating her in the same turn is pretty reasonable mana-wise.

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The Mycotyrant

Other than Descend meaning different things depending on the card it's on, everything else about this card is awesome. "Elder Fungus" has got to be one of the best type lines in the game. It's a Golgari card that cares about tokens AND cards going to the graveyard, both arguably pinnacle themes for that color pair. A low mana value makes it easy to bring out of the command zone multiple times, especially in green. Even the art is an awesome cross between Jabba the Hut and the Cordyceps virus. Return of the Wildspeaker has never been better, either ending the game via attacking Fungi, or drawing a million cards thanks to your giant Fungus overlord. One rules clarification, Descend only triggers when a permanent card is put into a graveyard, so even though tokens exist in the graveyard for a fleeting moment before they vanish, they won't trigger Descend because they aren't technically cards.

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Quintorius Kand

I love Quintorius and his Indiana Jones vibes. Here we have his first portrayal as a planeswalker and it's... fine. The static ability works in a number of decks that have ways to cast spells from exile, like Bell Borca or Tavern Brawler. Quintorius's -3 ability uses the new discover keyword without explanation on the card, so for the sake of clarity: it's a more flexible cascade that also lets you choose to put the exiled card into your hand if you can't or don't want to cast it. All this to say that Quintorius can "refund" some of the mana you spent to cast him pretty easily, and casting a spell this way will trigger his static. His +1 is a typical "make a blocker" ability, and the ultimate seems really fun in some kind of storm deck. In summary, I think he's a fun inclusion in some niche decks (which is a good design for any Commander card), but the usual downsides of being an attackable game piece in a multiplayer game still apply.

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Hakbal of the Surging Soul

How fortunate that I have the enemy colors review and we get two precons that match! Though, just like we discussed with the Vampires, I'm less excited for the face commander when compared with the alternate. That's not to say Hakbal isn't powerful. The explore trigger that just naturally happens for a creature type that tends to go wide is pretty insane. You're either drawing a bunch of lands or pumping the team while also digging down to a key card that you can draw right away if you decide to attack with Hakbal. Milling away your own library means that Thassa's Oracle (a Merfolk) is a very viable wincon in this deck if you want to be a Spike. It's just that...

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Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood

... How could you not love this little guy?! Okay, it's not so little, but wow, what a neat commander. First of all, it's a Serpent, and will therefore fit into Sea Monster decks, like the one we featured on Brew For Your Buck. It's especially strong alongside Charix or Scourge of Fleets since it can up your Island count and not mess with green mana production. You can also use it to make islandwalkers in your deck (or your opponents', for that matter) unblockable, but the real power here comes from the second ability. For counters-matter decks this has shades of a Seedborn Muse in the command zone. ANY permanent with ANY counter on it will untap, though only on your end step. Playing out your turn then getting to untap to hold up countermagic or flash creatures is really strong, and our friend here smiles right along with you as you do it. Xolatoyac is powerful, unique, and adorable. What more could you want?

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Rares

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Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Another Orzhov legend that seems breakable. There's an almost infinite combo with Wildgrowth Walker that lets you Explore over and over right up until Amalia wraths the poor Elemental right off the board, and there are ways to generate infinite lifegain triggers without adding colors so you can have her in the command zone. Outside of combos, if you're gaining a lot of life, Amalia is an interesting source of card selection in a color pair that doesn't typically get much, and a color pair that's also good at using the graveyard. I wouldn't necessarily count her as one of your board wipes, since timing it for maximum value might be a bit tricky. It is funny to think that if that ability triggers, the only creature on the board is a 20/20 commander ready to smash an opponent in the head. If your deck lies at the intersection between lifegain and filling the graveyard, Amalia is a great choice.

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Order of Sacred Dusk

If you're looking for a curve-topper for your Vampire deck, look no further. Not only can you get this out for a lot less than eight mana thanks to convoke, but granting all of your Vampires exalted just takes this way over the top. With a lot of Vampires out, Order of the Sacred Dusk instantly turns any one of them (including itself, thanks to haste) into an immediate threat. Any Vampire kindred list that likes to go wide, like either Edgars, or Elenda, the Dusk Rose, want this card in the 99. It also does have three good keywords on it, so keyword soup decks, like Kathril, might want it too. I like this card; it's a simple but powerful design that can certainly end a game of Commander in a hurry.

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The Belligerent

Finally, we get to a Pirate-y card! I'm wildly upset by the fact that this can't be your commander. Jace and Vraska's loveboat generates mana and gives you virtual card advantage on attacks, which is what most Pirate decks want to be doing. I'm slamming this into my personal Admiral Beckett Brass deck, where I want both of those effects to keep pushing my cutthroat crew onto the board. It would also go well alongside Cosima, God of the Voyage if we ever get an Izzet Vehicles commander (this could have been it, Wizards!). My only real gripe with this card is that you can only look at your top card after you attack. The Reality Chip lets you look no matter what, and then lets you play stuff once equipped. I think The Belligerent should have been templated the same way.

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Squirming Emergence

Any Golgari reanimation spell is going to make me happy, and this one is really good. The rate is great at three mana, and if you're in these colors it should be more or less trivial to fill the graveyard quickly if that's what your deck is built for. Of course, you still have the Reanimates and Animate Deads of the world if you're seeking maximum efficiency, but unlike those two options it can get any nonland permanent, so we gain some flexibility as well. A great recursion spell that doesn't hurt the mana curve or the wallet too much. The flavor text also paints a very funny picture of Brazen Coalition culture, and even the name is upside. I'd bet saying the words "squirming emergence" out loud will make an opponent cringe every once in a while.

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Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon

Boros Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin. That's it. That's the analysis. No? Okay.

Well, for starters, Anim is stronger than Krenko since Anim himself doesn't have to attack. That keeps him out of harm's way until he's large enough to start bringing the beat down. He's also a great way to put a lot of artifacts onto the battlefield quickly, for something like Reckless Fireweaver or Leonin Elder. Adding white lets us include multiple ways to power up token-production, like the classic Anointed Procession, the new Ojer Taq, or the very funny Divine Visitation. Do not mess with the Gnome Angels. Anim Pakal also fits great into other decks that care about tokens, like Neyali, Suns' Vanguard, or attacking decks, like Isshin, Two Heavens as One.

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Deepfathom Echo

I'm trying to figure out how to best abuse this new Clone variant. Sure, you can get a lot of value by having it become a different creature each combat, and it's nice that it does it at no mana cost. I suppose this goes up in value in +1/+1 counters decks, but outside of that I don't see why you'd play it over other copy effects. You also don't get any enter-the-battlefield abilities of the creature you copied, which could be a downside depending on your deck. I guess we have so many now that if you want the effect, you can choose which version fits best. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I don't think this stands out as something memorable from the set.

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Singer of Swift Rivers

While maybe not the most exciting card from the Explorers of the Deep precon, there is a lot of utility here. I view it as a protection spell, like Tamiyo's Safekeeping, but on a body with a relevant creature type. Once it resolves, you can then play Merfolk at instant speed. Flashing in one of the many Merfolk lords mid-combat could win you the game, and since they're generally low mana value, you can even flash this in followed by the lord for maximum surprise value. That makes Singer of Swift Rivers pretty exciting after all!

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Tetzin, Gnome Champion

There's a lot to unpack here, so bear with me. First of all, caring about double-faced artifacts is so wildly specific, I thought I'd include a list for you here. Spoiler alert: there are 46 total, most of them are from this set, or are the Transformers. As such, I think that makes Tetzin more of a meme than a dream for now. I say for now, because it's clear Wizards has fully embraced the love for double-faced cards (DFCs), so we'll only get more in the future. Moving on, we need to craft (how was that not a mechanic before?) with six other artifacts, and they probably shouldn't be the double-faced ones or we'll miss the payoff at the end. So mana rocks, tokens, etc. can all contribute, plus we get help finding them with the milling ability. Once we do all that, our newly assembled Colossus does a bad Grave Titan impression and transforms the rest our DFCs for free. That seems great with Azor's Gateway or The Enigma Jewel, but less exciting with Soulcipher Board or Thraben Gargoyle. Given all this, I think the juice isn't worth the squeeze yet, but don't let me rain on your parade.

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Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

Part of the ship, part of the crew. This art screams Pirates of the Caribbean so hard, and I am HERE for it. There are many deckbuilding waters to navigate with Xavier. So many that he reminds me a bit of Atraxa. All of the synergy with proliferate applies: counters, infect, planeswalkers, and so forth. Plus there's plenty to do with the token angle, too. I'm sure there's some really cool cards that exploit both. My two initial builds involve either all of the spore counter Fungi plus Paradox Haze, or using things like Bramble Sovereign and The Scarab God to make tokens of powerful creatures then continue to populate them. Of course, I could also just recreate the crew of the Flying Dutchman from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies as well. After all, Davy Jones already exists as a Universes Within card! I'd love to hear what you have in mind for Xavier, so let me know in the comments!

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Uncommons

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Bartolomé del Presidio

Bartolomé is actually a pretty powerful card for an uncommon. A free, repeatable sacrifice outlet in the command zone is no joke, as it can be a combo piece that you always have access to. If not leading a deck, good ol' Bart has a place alongside Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder in many Aristocrats decks, like our new Vito from above. I'm especially excited to include him in my casual version of Brew For Your Buck's favorite commander: Ratadrabik of Urborg.

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Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider

This Captain Storm pairs well with her other self, but I don't really view the new one as a powerful option to lead a deck. We have better options for both artifacts matter and Pirates matter in Izzet to take the helm. Even in the 99 of lists that make a lot of artifacts, you also need to have a lot of Pirates to make use of her triggered ability. I think her place is in the 99 of a Pirate deck that makes a lot of Treasures or Maps, which is a very specific niche to fill.

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Akawalli, the Seething Tower

The uncommon legend for Golgari is fairly straightforward. Get things in graveyard, punch face. In my opinion, the most interesting thing you can do here is use your three-mana 7/7 to draw a bunch of cards with Life's Legacy or similar. The evasion you get after meeting the second Descend clause makes this an option for a Voltron commander, too, but after that there's not too much more to say. I do wish that these uncommon signposts weren't always legendary creatures, but it does let them push the power level for Limited, so I guess it makes sense there.

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Caparocti Sunborn

It might sound like a meme, but this is a really interesting option for a Boros Equipment commander. Your equipment don't tap along with Caparocti when he attacks, so you can use them to discover into more Equipment. Now, if only I could think of any iconic Equipment that have a mana value of 3 or less. Otherwise, Caparocti could lead or fit into token decks like Saint Traft and Rem Karolus or Jinnie Fay, where there are tokens abound to help trigger his ability. If the tokens naturally have vigilance or gain it through something like Intangible Virtue, you can even attack with them and then tap them!

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Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Oh, look! Another Simic legend that ramps and adds counters to stuff. I like that this powers up explore, so if you're doing that with your Commander deck (with Hakbal, for example), Nicanzil goes right in. Otherwise his power seems to be limited to, well, Limited.

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Conclusion

That's all we have! Thanks for making it all the way to the end. I'm personally very excited to upgrade my Pirate deck with a bunch of these new cards, and there are a few non-Pirates to think about as well. I'd love to hear what you think. Did I under or oversell anything? How are we brewing Xavier Sal? What do you think about Ixalan as a whole? Let me know in the comments, and check out my regular series here on EDHREC twice a month! See you next time!