Spoiler Alert: Magic 2012 Part 1

Last spoiler season, New Phyrexia came a bit too early, rather a large disappointment, but hopefully with M12 we'll be back on track, and like usual, I'll be periodically posting articles going over the cards that have been spoiled so far and giving my opinions.  Trust me, I have a lot of opinions.

Magic 2012 Planeswalkers

Folks, this most recent promotional video reveals something that's been a huge point of debate for a while now, and I'm glad to see that it's officially over.  The Gideon Jura shown at the end of that Duels of the Planeswalkers ad is the very same Gideon Jura from Rise of the Eldrazi, only with the M12 set symbol.  In other words, Gideon Jura is going to be reprinted, in all of his turns-into-a-creature glory.  While the cards themselves behind Gideon were covered, their artwork was displayed at the end of the ad, leading most all to believe that all of the other walkers will be repeats of their 1.0 versions, and I personally think that's safe to assume.  I've felt ever since the fab five were first announced that this would be the case, and I'm glad to see that I should be right.

Giant Gap

Recently, WotC released this article, explaining how over time, cards had been whittled away from Magic's core sets, until M11 rolled around and only two remained in every core set since Alpha: Giant Growth and Giant Spider.  The pair have been in every standard format since before there even WAS a standard format, and now, there can be only one.  Read more to find out which of the pair won't be hitting the tables with Innustrad.

Deck Tech - Splinter Twin

Nothing says Lorwyn block quite like a
creature combo that wins as early as T3.
Quillspike, anyone?

For those of you who don't know, this has been a combo in Extended for a long time now between Pestermite and Splinter Twin, a combo that also works with Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.  Basically, a Pestermite enchanted with Splinter Twin taps to create a 2/1 with flying and haste.  When the token enters the battlefield, his trigger untapsthe enchanted Pestermite (or Kiki-Jiki).  In this way, you can create an infinite number of creatures and swing for lethal damage on T4, T3 with acceleration.

In standard, another Pensermite is about to be printed and the combo shall live again.  There's been a lot of talk of just what shell the deck will fit into, so I'm here today to share my views on how to get to that magical Christmas land.  And boy, is my sack full of presents for you!

What'll you play post New Phyrexia?

NPH has garnered a lot of attention, being spoiled far in advance of the normal season and with a lot of future staples.  Cards like Mental Misstep or Surgical Extraction that will see play in legacy for ages to come.  But with the set spoiled in advance, the community is already focusing on what the best decks for standard will be without even getting hold of the cards themselves.  Never shying away from a bandwagon, I'm here to take a look at what you may be seeing in standard after the release of New Phyrexia.

Spoiler Alert: New Phyrexia Part 1

Well folks, it's that time of the season yet again.  I know I skipped the first wave of spoilers this time, so I'm going to tackle the first set along with the most recent announcements for a total of 44 cards from the up-and coming set.  Let's get things started, shall we?

Announcement- Clash of the Titans

WotC is giving out a new set of promos for Duels 2012, as announced here.  There's three different cards available, one for each platform the game is made for, and each one is a titan.  Which means that the titan cycle is without a doubt returning to M12.

Announcement- Action

Today, Wizards of the Coast announced that the wait is over, and 'Action''s identity has been decided.  The plane of Mirrodin has been compleated, and New Phyrexia is born.

It's time for a little Karn action!

Today, WotC announced the two potential sets of packaging for 'Action', the third set in the Scars block.  A quick look at the art raises a few questions.

Announcing Innistrad

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/666

The next large set has been announced by Wizards of the Coast, and it goes by Innistrad.  The set appears to have a bit of a continuation of the horror theme that we've been seeing as of late with Vampires, giant monsters in the Eldrazi and then the return of Phyrexia.

Right on the front is new art for Liliana, meaning it's quite likely that after the most recent mirrodin block is done we're going to get Liliana 2.0, and possibly the corrupted Garruk that was hinted at in the official webcomic a while back.  If the cards are good enough, it looks like black may be the dominating control color in standard after the next rotation.  Keep that in mind when making your trades if you already have whatever you need for what you're playing at the moment.  It's still half a year away, but there's nothing wrong with being prepared even before the spoilers hit.  In short, keep those Swords of Feast and Famine at the ready!

Spoiler Alert: Mirrodin Besieged Final

Alright, I've been a little 'lax on checking the spoiler in the last few days and now it's officially gone up to the full 155.  So instead of figuring out what I have and haven't covered and go through all the changelogs, I'm just going to go back through the entire set at once, recapping what I've already seen and adding in the new stuff.  Due to the nature of this style, I won't be talking about pretty much every card like I had in the past.  this time, I'll have to be much more focused in on what's to come.  Those of you interested in my Maro-rage antics should check out the spoiler articles for Besieged from the beginning, and for the most part pay attention to the blue spells.

Spoiler Alert: Mirrodin Besieged Part 3

Another 21 cards, another article.  Let's see how many more draw engines there are today.

Spoiler Alert: Mirrodin Besieged Part 2

Looks like it's that time again, a whopping 29 new cards since my last spoiler alert.  So I'm gonna go ahead and do a quick rundown of what to look for in the new set.

Spoiler Alert: Mirrodin Besieged Part 1

That's right, it's that time of the season again.  As of so far, there are nineteen cards that have been officially spoiled, and as I have yet to mention any of them on the site, I figure it's about time.  So I'm gonna pick out a few of them that have piqued my interest.