Core 2020 spoiler thread
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on June 17, 2019, 6:43 a.m. by AgentGreen
Today is the first day of Core 2020 spoilers.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #3
Dread Presence seems sweet.
for a 3/3 Nightmare with:
"Whenever a swamp enters the battlefield under your control, choose one:
You draw a card and you lose 1 life.
Dread Presence deals 2 damage to any target and you gain 2 life."
June 17, 2019 11:04 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #4
Rienne, Angel of Rebirth makes my Niv-Mizzet Reborn muscles twitch. But it also looks like it’s gonna be super fun in commander.
June 17, 2019 11:45 a.m.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #5
MTG Arena Exclusive Preview Card
Ajani, Strength of the Pride
Legendary Planeswalker - Ajani
+1: You gain life equal to the number if creatures you control plus the amount of planeswalkers you control.
-2: Create a 2/2 white Cat Soldier creature token named Ajani's Pridemate with "whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's Pridemate
0: If you have at least 15 life more that your starting life total, exile Ajani, Strength of the Pride and each artifact and creature your opponents control.
5
June 17, 2019 12:02 p.m.
So far I have been underwhelmed by the new cards except for 2 of the Planeswalkers. That new Ajani has a ultimate that can be accessed instantly with lots of extra life which is pretty spicy and Big Mama Chandra that has a emblem for a plus seems like a great Commander card also. So far I'm not sure what the set will do to this super-powered standard environment of ours... I guess we'll see how the rest of the set goes.
I have a suspicion that there was a specific intention to lower the overall power level in standard a smidgen right before the coming rotation, that way when the next fall set comes in it has a larger impact on standard. The current standard is one of the most powerful we've seen in a long time and the only way to dig themselves out of that situation is to keep upping the power level or to push it back a little bit. That and also it is widely known that core sets are generally made to be more simple and less powerful historically.
June 17, 2019 12:12 p.m. Edited.
so is spoiler season officially here, or is this early spoilers?
June 17, 2019 1:10 p.m.
And apparently Leyline of Sanctity is soon coming to a standard near you
June 17, 2019 7:27 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
The first day of previews for Core Set 2020 are not too bad, but, after the double whammy of War of the Spark and Modern Horizons, this set will almost certainly be underwhelming, at least to enfranchised players, such as myself.
I shall immediately state that I dislike how angel of vitality says “25 or more life;” did WotC not learn anything from Serra Ascendant ? Would it really have been that difficult for the cad to say “5 or more life greater than your starting life total?”
On a more positive note, Seb McKinnon’s artwork on scheming symmetry is again amazing, and I especially appreciate the resemblance to the artwork of a traditional playing card. Whoever Kethis is, I do hope that they (although the name sounds masculine) eventually have a card. As for the card itself, a Vampiric Tutor that costs no life is quite awesome; it does assist an opponent, and is only a sorcery, but those are small prices to pay for such amazing card advantage. I also am very pleased to see that WotC has not completely phased out "tutors," as those have been an essential aspect of the game since its very beginning.
It is nice to finally see a red/white/green angel, but I am not certain that I can make room in my EDH deck of those colors for her, unfortunately.
I very much like cavalier of flame for its first ability, which is slightly more expensive than that of Moonveil Dragon , but also grants haste and is on a creature that is not specific to any plane, increasing its options for reprints in the future.
Dread presence is very nice, a perfect embodiment of black’s philosophy; I wish that it had higher toughness, to survive a Lightning Bolt , but it likely would have needed to have had a higher mana cost, in that case.
Why did WotC choose Chandra as the face card of this set? Is there something special about her?
Corpse knight should gain its controller life equal to the life lost when its ability triggers, because there is nothing white about it otherwise.
I fail to see any reason for which ironroot warlord’s toughness should not be variable, as is its power.
Wow, that new Ajani is awesome, but I thought that his color identity was settled on green/white by this time.
Atemsis is nice, but her (the name sounds feminine) ability definitely feels more black then blue, in my mind.
Cryptic caves is also very nice, essentially a colorless version of Horizon Canopy , albeit with a stricter requirement for activating its ability.
I see that Yanling shall be in this set, so I am pleased to see a planeswalker who has not been in a core set, before. I really hope that Sorin is both black and white, but that is not likely, since core sets usually have one planeswalker of each color (with an exception being made for Chandra, in this case).
I dislike the fact that Negate is being reprinted, again; why must WotC continually reprint such a mediocre card? I would much have preferred Countersquall , Condescend , or Mana Leak .
June 17, 2019 9:35 p.m.
DemonDragonJ, protection is back! (I feel like I remember seeing you worried about its disappearance at some point on here...)
June 18, 2019 9:05 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #14
Yeah, not as broken as the original by any means but I think she could prove a fun build around in commander.
not to mention angels are kind of a thing in standard right now, Run her with lyra, aurelia and the new Angel of Vitality (maybe feather?) you could end up seeing a lot of value with her ETB.
June 18, 2019 11:47 a.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #15
We've been waiting.
It's been a long time coming.
But finally.
The time is here.
For EDH Scout Tribal.
June 18, 2019 12:16 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #16
Me: Scout tribal, that’s cute, that’s funny.
Me: scryfall searches for scouts
THERE ARE 140 SCOUTS!?
June 18, 2019 12:41 p.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #17
ZendikariWol: Yuuuuuup. I told my playgroup chat that I was gonna put in Forerunner of the Heralds just to tilt people when they realized there weren't any merfolk in the deck, before I realized that Jadelight Ranger and Merfolk Branchwalker are both scouts, and looking it up, there's like 5-6 more too.
This deck is gonna be awful, but hilarious. I've got Saffi Eriksdotter and Melira, Sylvok Outcast , but not the rest of their combos.
June 18, 2019 12:55 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #18
Rzepkanut: I don't intend to be picky, but it feels weird to say such thing about a Core Set. It's intended for new players to find their way into the game, so there'll be less complex and powerful cards at each rarity. Still, from what we've seen in the first two days of spoilers, I'm actually overwhelmed. I remember seeing the spoilers for M15 coming out with not that many exciting cards. In retrospective, the set had a legendary sliver whose name I don't remember and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard . The cards from this set seem fine, and the higher rarities seem to do a good job in having interesting, though definitely not overpowered cards.
I'll wait for more spoilers. This far, Kykar, Wind's Fury seems the most fun.
June 18, 2019 3:22 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #19
The new Kaalia is very nice; she costs 1 less mana, has vigilance, and has higher power and toughness over her previous incarnation, but, in exchange, her ability is not quite as powerful, but it still shall be very nice in EDH decks with her previous incarnation as the general.
Golos is also very nice, and I do appreciate seeing a creature that allows for five-colored decks in EDH that are not tribal, but I hope that WotC does not overdo those creatures, so that they shall still feel special and unique.
I usually do not play standard, but I am very happy to see protection back in that format; clearly, WotC has realized that that mechanic is not too powerful if used sparingly. Also, it is nice that Disenchant is now finally legal in modern; considering that WotC has not reprinted Holy Day in many sets, instead favoring Fog , it is only fair that white receive something in return.
Field of the dead is too strict to be very powerful; perhaps, if it required only five or six lands with different names, then it would be better.
Leyline of combustion is very nice, but the fact that its ability triggers only once per source of damage, rather than for each permanent that is targeted, severely limits its usefulness (compared to Flameblade Angel , whose ability triggers for each permanent that is targeted). Also, the reprint of Leyline of Anticipation is nice, but it does have me hoping that WotC shall reprint Vedalken Orrery , again, since that card is too expensive at this moment.
June 18, 2019 9:20 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #20
I don’t know how to feel about Golos. The card is super sweet but I’m just not sure what to do with it.
June 18, 2019 10:55 p.m.
Young Pyromancer interacts well with Risen Reef as a draw engine, and probably other cards coming up. Not sure if it would be competitive, unless the Pyromancer shows up here and a Standard deck could be put together.
June 18, 2019 11:34 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #23
So does Yarok immediately become the most played sultai commander?
Maybe, maybe not. Has a lot of awesome interactions and even doubles landfall. However it doesn't interact with the graveyard which is still a very popular strategy in those colors.
But who am I kidding you can still abuse the graveyard with double ETB effects right?
June 19, 2019 11:02 a.m.
This feels like a Show and Tell for Vampires. Just think of any of the following being dropped on turn 3 (or even turn 1 off Dark Ritual !):
- Vona, Butcher of Magan
- Szadek, Lord of Secrets
- Voldaren Pariah Flip
- Blood Baron of Vizkopa
- Champion of Dusk
- Garza Zol, Plague Queen
- Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood
- Mephidross Vampire
- Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
- Nirkana Revenant
- Necropolis Regent
Like...what the fuck do you even do against a turn 3 (turn 2 off a mana dork) Blood Baron of Vizkopa in Modern?
June 19, 2019 4:50 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #25
In Magic Christmas standard you can turn 3 Sorin into The Haunt of Hightower and follow it up next turn with Arterial Flow and +1 Sorin if everything survives the turn then swing for 7/7 Lifelink Deathtouch in the air... with your opponent down 3 cards on turn 4...
I may go buy some Haunts lol.
June 19, 2019 5:15 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #26
Probably Terminate , Dismember , Galvanic Blast , Path to Exile , Assassin's Trophy the Sorin or the Baron into oblivion, Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek the Sorin out of the opponent’s hand, have any sort of graveyard hate whatsoever, Surgical Extraction away the Baron- or, better yet, the Sorin.
June 19, 2019 5:18 p.m.
ZendikariWol Blood Baron of Vizkopa has protection from black and white--no straightforward destroy or exile. It's not quite that easy anymore. A couple of burn spells should do it, though.
My first thought was turn 2 Ascendant Evincar .
June 19, 2019 5:23 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #28
Oathbreaker
Turn 1 Dark Ritual into Sorin drop a bomb...
sure you are now the archenemy at the table but how fun would it be!?
June 19, 2019 5:34 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #29
Today’s previews had some exciting cards, but not as many as the previous two days.
How can a 7/6 for 3 mana be justified? I know that rotting regisaur has a drawback, but that drawback is not sufficient to balance it, in my mind.
With repeated reverberation, has WotC decided that copying spells and abilities is now more of a red ability than a blue one?
The flavor text on Yarok indicates that it is from Zendikar, so I shall be certain to indicate that in my list.
It seems that there may be a cycle, or at least a mirrored pair, of cavaliers in this set, so I shall be looking forward to that.
I have no problem with there being colored artifacts in this set, as long as they do not displace colorless artifacts.
Sun herald would have been great if her ability was not limited to creatures with flying or could target herself, but, as she is, she is useful only in certain decks.
Scholar of the ages is simply too expensive for its effect, so I doubt that it shall be used very often (at least in any format other than EDH).
Season of growth is very nice, but I feel that it should have cost 1 mana more, because it is too powerful as it currently is.
The new Sorin is nice, but all of his abilities are vampire-centirc, which is not consistent with previous portrayals of him (he has no particular fondness for other vampires, so that is a flavor fail, in my mind).
I have mixed feelings about the new Yanling; her second and third abilities are both nice, but her first ability is nothing spectacular, and she is one of the few planeswalkers who cannot use their second ability immediately after entering the battlefield; she may use only her first ability, which shall certainly limit her versatility.
I personally believe that dragon mage should have remained a rare, since I feel that its ability is too powerful for an uncommon.
Are all ten scrylands being reprinted, or only the enemy-colored ones? I really hope that all ten are reprinted, but at least their new artwork is very nice.
Leyline of abundance is nice, but its ability is too expensive to make is practical in any format outside of EDH, so I shall use Shalai, Voice of Plenty over it.
Retributive wand is better than Rod of Ruin , but not by much; why can WotC not simply reprint Staff of Nin ?
June 19, 2019 6:20 p.m.
This lil guy might inspire me to break apart my Omnath, Locus of Rage deck and build elemental tribal
June 20, 2019 6:20 p.m.
Turn 0: Leyline of Abundance
Turn 1: land, Llanowar Elves
Turn 2: land, I don't know, Beast Whisperer or Sunder Shaman or something. What's good in Standard right now that costs or so?
June 20, 2019 6:21 p.m.
FYI for interested parties: Blood Sun means Lotus Field enters untapped, sacs no lands, and can tap for three...
June 20, 2019 6:59 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #34
In today’s previews, the only card that really captured my attention as the new Omnath, and I see that Omnath has acquired an additional color with each new incarnation (exactly the opposite of Narset, who has lost a color with each new incarnation).
Bloodthirsty aerialist is very nice, and I am very glad that there is now a black equivalent of Ajani's Pridemate , and especially one that has great synergy with vampire decks.
Diamond knight is a severe disappointment; it could have been awesome, if its ability triggered when opponents cast spells of the chosen color, as well; why has WotC severely depowered “lucky charms” in recent sets?
Agent of treachery is very powerful, and I personally feel that it is too powerful without a way to return the permanents that it steals.
Lotus field is also another nice homage to the greatest card in the history of this game, so I wonder how expensive it shall be?
June 20, 2019 7:35 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #35
I am very pleased to see that all ten “life lands” are being reprinted in this set; if only all ten “scry lands” had been reprinted, as well.
This is now the second time that Kethis has been quoted on a card, so I definitely expect him (again, the name sounds masculine) to have his own card sooner rather than later.
The green cavalier is nice, but it now seems that WotC is using the template of “look at/reveal the top X cards of your library” instead of “search your library,” which I dislike, because it forces a player to have more cards in their deck that meet certain criteria and has the risk of failing to find a card that meets said criteria. However, I am very pleased that shared summons allows a player to search their library.
Squad captain is great, but 5 mana is simply too high of a cost for a 2/2, even with that excellent ability; perhaps if she cost 1 mana less or had first strike, she would be perfect.
Vilis is very nice, and I am very surprised that it took this long for there to be a card that allows players to draw cards when they lose life.
Again, Seb McKinnon did an amazing job with the artwork on blood for bones, and I wonder if he shall ever release an artbook of his work?
I really wanted to like Sephara, because of her awesome artwork and abilities, but the fact that she has a strong emphasis on flying creatures severely limits her usefulness. Why is there a focus on flying creatures in this set? On a more positive (hopefully) note, that emphasis may cause Elspeth, Sun's Champion to be given more attention, due to her emblem.
June 22, 2019 1:11 a.m.
DemonDragonJ There's a focus on flying creatures because they put one in. Each wedge set has a theme, and the theme is "flying matters."
I'm kind of curious about the flavor text theme of Dragon Mage , Flame Sweep , and Rapacious Dragon. I don't think it's anything more than a flavor gag, but it's still interesting.
June 22, 2019 1:48 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #37
So Kethis, the Hidden Hand is pretty powerful. Awesome card for my Sisay Commander. I hope he won't get too expensive moneywise. The last three-colour wedge elf advisor was kinda skyrocketing ;)
June 22, 2019 3:11 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #38
seshiro_of_the_orochi, I see that we did not need to wait for very long for Kethis to make his appearance, and I see that my guess about him being male was correct.
Once every legendary creature from this set has been revealed, I shall add them to my list of core set legendary creatures.
June 22, 2019 9:46 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #39
Bloodsoaked altar is another card that I shall put in the list of cards that could have been good, if only they had a minor change. In the case of the altar, its ability is too expensive to activate and is usable only at sorcery speed. If it either had a less expensive ability or (ideally) was usable at instant speed, I would have been very fond of it, but, as it currently is, I cannot imagine it being used except when a player desperately needs a creature with which to block. At least its ability is repeatable and the demon token that it generates looks very awesome.
June 22, 2019 6:57 p.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #40
Bloodsoaked Altar is pretty garbage. I'm not going down two cards and two life, once per turn cycle at sorcery speed, for a 5/5 flyer. For six mana.
June 22, 2019 10:05 p.m.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... #41
Y'all ain't playing Black right if you don't want to pay 2 life, sac a creature, and discard a card. Sorc speed hurts it for sure, but I'll be running this in a handful of black EDH decks.
June 22, 2019 11:44 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #42
How likely is it that WotC shall reprint the allied-colored scrylands in the near future? I myself am still hoping for reprints of the allied-colored filter lands, since the enemy-colored cards in that cycle were reprinted in Masters 25.
Is anyone here disappointed that the "lifelands" do not have new artwork?
June 23, 2019 12:07 a.m.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... #43
DemonDragonJ, knowing them, probably a good 4 years before we get the allied scrylands. At the very least not until after Core 2020 has rotated out of Standard.
My single greatest complaint about this game is how they handle the printing of lands.
June 23, 2019 12:55 a.m.
multimedia says... #44
M20 is looking great, could be one the best Core Sets since Origins with the DFC Walkers and M11 with the Titans. Everything was going so well until the land cycles of the set were revealed :(
There's many rare land cycles that need to be finished or reprinted that it's a big slap in the face from Wizards that they print the shitty Scry lands at rare... Why are Scry lands rare? Nothing about them makes them rare. They aren't even played in any formats except maybe a two color Commander deck. Wizards needed to move Scry lands to uncommon or even common where they belong. Have them replace the even worse Life lands, and finish an actual playable rare cycle of lands to help to sell the set which Scry lands won't do.
Wizards realizes that the land cycles of sets are the most important part about sets for many players; Modern Horizons is an example. They hit it out of the park, with the Horizon lands, but then in the next set strike out? Doesn't make sense and is frustrating.
June 23, 2019 1:40 a.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #45
Tyrant-Thanatos: I love me some good black decks, but that card's just way too expensive for a mediocre effect. I don't mind discarding, and I don't mind sacrificing, but typically cards that make you do both at the same time are just... bad.
Like, let's say you're behind, but you've got this card in play. Maybe you've got an expendable creature, but you've got to draw an expendable card to get a use out of the altar, or perhaps you've got a card to discard but no cretaure to sacrifice. This depends on you being ahead, on life to pay, on cards to discard, on creatures to sacrifice, AND on mana to afford six for the artifact, and its payoff is... a 5/5.
Ignore the restrictions; six mana for a 5/5 flyer is a bad rate. Six mana for a 5/5 flyer that also costs two life, a card, and another creature, is worse. There are plenty of cards to discard to or to sacrifice that don't have such steep costs or requirements, and this one's just not worth the investment.
June 23, 2019 2:28 a.m.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... #46
PhotogenicParasympathetic: I'm aware that the card isn't great, but I don't think it's as bad as people are making it out to be. Sure it has to be in the right deck, but I don't expect to get one 5/5 flying demon out of it tbh. I mean we're getting strictly-better-than-Voltaic-Key in this same set, which alone is a series of words I never expected to string together. All I know is that my Ghoulcaller Gisa deck is going to be saccing zombie tokens to this, only to turn it into yet more zombie tokens probably, while discarding big stuff to reanimate. On a non-cEDH level, there's not much I'm aware of that can sit here and pump out tokens that big for as cheap as a zombie token and a discard.
Also, I intended my original comment to carry a tone with it that I don't think translated well into text.
June 23, 2019 3:40 a.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #47
Kethis, the Hidden Hand is already pre-ordering at 30 lol.
I don't see him being a standard staple though so hopefully that will come down a bit.
This guy reminds me a little too much of a certain goyf though and I can promise he will be attempted in standard and modern.
Also love the new Hydra Lord... Just built bear tribal Commander, whats wrong with running another mono green tribal deck right?
June 24, 2019 10:01 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #48
Can we all just take a moment and marvel on just how fucking big Colossal Hammer is? Card wise it's a trap in limited, but the art....man
June 24, 2019 11:55 a.m.
To people discussing land cycles - you do understand that land cycles are the top starting point to determine which decks are viable? Literally, there are no better indicators to what is viable. The current standard has checklands and shocklands - it already has two of the best land cycles and 3 color decks are no issue. I think that most control/midrange decks in Standard will appreciate this land cycle, plus the cost of those lands will not be astronomical.
Additionally, these may be plants for the next set. It seems like devotion is going to be a mechanic for next next set and temples go well with that.
And for those saying that they only printed half the lands here - well, they did the same in Ixalan and finished the set of 10 in Dominaria. So, I expect the fall set will contain the other 5 lands.
June 24, 2019 12:25 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #50
AgentGreen, is it not weird that colossus hammer does not grant a creature trample?
Boza says... #2
The spoilers are starting spicy:
I really like this one! It is useful in 1on1 - fetching combo pieces for 1 mana is kewl and great for EDH.
June 17, 2019 10:33 a.m.