April 15, 2020
foretaste – noun : a sample or suggestion of something that lies ahead
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths lands on Arena tomorrow. I’ve banked (read as: hoarded) over 100,000 gold in order to flood my account with packs as soon as the set is available. Though the lack of crinkling foily wrappers is one of Arena’s few absent pleasures, I will still enjoy the frenzy of virtually tearing open dozens of packs. I followed the Ikoria spoilers/previews diligently, so am at least passingly familiar with all but some of the draft chaff commons. I haven’t started wrapping my brain around the set as a whole, but it looks ambitious. I see lots of opportunities for casual exploration.
So what will the King of Bobo Rares open tomorrow? Truth be told, I’ve never previously spent much time considering the quality of my pack pulls on Arena, to see if my bobo rare curse applies there.
First, I get to open so many more Arena packs than paper packs, the volume alone guarantees I see fun stuff. When I only open a handful of paper packs (and now mostly split them with my son) getting bobos is a lot more disappointing. Especially since getting 1 or 2 copies of a build-around bobo is particularly depressing. The sheer volume of packs earned on Arena can ease the sting of sketchy pulls.
Second, the wildcard system in Arena guarantees me access to the stuff I dearly lust for. Like gold, I’ve been hoarding Arena wildcards for awhile, and I used them sparingly when Theros: Beyond Death released in January. I haven’t tried to calculate how many rare and mythic wildcards I’ll have after my IKO pack extravaganza ups those numbers, but I should have plenty enough to spend some with abandon as soon as I see something I want to build.
Nevertheless, I’ve decided to pay more attention to what I open on Arena this time, just for the pure fun (or sadness) of it. Here are the rares and mythics I’m hoping to open, neatly categorized for your reading (dis)pleasure:
Gimme Gimme Gimme
These are cards I’ve got my eye on as new build-arounds or cards I want to slot into existing decks:
- Offspring’s Revenge (not sure this will do something I’ll enjoy, but I will dabble)
- Death’s Oasis
- Mythos of Snapdax (possible removal to add to my Mardoom deck)
- Ruinous Ultimatum (may try a single copy in Mardoom)
- Frondland Felidar (I must find a way to win with this)
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Whirlwind of Thought (for my always-underachieving Kykar brawl deck)
- Mythos of Illuna (that oppressive planeswalker I refuse to play but you just did? Guess I’ll play it after all)
Don’t Make Me Use My Wildcards!
These are cards I don’t plan to specifically try and build with (at least not initially), but that I expect will be solid, fun cards to put in existing decks or things I expect to see in fun decks other people brew that I will try to emulate:
- Luminous Broodmoth (aka Mothra)
- Eerie Ultimatum
- Sea-Dasher Octopus
- Mythos of Nethroi (I suspect I’ll better understand how this card works after I use it)
- All of the triome lands (I’m loathe to spend wildcards on rare lands; please, PLEASE let me open some of these)
Timmy Cards to Show My Son
My son is a sucker for powerful creatures, particularly Gruul-aligned ones. He’s not shown any interest in IKO yet, but maybe these will entice him back onto Arena.
Awww….
I may or may not use these, but they are too adorable not to have the option of playing:
- Colossification (I do plan to brew with this, but want it mostly for giganto-kitty)
- Kaheera, the Orphanguard (I need high quality art of this)
- Keruga, the Macrosage (more adorable than a dinosaur hippo has any business being)
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den (OK, mama’s freaky, but that baby…)
- Lutri, the Spellchaser (yes, I’m one of “those people” that wuvs this widdle guy)
- Skycat Sovereign (W/U flyer decks will be so much more annoying now)
- Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Please, No
These are the cards I expect to be overpowered, obnoxious, and ubiquitous. If I’m not supremely sick of at least half of these within a month, something’s gone terribly wrong. Some of these may have jankier applications, so I expect to use some of these if I get them, but I won’t weep or gnash my teeth if I miss out on opening these:
- Fiend Artisan
- Illuna, Apex of Wishes
- Chevill, Bane of Monsters (his name is too close to Chevelle, the model of the deathtrap of a car I had to drive as a teenager)
- Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
- Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt (I dearly hope he’s not good, so I can play him without guilt)
- Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate (Nissa mk. II – the next time I play against her, which will be the first time, will be one time too many)
- Everquill Phoenix
- Labyrinth Raptor (menace tribal sounds…awful)
- The Ozolith (another possibly fun card that I suspect will be abused to the point of inanity)
- Titans’ Nest
- Unpredictable Cyclone
- Song of Creation
Miscellany
These are uncommons and commons I have (or hope not to have) my eye on:
- Pouncing Shoreshark (dumb name, and the art is so very absurd – and not in a good way. A real low for Magic. Hope I never open any)
- Savai Thundermane (likely nothing more than draft chaff, but so regal!)
- Almighty Brushwagg (sadly not as cute as I’d hoped – it’s those ears that fail him – but I will try to make use of him somewhere)
- Parcelbeast (I genuinely hope he isn’t good enough for Simic anything)
- Keep Safe (I will run this in decks with any overlap between blue cards and cute cats)
Casual Magicking 