Exclusive Zendikar Preview – Kazandu Blademaster
I'll probably hire four of you, actually.
I was operating under the assumption that the loss of Kithkin would hamper white weenie decks, but I was wrong. The number of powerful white cards in Zendikar is quite mind-blowing.
Kazandu Blademaster has a couple of things going for it besides the fantastic art. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a white weenie deck, it’s an archetype that’s been around since Magic’s earliest days. Basically, you bring out a ton of cheap casting cost creatures, then boost all of them with something like Honor of the Pure. Throw in a bunch of creature removal, a la Path to Exile, maybe a big angel or two for backup and you’re all set.
Which brings us to our friend the Blademaster. Two white mana (and white weenie decks are almost universally mono-white, so this isn’t a problem) for something that comes out as a 2/2 and will get bigger as you cast other creatures like him. And he has first strike and vigilance? That’s amazing. It’s also frustrating — these things are going to be killing me left and right at Friday Night Magic for the next year.
The Zendikar Orb of Insight tells us that there will be about 20 Ally cards in the set, so even if you’re playing an all-white deck, it shouldn’t be difficult to find some quality allies to boost the Blademaster. Throw in some of the other high-powered white cards that have been spoiled already (like the walking Ernham-Geddon that is the Word Queller) and you’ve got one powerful deck.
The really interesting thing I’m noticing about Zendikar is that a lot of people are referring to it as a set focused on mono-color decks, an attempt to get away from the intense color mixing of Alara. I think that’s incorrect. There are a lot of cards in this set that would lead you to think that mono-color is the way to go (cards with lots of colored mana of one color in the casting cost, for example). But there are also a lot of color hosers, cards that target a certain color or, like Iona, Shield of Emeria, completely shut down one color. It seems to me that the design intent of Zendikar is this: “You will be less successful playing only one color, but it will be rather difficult to successfully play multiple colors.” This should spur some creative deck-building in the Standard format, and might even slow the game down a bit from the blazing pace it’s had recently.
Well, even if I’m wrong, Zendikar is looking pretty awesome.
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September 11th, 2009 11:30 AM
Less than 41 , If I understand the Orb, it’ll be about half that because it’s every mention of the word and each ally has the word on them twice, the type and the ability.
September 11th, 2009 11:32 AM
I still want ten of these, it’s like a super sinew sliver for white weeny.
September 11th, 2009 11:41 AM
Ah yes, you are wiser in the ways of the orb than I.
September 12th, 2009 4:34 AM
Of course, the odd number means that there will be some spells that call out allies specifically. Boosting them I suspect, or maybe a trap? I dunno, but there’s at least one who either lacks the ability or affects allies without being one.