Edge of Eternities Review

As is tradition at this point, we have a lot of card variants. They are split between Collector Boosters and Play Boosters.

Sothera is a legendary enchantment that can steal your opponent’s creatures. It makes for a fantastic value engine. It is also available in a “singularity foil”. It can be found in collector boosters at a very rare rate.

There are two special land treatments in this set. Stellar Sights are views from space of planets. They are available in all types of boosters.

The Poster Stellar Sights are exclusive to collector boosters. They feature a stylized look at the land rather than the view from space.

You will find these lands in one in eight play boosters and every collector booster. Both come in non-foil and ‘Galaxy Foil’. However, Galaxy Foil is only available in collector boosters.

There is a huge swath of lands up for grabs here. For me, the poster version of Strip Mine is amazing. I cannot wait to pick one up for my Cube.

Of the other variants, I love Celestial Colonnade depicted as a mass of space rocks. But if I open an Ancient Tomb, I certainly won’t be upset.

We aren’t done with lands yet. The Viewport Lands show us what it would be like to touchdown on a planet’s surface and look through the window of a spacecraft. The five planets and five shock lands received this treatment and are found in play and collector boosters.

This series highlights the key players in Edge of Eternities at their peak. Sixteen cards use this art style to highlight a key figure in the story.

Sami, Wildcat Captain, stands out in this frame. The planet frames Sami beautifully. This circle motif is used throughout the Trimphant series.

Haliya, Guided by Light, has its circle off-center. It frames her triumph on the ground. She is in the thick of combat. Her abilities rely on her being on the front lines. Whenever a creature enters, you gain one life. She wants to be in the fight.

The Special Guest series is available in play boosters (non-foil) and collector boosters (foil). The art calls back to classic sci-fi novels. It is dramatic and pulpy. I am fond of Magus of the Moon. The card name feels re-contextualized here. The red laser destroying a planet in the art feels perfect.

There are ten cards in this treatment. Deafening Silence, Burgeoning, Green Sun’s Zenith, and Sliver Overlord are notable highlights.

Spacecraft are a new kind of artifact. They are similar to class enchantments. They are mostly pretty weak, but by paying an additional cost throughout the game, you will get a more powerful permanent if you pay into the effect. For Spacecraft, they gain more abilities based on the number of “charge counters” on them. You can add charge counters with “station”. By tapping a creature, you add charge counters equal to the tapped creature’s power. This can be done over multiple turns.

Most vehicles will become creatures once they have enough charge counter. Unlike a vehicle, a spacecraft will stay as an artifact creature as long as nothing removes the counters.

Exploration Broodship is a great example. For one mana, it does nothing. But once it has three counters, you can play an additional land each turn. When it has 8+ counters, it becomes a 4/4 flyer that lets you cast spells from the graveyard.

The only spacecraft today that doesn’t become a creature is The Eternity Elevator. At five mana, it’s a steep cost, but I have seen big mana decks play Dreamstone Hedron in the past.

Spacecraft wants you to play a longer game. Leverage the battlefield triggers to avoid falling behind. Larval Scourlander does a good Harrow impression. Extinguisher Battleship is a removal spell with a mini board wipe.

Station also shows up on a new land type: Planet.

Being a planet does not grant anything. It is just a classification. In this case, each planet has a station ability. They function the same as spacecraft. You get a bonus with enough charge counters.

Evendo, Walking Haven does a good Gaea’s Cradle impression.

Adagia, Windswept Bastion lets you make copies of artifacts/enchantments.

Legendary spacecraft also make an appearance. This has led to a new Commander rule:

Any legendary permanent with a power and toughness printed on its front side may now be your commander.

As of this article, vehicles and spacecraft are the only new eligible options. But, down the line, if they ever print a Planeswalker with power and toughness, you can expect that to be a commander too.

Pre-Edge of Eternities, we have 21 new commanders thanks to this rule. The biggest winner is colorless decks with eight new commanders! Each mono color has between one and three, and Izzet is the only two-color combo with vehicle commanders (The Belligerent and Jackdaw).

However, my favorite is The Regalia from FINAL FANTASY. Colorless decks play a lot of unique lands. The Regalia will be flipping through cards, hitting Ancient Tomb, and Wastelands!

Golden Argosy is another great commander option.

It gives us a colorless flicker deck! There are plenty of little colorless creatures with minor effects. Solem Simularcrum and Circuit Mender come to mind. Flickering them every turn could give colorless decks new options.

You can even put in some extra legwork and flicker other vehicles. Cast Enchanted Carriage, which creates two mice. Use the mice to crew the Carriage. Then let the carriage crew the Golden Argosy. Attack, flicker the Carriage, you now have two more mice. I respect that this is a lot of steps, but it makes for some unique lines.

Lander joins the ranks of Treasure, Map, and Blood, a new artifact token. Two mana, tap, and sacrifice it, search your deck for a basic land, and put it into play tapped.

I enjoy this style of mechanic. The lander can be sacrificed to Deadly Dispute, help reach high affinity for Thoughtcast, or just spend two mana to sacrifice it for ramp.

The cheap lander effects are green. Bioengineered Future and Biotech Specialist make a lander when they enter. Non-green cards need some work. Sunstar Expansionist makes a lander if you are behind.

Horizon Explorer synergies with ramp spells in general. Lands you control enter untapped, and it makes a Lander token when it enters. This is a great pickup from the Commander decks, especially if you are running lands that enter tapped.

“Warp” is a new alternative casting cost. You may cast a spell from your hand for its warp cost. If you do, the creature is exiled at the next end step. You may then cast it from exile on a later turn. This makes warp similar to adventure or foretell.

Warp reminds me of “evoke”. I don’t mean the Grief-Reanimate style of play. Think of Ingot Chewer, Shriekmaw, and Mulldrifter. Warp cards are often solid on their own. Re-casting them later is icing on the cake.

Starfield Shepherd is a perfect example. Two mana search for a plains or one drop is a solid rate. For five mana, you get the tutor and a flyer. Loading Zone is a fun spin on warp. You get a powerful effect for incredibly cheap. One mana gives you Branchin Evolution for one turn only.

In Commander, you may find some cute interactions with warp. You still cast the spell. Copy effects are potent here. Alternatively, you use Warstorm Surge and a high-power warp creature to deal a lot of damage. Leverage Sundial of the Infinite to end the turn before your creature is exiled.

Void is the other half of warp. Void abilities will only apply if a permanent left the battlefield, or was warped this turn. Hylderblade is a clean option for black Voltron decks. +3/+1 is an aggressive bump. At the end step, Hylderblade attaches to another creature for free.

Elegy Acolyte rewards combat with card draw. If your opponent decides to trade, the void trigger makes a 2/2.

I am excited for Baloth Prime. It is a huge body, but it has six stun counters. Whenever you sacrifice a land, create a tapped 4/4 and untap this creature. Baloth Prime loves fetch lands. Even better, pair this with Crucible of Worlds and Azusa to remove those stun counters as soon as possible.

Whether you play Hearthull, the Worldseed of Szarel, or Genesis Shepherd, this land deck has some amazing new staples!

Scour for Survivors is a great take on white’s mini reanimate effects. Reanimating three small creatures, especially ones with powerful enter the battlefield effects, can keep you ahead. Aristocrat strategies play and sacrifice lots of little creatures. Scour for Survivors is a perfect way to keep the pain coming. It is a great role-player in these decks.

The Inquisitor has a lot of text for one mana. It is a 2/1 with vigilance. Already a solid body. When it enters, each opponent exiles a card from their hand. They may play it from exile, but it costs one mana more. If it’s a land, it enters tapped.

Chancellor of the Annex comes to mind. Granted, the Inquisitor needs to enter the battlefield, while the Chancellor is free if it is in your opening hand. I like the design space. I think this might see some fringe play in CEDH. If resources are low late in the game, Inquisitor might let you squeeze out a win. Unlike Thoughtseize, Inquisitor hits each opponent. At one mana, it is worth exploring further.

I love card selection. It’s even better when it becomes card advantage. Consult the Star Charts does a good impersonation of Deliberate. Look at the top X cards, where X is the number of lands you control. Then put one of them into your hand. Playing it on curve isn’t embarrassing. Playing it any time after turn two, you’re getting an Impulse worth of card selection.

Top decking this in the late game, you could be looking at six or more cards.

Moving into the late game, you can pay the kicker. This lets you put two of those cards in your hand. Consult the Star Charts is starting to resemble Dig Through Time. If Consult the Star Charts has potential in your deck, consider your game plan. Dig Through Time has a higher ceiling. Two mana for two cards is incredibly powerful. However, on turn two, Dig Through Time is a dead card. Raw power versus versatility is key.

I am surprised to see a Sphinx in this set. This one needs some work, but I think it is worth the effort. When it enters, draw a card. As long as you have one or fewer cards, you draw an additional card whenever you draw a card. Finally, it can be warped for two mana.

Riddler is a great use of warp. Worst-case scenario, 2 mana draw a card is fine. You cycle it. Its replacement effect is great in the late game when you are empty-handed. As a top deck, whether you pay two or five mana, you can start netting cards.

If you want to build around Quantum Riddler, consider effects that move cards to other zones. Birgi, God of Storytelling‘s other side can keep your hand empty without sacrificing card advantage. With Riddler in play, your cantrips are now card-advantage!

We have seen reanimate attached to creatures before. Doomed Necromancer and Whisper, Blood Liturgist come to mind. Unlike those, Xu is pure in their intention. They do not want fancy abilities; they want big numbers.

Xu reanimates a creature, but it has no abilities. This is worded deliberately. There is a great video by “This is a Commander Channel” outlining some key interactions and rules.

The obvious inclusions here are Death’s Shadow and Phyrexian Dreadnought. Both are one mana; they will probably die when you cast them. Then, reanimate with Xu for a cheap big threat.

The Zealot is a Viscera Seer variant. It is one mana more expensive. In exchange, you can now sacrifice artifacts or creatures, and you survive instead of scrying. This is key for reanimate plans. This goes well in red-black reanimate decks, especially when they lean into artifact reanimation.

This is a simple, clean role-player that will not disappoint.

This is already in my shopping card. This one is for the Stuffy Doll gamers. Pain for All enchants a creature you control, then deals damage equal to its power to any other target. When the enchanted creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to your opponents, too.

This ties into our previous article, “Keeping the Game Moving in Commander”. Pain for All is going to hurt. Enchant a creature and start swinging. Block, or not, they will take damage. As we mentioned before, this also works well in Stuffy Doll decks. Cast a Blasphemous Act while Pain for All is enchanting something. You will cleave through life totals.

Tannuk is impersonating Sneak Attack. A big monster or artifact is cheated into play using warp. He grants haste. Then replay your threats from exile later on. There are some limitations here. Tannuk only grants warp to your artifacts and red creatures. No cheating Emrakul into play here. I guess you could use Painter’s Servant, but that might be thinning out the soup a bit too much.

A big upside to Tannuk over Purphorose, Bronze Blooded, or Sneak Attack itself is warp casts the card. Aurora Phoenix will get its cascade trigger! Sunbird’s Invocation will trigger based on mana value, not the warp cost of the spell you cast. Tannuk has a lot of room to breathe and sets itself apart from the other big-red decks.

This is a great piece for any green deck. Your creatures enter with an additional +1/+1 counter for each land that entered under your control this turn. You also get a Lander token when this enchantment enters.

This card rewards consistency in your manabase. For context, a 42 land deck gives you the best odds of two to four lands in your opening hand. We want to pair this with Azusa, Lost but Seeking, and similar effects to make this pay off.

Fetchlands are also a great inclusion. Even slower options like Evolving Wilds count as two land drops. Awaken the Woods is also potent here. Go wide and tall!