Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

ELDRAINE

Throne of Eldraine is officially set to be released on October 4th, less than a month away and that can mean only one thing… spoiler season is upon us!

Within the last couple of days, Wizards of the Coast has begun slowly releasing images of some of the cards to be included in their next set and fortunately for fans of the game, they have been amazing.

This set is being heralded as a hit already, simply due to its “Camelot meets Grimm’s fairy tales” theme and its stellar artwork.

Additionally, a great new trailer for the set has been released on the official Magic: The Gathering YouTube page.

Throughout the course of this article, we are going to showcase some of these cards, breaking down the new mechanics that can be found within the Throne of Elraine set, as well as highlighting some key cards that are sure to shake up the standard format.

The Planeswalkers, Garruk Returns

One of the most exciting cards in each and every new set are the Planeswalkers and for good reason, they are powerful, they are impactful and people love to collect them.

So far, Wizards of the Coast has already leaked out two new Planeswalker cards that are going to be included in the Throne of Eldraine set, these are;

Garruk, Cursed Huntsman

Oko, Thief of Crowns

Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

 

First up to bat is Oko, Thief of Crowns, a brand new Planeswalker that we have never before seen.

He is a “fairy” Planeswalker that cost three mana, which means that he is going to see some kind of play, simply due to his low mana cost.

His +2 ability will be unfamiliar to players, as it creates a “Food token”, which is a brand new gameplay mechanic being released in the Throne of Eldraine set, of which we will talk about more shortly.

Next is his +1 ability, which allows you to convert an artifact or creature into a 3/3 green Elk creature, that has no abilities.

This ability allows Oko, Thief of Crowns to either get rid of your opponents biggest threat on the board, buff your small creatures, or as is likely intended, convert your artifact “Food tokens” into a 3/3 elk.

Finally Oko’s “Ultimate ability”, which is a -5, allows you to swap either a creature or artifact that you control, with one of your opponents creatures that has power 3 or less.

Oko, Thief of Crowns looks amazing to play and we can’t wait to test him out.

Next up is the Planeswalker so many have been waiting years to see resurface in the Standard format, the big baddy himself, Garruk.

Garruk has driven the hype for this set to new levels and fortunately, he looks to be an incredibly powerful Planeswalker that is likely going to be one of the most sought after cards in the Throne of Eldraine set.

Garruk cost one black mana, one green mana and four colorless mana, for a total of six mana. 

He may be expensive, but he makes up for this cost easily through his abilities.

Garruk, Cursed Huntsman has no plus ability, however he does have a +0 ability that creates two 2/2 Wolf creature tokens, that when killed, grant a loyalty counter to Garruk.

Garruk also comes with a built in supercharged “Murder”, in the form of his -3 ability that allows you to not only kill a creature of your choice, but also draws you a card in addition to it.

Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

Garruk’s final ability, of which is a -6, gives you an emblem that grants all your creatures +3/+3 and gives them trample.

Garruk has returned in style to say the least and is sure to be included in many Golgari decklists as a great finisher.

New Mechanics: Food and Adventures

With the release of Throne of Eldraine, we are going to be getting a number of brand new card mechanics that we have never before seen in Magic: The Gatherings history, Food and Adventures.

Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

The Food token mechanic is littered throughout the set and appears on a large number of the cards that we know of so far.

At its base level it is an artifact token that you can pay two mana, sacrifice and gain 3 life, however, there are a number of other cards that can utilize food tokens in other ways, such as the Gilded Goose, who can sacrifice a food token and gain one mana.

Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

We are sure there are going to be many more cards that can use food tokens in unique and exciting ways, depending on their mana color and card type.

Next, we have the “Adventure” mechanic, which is another brand new mechanic that looks insanely fun to bring onto the battlefield.

Throne of Eldraine, New Mechanics and the Return of Garruk!

Adventure cards are going to see play and they are going to have an impact on the Standard meta, of that we have no doubt.

On the right of each card, you have the standard mana cost of the card, of which can be played at anytime.

For example, Foulmire Knight can be cast for one black mana, and enters the battlefield as a 1/1 Zombie Knight with deathtouch.

Additionally, this card can be cast for its Adventure cost first, which is three mana and is called Profane Insight, enabling you to draw a card and lose one life.

If an Adventure card is first cast for its Adventure cost, it then goes into exile, after which you can still cast the card for its normal mana cost at a later date.

These cards are great, as they are built in card advantage, giving you two cards for the price of one, which is never a bad thing!

In Conclusion

Throne of Eldraine prerelease events will soon be upon us and then shortly after, on October 4th, the set will official hit the shelves.

We are incredibly excited to bring you these latest spoilers and break down the sets new mechanics, of which look both interesting and exciting to play.

New spoilers will be releasing for Throne of Eldraine as the month progresses, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the new cards that excite you most and be sure to get your pre-orders in at Zephyr Epic as soon as they are made available!

Please let us know which cards excite your most in the upcoming Throne of Eldraine set and as always, thanks for reading.