Magic: The Gathering Rivals of Ixalan – Our 10-ish Favorite Rare Cards

I’ll just go ahead and drop Kumena in here. He’s not a great as some cards, but even just a 2/4 for three mana is a good deal. The thing about him, and indeed Merfolk in general, is that the tribe is just as focused as ever. Live by Merfolk, die by Merfolk.

Kumena at least provides some much-needed strength at rare for a tribe that mostly got by on uncommons in the last set. Neither Kopala, Warden of Waves nor Tishana, Voice of Thunder provided the raw power to push Merfolk over the top like Kumena does. Tapping one Merfolk to make him unblockable is a solid way to end the game once he’s huge, and tapping five Merfolk to pump the entire team is also a great way to get everyone there.

However, it is in his draw ability that Kumena finds his true potential. Take him early, load up on cheap Merfolk, and hopefully, you’ll have two in play by the time he hits the battlefield. Remember, Kumena can tap himself. Afterwards, Jungle Delver, Kumena’s Speaker, Shaper Apprentice, Deeproot Warrior, River Sneak, Merfolk Branchwalker, Deeproot Elite, Silvergill Adept, Merfolk Mistbinder, Mist-Cloaked Herald, Jade Bearer, and Giltgrove Stalker are all of the effective one-drop or two-drop Merfolk that can give him targets quickly. The usual bigger Merfolk also work later in the game.

Jungleborn Pioneer, Aquatic Incursion, and Deeproot Waters also jump in value with Kumena since they provide Merfolk that will always be there to help him out.

Merfolk was the best draft deck in Ixalan, and when tied with the blazing new uncommons of Rivals of Ixalan, Kumena is destined to become the rare that holds the tribe together.

I like ’em big, dumb, and green. While Blue/Red has taken over as my favorite color combination in Magic, my Green roots still run deep to my soul and burn at the thought of running out a 12/12 in a game of Limited Magic. That casting cost might seem a bit absurd, but it’s not all that high once you realize that a host of common and uncommon cards can help you bring it down by turn-6 or turn-7 with a little luck…maybe even as early as turn-4!

Crested Herdcaller gets you halfway there on turn-5 by itself, and with a sixth land drop on turn-6, Ghalta is all yours. Knight of the Stampede is another best friend to Ghalta, donating not only 2 power to its cause but also the ability to make him cost two less. Ghalta makes a boring, vanilla Dinosaur like Orcaza Frillback something to seek out, and Ixalan also has a host of playable Green Dinosaurs like Ravenous Daggertooth, Grazing Whiptail, Drover of the Mighty, and Snapping Sailback, all of which keep Ghalta well within casting range.

You don’t even need to be playing a Dinosaurs deck to use him! With enough cheap Merfolk and +1/+1 counters, casting him could be a breeze so long as your counters gameplan comes together.

If all else fails, Colossal Dreadmaw turn-6, Ghalta turn-7.

He’s not a total game ender since he can lose to plenty of removal spells, most notably Impale and our friend Ravenous Chupacabra. However, Trample on a 12/12 is definitely something your opponent is going to have to account for if they want to survive. Without an answer, Ghalta will end the game within one or two turns for you.

Another pipe-dream rare I really want to see succeed. I’m all about Blue/Red Pirates in Rivals of Ixalan, and this is the card that keeps it all together. Warkite Maurader checks off all the usual boxes for a nice aggressive Pirate: easy to cast, aggressively paced at 2/1, has an evasive ability in Flying. Kitesail Corsair at common is a very fair comparison.

This also means that Warkite Maurader needs a killer ability to boost her all the way to rare status, and that’s just what she has.  Her ridiculous text box keeps larger creatures in check, shrinking them into wimps that stand no chance at rumbling with her or her fellow charging brigadiers. Can you imagine bringing Ghalta down just to have him turn into an 0/1 on the next turn, unable to chew up a wimpy Pirate? I’d be pretty upset.

The fun doesn’t stop there! Pirates play dirty in Ixalan and there are plenty of ways to outright kill a 0/1 on the spot. Fanatical Firebrand is the most obvious combo you want with Warkite Maurader since both will be staples of an aggro Pirate deck. Killing Ghalta with a 1/1 Haste Goblin is the dirtiest of all moves in Magic, but I suspect it will happen pretty often. Mutiny will also get the job done after combat.

If you’re Blue/Black Pirates, don’t pass up on Moment of Craving. Just because a Vampire is in the art doesn’t mean your scalawags can’t benefit from this card. It easily kills an 0/1 token and gains you two life.

If you have no tricks, you at least removed an opponents largest blocker from the battlefield. Can’t argue with that. All three two-drop rare pirates are slick in Rivals of Ixalan, but Blue’s is the one I want to try the most.

Like I said in the uncommons review, White removal spells bore me. Baffling End and Luminous Bonds are efficient, excellent cards that you would never in your right mind remove from a Limited deck, but man oh man, they are lame to write about.

Bishop of Binding is not. This card is nasty, and I want as many of these as possible. At four mana, the effect of exiling a creature alone is worth the cost. However, when that creature boosts the bishop’s stats, you’re very likely to both have the biggest creature on the battlefield and have effectively two-for-one’d your opponent, removing from their board state and adding something huge to yours.

Most of the time, Bishop of Binding will enter the battlefield as a 3/3 or a 4/4, but with a nice Dinosaur target, I can see him getting up to a 5/5 or a 6/6 on occasion. At that point, killing Bishop of Binding will be tough, but if pulled off, your opponent gets their creature back.

Hence why I’m still leaning towards Ravenous Chupacabra over it. There’s no coming back from that pit.

The only things holding Azor back from being a true Limited bomb is that White/Blue control decks are not a supported archetype in Ixalan. Splashing for him is also difficult in spite of the generous dual mana Rivals of Ixalan brings to the table.

However, if you are somehow able to cast him, it’s essentially “game over.” Nothing noteworthy can effectively attack into him outside of this biggest, rarest Dinosaurs, and opponents won’t be able to rely Impale or Contract Killing on the following turn to get rid of him.

Of course, they certainly can kill him with… you guessed it… Ravenous Chupacabra. Azor doesn’t stop creature spells.

If an opponent relies on White removal like Divine Verdict to kill him while he’s attacking, you can still tap out and draw at least three cards off of him, which should be enough ammunition in your hand to close out the game. The two best colors for containing this guy are his own, White and Blue, mostly thanks to counterspells and enchantment removals. However, since you’re most likely the only White/Blue player at the table, you should have no trouble competing to scoop them all up.

Using Azor is easy, but building around him is the tough part. At common, look for Sailor of Means, Waterknot, Crashing Tide, Sea Legs, Luminous Bonds, Divine Verdict, Exultant Skymarcher, and Martyr of Dusk to keep your opponent at bay long enough to cast him.

 

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2018/01/20/magic-the-gathering-rivals-of-ixalan-our-10-ish-favorite-rare-cards/