I won't talk about every single card spoiled so far, rather, I'll just stick to the ones I feel will have some relevance in the various formats to keep it short and sweet. Here are some of the cards I feel could have an impact on standard or even other formats:
1. Extinguish All Hope
Ever since last rotation, Black has been missing it's wrath effect and suffers against decks that can swarm quickly with more creatures than they can cast spot removal at. While at a steep cost of 6, Extinguish All Hope allows black the chance to come back from an early game rush. Decks like G/R/x monsters normally have a strong match-up against Mono-Black right now and this card could help our Pack Rat-loving spell-slingers hang in there. Because it is at 6 mana instead of a usual 4 for wrath effects(Supreme Verdict, Mutilate, Damnation, Day of Judgment), it'll most likely be ran at a 2-of, if at all. After all, Mono-Black has been doing so well that they probably don't need the help that this card can offer, but for those of you flooding out creatures as fast as you possibly can against Black decks, do be wary that this card exists.
2.Ajani's Presence
Until now, the only way to make a creature indestructible cost 2 or more mana and lacked versatility enough to not be playable. I got very excited when I saw this card because it'll allow more aggro variants the ability to stave off not only spot removal, but now Supreme Verdict! Whenever I sought to build an aggro deck, I was usually able to keep the creatures protected from either spot removal or wrath, not both. The Naya Hexproof deck I talked about last week was the best deck I've seen for protecting against both spot removal and wrath thought it can have a lot of consistency issues. Ajani's Presence allows aggro decks to protect against wrath effects while having the versatility of protecting from spot removal and also, being a small pump spell if needed. This won't be a $2 uncommon, but I would expect to see this every now and then from White based aggro decks.
3. Eidolon of the Great Revel
Pyrostatic Pillar has been used by many Legacy decks to combat Storm archetypes and now Modern and Standard have the effect too. Some argue that it's better as a creature, some says it's worse. Whatever your opinion on it, it's an amazing effect that red decks will be sure to use to shake up the format. If your opponent takes 2 damage to kill it before it even has a chance to attack, it did its job. It absorbed a removal spell and still hit for the two it would have anyway were it allowed to attack. Good card.
4. Dictate of Kruphix
Turbo Fog. This card might not be revolutionary for the format, but I'm sure people will definitely be tempted into bringing turbo fog back. I'm not sure if there's any other deck that would benefit from this card though so we shouldn't see it pop up in many other places.
5. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Personally, I don't think that this Ajani has the power level that Green/White decks need for an upgrade. At 5 CMC it's just too slow and the abilities are underwhelming. Distributing 3 +1/+1 counters is something we can do for 3 mana right now and gaining 100 life isn't a big deal. If you're losing to board position, 100 life is doable over 5-6 turns. If you're winning on board position, it's just a "win-more" effect that isn't necessary. The best ability is the option to dig for more creatures, or even other Planeswalkers to help build your board presence. In a Bant Planeswalkers deck that runs Kiora, Jace(AoT) and Elspeth, there would definitely be a good demand for this new Ajani since he can fetch out all your walker buddies and just dominate the board with so many planeswalkers, your opponent won't know what to do.
6. Mana Confluence
I'm so excited to have this land in standard. The ability for multi-colored decks to have access to lands that come into play untapped and provide any color mana is huge right now. With the addition of the last two temples, every two-color combination now has their respective temple and shock land, but that was it unless you wanted to run guildgates, which just further slowed you down. Mana Confluence is a great addition to those decks that want another land that comes into play untapped to keep them on curve and able to keep up with the format. Mono Colored decks can even use this land to splash a second color very easily. Mono Blue can splash for Detention Sphere and Ephara, Black can splash for Blood Barons, etc.
For now that's all the cards I wanted to discuss. Let me know if there's something else you think would have a good impact on standard. Next week, we should have half or a little more of the spoilers and I'll start discussing my thoughts on the limited format for Sealed/Draft with Nyx.
Thanks for reading!
DannyO
WizardDen.com
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