Today, during Wizards Of The Coast's Weekly MTG Livestream, we got our first glimpse at over 50 of the cards that will be available in the Magic: The Gathering Outlaws at Thunder Junction expansion when it launches next month.
Below, you'll find every preview shown off during the event, from the traditional-framed cards to a few from the two major subsets included with the expansion. More cards will be revealed across the internet between now and the set's official release.
First up is our favorite new creature, Holy Cow!
- Holy Cow
- Creature - Ox Angel
- 2 power/2 toughness
- Costs 2 generic and 1 white mana
- Keywords: Flash, Flying
- Ability: When Holy Cow enters the battlefield, you gain 2 life and scry 1 (which means you look at the top card of your deck and either put it back on top or move it to the bottom.)
First off, a creature called "Holy Cow" is incredible and we're happy it exists. Second, we're happy it's also viable, as a 2/2 flyer that can come in at any time has some interesting upside. The healing and scry 1 features are nice bonus perks, but we're liking this heavenly holstein's potential for an instant block when needed.
Next up is one of the artifacts from the Big Score subset, and a reprint not seen since the New Phyrexia set in 2011. Here's Torpor Orb!
- Torpor Orb
- Artifact
- Costs 2 generic mana
- Ability: Creatures entering the battlefield don't cause abilities to trigger.
Do you have a friend who can set off a half-dozen abilities every time a single creature hits their board? Turn that off with Torpor Orb, which renders all enter-the-battlefield triggers obsolete. This is a great defensive move for decks who don't rely on ETB triggers, as it can turn the game into a one-sided affair very quickly.
Moving on, the Breaking News subset features cards from across Magic's history with powerful targeted abilities, which highlights the new "commit a crime" mechanic – any time you target something or someone that's not you or yours, you "commit a crime." Here's one of those Breaking News reprints, Mana Drain!
- Mana Drain
- Instant
- Costs 2 blue mana
- Ability: Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add an amount of colorless mana equal to that spell's mana value.
One of the best counterspells in the entirety of Magic returns in Mana Drain. Not only do you stop an opposing player's spell, but your next turn gets an immediate mana boost. This is one card we expect to turn up in a lot more decks with this reprint, blue decks rejoice!
Now it's time for the returning gorgon, Vraska, The Silencer!
- Vraske, The Silencer
- Legendary Creature - Gorgon Assassin
- 3 power/3 toughness
- Costs 1 generic, 1 black, and 1 green mana
- Keywords: Deathtouch
- Ability: Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, you may pay one generic mana. If you do, return that card to the battlefield tapped under your control. It's a Treasure artifact with "Tap and sacrifice this artifact: Make one mana of any color" and it loses all other card types.
Vraska turning her foes into treasures – stone statues, perhaps? – is some excellent gorgon flavor. However, those enemies also getting to retain their abilities while also being treasures? That's very interesting.
We're loving the idea of stealing something like an Esper Sentinel or, in a Commander match, the opposing commander and controlling its fate for the remainder of the game. In the right hands, Vrasks is going to silence a lot of enemy pushes, and we can't wait to check her out.
Finally, if we have Vraska, we have to represent the other half of the MTG power couple, so here's Jace, Reawakened!
- Jace, Reawakened
- Legendary Planeswalker - Jace
- Enters with three loyalty counters
- Costs two blue mana
- You cannot cast this card on your first, second or third turns of the game
- +1 loyalty: Draw a card, then discard a card
- +1 loyalty: You may exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. If you do, it becomes plotted (which means it can be cast during a future turn for no extra cost)
- -6 loyalty: Until end of turn, whenever you cast a spell, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy.
Jace returns with his planeswalker powers intact! While having two +1 loyalty abilities is strong – particularly the one that lets you save any spell costing 3 or less mana for later – that minus-6 ability is going to open up a lot of storm deck potential. It's always exciting when a new planeswalker joins the fray, and now we have one of the most iconic of them all.
Below, you'll find a gallery of more cards revealed during the WeeklyMTG event today. The Magic: The Gathering Outlaws at Thunder Junction expansion will be available April 19 at local game stores.
