Ask most players what they’ll look forward to finding in Magic the Gathering and you may hit the same old high-fantasy tropes of ogres, demons, dragons, and possibly planeswalkers. All of these are current and proper within the Streets of New Capenna, however the setting for this 92nd growth is notably completely different to what has gone earlier than. After the cyberpunk vibe of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Wizards of the Coast has determined to take inspiration from Twenties prohibition-era America, full with organised crime and an Artwork Deco aesthetic.
This being Magic, these crime households are headed by demons, and naturally, there are these goody-goody angels round to try to preserve every part in verify on the identical time. The excellent news is there’s a great deal of stunning artwork to ogle, with a complete of 281 playing cards within the set, plus various variations.
Even so, there’s an air of the mundane, with the oft-grimy characters being thematically on level, however missing the joy of some high-fantasy units that Magic is famed for. If you happen to’ve been hankering after pin-stripe fits, waistcoats, and flat caps, then that is the growth for you.
Core to the set are the 5 crime households that every have an related theme and mechanic. There is a free three-colour theme which harks again to the Alara block, though the truth that these are all crime households muddies the water considerably—there’s not fairly such a transparent distinction.
For instance, the Obscura household is constructed round white, blue, and black and focuses on card draw and management. It additionally makes use of the Connive mechanic, which is surprisingly {powerful}, and sees you draw a card after which discard a card, giving the creature a +1/+1 counter when you discard a nonland card. The precise creatures although really feel largely interchangeable with the Brokers (GWU) and Mastros (UBR).
Of the brand new mechanics, the introduction of protect counters, ostensibly aligned with the Brokers, might be essentially the most fascinating, because it protects a creature from destroy results—whether or not that is in fight or from spells. This sort of safety has been round earlier than, however by no means so neatly dealt with as it’s right here. It will probably make for some head-scratching moments in the case of first strike and regular injury—block a shielded creature with each, and you’ll probably kill it. Pinging a protect for any injury in any respect may take away it.
Past that, there’s your common combine of latest key phrases alongside acquainted ones, though the remark that these mechanics are variations of the kicker mechanic nonetheless holds true. They could have extra elaborate names, however you are typically taking a look at spending a bit extra as you forged a spell for a barely extra {powerful} impact. Blitz, as an example, permits you to pay a special quantity of mana (typically extra, typically much less) to present a creature haste however you need to sacrifice it on the finish of flip. You additionally get to attract a card when that creature dies.
So far as drafting is worried, Streets of New Capenna desperately desires you to draft three colors. There are many payoffs for doing so, though as ever you do run the chance of messing up your mana and dying to a weenie rush as you sit there with a clenched fist stuffed with powerful-but-currently-useless playing cards.
Most cheap draft builds are nonetheless going to wish to go dual-colour
Wizards of the Coast invited me to an early entry occasion to check out the brand new set earlier than the official launch date. In my first draft, I purposefully drafted a mono-green deck to see if I might punish the extra elaborate mana bases. Positive sufficient, I did take a number of down, simply by advantage of with the ability to play all of the playing cards in my deck simply. I did lose to a few of these stronger gold playing cards although after I could not overpower my opponents fast sufficient.
Streets of New Capenna does embrace some respectable mana fixing that can assist you realise this multi-coloured dream. There are many dual-colour lands to slam in your deck, and there are 5 crime family-themed lands that you simply sacrifice once they come into play in alternate for considered one of three related primary lands. For example, the Obscura Storefront sacrifices to get a plains, island, or swamp and that land is put into play tapped.
There are a collection of on-theme creatures that you could exile to permit a land to faucet for an related three mana sorts till you forged that creature from exile. Masked Bandits, as an example, permits entry to black, purple, and inexperienced mana. It is a good answer that does mean you can go extensive in your mana base.
Even so, most cheap builds are nonetheless going to wish to go dual-colour, with a potential splash of a 3rd color for extra {powerful} game-changers. As ever, it pays to be versatile when taking part in restricted, and you will be punished for sticking to a selected color too early. Extra so right here than what we have seen in earlier units.
Maintain a watch out for bombs too—each when it comes to which of them to look out for (draftsim is a superb useful resource for this), but additionally on tips on how to deal with them. Streets of New Capenna would not really feel fairly as bomb-heavy as some latest units, nevertheless it’s nonetheless simple to be overwhelmed—notably in the case of the Planeswalkers. I imply how precisely are you going to deal with an opponent’s Ob Nixilis, the Adversary that has copied itself by sacrificing a buffed Celeb Fencer to return into play with seven loyalty?
General, I am not as enamoured with this set as I’m with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, or certainly the units earlier than that, specifically Crimson Vow and Midnight Hunt. Wizards of the Coast has proved that it may deal with completely different themes and settings properly, and there are some neat concepts right here (shields are an ideal addition particularly), nevertheless it feels a bit contrived, and it is attempting to push the three-colour drafting a bit exhausting for my liking. I am going to nonetheless play it means an excessive amount of.
Streets of New Capenna hits Magic Area on April 28.
