Re-evaluating Ixalan

Here's my third video essay.  This one focuses on Ixalan block and attempts to offer a new perspective on it.

'Ixalan was a peculiar Magic: the Gathering set. It told the story of a war between Vampires, Pirates, Merfolk and Dinosaurs whilst taking creative inspiration from the age of exploration. Generally Ixalan is not well regarded by the community. Its limited gameplay was considered shallow and stale and its tribes failed to impact Standard. This video will re-evaluate Ixalan's legacy and argue that there is more to it than its current reputation would suggest.'

Unusual Tribes 11: Centaurs

Intro

After a long hiatus making video-essays, it’s back to business as usual with another Unusual Tribes column. In line with the, relatively, recent release of Theros: Beyond Death this week’s piece will focus on analysing the viability of Centaurs, a common tribe on this plane inspired by the myths of Ancient Greece.

Magic the Gathering features 63 Centaurs. Technically the first Centaur ever printed was Windseeker Centaur, a promo card given to those who purchased the 1994 Magic the Gathering novel Whispering Woods. The first non-promo Centaur to see print was Jolrael’s Centaur who was released in Mirage in 1996.

Centaurs are available in every colour, with the exception of blue, but are primarily printed in Green. Their association with the Selesnya and Gruul on Ravnica means that there are many Green/White and Green/Red Centaurs.

As well as Creature cards, a number of Magic’s Instants and Sorceries generate Centaur tokens. Centaur Glade is able to repeatedly generate new Centaurs, albeit for a steep price in mama. You can also give your opponents some Centaurs by playing Hunted Horror or Rampage of the Clans. Just like, arguably, the most famous member of the tribe Centaur Courser each of these Centaur tokens is a 3/3.

Many Centaurs possess the ability Trample. Obviously this is logical in terms of their position in the colour pie, as they are primarily printed in green. Flavourfully it is also makes sense as they are half horse and thus naturally have the ability to run roughshod over their foes.

Centaur Identity

Centaurs in Magic are typically presented in one of two radically different ways.  At times they are depicted as a calm, meditative and druidic people at one with nature. At other times they are portrayed as violent marauders who delight in revelry and chaos. This different is made most clear when comparing the Centaurs of Ravnica.  Those aligned with the Selesnya Conclave fit into the former camp, as befits their partially white colour identity. Meanwhile, those aligned with the Gruul fit into the latter, demonstrating their partially red nature. Though this split character can be seen in more places than merely Ravnica…

The centaurs of Theros are usually depicted as similar to the chaotic counterparts in the Gruul clans.  Many of Theros’ Centaurs are aligned with the Pheres-Band, a centaur clan which relishes combat.  Their warlike nature is demonstrated by the flavour text of some of their cards such as Pheres-Band Raiders which states ‘Who can deny the call to battle when it sings in our blood?’. This violent portrayal of the Pheres-Band is also put forward in the flavour text of Pheres-Band Tromper which states that ‘Anger is their lifeblood. It sustains them and gives them purpose’.

Yet depictions of the Pheres-Band do not only focus upon their love of combat. A card simply called Pheres-Band Centaurs contains a passage of flavour text which portrays them in a different light. An observer of the clan In the Theriad, Theros’ equivalent of the real life Homeric Epic ‘The Iliad’, states that the’ true strength’ of the Pheres Band lies in their, ‘unwavering loyalty to one another’. Although this quote sound a little more like it was plucked from a Saturday morning cartoon than a Greek epic, it offers a nuanced look at the Pheres-band, and presents them as being more than simply violent thugs. This kind of multi-faceted presentation is always essential for more fully fleshing out a faction.

Not all of Theros’s centaurs are aligned with this single band.  Though many more Centaur bands, assumingly, exist upon the plane the only other centaur faction to see print in card form is the Lagonna-band. The monowhite centaurs of the Lagonna-band are scholars focussed upon learning and understanding their history.  This is demonstrated both mechanically and flavourfully through the card Lagonna-Band Storyteller. The card’s flavour text states ‘Our stories are full of ancient wisdom; they tell us who we are.’ This shows the tribes reverence for history. In gameplay this flavour text can be enacted.  Theros: Beyond Death features a series of Saga Enchantments, Magic’s way of representing stories. Lagonna-Band Storyteller’s effect can be used to take an old saga from the graveyard and place It back on top of the library. In other words, dusting off an old story and preparing to tell it again.

The Centaurs of Dominaria fuse these two contrasting depictions together. They act as the defenders of the forest of Krosa and were formerly led by the pit fighter Seton, Krosan Protector. Seton bears the flavour text ‘Survival of the fittest is not only the law of the pits, it is the law of nature. That is why I fight’. This demonstrating the merging of the violent and druidic presentation of Centaurs in other portrayals. Seton fights, but do so to ensure that nature takes its course and that the fittest survive, merging these two contrasting ideologies in a suitably green way.

Although the forest of Krosa rotted away towards the conclusion of the storyline of the Odyssey-Onslaught arc, over the years since it has slowly returned to its former state of grandeur. This restoration was achieved partialy through the aid of its centaur protectors. Krosan Druid, a centaur healer, demonstrates this through its flavour text ‘Druids endure disaster as seeds endure winter. Now Krosa blooms once more’. The card’s role in the healing the forest is made clear as, if Krosan Druid enters play kicked, she heals her controller for 10 life.

Notable Centaurs

Centaurs have a lord in the form of Pheres-Band Warchief. Although relatively expensive for a lord, at 4 mana, Pheres-Band Warchief has a 3/3 stat line and grants each of his controllers other Centaurs Vigiliance and Trample, as well as +1/+1. Whether this justifies the cards, relatively, high cost for a lord or not is a matter of debate.            

Nikya of the Old Ways is both the leader of the Zhur-Taa, one of the Gruul clans of Ravnica, and a very interesting commander. Nikya adds an additional mana to your mana pool each time you tap one of your lands, but in return prohibits you from casting non-creature spells whilst she is in play. This has some fascinating deck building possibilities as it allows you to race out incredibly powerful creatures incredibly quickly, but obviously majorly restricts your ability to deck build with non-creature spells. In a nice piece of flavour, Nikya’s ability synergises well with Bloodrush, the Gruul mechanic from Gatecrash. Creatures with Bloodrush can be discarded from the hand and used as combat tricks, which will surprise any opponent facing down a Nikya deck who will not expect combat tricks to go off in a creature based deck.

Stonebrow, Crossan Hero is another notable centaur commander, although one who is used rarely. Stonebrow can also be placed at the head of a deck featuring lots of other cards with Trample, as he gives every creature you control with the ability +2/+2 when they attack.

There are two additional Centaurs who are commander staples. Courser of Kruphix virtually eliminates dead draws by allowing you to bring the lands from the top of your library straight into play, whilst also throwing some life gain into the deal. Karador, Ghost Chieftain, from the 2011 Commander Precon, is an excellent leader for decks which care about the graveyard. Karador crosses into Green, White and Black – The three colours which interact with creatures in the graveyard. The card can be cast for one less for each creature in your graveyard and allows you to cast a single creature from your graveyard each turn.  Generally in Karador decks, just as in most graveyard matters decks, you want to mill yourself to fill your graveyard with creatures. This allows you to bring him out more cheaply and to give him more targets to return to life with his ability.

Arbitrary Grades

Flavour: C

The Centaurs of Magic have a dual character. Some, such as the Centaurs of Selesnya and those of the Lagonna band, are peaceful and pacifistic. Whilst some, such as the Centaurs of the Gruul clans and the Pheres-Band, are more warlike and extreme. This is a nice demonstration of Green’s interaction with its allies, the two colours adjacent to it on the colour wheel. Red brings out nature’s more violent and impulsive side, whilst White brings out its more serene and communal character. Additionally, As mentioned above, some of them have trample demonstrating their horse-like nature. Beyond this Centaurs do not offer anything overly exciting or novel.

Unlike tribes such as Hydras, who demonstrate their many heads through creative use of +1/+1 counters, or Rats, who amass and swarm both through your library and the battlefield, Centaurs don’t really offer anything incredibly unique.  So a solid C seems fitting here, a well done execution of the dual character of nature, but one which doesn’t venture too far outside of the box.

Viability: C

With only 63 centaurs on offer, building a tribal deck featuring Centaurs can be a somewhat tricky task. That said many of them are viable, as you’ll notice below in my struggle to pick a worst member of the tribe. Although not a fantastic lord Pheres-Band Warchief does increase the viability of the tribe marginally when there are many centaurs gathered together in a tribal deck. Beyond this, however, there aren’t really many Centaur synergies to incentivise building a tribal deck with them. As with their flavour, a C grade here seemed appropriate.  Centaurs have received some  support and are reasonably powerful, but not enough to make them a must play tribe.

Best and worst cards:

Courser of Kruphix is fairly unambiguously the best members of the tribe for all of the reasons listed above.  Although Courser of Kruphix emerges significantly ahead, there are some lesser known Centaur who deserve a bit of light shed onto them.

Although too expensive to play outside of Commander, Stonehoof Chieftain massively impacts the game when he hits the field. The largest member of the tribe, at 8/8, Stonehoof Chieftain has both Trample and Indestructible and grants these two abilities to other creatures you control whenever they attack.

Herald of the Pantheon is a very useful card to make use of in Enchantment matters decks. Making each of your Enchantments one mana cheaper, and granting a trickle of life whenever one is played. Spellbane Centaur acts as a brutal answer to any opponents playing Monoblue decks. He renders them completely unable to target creatures you control with blue spells or abilities.

Also, though it’s far from the best card in the tribe Centaur Courser deserves an honourable mention here. Printed across five different core sets, and a pretty decent pick in each of them, the Courser is the most reprinted card in the tribe and serves as an eternal reminder to that Centaurs are marginally stronger than Bears.

The worst two worst cards of the tribe are both playable, but simply overcosted. Centaur Veteran costs 6 mana for 3/3 worth of stats, making him twice as expensive as Centaur Courser for the same stat line.  Although, unlike the Courser, Centaur Veteran has both Regenerate and Trample, neither of these abilities are able to justify the card’s increased mana requirement. Centaur Veteran was overcosted even back in 2002 when the card was released.

Ghor-Clan Savage is another bad Centaur. With the, widely considered to be underpowered, Bloodthirst mechanic Ghor-Clan Savage costs five mana and enters play as either a 2/3 or a 5/6 depending on whether the opponent has taken damage this turn or not. Horribly weak for it’s cost if the condition has not been met, and only marginally above average if it has, Ghor-Clan Savage is not a great card. Despite this, Ghor-Clan Savage still stands head and shoulders above many of the previous ‘worst cards’ discussed in this column.

War of the Spark: Dissecting one of Magic’s Most Contentious Limited Formats

Hey everyone, sorry about the later than usual upload.  I've been moving house over the past few weeks and these video essays are a bit trickier to put together than my usual blog posts.  In any case, enjoy my 2nd Macready Musings video essay, in which I analyse War of the Spark and why it is such a contentious limited format.  Next week it will be back to business as usual with another Unusual Tribes article coming out.