Magic: The Gathering‘s newest set, War of the Spark, releases May 3rd. Wizards of the Coast is doing things a bit differently this spoiler season. Rather than have spoilers ruin the fun, Wizards is giving its players and content creators their turn to show off the new cards. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the newest preview Planeswalker, as revealed by Eric Froehlich: Tamiyo, Collector of Tales:
Who is Tamiyo?
Tamiyo is a field researcher of the Soratami, or moonfolk, race. Originally from the plane of Kamigawa, Tamiyo gathers her knowledge of planeswalking in the great towers of Oboro. She became very interested in the plane of Innistrad, where she pondered the workings of the Silver Moon. While studying the various planes, her notes have become more filled with questions than answers. Will the War of the Spark bring her any conclusions?
The Basics
Tamiyo, Collector of Tales continues the cycle of Planeswalkers with static abilities. This is a new effect for Planeswalkers and will have a dramatic impact on Standard. Let’s breakdown her abilities:
- Tamiyo’s first ability stops opponents from making you discard or sacrifice creatures.
- Tamiyo’s plus ability (+) allows you to name a card, reveal the top 4 cards and put all with the same name into your hand.
- Tamiyo’s minus ability (-) allows you to pull any card back from your graveyard.
Utilization
The power of Tamiyo’s static ability is dependent on what you expect from the format. As of this writing, the number of playable discard or sacrifice spells in Standard is pretty minimal. Granted, we’ve already seen some new cards that may change this fact. In a world with not many of these effects, she’s minimally effective. If the metagame moves towards more of these spells being playable, then this ability may turn into something game-breaking.
Her plus ability is once again controlled by what you’re using it to do. In a normal Blue/Green aggro deck, you’ll name the card you’re looking for and will be happy if you hit 1 copy out of the top 4 cards. If you hit 2 copies, you’ve already gotten the card advantage you’re looking for while keeping her on the battlefield. The real power comes from when you’re doing degenerate things. If you know 3 of your next 4 cards are Persistent Petitioners, then this ability is amazing. If you’re looking to get the most power from this ability, look for decks that allow you to either play extra copies of cards, or spells that allow you to set cards on top of your library.
Tamiyo’s minus ability is just nuts. Any time you can bring a card back from your graveyard and reuse it, it’s great. The card advantage this provides is hard to keep up with. You’re either looking to cast a powerful spell over and over again or bring back your best creature anytime they kill it. Let’s not even get into recurring your Hydroid Krasis….
But wait, there’s more!
As if showing off one of Magic‘s premier planeswalkers wasn’t enough, she also comes with her very own supplement spell, Tamiyo’s Epiphany:
Breakdown
Tamiyo’s Epiphany is a 4cc sorcery. That in and of itself tends to be the card’s weakness. Decks that play the color Blue are usually looking to leave mana up to respond to the spells you’re using via counterspells or removal. While this card does technically let you dig 6 cards deep (scrying all 4 to bottom then draw 2), using 4 mana during your main phase isn’t generally where Blue wants to be. There may come a deck where you’re looking for your specific pieces and this card would be great for that. But, as of now, you’re probably better off using Chemister’s Insight.
Closing
War of the Spark preview season has been knocking it out of the park! While Tamiyo, Collector of Tales is very dependent on the metagame to figure out if she’s good or not, she definitely has a niche spot. I’m definitely picking one up to use against my buddy’s Meren EDH deck.
