More Edge Of Eternities Previews

Edge of Eternities is shaping up to be one of the most unique Magic sets ever. The set looks incredibly interesting. I'm still not sure how well the full set will shape up in a competitive environment because we haven't seen cards like a lot of these before. However, there are a few more cards this week that are interesting enough to discuss.

Cosmogoyf

Cosmogoyf is our brand-new Lhurgoyf friend. While its intended use within the set is alongside Warp to grow it naturally, we know that's not what we're going to end up doing with it.

It's a worse version of Tarmogoyf in a vacuum, but there are interesting ways to abuse it in eternal formats. The most obvious would be using it with a delve spell like Treasure Cruise in Pioneer or Gurmag Angler anywhere else. It can get much bigger than that if you're willing to pay the price with cards like Spoils of the Vault or Plunge into Darkness.

Ultimately, cards like this are too weak to build around, and this card does in some ways need to be built around, so I doubt it sees real competitive play.

The Endstone

While The Endstone is not a Constructed all-star, it's an interesting card to cheat into play early. Tinker is the most obvious enabler for this, but there are other ways, such as Tron lands, to put this into play early. The Endstone's drawback of going to half your starting life total in your end step can be used as an upside since your opponent will need to deal you 10 damage in a single turn cycle, or you'll be gaining life rather than losing it.

This means you can spend life as a resource and regain it with The Endstone. On top of that, The Endstone makes it easy to chain through your deck because it lets you draw a card whenever you play a card.

It's a powerful artifact at seven mana that is probably mostly a meme card, but I could see it being used in certain spots, such as Tron, for various matchups.

Syr Vondamn, Sunstar Exemplar

Last week, we looked at Umbral Collar Zealot, which is one of the better aristocrats-looking creatures we've seen in a long time—a sacrifice outlet with good stats that is looking for a home. This week, we see Syr Vondam, which is a payoff for a sacrifice outlet. Vigilance, Menace, gains life, grows, and takes down an opponent's permanent when it dies.

There's no guarantee there will be a competitive sacrifice deck in Standard, but it looks like they're putting the tools into the universe if we try and build one. Syr Vondam is worth exploring in that type of shell, as it's a whole lot of card for just two mana.

I'm hoping we get more support for this archetype because it's been a long time since we've had a playable version of this deck style.

Beyond the Quiet

I understand the comparison between Beyond the Quiet and Sunfall, but Beyond the Quiet is meaningfully worse. Sunfall was pivotal in some matchups to stabilize and end the game because it acted as a win condition in a control deck on top of a sweeper.

Beyond the Quiet will pick up spacecraft. While it remains to be seen how many spacecraft will actually break into Standard, Beyond the Quiet is simply a way to stabilize and lacks the ability to close the game on its own, making it meaningfully worse than Sunfall.

That said, I suspect we'll see Beyond the Quiet in Standard white control decks as the sweeper of choice because exiling the permanents is a massive upside that can't be overlooked.

Rust Harvester

This card looks super cool to me. I'm not sure how good it is, but it has potential for some explosiveness, especially in a format like Modern alongside cards like Cranial Plating, Mox Opal, and Arcbound Ravager. You can easily create a massively large Grim Lavamancer that can go right after the player or start killing creatures with its activated ability.

We may need to work harder in other formats to fuel Rust Harvester, but it can still get a power boost via equipment or other sources of +1+1 counters.

Rust Harvester may be in the unfortunate position of not being good enough for Modern and not being supported enough for Pioneer or Standard, but it's a one-mana creature with a high ceiling, so it's a card to watch.

Rust Harvester seems like it could be played with Agatha's Cauldron, another synergy to follow.

I'd love for Rust Harvester to be a strong card, as it looks fun to get going and seems like it could be strong enough to find a home somewhere.

Sunset Saboteur

Sunset Saboteur seems strong. Generally, cards with a downside are basically always bad, but this card makes sense in a deck with a lot of removal or control elements rather than just in an aggro deck, where it also might shine.

Menace makes it difficult to block. Even if it's dumping counters onto something, you can kill it before blocks. Sunset Saboteur will quickly clock the opponent. The ward of discarding a card makes it problematic to kill early, as it will act like a Hymn to Tourach if they throw a shock, Fatal Push, or whatever else at it.

Sunset Saboteur is an independently strong creature that may be solid within the context of any given format. The full package of abilities makes it look like it could see some play. This creature gets worse as the game develops, so you want to close the game out early with it.

This is a solid creature that dies to anything, but at the cost of an extra card, which is not necessarily as punishing these days. I'm curious to see if this one is good enough for 75-card formats.

Timeline Culler

Last up for this week, we'll look at Timeline Culler. Timeline Culler fits the aristocrat shell perfectly. It provides a sticky threat that can come in and out of the game and travel from zone to zone, but always ends up back in play.

You could see Timeline Culler in eternal formats with Vengevine because you can cast it from the graveyard, your hand, or even exiled from when it's warped. Notably, you can cast this from your hand or graveyard for its warp cost. It's not limited to just your graveyard.

While the stats on Timeline Culler are nothing to be super excited about, its ability to come into play from any zone leaves it as a card worth exploring as just a sticky threat or a card you get value out of from self-mill or dredge effects.

The double-black upfront cost is a bit prohibitive, but nothing too concerning since you can warp it for a single black then cast it from exile later.

This is a cool card that's thematically flavorful and has potential in a variety of different formats.

That will wrap it up for this week. If you haven't noticed, a lot of the cards that are standing out to me are somewhat aggressive black creatures, and none of them are slam dunks to see play. The set overall appears on the weak side, but we still have more to see, and I won't be surprised if we see some bangers.

As far as Limited, the set seems like it could be a little slow, but there's no telling until we see how it plays out. As someone who prefers a slower Limited format, I'm curious to see the entire set to get a grasp on it for Limited.

Hopefully, Edge of Eternities can fill the massive footprint Final Fantasy left on the Magic world, as it's a tough act to follow. We'll continue to look at Edge of Eternities previews right up until the set release. See you soon.