Mel’s Muses: Magic: The Gathering – Hour of Devastation
New cards, new abilities and the return of Magic: The Gathering’s classic big bad Nicol Bolas, all that and more can be found in the newest expansion Hour of Devastation.
Now if you are following the storyline, Nicol Bolas and his undead army has finally arrived at Amonkhet. Three forgotten gods have appeared and the Gatewatch has been defeated. It’s now the final hour of devastation.
This new expansion continues mechanics from the Amonkhet expansion plus introducing new ones such as Eternalize where creatures reappear on the battlefield as 4/4 zombie versions of their former selves, and Afflict that allows creatures to cause an opponent to lose life if blocked.
As expected, there are more than a few breakout cards that caught our attention. Since Standard format is still reeling from the recent card bans, we’ll see if there are any new combo cards for that and other formats. Well, two new cards caught our attention. Solemnity looks great in Legacy and Standard format. Pair it with Thing in The Ice for Standard or Dark Depths for Legacy. Those cards now come into play without their counters and big and mean.
And if you are looking for an infinite combo in Modern format, may we suggest Intruder Alarm and Steward of Solidarity. Exert to create a creature, then Intruder Alarm lets you untap, exert, untap and exert again. The beauty never ends. Repeat until you have sufficiently blanketed the entire game shop with creature token cards or until your opponent has to leave for work the next morning.
Hour of Devastation booster packs, bundle boxes and pre-constructed decks go on sale at local game shops starting 14 July. And if you are really really lucky, you might find one of these 24 special foil Masterpiece cards.
To find your nearest Magic: The Gathering venue or shop, visit http://locator.wizards.com