By now I imagine anybody who pays any attention to Magic at all is aware of what was revealed at the Khans of Tarkir launch party. Spoiler season is just kicking into gear and our first batch was nice.

Unless you were sitting on stacks of Polluted Delta. For Magic as a game, however, everything we know about Khans so far is awesome.

Some Cosmetics

One of the less exciting, though still neat, reveals of the launch party is the new template for a new cycle of charms:

The template is clean and the card is playable if unexciting. If Sultai Charm is any indicator, we'll be paying multiple colors for flexibility rather than power level in Khans, but it's definitely too early to say on that front.

The other sweet change revealed at the launch party is this:

I've definitely seen people wondering what kind of "token" morph creatures are in the past, and something to at least clarify that they're 2/2s is definitely useful. Let's get to the meat and potatoes though.

Wedge Mechanics

Ferocious

The Temur mechanic deals with creatures with four power, not unlike how Naya dealt with creatures with five power. Come to think of it, this mechanic isn't really anything ground breaking at all.

It is more likely to matter in constructed though. Where the Ancients Treat stood no chance in Standard, or even block. Temur Ascendancy, on the other hand, has some appeal.

Fires of Yavimaya was once a constructed mainstay, and I've had decent success with Hammer of Purphoros in my Standard decks.

I could definitely see Temur Ascendancy being played in Standard, though it would take something like a Flametongue Kavu reprint to really get me on board. Even with an enchantment that gives all of your creatures haste, you can still find yourself being too slow against aggressive decks. In particular, tapping out on turn three to not impact the board is troublesome.

Polukranos, World Eater, Arbor Colossus and Boon Satyr could definitely be part of a sweet Temur midrange deck though.

Prowess

Sultai's mechanic screams "limited only" to me, though an efficient threat and some good cantrips could make it happen.

This might be a case of "good cards with prowess are good", while the mechanic itself is forgotten by everybody but draft enthusiasts. We're definitely not about to see a Ponder reprint and this mechanic absolutely doesn't speak for itself, so I'm not exactly excited here.

Raid

Raid is basically upgraded bloodthirst. As such, cards with raid thus far seem a little worse than cards with bloodthirst.

Raid seems slightly more constructable than prowess, if only because creatures with raid play well in creature saturated decks, whereas prowess requires a good mix of spells and creatures. Even still, without a significant raid boost, I'm really not expecting cards with raid to be good--at least those low on the mana curve.

Outlast

The Abzhan outlast mechanic is likely to produce some interesting synergies. The counter-centric theme of the Abzhan is possibly more appealing to Ghave, Guru of Spores Commander decks than Standard, but there's something there.

Outlast cards spoiled thus far have seemed slow and mana intensive, but depending on the sorts of +1/+1-counters-matter cards we see, it could definitely inspire a constructed deck. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes would definitely be awesome in such a deck. Unfortunately, Ajani won't trigger outlast, but he would make any sort of static ability live, such as the one on this guy:

Delve

Now we're talking. Tombstalker has seen Legacy play on and off since it was first printed and Logic Knot shows up in constructed pauper as well. Cost reduction abilities are strong, and unless all of the cards with delve just plainly suck, then I fully expect this mechanic to make a splash in Standard.

Necropolis Fiend is actually very close to Standard playable, if he's not just playable outright. Commune with the Gods alone turns it into a four mana 4/5 flier with upside, assuming that you don't care about he cards in your graveyard. This will contrast with cards like Nighthowler, which is probably just better, but graveyard themes in general are likely to show up in Standard decks post Khans.

FETCHLANDS!

This is obviously the biggest announcement of the bunch, but everybody already knew about this. If you didn't, though... surprise!

The Onslaught fetches are back, and there is no way anything else in this set is bigger than that. They don't exactly play well with scrylands, but they sure are great with delve.

They do a lot more for Modern than they do for Standard, though. I don't just mean in terms of lowering the barrier to buying into Modern either.

Having all of the non-red fetches in Modern makes Blood Moon notably worse. Blood Moon will continue to be played as much as ever in Legacy, but I expect it to take a slight downswing in Modern popularity.It still does work against manlands, Scapeshift and Tron, so if it declines in price it likely won't be by much.

This is more good news for people who want Islands and Swamps or Plains in their deck than bad news for Blood Moon aficionados.

SCG is currently pre-selling the reprints for $20, with the blue ones at $25. You can fully expect these prices to tick down as more and more copies are opened--and believe me, this set will be opened a lot. Both sets of fetchlands were in the $10 range while they were originally in Standard, and the biggest barrier to the reprints hitting this level will be price memory of the originals. If they start to plateau at $15, I would likely buy a set of each, and if they drop all the way to the $10 of days of old, I would easily buy a few extra sets.

Planeswalkers

Sorin

Wow. Sorin may as well have just given up his spark if this is what it's come to. I don't know why any deck that wants this wouldn't just play four mana Ajani. His +1 isn't bad by any means, but he is in every other way underwhelming. He gains a lot of life. I'll say that much.

Sarkhan

The biggest barrier to Sarkhan's playability is Stormbreath Dragon. Going minus three from four is a pretty steep cost, but four damage isn't a bad removal spell when it leaves you with a four power beater. I don't fully expect Sarkhan to see a lot of play out of the gates, but he's absolutely worth looking at after Theros rotates, and even as Stormbreath Dragon number five in the meantime.

I would follow the rule of planeswalkers and not preorder, but intend to pick them up when their price isn't driven by hype. This is maybe an $8 card in the short term.

Other Goodies

End Hostilities

Our new wrath is slow, but it messes up bestow creatures and equipment. This one is going to be excellent in midrange mirrors.

Can this card be worth anything as a regular rare? Eh. Not really. Anger of the Gods will probably see more play and be worth more because it's both playable in Modern and not being opened anymore. I recommend having a set, but waiting until you need to play them.

Rattleclaw Mystic

I don't know if this one is better than Kiora's Follower, but it's generally better than Voyaging Satyr. The option to go from two to four or from three to six is not to be understated. Morphing this guy on turn three (or two with an Elvish Mystic) and this flipping it up to beat down with a newly minted Nissa Worldwaker land is a big game. Turn three or four Elspeth, Sun's Champion is also not outside the realm of possibility. I definitely intend to pick up a set of these.

Icefeather Aven

This card is excellent, and likely to be underrated. A two mana 2/2 flier is excellent, and the upside of using extraneous mana to bounce something is expensive, but it's just free upside so mise. I'm still bullish on Master of Waves, and this is definitely a good two drop for a potential Master of Waves deck.

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

Commune with the Gods, Nyx Weaver and delve will all help to make this card an awesome role-player. Unfortunately, Sidisi is quite weak to Anger of the Gods, so I'm not about to go crazy on this card. It is relevant that Nemesis of Mortals is pretty awesome against Anger, so maybe this deck is just going to be awesome.

I definitely intend to test this one out, and I won't be the least bit surprised if it turns out to be very strong. It will only have a home in one deck, so I can't say that it's the greatest spec. Unless it turns out to be the best deck. Interpret as you will.

~

We haven't seen very much of Khans yet, but we've already seen what is very likely the most exciting part. I'm so excited for Return to Ravnica to rotate, and so far it doesn't look like Khans will disappoint. Unless you really hate shuffling.

Thanks for reading.

-Ryan Overturf
@RyanOverdrive on Twitter