Fans of Magic: The Gathering’s merfolk tribe will be pleased to know MTG Jumpstart 2022 has plenty of fish-tailed friends to add to their collection. For starters, there’s a Merfolk pack! Revealed by Gavin Verhey on November 23, it contains a manga-style reprint of Merrow Reejerey, as well other valuable cards from the tribe, such as Svyelun of Sea and Sky.
But, just as the Jumpstart Eldrazi pack has some disappointing elements, merfolk fans may be saddened at a lack of new killer cards within this theme. The one new merfolk in the pack – Merfolk Pupil – may well be an invaluable role filler in some merfolk decks, but a 1/1 looter is hardly what you’d call flashy. The other new cards in the pack, Soul Read and Synchronised Eviction, are cool instants, but aside from the art of the latter, there’s nothing particularly ‘merfolk’ about them.
However, some new, really unique merfolk cards have been revealed for MTG Jumpstart – it’s just that they’re not in the Merfolk pack. For instance, Tuesday’s MTG Weekly stream showed off Alandra Skydreamer, from the ‘Think Again’ pack theme. This merfolk seems to be related in some way to Talrand, Sky Summoner, but she makes drakes from drawing cards. If you’re able to draw five cards in a turn, she then boosts those drakes into unstoppable menaces – so she’d work well in a commander deck alongside Talrand.
There’s also Kenessos, Priest of Thassa. He’s in the Scry pack, and sure enough, lets you scry. But more interestingly, he also has the power to make the most of a well timed scrying, as you can use his ability to drop a leviathan, octopus, kraken, or serpent from the top of your deck, straight onto the battlefield. You can therefore bring out a turn four Hullbreaker Horror, or any other enormous sea monster your simic EDH deck is packing.
MTG Jumpstart releases December 2, 2022. We’ve already seen loads of goodies, like this hasty Kiki-Jiki pack, and these rabbit and rat commanders. Be sure to check out the MTG release dates for 2023 to get the lowdown on what Magic has planned for next year. And if your Standard decks feel deficient, check out the best MTG Arena decks.