The first preview MTG card for the upcoming space fantasy set, Edge of Eternities, has been revealed, and it is an extremely pushed planeswalker. We already knew Tezzeret was lined up to be this set's primary villain, and now his card has been shown off - apparently in a VIP event at Magiccon Vegas.
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is a three-mana MTG planeswalker, always a dangerous thing. And reading the rest of the card my eyes just get wider and wider. First up is his static ability. Tezzeret has no abilities that add loyalty, but that's okay because he gets a loyalty counter each time you put an artifact into play. In the right deck he'll be trivial to ultimate, even on the turn you play him - you just need to make a few treasures.
His other effects are pretty good too. His weakest, 0-cost ability untaps an artifact, and puts a counter on it if it's a creature. Mainly, I think you'll want to use this to get two bites of the cherry out of a high-value mana rock, but it's also somewhat useful used defensively.
Tezzeret's ultimate ability is not as broken as most planeswalkers, which is fortunate given how easy it is to reach. He gives you an emblem that lets you put three +1/+1 counters on an artifact each turn and transform it into a creature. Free value is always nice, but it will take a while for this to turn into something gamewinning - unless you can trigger it multiple times in one match!
But the truly scary part of this card is the middle ability, which is an MTG tutor effect that lets you grab any artifact costing one or less and pop it into your hand. In commander, you'd probably use this to grab your Sol Ring, which Tezzeret can then untap for you each turn to double its value.
In Constructed, the effect gets more busted the further back you go. It may have only limited value in Standard, but for Modern you can grab Walking Ballista, Mishra's Bauble, or the weaker Moxen. If we go all the way back to Vintage you can get the strong Moxen, Manifold Key, and Black Lotus!
The card's untapping effect gets more valuable in these stronger Magic: The Gathering formats as well - I'll leave it to my betters to find the most busted combos, but I will say I wouldn't be shocked to see this new card on an MTG banlist in a year or two.
As you can perhaps see by the slightly wonky image quality, we're lacking official confirmation for this card, but we would be extremely shocked if it were not legit. The poster, JTheGameGuy, who shared the image on Reddit, also revealed a print they received with alternate art, shown above.
In the past, Tezzeret has traditionally been blue or blue/black, so it is interesting to see the character now represented as colorless. Perhaps he's replacing Karn, who has lost his spark, as the artifact-matters colorless planeswalker?
At any rate that color identity is only a further boon for Tezzie, as it means he can slot into any deck.
If you're as excited as me for the first Edge of Eternities previews (don't hate me, but Final Fantasy just isn't my jam) come join us and share your thoughts on our Discord. You should also check the MTG release schedule, so you know exactly when everything is coming out.