7 Onslaught cards revealed in Japanese magazine!

[Istanbul]

Cabal Archon (2B)
Creature - Cleric
B, Sacrifice a Cleric: Target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
2/2

Not too shabby. Especially when you consider that, alone, he's 2BB for a 2-point drain life. And if you have more clerics, he's better.

Voidmage Prodigy (UU)
Creature - Wizard
UU, Sacrifice a Wizard: Counter target spell.
Morph: U
2/1

Okay, this I have a problem with. Too many good creatures are Wizards. Imagine this alongside Patron Wizard. First I'll Force Spike you to hellenbach, and if you manage to push something else past, I'll just start throwing wizards at you.

Wellwisher (1G)
Creature - Elf
Tap: You gain 1 life for each Elf in play.
1/1

Great googly-moogly. Um...no. I do *not* think this will happen, or you'll see Elf decks swarm into existence with a quickness. "Cool, I got my Wellwisher! I'll start gaining 5 or 6 life a turn now..."

Skirk Fire Marshall (3RR)
Creature - Goblin Lord
Protection from red.
Tap five untapped Goblins you control: Skirk Fire Marshall deals 10 damage to each creature and player.
2/2

Again, a little suspect. Skirk Fire Marshall + some Goblin support + a little burn = game. Now, if you took out 'and player', that I'd believe.

Aurafication (2WW)
Enchantent
Whenever a creature deals damage to you, put a gold counter on it. Each creature with a gold counter on it is a Wall in addition to its other creature types. When Aurafication leaves play, remove all gold counters from all creatures.

It's just weird enough to be true.

Weathered Wayfarer
Creature - Nomad Cleric
W
W, Tap: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Play this ability only if an opponent controls more lands than you.
1/1

That's so...COOL! "That's MISTER Land Tax to you, buddy!" I hope this is real.

Words of Worship
Enchantment
2W
1: The next time you would draw a card this turn, you gain 5 life instead.

You know, at first glance, that's really good...until you realize that you don't get to SEE your next card before you pitch it. In this way, it's roughly on the power level of Peace of Mind...which I always liked.

Circle of Solace
Enchantment
3W
As Circle of Solace comes into play, choose a creature type. 1W: The next time a creature of the chosen type would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

A good card, but I think it's just a little overcosted. I think it should be 1WW to play and 2 to activate. As it is, it's just not quite as good as a COP of the appropriate color.

Chain of Silence
Instant
1W
Prevent all damage target creature would deal this turn. That creature's controller may sacrifice a land. If the player does, he or she may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.

Black has Chain of Smog which causes discards, green has Chain of Acid which nukes noncreature permanents, blue's Chain of Vapor bounces stuff, and red's Chain of Plasma deals damage.

Chain of Silence is...not that good, to be honest.
The others...I'd have to see them.

Skirk Fire Marshall is not the only lord with these types of abilities. They all use tapping 5 creatures of that type. White: Remove a creature from the game. Black: Return any creature to play from any graveyard. Blue: Remove cards from a player's library. Green: Gain obscene amounts of life.

Bah. Watch for mass-removal to be come popular. Where's Tsabo's Decree when you need it?

Death March
Enchantment
3B
Whenever a creature comes into play, that creature's controller may have target creature of his or her choice get -3/-3 until end of turn.

Good gravy biscuits. O.O Alternate name: Battle of the Beef.

Cruel Revival
Instant
4B
Destroy target non-Zombie creature. It can't be regenerated. Return up to one target Zombie card from your graveyard to your hand.

Huh. Not too shabby, but...five mana? For this? Better be a good zombie. Mind, it CAN kill black creatures so long as they're not zombies.

Wheel and Deal
Instant
3U
Any number of target opponents each discards his or her hand and draws seven cards. Draw a card.

This...sucks.
So I can refill my opponent's hand, but not my own...and get one card...for four mana.
Maybe there's a card in Onslaught that can use this, but right now...

Ghosthelm Courier
Creature - Wizard
2U
You may choose not to untap Ghosthelm Courier during your untap step. 2U, Tap: As long as Ghosthelm Courier remains tapped, target Wizard gets +2/+2 and can't be the target of spells or abilities.
2/1

Intriguing. Grows one of your puny Wizards, effectively giving Wizard.dec a bit of beef.

Elvish Vanguard
Creature - Elf
1G
Whenever another Elf comes into play, put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Vanguard.
1/1

And here we have a nice Elven tribal card...man, they really aren't kidding about this tribal stuff, are they?

Biorhythm (did you know about this one yet?)
Sorcery
6GG
Each player's life total becomes the number of creatures he or she controls.

*choke*
Wrath of God. Activate Squirrel Nest. Biorhythm. Die.

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Creature - Druid Legend
4GG
G: Target land becomes a 1/1 creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
2GGG: Creatures you control get +3/+3 and trample until end of turn.
4/3

Something is just wrong here. Are they trying to make a broken green fattie? If you can cast him, you can Overrun at least once, making him better than his original form. This just can't be right.

Fever Charm
Instant
R
Choose one: Target creature gains haste until end of turn; or target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn; or Fever Charm deals 3 damage to target Wizard.

Niiiiiice. Pretty savage for one mana. Should go into most any deck except for pure burn.

Goblin Piledriver
Creature - Goblin
1R
Protection from blue. Whenever Goblin Piledriver attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn for each other attacking Goblin.
1/2

WOOT! Sneaks in under countermagic if red goes first, doesn't get bounced, and is a big beating if you sneak any more gobbos through. About time red got its Scragnoth!

Insurrection
Sorcery
5RRR
Untap all creatures and gain control of them until end of turn. They gain haste until end of turn.

Very very nice. Until you see the 5RRR. One of the best spells red will never cast.

 

[train]

From Istanbul

"Words of Worship - You know, at first glance, that's really good...until you realize that you don't get to SEE your next card before you pitch it. In this way, it's roughly on the power level of Peace of Mind...which I always liked."

You don't pitch your cards - you never draw them...


"Kamahl, Fist of Krosa - Something is just wrong here. Are they trying to make a broken green fattie? If you can cast him, you can Overrun at least once, making him better than his original form. This just can't be right."

Welcome to the all you can eat of "The Mad Fistings"!!! Closed forceful hands will be everywhere - that's probably a nicer way to say it.

A lot of very good points you made about the rest - but with all the Haze at WOTC - there's no telling what we'll see in print! - just joking.

 

[Mikeymike]

Looking at Wheel and Deal I see a few combos with it.

Its strong with both Underworld Dreams and Megrim
Its downright broken with Plagarize, let's be thankful Nightscape Familiar is rotating out.

 

[train]

I'm glad most of psychatog is leaving period!!!

 

[Istanbul]

Ah, but its two key cards are NOT leaving: Psychatog and Upheaval. Since the combo itself will remain intact, it's just a matter of finding the appropriate control cards in the following sets to replace what we lose with IN/PS/AP.

Wheel and Deal does combo with Plagiarize, for 8 mana. And no real effect on the board. And neither one is really good without the other. And Underworld Dreams is HEAVY-black. It's okay with Megrim, IF they have a full hand when you pay 4 mana to cast it, which is *highly* unlikely.

train - I realize you never pitch your cards because you never draw them. Still, surely you can see the parallel. Hmmm, I see a white/blue Test of Endurance build slowly creeping up. I still say Kamahl looks wrong; somebody's source screwed up. Let's see what happens.

 

[Istanbul]

Just for gits and shiggles, I read the Judgment novel. (Yes, all of it.)

Kamahl as a green legend - Definitely.
Jeska as a black legend - Strongly doubtful.
Jeska as she is now (red legend) - Probable.
Jeska as a red/green legend - Possible.

 

[Mikeymike]

Wheel and Deal does combo with Plagiarize, for 8 mana. And no real effect on the board. And neither one is really good without the other.

8 mana is too much for the combo, which is why you won't see it in constructed. Its a very manageable casual combo, and it could be pretty good in extended too. Plagiarize, though, is rarely a dead card with all the played card draw in any environment.

And Underworld Dreams is HEAVY-black.

Most Underworld Dreams decks need blue for the fuel engine anyway, its fits right in - I've never seen an mono-black Underworld Dreams deck. The 3 black requirement is rarely a problem in Type 1 anyway.

It's okay with Megrim, IF they have a full hand when you pay 4 mana to cast it, which is *highly* unlikely.

It does take more work with Megrim so you don't bite yourself in the oink by giving your opponent 7 new cards, but this is another power combo in the long line of broken Megrim plays. If your Megrim is in play, time it right so you can follow it up with a Mind Twist for X during your next turn. Or back it up with a Cursed Rack, Crosis, Persecute, etc. Its pretty easy to make this card work.

Real quick note on Words of Worship - Utterly, disgustingly, horrendously broken with Yawgmoth's Bargain...but then again what isn't? Not half bad with Greed either - 1B: gain 3 life.

 

[train]

I ran a mono-black UD deck...

I also had some artifact abuse - mirror universe and forcefields were nice!!!

 

[Lotus Mox]

From grr @ mtgnews.com rumor mill:

There are 21 commons and uncommons of each color, and 19 rares.
There are 6 artifacts, all rare. 5 common cycling lands(like the US ones but they cycle for one colored mana). 5 Uncommon lands, and 9 rare ones.

These 2 cards were already shown a bit in an Onslaught ad, he revealed the hidden text of them :

Butcher Orgg 4RRR
Creature - Orgg
You may divide Butcher Orgg’s combat damage as you choose among defending player and/or any number of creatures he or she controls.
6/6

Grinning Demon 2BB
Creature - Demon
At the beginning of your upkeep you lose 2 life.
Morph 2BB
6/6

Nova Cleric W
Creature — Cleric Uncommon
1/2 2W, T, Sacrifice Nova Cleric: Destroy all enchantments.

True Believer WW
Creature — Cleric Rare
2/2 You can’t be the target of spells or abilities.

Hystrodon 4G
Creature — Beast Rare
3/4 Trample
Whenever Hystrodon deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
Morph 1GG

They printed the mirage sac lands but instead of coming into play tapped, you have to pay 1 life to activate, they are rare.

Unholy Grotto Rare
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
B, T: Put target Zombie card from your graveyard on top of your library.

Goblin Burrows Uncommon
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
1R,T: Target Goblin gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Ixidor, Reality Sculptor 3UU Creature — Wizard Legend Rare
3/4 Face-down creatures get +1/+1.
2U: Turn target face-down creature face up.

Slate of Ancestry 4 Artifact

4, T, Discard your hand: Draw a card for each creature you control.

Discombobulate 2UU Instant Uncommon

Counter target spell. Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order.

---

Interesting cards for sure,

 

[Mikeymike]

Butcher Orgg
Now here is a fun casual fattie, and an Orgg that will finally see play. This guy is a complete bruiser. Question, does his ability activate if he's blocked AND unblocked? Wow.

Grinning Demon
Hmm, I predict Shadowmage syndrome. Everyone will scour the earth for these things before they realize that they will have a tough time building a winning deck with them.

Don't get me wrong, this guy is far from bad. Its just, does he do enough? The ability to attack with a 6/6 on turn 4 and trade with a certain 6/6 wurm token is very nice though. But that 2 life per turn will quickly add up if this guy isn't given some sort of evasion. Even at 2 life per turn, I'd personally say that he is in most instances better than the Scuta.

Nova Cleric
Interesting, yet limited. A strong sibeboard option perhaps and maindeckable for MP games. In consturcted there are better 1 drops for white.

True Believer
Wow is this guy strong. Stop Edict's cold, as well as discard and direct damage. He'll see play, a strong addition to the revival of White Weenie.

Hystrodon
Just like most greenie cool guys, I love this card. Here is the green Ophidian they were talking about. His morph ability allows him to attack on turn 4 (but only in a green heavy deck, as it should be), VERY respectable for a 3 power trampler who draws cards. Plus he's got the magical 4 toughness made more so with the departure of FTK.

Similar to Cradle Guard, who ties down your mana for 2 turns. Yet he doesn't die to a well time Rancid Earth and he is also a card advantage machine. He's a house in any environment besides competitive type 1.

He gives green aggro card advantage, when is the last time that happened? G/W's biggest problem is that they lack any form of card advantage besides Call of the Herd or Glory, now they've got it. It would also be fun to see this guy run along side Browbeat. Be prepared for this guy.

New versions of the Mirage fetch lands.
Very strong, but can they pull dual lands like the originals did? What makes them especially strong is that they can fetch you specific basic lands to power the Judgment incarnations.

Unholy Grotta
Cheap, efficient, and doesn't slow down your mana production. This card can help build a new zombie deck archtype.

Goblin Burrows
A great late game land for a goblin deck to pull. I like this card a lot. I was never a big goblin fan, but after seeing a lot of the Goblin cards in Onslaught I am quickly becoming one.

Ixidor, Reality Sculptor
What a cool casual card. Highly doubtful he'd see constructed play, but he will be a fun card to mess around with in big MP games with lots of un-morpheds.

Slate of Ancestry
Well we finally got that power artifact we've been waiting for. I can easily see this card becoming a problem as weenie's are getting better. Although it is mana intensive (be thankful for small miracles) it gives aggro decks insane card advantage, AND it has synergy with madness, threshold, Roar, and incarnations. Plus it works with any color scheme. In a weenie deck it could/should be the only card costing 4+ mana, allowing you to refill on turn 6+, when many aggro decks start to run out of steam. Too strong, could be the first card to be banned in constructed since Urza's Destiny.

Discombobulate
Another 4CC counterspell, this one with a built in sage owl for 2. Good, but not gamebreaking. This card could be quite strong with U/X slow control decks though, as long as they have a way to shuffle their library as an instant to clear chaff.
---
Man, they weren't kidding when they said this was a strong creature set.

 

[Azreal the Soulmaster]

I'll definetly snag a grinning demon, merely for the sake that its a demon. He is a beat stick. 6/6 for 4 is quite nice. I was hoping the new demon would find a place in my necro deck, but I can't just ignore the fact that Sengir soars above this guy. I'll keep my vamps, but his guy is not to be underestimated.

 

[Istanbul]

Butcher Orgg 4RRR
Creature - Orgg
You may divide Butcher Orgg’s combat damage as you choose among defending player and/or any number of creatures he or she controls.
6/6

A GOOD orgg?! Where's theorgg, he's gonna wanna see this.

Grinning Demon 2BB
Creature - Demon
At the beginning of your upkeep you lose 2 life.
Morph 2BB
6/6

Intriguing. He can sit there as a 2/2 as long as you want, then grow really big...as long as you're willing to start paying life for him. Some good.

Nova Cleric W
Creature — Cleric Uncommon
1/2 2W, T, Sacrifice Nova Cleric: Destroy all enchantments.

Hey, as white weenies go, it's not half-bad.

True Believer WW
Creature — Cleric Rare
2/2 You can’t be the target of spells or abilities.

And here we have Mr. Ivory Mask! Doesn't do anything to protect himself, though, making him of limited use; red and black had trouble handling Ivory Mask, but a 2/2 is chickenfeed.

Hystrodon 4G
Creature — Beast Rare
3/4 Trample
Whenever Hystrodon deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
Morph 1GG

Saaaay. Not too shabby. Punches through Call tokens, and here we are in a color with lots of creature pump. I doubt he'll get into anything Constructed, but he's a stick in Limited (where you'll seldom see him, being rare). Ah well.

Unholy Grotto Rare
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
B, T: Put target Zombie card from your graveyard on top of your library.

Sexy! Recursion is always a good thing.

Goblin Burrows Uncommon
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
1R,T: Target Goblin gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

Combine with Goblin Piledriver for extra hurt. But are you sure this isn't rare?

Ixidor, Reality Sculptor 3UU Creature — Wizard Legend Rare
3/4 Face-down creatures get +1/+1.
2U: Turn target face-down creature face up.

Okay, cute, a morph enabler. Nothing special, doesn't go into any decks. Next caller...

Slate of Ancestry 4 Artifact
4, T, Discard your hand: Draw a card for each creature you control.

Squirrely, isn't it?

Discombobulate 2UU Instant Uncommon
Counter target spell. Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order.

Inadequate. Underpowered. Unacceptable.

 

[EricBess]

Ixidor doesn't go any any decks? What are you on?

Remember, one of the whole ideas behind Morph is that you can play cards splashed (or even out of color) and still be able to cast them.

Hey look, I'm playing MONO blue, and I get to hit you with my Firecat!!! or my Grinning Demon, or my Hystrodon (and draw a card), or...

 

[Mikeymike]

But you said it, you're playing mono-blue. If you wanted to play a beefy creature beatdown deck you shouldn't be playing mono-blue. You probably won't want to cast this guy until turn 7, and by then you've got to worry about protecting him and getting morph creatures into your hand to cast. He's cool, but far from constructed level.

 

[Purple_jester]

As with most legends nowadays, Ixidor is a powerful Limited card. We'll need to evaluate the support cards in the environment before we judge if he's constructed quality. By himself, he isn't.

If it's not a chase rare, I'll grab the Grinning Demon to complete my big black collection. If it is a chase rare, you people can have it. I'll stick to my Negators, thank you.

 

[Istanbul]

Sorry, but I just don't see a mono-blue Ixidor-based morph deck springing up. At least not as anything more than a gimmick.

Remember that if you don't draw Ixidor, everything you listed is a 2/2 for 3. Yawn.

 

[Azreal the Soulmaster]

Originally posted by Istanbul
Just for gits and shiggles, I read the Judgment novel. (Yes, all of it.)

Kamahl as a green legend - Definitely.
Jeska as a black legend - Strongly doubtful.
Jeska as she is now (red legend) - Probable.
Jeska as a red/green legend - Possible.

I've read about 5 chapters of the Onslaught novel. The green Kamahl makes perfect sense. and Phage is a black jeska with abilities rivaling the first. I'd like to see Phage made into a card. possibly a smaller version of the first who's activated abilities cost less.

If any of you read this book, let me know what you think of Phage's description. When J. Robert King describes her I immediately thought of the art on Keeper of the dead.

 

[train]

Transcendence, Grinning demon - yeah buddy!!!!!

Bring it! Just bring it!!! Whatever you think you got, just bring it!!!

Once again - I'm not surprised a card better than Juzaam has arrived!

 

[Lotus Mox]

Arcanis the Omnipotent 3UUU Creature — Wizard Legend
3/4 T: Draw three cards.
2UU: Return Arcanis the Omnipotent to its owner’s hand.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Christ I hope you're joking....