Leyline Axe – Foundations
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This card was clearly designed to be as spectacular as possible, considering that its name invokes some of the most devastating sideboard cards in the history of constructed Magic and its effect delivers exactly what it promises. I doubt that it’s quite as oppressive in practice as some of its namesakes, but it’s easy to underestimate a card like this. The thing that holds back most equipment cards is tempo, namely the fact that you will generally aim to cast and equip it in the same turn as often as possible, trying to reduce the window for instant-speed interaction. Leyline Axe doesn’t entirely eliminate the possibility of the blowout, but it means that you can get that bonus on turn three as long as you have a creature in play already – and that bonus will usually cost you significantly more than three mana. Double strike and trample is, if anything, an even better combination than it sounds like, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there ends up being a deck that mulligans to oblivion until it gets a Leyline Axe just like some did for the enchantment versions.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Leyline Axe is certainly an interesting card, a strange mix of attributes that may yet prove attractive. The intriguing part is that Leyline Axe behaves exactly like one of the leyline enchantments: it starts in play if it’s in your initial hand. Unlike most leylines, this isn’t immediately impactful, needing to attach to something to get going…but the stats it provides are actually quite efficacious. And it’s even more efficacious to get a card that provides it for three mana instead of having to split seven mana of cost to get it out (though the latter is workable if you have no other options).
I feel like Leyline Axe is a card that plays better than it looks, and it especially plays well if you have some manner of circumventing having to pay for its equip cost entirely (like Puresteel Paladin). A card like this is hardly flashy, but it’s a nice sort of threat that can axe all the hard questions, and being able to bypass one of the classical weaknesses of equipment means that the seemingly modest stat buffs this card offers can add up in a pinch.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
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