Don’t Move – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Date Reviewed: December 1, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 1.67
Casual: 4.25
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 4.13
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
One thing that genuinely impresses me about modern sets is how good they’ve gotten at translating flavor or concepts into a specific mechanic. There are a lot more hits than misses. Don’t Move works on every level, and it even finds a unique space in sweeper variants. It’s not intrinsically stronger than other such cards because of the tapped creatures clause, and indeed gets an extra dimension from it: you can use it as a sort of warning shot if nobody actually has any tapped creatures at the moment. And the upper bounds of it are something resembling Wrath of God plus Time Walk on just one card. I suspect this is going to be a sleeper hit for casual Magic.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Talk about a flavorful board wipe of sorts. If you’re not familiar, part of the plot of the Jurassic Park franchise (books and movies) is that, to complete the genetic sequences of their giant implacable death lizards, they used amphibian DNA to fill in the holes. The presence of the amphibian DNA ostensibly added some quirks to them, like the amphibian-like prey detection (if it moves, it’s foods) and a proclivity towards changing gender to fix imbalances, but that’s a story for another day.
As for the card, Don’t Move sort of leans into that by triggering death when prey moves. There are ways to make this very one-sided; white does have a predilection towards vigilance, and this also can help deter attackers by attempting to off them when they attack. It’s a pretty ingenious way to knock out a board, and while it’s too slow for Legacy play, it’ll make for fun times in Dinosaur decks and other decks in that vein.
Constructed: 1.25
Casual: 4.5
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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