I have no doubt that this is going to be one of,
if not THE, "chase rare" of Journey into Nyx.
Any land that taps for more than one color of
mana and can enter the battlefield untapped will
always be in high demand, because they're the
gears and motor oil that make a two-color (or
more) deck function as it should. Practically
all the highest price tags in past sets have
been attached to dual lands like the Ravnica
Shocklands or the Zendikar fetches. This card is
basically the reincarnation of City of Brass--
it's usable on the turn it hits play, and can
tap for ANY color of mana. That will just make
it all the more sought-after, since everybody
wants it regardless of which colors they're
playing. The only people who have no use for it
are people who play mono-color decks
exclusively, and limiting your deck like that
rarely works out.
Each color has strengths and weaknesses. Red
can't target enchantments, blue's creatures are
weak, and so on. When your entire deck is one
color, you have no defense against that color's
weakness. And once your deck contains cards of
different colors, you're vulnerable to
colorscrew-- drawing spells of one color and
lands that provide mana of the other. The only
reliable way to combat colorscrew without losing
valuable turns to do it is with nonbasic lands
that tap for multiple colors, and if those lands
come into play tapped, then you're still losing
a turn. I don't like the fact that nonbasic
lands like this are as necessary as they are,
but the way the game mechanics are built, they
are and there's no getting around it. Everybody
past a certain competitive level NEEDS whatever
lands like this are in the format, and those
lands are always rare, so the price hits $30 per
land and you either pay it or you never get past
FNM.
The latest variant of City of Brass, and the
most prominent one we've seen since . . . Alara?
The name actually sounds like it should be in
Alara, for that matter. Continuous or repeated
payments of life for colored mana is a bargain
we haven't seen for about the same amount of
time. People used to be very willing to pay
that, but I wonder if there are current players
who aren't used to the concept. Perhaps the fact
that this card is coming out just in time to
resurrect some of the three-color decks from the
early parts of Ravnica's time in Standard will
help convince people.
Today's card of the day is Mana Confluence
which is a land that taps to add one mana of any
color at the price of one life. This is an
improved version of the classic Arabian Nights
card, City of Brass, which is still regularly in
formats that allow it. A land that doesn't enter
play tapped and offers access to every color of
mana is ideal for aggressive decks that will
readily spend life to maintain tempo. Lands that
deal two damage for access to two colors are
consistently popular, which shows the potential
for this in current formats. The prevention of
damage from being tapped by outside sources is a
big improvement in nearly every situation and
will allow this to replace or support City of
Brass in older formats. Overall this will see
play in every format that can use the set and be
a staple of many multicolor builds going
forward.
In Limited the slower format makes the
regular loss of life more of a concern, though
this is a big benefit when running several
colors to reduce the risk of being shorted on a
color. Used only when needed this improves three
or more color decks using a splash for key
cards, so for that it is worth an early draft
pick in Booster if that is your style of play.
In Sealed this is an automatic inclusion when
splashing a third or fourth color, but is a bit
weaker for two and usually a dead weight rare
when able to run one.
It's appropriate that our first Journey Into Nyx
review was the most talked about card in the set
through the spoiler season. The effect is simple
enough. Tap, pay a life, get whatever color mana
you want. The discussion comes on when and how
you use it.
First off, let's look at when this card is
amazing. If you're running a multicolor deck,
you now have 4 more lands for your deck that
come into the battlefield untapped and give you
whatever color you want. In aggressive decks,
you can't always wait for a land that comes into
the battlefield tapped. When you have three or
more colors in your deck, getting the right
color at the right time is crucial, and this
card makes it that much easier. Most of the
time, paying 1 life to get the resource you want
is well worth it. People love playing the
Ravnica shock lands and are usually not afraid
to pay the 2 life.
You can bet your entire card collection that
this card will be played in Legacy. Legacy games
are designed to go very quickly, so having the
right mana is of utmost important. People
already play City of Brass sometimes, but Mana
Confluence is better because you only lose life
when you choose to tap it for mana. City of
Brass damages you, even if an opponent taps it
for you - which does happen.
As good as this card is, there are times when
the payment of life will be a problem. If your
deck is designed to play a slow game, you're
better off playing one of the dual lands that
comes into play tapped and doesn't hurt you. And
of course, mono-colored devotion decks have no
use for this.
In limited, mana fixing is at a premium, so this
is useful, but there are fewer three or more
color decks. The longer games cause the life
loss to really add up, so it's not necessarily a
top pick in limited. Then again, Mana Confluence
is going to go for a pretty penny, so I might be
tempted to pick it just for that reason.
Today we take our first look at a card from
Journey into Nyx. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's
sneak peek at M15, but we've got a whole new
expansion set to look at now.
Mana Confluence is a good card. Some of you more
experienced readers might think this card looks
awfully familiar. And you're right, for what
you're looking at is essentially a functional
reprint of City of Brass!
I've always been a big fan of any card with the
theme and visual depiction of all 5 colours of
mana coming together. Stuff like this, Manalith,
Sphere of the Suns, Maelstrom Nexus, those sorts
of things. They all do very different things of
course, but you just know that anytime you see
all 5 colours together, something cool and
powerful is going to happen. And that's
certainly the case here. What we have is a land,
and you can tap it, and it'll give you any kind
of mana you want. No coming into play tapped, no
not untapping during your next turn, no
sacrificing creatures, no returning permanents
when it comes into play. Tap, any mana, done. No
questions asked.
Well, okay, there is ONE little extra tiny
detail. You have to pay 1 life every time you do
it. That'll kill a lot of the excitement for
more casual players, who can't really fathom
dealing damage to yourself in order to get
ahead, especially something that can't be used
WITHOUT hurting you every time. There's that
fear that you might end up tapping yourself to
death over the course of the game, or that 1
life being the difference between winning or
losing later on during an otherwise close game.
And it's not like these fears are baseless. But
highly competitive players love things like
this, and I want to tell you why that is.
To quote The Fast and the Furious, "It don't
matter if you win by an inch or a mile.
Winning's winning." To a highly competitive
player, life is just another resource you can
spend if you want. As long as you have 1 life,
you're in the game, so there's no harm in using
it to go on the offensive and deal even more
damage to your opponent. To such a player,
waiting an extra turn to use a land because it
came into play tapped is MUCH worse than paying
1 life, because now your pacing and tempo is
off. Something you could have played this turn
has to wait for next turn, meaning you're now
behind. That's the logic that's at play here,
and if you're a casual player that wants to get
better, it's something to consider.
Anyway, the differences between casual and
tournament player mentality is something an
entire article could be written about (and I'm
not saying one is better than the other!), so
let's get back to the card itself and wrap this
up. Mana Confluence is City of Brass. And City
of Brass was good. People used City of Brass.
Likewise, expect Mana Confluence see play. It
will help you get your threats out onto the
field earlier. But it may not be everyone's cup
of tea, and of course it's useless in a mono-colour
deck. Still, it's very, very good, and if you
get one you should give it a try.
